Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Friday June 8
First Practice Session: 10:00am
Second Practice Session: 2:00pm

Saturday June 9
Final Practice Session: 10:00am
Qualifying: 1:00pm

Sunday June 10
Race: 2:00pm

All times Eastern. This race begins SPEED’s absolutely annoying move to showing races on Fox, typically on a time delay after this one. You can watch the second practice session and the qualifying session on SPEED, and the other two practice sessions on their website. A pre-race show will be shown on SPEED before the race at 1:30, and also a post-race show at 4pm.

Last year’s winner: Jenson Button

What to expect: Organizers had to cancel the typical open house in the pit lane today thanks to threats from the immature student protestors in Montreal. Because if you can’t have your way, you should ruin the fun for everyone else…I learned to stop doing that when I was 5.

Anyway. Red Bull are now not allowed to use the floor their car has had for the past few races. It was declared legal to use in Monaco, but it had to be changed for this race. There was talk that they would lose their last win, but that’s kind of ridiculous when the car was deemed fine. Haters. You’re even making Mark Webber mad and you know what happens when you make Mark Webber mad…

McLaren hopes to get their butts into gear once again, considering the poor performance of Jenson Button lately.

Of course, there’s still no sign of who could possibly win this race, because it could entirely be a seventh different driver for the season. Cue continued arguments about whether or not this unpredictability is good for racing/fans/etc. I think since we’re all different people, we all just have to shut up and deal with it. Though personally I enjoy it, and I find it stupid that team principals and what have you, as in people who are not fans, try to tell us how we think.

Weather: The race should be nothing like last year, with temperatures for the weekend in the 70s. There’s a 60% chance right now for rain tomorrow.

Tires: Once again, the tires are softs and supersofts. Tire wear will be key, as the track is not exactly used by cars any other time of the year. As rubber is laid down during practice sessions, the track will progressively become faster.

DRS: There will be a single DRS zone in Montreal this year instead of the two zones last year. The one zone will be located from turn 11 until the final chicane. Word is the second zone on the start/finish line was removed because overtaking was way too easy last year.

Well duh, just ask the winner who went from last to first.

Circuit de Monaco (image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Thursday May 24
First Practice Session: 4:00am
Second Practice Session: 8:00am

Saturday May 26
Final Practice Session: 5:00am
Qualifying: 8:00am

Sunday May 27
Race: 8:00am

SPEED will show a pre-race show beginning at 7:30am. Second practice is also live, and the others can be streamed on SPEEDtv.com. All times eastern.

Last year’s winner: Sebastian Vettel

What to expect: It’s the most wonderful time of the F1 season!

The Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 make one of the best weekends in racing. Grands Prix have taken place in Monaco since 1929, and the glitz and glamour of this F1 weekend are well known.

Well, Monte Carlo is pretty glamourous anyway.

The chicane where Sergio Perez crashed last year has been changed. The tarmac has been slightly lowered and the barrier has been moved back 15 meters.

With tire degradation playing such a major role in races lately, it’s hard to tell who could have the best chances this weekend. Lotus hopes to continue improving, and Pastor Maldonado and Williams would love to win again. We could easily see a sixth different winner, though!

Weather: It looks like it’s going to be rainy, sadly. The chance of rain is highest on Thursday, with storms, which could make practice sessions difficult. There’s also a 60% chance of rain on Saturday and 50% on Sunday. This could always change, but we might be seeing a wet qualifying session and race, or possibly just wet qualifying, or hopefully no rain.

Tires: This weekend will be the debut of the supersoft tires for the season. The other compound will be the soft tires. And with the weather, there might actually be no debut of supersoft tires. In other interesting tire news, Paul Hembery has said Pirelli is ready at any time to supply teams with Q3 only tires if they would like.

DRS: The drivers are not allowed to use DRS in the tunnel during practice and qualifying. The DRS zone for the race will be the start-finish straight.

Circuit de Catalunya layout (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Friday May 11
First Practice Session: 4:00am
Second Practice Session: 8:00am

Saturday May 12
Final Practice Session: 5:00am
Qualifying: 8:00am

Sunday May 13
Race: 8:00am

SPEED will show a pre-race show beginning at 7:30am. Second practice is also live, and the others can be streamed on SPEEDtv.com. All times eastern.

Last year’s winner: Sebastian Vettel

What to expect: We’re back after a three week break, and that means it’s time for the European/Canada leg of the season for the summer.

Teams had testing time last week, which should mean many teams will be sporting aerodynamic upgrades. With the season still wide open for this fifth race of the year, it’s hard to tell who will come out on top. Will it be a fifth different driver? Will Mark Webber finish fourth for the fifth time? Hopefully practice gives us a general idea of what to expect, but for now it truly is wide open.

American Alexander Rossi will get his first chance to drive in the first practice session for Caterham. Dani Clos will be driving for HRT in the first session also.

Ross Brawn, team principal for Mercedes, will miss out on the race due to illness on doctor’s orders. Get well soon, Ross!

Weather: Perfect for racing or at least watching it, I’d say…this forecast looks like quintessential European spring weather. Highs in the mid 70s, partly cloudy skies, and low chances for rain.

Tires: Pirelli has decided to use the soft and hard tires. This is a bit of a different strategy than usual, since tire compounds are usually in consecutive hardness order (like soft/medium, medium/hard, etc). This should suit the circuit better. Except I guess if you’re Michael Schumacher, the tires are scrambled or hard boiled.

DRS: There will be a single DRS zone at the Circuit de Catalunya. The activation zone will be down the start/finish straight, with the detection zone between turns 15 and 16. The DRS zone is 750 meters long, so expect to see some good fights.

Bahrain International Circuit (image from Wikimedia Commons)

Friday April 13
First Practice Session: 3:00am
Second Practice Session: 7:00am

Saturday April 21
Final Practice Session: 4:00am
Qualifying: 7:00am

Sunday April 22
Race: 8:00am

SPEED will show a pre-race show beginning at 7:30am. Second practice is also live, and the others can be streamed on SPEEDtv.com. All times eastern.

Last year’s winner: no race held (Sebastian Vettel won in 2010)

What to expect: A lack of safety. Force India’s drivers have spoken out about the petrol bomb incident from the previous day. Other drivers have gone the tacky road and compared it to Brazil (sorry Sebastian but no), and some straight up won’t answer questions. Sorry boys, but this is what people want to know about.

Search “Bahrain Grand Prix” on Google News and you’ll find that since yesterday things have taken a turn for the critical. According to a Reuters article, hospitality groups have seen a massive decline in sales, and many corporate sponsors are not doing much. Shell, a major sponsor of Ferrari, will not be entertaining guests. UBS has no plans to sponsor any events.

Other than that, well, it’s racing as usual.

Weather: It’s a desert. Figure it out.

Tires: Tire compounds for the race will be the white/mediums and yellow/softs. Grip is often reduced by sand blowing onto the track. In fact, when Pirelli was testing tires here before the 2011 season, they had to stop for a sandstorm at one point.

DRS: With no race last year, DRS is new here in Bahrain. The detection point is through the last turn, with the activation zone the final straight.

Like I said before, you’re going to have to look elsewhere for updates on anything unless it’s about how terrible of an idea this race is.

And let’s hope I have no reason to update anything regarding people being hurt. Plenty of protests are planned over the next few days, and while the protestors claim to be peaceful, it only takes one jerk to ruin it all.

Shanghai International Racing Circuit Layout (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Sorry this is so late, I thought I was going to be downtown for about 2 hours max and it turned into 4 1/2 rather quickly.

Thursday April 12
First Practice Session: 10:00pm

Friday April 13
Second Practice Session: 2:00am
Third Practice Session: 11:00pm

Saturday April 14
Qualifying: 2:00am

Sunday April 15
Race: 3:00am

SPEED will show a pre-race show beginning at 2:30am. Second practice is also live, and the others can be streamed on SPEEDtv.com. All times eastern.

Last year’s winner: Lewis Hamilton, McLaren

What to expect: First and foremost, last year’s winner will be starting off with a five grid spot penalty for a gearbox change. Secondly, Lotus lodged a protest regarding Mercedes’ f-duct wing. The FIA deemed it once again to be legal, and the matter was unanimously rejected by the stewards. So seriously guys, jsut suck it up and make your own now.

Weather: Weather looks to be overcast, maybe rainy for the first two practice sessions, and then possibly rainy Sunday morning. It shouldn’t be a problem. Temperatures are forecasted to be mild, in the 60s.

Tires: Tire compounds for the race will be the white/mediums and yellow/softs. Tire strategy played a huge role in last year’s race and we should expect the same thing once again. A three stop strategy may be the way to go, as it worked last year.

DRS: The same DRS zone as last year will be used again. The detection zone will be at turn 12, with the activation zone the back straight.

Check back here for updates on practice and qualifying, I’m not sure I will make it to the second session, but I’ll have you covered in the morning!

The rumors have reached full strength, and it is likely to be announced tomorrow that Bruno Senna will be driving for Williams next season. This leaves Rubens Barrichello without a drive, possibly ending his long career in Formula 1.

To read the quite bizarre story behind it, check out The F1 Mole’s blog.

If true, both of Williams’ drivers would be pay drivers. Of course, their financial woes were clear when AT&T didn’t renew their title sponsorship of all things.

I wonder though why nobody brings up how it seems somewhat odd for Bruno to drive for the team his uncle was driving for when he died. By no means do I mean that the team was at fault, as it really was a horrible perfect storm of conditions. I would just feel weird about driving for the team especially when their car is so bad. But maybe that’s why I sit here writing about racing and I’m not out there racing because I’d clearly be missing out on an opportunity that could be my last chance in F1.

Anyway.

Robert Kubica had to have surgery on his once again broken leg. Apparently the calcification that should have taken place in the bone did not happen. Kubica will have to rest for 2-3 weeks before continuing his rehabilitation.

Jenson Button gets to test the new McLaren car for this upcoming season before teammate Lewis Hamilton. Button will be driving for the first two days of testing that begins on February 7, and Hamilton will take over for days 3 and 4.

DRS zones may see some tweaking this season as the FIA looks to alter some of the overtaking zones. The rules for using DRS will remain the same.

Photo from Flickr user  ph-stop

Yas Marina Circuit

Last year’s winner: Sebastian Vettel

Schedule for race events, all times eastern:

Friday November 11
First practice session: 4am
Second practice session: 8am, live on SPEED

Saturday November 12
Third practice session: 5am
Qualifying: 8am, live on SPEED

Sunday November 13
Race: 8am, prerace show begins at 7:30am on SPEED

The big story: The fight is still on for the other top spots in the points in the penultimate race of the season. Sebastian Vettel is of course looking for his third win in as many races here in Abu Dhabi. This was the site of his first world championship win last year. Other than that, it’s basically a race for the sake of racing at this point in the season.

Since it’s so late in the season, there is plenty of talk about the future of many drivers. Force India’s situation has not been sorted out just yet. Kimi Raikkonen confirmed to MTV3 in Finland that he has been in talks with Williams. Rumor has it something could be announced this weekend in conjunction with a new Middle Eastern sponsor for the Williams team.

Nico Rosberg announced a deal with his current Mercedes team. He will race with them through 2013. His teammate, Michael Schumacher, has not yet decided about his future. It is possible he could retire after next season, while some German newspapers say he has signed a deal already to continue through 2013 with the team as well.

The young drivers’ test will take place after race weekend, with a chance for every team to look at their possibilities in the future. This weekend also features an all-star GP2 race.

DRS Zone: Let’s face the facts – this race can definitely be a bore, where the most exciting thing becomes the lights changing color on the Yas Marina Hotel. This will be the third race of the season to feature double DRS zones, in the hopes of shaking up the race into something more than a (possible) Sebastian Vettel parade.

The first DRS zone will be between turns 7 and 8, with the detection point before turn 7. The second zone will be on the straight leading to turn 11, with the detection point after turn 9.

Tires: Pirelli is back where they started – testing for their tires was first done at this circuit at the end of last year. On Friday, teams will test out a new compound for the tire supplier. For the race itself, the soft and medium compounds will be used.

Weather: As you can expect in the Middle East, the weather will be excellent for racing as usual. Dry and hot, although not too hot since Abu Dhabi is a race into the night.

Track layout image courtesy of Arz at the Wikimedia Commons.

Buddh International Circuit

Inaugural race schedule (all times eastern)
Friday October 28
First practice session: 12:30am
Second practice session: 4:30am, live on SPEED

Saturday October 29
Final practice session: 1:30am
Qualifying: 4:30am, live on SPEED

Sunday October 30
Race: 5:30am, pre-race at 4:30am on SPEED

First and third practice sessions available for live streaming on speedtv.com

The big story: Championships are settled, but this is still a huge weekend. So far, this new track is plagued with bats and rats, power outages, and plenty of dust. Despite all that, media and teams have had nothing but praise for the circuit, and once everyone gets started running, hopefully the bugs will all get worked out.

Needless to say, it bothers me that people are already saying it will be a disaster. Given the past 2 Sundays, this is ignorant, rude, and downright disrespectful when it’s clear those in charge of this event have all the interest in the world in putting on a show.

The tweets from both media and drivers so far have been second to no other race. Maybe only the comments on the love hotels in South Korea were better, but all the curry talk outdoes that.

This is a brand new track, and nobody has yet to really get a run on it, so practice will be the first time we all truly figure anything out. That’s the excitement of a new track, and it will be interesting to see how it does seeing as it is yet another Herman Tilke creation.

DRS Zone: There will be two zones at the Buddh International Circuit. The first zone will be after turn 16, down the pit straight, with the detection zone after turn 15. The other zone will be between turns 3 and 4, the other long straight, with the detection zone at the entry to turn 3.

Tires: The hard Pirelli tire will be the option tire, with the softs as the prime. This is a bit different than usual, when the harder compound is usually the prime. With more softs, the teams will be able to run them more and provide more feedback to Pirelli.

Weather: Hot and sunny with no chance for rain, exactly what you’d figure to have for weather in India.

Circuit layout thanks to Wikimedia Commons user Pyrope.

Suzuka Circuit

Last year’s winner: Sebastian Vettel

Schedule for race events, all times eastern:
Thursday October 6
First practice session: 9pm

Friday October 7
Second practice session: 1am, live on SPEED
Third practice session: 10pm

Saturday October 8
Qualifying: 1am, live on SPEED

Sunday October 9
Race: 2am, prerace show begins at 1:30am on SPEED

The big story: Will Sebastian Vettel seal his second world championship this weekend, or will things fall into place to drag it out some more? Probably not, considering the Red Bull chassis’ absolute dominance at Suzuka (Vettel and Mark Webber finished 1-2 last year).

Suzuka is one of my favorites, first and foremost because I would rather stay up late than have to get up at 7am. But in all seriousness, I love this track. I play it on Gran Turismo a lot because it is so fun even on a couch. The track is a figure 8, and 130R is the most fun ever possible, and maybe one day I can legitimately drive it…but probably not. My car was built in Suzuka, so I have extra attachment to it.

The track is owned by Honda, and it is currently the only track for the Japanese Grand Prix. Toyota-owned Fuji Speedway used to alternate with Suzuka every other year, but with Toyota’s exit from Formula 1 came the track’s exit as well.

Renault hopes to be back to earlier season form, and plenty of drivers are hoping for a win because that’s pretty much all that’s left now.

Whiny Brazilians in the news: Felipe Massa claimed to be over this thing with Lewis Hamilton. Turns out, he’s not. After saying he wasn’t going to talk about it anymore, he continues to bring it up. Shut up.

Rubens Barrichello is finding the Kimi Raikkonen to Williams in 2012 rumors to be a threat, and continues to bring them up. This weekend, Rubens says he is a better choice than the 2007 world champion because he is older, and apparently that means you crash less. Let’s ask Michael Schumacher.

DRS Zone: The FIA have chosen a single zone this weekend on the start-finish straight. The detection point is after Turn 15, and the activation point will be just after the final turn.

Tires: Pirelli have chosen their soft and medium compound tires for Suzuka, due to the demands of the track.

Weather: No rain in the forecast, it’s supposed to be nice and sunny all weekend.

As always, Suzuka is a good time…even if it pours rain and that means the only thing in the pit lane are paper boats. This year hopefully nobody has to worry about that. This could be the championship deciding race (officially, of course, pretty sure the actual point where everyone decided Vettel had the championship was Monaco or something), so don’t miss it!

Best of all? The Bathurst 1000 will be on SPEED before the Grand Prix on Saturday night, so if you want to watch 9 hours of racing, for the second weekend in a row if you’re like me, you can!

Marina Bay Street Circuit

Last year’s winner: Fernando Alonso

All times eastern
Friday, September 23
First practice session: 6am
Second practice session: 9:30am, live on SPEED

Saturday, September 24
Third practice session: 7am
Qualifying session: 10am, live on SPEED

Sunday, September 25
Race: 8am, pre-race show on SPEED begins at 7:30am
race reshown at 3pm

First and third practice sessions can be streamed live on speedTV.com
This is one of my favorite races due to the fact that the teams try to stay on European time despite being in Asia, which should be apparent by the later times for everything but the race. Thanks to geography and that choice to have a night race, this race still takes place at the typical time of a European race. Thank you for being so kind to us as to not make every race in Asia between 1 and 4am, Bernie.

This is the only night race on the Formula 1 calendar, as it enters its fourth appearance. Fernando Alonso won the first race in 2008, although it was quite the reputation ruiner.

The big story for this weekend: depending on where Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton finish this Sunday, Sebastian Vettel will become the youngest double world champion in the history of Formula 1. Both Alonso and Hamilton have had nothing but praise for Vettel recently, and both vow to make things difficult for him this weekend.

The DRS zone: Just one this time around, with the detection zone located at turn 4. The activation zone will be after turn 5, going into the longest straight of the track.

Tires for the weekend: Pirelli will supply the teams with soft and supersoft compounds for the race.

Weather: Hot and humid, there is a chance for rain, but it is unlikely to affect the race since it takes place at night.

Surprise guest host Former driver steward for the weekend: Heinz-Harald Frentzen, former Sauber/Williams/Jordan/Prost/Arrows driver. He was a steward for last year’s European Grand Prix. Apparently he’s well favored to come in at street circuits.

Other news: Kimi Raikkonen’s name is back on everyone’s tongues. The Finn has been talking to Williams, creating quite the speculation stir around the paddock. Time will tell if anything becomes of it, but Rubens Barrichello’s seat is not safe for next season at this point in time.

There are reports that Red Bull Racing broke the Resource Restriction Agreement, or RRA, last year. The RRA sets regulations for the team’s budget, and under the agreement, this would have required someone to sign off on it. Christian Horner has said it is false, and that people “will throw stones” at those who have had success.

Touche.