A few interesting tidbits before we start. Vettel won’t suffer a penalty for blowing off a corner in Q3. I suppose the reason is he had already set a lap fast enough for his 2nd position on the grid. The stewards promise stern punishments for anyone else who attempts it. Red Bull used all Super Softs during Qualifying so they’re committed to an early pit and will then try and run long. Since the Supers take 3 or 4 laps to get to speed anyway and fall off quite quickly this probably not a handicap.
Ross Brawn of Mercedes vehemently denies the team is violating spending limits and then says they’re poorly written and porous. He also claims teams are extorting other teams that want to change their names.
They’re re-writing the ‘one defensive move rule’ to basically disallow any defensive moves at all.
Both Button and Hamilton are pooh-poohing the idea that Button is taking over the lead position on McLaren and trying to get next year’s car designed around his driving style, however no team is wasting any time on this season which is done. All that’s left is the race for second place.
There is no rain forecast. At the moment it appears Ricciardo will start.
Rebroadcast at 11:30 am. Not so pretty tables below.
Starting Grid
| Grid | Driver | Team | Q-Time | Q-Laps |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:35.8 | 14 |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 01:36.0 | 12 |
| 3 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:36.1 | 14 |
| 4 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 01:36.5 | 11 |
| 5 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 01:36.8 | 16 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 01:37.0 | 11 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 01:37.8 | 12 |
| 8 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 01:38.1 | 19 |
| 9 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 01:38.3 | 16 |
| 10 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 01:38.2 | 14 |
| 11 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 01:38.3 | 11 |
| 12 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 01:38.4 | 9 |
| 13 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 01:38.5 | 11 |
| 14 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 01:38.8 | 13 |
| 15 | Bruno Senna | Renault | 01:38.8 | 14 |
| 16 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Cosworth | 01:39.2 | 8 |
| 17 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 01:39.4 | 14 |
| 18 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 01:39.5 | 4 |
| 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Renault | 01:40.5 | 6 |
| 20 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Renault | 01:41.1 | 6 |
| 21 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 01:42.1 | 7 |
| 22 | Jerome d’Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | 01:43.5 | 8 |
| 23 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | HRT-Cosworth | 01:43.8 | 8 |
| DNQ | Daniel Ricciardo | HRT-Cosworth | – | 2 |
Driver Standings
| Rank | Driver | Team | Points |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 324 |
| 2 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 210 |
| 3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 202 |
| 4 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 194 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 178 |
| 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 90 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 63 |
| 8 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 60 |
| 9 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 36 |
| 10 | Nick Heidfeld | Renault | 34 |
| 11 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 28 |
| 12 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 27 |
| 13 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 20 |
| 14 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 16 |
| 15 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 13 |
| 16 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 13 |
| 17 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 4 |
| 18 | Bruno Senna | Renault | 2 |
| 19 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Cosworth | 1 |
Constructor Standings
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 1 | Red Bull | 518 |
| 2 | McLaren | 388 |
| 3 | Ferrari | 292 |
| 4 | Mercedes | 123 |
| 5 | Renault | 72 |
| 6 | Force India | 48 |
| 7 | Sauber | 40 |
| 8 | Toro Rosso | 29 |
| 9 | Williams | 5 |
| 10 | Team Lotus | 0 |
| 11 | HRT | 0 |
| 12 | Virgin | 0 |
35 comments
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Author
Author
They let the million dollar motocross race run long.
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Author
So much for forecasters.
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Author
Pretty clean.
Author
Vettel
Hamilton
Webber
Alonso
Massa
Button
Rosberg
Petrov
di Resta
Schumacher
Author
Author
Vettel
Hamilton
Webber
Massa
Alonso
Button
Rosberg
Petrov
Schumacher
Alguersuari
Author
will the Super Softs last until they have to come in for Inters.
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We’ll see.
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Local yellow.
Author
Schumacher parks.
Petrov may not emerge from the pits.
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Vettel
Hamilton
Webber
Button
Rosberg
Massa
Alonso
Alguersuari
di Resta
Sutil
Author
Author
Vettel
Hamilton
Webber
Button
Rosberg
Massa
Alonso
Alguersuari
di Resta
Sutil
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using up all their KERS early in their battle with Rosberg.
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Webber on Softs.
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He pits AND Webber pits.
Webber was gaining and on the Softs.
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Button and Massa pit.
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Alonso
Vettel
Alguersuari
Hamilton
Webber
Button
Buemi
Massa
Perez
Rosberg
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Vettel
Hamilton
Webber
Button
Alonso
Massa
Rosberg
Alguersuari
di Resta
Buemi
Author
You idiots!
Team McLaren has fucked up every chance he had to win this season with poor pit decisions he had nothing to do with.
You’re a pack of assholes.
Author
Vettel
Hamilton
Webber
Button
Alonso
Massa
Rosberg
Alguersuari
di Resta
Buemi
Author
Vettel
Hamilton
Webber
Button
Alonso
Massa
Rosberg
Alguersuari
di Resta
Buemi