[E90SLAM]

I'm back before heading off to another trip after the Austrian GP.
The return of the old A1 ring, now called Red Bull Ring. But judging by the layout, we might not see advantage of RBR on this track.

Like Canada, is pretty power dominant track. Unless there are trouble on Mercedes Power Unit, we should still see the Silver Arrow having at least 0.5 second advantage easily.

Race Date: 22 Jun 2014
First Grand Prix: 1964
Number of Laps: 71
Circuit Length: 4.326 km
Race Distance: 307.020 km
Lap Record: 1'08.337 - M. Schumacher (2003)

Tire Compounds Provided:
Prime: Soft (Yellow)
Option: Super-Soft (Red)
Rain: Cinturato Intermediate (Green) / Cinturato Wet (Blue)

F1 TIMETABLE (Austria Local Time)
Fri 20 June 2014
Practice 1 10:00 - 11:30
Practice 2 14:00 - 15:30
Sat 21 June 2014
Practice 3 11:00 - 12:00
Qualifying 14:00
Sun 22 June 2014
Race 14:00

Fri 20 June 2014 (Pacific Time)
Practice 1 01:00 - 02:30
Practice 2 05:00 - 06:30
Sat 21 June 2014
Practice 3 02:00 - 03:00
Qualifying 05:00
Sun 22 June 2014
Race 05:00

Fri 20 June 2014 (Eastern Time)
Practice 1 04:00 - 05:30
Practice 2 08:00 - 09:30
Sat 21 June 2014
Practice 3 05:00 - 06:00
Qualifying 08:00
Sun 22 June 2014
Race 08:00

[DieGrüneHölle]

Originally Posted by E90SLAM

...we might not see advantage of RBR on this track.

RBR won't be having an advantage at any track this year. Everyone thought Monaco, but no didn't happen.

For the remainder of the season it will take both Mercedes having mechanical failures for anyone else to have a chance. Like Canada.

[Chihuahua]

Very happy to see Austria back on the calendar. I also wish Turkey would come back on, I always loved watching F1 on that track.

I agree MB will be impossible to beat unless they crash out or have mechanical failures. They are so much faster than anyone else it is scary.

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by Blipit_

RBR won't be having an advantage at any track this year. Everyone thought Monaco, but no didn't happen.

For the remainder of the season it will take both Mercedes having mechanical failures for anyone else to have a chance. Like Canada.

Its not like Home Game in other sports. Football/soccer, basketball, hockey, etc etc. No home game advantage.

[954Stealth]

Related to F1, who knows why today (June 18) is special?



Hockenheim and Nurburgring are fighting over who should be the home of the German F1 Grand Prix. Who would you like to see win?


FI went to FIA to appeal the Perez penalty. Apparently it is now under review...

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by 954Stealth

Related to F1, who knows why today (June 18) is special?



Hockenheim and Nurburgring are fighting over who should be the home of the German F1 Grand Prix. Who would you like to see win?

http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/2399.html

Does any of these answers you?
Or its your birthday? LOL!!!

I actually dont mind Hockenheim and Nurburgring alternates every other year.
Especially hosting fee is steep, thanks to Bernie.

Although track and tarmac surface doesnt change much, but technology and tires changes almost every year. Thus posts a new challenge on strategy and tire management every year of different track.

Where as data two years ago were less relevant.

[E90SLAM]

http://en.espnf1.com/blogs/motorsport/story/162925.html

In the unlikely event of complaints about facilities at the Red Bull Ring this weekend, Dietrich Mateschitz need only jerk his thumb towards the Flughafen Hinterstoisser in the valley below and tell F1 people they've never had it so good in Austria. The military airfield was scene of the first Austrian Grand Prix 50 years ago. If they even so much as contemplated a repeat today, Bernie Ecclestone would have a blue fit and current teams would not begin to comprehend the experience their predecessors had to endure.

In 1964, circuit racing was almost non-existent in Austria, hill climbing being the most popular discipline, if only because of a plentiful supply of suitable venues. Indeed, many of the F1 personnel and fans making the long haul from Vienna to Zeltweg this weekend will have climbed the Semmering Pass, the very place where Hans Stuck somehow managed to contain the awesome Auto Union Type C with twin rear wheels on his way to victory in the 1930s.

Thirty years later, the Austrian government had plans to join the F1 World Championship and their eye fell on the military airfield at Zeltweg, located below the current track in the flat valley of the River Mur. Unfortunately, the venue did not live up to their lofty aspirations.

The main runway provided the bulk of the running with a hairpin at one end, the only variety being a short loop onto a taxiway at the other end and a return around a grass island. The Zeltweg Grand Prix circuit measured 1.9 flat and very bumpy miles.

The infrastructure, such as it was, also left a lot to be desired, even by the standards of the day. The timing beam failed, leaving officials to use stopwatches. The resulting times, when finally published an hour or so after practice had finished, did not always correspond with those recorded by experienced members of the Grand Prix teams. That's assuming F1 personnel had been granted admission after a typist's error in the instructions to police had rendered many of the official armbands ineffectual in the eyes of the law.

This, of course, was a couple of decades before the arrival of Ecclestone and the standardisation of credentials, teams having to deal with the whims of race organisers on an individual basis.

Once within the boundary, the troubles for race personnel were by no means over. The paddock was housed in an aircraft hangar, which was all very well until an engine was started and all conversation had to cease. The open and very temporary pits were located in the middle of the runway, the circuit's two main straights passing either side. It was therefore necessary to shuttle everything and everyone into position before track activity could begin. You can imagine that today, can't you? "Hang on guys. We've got to stop practice. The Ferrari's broken again and Kimi wants to go back to the paddock for an ice cream."
Steering arms, suspensions and transmissions took a terrible pounding on the corrugated surface, only six of the 20 starters completing more than 100 of the scheduled 105 race laps. The bumps were so bad that local hero Jochen Rindt's Brabham even managed to jump a tooth on the rack-and-pinion steering.

The most spectacular retirement of all went to Phil Hill when the 1961 World Champion crashed into a wall of straw bales, the Cooper then catching fire and blazing merrily as the marshals proved incapable of doing anything. Hill was not prone to making errors and he could be excused on this occasion after a drainage gutter at the apex of one of the few corners had flicked the Cooper on its errant way.

The race, one of just 10 in the championship, had been won by the Ferrari of Lorenzo Bandini. It would turn out to be the charismatic Italian's only victory.

Less surprising was the fact that this was to be the only Grand Prix on the Zeltweg airfield. Six years later, someone had the foresight to build the Österreichring on the hillside above, a magnificent circuit and the basis for the emasculated track you see today.

The Red Bull Ring may be a thousand times better than the temporary circuit in the valley below and it may partly trace the path of a truly great one - but at least a race with a colourful piece of history is back on the calendar.

Read more at http://en.espnf1.com/blogs/motorspor...q77gkG04MQE.99

[954Stealth]

Originally Posted by E90SLAM

http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/2399.html

Does any of these answers you?
Or its your birthday? LOL!!!

I actually dont mind Hockenheim and Nurburgring alternates every other year.
Especially hosting fee is steep, thanks to Bernie.

Although track and tarmac surface doesnt change much, but technology and tires changes almost every year. Thus posts a new challenge on strategy and tire management every year of different track.

Where as data two years ago were less relevant.

haha you got it! I was referring to Denny Hulme being born 78 years ago. He's the only New Zealander to ever take the F1 World Drivers' Championship

[jonasaurus]

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by 954Stealth

haha you got it! I was referring to Denny Hulme being born 78 years ago. He's the only New Zealander to ever take the F1 World Drivers' Championship

Whew!
Thanks to ESPN F1.

Speaking of Kiwis, lets not forget Bruce McLaren! The Le Mans winner!
Also the founder of McLaren F1 team and Automotive we know today.

[E90SLAM]

The track and facilities looks wonderful!!!
Got to thank Red Bull for their support in Motorsport and contribution.
There are many great tracks in the world that lack of investment and interest for upkeep and refurbishments.

http://www.motorsport-magazin.com/fo...5,14470,0.html

[jonasaurus]

I'm guessing we are all in unison in predicting HAM or ROS to take this one. That said with a number of overtake areas and course elevation should make for an entertaining race from P3 back

[E90SLAM]

FIA Track map updated showing DRS zones.

[E9TOU]

Originally Posted by jonasaurus

I'm guessing we are all in unison in predicting HAM or ROS to take this one. That said with a number of overtake areas and course elevation should make for an entertaining race from P3 back

Unless Merc runs into the same problems they had in Montreal! This track has a similar set-up to Montreal where there are plenty of long straights. Let's see if they've really solved the problem. I'm rooting for HAM this round.

[escobar929]

Originally Posted by E9TOU

Unless Merc runs into the same problems they had in Montreal! This track has a similar set-up to Montreal where there are plenty of long straights. Let's see if they've really solved the problem. I'm rooting for HAM this round.

Yea, it's time for ROS to have some failures, seems HAM always has the bad luck

[gary88]

F1 is switching to standing starts after safety cars next year:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/114529

[E9TOU]

Originally Posted by gary88

F1 is switching to standing starts after safety cars next year:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/114529

That will be very interesting to see if this pans out. I'm not sure how I feel about it though.

[954Stealth]

"Let's do this "

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by gary88

F1 is switching to standing starts after safety cars next year:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/114529

I heard about it during Sky commentating during Canadian GP.
However still up to debate for the sporting regulation group.

Sometimes it can cause some confusion if any car is out of position. And much more procedures to go through.

One down side I can foresee is. Let's say Hamilton pulled a 50 second gap and comes the safety car. His lead literally vanished. Then now he has to go though the possibility of losing grid spot on re-start.

This also reduces the advantage of teams taking pit stop when there's a safety car and the entire grid going through the tack on delta-pace.

[E90SLAM]

Free practice 1
Driver Teams Time
1 N Rosberg (GER) Mercedes 1'11.295
2 LC Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes 1'11.435
3 F Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 1'11.606
4 F Massa (BRA) Williams 1'11.756
5 J Button (GBR) McLaren 1'11.839
6 S Perez (MEX) Force India 1'12.009
7 N Hülkenberg (GER) Force India 1'12.072
8 V Bottas (FIN) Williams 1'12.114
9 K Magnussen (DEN) McLaren 1'12.313
10 JE Vergne (FRA) Toro Rosso 1'12.364
11 KM Räikkönen (FIN) Ferrari 1'12.365
12 D Kvyat (RUS) Toro Rosso 1'12.372
13 D Ricciardo (AUS) Red Bull 1'12.570
14 E Gutiérrez (MEX) Sauber 1'12.984
15 S Vettel (GER) Red Bull 1'12.988
16 R Grosjean (FRA) Lotus 1'13.168
17 P Maldonado (VEN) Lotus 1'13.642
18 J Bianchi (FRA) Marussia 1'13.738
19 M Chilton (GBR) Marussia 1'13.857
20 K Kobayashi (JPN) Caterham 1'14.611
21 A Sutil (GER) Sauber 1'14.691
22 M Ericsson (SWE) Caterham 1'17.501

Free practice 2
Driver Teams Time
1 LC Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes 1'09.542
2 N Rosberg (GER) Mercedes 1'09.919
3 F Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 1'10.470
4 V Bottas (FIN) Williams 1'10.519
5 F Massa (BRA) Williams 1'10.521
6 S Vettel (GER) Red Bull 1'10.807
7 J Button (GBR) McLaren 1'10.813
8 D Ricciardo (AUS) Red Bull 1'10.920
9 K Magnussen (DEN) McLaren 1'10.936
10 JE Vergne (FRA) Toro Rosso 1'10.972
11 KM Räikkönen (FIN) Ferrari 1'10.974
12 D Kvyat (RUS) Toro Rosso 1'11.261
13 S Perez (MEX) Force India 1'11.296
14 E Gutiérrez (MEX) Sauber 1'11.491
15 P Maldonado (VEN) Lotus 1'11.765
16 A Sutil (GER) Sauber 1'11.806
17 N Hülkenberg (GER) Force India 1'11.935
18 M Chilton (GBR) Marussia 1'12.229
19 R Grosjean (FRA) Lotus 1'12.262
20 J Bianchi (FRA) Marussia 1'12.279
21 K Kobayashi (JPN) Caterham 1'12.937
22 M Ericsson (SWE) Caterham 1'13.596

[E90SLAM]

http://en.espnf1.com/austria/motorsp...tml?CMP=chrome

The FIA has decided to uphold Sergio Perez's five-place grid penalty in Austria after reviewing his last-lap Montreal crash with Felipe Massa.

The investigation into the crash had been reopened in order to give Perez a chance to air his views, which he was unable to do in Canada as he went to hospital for a precautionary check-up. Force India had said that "new elements" had to be considered ahead of the race to show Perez was not at fault for the crash.

Despite hearing that evidence at a new hearing which begun at 16:00 local time in Spielberg, the stewards concluded Perez's penalty should stand.


Read more at http://en.espnf1.com/austria/motorsp...fqO8Pvl1vpU.99

[i_max2k2]

Originally Posted by E90SLAM

http://en.espnf1.com/austria/motorsp...tml?CMP=chrome

The FIA has decided to uphold Sergio Perez's five-place grid penalty in Austria after reviewing his last-lap Montreal crash with Felipe Massa.

The investigation into the crash had been reopened in order to give Perez a chance to air his views, which he was unable to do in Canada as he went to hospital for a precautionary check-up. Force India had said that "new elements" had to be considered ahead of the race to show Perez was not at fault for the crash.

Despite hearing that evidence at a new hearing which begun at 16:00 local time in Spielberg, the stewards concluded Perez's penalty should stand.


Read more at http://en.espnf1.com/austria/motorsp...fqO8Pvl1vpU.99

Good, in my opinion it was his fault, Massa was committed, and he shouldn't have moved at those speeds.