Formula 1 United States Grand Prix: June 17 2007
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Track: Indianapolis Speedway
Circuit length: 4.192 km
Laps: 73
Race distance: 306.016 km
Lap record: 1:10.399 (Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari, 2004)
Despite being one of the world's oldest and most famous tracks, Grand Prix racing returned to The Brickyard only in 2000, after a brief spell in the 1950s that was popular with only the American drivers. The race has also been held at tracks in Phoenix, Long Beach and Watkins Glen until 1991.
The circuit makes use of roughly half of the banked oval racing track. Thus the drivers are on full throttle for 25 seconds per lap, the longest on the calendar. The infield section was constructed specially for the Grand Prix, and is used just once a year. Save for a short back straight, it is twisty and slippery.
The vast differences in the demands of these 2 sections have always posed a headache to the teams. The normal practice is to adjust the front wing for minimal drag and the rear wing for medium grip. The front and rear tyres on the left of the car have their pressures increased to cope with the lateral loads that the banking places on them.
Many will remember the fiasco of the 2005 Grand Prix, which was sparked by a tyre failure on Ralf Schumacher's Toyota in free practice. Subsequent tests found the batch of tyres that Michelin had brought unsafe. After the teams failed to come to a compromise with the FIA, Michelin-shod cars boycotted the race on the warm-up lap, leaving only 6 Bridgestone-shod cars on the grid. As a result, Toyota failed to convert their first ever pole position. Michael Schumacher took what was to be Ferrari's only win that year, Jordan their last podium finish, and Minardi their last points. It was a huge setback for F1's efforts to penetrate the USA market.
Other years have seen plenty of drama as well:
- Mika Hakkinen took his last victory here in 2001, after retirement the previous year cost him the world championship.
- 2002 saw the Ferraris repeat their Austria fiasco in reverse order.
- Juan-Pablo Montoya was penalised in both 2003 and 2004, and was also involved in the 7-car pile-up at the start of last year's event.
Michael Schumacher won last year's event ahead of teammate Felipe Massa, who is still at Ferrari. The Italian team have won all-but-one of the 7 Grand Prix at Indy, and will go into this year's race eagar to maintain that form and catch up McLaren in the world championships.
The circuit has not been a happy hunting ground for Fernando Alonso however. His only finish came last year, where he was placed fifth. He goes into this race 8 points behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton after a dreadful race in Canada. The latter took victory there and as championship leader will want to maintain the momentum.
BMW will once again be the dark horses. Nick Heidfeld scored their highest placing in Montreal, a similarly slippery high-speed track. However, they will be sweating over the fitness of their second driver Robert Kubica, who was involved in a sickening crash in that race. Sebastian Vettel will be standing by to replace the Pole if he is unable to participate.
Will Ferrari's drivers regain any ground in the world championship? Will Alonso break his jinx at The Brickyard? Can Hamilton keep the momentum of his maiden win going? Or will BMW stage a bigger surprise? It's another late night chapter in the 2007 world championships! -
Robert Kubica will not take part in this weekendÂ’s US Grand Prix and his place will be taken by BMW SauberÂ’s official reserve driver Sebastian Vettel.
Kubica underwent a medical examination at Indianapolis on Thursday following his massive crash in Montreal last Sunday.
Although he showed no ill effects and passed the test, the FIAÂ’s medical delegate Gary Hartstein decided to rest him for the weekend on precautionary grounds.
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39621 -
Nakajima stood in for Wurz in the morning session. The BMWs are doing well, especially Vettel, but the Ferraris are more than a second adrift of Alonso's time.
Indianapolis free practice session 1 times
1. ALONSO McLaren 1m11.925s
2. HEIDFELD BMW 1m12.391s
3. HAMILTON McLaren 1m12.628s
4. VETTEL BMW 1m12.869s
5. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m12.966s
6. ROSBERG Williams 1m13.020s
7. MASSA Ferrari 1m13.040s
8. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m13.159s
9. BUTTON Honda 1m13.597s
10. WEBBER Red Bull 1m13.682s
11. TRULLI Toyota 1m13.777s
12. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m13.786s
13. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m13.819s
14. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m13.907s
15. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m13.990s
16. FISICHELLA Renault 1m14.000s
17. SATO Super Aguri 1m14.037s
18. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m14.052s
19. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m14.189s
20. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m14.632s
21. ALBERS Spyker 1m14.636s
22. SUTIL Spyker 1m14.810s -
I find this track to odinary, too little coroners maybe.
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The 4 Red Bull cars are posting very good top speeds in these 2 sessions.
The McLarens are in the bottom half of the speed trap stakes but still held the fastest sector times. -
Webber stopped out on the track halfway through the session. Wurz returned to the cockpit.
Free practice session 2 results
1 Fernando Alonso 1:12.156
2 Lewis Hamilton 1:12.309
3 Felipe Massa 1:12.435
4 Kimi Räikkönen 1:12.587
5 Nick Heidfeld 1:13.026
6 David Coulthard 1:13.042
7 Nico Rosberg 1:13.057
8 Heikki Kovalainen 1:13.110
9 Rubens Barrichello 1:13.144
10 Jenson Button 1:13.202
11 Sebastian Vettel 1:13.217
12 Mark Webber 1:13.263
13 Vitantonio Liuzzi 1:13.332
14 Anthony Davidson 1:13.364
15 Giancarlo Fisichella 1:13.394
16 Alexander Wurz 1:13.539
17 Jarno Trulli 1:13.692
18 Scott Speed 1:13.712
19 Takuma Sato 1:13.753
20 Ralf Schumacher 1:13.765
21 Christijan Albers 1:14.225
22 Adrian Sutil 1:14.513 -
Toyota and Renault found a little more pace this morning, but the surprise came from Vettel, who split the McLarens. Qualifying starts in 75 minutes.
Indianapolis free practice session 3 times
1. ALONSO McLaren 1m12.150s
2. VETTEL BMW 1m12.321s
3. HAMILTON McLaren 1m12.378s
4. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m12.574s
5. HEIDFELD BMW 1m12.646s
6. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m12.692s
7. MASSA Ferrari 1m12.709s
8. FISICHELLA Renault 1m12.710s
9. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m12.940s
10. ROSBERG Williams 1m13.031s
11. TRULLI Toyota 1m13.057s
12. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m13.061s
13. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m13.069s
14. WEBBER Red Bull 1m13.289s
15. BUTTON Honda 1m13.318s
16. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m13.415s
17. SATO Super Aguri 1m13.476s
18. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m13.573s
19. WURZ Williams 1m13.626s
20. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m13.979s
21. SUTIL Spyker 1m14.142s
22. ALBERS Spyker 1m14.402s -
US GRAND PRIX STARTING GRID
1. HAMILTON McLaren
2. ALONSO McLaren
3. MASSA Ferrari
4. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
5. HEIDFELD BMW
6. KOVALAINEN Renault
7. VETTEL BMW
8. TRULLI Toyota
9. WEBBER Red Bull
10. FISICHELLA Renault
11. COULTHARD Red Bull
12. SCHUMACHER Toyota
13. BUTTON Honda
14. ROSBERG Williams
15. BARRICHELLO Honda
16. DAVIDSON Super Aguri
17. WURZ Williams
18. SATO Super Aguri
19. LIUZZI Toro Rosso
20. SPEED Toro Rosso
21. SUTIL Spyker
22. ALBERS Spyker -
US Grand Prix result - 73 laps
1. HAMILTON McLaren 1h39:09.065
2. ALONSO McLaren +1.5s
3. MASSA Ferrari +12.8s
4. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +15.4s
5. KOVALAINEN Renault +41.4s
6. TRULLI Toyota +66.7s
7. WEBBER Red Bull +67.3s
8. VETTEL BMW +67.7s
9. FISICHELLA Renault +1 lap
10. WURZ Williams +1 lap
11. DAVIDSON Super Aguri +1 lap
12. BUTTON Honda +1 lap
13. SPEED Toro Rosso +2 laps
14. SUTIL Spyker +2 laps
15. ALBERS Spyker +3 laps
16. ROSBERG Williams +5 laps
17. LIUZZI Toro Rosso +5 laps
R. HEIDFELD BMW +18 laps
R. SATO Super Aguri +60 laps
R. COULTHARD Red Bull +73 laps
R. BARRICHELLO Honda +73 laps
R. SCHUMACHER Toyota +73 laps -
Fastest lap: Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:13.117
Alonso was beaten fair and square by a rookie. He had only one pop at passing even with a lighter car or warmed-up tyres.
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i guess this wud be the last of indy...
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Still no ''hat-trick'' (pole, win, fastest lap) for HamiltonOriginally posted by Kuali Baba:Fastest lap: Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:13.117 -
Sato will get a 10-place penalty for the next race, since he retired before he could take a penalty for passing Button under the yellow flags.
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Almost definite 22nd place for Sato in FranceOriginally posted by Kuali Baba:Sato will get a 10-place penalty for the next race, since he retired before he could take a penalty for passing Button under the yellow flags. -
Maybe 20th or 21st - unless Honda works bucks up.Originally posted by SBS9806J:Almost definite 22nd place for Sato in France
Vettel became the youngest points scorer, beating Button's mark by a few months.