Will Power Wins Third Consecutive Race Of The Season At Sao Paulo

Australia’s Will Power has taken his third consecutive victory of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series in an incident filled race on the streets of Sao Paulo, finishing just under a second ahead of Ryan Hunter-Ray. Takuma Sato came home 3rd, his personal best finish of his IndyCar career to date.

The race start time was brought forward as rain threatened the event, which was postponed after only 15 laps in 2011 due to heavy rain. At the start, the field safely negotiated the first two treacherous corners as Will Power took control at the front from reigning Series Champion Dario Franchitti. James Hinchcliffe suffered a difficult opening few laps, dropping from 4th to 7th whereas Charlie Kimball took slight wing damage.

On lap 10, the first scheduled pit-stops took place as local hero Helio Castroneves pitted for Penske along with rookie Simon Pagenaud a lap later. During these opening pit-stop, both Takuma Sato and Ana Beatriz were issued penalties for speeding in the pit lane. With the Japanese driver starting from way down in 25th position, a penalty was the last thing the former F1 driver needed.

With the first quarter of the race running caution free, Will Power was still running strong in the lead as he made his first pit-stop on lap 23. Katherine Legge’s difficult season continued when on lap 22 the British driver tapped the wall, thus forcing her to limp back to the pits with a left-rear puncture.

As Power pitted, his team-mate Ryan Briscoe stuffed his Penske into the wall bringing out the first full course caution of the race. This caution last for 4 laps as the stricken Penske was removed by the marshals, and the race returned to green flag conditions on lap 27.

Heading down into the turn 1, and Dario Franchitti was unceremoniously tipped into a spin by Mike Conway. This left the reigning Champion stuck on the track, as the second full course caution was brought out to allow the marshals to tend to the stricken Scot. 

As the old saying goes in IndyCar ‘cautions breed cautions’, and that was evident during the Sao Paulo Indy as the race returned to racing conditions once again on lap 30 only for a third consecutive caution to be caused as Josef Newgarden, Simona de Silvestro, James Jakes and Charlie Kimball were involved in a pile-up at turn 3. As the carnage ensued, Tony Kanaan completed a stunning restart as he stormed passed fellow countrymen Castroneves and Barrichello.

After three consecutive cautions, the drivers’ held their breath as the race returned to green flag conditions. Miraculously it was incident free as Power led at the front, as Franchitti began a charge from behind after his early incident. By lap 43, the Scot was already back up to 6th place due to the many incidents and pit-stops during the caution periods.

The second round of pit-stops began around lap 42, with Scott Dixon eventually assuming the lead as the stops were carried out. With the Kiwi scheduled to stop once more in the race, Will Power sat comfortably in 2nd awaiting his eventual rise to the lead. This eventuality occurred on lap 63 when Dixon pitted, just as the fourth full course caution was brought out as Ed Carpenter spun and Josef Newgarden hit the wall in separate incidents’. 

On the restart, Sato surprised everyone and stormed through to 3rd, narrowly avoiding a collision with Dario Franchitti into turn 2. Unfortunately, the inevitable happened as a multi-car pile-up ensued further down the order, bringing out yet another full course caution. With the track nearly blocked, the leaders perilously made their way through the mayhem under safety car conditions next time around.

As the IndyCar fraternity held their breath once again for a clean restart, Will Power was able to fend off Ryan Hunter-Reay and complete his third consecutive win of the season. Takuma Sato came home an impressive 3rd after making up 22 positions throughout the race.

The IndyCar Series now heads home to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the month of May and the 96th Indy 500! 

Picture Copyright © LAT Photographic

Hamilton Storms To Second Consecutive Pole In Malaysia

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton has stormed to his second consecutive pole-position for tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix, with his team-mate Jenson Button slotting nicely into 2nd place creating the second consecutive all-McLaren front row. Michael Schumacher has qualified 3rd, his best qualifying since Japan 2006.

With the constant threat of rain throughout yesterday’s running, today saw relatively dry running for the teams. Q1 got underway with Charles Pic and Paul Di Resta joining the track first, with the Force India setting the first timed lap of the session with a 01:38.927. That time was quickly beaten by Kimi Raikkonen, before times really began to tumble with Hamilton, Button, Rosberg and Schumacher all sharing the top sport throughout Q1. The usual drivers’ were eliminated after the first session, with the two Caterham’s, two Marussia’s and two HRT’s failing to progress to Q2. Jean-Eric Vergne was the other driver who failed to progress through to Q2, after making a mistake on his flying lap.

HRT have ended a successful day on track, finally setting times within the 107% rule which means that both Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan will qualify for their first race in 2012.

The Sauber’s of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi were first out as Q2 got underway, with the Mexican setting the first timed with a 01:39.043. Kimi Raikkonen then set a scintillating lap 1.4 seconds quicker than Perez, a time which kept the Finn top for the remainder of Q2. 

Pastor Maldonado suffered a big off at turn 10 as the Venezuelan driver ran wide and suffered a high-speed excursion through the gravel. His car sustained some damage due to the off, and subsequently Maldonado failed to progress to Q3.

The two Mercedes’ were lucky to progress to Q3, with Michael Schumacher in particular momentarily out of contention down in 11th position. However, a cool, calm and collected lap saw the 7-time World Champion eventually join his team-mate and progress through to the top 10 shootout.

As Q2 came to an end, Maldonado, Massa, Senna, Di Resta, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg and Kobayashi all failed to progress to Q3. Ferrari’s Felipe Massa once again suffered a difficult qualifying session.

After setting a scintillating lap in Q2, Kimi Raikkonen seemed a real threat to the likes of McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull. However, the ‘Iceman’ would unfortunately suffer from a 5-place grid drop due to a gearbox change after qualifying, so wouldn’t qualify on pole.

Kimi Raikkonen was the first out on track in Q3, and also set the benchmark time with a 01:36.837. That time was beaten almost instantly by Jenson Button, before the other McLaren of Lewis Hamilton flew to the top with a 01:36.219. That time went unbeaten as the session drew to a close, with Michael Schumacher momentarily holding 2nd place before Jenson Button demoted the German to 3rd and created the second consecutive McLaren front row lockout.

With tomorrow’s race set to feature high amounts of tyre degradation, as well as the possibility of rain looming over the race, it looks as though the 2012 season is set to get even more exciting!

Pos Driver Team Time Gap 
 1.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m36.219s
 2.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m36.368s   + 0.149
 3.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m36.391s   + 0.172
 4.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m36.461s   + 0.242
 5.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault        1m36.461s   + 0.242
 6.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m36.634s   + 0.415
 7.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m36.658s   + 0.439
 8.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m36.664s   + 0.445
 9.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m37.566s   + 1.347
10.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m37.698s   + 1.479
Q2 cut-off time: 1m37.477s Gap **
11.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault     1m37.589s   + 0.874
12.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m37.731s   + 1.016
13.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault     1m37.841s   + 1.126
14.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m37.877s   + 1.162
15.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m37.883s   + 1.168
16.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes 1m37.890s   + 1.175
17.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m38.069s   + 1.354
Q1 cut-off time: 1m38.437s Gap *
18.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m39.077s   + 1.905
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault     1m39.306s   + 2.134
20.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault     1m39.567s   + 2.395
21.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth    1m40.903s   + 3.731
22.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth    1m41.250s   + 4.078
23.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth         1m42.914s   + 5.742
24.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth         1m43.655s   + 6.483

107% time: 1m43.974s

* Gap to quickest in Q1

** Gap to quickest in Q2

Picture Copyright © Reuters

British Peers Call For FIA To Cancel Bahrain GP

Several peers and the leader of the Green Party have called for the FIA to cancel the planned Bahrain Grand Prix in April, after more civil unrest has rocked the Kingdom. With last years race cancelled after months of uncertainty, the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights has also urged the FIA to rethink revisiting Bahrain this season.

Seven members in total of the UK House of Lords including the Green Party leader have written to The Times expressing their concern of the forthcoming race, becoming the latest in a long list of people who wish the FIA to cancel the race for second consecutive season.

The letter they sent read: “We note with concern the decision by Formula One to go ahead with the race in Bahrain scheduled for April. The continued political crisis in Bahrain is a troubling source of instability in the Gulf region, and the lack of any move towards political reconciliation concerns those who wish to see Bahrain move in the direction of greater democratic accountability. It was hoped the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) would provide a starting point for political reform which both government and opposition forces could agree upon. However, two months on we see an entrenchment of the positions of both sides which risks letting more extreme voices dictate the progress of the conflict. Given the current dire situation, with daily street protests and the deaths of more civilians, we do not believe that the time is right for Formula One to return to Bahrain.”

However, only last month 1996 World Champion Damon Hill returned from the Gulf after a visit with FIA President Jean Todt. Damon Hill stated how he was now keen on seeing Formula 1 return to Bahrain, after initially fully backing the cancelation of last years Bahrain Grand Prix. 

Whether the FIA will listen to the growing call for a second consecutive cancelation or not, time will tell. Lets just hope the correct decision is made, without any of last years uncertainty.

Vettel Secures 5th Consecutive Pole-Position!

World Champion-to-be, Sebastian Vettel, has secured his 5th Consecutive Pole-Position by just 9 one thousandths of a second to Jenson Button as Lewis Hamilton suffered an embarrassing end to what looked like a strong Qualifying charge by the Brit.

All weekend McLaren have been atop the timing sheets with Jenson Button fastest in all Practice Sessions including Q1 in Qualifying, but when it came to crunch time, Sebastian Vettel put in a Champions lap to beat the McLaren’s by the smallest of margins with Button 2nd and Hamilton 3rd.

Q1 had its own set of surprises when usual Top 10 Qualifier, Nico Rosberg, suffered a hydraulic failure and was unable to set a lap time which culminated in the German having to settle for 23rd on the grid sandwiched between the two HRTs of Ricciardo who starts 22nd (a personal best) and Liuzzi who starts 24th and last due to an engine misfire problem which ended with a Cosworth engine failure. If this hadn’t have happened, then Liuzzi would’ve set a lap and Rosberg would’ve started an even more embarrassing last place! Lewis Hamilton had an off track excursion through the Spoon Curve reminiscent of Coulthard and Hill during the 1995 Japanese Grand Prix, and local hero Kamui Kobayashi switched to the soft tyres in the dying minutes of the session and set the fastest lap with a 01:32.626 which enthralled the Japanese crowd!

In Q2, Adrian Sutil was first out and set the first time of a 01:34.384 which was quickly smashed by Vettel who set a 01:31.424. As the times started to come down, Lewis Hamilton showed that McLaren have pace as he flew to the top of the time sheets with a 01:31.139. As Q2 came to a close, the focus moved to the rear of the field as the two Force India’s, William’s, Toro Rosso’s and Sauber’s all battled for their right to progress through to Q3. Only one of those 8 drivers were to progress, and fate would have it that it would be local hero Kamui Kobayashi who just squeezed his way through by coming 10th in the session as his team-mate, Sergio Perez, suffered a hydraulic problem and had to settle for a lowly 16th position.

In Q3 the main subject of conversation was of conserving tyres as degradation levels were high. First out was man of the moment Kamui Kobayashi who was eager to make a good show in front of his home crowd, but the early pace was set by the two McLaren’s as Hamilton showed that the McLaren’s pace was pure and especially quick. After the initial times where set by the top teams, the track fell eerily silent as the top teams came in to reflect on their pace and the midfield teams debated whether to conserve tyres or secure track position. Ultimately the majority of the teams decided a second run was necessary as they all started spilling out of the pit lane with roughly 4 minutes remaining. It was during his out lap when Hamilton became centre of attention for all the wrong reasons again when he drove stupidly slow heading into the final chicane, thus forcing Webber to take him on the inside and Schumacher to take him on the outside and also go off track, both drivers realizing they needed to pass the Brit with any chance of being able to start their lap before the sessions time ran out. Luckily for Webber he crossed the line just before the session ended whereas Schumacher and Hamilton failed to. This ultimately ruined Hamilton’s chance of defending his provisional pole-position, and Vettel was able to capitalize on his mistake by smashing a time one tenth of a second quicker than the Brit. Button came close but was 9 one thousandths of a second slower than Vettel, paving the way for Vettel to secure his 5th Consecutive pole-position! Massa came home an impressive 4th, providing us with a potential Hamilton vs Massa Round 2, and Webber was floundering around in 6th place unfortunately unable to replicate the pace set by Vettel.

What with the tyre degradation so high, and the times between the top teams so small, tomorrow’s race is shaping up to be another classic Japanese Grand Prix and there is genuine chance that tomorrow Sebastian Vettel could be crowned the 2011 World Champion and the youngest double World Champion in the sport ever!

Qualifying Classification:

Pos Driver Team Time Gap 
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m30.466s
 2.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m30.475s   + 0.009
 3.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m30.617s   + 0.151
 4.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m30.804s   + 0.338
 5.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m30.886s   + 0.420
 6.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m31.156s   + 0.690
 7.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             No time
 8.  Bruno Senna           Renault              No time
 9.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault              No time
10.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       No time
Q2 cut-off time: 1m32.380s Gap **
11.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes 1m32.463s   + 1.997
12.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m32.746s   + 2.280
13.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth    1m33.079s   + 2.613
14.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth    1m33.224s   + 2.758
15.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m33.227s   + 2.761
16.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m33.427s   + 2.961
17.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       No time
Q1 cut-off time: 1m35.111s Gap *
18.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault        1m35.454s   + 2.828
19.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault        1m35.514s   + 2.888
20.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth      1m36.439s   + 3.813
21.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth      1m36.507s   + 3.881
22.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth         1m37.846s   + 5.220
23.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             No time
24.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth         No time
107% time: 1m39.109s

Red Bull Secure 15th Consecutive Pole Position

Sebastian Vettel has successfully secured Red Bull their 15th Consecutive Pole-Position ahead of tomorrows Singapore Grand Prix, a feat which is the third longest in the history of Formula 1.

Aussie Mark Webber secured 2nd place in the dying seconds of the session with the McLaren of Jenson Button securing 3rd place whilst his team-mate Lewis Hamilton had to settle for 4th after suffering a puncture in Q2 and therefore loosing a set of tyres as the regulations stipulate that you cannot swap damaged tyres for new ones.

Q1 started without any major action apart from Renault’s Vitaly Petrov who was unable to get through to Q2 after getting knocked out by new team-mate Bruno Senna who was able to nip his way into Q2. From Q1 Petrov, Kovalainen, Trulli, Glock, D’Ambrosio, Ricciardo and Liuzzi all went out, with Liuzzi being cemented in last place regardless of his attempts after receiving a 5 place grid penalty after causing the first corner pile up at the Italian Grand Prix.

It was Q2 when the inevitable happened and a car literally took off over the kerbs at Turn 10 when Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi clouted the wall and brought out the one and only red flag of the Qualifying session. Luckily for Vettel, however, he had just been able to post his fastest lap of the session with a 01:44.931. The break was minimal as the marshals cleared away the stricken Sauber and debris, but they obviously didn’t make a good enough job of clearing the track as moments before the end of the session after the restart Lewis Hamilton peeled of into the pits after suffering a puncture that can only have been caused by debris on the track! Perez, Barrichello, Maldonado, Buemi, Senna, Alguersuari and Kobayashi went out from Q2, leaving an exciting prospect for Q3. However that exciting prospect evaporated after Vettel flew into provisional pole position after setting a 01:44.381, and both Force India drivers and Michael Schumacher never even left their garage opting to save tyres and qualify based on their team numbers. In the closing seconds of the session, however, Webber and Button both leap-frogged Lewis Hamilton as he had to give up another lap to also save tyres after loosing a pair due to his puncture.

So that left Vettel clear to pick up his 11th Pole of the season and Red Bull’s 15th Consecutive, showcasing their pure dominance of this season in Formula One. With the threat of rain forecast for tomorrows race, it could be a very interesting and incident filled race.

Pos Driver Team Time Gap 
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m44.381s
 2.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m44.732s   + 0.351
 3.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m44.804s   + 0.423
 4.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m44.809s   + 0.428
 5.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m44.874s   + 0.493
 6.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m45.800s   + 1.419
 7.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m46.013s   + 1.632
 8.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             no time
 9.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes no time
10.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes no time
11.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m47.616s   + 2.685
12.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth    1m48.082s   + 3.151
13.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth    1m48.270s   + 3.339
14.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m48.634s   + 3.703
15.  Bruno Senna           Renault              1m48.662s   + 3.731
16.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m49.862s   + 4.931
17.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       No time
18.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault              1m49.835s   + 3.438
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault        1m50.948s   + 4.551
20.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault        1m51.012s   + 4.615
21.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth      1m52.154s   + 5.757
22.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth      1m52.363s   + 5.966
23.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth         1m52.404s   + 6.007
24.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth         1m52.810s   + 6.413

107% time: 1m53.844s

Picture Copyright © Getty Images for Red Bull