Brazil GP

[Stirling_Villeneuve]

So that's it for Sundays for a few months...

Utter mayhem I thought... Hamilton deserved the win. Thanks Hulken berg!

[robcarter]

I agree!

[TBD]

Nonetheless the best driver won the championship. Second time from last to win.

[Stirling_Villeneuve]

I'd say Adrian Newey won... with a little help from the driver.

[hedgerley]

Seems to me we need a new Kimi t-shirt - "Leave me alone, I know where I'm going"

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/104596

A great race though. Kimi's pass on Michael was awesome, up there with his pass on him at Eau Rouge. What a great season for Lotus and Kimi in his comeback year.

Edited November 25, 2012 by hedgerley

[obione]

Kimi does know how to entertain!

[Stirling_Villeneuve]

He's had a great comeback season too, just read this....

"Raikkonen's the only driver this season to finish every grand prix, 19 of which he scored in to secure third in the Drivers' Championship."

Cheers Kimi!

[TBD]

To finish first first you have to finish. So, Kimi got that part right already this year.

Seb needs a new competitor for the championship next year. Why not Kimi? That Italian Job doesn't seem up to the challenge.

[Gonzo]

Raikkonen returns to rallying!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/20490221

[Iconic Ride]

Kimi takes "off roading" to a new level. Ya' gotta' love it.

They may as well have run the race on the local indoor ice skating rink. It would have provided better grip. Never a dull moment, this one. Kudos to Vettle for driving an intelligent race and not letting "podium fever" get the best of him at the expense of the Championship. And cheers to Lotus F1 for a great season.

Let the "withdrawal symptoms" begin.

[Bibs]

From twitter...

Ferrari evaluating Vettel protest. FIA not commenting. Could potentially affect championship http://t.co/yhYHWWi7

[s4simon]

^{Here's an indepth account of what happened.}

^{http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFER0esusF0&feature=player_embedded}

[Iconic Ride]

Oops.

[ramjet]

Since the telemetry is available on every car, how come the stewards aren't instantly alerted to a pass under yellows? It is accurate enough to turn the lights on & off as cars pass the track indicators, so it could easily be set up to ensure the race order doesn't change in those affected zones?

[TBD]

They wouldn't be Ferrari if they didn't look for a way to upturn the results.

[Exploded]

I feel Alonso deserves more to be a world champion, but since the mistake was only noticed by the stewards after the race, we will never know the outcome, if Vettel got a penalty for overtaking under yellow.

So I hope everything remains as is, settling in court never brings only losers and no winners, I 'm afraid.

[hedgerley]

The rules allow for the penalty to be imposed post race. Passing under yellow earns a pit lane drive through during the race or if too late or imposed when the race is completed a 20 second penalty. This would place Vettel 8th rather than 6th and lose him 4 points, meaning Alonso would win the Championship by 1 point.

 

However, as several videos show, a marshal at the end of the Pit Lane is seen to be waving a green flag as Vettel sizes up Vergne. This confirms overtaking is allowed (even though it is in a yellow light zone as the flag takes precedence under the rules) so Vettel completed the overtake. 

 

There has been no comment from Red Bull or confirmation that the FIA are even looking at it. 

[Exploded]

There has been no comment from Red Bull or confirmation that the FIA are even looking at it. 

 

I believe Ferrari hasn't filed an official complaint yet either.

But is this the way they want to win the Championship?

[Kimbers]

They showed it on Sky F1 when it was on live and both commentators, including Martin Brundall, couldn't believe they didn't give him a drive through. Apparantly they didn't show it on the BBC coverage.

 

BBC have got hold of it now. For me it's a stone waller. You can see him pass under 2 yellows and then you see the green. Unless they show favouritism to Red Bull they have to impose a penalty IMHO.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/20531638

[Al]

Not only did Sky show it in replay during the race and discuss at length in the commentary but it was one of the first questions to Ferrari and RB after the race.  Both seemed to be aware of the issue and Ferrari said they wouldn't be doing anything if Race Control didn't  They also suggested it could be a light version of the Yellow/red flag for slippery surface and maybe cameras didn't show properly.

[russellbosier]

Turns out there were two incidents. The yellow/red was in response to the Kobayashi overtake. This is an overtake on Vergne. I've seen it said the Red Bull told Vergne to stay more than 20 seconds behind Vettle in case there was an issue - which he didnt.

[hedgerley]

They showed it on Sky F1 when it was on live and both commentators, including Martin Brundall, couldn't believe they didn't give him a drive through. Apparantly they didn't show it on the BBC coverage.

 

BBC have got hold of it now. For me it's a stone waller. You can see him pass under 2 yellows and then you see the green. Unless they show favouritism to Red Bull they have to impose a penalty IMHO.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/20531638

 

Correct, he completes the move under 2 flashing yellows and well before the green light and it was discussed by Brundle and co at length.

 

But as I mentioned, if there is a protest and Red Bull have to defend the move, they would no doubt quote the marshal waving the green flag at the end of the pitlane. This takes precedence as the lights are considered "supplementary" - even if the marshal made a mistake Vettel could claim he was following that instruction.

 

This is not visible on the original Sky/BBC footage as the rev counter graphic obscures that part of the frame. But it is shown in other video's - 

 

 

Interestingly, most of the video sources which clearly show the flag being waved have been deleted "due to a copyright claim by Formula One Management"

 

Oh, the intrigue..........

 

Edited to add - Ferrari have now sought clarification of Vettel's move on Vergne from the FIA. Turns out it wasn't investigated during the race because of the waved green flag. Race control deemed the overtake legal at the time and it was not referred to the stewards.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/20541589

 

I think Ferrari are clutching at straws.

Edited November 29, 2012 by hedgerley

[TBD]

The protest has been dismissed by FIA. FIA statement is that the flag waving marshall is valid, the flashing lights, both in the car and on outside are "supplementary".

 

This whole protest was typical of that Italian Gang. Can't win on track so they look for ways to win off track. Just disgusting in my eyes.

[Exploded]

source: Ferrari to challenge Christmas

 

The Ferrari F1 team has announced that it is ‘evaluating’ whether to launch an official protest against Christmas.

‘Last December we became aware that a man travelled the world giving gifts to children whilst wearing a suit that made unauthorised use of the signature red and white Ferrari colours,’ said Maranello spokesman Paul Oozer. ‘Since then we have been carefully examining footage of this ‘Christmas’ event and, although we did not mention it at the time, we now believe we have a case against the gentleman who infringed our copyright, Mr Claus, which we can string out in an over-dramatic and pathetically childish way.’

If the Italian team decides to go ahead with its action against Father Christmas, it could have dire consequences for the jocular Laplander’s usual present distribution routine and indeed for Christmas itself. However, Ferrari believe they have a solution to this potential seasonal crisis; ‘As the rightful users of the red and white colour scheme, we would take over the whole Christmas event,’ said a spokesman. ‘Fernando Alonso has the pace to deliver presents all over the world in just one night and Felipe Massa looks like an elf. Plus, the 2012 car was basically a bit of a turkey.’

As for the actual presents to be delivered to youngsters across the globe, Ferrari claim they would have a solution to that too. ‘What child would not want to receive a Ferrari-branded golfing glove or Ferrari-branded ice scraper?’ their spokesman asked. ‘Although of course in return the child would owe us 390 and 735 Euros respectively.’

Whilst Ferrari continue to deliberate on their next move, others are less than impressed with their potential plan to ruin Christmas. ‘For fuck’s sake, can’t they just drop it and move on,’ said the rest of the world, yesterday.

[ramjet]

Denmark to sue Ferrari over unauthorised use of red and white colours. Denmark who adopted the colours on their national flag in 1219 will sue Ferrari who adopted the colours some 710 years later in 1929.

 

Though I can't find any news article to support this, good on the Danes I say.