Renault discuss the engine issues at Abu Dhabi

Renault engines have a strong history at the track, having achieved two thirds of the fastest laps, pole positions and wins at the Grands Prix held at the track.

The power sensitivity of the Yas Marina track is reasonably high on account of the two long straights. Approximately 55% of the track is spent at full throttle, with average speeds of 190kph, similar to the demands of Montreal. The long straight between turns seven and eight is nearly 1.2km and the RS27 will be at full throttle for 14secs, reaching speeds of over 310kph.

The power sensitivity is however lessened by the high concentration of low to medium speed bends in the back part of the circuit round the Marina. Turn 7, the hairpin, is the slowest of the circuit and similar to the challenges of the Grand Hairpin in Monaco. The engine braking needs to be particularly effective for rear stability on entrance, but equally the response needs to be completely correct as the hairpin exit leads onto the long back straight. Any hesitation will compromise the entry to the straight and therefore the overall lap time.

The third part of the track from turn 11 through to the final turn 21 features mainly right hand corners that are taken in second or third gear. The average speed through this section is just 160kph so the RS27 will be set up to give good driveability through this slower section whilst being responsive for the short bursts of power between turns.

Gear selection can be tricky round Abu Dhabi as the long straights require a high seventh gear ratio, but the right-hand corners require the gears to be closely spaced to achieve the required short bursts of acceleration between tight corners.

After the high levels of ambient dust in India, Abu Dhabi is another race where sand and other small dust particles can be ingested into the engine. The air filters designed by Renault Sport F1 should be beneficial in this respect as the abrasive sand can be filtered out without compromising performance.

Natural order restored? Vettel tops Free Practice 2

It would appear that Red Bull had to work hard this afternoon to reach the top of the timing sheet, with only 0.17 seconds between Sebastian Vettel in first and Lewis Hamilton in second place.  Jenson Button and Mark Webber were in third and fourth another half second adrift.

I say the natural order is restored but Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa came in behind the two Lotus of Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen in 5th and 6th respectively.

Kimi displays his usual patience with the media in Abu Dhabi
Courtesy of Lotus Renault F1
Copyright: Andrew Ferraro/LAT Photographic

Pastor Maldonado came in 9th, Senna in 11th, 0.2 seconds behind.  Sergio Perez kept Bruno out of the top ten by five hundredths.

Perez at Free Practice passes under the iconic architecture at the Abu Dhabi Circuit
Courtesy of Sauber Motorsport AG

McLaren Dominate Free Practice 1

I know I always say that Free Practice sessions mean nothing, indicate nothing, and provide no real data on how things will progress in the race but I'm hopeful that, given the dominance of the Red Bulls over the last four race weekends, we might see a bit more competition at this weeks Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

A totally relaxed Lewis Hamilton topped the timing sheets with a 1.43.258 followed by Jenson Button, the only other driver to break the 1m44s barrier.

A relaxed Lewis in the pits before FP1
Courtesy of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 

Behind the two McLarens came the Championship leader Sebastian Vettel followed by Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber.

The only other matter of note was the fact that Valtteri Bottas in 9th place was only two-tenths of a second behind Pastor Maldonado in 7th.

At the back of the pack, Giedo van der Garde didn't set any competitive time in the Caterham due to engine problems.

New look? I'm not sure I like it what about you?

I'm looking for a bit of help here.

In a desperate attempt to force myself to use my access to a number of the teams media centres in order to bring more photographs to the blog I'm trying to find a format which needs photographs.  Hence my dive into the nether realms of "dynamic views".

Hell! I don't even know what this does for me.  I can't find half my gadgets and my translator seems to be available in some views but not in others.

Does anyone like this format?  How is it beneficial to either the reader or the blogger? Anyone with a view on this please comment - I'm happy to work with it or to revert to the older formats if I can get a bit of feedback.

Thanks in advance

Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Race Times

Abu Dhabi GP Weekend running times, including Qualifying and Race.

The BBC are showing the Race and Qualifying this weekend and are also apparently doing Free Practice on the red button thingy.

While their programming starts long before the actual events the following represent the actual start times in GMT over the Weekend.

Friday:

Free Practice 1:      9.00 GMT

Free Practice 2:     13.00 GMT

Saturday:

Free Practice 3:      10.00 GMT

Qualifying:              13.00 GMT

Sunday:

Race:                     13.00 GMT

That's me told: Toro Rosso retains Vergne and Ricciardo for 2013

Maybe it was Ricciardo's interview with ESPN that did it, a bit of publicity to the cause not being any bad thing when seeking to ensure your future, but, interestingly enough Scuderia Toro Rosso came out yesterday evening with the confirmation that Daniel and his team-mate Jean Eric needed in order to put their minds at rest.

The message from Franz Tost was simple and also stark in its statement:

"Since the summer break, both drivers have scored more points and everyone in the team has been impressed with their maturity in terms of working with the engineers and their racecraft on track. We will be doing our best in the next few months, to produce a 2013 car which will allow them to demonstrate their talent".

Basically the guys would appear to have done enough since the summer break to ensure their drive for next year.  Not enough done before the summer break obviously or is that just me reading too much into it?.

Regardless, the two guys are justifiably delighted, Daniel Ricciardo saying:

“I am really pumped to know that I am continuing with Scuderia Toro Rosso for another season and want to thank the team and Red Bull. There are big expectations for next year and I’m ready and willing to fulfil them”

and Jean-Eric Vergne adding:

“I am really happy about this great news. Thank you Toro Rosso and thank you Red Bull, who have backed me since the early days of my career...I really believe in this team and with all the experience I have gained, combined with the team’s ambitious plans for next year, I think we can look forward to great things in 2013, attacking all the way.”

Congratulations to the guys on retaining their seats.  Heikki, Bruno, and Kamui still unsure for next season.

I am interested to know what the Scuderia Toro Rosso "big expectations" and "ambitious plans for next year" are (and whether they differ significantly from last years ambitious plans).