12:50 This weekend in Abu Dhabi has also seen a fourth British driver
take to the track. Marussia test driver Max Chilton took part in Friday’s
first practice session in the hope that it will prove the first step to him
being named on of their two drivers in 2013 as per pit lane whispers. If
you’re not familiar with him, Tom Cary caught up with him recently and found
out there is far more to him than just a driver wanting to hit the big time.
Read
all about him here
Let’s take a look at Abu Dhabi in numbers:
• Venue: Yas Marina
• Circuit length: 5.554km/3.451miles
• Laps: 55
• Race distance: 305.361km/189.742
• Lap Record: 1min 40.279secs (Sebastian Vettel 2009)
• 2011 pole position: Sebastian Vettel 1min 38.481secs
• 2011 winner: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
• Number of corners: 21 (12 left/9 right)
• Tyre compounds to be used: medium/soft
• Bumpiness: low
• Overtaking chance: Into turns eight and 11
• Average lap speed: 190kph (118.061mph)
• Gear changes per lap: 68 (race = 3740)
• 2011 winning strategy: 2 stops (laps 16, 40)
12:37 Now I know I’ve said it a few times in the last few races and he
has behaved impeccably but Pastor Maldonado is higher up than I would have
expected today, next to Kimi Raikkonen and behind Hamilton. The start of
this race is going to be interesting. Webber said yesterday he was looking
to take advantage of Lewis’ poor starts of late so I imagine the Red Bull
and McLaren will race into turn one wheel to wheel today.
It was fighting talk from the Australian driver who, when asked if he would be
adjusting his race to aid Vettel said: “I will drive flat out. We
realise we have to work on our reliability. We have had a few issues of
late. It is something the group is on and there is nothing Seb and I can do
about it. It is not our job, it is their job.”
He added: “Lewis’s starts lately haven’t been phenomenal so let’s see
if he has a good one tomorrow… We will see how they get off the line, but
I am looking to go forward for sure. Credit to Lewis and McLaren. They have
a quick car this weekend. They had momentum six to eight weeks ago and we
knocked them off. We have a bit of friendly fire that we need to tidy up,
but this team is exceptional and we know what we need.”
12:30 the news this week then and teams have continued to confirm their
driver line-ups for next season. The first to do so were Lotus who released
this video on YouTube to tell fans that Kimi Raikkonen was staying
Also Toro Rosso confirmed that both Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne have
retained their drives while not surprisingly but it will open up a flood of
driver applications to Force India, is news that Nico Hulkenberg is off to
Sauber.
Red Bull
Engines: Renault
1. Sebastian Vettel (Has contract)
2. Mark Webber (Has contract)
McLaren
Engines: Mercedes
3. Jenson Button (Has contract)
4. Sergio Perez (Has contract)
Ferrari
Engines: Ferrari
5. Fernando Alonso (Has contract)
6. Felipe Massa (Has contract)
Mercedes
Engines: Mercedes
7. Lewis Hamilton (Has contract)
8. Nico Rosberg (Has contract)
Lotus
Engines: Renault
9. Kimi Raikkonen (Has contract)
10. Romain Grosjean (TBC)
Force India
Engines: Mercedes
11. Paul di Resta (TBC)
12. TBC (TBC)
Sauber
Engines: Ferrari
14. Nico Hulkenberg (Has contract)
15. Kamui Kobayashi (TBC)
Toro Rosso
Engines: Ferrari
16. Daniel Ricciardo (Has contract)
17. Jean-Eric Vergne (Has contract)
Williams
Engines: Renault
18. Pastor Maldonado (TBC)
19. Bruno Senna (TBC)
Caterham
Engines: Renault
20. Heikki Kovalainen (TBC)
21. Vitaly Petrov (TBC)
HRT
Engines: Cosworth
22. Pedro de la Rosa (Has contract)
23. Narain Karthikeyan (TBC)
Marussia
Engines: Cosworth
24. Timo Glock (Has contract)
25. Charles Pic (TBC)
12:25 To confirm, starting from the pit-lane, Vettel will not be
released from there to start the race until the last car has gone through
the apex of the first corner. This is going to be a huge uphill struggle for
Vettel. If ever there was a moment to stand up and show the world just why
you’re a double world champion – the youngest ever no less – today is that
moment. He’s often been accused of being a dull driver that while he has
speed is so used to leading from the front. Today’s the day for Vettel to
show his critics that he’s an aggressive and hugely talented driver. How do
you think he’ll fare? Christian Horner has said he will be thrilled if he
gets into the points. I think that with a good strategy from Red Bull he
could maybe get a highest finish of 7th…and I’m an optimist.
Great Britain’s Olympic god medallist Jessica Ennis is at the race this
afternoon and earlier tweeted news of McLaren signing a new driver…
12:17 Ferrari team principal Stefano Domincelli has spoken out about
how unhappy he is with Ferrari performance this weekend but there should be
no excuses from Alonso today. Earlier this morning he tweeted that after a
whopping 11 hours of sleep it was finally time to start his day! Fully
rested then and we all know what he is capable of doing from his start
position. Just a week ago he started in 5th and after a phenomenal start he
finished 2nd…watch this space.
12:15 Lewis Hamilton is leading the pack out this afternoon having been
in impressive form all weekend, he certainly wasn’t having us on when he
said he’s got his heart set on one more win and “lots of fun”
before he leaves McLaren. The 2008 world champion, clocked 1 minute, 40.630
seconds in his car on the Yas Marina circuit yesterday and was 0.348 seconds
quicker than Red Bull’s Mark Webber who starts alongside him.
It was not such good news for Fernando Alonso however. At 13 points behind
Vettel in the drivers’ standings with three races remaining the Spaniard
could do no better that seventh – though he’s bumped up to sixth following
Vettel’s sanctions. The Ferrari though has struggled all weekend with pace,
and even last-minute changes by his team failed to improve the car’s
performance.
12:08 Back to the Vettel issue and the fact he was relegated to the
back…here’s the statement the FIA put out last night:
The stewards received a report from the race director (Charlie Whiting)
that car one (Vettel) failed to return to the pits under its own power as
required under article 6.6.2 of the FIA Formula One technical regulations.
The stewards heard from the driver and team representatives and studied
telemetry evidence that showed the reason why the car was stopped. The
stewards accepted the explanation and considered the incident as being a
case of force majeure. However, a report was received from the technical
delegate that showed during post-qualifying scrutineering an insufficient
quantity of fuel for sampling purposes. The stewards determine this is a
breach of article 6.6.2 of the FIA Formula One technical regulations and the
competitor is accordingly excluded from the results of the qualifying
session. The competitor is, however, allowed to start the race from the back
of the grid.”
The FIA has also confirmed this morning that the gearbox, gear ratios and
suspension set-up of Vettel’s car have been changed. Presumably to aid
overtaking.
Prepare yourselves for some incredible images today as the Abu Dhabi race runs
day-to night
12:00 Good morning/afternoon F1 fans depending on where in the world
you are joining me from today and if, like me, you had zero access to any
form of internet or news outlet yesterday after qualifying, you will be
waking up to news that Sebastian
Vettel is starting today’s race from the pit lane. You may
have seen that at the end of quail the German driver pulled up immediately.
He has since been excluded from qualification after his car was found to
have “insufficient fuel for sampling”. Initially he was relegated to 24th on
the grid but Red Bull have since taken the decision to start him from the
pits.
It’s a sensible decision from the team as it ensures their driver will avoid
any first corner incidents and as my colleague Tom Cary points out it also
gives the team the chance to play with the car’s settings, switch tyres,
alter the gearing, or even change the engine.
It took the stewards over four hours to decide what punishment to hand Vettel,
who currently leads the title race by 13 points, knowing that any severe
sanction would bear huge influence on his bid for a third consecutive
championship.
So here’s how the updated grid looks:
1st row
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren)
Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull)
2nd row
Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams)
Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus)
3rd row
Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren)
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari)
4th row
Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes)
Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari)
5th row
Romain Grosjean (FRA/Lotus)
Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Force India)
6th row
Sergio Perez (MEX/Sauber)
Paul di Resta (GBR/Force India)
7th row
Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes)
Bruno Senna (BRA/Williams)
8th row
Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber)
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso)
9th row
Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/Toro Rosso)
Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/Caterham)
10th row
Charles Pic (FRA/Marussia)
Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Caterham)
11th row
Timo Glock (GER/Marussia)
Pedro de la Rosa (ESP/HRT)
12th row
Narain Karthikeyan (IND/HRT)
Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull)