Fifth 'just about okay' for Button at British GP 2011

Jenson Button: Today was a bit of a topsy-turvy day. The balance of our car wasn't great, and it's always difficult when you find out at the last minute what you're running: it isn't a matter of a mere flick of a switch to change things

Jenson Button was disappointed following qualifying for the F1 2011 British Grand Prix today, although he felt fifth wasn't too bad considering how McLaren seemed to come out worse following late changes to the rules on engines.

Although it now looks like the matter might be resolved for the next race, with the FIA set to drop its ban on off-throttle blown diffusers providing there is unanimous agreement, that will come as scant consolation to Button, who was hoping to perform on home soil and get onto the podium at this event for the very first time.

“Today was a bit of a topsy-turvy day. The balance of our car wasn't great, and it's always difficult when you find out at the last minute what you're running: it isn't a matter of a mere flick of a switch to change things,” Button explained.

“For some teams, the tightening of the regulations helped; but it hurt others. So I guess fifth place feels just about okay after what we've been through in the past few days. Hopefully, we can still take the fight to the guys in front at our home grand prix, and give the famous Silverstone crowd something to shout about.”

Team-mate Lewis Hamilton meanwhile struggled even more in the sister car and while he did get through to the shoot-out, in the end he had to settle for a lowly tenth place on the grid.

“I enjoyed the changeable weather conditions today, but it's disappointing to have ended up so far behind,” Hamilton added. “For Q3, we fitted a used set of Options for our first run when the others ran new tyres, and that hurt our performance. Then, when we fitted new tyres for the final run, it started raining so I couldn't improve my time.

“I think there are a couple of guys in front of me who ought to be slower than me, so I'll do my best to make progress in the early laps even though overtaking here is difficult. I hope we can still have an exciting race, but it'll be tricky. I guess I'll be hoping for rain tomorrow to increase my chances of getting a good result.

“Nevertheless, the fans here are the best in the world – they're sensational in fact – and they'll spur me on in the race. I really hope I can do something special for them tomorrow.”

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh was similarly frustrated: “Clearly, we'd intended to qualify better than fifth and 10th for our home grand prix, so inevitably today's qualifying session was a disappointing one,” he continued. “It's been a difficult day, blighted by a lot of to-ing and fro-ing in relation to the regulations, and compromised by equally changeable weather conditions.

“That combination made things difficult for everyone, and the shape of tomorrow's grid was always likely to be tricky to predict as a result.

“But tomorrow is what really matters, and in Jenson and Lewis we've got two of the most skilful and most combative racers in the sport today. I know how dearly they'd love to be able to put on a good show in front of the most knowledgeable and most supportive spectators in F1, and you can be absolutely certain that they'll be giving it 100 per cent as soon as the five red lights go out on the startline gantry at 1.00pm tomorrow – and so will everyone else at McLaren.”

Source: Crash.net

Loeb tells what is the most difficult in rally for Kimi

Sébastien Loeb doesn't think that the idea of Kimi winning a WRC-rally is impossible.

However Loeb reminds that Räikkönen took a step straight from the tracks to the highest level of rallying. He needs a lot of practice time before we can see Räikkönen's real talents in rally.

- It's difficult to say. This is a WRC-serie, not any national rally. When you come to rally from F1 like he did, then of course you need time to learn everything and improve your driving style. It's tricky especially with the notes. We improve our notes each year. When you come with 5th gear to a corner in the middle of trees and you have to slow down, that's when you have to be sure about the corner. That is probably the most difficult thing for him.

Quick on the testing roads

Although Räikkönen drives as a privateer, he has often shared the same roads with champion Loeb. When the road is familiar Räikkönen can take out everything from himself and the car.

- I know that he is very fast on testing roads. We always test on the same roads and he can be really fast. Notes and experience - I think he needs them most. It doesn't go that badly.

Winning a WRC-rally would require a small miracle from Räikkönen. Loeb doesn't exclude the possibility that we someday would hear the Finnish anthem in honor of the Iceman's rally victory.

- It depends on how long he will go on and how much enthusiasm he has. He has earlier proved to be one of the fastest drivers in the world. Everything is possible, Loeb said.

MIIKA WUORELA

Source: Iltalehti
Courtesy: Nicole

Vettel: A bit more difficult but not much

Sebastian Vettel is adamant his accident on Friday morning will not hurt his chances of winning the Turkish Grand Prix

With two race wins and a second-placed finish to his name, the defending World Champion is sitting at the top of the standings heading into Sunday's grand prix.

However, he blotted his good record for this campaign when he crashed his RB7, dubbed 'Kinky Kylie', in Friday's opening practice at the Istanbul Park.

Venturing out for his first shot at a lap time, Vettel ran wide at the exit of Turn 8, sending him spinning across the track before slamming hard into the barriers.

The German's car was badly damaged, forcing him to sit out Friday's second session.

However, Vettel insists it won't put too much of a spanner in the works as he bids for his first Turkish GP win.

"Unfortunately we couldn't get the car ready in time, I'm sorry for the guys," the defending World Champion said.

"It makes it a bit more difficult no doubt, but I don't think it will be a big problem. We know the track quite well from the last years. In the end it was only one afternoon we had in the dry. Tomorrow I think it will be dry.

"We'll see. I'm still confident for tomorrow. Everything is open. It looks fairly close, this afternoon I had a bit more time to watch the times than usually. I think it will be quite exciting tomorrow."

The German has already admitted the accident was a driver error but instead of hiding away in his team's motorhome, he spent Friday afternoon with his mechanics in the garage.

"It was only fair," he said. "Obviously I apologised, because it was not my intention to damage the car. But this is racing, this can happen. The most important thing is that we are still here.

"Of course this means a lot of work for the mechanics now, but it's only fair to show them that I am with them, because if I'm struggling or I have a problem they are with me as well."

Source: Planet-F1

Kubica: I’m facing long difficult rehabilitation

Robert Kubica insists he is “very lucky” despite recovering from horror injuries in an Italian hospital and is aware that the road to recovery will be long and hard.

The Pole has been replaced at Renault for the start of the 2011 season, and there are doubts as to whether he will return to full fitness in the future.

“There are milestones to be met, and his journey will be long,” admitted Santa Corona’s spinal unit chief Antonino Massone, according to La Stampa newspaper.

“For a month, there is the risk of infection. When a bone is exposed for 45 minutes, as it was in this case, it is attacked by bacteria and we need to treat it with antibiotics,” he said.

But he hailed the Pole as “extraordinary”, and Kubica’s manager Daniele Morelli said he is a good patient “because he is a driver”.

“The doctors and physiotherapists, for him, are like the engineers at Renault; adjusting, modifying and correcting the machine for the best result.”

The Italian media report said it will be at least three months until it is known if Kubica has recovered enough functionality to drive again in the future.

“I know I’m not in good shape, but I consider myself very lucky,” Kubica said. “I am facing a long and difficult rehabilitation, but I am not worried about that.”

Source: YallaF1

2011 title win for Mercedes ’difficult’ - Schumacher

Michael Schumacher has admitted it will be "difficult" for Mercedes to triumph in 2011.

The seven time world champion returned from retirement last year and had a troubled comeback season with the German marque.

Mercedes GP is looking more confidently into its second season since the Brawn takeover, but so far the pace and reliability of the new W02 has appeared less than perfect.

"We are Mercedes and our goal is clear," Schumacher is quoted in German by sport1.de. "It will be difficult to achieve our goal this year but we have a vision that is not only short term."

Schumacher ended a day of the recent Jerez test with the fastest time, but it has been rumoured that it was achieved with low fuel on the super-soft tyre.

"Only the first race in Bahrain will show us exactly what our situation is," said the 42-year-old.

Schumacher’s teammate Nico Rosberg has occasionally sounded pessimistic since the debut of the 2011 car, but he told F1’s official website that he is not panicking.

"Yes, we weren’t too fast in Valencia but with Michael’s two days of running in Jerez we are obviously heading in the right direction," he said.

Rosberg said last week that the W02’s current specification is akin to an "interim car", with a big step scheduled for closer to the Bahrain opener.

Source: Motorsport.com

Schumacher: It’s been tougher that I thought

Michael Schumacher admits that his 2010 F1 return has been more difficult that he thought it would be

Michael Schumacher admits that his return to the F1 grid has been more difficult than he expected as he prepares for the final four races of the year.

The seven-time champion has finished inside the top six on only four occasions having come out of retirement to join Mercedes at the start of the season – a series of results which have led to questions about whether or not he would elect to continue into the 2011 campaign.

That talk has been played down by both Mercedes and Schumacher himself and the German admitted that there was work to be done in 2011 to allow the team to fight back from a disappointing 2010 season.

“It has been a much tougher year than we expected,” he said. “If you think of the performance that the team was able to do last year, expectations were high. We have not been able to fulfil those expectations. At the same time it has been a long-term project and if I look back at how long it took with Benetton and with Ferrari to build up a team and then finally to take success it has never been possible to do that in the short term.

“The nature of the fact that the team used to be a big team, such as the top three teams, then was reduced to a much smaller team during last year due to circumstances that everybody knows, we are now a rather small team compared to the top running teams. That, in the situation that we are right now, makes it, naturally, a little bit more difficult. But then we have made decisions and steps to get back to the winning route although naturally it will take time.”

With his own car out of contention for victory this weekend in Japan – barring a remarkable set of circumstances – Schumacher admitted that the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel would be difficult to beat at a circuit where a good car is vital to securing the best result.

“In a way, it is a high challenge track, and drivers, yes indeed, can give a great input on this kind of track, especially in the first sector, but nevertheless, the car is mega-important because of this first sector,” he said. “If the response from the front end in particular, with all these longish corners, is weak, you suffer quite a lot and in this respect, looking at the nature of the Red Bull car, I think it's going to be very strong in my view, but then I know that McLaren is pushing very hard on developments, so we will see whether they can keep up or not. That's going to be a tough one.”

Source: Crash.net

Massa's Blog: Spa – more difficult than we expected

After the summer break, it was nice to be back “at work” racing at the fantastic Spa circuit and the weekend started in a nice way when nearly all the drivers attended a small party to celebrate my friend Rubens Barrichello’s three hundredth Grand Prix. To be honest, I don’t think I will ever match this statistic, as I reckon I will stop racing before that landmark figure. But I am pleased for him, as it is a very nice statistic, and it is a great achievement in a successful career.

Looking back a couple of days to the Belgian Grand Prix, I started sixth and finished fourth, so at a certain level, I could say that I had a good race. However, in terms of the result and in terms of the championship and the points total for Ferrari, it was not enough. Given the difficult conditions, with the weather changing several times during the race, this was a positive performance in difficult conditions. However it was not what I expected, or what the team had hoped for, given the fact that in Spa, the car was not as competitive as it had been in the two previous races in Hungary and Germany. This was probably another example of how, this year, the situation in terms of which teams are competitive, has been governed by the nature of the track. On Friday, we had looked very strong, while we were less so on Saturday and Sunday, so maybe our competitors did not show their full potential on the first day. This meant the whole weekend was more difficult than we expected. On Sunday, the changing conditions meant that just staying on the track was quite difficult and given how easy it was to make a mistake, I was pleased with my performance, even if I had a solitary race, never really being able to challenge those ahead, while I did not have much pressure from behind.

On Sunday I will be returning to the Hungaroring, for a Ferrari Racing Days event, where I will be doing some demonstration laps in a Formula 1 car, the 2008 model, which for obvious reasons definitely has some special memories for me. Today I am Maranello, where I had meetings with my engineers and also did a session on our simulator, in preparation for the next round, the team’s home Grand Prix at Monza. That will be a great event, racing in front of our tifosi, but the reality is that it will be a very important race, because after the less that satisfactory performance in Belgium, the championship is not looking so easy for us. We need to keep pushing for the last six races, trying to be back in the fight for wins or at least as many podiums as possible. For sure it won’t be easy.

Source: Ferrari.com

Belgian GP - Massa: "A difficult qualifying"

“Definitely a difficult qualifying. Already this morning, we had seen that the McLarens and Red Bulls were quicker than us and they confirmed that this afternoon, when we had a few difficulties, failing to get the result we were expecting: which means we will be trying to improve our positions tomorrow in the race.

As usually happens here in Belgium, you can predict that the changeable weather might play a crucial role: it will be vital to manage the situation as well as possible.

On my first run in Q3 I got a good lap, but maybe it could have been a couple of tenths quicker, while on the second one, I immediately had rain at Turn 1 and I locked the wheels and I decided to pit without completing the lap, because I would not have been able to improve my lap time.

If we have a track that is only slightly damp but not too wet, it could be a problem because the rain tyres get destroyed very quickly and it will be necessary to manage them very carefully.”

Source: Ferrari.com

Kimi Räikkönen: Rally is more difficult than Formula 1 "

Kimi Räikkönen on his move from Formula 1 and the fascination of the rally sport. The Finn loves new challenges. An F1 comeback is still possible

The extent of the Formula 1 champion Kimi Raikkonen is still present?
Kimi Raikkonen: The past is what it is: over. I do not miss it.

You are now rally driver. Remove the looser than in the F1?
KR: I love this job, the whole environment. But there is much to learn. With a relaxed setting you do not go far. And I want to be good in what I do.

Is the world title a realistic goal? When can it happen?
KR: No one can see into the future, but yes, it is a dream. Now it is time to learn. The Formula 1 past brings me no harm.

Where the differences lie in the physical activity?
KR: In Formula 1 you have to train harder, because the strain on arms and neck are extreme. In rallying, it is more the driving skills on, you train on Sundays. The burden is not so high, but on the surface.

Can one say that one of the two sports is difficult?
KR: Rally is more difficult because everything is constantly changing. The substrate, the weather, the track. You have to be flexible, adjust quickly you respond quickly.

What is more dangerous?
KR: Motorsport is always dangerous.

What is more fun?
KR: Rally! because there are always new challenges.

Is a formula one comeback still possible?
KR: Sure, anything is possible.

Source: Kleine Zeitung