F1 - Japan Qualifying Sat 4 Oct 2014 14:30 AEST ONE HD

[gary]

Coverage of the Qualifying session for this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix
begins on Saturday afternoon at 14:30 AEST on ONE HD.

Coverage of they race itself is also on ONE HD on Sunday at 16:30 AEDT.

With typhoon Phanfone in the Pacific, there is the possibility of rain on
the Sunday.

if the typhoon were to hit Suzuka itself, there is even speculation that the
race might be suspended.
See http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/29455024

With Hamilton now on 241 points and Rosberg on 238, it will be interesting
to see what happens between these two.

Daniel Ricciardo is sitting on 181 points and there will be
many fans who would love to see him score a victory on a circuit where
in theory the Red Bull might do okay.

Rumours are circulating as to whether Alonso might leave Ferrari
and possibly go to McLaren in 2015 or 2016. He hasn't ruled it out.
See http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/29457332

On a personal note, I got to spend a little time today behind the wheel
of a Formula Ford, which was a real lot of fun. :thumbsup:

[Exfso]

Yeah looking at the sat pix, that is a pretty mean looking system and could well cause hassles.

http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/satellite/?tz=AEST&unit=p23&domain=15&view=05&satSubmit=Refresh+View

It is forcast to move north and then swing Northeast just to the east of Japan/Suzuka, but being a typhoon anything could happen just as with Tropical Cyclones.

[kkara4]

Gary, are there many F1 fans on this forum? My brother and dad are avid followers, im merely the photographer lol. We got back from Singapore F1 last week, i got some great pics and was an awesome holiday overall :).

That formula ford looks cool!

[gary]

Hi! :hi:

There's a small group of us here where the Venn diagram (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venn_diagram) of
"amateur astronomy enthusiast" forms an intersection with "F1 follower". :)

Fantastic that you went to Singapore and your dad and brother and
if you have any pictures to share, we'd love to see them, either in the
Terrestrial Photography forum or feel free to add them to this thread!

The Formula Ford was cool. Going into the braking zone before a corner,
the "obi-wan Kenobi" half of the brain that received prior instruction is
telling you, "it will make it around this even faster than V8 Supercars are
capable of cornering, so apply 20% to 30% throttle now and drive through
the apex", whilst your inner ear is telling the other half of the brain,
"you are coming in too hot, don't lift off the brake". :lol:

[kkara4]

haha nice, i will upload some of the better pictures when i get home this afternoon.

they are large, so will provide photobucket links :)

[julianh72]

Add me to that group!

I've been to a few F1 races, but an absolute highlight for me was the 1989 Silverstone Grand Prix, where I managed to spend some time in the Benetton pits (as in INSIDE the pit garage - "Look, but don't touch anything!") during Saturday practice and qualifying, thanks to a cousin who was a mad-keen club motor-sport participant, and had some good connections with some of the British F1 teams.

And then in 2012, I was lucky enough to score a double-pass to the Qantas hospitality suite in Melbourne, which is built on top of the pit garages. I got some fabulous photographs leaning out the window (glass of champagne in hand), looking straight down on the mechanics working on the Red Bulls, Ferraris, McLarens ...

(Oh yes - and on the subject of Suzuka 2014: Go Daniel!)

[kkara4]

Well to make you guys super jealous/cant wait till i upload pics, we knew a marshall at the track who let us know about the hush hush public walkabout that occurs on the Thursday night in singapore.

We got access to the entire track, with Grosjean, Maldanado, Chilton, Vettel etc doing their track walks! I didnt know what they look like so my dad and brother just pointed and said "take a pic of that guy"! My dad had fun walking around as if he was part of their team lol.

Then we went down the pit lane and looked at all the teams preparing the cars for practice.

After that we were trying to find the route home and bumped rather casually into Nico Hulkenburg going back to his hotel. There were only a few ppl around.

So we waited in that spot till 3am, meeting and taking pictures with Bottas, Perez, Maldanado, Vettel, Chilton, Christian Horner, Toto Wolff, Bianchi, Gutierrez, Sutil, Alonso. Raikonnen sped out in a golf cart so fast that no one could take any pictures lol. Kobayashi and Grosjean were pretty annoyed and so didnt want to take pics/autographs.

There were a few other people too, and i started just taking group shots with some lol.

At 2.45am or so, everyone left, but dad said he had a feeling we should wait a few minutes.

7 minutes later it was just us 3, and Danny Ricciardo came out. He had problems with the car so had to stay back late. He spent 5 minutes with us, a brief chat, some pictures, and he carefully took his time signing my brother's tshirt.

Brother: "we're from Brisbane!"
Ricciardo: "Good on ya fellas!"
Dad: "Good luck for the race!"
Ricciardo: "Cheers mate, you guys have a good night!"

Or so the conversation went haha.

For qualifying, i managed to get a premium photography spot at turn 1 and practice/qualifying at turn 23. What amazing spots, and managed to get photos that i really wasnt expecting to get!

We also saw some great/rare supercars earlier in the trip, highlights of which were a Lamborghini LP720 and a Lamborghini Sesto Elemento.

Sorry for the waffle lol, but its nice to tell a story :)

A never to be forgotten moment

[astroron]

Another one here.:D
Check all the goss every day
on this site.
http://www.grandprix.com/index.html
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Andy01]

There was a typhoon that hit the Suzuka F1 GP a few years back 2004 I think, I remember Webber was leading but was rammed by then rookie Vettel in the Toro Rosso. His quote in response made it live to air, "These young kids, come along and F#@K it all up" classic Webbo :)

It was wet back in the 80's as well - as in Monsoon wet - if it's like that it will be a lottery to pick a winner. Might as well back Kamui in the Caterham!

I too have had a ball in a Formula Ford! Best fun you can have with your clothes on I reckon. It was at Longford in Victoria, kind of a mini Bathurst circuit with sweeping corners and elevation changes. Woo Hoo!

Go Dan! :thumbsup:

Andy

[astroron]

Results of first practice Japanese Grand Prix.
http://www.grandprix.com/race/r912p1results.html
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Starlite]

You may have seen this already," Riccardo Patrese drives wife" youtube:):)

[astroron]

Are we missing something:question:
The link maybe;)
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Andy01]

check out 17y/o Max Verstappen's time - first run in ann F1 - 12th fastest time and within half a second of teammate Kyvat! Fire truck!

[Starlite]

Sorry Ron, didn't work, you will have to google.Riccardo Patrese drives wife .:):)

[astroron]

:sadeyes:
Maybe next time. ;)

[gary]

Hi Ron,

I had read here on the official F1 web site that Honda had revealed
images of its new power unit for the 2015 season :-
http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2014/10/16410.html

Meantime on the web site you kindly supplied the link to, Ferrari
argue to relax the engine development freeze rule. Under the rules
this year, in order to try and reduce costs, the engine designs were
"frozen" and could only be changed for safety or reliability reasons.
See http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns29051.html

Mercedes clearly came out with a killer power unit design that could
see them dominate for some time.

What is unclear to me, now that all the other engine suppliers had to
open their kimonos with their engine designs at the beginning of
this year, might that give Honda a significant advantage in steering
the design of their own engine?

Or is it a case of "good luck to you if you can create a physical embodiment
of an engine that is any match for the engineering marvel of the
Mercede's power unit?"

[mithrandir]

Try this one Ron - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIhGJyLR6TI

[scagman]

Mercedes 1,2 again.
Ricciardo into the wall at turn 16 and brings out the red flag.

Had a 4 lap drive of a V8 supercar around Bathurst in 2010 that was a lot of fun. Only problem was the instructor sitting in the passenger seat. Think driving a Formula Ford would be a lot of fun esp. without the passenger.

[glend]

Yeah Vetel quits Red Bull, DR to be lead driver. A fitting end to a sploit brat. He won't get the same money on another team and Mercedes won't have an opening unless Rosberg moves on. What was he making, I heard $30mil.

[Starlite]

Thanks for helping me out Andrew.:) cheers.

[gary]

Musical chairs.

Alonso to McLaren-Honda.
Vettel to Ferrari
Kvyat to Red Bull

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/29487911

[glend]

Vetel going where? Does he have a deal with Honda?? - i thought i heard this just announced on tv during qualifying coverage by the Aussie commentator in a telephone interview.

[gary]

Vettel to Ferrari - to fill the childhood dream of driving for them.

Alonso signed up with engine maker Honda who will be supplying McLaren
next year. The Honda engine is an unknown quantity but he will be hoping
they will provide him with the type of engineering brilliance that Mercedes
provided to Hamilton and Rosberg.

[gary]

Apparently tomorrow's weather has been upgraded to a super-typhoon.

Not only may it jeopardize the race but they all need to get out of there for
Russia next week.

[julianh72]

Vettel is going to Ferrari - I think it's a pretty safe bet that he'll be on good money there!

[Andy01]

Woohoo! schmettel goes to Ferrari for Megabux and Dan's now #1 at RedBull. No, can't see a downside in this at all :)

Alonso to Mclaren Honda with at least 1-2 yrs development. Renault to catchup fast... Hmmm thinking Dan's in the box seat next year!

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!

Andy

[gary]

Photos appearing on the Redbull twitter account 15 minutes ago show
plenty of standing water in the pit lane as the rain comes down in Japan.

https://twitter.com/redbullracing

[gary]

Note that for states where daylight savings came into effect that the
scheduled start time for the race corresponds to 17:00 AEDT in Sydney.

Not all program guides are correct.

[astroron]

Eat you words Mr Jones:P
Good on Ya Lewis.:D
Cheers:thumbsup:

[gary]

Hope Bianchi pulls through.

Apparently he has hit the tractor that was being used to recover Sutil's
car.

Story & pictures :-
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-2781079/Unconscious-Jules-Bianchi-taken-hospital-crashing-tractor-recovering-car-Japanese-Grand-Prix.html

[astroron]

Martin Brundell was saying,what is that crane doing there,it's in a dangerous place, then a few moment's later Bianchi hits it.
I hope he is not too seriously hurt.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[04Stefan07]

Waiting on news, hoping he pull through.

[gary]

Looks like his Marussia has possibly slid-in underneath the tractor-crane.

A terrible accident.

See http://www.welt.de/sport/formel1/article132928654/Schwerer-Bianchi-Unfall-ueberschattet-Hamilton-Sieg.html

French sports magazine L'Equipe states that Ferrari have stated that
Bianchi's hospital operation has ended and that he is not on life support.
If this is true, it might be an encouraging sign.

See http://www.lequipe.fr/info-continue/bianchi/97363

[JB80]

Yes, a very tragic accident and it strikes me it should of been avoided. None of that matters though right now and hopefully Jules pulls through.

Conflicting reports that he is breathing by himself but again just as long as he is on the mend. I truly hope so as some of the pics speak for themselves.

[gary]

The Sydney Morning Herald today is reporting on Bianchi's condition
and video footage has emerged showing how horrific the impact was.



Story including video footage here :-
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorsport/it-is-very-very-serious-f1-driver-jules-bianchi-in-critical-condition-after-severe-head-injury-20141007-10r3m8.html

Image of Bianchi being attended to, whilst still in the car. by the track doctor :-
http://www.formulapassion.it/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Bianchi-Suzuka-20141.jpg

[kkara4]

I was watching the race and was wondering what all the Marshalls were waving at while they were recovering Sutil's car.

Here is a photo from my encounter with him, and later from the driver parade:

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z377/kkara4/Singapore%20F1%202014/_D5A0818_zpsf5a5e848.jpg
http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z377/kkara4/Singapore%20F1%202014/_D5A2743_zpsfa3eccc2.jpg

He was very friendly and polite, more than happy to spend time taking photographs with those that were around.

[Andy01]

Story including video footage here :-
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorsport/it-is-very-very-serious-f1-driver-jules-bianchi-in-critical-condition-after-severe-head-injury-20141007-10r3m8.html

Crikey, the poor bugger's car's gone under the damn tractor, and the speed of the impact, wow - no wonder it's serious.

Can someone now tell me why there's no safety car deployed when service vehicles are removing broken racecars when it's A) raining and B) dark?

[kkara4]

A question which will no doubt be addressed from here on, its just sad that something like this has to happen before changes are made rather than a common sense approach :(

[Exfso]

This Youtube video gives you an idea of the speed at which he hit the tractor, unbelievable he is even still alive. A complete stuff-up by Charlie Whiting I reckon, waved double yellows when there is a tractor on the circuit, crazy sh!t!!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v62763_d2HE (http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v62763_d2HE)

[Kunama]

Notice also that the flag marshall in the tower adjacent is waving the green flag !!!!!!!

[04Stefan07]

In my opinion the video should be taken down from all websites.

After seeing it I felt absolutely sick. You think straight away how anyone could survive such a shocking impact.

I highly recommend you don't watch the video.

The latest update is that he is breathing on his own after his second operation.

Live updates can be found here:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formula-1/jules-bianchi-crash-mondays-updates-4385882

[astroron]

Williams are reported to be wanting to have F1 cars with a cockpit cover.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/29546041
A couple of points;
One it would have made not a skeric of difference whether it had a cover or not,it was the G force of the brain smashing against the skull casing that coursed the damage.
If there had been a cover it would have been crushed down on top of the driver as it went underneath the crane.
Two the temperature in the cockpit would be intolerable,plus the visibility afforded the driver would be even less than it is today.
I think they may as well just put the engines and technology into Le Mans type cars and do away with F1 if they go down the road of a covered cockpit.
My 2¢ worth.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[astroron]

Why:question: we see worse than this on the daily news and from racing all over the world, especially circuit racing in the USA from places like Indianapolis.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[rat156]

As I actually compete in motorsport, not just watch it on the TV, I can assure you that the waving of double yellows means that drivers should EXPECT to see a slow moving vehicle on the track or nearby. It is very common practice to recover vehicles under double yellows.

From the CAMS manual of Motorsport...


If, as you suggest that when a recovery vehicle is in operation the race is suspended under a safety car then you'll see more laps under the safety car. It is not what the sport wants. There are adequate controls in place. The enquiry that will be held into the incident will hopefully find out where the controls failed. However, this could be just a freak occurrence. What must be determined is what sent the Marussia out of control, everyone else made it around that corner.

Of course there was a green flag after the incident, this shows drivers where they can resume racing.

Motorsport is dangerous, it's written on the tickets you buy for the GP. Unfortunately things like this can and will happen. Thankfully the safety improvements (many of which have ended up in your daily driver) have meant less fatalities, but it will happen.

Cheers
Stuart

[Exfso]

Ok, fair comment Stuart:thumbsup:

[Kunama]

The initial incident took place well beyond the flag marshall tower by some 15 metres, therefore the green flag should not be displayed until the next marshall station given that the initial incident had not yet been cleared!

[rat156]

Again, if you know the rules you'll understand what a green flag means under double waved yellows...

Imagine a line is drawn across the track at that marshal point. That green flag means that, from that line onwards and not a millimetre sooner, the track is clear and cars are able to return to racing speeds. It’s a little like a speed limit sign on public roads; you can’t increase your speed until you are past the sign (unlike the behaviour of almost all drivers on Melbourne roads, who start to speed up from the moment they can read the sign). A car that is only returning to racing speeds at that line will find it virtually impossible to hit Sutil’s Sauber and the recovery crane, which by that time was almost in-line with the flag point.

Kimi Raikkonen pointed out that cars can still aquaplane under safety car conditions, so if that's the case, whenever the race is under SC for wet weather, the race should be stopped?

The FIA should (and probably will) not listen to all the knee-jerk reactions, find out what was happening in Bianchi's car (telemetry, camera footage), get Charlie Whiting and his crew in, get the driver in should he recover enough to be able to do so, sit down and examine the situation to see if anything could have prevented it.

Forza Jules.

Cheers
Stuart

[The_bluester]

Regards the double yellow versus green flag. Having watched the footage (One of those times when you really wonder if you should) if you look closely, there is a double waved yellow at that flag point until the first car was recovered back to before that flag point, at which time the marshal started displaying the green flag.

Flags wise it was managed exactly as it was supposed to have been.

At this point I think the concentration should be on Bianchi's recovery. I reckon the FIA will be very trigger happy for a while about putting the safety car out while a recovery is going on. Maybe they would still have had cars go off under a safety car (They did at race start on new tyres) but at least they would be moving at a much lower speed.

[The_bluester]

On the subject of closed cockpits for F1 cars, it is hard to say if it would have improved the outcome of this crash or not. If the injury causing moment was the whole crash event as such (In that the car was brought to a stop in X distance) then it would potentially not have helped much to have a closed cockpit. If on the other hand the defining moment was his helmet hitting part of the recovery vehicle then a closed cockpit could potentially make a huge difference, given it was strong enough to withstand or at least substantially dissipate the forces involved.

I don't think that we can speculate either way as to what the real situation was but as another keen motorsport participant I do want to keep tabs on the outcome, firstly that the driver hopefully comes out of it OK and then to see if I pick up any ideas that can improve my own or others safety in the car. I may be travelling a lot slower than these guys but I don't take safety any less seriously as a result.

[Exfso]

Apparently the injury was mainly caused by the rapid decelleration of the brain inside the skull and not so much as being hit by the tractor. This is apparently a quite common injury in car accidents where a vehicle stops very rapidly in a short distance. It is a devastating injury too where the outcome is quite poor. Those with better medical qualifications may see it differently, but that is what I am reading at present.:(