Tyres for Canada, Europe and Britain
The official F1 site notes that “Pirelli have announced the dry tyre compounds that will be used for the forthcoming races in Montreal, Valencia and Silverstone.”
| Grand Prix | Prime: compound (band) | Options: compound (band) |
| Canada (Montreal) | soft (yellow) | super-soft (red) |
| Europe (Valencia) | medium (white) | soft (yelllow) |
| Great Britain (Silverstone) | hard (silver) | soft (yellow) |
| I think I remembered to post the tyre compound info with each race’s notes, but here’s a summary of the compounds so far: |
||
| Australia (Melbourne) | medium (white) | soft (yellow) |
| Malaysia (Sepang) | hard (silver) | medium (white) |
| China (Shanghai) | medium (white) | soft (yellow) |
| Bahrain (Sakhir) | medium (white) | soft (yellow) |
| Spain (Catalunya) | hard (silver) | soft (yellow) |
| Monaco (Monte Carlo) | soft (yellow) | super-soft (red) |
[source: FIA]
Spanish Grand Prix – Race
The first of the European races could be interesting thanks to Alonso’s comments (see Practice notes) and a strange grid (Qualifying notes)
Provisional grid: LH, PM, FA, RG, KR, SP, NR, SV, MS, KK, JB, MW, PRe, NH, JV, DR, FM, BS, VP, HK, CP, TG, PRo, NK* (*outside of 107% time)
My GridBids picks for this weekend: JB, LH, FM, FA, NR & NH
Air temperature 22°C, track 33°C; windy again but not as strong as it was in Qualifying.
LH stopped his car on track after his qualifying lap; he was excluded from qualifying because “the F1 rules require the car to return to the pits with one litre of fuel on board – running less fuel gives a performance advantage.” [source: BBC]
Revised grid: PM, FA, RG, KR, SP, NR, SV, MS, KK, JB, MW, PRe, NH, JV, DR, FM, BS, VP, HK, CP, TG, PRo, NK, LH
Expectation is 3 stops, with the options only lasting 12-15 laps
PM leads everyone away on the formation lap … once he passes FA who jumped off the grid very quickly
Radio for JB – everyone is starting on options
Read more
Spanish Grand Prix – Qualifying
It’s dry but very windy on the main straight. Air temperature 28°C, track 41°C, wind 2.7m/s, humidity 35%
Tyre compounds for this weekend are hard (silver band) and soft (yellow).
FA was fastest in Free Practice 1 at his home Grand Prix; JB was fastest in FP2 and SV in FP3.
(See my Practice notes for other news/updates.)
Lotus have repaired RG’s car after a fuel pressure problem in Free Practice 3
MS was reprimanded for going off track in FP3
Qualifying 1
Pit lane lights turn green, marking the start of the session but no-one rushing to leave their garage
Read more
Spanish Grand Prix – Practice
Everyone survived the Bahrain GP weekend and now the circus moves on to Europe. Following the stewards’ decision not to penalise NR for either of his moves which resulted in first LH and then FA being pushed off-track, FA said “I think you are going to have fun in future races! You can defend position as you want and you can overtake outside the track! Enjoy! 
))”
SV tops the Drivers’ Championship table (4 points ahead of LH), and Red Bull is 9 points ahead of McLaren in the Constructors’ battle.
Tyre compounds for this weekend are hard (silver band) and soft (yellow), so that’s a 2-compound spread because they’re not using the mediums.
McLaren have confirmed they have made some personnel changes in their pit crew following their problems in the previous Grand Prix.
My GridBids picks for this weekend: JB, LH, FM, FA, NR & NHu
Free Practice 1
Even after last week’s test sessions in Mugello there are lots of changes being tried out
McLaren have a new nose design – a little stepped but not as ugly as the other cars
PRo lost a piece of bodywork from his HRT
FA was fastest (1:24.430) followed by SV, KK, JB, Valtteri Bottas (test driver for Williams), MS, RG, LH, KR, NH
Read more
F1 championship update
I posted the points standings in the comments for the Malaysian and Chinese races, but rather than do the same after Bahrain I thought they deserved a post of their own 
So, after 4 races…
2012 Drivers’ Championship
- S Vettel 53 points
- L Hamilton 49
- M Webber 48
- J Button 43
- F Alonso 43
- N Rosberg 35
- K Raikkonen 34
- R Grosjean 23
- S Perez 22
- P di Resta 15
2012 Constructors’ Championship
- Red Bull 101 points
- McLaren 92
- Lotus 57
- Ferrari 45
- Mercedes 37
- Sauber 31
- Williams 18
- Force India 17
- Toro Rosso 6
- Caterham, HRT & Marussia 0
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