2012 US GP - Circuit of the Americas

[FrukostScones]

Adam Cooper ‏@adamcooperf1

#F1 I hear via good source that Ferrari will indeed go for the Massa penalty. All they have to do is break the seal, not change 'box

That would be kind of dumb just to break the seal. At least they can change it and have a fresh one for Brazil.

and they could say they had to replace it, silly move if they were just breaking the seal, this could really break a shitstorm loose

[stefan_]

it takes time to replace it, atleast an hour...so thats why

it will be real joke if we see the dirty side not as slippery as poeple make it be
and we have a normal race start

45 minutes.

[siskue2005]

So now it is confirmed
https://twitter.com/adamcooperf1
http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/11/18/alon ... x-penalty/

[AnthonyG]

I recently saw a video of a dragrace between a porsche 911 and boxster on a dragstrip and they sprayed some sort of glue on the track to improve traction.

Question: are teams allowed to spray that on the gridspot?

[Lurk]

Teams are not allowed to do that, but officials can if they want.

[siskue2005]

I recently saw a video of a dragrace between a porsche 911 and boxster on a dragstrip and they sprayed some sort of glue on the track to improve traction.

Question: are teams allowed to spray that on the gridspot?

no, they cant...not even in front of their pit stop place

[Gaara]

What is break the seal? opened the gearbox? or Massa will get a new gearbox?

[myurr]

I recently saw a video of a dragrace between a porsche 911 and boxster on a dragstrip and they sprayed some sort of glue on the track to improve traction.

Question: are teams allowed to spray that on the gridspot?

If the answer were yes, then they'd already have done this at other races.

[Richard]

Breaking the seal and not changing the box is cheeky. I wonder if the FIA will make him start in the pit lane for poor sportmanship?

Also, is it my imagination or do they sometimes leave a grid place empty and other drivers stay in the same place? I think that happens if a car drops out after they take their places for the formation lap?

[AnthonyG]

I recently saw a video of a dragrace between a porsche 911 and boxster on a dragstrip and they sprayed some sort of glue on the track to improve traction.

Question: are teams allowed to spray that on the gridspot?

If the answer were yes, then they'd already have done this at other races.

I remember a few years ago a team (toyota?) spoiled some oil on the grid before their car, they were cleaning it like crazy because they didn't want to spoil their start. From that I conclude that they could be allowed to "improve" the track-surface.

[myurr]

Just finished re-watching the qualifying session, and there were just no marbles (or clag) on the track. I wonder how much the tires won't degrade today? And how long will they make the mediums last? Drivers are having some struggles finding the limit on their tires, and there might be some spins today... maybe even safety car periods. Once the circuit rubbers in after those races next year this is going to be a great, technical circuit for the drivers.

Presuming they all get away cleanly, this race could come down to who can pit at the right time to get a tyre advantage on the hard tyres, as they'd probably be able to do not far off a complete race distance on those tyres. At some point the worn medium and new hard tyres will cross over in performance and that's when the front runners will need to pit.

I wonder if we could see Hamilton pitting early and either forcing Vettel to respond and move on to the tyres that in practice looked like the McLaren had an advantage with, or risk letting Lewis get the undercut. As long as Lewis can stay just about in touch during the first stint we could still be on for a very interesting race.

[Steven]

What is break the seal? opened the gearbox? or Massa will get a new gearbox?

There are stickers on the gearbox to prevent teams opening the gearbox without the FIA knowing about it. When such a sealing sticker is opened, the FIA knows the gearbox was looked into by a team member, and this in essence triggers a 5-place grid penalty.

[Redragon]

Well, a wing that flex but pass the tests is between the rules
a cheeky change of the gearbox is between the rules.
Love it. What would be next? =D> =D>

[CHT]

So now it is confirmed
https://twitter.com/adamcooperf1
http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/11/18/alon ... x-penalty/

I think Alonso and f1 is going to get plenty of negative publicity from this. Sure will back fire when team heads to brazil.

[myurr]

I remember a few years ago a team (toyota?) spoiled some oil on the grid before their car, they were cleaning it like crazy because they didn't want to spoil their start. From that I conclude that they could be allowed to "improve" the track-surface.

Doesn't explain why they don't routinely do this though. The teams employ a lot of incredibly smart people and spend hundreds of millions of dollars each to go racing a few weekends each year. Were the suggested kind of modification allowed and beneficial then the teams would have been doing it all year. So either they're not allowed, or it isn't beneficial to an F1 car.

There's also a difference between wiping up an oil spill, even if they used a solvent, and spraying glue all over the track.