US Grand Prix, Austin Texas

[Galaxy]

Well, 6 Boeing 747-400 from CargoLux and others brought the F1 circus from the United Arab Emirates to Texas. I don't usually watch Friday free practice, but this being a brand new track I got curious. The new asphalt seems to be very slippery. Everyone is spinning. We will see how that changes till Sunday.

[Galaxy]

Apropos Texas, Michael Schumacher, in preparation for his second retirement, has just bought a 200 hektar ranch in Texas. In the future he will be living both in Texas and in Switzerland.

[Galaxy]

Qualifying:

Pos   No   Driver   Team   Q1   Q2   Q3   Laps
1   1   Sebastian Vettel   Red Bull Racing-Renault   1:36.558    1:35.796    1:35.657   20
2   4   Lewis Hamilton   McLaren-Mercedes   1:37.058    1:36.795    1:35.766   20
3   2   Mark Webber   Red Bull Racing-Renault   1:37.215    1:36.298    1:36.174   20
4   10   Romain Grosjean   Lotus-Renault   1:37.486    1:36.906    1:36.587   28
5   9   Kimi R?ikk?nen   Lotus-Renault   1:38.051    1:37.404    1:36.708   26
6   7   Michael Schumacher   Mercedes   1:37.927    1:37.102    1:36.794   22
7   6   Felipe Massa   Ferrari   1:37.667    1:36.549    1:36.937   24
8   12   Nico Hulkenberg   Force India-Mercedes   1:37.756    1:37.066    1:37.141   20
9   5   Fernando Alonso   Ferrari   1:37.968    1:37.123    1:37.300   24
10   18   Pastor Maldonado   Williams-Renault   1:37.537    1:37.011    1:37.842   26
11   19   Bruno Senna   Williams-Renault   1:37.520    1:37.604      20
12   3   Jenson Button   McLaren-Mercedes   1:37.565    1:37.616      12
13   11   Paul di Resta   Force India-Mercedes   1:38.104    1:37.665      15
14   17   Jean-Eric Vergne   STR-Ferrari   1:38.434    1:37.879      17
15   15   Sergio Perez   Sauber-Ferrari   1:38.500    1:38.206      16
16   14   Kamui Kobayashi   Sauber-Ferrari   1:38.418    1:38.437      15
17   8   Nico Rosberg   Mercedes   1:38.862    1:38.501      16
18   16   Daniel Ricciardo   STR-Ferrari   1:39.114         9
19   24   Timo Glock   Marussia-Cosworth   1:40.056         12
20   25   Charles Pic   Marussia-Cosworth   1:40.664         11
21   21   Vitaly Petrov   Caterham-Renault   1:40.809         7
22   20   Heikki Kovalainen   Caterham-Renault   1:41.166         7
23   22   Pedro de la Rosa   HRT-Cosworth   1:42.011         12
24   23   Narain Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth   1:42.740         10


Sorry for the formatting.




The German TV crew commented on how impressed they are with Austin as a city. They noted that Austin makes a very affluent impression.  Apparently plenty of night life, and relativity loose socially judging from what Niki Lauda commented from the bars around his hotel.

[Catman]

I will be watching, the facility is fantastic! I've been racing on that track with F1 2012 on my XBox to try it out.

[Galaxy]

Merrycans get an introduction to F1 politics. Ferrari will intentionally break the seal on Massa's transmission catching him a 5 spot penalty and letting Alonso (who, quite unusual for him, screwed up qualifying) move up one position, and more importantly letting him move to the clean side of the track. 

[Catman]

Slick tracks make for great racing. Can't wait for it to start.

[Rupert]

http://stream.speedtv.com/mercedes

Better than nothing for us un-cabled people.

[Galaxy]

Pretty good race so far.

[Rich]

"Jeremy Clarkson ‏@jcrclarksonesq
I'm very much enjoying the baffled look on many faces in the crowd at Austin."

Lol!

[Galaxy]

"Jeremy Clarkson ‏@jcrclarksonesq
I'm very much enjoying the baffled look on many faces in the crowd at Austin."

Lol!

Well, I think all in all they viewers in Austin can be happy with the race. It tempered off a bit in the end. It is a shame that Vettel was not able to battle with Louis at the end. Vettel did get fastest lap of the race though.


About the Ferrari TransmissionGate.: I am no longer that pissed. They did not make some bullshit excuse like "yeah we had a problem with blah, blah, blah." They openly admitted they tore the seal to get Alonso on the clean side. Stefano Domenicali emphasized that in the end it is a team sport.

[Catman]

Pretty good race. F1 just needs bigger fields.

[r0tor]

Completely forgot about it... Was it even on tv in the US?!?

[Catman]

Of course it was. Speed vision.

[hotrodalex]

"Jeremy Clarkson ‏@jcrclarksonesq
I'm very much enjoying the baffled look on many faces in the crowd at Austin."

Lol!

It's also somewhat funny that he was at the F1 race while the Top Gear USA guys were at the NASCAR race.

[Catman]

It's also somewhat funny that he was at the F1 race while the Top Gear USA guys were at the NASCAR race.

As far as the US was concerned the NASCAR race was more important as a the Championship was decided.

[Catman]

Check this out.

http://www.ohgizmo.com/2012/11/06/get-a-360-degree-view-from-an-f1-car-at-200mph/

[Colonel Cadillac]

I was in Austin this weekend

[CJ]

I was in Austin this weekend

I was in Norman this weekend. 

[MX793]

About the Ferrari TransmissionGate.: I am no longer that pissed. They did not make some bullshit excuse like "yeah we had a problem with blah, blah, blah." They openly admitted they tore the seal to get Alonso on the clean side. Stefano Domenicali emphasized that in the end it is a team sport.

The obvious solution to this kind of thing is to take the NASCAR approach.  If a team opts to tinker with their car after qualifying, they go to the back of the starting grid.  Not just a couple of places back.

[Galaxy]

The obvious solution to this kind of thing is to take the NASCAR approach.  If a team opts to tinker with their car after qualifying, they go to the back of the starting grid.  Not just a couple of places back.

I am not sure I understand you correctly. So if a team works on either car, all of their cars get sent to back? I guess that would make sense. The team that wins together gets punished together.

If it is just the car involved, I am sure that at this point in the championship Ferrari would have no qualms about sending Massa to the back to aid Alonso. Especially since they never really had a chance at constructors championship this year.

[MX793]

I am not sure I understand you correctly. So if a team works on either car, all of their cars get sent to back? I guess that would make sense. The team that wins together gets punished together.

If it is just the car involved, I am sure that at this point in the championship Ferrari would have no qualms about sending Massa to the back to aid Alonso. Especially since they never really had a chance at constructors championship this year.

Only the specific car involved, not every vehicle under the same owner.

And I suppose getting shuffled to the back makes a much larger difference in a grid of 40+ vehicles than when you're in a field of <25.

[LonghornTX]

Was a crazy weekend for us Austinites. Words cannot describe the amount of ridiculous sh*t that went down. Needless to say, I truly learned what the phrase "fuck you money" means.

Track is legit and things went smoothly compared to what was predicted. Weird side story, but Webber stayed with a buddy's uncle-in law out at his ridiculous ranch. Gave him one of his helmets!

[Mustangfan2003]

Just read that the track just canceled all the track day events for 2013 even after clubs had paid an insane deposit.  Bad move imo.

[MX793]

Just read that the track just canceled all the track day events for 2013 even after clubs had paid an insane deposit.  Bad move imo.

Did they give any reason why?

[Mustangfan2003]

This was their statement, not much info though

http://www.circuitoftheamericas.com/media-center

IMO they should refund the money to the clubs and then offer then a discounted rate for 2014