Wow!
I’ve just seen the qualifying results for tomorrow’s Formula 1 US Grand Prix at Indianapolis and it’s going to be a cracking race!
Apparently the Williams’ have taken loads of downforce off to overtake, I saw a bit of first qualifying Friday night and the Williams’ were 7-8 km/h quicker down the straights (or straight-aways as it’s the US GP), whereas the Ferraris are much quicker round the corners (for those who don’t know, F1 uses half of the Indy banking and a twisty infield section).
So anyone who says there isn’t any overtaking in F1 should watch it live tomorrow, and anyone who hasn’t seen Formula 1 racing before should watch it too.
Race starts at 14:00 Indy time(sorry I don’t know what US time zone it’s in) and 19:00 GMT.
1400 Indy time (Central Daylight Time) is 1500 on the East Coast and 1200 on the West Coast.
I had tickets to the first two USGPs, but couldn’t attend and ended up selling them on ebay. I start a 3-day trip tomorrow, so I’ll miss it AGAIN. They’ll decide to take the US off the schedule again before I get to see one!
Go JP Montoya!! I’ve been a fan since his CART days.
Thanks for the heads up! I became a fan when the GP was held in Phoenix, saw all the races there. But I lost a bit of interest after Senna died. Don’t know the names as well as I did.
I started watching F1 just this year and I admit that I’m absolutely addicted. I’ve been told that it’s a good time to be watching F1 since it’s a hell of a lot more competitive now than in the last couple of years.
The US circuit looks really interesting (not having seen it prior to the qualies), especially that awesome banking corner … I’m just hoping it’ll turn out to be more exciting than Monza.
How is this track viewed with regards to overtaking? It seems a bit twisty but the front straight looks really good as an overtaking spot. Could someone enlighten the newbie?
Well green_bladder you definetly have more reasons to watch the race since Raikkonen is on pole for the race.
Well I can assure you that the GP at Indy will come up with a lot of overtaking oppurtunities because of the long long straight and hard braking immedietely afterwards for the first corner.
The infield section will require a lot of traction and good setup on the part of the cars if they have to overtake but I think the Renaults will come good over here given their lack of horsepower on the main straight.
Unpredictable weather (30% chances of rain) will surely make the race more exciting and might favor the Bridgestone runners who will have superb wet weather tyres.
In all not a race to miss given the nail biting situation in the drivers and constructors championships.The race is going to begin at half past midnight where I stay and I am not going to miss it for anything make sure you dont too.
Wow, what a race. Definitely one of the more exciting ones this season. I believe the rain was a huge factor in the race and as you predicted, maleinblack, those Bridgestone tires were simply awesome. It’s disappointing to see Raikkonen come in second but Ferrari raced the middle section extremely well - they gambled and they won. Can’t help but feel sorry for Montoya as well.
Schumi pretty much has everything wrapped up with regards to the driver’s championship but Williams still have a chance of winning the constructor’s. It should be great race in two weeks. Which team does the track in Suzuka favour? It seems pretty twisty.
It’s a Ferrari/Bridgestone track in Suzuka. Not as many opportunities for the high speed Williams to show their potential, and downforce required falls in to Ferrari’s hands. Also, give the Autumn climate, it’s usually Bridgestone that some out on top. the fact that it’s Bridgestone’s ‘home’ GP would be a big help too. forza Ferrari!!
Formula 1 is a beautiful thing! I’ve kept up with it, to varying degrees, for something like 15 years now, and I’ve been a Schumi fan since he entered the sport. I had the good fortune of attending the entire race weekend at Indy, and can tell you that there is nothing else like the sights, the sounds, and the smells of those cars! Although, the rain that did Schumi so well wasn’t so nice for those of us in the un-covered infield. Glad to see Ferrari win it, and hopefully Schumi can take Suzuka and win the Championship. I want to see him imprint the record books with 6 World Championships. Gives Raikkonen something to shoot for next year. No question, he’s got the talent.
And Montoya? Bah! As the lone Colombian driver, reports this morning are saying that he stormed out of the track Sunday without even waving/thanking the HUGE support he had from the Colombian fans (with the drop-dead-gorgeous women!). That’s just bad form. Doesn’t sound like World Champion material to me.
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Actually, Indy time is Eastern Standard Time, and never changes for Daylight Saving.
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A question for all you GP fans. I live about 5 miles from the Indy Motor Speedway. On Friday, I could hear the time trials all afternoon (I can usually hear the 500 and the Brickyard as well). I was amazed, because time trials are one car at a time.
But I couldn’t hear a thing yesterday. It was pretty much the same atmospheric conditions, except that it had rained earlier, and the track was wet. Were the times much faster on Friday? I can’t figure why I could hear 1 car, when I couldn’t hear 30. Maybe it was the wind.
Weird. It must’ve been the wind, but I am no weather expert. I know it certainly seemed louder at the track on Sunday, but then Friday was more or less just free practice. I’d guess a lot of what you heard depends on where you live in relation to IMS. The wind seemed to be blowing from the northeast on Sunday. Friday and Saturday it was blowing more from the west. But things can get weird inside the track.
I suppose it’s possible that the larger crowd of people on Sunday could have absorbed some of the sound too.
Well Suzuka has a combination of twists and high speed straights and high speed corners (like the 180R).There might be a good chance for Williams to dominate,but Suzuka is a total drivers circuit and the driver who knows the circuit well can perform pretty decently even with an inferior car so we cant discount Kimi Raikkonen as yet.
Schumacher loves the circuit(like Spa in Belgium which is another beautiful drivers circuit) and will definetly aim for a win to cement his world championship and secure the constructors championship for Ferrari,but you never know because Schumacher hasnt had a retirement due to mechanical reasons since Hockenhiem 2001 (I think) which is like 31 races! The law of averages may finally catch up with him and play it in the hands of Kimi and Williams (for construtors).
If nothing goes wrong then Shumacher or Barrichello will be in a better position to win due to a couple of reasons.Suzuka is the home circuit for Bridgestone and the local knowledge would give them an upper hand.There are chances of rains at this time of the year and it again tilts the chances in favor of Bridgestone drivers.
In all dont miss the race even though it might mean that you might have to stay up at inconvinent times.I bet it will be exciting.
Doh! And I went to school in Arizona, which doesn’t do daylight savings time either! It figures that I’d get snared by that sliver of Indiana that doesn’t do it!
