Motor Talk

[Source Image: F1 Fanatic]

Grand Prix of Korea

Pre-Race:

Rain is in the forecast – YES!

Hamilton on pole position, all that talk of Button being better than him must have bothered him as he has been rather moody all weekend.  1st driver other than Red Bull on pole this season.  Another reminder of just how dominant Red Bull has been this season.

Championship may have already been decided, but there is still some very interesting stories to play out the rest of the season.

Massa out qualifies Alonso for the 4th time in the last 6 races.  Uh Oh.

Announced this week that the Force India team has had $100 million invested in their team.  They could become a team to reckoned with next season. 

Lap 1 of 55 (1/55) – Vettel pushing Hamilton and able to pass…great driving.  It’s not often we get to see his dogfighting skills (usually 1st lap) as he is always in the lead, but when we do it’s easy to see why he has been so dominating.  In fact, starting to think that he could win in the HRT car.

1/55 – Looks like Vettel is on his game plan early: Get to first, maintain 1+ second lead, PULL AWAY and set cruise control to victory.  It’s worked 9 times this year.

1/55 – Button falls from 3rd to 6th.

1/55 – Boring start to race, but VERY exciting first lap.  Vettel already 1 second ahead of Hamilton.

5/55 – Hamilton sets fast lap 1:45, still 1 second behind Vettel.  So, far Vettel not building on lead like he usually does.

8/55 – Vettel lead now 2 seconds on Hamilton.

10/55 – Vettel sets fast lap 1:44 now 2.5 seconds on Hamilton. 

10/55 – Race announcers (SPEED) mention that cars burn 1 gallon of fuel per lap.  55 laps means they need 55 gallons.  All this results in car carrying 400 lbs more than at end of race.

11/55 – Vettel sets fast lap, tyres still good.  Super Soft tyres supposedly will only last about 10 laps.

11/55 – Button really pushing Alonso for 5th place.

13/55 – Great battle for 4th going on between Massa, Alonso, Button and Rosberg.

14/55 – Button and Rosberg pit and drag race to end of pits…Rosberg comes out ahead.  Button immediately passes Rosberg who then passes Button right back.  Good stuff.

14/55 – Vettel’s plan working, now 4.6 second lead on Hamilton.

15/55 – Button passes Rosberg again with aid of DRS.  DRS is annoying at times, but Martin Brundle made a good point last week, that it does help the cars that are clearly faster go ahead and get by so they have a chance at getting better position.  Have to wonder if DRS was at Abu Dhabi last year if Alonso would have been able to get by Petrov.

15/55 – Vettel now 5.4 ahead of Hamilton.

16/55 – Hamilton pits and stays with Super Softs.  Not the best pit (3.8 sec) by the McLaren team.  Back to race in 2nd.

16/55 – Button finally gets to 5th place.

17/55 – Vettel pits and stays in 1st place.  An astonisihingly quick pit by Red Bull team.  Saftey Car is out due to Schumacher and Petrov incident.

19/55 – Hoping Saftey Car will close previous gaps made by Vettel. 

19/55 – Vettel starting to back up the field for the restart.  Yet, another skill that Vettel is scary good with.

19/55 – Will Hamilton be able to catch Vettel with DRS after restart? 

20/55 – Safety car is off and Vettel hits the GO button!

20/55 – Button now battling Webber for 3rd and Vettel already has his 1+ second gap he needs on Hamilton. 

23/55 – Vettel sets fast lap with a 1:42.  Very clear that he wants ALL the records.  If he wins this race it will be his 10th of the season, making him the 2nd driver to accomplish feat behind the great Schumacher who has record with 13 wins in one season.  Oh yeah, Vettel still has chance at that as well.  Boys and Girls, he will NOT let up the rest of the season.

25/55 – Korea facilites look very boring.  Looks like track is in a waste land.  Does not appear to be sold out either.  Announced crowd of 80,000+ seems VERY exaggerated.

27/55 – Hamilton all of a sudden now 0.5 seconds behind Vettel could have chance in DRS zone.

29/55 – Vettel, Hamilton and Webber all very close now.  Webber on Softs may have the advantage this race as Vet and Ham are on Super Softs.

30/55 – So much for the fun as Vettel is quickly back to a 1.4 second lead on Hamilton as he is battling his butt off with Webber.

30/55 – Vettel sets new fast lap and Hamilton comes on radio and tells his team, “don’t talk to me when I’m racing!”.

32/55 – Hamilton now 2.4 behind as he tries to defend Webber.  Webber should be able to pass in next DRS zone.

33/55 – Hamilton fighting like a mad man with Webber and falls over 3 seconds behind Vettel.  Told to pit by his crew as you can clearly see on TV that his rear tyres are toast.

33/55 – In the unexplainable move Webber follows Hamilton into pits.  Remember he should have had at least 2 more laps in his Softs, while Hamilton HAD to pit with his Super Softs.  Hamilton is able to stay ahead of Webber and they both get softs this time.  What was Red Bull thinking? 

34/55 – Vettel pits and comes out 2nd behind Alonso who has yet to pit.

35/55 – As the kids like to say, an EPIC battle going on with Hamilton and Webber.  VERY EXCITING! 

37/55 – Meanwhile back up front…Vettel sets another fast lap.  Yawn.

37/55 – Button starting to lurk behind the epicness that is happening in front of him and is now in 4th.

37/55 – Alonso pits, giving lead back to Vettel.

38/55 – Hamilton/Webber battle taking it’s toll…Vettel is now 9.9 seconds up.  WOW!

39/55 – Another lap…and now the lead is 10.5!

40/55 – Alonso sets the new fast lap.

41/55 – Alonso sets another fast lap.  This guy never quits!

45/55 – Vettel has officially set his cruise control and has a 11 second lead.  He is well on his way to this 10th win of the season.

48/55 – Button now part of Hamilton/Webber battle.

49/55 – Webber and Hamilton going BACK and forth for 2nd place.  What a dogfight!  Like two boxers trading one punch after another.

50/55 – Hamilton told to use “blue button” with 5 laps left.  Huh?

51/55 – Oh yeah, that guy that is up front now has a 12.2 second lead.  Poor guy never gets any TV time during a race.  Can’t be good for sponsors. 

53/55 – Will Hamilton be able to hold off Webber with upcoming traffic?

54/55 – Hamilton sets fastest lap heading into last lap.

55/55 – Not to be out done Vettel sets final fast lap of race with a 1:39 and wins the Grand Prix of Korea, followed by Hamilton and Webber.  Red Bull officially clinches Constructor Title.

[Source Image: F1 Fanatic]

Japanese Grand Prix – Race Recap

Pre-Race:

Amazing how many champions (11) have been crowned at Suzuka.

New front wing flown in just in time for Vettel’s car…it almost doesn’t seem fair to the other teams.  Everything goes right for Vettel.  This is definitely his year.

Starting to wonder if ANY drivers like Lewis Hamilton.  He has got to be the most annoying driver on the grid.

After watching interview with Jake Humphrey of BBC, I have to say that Jenson Button is a true class act. 

Loving this BBC coverage.  No commercial breaks and Martin Brundle is absolute gold on the grid.  He doesn’t care who he interrupts or pisses off, he is going to get the viewer the story he wants us to hear.

More BBC coverage gold: the side-by-side pole lap comparison between Button and Vettel.

After segment showing some of the crazy F1 gifts sold in Japan, my wife says, “We want Ecclestone puppets!! Or are WE Ecclestone puppets?!…Yea F1 Austin!”

In case you needed one more reason to love the BBC…No coverage of Fernando Alonso during Pre-Race! (My wife’s favorite driver)

Lap 1 of 53 (1/53) – Cheap move by Vettel, pushing Button…wonder if he will get penalty.

2/53 – Race control announces that they are investigating move by Vettel.

3/53 – Vettel sets fastest lap 1:40

4/53 – Here we go again…Vettel sets fastest lap 1:39. Already has lead and is building upon his lead.

4/53 – I know Vettel will get championship but, sure am hoping for an exciting race. 

6/53 – Alonso makes move on Massa for 4th place…almost looked like team orders?

6/53 – 6 laps in and Vettel already has 3 second lead on Hamilton.

7/53 – Race control announces that there will not be a penalty on Vettel.  Hamilton needs to take note…when you have history of NOT doing stupid moves, you DON’T get penalized as often.

8/53 – Vettel has now built 4 second lead.  CRAP!

8/53 – Button gaining on Hamilton and passes.  Almost looked like team orders with ease of pass. 

8/53 – Turns out Hamilton has a right rear puncture and heads to pits.

9/53 – Can Button catch Vettel?  Button’s nickname should be Tyre Master.

10/53 – Vettel pits, Button new race leader.

10/53 – Suzuka appears to be a GREAT track.  Button pits with Alonso giving lead to Massa.

12/53 – Vettel takes lead as Massa finally pits and now has 2 second lead on Button.

13/53 – Watch out Vettel…Button sets fastest lap and only 5.4 seconds covers the top 4 drivers.  Looks like we have a race after all.

16/53 – Vettel only leads by 2.7 seconds and has not been able to build a huge lead like he usually does.

17/53 – Kobayashi shows some great skills every race.  He desperately needs a good car.

18/53 – Hamilton is the CJ Wilson of F1.  He clearly has the talent that gets everyone excited, but has absolutely no consistency.  Very frustrating and exciting to watch.

19/53 – Button really gaining on Vettel and is now only 0.5 seconds behind.

20/53 – Vettel pits for tyres and Button takes lead.  Can he build a big enough lead to keep when he pits?  One of the fastest pits I have seen…Can Red Bull open up a quick-lube place around here?  I imagine they could change my oil in 60 seconds or less.

21/53 – Button pits AND keeps lead on Vettel.  We now officially have a race on our hands.  Button gained over 1 second in the pits. 

21/53 – Hamilton and Massa have ANOTHER collision!  WOW!

22/53 – Webber sets new fastest lap.

23/53 – Button sets fastest lap with a 1:38 and has a 0.7 lead on Vettel.

24/53 – Hamilton drops to 7th behind Schumacher.

24/53 -  Kobayashi and Schumacher battle coming out of the pits.  I keep saying this, but one of these days all these battles are really going to pay off.

26/53 – An incident between Hamilton and Schumacher is under investigation.  Wife says, “Hamilton keeps stewards in business.”.

27/53 – Why does every city think they need a ferris wheel?  I mean is a carny ride really a signature look that a city wants to show the world?

27/53 – Race control states no penalty on Hamilton/Schumacher incident.

27/53 – Safety Car off and Button really backs up the field on the restart.

28/53 – Button gets great start, can he keep his lead?

29/53 – It appears so, as he sets a new fastest lap with a 1:37.

30/53 – Button is absolutely flying now, sets another fast lap.

31/53 – Vettel appears to be the opposite of Prost who was the “Professor” of calculating exactly how many points he needed for championship.  Vettel’s plan is to just win EVERYTHING.  Say what you will about Vettel, but you have to like that attitude.

31/53 – Button now leads by 2.2 seconds.

31/53 – Suzuka is a GREAT track for overtaking!  Very fun to watch.  F1 needs more tracks like this one.

32/53 – It is very clear that Alonso NEVER gives up.  Hamilton could learn a lot from his old teammate.

34/53 – Vettel pits again and drops to 11th and now we will see how all the other teams work their strategies.  Curious if this early pit is just to make sure Vettel finishes in the top 10 so he can get his one point for the title?

35/53 – Button now has a 4 second lead on Alonso.

36/53 – Hamilton pits AGAIN and drops to 10th.

36/53 – Button pits and the McLaren team gets him out with a 3.3 second stop! WOW!

38/53 – Schumacher leads race.  Hamilton passes Massa again – great battle and Alonso passes Vettel.  More amazing…I cheer Alonso on.

39/53 – Don’t look now, but Vettel just set the fastest lap.

40/53 – The rookie Sergio Peres comes out of nowhere and sets new fast lap of race.

42/53 – Schumacher finally pits and releases Button for the lead.

42/53 – Alonso showing some GREAT moves and keeps Vettel in 3rd.

44/53 – Alonso v. Vettel is a fantastic battle.  This track is very balanced between turns and straights.  This battle is really showcasing Ferrari’s straight line speed and Red Bull’s speed in the corners.

47/53 – Button lead down to only 3.7 seconds and Alonso is gaining.  Button needs to re-engage if he wants to win.

48/53 – Lead shrinks to only 2.7 seconds.

51/53 – Lead only 1.0 second!

52/53 – Button re-engages and sets fastest lap with a 1:36.

53/53 – Button wins, Vettel becomes youngest Double World Champion.

One of our favorite websites is carwalls.com and each week they upload various car photos that work as great art for the desktop of your computer. Here is this week’s pick:

The 2011 Shelby GT500 is simply beautiful. I would hate to have that image in my rearview, but rest assured because that snake would not be behind you for long thanks to its 550 horsepower and 510 ft-lbs  of torque that it keeps on tap for special occasions.

[Source Image: F1 Fanatic]

Grand Prix of Singapore – Race Recap

Pre-Race:

Vettel qualified 0.5 seconds faster than 2^nd place Webber

Vettel’s 11^th pole of the season, record is 14 in one season by Nigel Mansell

Singapore one of my favorite races of the season…becoming one of the better ones on the circuit being that it is a road course, exotic location, tough course…keeping driver’s from just putting it on auto-pilot. Read more…

There is no denying it, 2009 was a difficult year for the automotive industry. With the economic recession in full swing many auto makers were hit with hard times. General Motors being the most notable, was forced into bankruptcy and many wonder how the auto maker has been doing since its recovery. I was given an invite to come out to the Team Escalade Texas Event at the GM assembly plant in Arlington, to see for myself. Read more…

No matter what you do, or who you are the odds are you have heard of Top Gear at one time or another. Avid followers would know that the Top Gear franchise has spread all over the world faster than STD’s in a college dorm. The BBC team has made attempts to  spread the franchise all over the globe, and in many different languages including Russian, Korean, Australian (just like English except with more spiders) and now they have spread the gospel to the states (Similar to the original English Top Gear, except with more trucks and less turns). Read more…

One of our favorite websites is carwalls.com and each week they upload various car photos that work as great art for the desktop of your computer. Here is this week’s pick:

Ferrari’s latest and greatest entry level supercar has taken the automotive world by storm over the past few months, and it just got better! The striking new 458 just lost its top for your viewing pleasure.

Assuming no more riots in F1 hosting cities, the 2011 season is right around the corner.  And this 2011 season should be one of the more exciting ones with the return of KERS and a new adjustable rear wing.  If your not exactly sure what KERS is then here is Mark Weber to help sort things out for the layman like me…

Well…it’s officially official now, as they have finally broke ground on the U.S. Grand Prix racetrack.  Some of the news we get from this video, is to expect a race sometime in June of 2012.  Here is the video from the Austin American-Statesman…

Step 1: Admire the pretty, but useless scoop. The scoop that came standard on all 01-04 Mustang GT’s really made a semi-bland looking pony car look aggressive. I personally love it. But I hate its wind hogging characteristics. In all reality it just increases the wind resistance, which is not something I am ok with… especially if it is not functional.

Solution: Make it functional! Duh. Hit the jump for step 2… Read more…