F1 Singapore Qualifying Sat 21 Sep 2013 22:30 ONE HD

[gary]

Coverage of the F1 qualifying session in Singapore this coming Saturday
will be on ONE starting at 22:30 AEST.

Coverage of the race itself will be on TEN on Sunday starting at 21:40 AEST.

Since 2008 when racing began in Singapore again, there have only been three
drivers who have won in those five years - Vettel, Alonso and Hamilton.

The tight street circuit with its 23 corners and 80 gear changes per lap is challenging
and the Safety Car has had to come out on every race held there. Sometimes
more than once in a race.

Apparently the turn 10 chicane - the infamous Singapore Sling - has been removed
and is now a single apex left hand bend. In a simulator Alonso reported lap
times are now 1 second faster as a result.

The electricity for the lighting of the track comes from a dozen mobile twin
power generators that deliver 3.2 Megawatts of power.

[tlgerdes]

I was a little miffed that my recent trip the hospital meant that I had to cancel being in SG this week. Couldnt stay for the race, but was booked into the Marina Mandarin right on the track. So could have got to watch some of the practice on Friday.

[gary]

Hi Trevor,

No good about hospital.

Back in the 80's a fellow engineer and work colleague had to go on a business
trip to Cocoa Beach, Florida.

He was sitting in a diner in Cocoa Beach having lunch and the waitress came over
and re-filled his coffee.

"Y'all here for the Shuttle launch?", she asked.

"What Shuttle launch?. When?", asked my friend excitedly.

"Oh, about fifteen minutes ago", the waitress replied.

If he had only walked out the front door of the diner he would apparently have seen it
lift off. He was pretty miffed to say the least. So near and yet so far. :lol:

[astroron]

Gary,I am so looking forward to this race, it just has too be better than the Belgium GP:prey:
Talk about missing things:question:
I went to Kennedy Space twice,two years apart too watch a shuttle launch,and both times it was cancelled:mad2::mad2::mad2:

Cheers:thumbsup:

[gary]

Mark Webber has received a 10-place grid penalty at the Korean Grand Prix
for being given the lift by Alonso at the end of last night's Singapore Grand Prix.

Alonso received a reprimand.

Story here -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/24198278

Many will remember when Webber cave Alonso the lift (http://www.foxsports.com.au/motor-sports/formula-one/fernando-alonso-and-ferrari-pass-fuel-tests-after-hitching-a-lift-from-mark-webber-after-the-german-grand-prix/story-e6frf3zl-1226101055304#.Uj-Oo6h--Hs) in 2011 at the German Grand Prix.
the FIA took no action on that occasion.

[Astro_Bot]

It's getting boring watching Vettel win. :(

[simmo]

Unbelievable.

They are good mates as if Alonso would gas it and see his mate go flying. PC rubbish again. What is going on. :screwy: It seems that today the people in charge have led a very sheltered lives with no fun or camaraderie. I thought it was a great gesture of sportsmanship and if I was there I would have stood and applauded loudly. :thumbsup: As if they don't already challenge fate while driving. Can men not be men. :rolleyes:

[simmo]

Yeah its a little obvious if sebs on pole who's going to win. He's the modern Schumacher and it's going to be hard to see him beaten any time soon short of a motor meltdown like last night.

Might change next year with the introduction of the new motors.

Kimmi raced his socks off too 'ey.

[Larryp]

Apparently drivers need permission from a marshall to walk onto the track, and Mark went onto the track after being told by a marshall NOT to do so.

[simmo]

My point exactly.

[Larryp]

Fully explained on the "Autosport" website:)

[astroron]

I think people are just miffed that Red Bull and Vettel are just too good.
From the Safety car to the end of the race,Vettel was increasing his lead by two seconds a lap, too finish a full thirty seconds in front of Alonso.
Cars where still on the track and had to take avoiding action with stopped car on the track.
Safety is still paramount.
If people want to watch carnage they should watch NASCAR or Demolition Darby's.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[gary]

Hi Ron,

What is remarkable about Vettel's drives of late is not just that he consistently wins
but he creates the illusion that it is near effortless. :)

At the moment everyone else battles hard for that extra 1/10 sec in a lap or for
that extra bit of grip with the tyres and you see them struggling to do it.

For example, in Singapore at around lap 16, Alonso comes out of the pits with
fresh tyres but struggles lap after lap trying to overtake Paul Di Resta in a Force India.
Not until Di Resta pitted on lap 21 did Alonso get set free.

Meantime Vettel seemed to make, on demand, whatever gap they deemed
prudent between he and the following car.

During the races in the past year, we hear Rocky routinely
tell him to slow down when it is obvious he is trying to set the fastest lap as well.

Ever played a computer game where you start off on the lowest setting, win
far too easily and think, "This is not challenging. I have to raise the difficulty
setting"?

It feels like Vettel is in some alternate universe computer game where he
is on the easy setting and everyone else is at the difficult setting. :)

[The_bluester]

It is a pity in a lot of ways, it does certainly get dull watching him romp off into the distance while the real racing goes on back in the pack. You do wonder a little how he would go if he was in the pack and having to fight with degraded aero and knocking the tyres around rather than being able to set his own pace.

It is a bit like parts of the Schumacher era, I recall one race when they muffed a fuel stop which cost him badly but it put him in clear air so they asked him for about a dozen laps mid race at near pole time from qualifying, he just reeled them off and at the next fuel stop, popped out in front again and went on to win.

It will be interesting next year, surely the change in technical rules will result in a lot more mechanical issues for a while and evern performance differences while they sort it all out.

[Larryp]

Even with rule changes and new engines next year, Red Bull still have Adrian Newey designing their car, and that will still be an advantage.

[gary]

What was funny was that in a round of musical chairs, Lotus just lost their head
aerodynamicist to Ferrari but then grabbed one of Ferrari's technical team to replace
him.

Who both Ferrari and Lotus undoubtedly dream they could get would be Adrian Newey. :lol:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/24082291
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/formula-1-lotus-signs-ferrari-aero-chief-095712114--f1.html

[Larryp]

EVERYONE would want Adrian Newey ;)

[gary]

Mark Webber tweeted three hours ago that -



and that with respect going out on the track ...