Video: BBC - Brazilian GP - Lewis Hamilton seeking wet race to be competitive in Brazil

Lewis Hamilton believes McLaren will be "there or there abouts", but does not think they will be able to challenge Red Bull for victory in Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix as long as conditions stay dry.

Wet weather has been forecast for the race at Interlagos, with Hamilton expecting the car to be "really good in the wet" if the predicted rain does fall in Sao Paulo



Source: SixtyBuckss

Massa: “the Brazilian people make Interlagos special”

Today’s FIA press conference at the Interlagos circuit was an all-Brazilian affair, with the two “new boys,” Lucas di Grassi and Bruno Senna, joined by their senior colleagues, Rubens Barrichello and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro’s Felipe Massa. Indeed, it was an all Paulista affair as the four are from the city of Sao Paolo.

Asked to look back at this season, Felipe singled out his qualifying performance as the worst feature of 2010. “This year’s results have not matched my expectations, especially in qualifying where I struggled to put together a good first lap on fresh tyres,” he said. “It’s true there have also been some races where I failed to finish in the points and then there was Singapore, where a qualifying problem meant I had to start from the back.”

As to this weekend’s home race, Felipe shared his fellow panelists’ enthusiasm for the Interlagos circuit. “I have great memories from here with two wins and poles in 2006, ’07 and ’08, which was the last time I raced here. Then going even further back, at the start of my career, I won here twice in Formula Chevrolet. This track has many interesting challenges and you can be creative with the set-up, while many sections of the track require a very technical approach. It might be a short lap, not like most of the new tracks, but this circuit is very well thought out and there is always overtaking here and some nice fights. But it is really the Brazilian people who make Interlagos special – they are so hot with emotion and they sing all day long in the grandstands, which is great for us Brazilian drivers, giving us some extra power.”

Mathematically, Fernando Alonso has a chance of winning the Drivers’ title on Sunday and Felipe was asked if he felt it might happen. “Well, Fernando is leading right now, so for sure I think he can do it here, but as we have seen this season, everything is possible. My personal aim is to try and win the race and of course I can help Fernando by taking points away from his rivals.”

This week sees the premiere of a film made about the life of Ayrton Senna and all four drivers were asked for their memories of the great Brazilian champion, who died during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. “Ayrton was really amazing and I remember so many of his races,” said Felipe. “But what really stands out in my mind was his ability in qualifying, not only taking pole in so many races, but often doing so with a big gap over the rest. For me, that was his strongest point.”

Source: Ferrari.com

'Alonso win would be frustrating after Hockenheim'

Red Bull’s Christian Horner has said that a championship win for Fernando Alonso would be ‘frustrating’ for his Milton Keynes team this season, following the Spaniard’s aid to victory at Hockenheim in July.

With Ferrari having decided in Germany that Felipe Massa should give up the race lead for Alonso, the Oviedo man picked up an extra seven World Championship points – an amount Horner would find difficult to comprehend, should the title winner of 2005 and 2006 earn the crown by less than that amount this season.

“It would be frustrating because we've obviously worked under the auspices that team orders have been illegal,” the Englishman told BBC Sport.

“The FIA made the ruling that they did and that's it, it's clear for all. We've just got to get on with it and try and do our talking on the circuit.”

However, Horner is confident that Red Bull – with Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel now 11 and 25 points in arrears of Alonso, respectively – can bounce back.

“Both drivers still have a good chance, particularly Mark, to lift the big trophy at the end of the year,” he added.

Source: GP Update

[Video] Seb goes for a lap at Interlagos on RB simulator

Source: Red Bull

Two trips to Brazil for Alguersuari

Visiting the new Korean track was an interesting experience, even if I had hoped for a better result in the race. It was a long flight back on Monday, but now I’ve been at home in Barcelona for a few days, relaxing and training mainly. I’ve only done about three hours training each day, because you need to take it easy at first if you want to get over the tiredness that comes from changing time zones as often as we have done in the last few weeks.

It took me about three days before I could sleep through the night, but by keeping the physical training light, with only low heart-rate exercises, you soon get back in a rhythm. One thing I remembered while lying awake one morning was that it’s my team-mate’s birthday this Sunday, but he will have to settle for his congratulations by phone as I completely forgot to buy him anything. Maybe I can sort him out a cake with the Number 17 on!

I leave for Brazil on Monday morning and I’m looking forward to going there, as the atmosphere is always special, the people are friendly and as a music fan, you’d have to say Brazilian music is great. The track is very interesting, even if it is very hard to overtake there, but I am hoping we might have a few small upgrades on the car which will mean we can target getting some late season points. It’s a shame I won’t get much time there, as we have to leave immediately for Abu Dhabi, but I will be returning to Sao Paolo in December to take part in the karting race which Felipe Massa organises every year.

Source: Nextgen

Rain set for Interlagos yet again

Formula One teams and drivers are braced for a third consecutive grand prix to be disrupted by rain.

Initial forecasts predict a chance of showers over Interlagos on Friday and Saturday with a reduced chance of rain during Sunday's race.

Adverse weather conditions affected the consecutive Japanese and Korean grand prix weekends, adding to the sense of excitement and unpredictability.

Last year's Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying session was badly affected by rain, as was the famous 2008 race which saw Lewis Hamilton snatch the world title on the final corner of the final lap.

And as teams began to set up station at Interlagos on Monday, workers scrambled for cover when a rain storm struck.

Source: ESPNF1

The Brazilian GP timetable

The Brazilian GP, which takes place around the Interlagos circuit, marks the penultimate round of the 2010 F1 World Championship

All times are local (Brazil is GMT -2)

Thursday 4 November
15:00: FIA press conference

Friday 5 November
10:00 - 11:30: First free practice
14:00 - 15:30: Second free practice
16:00: FIA press conference

Saturday 6 November
11:00 - 12:00: Third free practice
14:00 - 15:00: Qualifying
15h00: FIA post qualifying press conference

Sunday 7 November
14:00 - 16:00: Brazilian GP
19:00: FIA post race press conference

Brazilian GP Info
No of Laps: 71
Race Distance:305.909 km
Lap Record: 1:11.473 - JP Montoya (2004)
2009 Winner: Mark Webber (Red Bull)

Source: Planet-F1

Sao Paulo from the cockpit - Red Bull previews the Brazilian GP

It’s a track dear to Mark’s heart after his stunning victory there in 2009, while Seb relishes the unique atmosphere and the challenge Sao Paolo presents. Here are the boys’ thoughts ahead of this year’s Brazilian Grand Prix...

Mark Webber: “Brazil is one of the best tracks of the year in terms of the atmosphere. The Brazilians are fully into their motorsports and have had lot of world champions in the past. I obviously have good memories from last year, it was a nice race to win and we will clearly be trying to get another victory this year. It’s now coming to a pivotal stage of the Championship and we need to make the most of every opportunity we can.”

Sebastian Vettel: “There are a lot of positive things about the upcoming event in Brazil. The circuit is fantastic and the spectators are passionate about racing; the atmosphere during a race is great and the city is interesting. The Interlagos track is a challenging one for the drivers because it’s anti-clockwise which, after a season of racing on clockwise circuits, puts a strain on your neck muscles. Also the big bumps are demanding. The circuit requires good aero-efficiency which should suit the RB6 although the long, uphill start-finish straight will give an advantage to the more powerful engines. It’s always a challenging circuit and the weather often plays a part."

Source: Red Bull

McLaren ‘supporting Button fully’ in Brazil

McLaren Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh has vowed to continue supporting Jenson Button for a second World Championship title, despite the current holder all but admitting that his chances of retaining the crown are now over after Korea.

Following his non-scoring race at Yeongam, Button lies 42 points behind championship leader Fernando Alonso with a maximum of 50 remaining on the table; this means that that third place or lower at Interlagos next weekend would confirm that Formula 1’s Champion has failed to retain his crown for the fourth year running.

“He has vowed to fight on and we will be supporting him fully next weekend,” Whitmarsh is quoted as saying by BBC Sport. “Jenson knows you can't lift the title without being a resolute fighter.

“That's exactly why we hired him; he’s a great driver and we will be supporting him fully next weekend.”

Source: GP Update

Alonso's Blog: A bit of relaxation before the final rush

It’s nice to have a few days to relax before the final rush! The Far Eastern leg was very long and it’s always nice to get back home to relax a bit, before heading off for the final two races of the season in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

I am back in the lead of the championship for the first time since way back after the Australian Grand Prix. However, we know that with this points system and the gaps as they are, the standings don’t really mean that much: it only takes one race – as indeed we saw in Korea – for the situation to turn itself round. All the same, It’s always better to be in front than behind! Knowing that achieving our objectives is in our hands means we are a fraction calmer, but in no way does it change our approach. We will have to try and do our utmost, making the most of all the potential we have at our disposal. The only difference is that it would be enough, so to speak, to stay ahead of our closest rivals, without having to think too much about the maths.

The statistics from the second part of the season make interesting reading – 133 points from seven races, 90 of them in the last four – and that makes you think it might have been nice if the season had started in Hockenheim. And yet, for our part, it’s not as though we changed anything special in the way we went about our work: it’s just that we manage to string together a series of strong weekends from start to finish, while earlier, sometimes for a variety of reasons, that was not the case. We were lacking consistency in terms of results until this finally came through later. The car has always been reasonably competitive, with differing levels from circuit to circuit, which was also the case later on. However we have definitely much improved the performance level over these last three months.

In the last few years, Interlagos has usually produced very exciting races, partly because of the track characteristics, but also because the weather can be very changeable. This will be a very important factor and we will need to be ready to tackle all possible scenarios in the best way possible. The lap is fairly short, so we can expect closer times than usual, which means that the slightest little mistake will count even more, because one or two tenths either way can mean having seven or eight cars in front or behind you. We will need to do everything perfectly.

In theory, there are still five of us in the running for the title, but clearly Button is in a trickier situation. There are not many points between us to be honest and we saw how things ended up three years ago, but the fact is that are no less than four drivers ahead of him and it’s hard to imagine none of them scoring points.

Naturally, I’ve got great memories of this track because it was here that I secured my two titles, in 2005 and 2006. Every time I go to Sao Paolo it’s a special feeling and the atmosphere is really great. I don’t want to think about the chances of history repeating itself for a third time: I know it is theoretically possible, but that does not count for me. We want to tackle this Grand Prix in the same way as all the others, concentrating on ourselves with our feet on the ground, trying to do a good job, without making mistakes and with the aim of beating our rivals. I have said it before and I say it again: we will do the maths in Abu Dhabi.

Source: Alonso's Blog - Ferrari.com

Interlagos improves F1 safety after fatal crash

Organisers of the Brazilian Grand Prix have moved to improve the safety at one of the most dangerous stretches of track on the F1 calendar.

Three years ago, Brazilian stock car driver Rafael Sperafico died after striking the tyre barriers on the exit of the fast right-hand kink before the pitlane entry at Interlagos.

He died instantly when the car bounced out of the barriers into the path of a competitor.

Globo Esporte reports that, ahead of the penultimate round of F1's 2010 championship, organisers have replaced the offending tyre barrier with a 225 metre stretch of 'softwall'.

The 'softwall' concept - a combination of foam mounted behind hollow metal barriers - is intended to absorb the impact of an accident without 'grabbing' the car and spearing it back onto the track.

"It's a barrier that absorbs the impact," said circuit engineer Luis Ernesto Morales.

"It is a dangerous point of the circuit, with the wall very close," he added.

Source: Motorsport.com

Sutil and Buemi to drop five places on Brazil grid

Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi and Force India’s Adrian Sutil have both been handed five-place grid penalties for next month’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

FIA stewards decided Buemi caused an avoidable accident when he collided with Virgin’s Timo Glock at Turn Three on Lap 30 of Sunday’s Korean race. The Swiss driver has already apologised to Glock, saying: “I braked late and locked the front wheels, so I could not turn and ended up going straight on and hitting Timo. I am sorry for him.”

Sutil, meanwhile, was given the same penalty for colliding with BMW Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi at Turn Four on Lap 47. Sutil was additionally fined $10,000 after admitting he had been aware of brake problems throughout the Yeongam race.

The Brazilian Grand Prix will take place at Interlagos from November 5-7.

Source: Formula1.com