2014 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX - LIVE THREAD

10/29/2014 | Chode

[Chode]

Austin

Race Date:	02 Nov 2014
Circuit Name:	Circuit of The Americas
First Grand Prix:	2012
Number of Laps:	56
Circuit Length:	5.513 km
Race Distance:	308.405 km
Lap Record:	1:39.347 - S Vettel (2012)
Friday Sunny 75F Saturday Sunny 73F Sunday Partly Sunny 76F

[Lockbox]

Bernie warns of 14 cars in 2015. Would they still award points for the 1st ten?

Maybe they will get Start & Park teams to fill the grid like Nascar!

[Chode]

can customer cars be far off?

[biff]

As I have posted here on previous times, F1 and Bernie have killed the sport(actually an expensive business) thru their insane attempts of reducing costs and “pseudo-green” power units(engines).

Now we have one and only one entrant that can take the pole AND win. Both of those come at speed advantages formerly unheard of except on very rare occasions. Sure Ferrari during the Shoe years and Red Bull during the Vettle years were dominant but not at the huge advantages MB has now. Qualifying was much closer but the wins were due to racecraft and strategy.

Today we sometimes see almost two seconds between 1st qualifier and 3rd with race speeds an easy two seconds faster. Nobody wants to watch a race like that just like nobody likes to go to game after game of 20-1 baseball.

F1 claims they did this for cheaper costs in racing!!!! The most expensive engine package ever in any kind of racing is what they ended up with. No, get back to letting designers be designers and the engines do what people like, scream like banshees leaving hell. NO MORE SPEC CARS IN F1.

Otherwise we will have 20 MB cars racing each other with 20 MB contracted drivers?

Better yet, maybe think about no factory owned teams except for niche factories like Ferrari. Nobody anywhere will be willing to spend the money to go up against MB. You say Honda will but we have seen in the past attempts by them to go F1 racing and in ain’t purdy.

[Chode]

100%

[nascarnation]

I was astounded at the prices at COTA.

When F1 ran at Indy (admittedly 7 yrs ago) the prices were similar to the Indy 500.

GA was 25 bucks IIRC.

[Lockbox]

What I have read about the 3rd car is that the big teams may be required to provide a car to the ailing small teams.

[Chode]

the first link in post #40 says $1500 a DAY to do it right...

[Chode]

the Grid...

2014 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:38.303	1:36.290	1:36.067	20
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:37.196	1:37.287	1:36.443	16
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1:38.249	1:37.499	1:36.906	19
4	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1:37.877	1:37.347	1:37.205	20
5	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:38.814	1:37.873	1:37.244	17
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:38.349	1:38.010	1:37.610	16
7	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:38.574	1:38.024	1:37.655	17
8	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:38.557	1:38.047	1:37.706	16
9	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:38.669	1:38.263	1:37.804	22
10	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	1:38.855	1:38.378	1:38.810	15
11	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	1:38.608	1:38.467		16
12	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	1:39.200	1:38.554		16
13	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:38.931	1:38.598		16
14	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	1:38.936	1:38.699		17
15	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	1:39.250			10
16	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:39.555			10
17	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:39.621			3
18	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1:39.679			8
		Q1 107% Time		1:43.999

[mabarker1]

Raikkonen interested in return to NASCAR: F1 driver, Kimi Raikkonen loved his two-race stint in NASCAR so much, he'd like to try it again someday. Raikkonen raced in two NASCAR events at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2011. He finished 27th in a Nationwide Series race and 15th in a Camping World Truck Series race for Kyle Busch Motorsports. "I hope one day (to come back)," he said Thursday in Austin, where he and his Ferrari team are preparing for Sunday's United States Grand Prix. "Obviously I didn't know how it is, so when I came to U.S. to do that, I was very pleasantly surprised by how nice and how fun it was. It's not easy, like any popular sport, but I really enjoyed the time. Hopefully I can do more of those and hopefully in the future -- some Sprint Cup. We'll see what happens." Of course, Raikkonen still has some years left in F1. Any NASCAR racing would only come after his F1 career was complete. This time, though, Raikkonen said he'd "like to have a good proper run at it."(USA Today)(10-31-2014)

[Chode]

just beware of the jet dryers and he'd prolly do OK...

[nascarnation]

Shows the wealth factor in Texas I guess.

And to think I complained when my Indy 500 seats (turn 3 right below where the spotters perch) went from 90 to 100 dollars this year.

[Chode]

i hear ya, the Canadian GP used to be a lot of fun and cheap when the dollar was strong, not anymore

[Chode]

Vital Statistics - the United States Grand Prix

Did you know that 10 different circuits in the United States have staged an F1 world championship round - but only six of those have hosted a US Grand Prix? Or that seven drivers in the current field have led at least one lap on American soil, but only two - Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel - have actually won? Ahead of this weekend's 2014 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, we present the key facts, stats and trivia...

Circuit: Circuit of The Americas

Circuit length: 5.513 km

Number of corners: 20 (9 right, 11 left)

DRS zones: 2

Race laps: 56

Race distance: 308.405 km

2014 tyre compounds: soft, medium

Circuit lap record: 1m 39.347s - Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 2012

First world championship US Grand Prix: 1959, Sebring (won by Bruce McLaren, Cooper-Climax)

Number of US Grands Prix: 35 (Watkins Glen - 20; Indianapolis - 8; Phoenix - 3; Austin - 2;
Sebring, Riverside - 1)

Additional Formula One Grands Prix in the US:* 18 (Long Beach - 8; Detroit - 7; Las Vegas - 2; Dallas - 1)
*Not including the Indianapolis 500, which was officially a world championship round between 1950 and 1960.

Safety car record in Austin: 1 in 2 races

Longest US Grand Prix: 1960 Riverside (2h 28m 52.2s)

Shortest US Grand Prix: 2005 Indianapolis (1h 29m 43.181s)

Last year's pole position in Austin: 1m 36.338s, Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull

Last year's podium: 1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 2 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus), 3 - Mark Webber (Red Bull)

Most US Grand Prix appearances (current field): 10 - Jenson Button; 8 - Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen; 6 - Felipe Massa; 4 - Nico Rosberg; 3 - Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel

Most US Grand Prix wins (driver): 5 - Michael Schumacher; 3 - Jim Clark, Graham Hill; 2 - Jackie Stewart, Carlos Reutemann, James Hunt, Ayrton Senna, Lewis Hamilton; 1 - Bruce McLaren, Stirling Moss, Innes Ireland, Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Francois Cevert, Ronnie Peterson, Niki Lauda, Gilles Villeneuve, Alan Jones, Alain Prost, Mika Hakkinen, Rubens Barrichello, Sebastian Vettel

Most US Grand Prix wins (constructor): 9 - Ferrari; 8 - Lotus, McLaren; 3 - BRM; 2 - Tyrrell; 1 - Cooper, Matra, Brabham, Williams, Red Bull

Most US Grand Prix wins (engine manufacturer): 11 - Ford; 9 - Ferrari; 4 - Climax, BRM; 3 - Honda, Mercedes; 1 - Renault

Most US Grand Prix pole positions (driver): 4 - Michael Schumacher; 3 - Graham Hill; 2 - Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Jim Clark, Mario Andretti, Jackie Stewart, James Hunt, Ayrton Senna, Sebastian Vettel; 1 - Jochen Rindt, Jacky Ickx, Ronnie Peterson, Carlos Reutemann, Niki Lauda, Alan Jones, Bruno Giacomelli, Gerhard Berger, Kimi Raikkonen, Rubens Barrichello, Jarno Trulli, Lewis Hamilton

Most US Grand Prix pole positions (constructor): 8 - Lotus; 7 - Ferrari, McLaren; 2 - Cooper, BRM, Brabham, Tyrrell, Red Bull; 1 - Williams, Alfa Romeo, Toyota

Most US Grand Prix pole positions (engine manufacturer): 11 - Ford; 7 - Ferrari; 5 - Climax; 3 - Honda; 2 - BRM, Mercedes, Renault; 1 - Repco, Alfa Romeo, Toyota

Number of US GP wins from pole: 16 from 35 (46 percent); one from two in Austin

Lowest US GP winning grid position: 10th (Bruce McLaren, Cooper/Climax, at Sebring in 1959)

Laps led in US Grands Prix (current field): 95 - Sebastian Vettel; 81 - Lewis Hamilton; 30 - Felipe Massa; 18 - Kimi Raikkonen; 15 - Jenson Button; 2 - Fernando Alonso, Romain Grosjean

Laps led in Austin (current field): 95 - Sebastian Vettel; 15 - Lewis Hamilton; 2 - Romain Grosjean

Most US GP podium places (current field): 2 - Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel; 1 - Kimi Raikkonen, Romain Grosjean

Number of American drivers to have started at least one Grand Prix: 38

Best F1 finish by an American driver: 1st (by five different drivers - Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, Peter Revson, Richie Ginther)

Best finish by an American driver on US soil: 1st (Mario Andretti, in the USA West Grand Prix at Long Beach, 1977)

Percentage of 2014 season complete: 84 percent

Maximum number of world championship points still available to a single driver: 100

[nascarnation]

Brian Williams...allow me to puke all over my 46 inch Sony...

[mabarker1]

Dang!

Lotta info, where did You find that or did You collect it piece by piece ?

[mabarker1]

I’m sure JPM will give some pointers to Him;)

[Chode]

i snagged it from F1.com or BBC F1...

and Ricardo is a JR. fan... damn if that wasn't a surprise

[mabarker1]

Well Who’da thunk that? Just told Mama- She’s like Ricci-ardo who?

[Chode]

CK yer FRmail

[cweese]

Yes, it’s pretty expensive at COTA. From parking to food to ticket prices. I had freebie tickets for Friday and Sat. and watched the race on tv this afternoon.