Nov 06 2010

F1: Interlagos Qualifying

Like any political pundit, sports commentators can hardy talk about anything except the horse race, but it’s really not as complicated as they make it seem- everyone needs an “unexpected” Did Not Finish from 1 or more of their major competitors like we saw last time in Yeongam.

At the end of the season here the chances for that are substantially enhanced as Teams are collectively starting to run out of their rationed parts (Engines, Transmissions) and replacing them results in difficult to overcome grid penalties.

Two examples from Scuderia Marlboro UPC.  Alonso is running a used engine this race because of a rule that doesn’t allow him to run his last unused one.  Massa is running a new engine (his last), but parked during practice because of a transmission failure.  I have no idea whether Massa will get a penalty for that but I expect he might.

Xtrac Transmissions are falling into the same suspect category as Ferrari Powerplants and I suppose were I a better and more engaged reporter I’d bore you with the details of all the most recent technology and driver deals.  You’ll hear enough about them from the commentators because for the most part nothing has changed.  The Red Bulls are fastest with McLaren and Scuedria Marlboro evenly matched.  I will mention that it is uniformly reported that Vettel and Webber are hardly on speaking terms despite Red Bull’s assertions to the contrary.

Interlagos is hard on engines because of the many changes in elevation, especially from Turn 13 to Turn 1 which is fast, up hill, and presents one of the few overtaking opportunities.

Petrov had a crash during the 1st Practice because of a stuck F-Duct.  F-Duct enabled cars have a distinct advantage because of numerous fast sections where you want less downforce.  Softs are extremely short lived under dry track conditions, lasting only 1 or 2 laps with full fuel.  The expectation is that because of a tiny speed advantage teams that are in final Qualifying will start on Softs because they can’t change tires after the Qualifying session, but we may see some strategizing around that if someone posts a particularly fast lap.

But we could do this on Wets as rain was expected after the Practice and forecast during today’s Qualifying.

Race coverage starts tomorrow at 10:30 am.  I’ll have my race diary up at 10:15.

rustymancuso581

26 comments

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  1. Speaking of horse races-

    Zenyatta! An LA Woman Runs For The Roses & History

    By: bmaz Friday November 5, 2010 9:19 pm

  4. Intermediates.

    Rain in the next 5 minutes.

    Dry tomorrow.

  5. it will last for about 20 minutes.

    Of course the usual dithering about setup for Qualifying v. Race.

  6. are trying to get in a good lap before the rain starts.

  7. Button in relegation zone.

  8. 6 minutes to go.

    Some order surprises, but the usual suspects.

    Commentators are worried about running out of Intermediates, but if it’s dru tomorrow who cares?

  9. Only “major” surprise?

    Liuzzi is marginally faster than team mate Sutil and advances.

    Otherwise the 6 n00bs.

  12. Time to get in a lap.

  13. So it will be who switches to Softs when.

  14. Nobody has switched yet.

    3 minutes left.

  15. Button needs to turn a lap.

  16. That’s a surprise.

    Barrichello in Q3 is also a surprise.

  17. the commentators think Rosberg is also a surprise.

  18. Still about the tires.

    Skies threatening, track drying.

  20. Hamilton fast lap.

  22. Hulkenberg

    Vettel

    Webber

    Hamilton

    Alonso

    Barrichello

    Kubica

    Schumacher

    Massa

  23. I don’t need them nearly as much as a nap.

  24. Hey! and it’s fall back night!

    More time to nap.

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