A 2

Marussia has not announced who will be their second driver. So pending an announcement, here is the thread for the inaugural race of 2015. We are just over a week away from when the festivities begin. In addition to Manor, please note, K-Mag will be racing in place of Alonso at McLaren-Honda. Alonso will be missing the first race on doctors advice. As I create this thread the fate of the German Grand Prix is up in the air, and funnily enough I did not find a link from NBCSN with the accurate broadcast times for the 2015 season. Perhaps they too are waiting on Bernie.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE:

Fri 13 March 2014
Practice 1 (Thu) 21:30 - 23:00
Practice 2 (Fri) 01:30 - 03:00

Sat 14 March 2014
Practice 3 (Fri) 23:00 - (Sat) 00:00
Qualifying 02:00

Sun 15 March 2014
Race 02:00


CIRCUIT INFO:

Lap data
Lap length 5.303km (3.295 miles)
Race laps 58
Race distance 307.574km (191.118 miles)
Pole position Left-hand side of the track
Lap record* 1’24.125 (226.934 kph) by Michael Schumacher, 2004
Fastest lap 1’23.529 (228.553 kph) by Sebastian Vettel, 2011
Maximum speed 312kph (193.868 mph)
DRS zone/s (race) First and second straight
Distance from grid to turn one 380m

Car performance
Full throttle 71%
Longest flat-out section 843m
Downforce level High
Gear changes per lap 54
Fuel use per lap 2.5kg
Time penalty per lap of fuel 0.1s

Strategy
Quickest complete pit stop in 2012 21.91s by Ferrari (see full list)
2013 prime tyre**: Medium (2012: Medium)
2013 option tyre**: Super Soft (2012: Soft)

*Fastest lap set during a Grand Prix
**Pirelli’s compounds are softer than those used in 2012

Data sources: FIA, Williams, Mercedes




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nWlyFjKCA8

A 2

Voted Lewis for the win. Based on the pace of cars in testing, it looks like Mercedes will yet again dominate by a huge margin. If one of the McLarens can pull off a Ricciardo and make it to the podium (and keep it) I will be thrilled.

gofast182

US TV Schedule:
3/15/15
1:00AM ET
NBCSN

Will post practice and quali. when I find them.

gofast182

As much as I hope our McLaren Honda boys pull off a Ricciardo I'm more worried about a dual DNF. But one can dream: how cool would it be if K-MAG pulled off an encore performance of 2014 in what might be his only 2015 F1 appearance?

gofast182

WEEKEND TV SCHEDULE (US):
Friday March 13th, Practice, 12:30AM ET, NBCSN
Saturday March 14th, Qualifying, 2:00AM ET, NBCSN
Sunday March 15th, Australian Grand Prix, 1:00AM ET, NBCSN

2014 V6 TURBO ERA RESULTS:
Race laps: 57
Pole sitter: Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes - 1:44.231
Fast race lap: Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 1:32.478
Podium
1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
2. Kevin Magnussen - McLaren
3. Jenson Button - McLaren

UnkieTrunkie

Rosberg is my pick this time, but Hamilton would be a zero-surprise.

Rosberg
Vettel
Bottas

First UT WAG of 2015 - Grosjean in top 5.

Other (seriously outside) WAG - Kimi will pull a non-pit-deferred*, 3 cars-passed-in-one-lap in between laps 38-48. Double down? Sure: one of those three will be going into Brabham (T1), with Kimi first out of the apex of Jones (T2).

*That is to say, all 3 cars will be in the field, none attempting to pit.

windhund116

Think that Ferrari and Vettel can be competitive, this year? I like Ricciardo to win this one.

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UnkieTrunkie

Vettel is content. When he's content, he performs. What will happen in race two is another thing altogether.

Bugsy

I heard Fernando crashed and may have been electroshocked.
Said to have thought he was 13 in a go kart

DrakeValle

Voted Ricciardo, because he's still my favorite on the grid. I do expect to see the Mercs dominating this season though.