[Alvin]

Relaxing @ Spa

[Alvin]

This is how I did it Michael!

[Alvin]

Shall we have a little chat?

[Alvin]

1st corner carnage

[Alvin]

Nico v Hamilton 2014

[Alvin]

SPA Practice today.

Announcement Ferrari has re-signed Kimi for 2016... Let's see if he can deliver and perhaps some inner team on-track battles w Vettel are in order...

[MikeNoun]

The last race had a little tribute to Jules Bianchi. I never knew he was so popular with the other drivers, and how they all said he had enormous talent. What shocked me was that he was pegged to take over Massa's seat in the second Ferrari alongside Alonso. Ferrari doesn't hand the keys over to any newbie, so they obviously thought highly of him. But Ferrari signed Kimi Raikkonen, and Bianchi stayed put at Marussia.

Then when rumors were flying that Raikkonen would retire, Bianchi was again the prime candidate. But then Ferrari obtained Vettel, booted Alonso, and Raikkonen decided to stay.

Vettel said that Bianchi was still the guy they would pit in Raikkonen's car when he Kimi retired. But tragedy occurred, and the racing world lost a great driver in Jules Bianchi.

Spa-Francorchamps....a classic track.

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by MikeNoun

Spa-Francorchamps....a classic track.

Agree w everything you posted Mike, and really dig the historic SPA, men & machine pic...thx!

[Alvin]

Nico Rosberg's SPA tire failure video http://youtu.be/rh2EbMxYe8A

[Alvin]

Tune-In Alert for this weekends Itialian F1 race at Monza 5 bold predictions for Monza race

Televised practice starting Friday morning on NBC Sportsnet.

Edit: Revised MERC rear "v" wing as raced @ Spa below.

[Alvin]

MONZA!

[Alvin]

Interesting Monza Race!

[Alvin]

Singapore F1 practice today...with U.S.A. driver Alexander Rossi!
"1st time in 7 years an American will race a Formula 1 Grand Prix!"


Alexander Rossi and Manor bring American driver back to F1
Autoblog · 5 hours ago
It's been a long time since an American driver has competed in Formula One. But that's precisely what we'll have to look forward to at the Singapore …

[Alvin]

Singapore Quali surprise for MERC

Kimi Raikkonen was third fastest in the second Ferrari, a fraction up on Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat. Then came the beleaguered Silver Arrows of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, followed by Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen, Felipe Massa in the second Williams and the Lotus of Romain Grosjean.

Q1 had seen Kvyat pip Hamilton for fastest time, 1m 45.340s to 1m 45.765s, but while they had to use supersoft tyres for that, Vettel was third with 1m 46.017s on the softs. Jenson Button squeaked through in the dying moments for McLaren, 1m 46.891s giving him 15th place at the expense of Sauber’s Felipe Nasr on 1m 46.965s. His partner Marcus Ericsson also failed to make it on 1m 47.088s and Pastor Maldonado couldn’t better 1m 47.323s for Lotus.

In the Marussia camp, Will Stevens jumped ahead of new team mate Alex Rossi on their final runs, with 1m 51.021s to 1m 51.523s. Both have five-place grid penalties for unscheduled gearbox changes.

As Vettel beat Kvyat with 1m 44.743s to 1m 44.979s, Carlos Sainz clobbered the wall with the left-rear of his Toro Rosso in Turn 19 as he, the McLaren drivers and the Force India drivers battled to get through to Q3. The resultant yellow flags ruined that, leaving the order outside the top 10 as Nico Hulkenberg 1m 46.305s, Fernando Alonso 1m 46.328s, Sergio Perez 1m 46.885s, Sainz 1m 46.894s and Button 1m 47.019s.

As Vettel set the pace on the first Q3 runs with 1m 44.305s, things got worse for Mercedes as Hamilton aborted his after running wide over the kerb in Turn 7. Ricciardo was second, Raikkonen third and Kvyat fourth.

The second runs merely confirmed the order, as Ricciardo trimmed down to 1m 44.428s for second, Raikkonen stayed on 1m 44.667s, and Kvyat improved only marginally to 1m 44.745s. Hamilton, however, jumped from ninth to fifth with 1m 45.300s, as Rosberg failed to improve on 1m 45.415s.

Right at the end, Vettel emphasised his superiority when he slammed round in 1m 43.885s to take his first pole since Brazil 2013. Ferrari’s last pole was Germany 2012.

Bottas took seventh for Williams with 1m 45.676s, as Verstappen’s 1m 45.798s gave Toro Rosso eighth. Massa was a disappointing ninth on 1m 46.077s, as Grosjean completed the top 10 for Lotus with 1m 46.413s.

Thus the provisional grid will line up: Vettel, Ricciardo; Raikkonen, Kvyat; Hamilton, Rosberg; Bottas, Verstappen; Massa, Grosjean; Hulkenberg, Alonso; Perez, Sainz; Button, Nasr; Ericsson, Maldonado; Stevens, Rossi.

[Alvin]

Singapore Race Safety Car out BC of this guy on track during the race! vvvvv



That's right an unknown "fan" casually walking on the race course as Vettal and other front runners go past @ full race speed!

[Alvin]

Volkswagen Close To Purchasing Red Bull Formula One Team: Report
17,80719

Stef Schrader
Filed to: F 19/18/15 1:52pm
http://blackflag.jalopnik.com/volksw...eam-1731685388

Volkswagen is closing in on a deal to purchase the Red Bull Formula One team to enter as a full works entry with VW power units in 2018, per BBC Sport. We’ve all been wondering why the Volkswagen Group keeps hiring personnel from Formula One, and I guess now we know.


Is Audi Going To Formula One? Here Is Everything We Know
Despite today's news that Audi isn't heading to Formula 1, somewhere nestled between the…
Read more
BBC F1 pundit Eddie Jordan says that the Red Bull team will likely use Ferrari engines in the interim until Volkswagen can develop its own power unit. Red Bull, too, would remain as a major sponsor of the team.

Of the Volkswagen brands, Audi is still considered the one most likely to be on a F1 entry.

Red Bull will split with current power unit supplier Renault after this year after their miserable performance in 2015. This somewhat put the team into limbo, given that Red Bull has been the de facto works entry for Renault over the past few years.

According to BBC Sport, Volkswagen board chairman Martin Winterkorn has already agreed with team boss Dietrich Mateschitz and Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko to purchase the team. Former Volkswagen Group chairman Ferdinand Piech was against the idea of going into Formula One, however, he resigned in April.

Team principal Christian Horner has publicly denied that anything is going on between the two brands, however, in Formula One, denial is the number one sign of guilt.

Update: Will it be an Audi car? If so, Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich isn’t talking about it. I caught up with him here at Lone Star Le Mans, where he’s here to support the Audi World Endurance Championship effort.

“I have no information about what’s going on,” Ullrich said.

He continued, “We’ve been in F1 25 times if you believe the papers.”

True, true. Personally, I’m rooting for MAN F1. What better Volkswagen brand is there to run an F1 effort than the one that could sell tow rigs to all the other teams?

[Alvin]

Manor Marussia prepare for Japanese Grand Prix with Jules Bianchi in mind
• F1 back at Suzuka for first time since accident which resulted in driver’s death
• Team principal John Booth: team dealing with return in a very private way



Jules Bianchi will be foremost in the thoughts of the Manor Marussia Formula One team this weekend as they prepare to return to the Japanese Grand Prix circuit where he had his horrific accident last year.

Jenson Button will soon call it a day in Formula One, reckons Damon Hill
The 25-year-old French driver died in hospital in southern France in July, nine months after suffering severe head injuries when his Marussia skidded off a wet track in fading light at Suzuka and hit a recovery tractor.

Bianchi was the first F1 driver to die of injuries sustained during a race since the Brazilian Ayrton Senna in 1994.

The Marussia principal, John Booth, said going back to the circuit for Sunday’s race would be “extremely emotional” and challenging for everyone at the team and appealed for understanding.

He said in a team preview: “We were Jules’s team, and with that in mind I would ask everyone to understand and respect that, this weekend, we wish to deal with the experience of returning to Suzuka in a very private, introspective way. Our commitments will be reflective of this.”

Marussia went into administration after last year’s accident, racing with one car in Russia and missing the final three races, but were rescued at the 11th hour and many of those who worked with Bianchi are still with the team.

Both current drivers, the Briton Will Stevens and the American Alexander Rossi, were in Suzuka last year in reserve roles.

Booth added: “We think of Jules every single day; he will forever be a huge part of our team. His name has also been on our car at every single race.

“That tribute, our incredibly fond memories of Jules and the camaraderie we have within our team are all we need to race on in his honour in Suzuka this weekend.”

Stevens said he would try and focus on racing: “In the same circumstances, Jules would have gone about the business of racing in a very focused and professional way and that is exactly what I’ll be doing.”

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/201...-jules-bianchi

[Alvin]

Slip Sliding away driving in Austin, TX COTA Thxs to hurricane Patricia..."Free Practice 3" may be used to set Sundays race grid.

[165th]

A good way to start our F1 day, with a couple of brisket in egg tacos.

[165th]

Pretty dicy conditions at the track this morning. Parking will be tough unless you have a pass on a paved lot.