F1: Interlagos

Well, Hamilton and Alonso are hoping for rain and so am I as it’s the only thing that might bring any interest to today’s race.  Unfortunately it’s unlikely at last report which forecasts only overcast and high humidity.

Pirelli is racing an experimental Soft compound designed for next year.  Pirelli is designing around a 3 pit strategy which frankly won’t be enough to introduce any competitiveness or position changes with 3 second pits despite protestations to the contrary.  The other tire is the normal Medium.  There’s only .8 seconds speed difference between them, the new Soft is expected to last 25 laps and the Medium 35.

Red Bull reports that they’re loosening the development restrictions in the next agreement which contrary to their intent can only be good news for the field filling teams.  They’re also reportedly going to clamp down on Red Bull type flexy wings.

Austin’s ultimatum has been extended until Wednesday, but Bernie is talking tougher about licking the boots of Bahrain’s despotic regime than having a US race next year.  It’s easier to hate on Rick Perry because he’s the local boy, but I don’t think there’s a dime’s worth of difference in their evilness and Perry’s more likely to lose because he’s also stupid.

Barrichello is probably a cut next year which is a shame because he’s performed really well in 3rd rate equipment and had a surprisingly good Qualifying yesterday.  I don’t understand how you can rate drivers or teams with no points at all as being better than those that do.  I guess it has to do with how our elites define persistent failure as ‘meritocracy’.

Below you will find the last pretty tables of the 2011 season.  Unlike the Debrief crew I won’t bother revisiting them because nothing will change.

Starting Grid

Grid Driver Team Q-Time Q-Laps
1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 01:11.9 17
2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 01:12.1 16
3 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 01:12.3 18
4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 01:12.5 22
5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:12.6 22
6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 01:13.0 21
7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:13.1 18
8 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 01:13.3 23
9 Bruno Senna Renault 01:13.8 20
10 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 01:13.6 18
11 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 01:13.6 17
12 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 01:13.8 17
13 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 01:13.8 18
14 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 01:13.9 22
15 Vitaly Petrov Renault 01:14.1 16
16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 01:14.1 18
17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 01:14.2 21
18 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 01:14.6 11
19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 01:15.1 11
20 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 01:15.4 14
21 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 01:16.6 8
22 Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 01:16.9 9
23 Jerome d’Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 01:17.0 10
24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 01:17.1 10

Driver Standings

Rank Driver Team Points
1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 374
2 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 255
3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 245
4 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 233
5 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 227
6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 108
7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 83
8 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 76
9 Vitaly Petrov Renault 36
10 Nick Heidfeld Renault 34
11 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 34
12 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 28
13 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 26
14 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 23
15 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 15
16 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 14
17 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 4
18 Bruno Senna Renault 2
19 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1
20 Pedro de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 0
21 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 0
22 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 0
23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 0
24 Jerome d’Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 0
25 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 0
26 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 0
27 Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 0
28 Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 0

Constructor Standings

Rank Team Points
1 Red Bull 607
2 McLaren 482
3 Ferrari 353
4 Mercedes 159
5 Renault 72
6 Force India 57
7 Sauber 42
8 Toro Rosso 41
9 Williams 5
10 Team Lotus 0
11 HRT 0
12 Virgin 0

54 comments

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  1. My last forecast was an hour old.

  2. Option = Soft Experimental.

  3. I’ll point out that Barrichello scored 80% of William’s points this year.

    The one that’s hard to justify keeping around is Maldonado.

  4. Experimental.

  5. Vettel already out of range.

  6. Vettel

    Webber

    Button

    Alonso

    Hamilton

    Massa

    Rosberg

    Sutil

    Senna

    Schumacher

  7. Senna wing damage, Schmacher needs a tire.

  8. Vettel

    Webber

    Alonso

    Button

    Hamilton

    Massa

    Rosberg

    Sutil

    Senna

    di Resta

  9. No wing change.

  10. Massa

    Vettel

    Webber

    Alonso

    Button

    Hamilton

    di Resta

    Kobayashi

    Buemi

    Perez

  11. Have to ♥ Formula 1.

  12. Vettel

    Webber

    Alonso

    Button

    Hamilton

    Massa

    Sutil

    Rosberg

    Petrov

    di Resta

  13. Webber

    Vettel

    Alonso

    Massa

    Button

    Hamilton

    Rosberg

    di Resta

    Sutil

    Kobayashi

  14. Webber

    Vettel

    Alonso

    Button

    Massa

    Hamilton

    Rosberg

    Sutil

    di Resta

    Kobayashi

  15. Parked.

  16. Webber

    Vettel

    Alonso

    Button

    Massa

    Sutil

    Rosberg

    Alguersuari

    di Resta

    Kobayashi

  17. Probably Mediums.

  18. Webber

    Vettel

    Alonso

    Button

    Massa

    Sutil

    Rosberg

    di Resta

    Kobayashi

    Petrov

  19. Webber

    Vettel

    Button

    Alonso

    Massa

    Sutil

    Rosberg

    di Resta

    Kobayashi

    Petrov

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