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Post by blacktulip on Oct 30, 2009 11:52:09 GMT
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton earned the bragging rights in Formula 1’s debut session at the new Abu Dhabi circuit, setting the pace in Friday’s first practice session from fellow Brit Jenson Button.
The outgoing world champion and his successor traded fastest time back and forth in an entertaining climax to the 90-minute session, with Hamilton ultimately prevailing by less than 0.1s.
Sebastian Vettel was third quickest for Red Bull ahead of Button’s Brawn team-mate Rubens Barrichello, setting the scene nicely for their battle for second place in the world championship in which Vettel currently has a two-point advantage.
BMW’s Nick Heidfeld was fifth, with Toro Rosso rookie Sebastien Buemi a strong sixth and Adrian Sutil impressively overcoming early problems with his Force India that sidelined him from the majority of the session to take seventh.
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Post by blacktulip on Oct 30, 2009 11:52:49 GMT
1. HAMILTON McLaren 1m43.939s
2. BUTTON Brawn 1m44.035s
3. VETTEL Red Bull 1m44.153s
4. BARRICHELLO Brawn 1m44.207s
5. HEIDFELD BMW 1m44.667s
6. BUEMI Toro Rosso 1m44.687s
7. SUTIL Force India 1m44.688s
8. WEBBER Red Bull 1m44.805s
9. ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso 1m44.955s
10. TRULLI Toyota 1m44.958s
11. KUBICA BMW 1m44.988s
12. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m45.123s
13. ROSBERG Williams 1m45.649s
14. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m45.679s
15. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m45.704s
16. ALONSO Renault 1m45.865s
17. LIUZZI Force India 1m46.239s
18. FISICHELLA Ferrari 1m46.267s
19. KOBAYASHI Toyota 1m46.364s
20. GROSJEAN Renault 1m46.411s
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Post by gizzy on Oct 30, 2009 22:33:17 GMT
WOW, did they spend about a billion dollars for this new track?
It's impressive, I guess that is what oil profits can provide. Bernie must think "hey these guys can spend a bazillion dollars, why not UK and US tracks?
We live in the real world, with working people and budgets. Don't have this kind of money to throw around.
I keep saying that the US has massive quantities of oil, but our politicians won't let us drill for so called "environmental issues" which are suspect.
Stop giving billions to these guys, and drill for oil here, now. We could completely cut off foreign oil imports if we had the balls to do so. In the UK, you may not have the huge natural resources we do. There is at least 300 years worth of oil over here.
-mark
Gizzy rant.
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raikkofan
F1 Driver
Where legends are made...
Posts: 181
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Post by raikkofan on Oct 31, 2009 6:58:56 GMT
Absolutely, Gizzy. Enjoy Abu Dhabi. We paid for it.
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Post by blacktulip on Oct 31, 2009 7:39:21 GMT
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix free practice session two
1. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m41.307s
2. HAMILTON McLaren 1m41.504s
3. BUTTON Brawn 1m41.541s
4. VETTEL Red Bull 1m41.591s
5. KOBAYASHI Toyota 1m41.636s
6. BUEMI Toro Rosso 1m41.683s
7. WEBBER Red Bull 1m41.684s
8. BARRICHELLO Brawn 1m41.831s
9. ROSBERG Williams 1m41.931s
10. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m41.987s
11. SUTIL Force India 1m42.180s
12. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m42.245s
13. HEIDFELD BMW 1m42.278s
14. TRULLI Toyota 1m42.409s
15. LIUZZI Force India 1m42.530s
16. ALONSO Renault 1m42.782s
17. FISICHELLA Ferrari 1m42.932s
18. GROSJEAN Renault 1m43.021s
19. ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso 1m43.022s
20. KUBICA BMW 1m43.708s
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Post by cyfrin on Oct 31, 2009 16:58:36 GMT
 What an amazing & technical circuit! Great drivers will triumph here. The yachts / super yachts in the Marina are amazing - how can people have so much money?!! 
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Post by susieq on Oct 31, 2009 17:19:48 GMT
I don't like it!! It doesn't look real. During quali when it went dark it looked like they were on a simulator. Total waste of money and resourses. You can't beat a good track like Silverstone, Spa and Watkins Glen.
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Post by gizzy on Oct 31, 2009 21:59:33 GMT
Raikkofan...+1
Cyfrin...It's all about huge oil profits. Yachts bigger than a football field.
Suzie, Bernie is just looking for a ton of dough...and these guys have it. He does not care about traditional tracks and historical venues...or the people that support them.
All he cares about is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
It's pretty obvious.
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Post by susieq on Oct 31, 2009 22:05:23 GMT
It's very sad too Gizzy. it looks like there is no atmosphere there too like Turkey and did they say it was a sell out.............. 50,000 people?? Good job it's not a private enterprise like Silverstone, they'd never pay it back.
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Post by gizzy on Oct 31, 2009 22:23:15 GMT
Suz,
Yes it's a sell out, and has been promoted heavily. They do have "Ferrari Land" which is a bunch of roller coaster/ thrill rides under that big prancing horse flag.
They tried to create atmosphere by throwing billions of dollars at it. This seems kinda fake, creating something out of nothing in the desert. The attitude seems to be "if we spend billions, they will come" Somehow, there is something missing...tradition, history, a home town feel with locals who have been there before. You know, real people you can talk to and relate your experiences with and established landmarks. That's hard to create out of nothing in the middle of the desert.
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Post by fizzycola on Oct 31, 2009 22:54:36 GMT
THAT huge Yacht....the one that looks like a grandstand....... It's massive!
Oil is a big business over there.... the circuit cost over a billion pounds to complete over 2 years... who has that kind of money to spare these days??? Even the oil business is flagging now.... And it looks to just be an island of sand surrounded with water....safe from pirates..yes..
Atmosphere.....um...no............
fizzy
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raikkofan
F1 Driver
Where legends are made...
Posts: 181
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Post by raikkofan on Nov 1, 2009 0:31:49 GMT
My opinion of Abu Dhabi: I like the 1.2 Km straight and the preceding chicane and hairpin. All other aspects of the track layout appear to be rather lacking in character. The surrounding facilities are awe-inspiring and nice to look at and appear to be out of some 1950s science fiction movie. Not complaining, though. I just think the track is not all that interesting so who really cares about the extraneous stuff if the meat and potatoes are bland? By the way, I'll say it right now: Someone is going to die in that pit exit/tunnel complex someday. It's WAY too cramped, complicated and dangerous and a simple pit scheme would have been much better and safer. It appears in that case that they placed style over safety. That's too bad. Still, I hope the race goes off well and proves me wrong.
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Post by WickedPlans on Nov 1, 2009 10:32:10 GMT
Wow, that is one hell of a circuit! The boats makes the Monaco harbour look like it's full of dinghies. It will never make the money back, but they don't care. It doesn't have to. Bernie doesn't seem to grasp that concept. He probably wants to make it the standard blueprint for all venues That pit lane is going to be very interesting! |
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Post by digital_F1 on Nov 1, 2009 14:26:35 GMT
Some good points there  Thing is though, nowhere can obviously have "history" on their first race there!  Give the place another year or 2 at least, then maybe consider if there's an possible "history". The twilight race is a great idea. Makes a change from the traditional day race or the new Singapore night race. About the atmosphere... Try visiting and see if there's any difference  |
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Post by susieq on Nov 1, 2009 17:42:37 GMT
Sadly, unlike Bernie's my budget doesn't stretch that far. The race turned out better than I expected and I was hoping for more overtaking. I do like the PiT lane exit.
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Post by fizzycola on Nov 1, 2009 22:01:20 GMT
Re making the money back........ it will take a good few races there to make back the reported 1 billion it cost to make the track and facilities. But it was a sell out..........other races have not been...and hey, it's the UAE and they got pots of dosh to spend!  fizzy |
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What an amazing & technical circuit! Great drivers will triumph here.
