Are the wheels coming off Formula One?
It would be irresponsible not to speculate. All is not well in Ecclestone land. His agreement with the Formula One Teams Association expires next season and despite sweetheart deals to keep Red Bull (easily the most financially committed Team sponsor) and Ferrari (some would argue the most historic marque) in line and claims to have a majority of teams in favor of a new arrangement, dissatisfaction is rampant among those getting the shaft and his attempts to raise $10 Billion in new capital through an IPO are stalling in a bad economy with even his pets refusing to invest and tracks looking for ways out of their unprofitable contracts.
Ferrari faces it’s third or fourth uncompetitive season in a row, Mercedes is about ready to bolt, and the field fillers are finding the Washington Generals too expensive losers. Renault has never been happy and is distancing itself as fast as its contracts allow even though they produce what is probably the best and most reliable power plant.
And the cars are U-G-L-Y ugly.
Lotus Renault had an overnight fire that destroyed its hospitality suite and damaged its garage. Raikkonen (whom I think is not having a bad return from retirement compared to Schumacher) and Kovalainen have 5 grid penalties for various violations. It is cloudy and hot at Sepang.
Repeats @ 3 pm today and Noon Tuesday.
Pretty tables below.
Starting Grid
| Grid | Driver | Team | Q-Time | Q-Laps |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:36.219 | 14 |
| 2 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:36.368 | 14 |
| 3 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 01:36.391 | 14 |
| 4 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 01:36.461 | 19 |
| 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 01:36.634 | 14 |
| 6 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 01:36.658 | 14 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 01:36.664 | 14 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 01:37.566 | 16 |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 01:37.698 | 17 |
| 10 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 01:36.461 | 13 |
| 11 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 01:37.589 | 14 |
| 12 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 01:37.731 | 15 |
| 13 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 01:37.841 | 13 |
| 14 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 01:37.877 | 15 |
| 15 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 01:37.883 | 14 |
| 16 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 01:37.890 | 13 |
| 17 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 01:38.069 | 12 |
| 18 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 01:39.077 | 7 |
| 19 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 01:39.567 | 6 |
| 20 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 01:40.903 | 8 |
| 21 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 01:41.250 | 8 |
| 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 01:42.914 | 4 |
| 23 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 01:43.655 | 6 |
| 24 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 01:39.306 | 9 |
Driver Standings
| Rank | Driver | Team | Points |
| 1 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 25 |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 18 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 15 |
| 4 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 12 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 10 |
| 6 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 8 |
| 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 6 |
| 8 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 4 |
| 9 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 2 |
| 10 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1 |
Constructor Standings
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 1 | McLaren-Mercedes | 40 |
| 2 | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 30 |
| 3 | Sauber-Ferrari | 12 |
| 4 | Ferrari | 10 |
| 5 | Lotus-Renault | 6 |
| 6 | STR-Ferrari | 2 |
| 7 | Force India-Mercedes | 1 |
88 comments
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Author
I can’t wait!
Author
Had to be push started.
Author
Author
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Hamilton still out.
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Bad pit for Hamilton.
Author
A right cock up of pit stops. I’ll update positions when things settle down.
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Alonso
Perez
Hamilton
Rosberg
Vettel
Raikkonen
Webber
Massa
diResta
Vergne
Author
had to re pit for a new nose.
Author
Author
Alonso
Perez
Hamilton
Rosberg
Vettel
Riakkonen
Webber
Massa
di Resta
Vergne
Author
Inters falling apart.
Author
Author
Author
Alonso
Perez
Hamilton
Vettel
Raikkonen
Rosberg
Webber
Massa
di Resta
Vergne
Author
Much pitting.
Author
Alonso ♥.
The story is Perez in the Sauber.
Author
Alonso
Perez
Hamilton
Vettel
Raikkonen
Webber
di Resta
Vergne
Senna
Hulkenberg
Author
Author
Author
Alonso
Perez
Hamilton
Vettel
Raikkonen
Webber
di Resta
Vergne
Senna
Hulkenberg
Author
But Lightning reported at the edge of the track.
Author
Author
Finally something true from the commenters.
Author
What are they thinking?
Author
Author
Alonso
Perez
Hamilton
Vettel
Webber
Raikkonen
diResta
Senna
Vergne
Hulkenberg
Author
Author
In DRS Range.
Author
The question is- Team Orders?
Author
Alonso
Perez
Hamilton
Webber
Raikkonen
Senna
di Resta
Vergne
Hulkenberg
Maldonado
Author
I hate when I agree with the commentators.
Author
Renault.
Author
Alonso
Perez
Hamilton
Webber
Raikkonen
Senna
di Resta
Vergne
Hulkenberg
Schumacher
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