F1 2012

[S.E.Arising]

2012 F1 Calendar: BBC Sport - US & Bahrain grands prix remain in unchanged 2012 calendar

[Sideshow Bob]

Grosjean qualifying in third is a surprise. Lotus expected to perform better this season?

Good news Hamilton and Button have qualified first and second.

[SDLRob]

Lotus are a dark horse this year, along with Merc....

Ferrari look to be an utter failure atm, car looks more jittery than Speedy Gonzalez on speed, don't think they've finished a single session this weekend with both cars running.

the HRTs & Marussia cars are going to cause one hell of a crash.... damn things are nothing more than rolling chicanes.

EDIT- Oh, and i might be going to the Spa Race

[Sideshow Bob]

How might you be going to Spa?

[SDLRob]

Know a few people going and have been invited to join their convoy from Dover to the track....the only stumbling block is the cost.... the 'disabled access' ticket alone costs £290.... with fuel for half of the drive costing about £100.... with Campsite, ferry & other costs.... i'm thinking at least £600 is needed... and i can only get about £220 together by then. Will have to see if a family member will loan me the rest....

[Sideshow Bob]

1-2 for McLaren. Today's qualifying adds to their promising start to the season. Why are they more competitive compared to the start of last season? Another relatively poor qualifying for Vettel, why have Red Bull had a slow qualifying start to the season?

[SDLRob]

RBR had a fancy exhaust last year that gave them an advantage.... this year they don't have it....

Bit of a rough night at the track last night... a faulty fridge in the hospitality suite given to Lotus for the weekend caught fire, gutting the suite (and causing smoke damage to the ajoining suites) Kimi lost a helmet, but no one was injured in the fire

[Sideshow Bob]

Hadn't heard about the fire. Lucky no one was injured.

Does the Malaysian Grand Prix circuit offer over-taking opportunities?

[SDLRob]

there are a couple of good spots for over taking....

[Sideshow Bob]

Race red flagged. Look's like we'll be in for a relatively lengthy delay.

[SDLRob]

maybe ten/15 minutes....

[Sideshow Bob]

Race restarting at 10:15.

[Sideshow Bob]

Button's own fault for my money.

[SDLRob]

it looked like it TBH.....

[Berba_God]

How is Hamilton doing?

[SDLRob]

he came 3rd behind a knobbled Perez in a superhuman drive.... at least twice he cut down a five second lead on Alonso... the 2nd time obviously had Alonso pissed as he had Ferrari tell Sauber, who buy their engines from Ferrari, to back off. Vettel didn't finish after he suffered a puncture from the bloody HRT not GTFO of the way..... after the same car had clobbered Button earlier in the race..

the HRTs are dangerous... they will kill someone...

[Berba_God]

At least Hamilton got another podium finish

[SDLRob]

he's now top of the leader board with those 2 3rd places..... sometimes consistency is better than wins

[JSNFRMN_MUFC]

Loving the fact Vettel isn't winning or getting near this season, I found last season a bit boring with him winning all the time. It's great to see Perez up there too. Will be great to see some new faces up on the podium.

[Sideshow Bob]

Fantastic Chinese grand prix. Overtaking galore. I don't think I've never seen a train of 8 cars going for second place so late in the race.

[Sideshow Bob]

Hamilton on pole for the Spanish Grand Prix. I missed qualifying, sounds like a good one?

[SDLRob]

It was a rather interesting one... Both Webber and Button frakked up Q2, though Webber's issue was the team got it wrong and told him he was safe when he wasn't.

Jaws (Pastor Maldodano ) is on 2nd place. One interesting thing is that Lewis was told to stop his car just after Q3 and him getting pole....

[Speedy]

BBC Sport - Lewis Hamilton loses Spanish pole because of rules on fuel

Not on pole anymore....

[SDLRob]

Complete fustercluck by the stewards.... If he's guilty of not having enough fuel (something that they admitted had been done by error) then he should have his fastest lap removed and he should be pushed to 6th, not removed to the pit lane.

Insanely harsh penalty. Got to wonder if the Spanish stewards are still brassed off with McLaren picking Lewis over Alonso in 08.

[SDLRob]

Great race and well done to Pastor Maldonado for the win...

but there's been a serious incident after the race where something in the Williams pits exploded and set the garage on fire. Sir Frank wasn't in there at the time and is fine, but there's injuries to other peopel.... 4 Caterham crew are confirmed injured (one with a minor hand injury, the rest from breathing in smoke) one Williams crew member reported to have been dragged clear by a sky cameraman with both legs on fire... and a Force India crew member also reported to have been injured trying to help put the flames out.