Fernando Alonso: A bit of back pain

Fernando Alonso reckons he was "lucky" to escape serious injury in the first corner carnage at Spa although does have a "bit" of back pain

Arriving at Spa, the Championship leader was the only driver to have scored points in every race this season. His run, though, came to an end when he was taken out in a first lap accident through no fault of his own.

Starting fifth on the grid, Alonso was vying for track positions when he was hit from behind. Added to that, Romain Grosjean narrowly avoided hitting his head when his Lotus became airborne in the shunt.

Alonso, who was slow to get out of his stricken F2012 and was assisted by the marshals, later revealed that his back had been hurt in the crash.

"I have a little bit of pain on my back because of the hit," he said. "It is a shame I could not continue the race. I did not know what happened until I saw the TV.

"The cars behind me touched and lost control, and they were in front of us.

"It was a disappointment to see points lost but in five days I can be in the car in Monza.

"You can have an injury in your hand or your head with a crash like that, so I am lucky in that aspect.

"I felt a train coming with a big, big hit. I stayed in the car due to the hit. There was a bit of fire in the car and I could not breathe because of the smoke so I jumped out."

Alonso's DNF cost him a chunk of his Championship lead as Sebastian Vettel, who finished second, is now just 24 points behind with Mark Webber a further 12 off the pace.

Source: Planet-F1

Räikkönen's qualification was already in that direction

Kimi Räikkönen had two new sets of Pirelli's soft tyres in the qualification. The advantage didn't however offer a full advantage to him.


– The first set was bad. Although it was a new tyre it pushed forward. At least the second set worked properly. The qualification was in that direction, but by improving with a tenth we would had been in the front row. Sebastian Vettel was ahead of the others but the rest of the gang was even, Räikkönen summed up.


– This was one of our best qualifications so far. We were 5th in Malaysia, but there we got higher due to a penalty. Now it feels good to be 5th in the grid.


The 5th grid is on the clean side of the track, which is a clear advantage in the starting grid.


Overtaking isn't easy in Valencia. The start is very important.


– When it's hot, someone ahead of us can get in trouble with the tyres and then we have a chance to overtake. Our car has been good in the tyre-department and hopefully it continues in the race also.


– We have to take the same soft tyres from the qualification to the start. On Friday they worked reasonably during long stints, Räikkönen reminded.


We can expect two-stop strategies, since the tyre consumption is tough in hot weather.


Räikkönen has been struggling with the Lotus-car's steering during the spring. Now the situation is better.


– Small things have made it a little better and more precise. Due to that it was easier in qualification. It has always been good enough in races.


Permane trusting


Alan Permane was smiling to the tasty scenery of getting both drivers on the podium.


– We have gone up much higher from behind 4th and 5th grid. We have a strong belief in the race. Overtaking is tricky even in the DRS-area and we are certainly not expecting any easy race for us.


– The hot weather will put a strain on the tyres, but we trust that we can cope under these circumstances. In strategy we have open one, two or three -stop strategies. Lets see what happens, Permane said.


Grosjean will strike from the 2nd row


Romain Grosjean beat his team mate for the 6th time in qualification. The difference was however only 0,008 seconds.


– I have been 8 times in qualification and this is my 2nd best result after Australia. We really have a great opportunity to succeed in this race. The strategy will be in the key role.


Grosjean knows that one can't crash in the start.


– I've started to know all the drivers around me and how they behave. It's going to be tough in the three first corners and if getting through the first corner without crashing, there's a good chance to do a top result, Grosjean planned.


Turun Sanomat


HEIKKI KULTA


Courtesy: Nevercrywolf

Lotus reveals 2012 car launch date

The team will unveil its 2012 challenger on February 5 & 6

Lotus F1 announced that it will unveil its 2012 contender via its new website on Sunday 5th February at 17h00 CET. The unveiling will also mark the launch of the team’s new website.

Furthermore, an event will be held on Monday 6th February, 13H00 local time, in the paddock of the Circuito de Jerez (Spain). This will be followed by a press conference with Kimi Räikkönen, Romain Grosjean, Technical Director James Allison, and Team Principal / Managing Director Eric Boullier.

Media will be able to see the 2012 car on track with Kimi Räikkönen at the wheel on the same day from 14H00 local time.

The event in Jerez will take place in the specially-built Lotus F1 Team dome structure situated in the car park area within the paddock.

The team’s provisional winter testing programme is as follows (subject to changes):

JEREZ; 7 – 10 February:
07 February: Kimi Räikkönen
08 February: Kimi Räikkönen
09 February: Romain Grosjean
10 February: Romain Grosjean

BARCELONA; 21 – 24 February:
21 February: Romain Grosjean
22 February: Romain Grosjean
23 February: Kimi Räikkönen
24 February: Kimi Räikkönen

BARCELONA; 1 – 4 March:
01 March: Romain Grosjean
02 March: Romain Grosjean
03 March: Kimi Räikkönen
04 March: Kimi Räikkönen

Source: NextgenAuto