Alonso clings to championship dream as gap widens

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso lost a race battle but looked forward to winning the championship war despite falling further behind Red Bull's overall leader Sebastian Vettel after Sunday's Indian Grand Prix

Trailing Vettel by six points before landing in India, Alonso drove an aggressive race at the Buddh International Circuit to finish second - three places up from where he started but still behind winner Vettel.

It was, the Spaniard recognised, damage limitation with everything still to play for up to the final race in Brazil next month.

The gap, after Vettel's fourth successive win, is now 13 points with three rounds to go.

"It's not easy at the moment to fight with Red Bull but we will never give up. I think we are happy today, we have to congratulate them, they were fantastic this weekend so well done Red Bull, well done Sebastian," said Alonso.

"But we want to be happy and we want to enjoy Brazil, not only here so I'm sure we will do it."

The Spaniard, the only top 10 driver to improve his grid position in Sunday's race, said before the race that he was "100 percent confident" that he could win the title and he saw no reason to change that view afterwards.

"Of course," he emphasised after notching up his 10th podium finish of the season.

The Spaniard, a double champion with Renault, said there was some room for improvement in the qualifications but he was pretty much in the hunt.

"We know that we need to improve. We are not fast enough, especially on Saturdays as I said, but hopefully we can improve the situation in Abu Dhabi or in the USA (next month).

"The races are long and as we saw today with (Red Bull's) Mark (Webber), a KERS problem can happen to anyone. It can happen to Seb, it can happen to me and it can happen to all of us. Still many points on the table and I'm still very optimistic."

Ferrari will have some updates in Abu Dhabi and Alonso should also go well in the season-ender.

"I think Brazil will be quite good for us and hopefully it's a happy grand prix," he said.

Team principal Stefano Domenicali predicted Alonso's second place finish would keep his rivals worried and compared his driver's chances to Italy winning the 1982 soccer World Cup against stronger opponents.

"This second place is all down to his talent, to his aggressive approach and the fact that he never wants to give up, backed by a team that is doing the maximum to give him a car that is worthy of him," he said.

"Sure we leave India with a bigger gap to the leader of drivers' championship than when we got here, but this race should not leave those who are ahead in a calm and relaxed mood," added Domenicali.

Source: Reuters Sports

Korean GP: Vettel Takes The Win, Title Lead

Sebastian Vettel claimed yet another dominant victory in Korea and by doing so took the lead in the Drivers' Championship

Vettel clinched his third successive victory - and fourth of the season - in dominant fashion in Korea on Sunday where no-one, not even his own team-mate, could compete with him.

The 25 points put the German at the top of the Drivers' standings where he now leads Fernando Alonso by six points as the Ferrrai driver could only manage third. Fourth place went to Felipe Massa despite the Brazilian making it clear in the latter stages that he was quicker than his Spanish team-mate.

It was a miserable race for the McLaren team with Jenson Button being taken out at Turn 3 by Kamui Kobayashi and Lewis Hamilton suffering a suspected suspension element failure that dropped fim from fourth place to tenth at the flag.

Race Report
It was hazy low sun over the Yeongam circuit, with no chance of rain, as the drivers came round on the parade lap with the ambient temperature at 21C and the track at 24C.

Seven rows of grid:
1.Webber, 2.Vettel, 3.Hamilton, 4.Alonso, 5.Raikkonen, 6.Massa, 7.Grosjean, 8.Hulkenberg, 9.Rosberg, 10.Schumacher, 11.Button, 12.Perez, 13.Kobayashi, 14.DiResta

As the lights went out Mark Webber got more wheel spin on pole than team-mate Vettel in P2 and despite there only being 200 metres to the first turn Vettel managed to get the inside line and lead through Turn 1.

Behind them, Lewis Hamilton got an even better start than the pair of Red Bulls and looked to head between the two just as the gap closed. Fernando Alonso starting from P4 went outside and then switched to the inside of Hamilton between Turns 1 and 2 and was able to use that edge all the way up the straight to Turn 3, a great bit of car positioning.

Vettel was ahead of Webber all the way up the long straight but could hear his engine to his left. As they hit the braking zone for Turn 3 Mark Webber was alongside him but out of position on the outside so Vettel moved across and took the place and had saved enough KERS to keep ahead for Turn 4.

Turn 3 was an almighty sort-out but showed the skill of the front six drivers - Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Massa - as they entered the braking zone sometimes three abreast.

Further back, the manouvering wasn't so skilful. Jenson Button had already avoided a tap from Sergio Perez who tried to take Turn 1 at an impossibly tight angle and almost hit his 2013 team-mate. Then on the long drag down to Turn 3 Button was sizing up outbraking Nico Rosberg who was alongside him when Kamui Kobayashi lost control and hit both Rosberg and Button hard.

Rosberg was able to continue for a lap but Button's right front wheel was now deranged at an angle and he couldn't continue. Kobayashi's front wing was damaged but he could continue back to the pits. Grosjean managed to stay clear of everyone.

Raikkonen wanted to get past Lewis Hamilton into Turn 4 and Lewis pushed him out wide losing the Lotus momentum, so much so that Felipe Massa was able to get past the Finn into P5 at Turn 5. Raikkonen tried to hold the line into the following corner but the Ferrari was already through.

Positions at the end of Lap 1:
1.Vettel, 2.Webber, 3.Alonso, 4.Hamilton, 5.Massa, 6.Raikkonen, 7.Hulkenberg, 8.Grosjean, 9.Perez, 10.Schumacher, 11.DiResta, 12.Senna, 13.Maldonado, 14.Rosberg

There was little movement in the early stages when the cars were close, because the DRS zone was neutralised by waved yellow flags as Nico Rosberg's car - which had stopped on the long back straight on Lap 2 - was craned away slowly. By Lap 8 Kobayashi had been given a predictable drive-through penalty, although he was already in last place.

When the DRS was finally enabled on Lap 9 Kimi was suddenly 0.4 quicker in S1. At the front the Red Bulls weren't running away with the race, but they were edging clear. On Lap 10 Mark Webber put in the fastest lap and a lap later it was Sebastian Vettel's turn.

Lewis Hamilton had managed to stay clear of Felipe Massa despite the Ferrari driver edging into the DRS zone and on Lap 13 he was first to dive into the pitlane for a scheduled pit-stop, followed in by Hulkenberg, Grosjean and Schumacher.

A lap later and it was Mark Webber, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen in for untroubled stops, and then on Lap 15 it was Vettel and Alonso. There were no passes for position as a result of the stops although Alonso exited the pitlane alongside the yet-to-stop Sergio Perez and both raced up to Turn 3 side by side. Alonso managed to outbrake the Sauber and the following Lewis Hamilton got past Perez soon after.

Sergio Perez might have had thoughts about making his soft tyres last a lot longer but by Lap 18 he was losing a lot of time. On that lap he dropped 1.5 seconds in Sector 2 alone and was straight into the pits. The many predictions that some teams might be one-stopping were very soon put to rest.

Positions at the end of Lap 20:
1.Vettel, 2.Webber, 3.Alonso, 4.Hamilton, 5.Massa, 6.Raikkonen, 7.Hulkenberg, 8.Grosjean, 9.Maldonado (not stopped) 10.Schumacher, 11.Ricciardo, 12.DiResta, 13.Perez

On Lap 20 Lewis Hamilton suddenly looked to be struggling. He had closed up on Alonso after the first stops but then the gap started to go out and he was a second a lap slower than the cars around him. After the race it was diagnosed that it was a possible rear anti-roll bar failure.

Hamilton wasn't able to resist Felipe Massa for very long and was soon under pressure from a very patient Kimi Raikkonen, who clearly couldn't hang on to the pace of the two Ferraris in front of Hamilton. On Lap 23 Hamilton was able to push Kimi wide around the outside of Turn 3 after the DRS zone. On Lap 24 Kimi got past Lewis into Turn 3 and then Lewis fought back with a KERS boost up the inside taking the place back into Turn 4. The battle was only settled when Lewis headed into the pits on Lap 26 for more tyres.

In front of him things weren't looking good for Mark Webber in the second stint, something not really picked up by the TV feed. Webber was significantly slower than Vettel, Alonso and Massa. On Lap 23 these three did 36.3 in the first sector while Mark could only manage a 36.7. The gap from Webber to Alonso came down from 3.0 on lap 20, to 2.6, to 2.3, to 1.6, and then 1.3 on Lap 24.

Alonso hovered just out of DRS range while the TV cameras focused on the likely sparks between Raikkonen and Hamilton. Then on lap 26 Mark started to show a bigger advantage in the second sector and the gap started to go out to 1.8 and then 2.2 and then 2.3 and the crisis seemed to have passed. By Lap 28 Mark was putting in the fastest lap of the race but by that stage Vettel was nine seconds up the road.

Nico Hulkenberg was enjoying a race-long battle with Romain Grosjean and the Lotus driver was having difficulty trying to find a way past into Turn 3. On Laps 29 and 30 it was close, but Hulkenberg had the craft to elude him and use his KERS to keep ahead despite the DRS favouring the car behind.

Massa was right up there in touch with Alonso all of the race and just 12 seconds covered the front four on Lap 31 while there was another 11 seconds back to Raikkonen and 17.5 back to the Hulkenberg vs Grosjean battle. Hamilton, having stopped much earlier than the others, had yet to take places back.

Mark Webber and Nico Hulkenberg then pitted for the second time on Lap 32, Alonso on Lap 34, Massa, Vettel and Raikkonen on Lap 35. On new tyres Grosjean finally got past Hulkenberg but was under pressure, as evidenced by a rallycross moment where he crossed the grass and went straight on in the final kink on Lap 34.

Positions at the end of Lap 36:
1.Vettel, 2.Webber, 3.Alonso, 4.Massa, 5.Raikkonen, 6.Hamilton, 7.Vergne (one stop), 8.Grosjean, 9.Hulkenberg, 10.Ricciardo, 11.Schumacher, 12.DiResta, 13.Perez

On Lap 37 Vettel had a lead of 6.8 seconds from Mark Webber who was 4.5 ahead of Fernando Alonso, who was only 1.4 seconds in front of Felipe Massa. At this stage of the race Massa's Ferrari looked so quick that it was capable of catching the second Red Bull - on Lap 37 Massa put in a 1:42.689 to Alonso's 1:44.192.

Felipe Massa duly got the warning call from engineer Rob Smedley "Felipe, you're bit too close to Fernando, back off to a couple of seconds."

Hamilton still held on to sixth place but in some cases was two seconds a lap slower than Grosjean. The McLaren looked like a sitting target but when Grosjean tried a move round the outside at Turn 3 on Lap 40, Hamilton ran him off the track. The Lotus driver couldn't make the overtaking move stick as it had been off-track (like Vettel in Germany) and as they both shaped up for Turn 4 Nico Hulkenberg drove around the outside of them both, Hamilton pushed him onto the kerbs, but there was too much of the Force India to push him all the way and then Hulkenberg had the line for Turn 5. The move of the race.

Now fully engaged in proceedings again Lewis put in a personal best lap time before pitting for his third set of tyres on Lap 42. He set off after Jean-Eric Vergne on a set of supersoft tyres but such was the straightline speed advantage of the Toro Rosso that even with DRS Lewis couldn't get close enough going into Turn 3. Vergne caught and passed the struggling Daniel Ricciardo, but just as Hamilton looked to take advantage in the final few laps he hooked up a piece of torn Astroturf to the sidepod and trailed it around to the flag.

The front seven positions didn't change between Lap 41 to the flag on Lap 55. Despite being asked to back off, Felipe Massa was only 1.2 behind Alonso on lap 42. Massa was heard to be asking about Mark Webber's lap times but was obliged to drop back. (Last year he finished in front of Alonso)

The final ten laps of the race was filled with worries over the state of the tyres and in particular Sebastian Vettel's tendency to go for fastest lap at the close. His team thought that the tyre taking the most load, the right front, might go at any second and his engineer, Rocky, told him this repeatedly. "Sebastian, I'm sorry to be on your case but you will not know till it's too late!"

As it was, the man who had stopped for tyres earlier, Mark Webber, rained on Seb's parade by putting in the fastest lap on the penultimate lap, a 1:42.037 to edge the gap out to Alonso to 6.6 seconds. Seb countered with a personal best on his final lap but it was a long way off fastest. The new World Championship leader told Adrian Newy afterwards that if he backed off and let the tyres go cold he got problems as well.

Vettel came across the line for his third win of the 2012 season in a row, having led all three Korean grands prix from 2010 to 2012 with the exception of 12 laps (when he retired in 2010). Mark Webber took second with Alonso third and Massa an easy fourth, a country mile clear of Raikkonen in fifth, Hulkenberg in sixth and an intact Grosjean in seventh.

Lewis Hamilton, complete with Astroturf, couldn't catch Vergne in eighth or Ricciardo in ninth but managed to fend off Perez to hold onto 10th. Probably not the result he was expecting when he was sat on the grid and a lot of hard work with a "nervous" car that looked a problem to drive.

Although the momentum is with the Red Bull team and Vettel, the race pace of the revised Ferrari F2012 showed that they are not far away and Felipe Massa will certainly be wearing red in 2013. The same might not be said of Kamui Kobayashi.

Results

01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h36:28.651
02. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 8.200
03. Alonso Ferrari + 13.900
04. Massa Ferrari + 20.100
05. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 36.700
06. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes + 45.300
07. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 54.800
08. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:09.500
09. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:11.700
10. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 1:19.600
11. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1:20.000
12. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:24.400
13. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:29.200
14. Maldonado Williams-Renault + 1:34.900
15. Senna Williams-Renault + 1:36.900
16. Petrov Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
17. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
18. Glock Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap
19. Pic Marussia-Cosworth + 2 lap2
20. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
Did Not Finish
Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 17
Rosberg Mercedes 2
Button McLaren-Mercedes 1

Source: Planet-F1

Title contender Räikkönen happy at Lotus, for now

Formula One title chaser Kimi Räikkönen says he is happy at Lotus - for now - even as speculation swirls around possible vacancies at the 2007 world champion's previous teams Ferrari and McLaren

The taciturn 32-year-old's consistent displays in his comeback season after two years in rallying have lifted him to third in the standings with seven races remaining.

Räikkönen arrived in Singapore on Wednesday to pursue his long-shot title challenge on the city-state's street circuit and try to close the 38 point gap on Ferrari's championship leader Fernando Alonso.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, winner of two of the last three races, is just one point ahead of the Finn.

With talk of Hamilton mulling a move from McLaren to Mercedes dominating paddock gossip, and Alonso's under-performing team mate Felipe Massa out of contract at the end of the year, Raikkonen's future has come into focus.

"I have a good relationship with the team...people are pushing 100 percent and they are real racing people not so much politics, they want to do well in the races and that is a good starting point," said the tired-looking Finn.

"I enjoy working with the people, very nice and I'm happy here but you never know what happens in the future but right now I'm happy with what's going on," he added.

Räikkönen enjoyed five solid years with McLaren from 2002 and twice finished runner up in the championship before he switched to Italian giants Ferrari where he collected his sole title and left at the end of 2009 to go rallying.

TRICKY CIRCUIT

Lotus team owner Gerard Lopez said this month that Raikkonen was happy to stay at the former Renault outfit, who were embroiled in one of the sport's biggest scandals after it emerged they had asked their driver Nelson Piquet junior to crash on purpose in Singapore in 2008 for tactical reasons.

Räikkönen also crashed under the floodlights on the narrow, twisty street circuit that year but did set a race lap record that still holds.

The Finn, with six podium finishes this year, expected a tough race again on Sunday night.

"It is quite hot and humid here and of course a bit different with the evening race than normal, it is a challenging circuit but hopefully we can do well," he said.

"It's a street circuit so it always makes it a little bit more tricky when you try to get the best out, if you make a little mistake, there is a big chance to hit the wall, in a normal circuit you have some run off areas."

Hamilton and Alonso have each won three races this year with Räikkönen yet to triumph since he began his comeback. However the Finn has finished his last 10 races in the points, his best scoring run since Ferrari in 2007/8.

"Winning is the easiest way to achieve the championship, but unfortunately I haven't been able to win this year but we have been putting ourselves close to there, giving us a chance at least...we haven't made any big mistakes," the Finn said.

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier said Raikkonen and French team mate Romain Grosjean, returning after a one race ban, could look forward to some improvements to the car this week on a circuit which should suit them.

"There's no reason to think that a podium will be out of reach," Boullier said.

"We've been quite competitive on twisty circuits this year and Singapore shares a lot of Monaco and Valencia's characteristics...Kimi has always been quick in Singapore; even if he hasn't had the best of luck during the races themselves.

"We have a few upgrades scheduled for Singapore and they should bring some extra performance."

Source: Reuters Sports

Hamilton: Little by little I'm closing in

Lewis Hamilton was never concerned about Sergio Perez pipping him to the win as his claimed his maiden Italian GP crown on Sunday

Putting all the off-track rumours pending him, Hamilton did his talking out on track at Monza this weekend taking pole position in qualifying and following that up with an a smooth victory.

Hamilton led from start to finish, only relinquishing the lead to Sergio Perez when he came in for his only pit stop of the day.

However, it wasn't long before Hamilton was back in front of the Sauber driver, who was a late stopper and put in a massive charge in the final ten laps to move up to second, overtaking both Ferraris.

Asked if he was concerned about Perez's late pace, Hamilton told Sky Sports F1: "I wasn't.

"I had a 14-second gap I think it was - a 14.5-second gap - and he was catching a second a lap at the time I was cruising.

"I tried to just balance that out over the eight laps or so I had left, then he started getting a little bit closer so I switched it on a bit and minimised the amount he was catching me."

Sunday's victory was McLaren's third successive triumph with Hamilton also winning in Germany while Jenson Button took the chequered flag at Spa.

Hamilton, though, is the first to admit that the job is not yet done despite praising his McLaren team for their recent improvements.

"It's incredibly close between us and the Ferraris, and obviously the Saubers were incredibly quick this weekend, but we've done a fantastic job.

"We came with a really good package for the last couple of races and it's been a shame I have not got the maximum I needed to get from the performance that we've had for the last few races.

"But obviously to have two wins in the last three grands prix is good and I hope that we can continue with that pace."

His latest triumph elevated the McLaren driver to second in the Drivers' Championship where he now trails Alonso by just 37 points.

"The gap's been quite big - 40-something points for a while - and the pressure's on in the team and the Championship to close that little by little," he said.

"When I heard that Fernando was second I thought 'how did he get from 10th to second?'

"But then I heard Sergio had passed him and I thought that's good. I was hoping that someone else got past him but nonetheless we still got good results."

Source: Planet-F1

Vettel: Räikkönen could be serious title opponent

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel has flagged his friend Kimi Räikkönen as a potential challenger to his throne in 2012.

After becoming friends prior to Räikkönen’s rallying switch two years ago, German Vettel has stayed in contact with the Finn, occasionally meeting in their domiciled Switzerland to play badminton.

They did not manage to catch up at the Jerez test last week, but Red Bull’s Vettel admitted the pace of Räikkönen’s new Lotus caught his eye.

“If it’s as good as it seemed at Jerez, then Kimi is a serious opponent,” he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

Not trying to play down Lotus’ impressive debut for the black and gold E20 car is the team’s technical director, James Allison.

But the Briton also urged against getting carried away, with two tests at Barcelona still to run before the Melbourne season opener next month.

“We all try to know what is happening with the other teams, but in any case, we won’t know anything definite until Melbourne,” he is quoted by L’Equipe’s website.

“The most important thing is that the car runs well, not just from a mechanical standpoint, but also in terms of how the drivers feel, which is also important.”

Source: F1Zone

Vettel sleeps after second world title win

A good night’s sleep was among one of Sebastian Vettel’s priorities after becoming the youngest ever double world champion.

Following a paddock party and then another involving karaoke until 5am on Monday morning, the Red Bull driver headed straight to Yokohama for a sponsor and media engagement.

It was there that, according to Abendblatt newspaper, the 24-year-old said: “My voice is a bit ruined now!

“After a long night I want to let the whole thing sink in a bit, get some sleep and then be ready for Korea.”

Indeed, any plans for more than a single night of partying has had to wait for now, with Vettel scheduled to practice in Korea in less than three days.

“We have celebrated a little,” he is quoted by rds.ca, “but not too much because this week we are in Korea.”

Vettel denied Bild newspaper’s claim that he seemed “almost sad” as he came to realise his achievements in the Suzuka paddock late on Sunday.

“I was not sad,” he insists. “I can be just as satisfied with a second or a fourth place but it’s clear that we did not have a perfect race. That’s what we strive for.

“It is also difficult for me to switch from the extreme tension of a race to realise straight away that you are world champion.

“Now it’s time for some rest, particularly some sleep, and then to understand it all. Sounds spectacular, I know.”

And the next goal will be to repeat it all in 2012.

“We want to keep going. It’s addictive. Nothing else in my life gives me as much satisfaction,” said Vettel.

Source: YallaF1

Lewis Hamilton doffs his cap to Vettel

Lewis Hamilton is the latest to offer his congratulations to Sebastian Vettel, saying the German has been "exceptional" this year

Vettel clinched his second title in Japan on Sunday when his third-placed finish assured him of an unassailable lead in the standings.

The German's efforts are already being lauded by all with Hamilton the latest to add his praises.

"I think he has been exceptional this year," the 2008 World Champ told the Independent newspaper. "He has driven really, really well.

"He has finished first and second in all the races, apart from one, so consistent, well controlled.

"His persona, attitude, I think has been very professional. He has made very few mistakes - and even the two small ones have not been very costly.

"So I take my hat off to him - I think he has done fantastically well."

Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso, who lost his record as F1's youngest double World Champ to Vettel on Sunday, reckons the German and his Red Bull team fully deserve the title.

"The Championship of Sebastian and Red Bull has been supreme, with no mistakes at all and very dominant victories all through the season," he said.

"He drove perfectly in all races and qualifying in all conditions, wet or dry, and he's a good World Champion.

"We know that we need to improve a lot to be at the levels they were this year."

Source: Planet-F1

Sebastian Vettel praised his trainer Tommi Pärmäkoski. The Finn was touched by the praising words

- It's Sebastian who is there behind the steering wheel and drives on the track, not me. Of course his comments feel good because we have been working together, Pärmäkoski told Iltalehti.

According to Pärmäkoski Vettel and the team will not have any big party in Japan.

- I'm sure that we will celebrate it a little but the bigger party is later on. I guess that karaoke will be on the list in honor of the championship because Japan is the home of karaoke. I'm quite sure that the song "Bensaa suonissa" (gas in the veins) will be sung if we only can find it.

Seb said in Finnish to MTV3:

- Terveiset perhe Pärmäkoski. Kiitos paljon, Vettel said in Finnish. (greetings to family Pärmäkoski. Thank you very much)

Source: MTV3 - Iltalehti
Courtesy: Nicole

Vettel: I could not have done this alone

Sebastian Vettel claimed a dominant second World title in Suzuka on Sunday but insists the "hardest thing is winning after winning last year."

Vettel has been by far the best driver on the grid this season, claiming 12 pole positions and nine race victories. Added to that, he also had an additional five podium finishes to his name.

But while his race to the World title may have looked easy on paper, Vettel reckons winning the second is harder than claiming the first.

"The hardest thing is winning after winning last year," he said. "We won the Championship, it was so close and we were so excited, even knowing how to do it doesn't allow you to forget all these steps.

"I could not have done this all alone. It is as confusing as the first one I must say. It is hard to find the right words."

The German, who finished Sunday's Japanese GP in third place after being beaten by Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso in the pits, was rather emotional in the post-race press conference.

"It's difficult where to start. It's such a long year and a fantastic year and the good thing is it's not over yet," he said.

"Today's race we weren't as quick on the soft tyres and we lost two positions. It was difficult to get past Alonso and I don't think he's letting me through this way twice after Monza.

"To win the Championship here is fantastic.

"There are so many things you want to say but it's hard to remember all of them. I'm so thankful to everyone in the team, pushing hard to build those two cars. It's great to achieve the goal we set ourselves this year already now.

"One person that really stands out this yaer is the person I spend most of my time with my trainer Tommi Parmakoski. He was the one not allowing me at any stage this year to start to think about things that were not in my control.

"It's great to know that it is so tight but to know that we can come so strong out of it. This year we've always been this one step ahead. It's down to people like Tommi and individuals who keep us on the right track."

Sunday's title means Vettel has gone down in the record books as F1's youngest double World Champ and youngest back-to-back title holder.

Source: Planet-F1

Button Wins Japanese GP, Seb The Title

Jenson Button may have clinched Japanese GP victory, however, he could do nothing to stop Sebastian Vettel from claiming the World title

Starting first and second on the grid with Vettel ahead of the McLaren driver, the German did all he could to stop Button from taking the lead - even pushing him onto the grass. But with the Red Bull running out of tyres faster than the rest of the field Button found his way past in the pit-stops.

It was another thrilling race with a resurgent Fernando Alonso taking second place, Michael Schumacher surviving a hefty impact from Mark Webber's front wing and going on to become the oldest driver to lead an F1 GP. Plus there was the inevitable coming together of Massa and Hamilton.

Race Report
It was a bright sunny autumnal day at Suzuka with an ambient tempretaure of 24C and the trac at 35C.

Six Rows of Grid : 1.Vettel, 2.Button, 3.Hamilton, 4.Massa, 5.Alonso, 6.Webber, 7.Kobayashi, 8.Schumacher, 9.Petrov, 10.Senna, 11.Sutil, 12.DiResta

Start: It was a clean get-away for the grid (unlike 2010) with Jenson Button getting a great start from P2. Vettel thought he had a good start too but still veered across to the right and pushed Jenson Button to the inside.

Button had his front tyre tucked inside Vettel's rear and the Red Bull kept on coming, pushing the McLaren onto the grass. Button slowed and dropped in behind Vettel but this allowed Lewis Hamilton to move up to P2. Behind, the Ferraris slotted in in grid order.

Big loser from the start was Kamui Kobayashi who was starting from his best ever gridslot, P7. The anti-stall kicked in for the Japanese Sauber driver and he bogged down, losing many places.

Positions after Lap 1 1.Vettel, 2.Hamilton, 3.Button, 4.Massa 5.Alonso, 6.Webber, 7.Schumacher, 8.DiResta, 9.Sutil, 10.Petrov, 11.Buemi, 12.Kobayashi

With the DRS enabled after Lap 2 it didn't look to be giving the drivers a huge advantage down the straight into Turn 1, but on Lap 6 Alonso made it past Massa in a choreographed move that switched the Ferrari order. Despite being evenly matched in qualifying Vettel started to open up a gap to Hamilton. On Lap 5 it was 2.3 seconds, by Lap 7 it was 3.9 seconds and team-mate Button was catching him rapidly.

Lewis slowed and pitted at the end of Lap 8, when it was revealed that he was suffering from a slow puncture. Vettel radioed in that he was losing the rear tyres during Lap 9 and came in for his first pitstop at the end of the lap. This triggered a whole round of pit-stops with Button, Alonso, Webber and DiResta in the lap after that. Massa was temporarily in the lead until he pitted at the end of Lap 11.

Positions after Lap 12 1.Vettel, 2.Button, 3.Alonso, 4.Hamilton, 5.Massa, 6.Webber, 7.Petrov (not stopped), 8.Schumacher

In the second stint Jenson Button began to close on Vettel and Felipe Massa got into the DRS zone of Lewis Hamilton who was falling away from third place Fernando Alonso. Button closed the gap down from 2.8 seconds on Lap 15 to 1.6 seconds on Lap 18 with a couple of fastest laps thrown in.

Vettel then dived into the pits for more soft tyres at the end of Lap 19 and Red Bull executed a fantastic double pit-stop with Sebastian leaving the pitbox just as Mark Webber arrived. Button came in a lap later and exited in front.

Just as Lewis Hamilton was due to stop for his second pit-stop Felipe Massa tried a highly optimistic pass on the outside going into the final chicane. It was never going to come off, but as Hamilton moved out right the pair made contact yet again. The incident was investigated - just as the Button/Vettel one was - but no action was taken. Hamilton had a slightly longer pit-stop as the team checked out the car for damage.

Positions after Lap 23 1.Button, 2.Vettel, 3.Alonso, 4.Webber, 5.Massa, 6.Schumacher (stopped once) 7.Hamilton, 8.Sutil, 9.DiResta, 10.Kobayashi, 11.Barrichello

The incident between Massa and Hamilton looked to have taken off some Ferrari bodywork which was in the middle of the track approaching the chicane, and on Lap 24 the Safety Car was dispatched to pick it up. There was also some at Turn 7 and the cars circulated for three tours while it was picked up by the marshals.

At the restart, leader Jenson Button backed the pack right up before setting off at pace. His next lap (28) was the fastest lap of the race as he set about establishing a race-winning gap. By Lap 30 he had opened it up to 2.2 seconds, by Lap 32 it was 2.8 seconds.

At the end of Lap 32 Vettel's tyres were gone again and now teams were switching from the soft Option to the medium Prime tyres. Vettel pitted on Lap 33, Webber on 34, Hamilton on 35, Button on 36 and Alonso on 37.

Because of the safety car backing up the pack, when Vettel emerged after his pit-stop he was back down in P11. Delayed by the Saubers and Force Indias, he found Perez in between himself and Button when Jenson rejoined the track. In fact the gap had become so big that Fernando Alonso slotted into it (for nte P2) after his pit-stop. All the while Michael Schumacher hadn't pitted and so he was able to establish the record of the oldest man ever to lead an F1 race.

On Lap 38 there was action up and down the length of the field with Hamilton cruising past Massa on the straight, Vettel keen to get back on terms with Alonso and Mark Webber passing a Force India on the inside at 130R.

Positions after Lap 38 1.Schumacher (stopped twice), 2.Button, 3.Alonso, 4.Vettel, 5. Webber, 6.Rosberg (stopped twice) 7.Hamilton, 8.Massa, 9.Petrov, 10.Kobayashi

Vettel using his DRS down the straight could get close to Alonso, but was never in a position to pass. On Lap 41 Michael Schumacher pitted for the last time and rejoined in P6, behind Hamilton and in front of Massa. Though he was on fresher tyres he couldn't put pressure on the McLaren and never got to within a second of Lewis Hamilton. Massa followed his gearbox all the way to the line just 0.9 back.

On Lap 44 Button had a 4.3 second lead over Alonso but this soon began to drop. By Lap 48 the lead was down to 2.1 seconds, by Lap 50 it was only 1.0 seconds and the Ferrari driver sensed a chance. At which point Button put his foot down and started to set personal best sector times, and then purple fastest sector times and then on Lap 52 the fastest lap of the race a 1:36.568.

The Briton took the race victory but the margin was a slim one. He parked his car at the end of the pitlane, worried about running out of fuel on the slowing down lap. Alonso claimed a P2 that was aided by the Safety Car and Vettel had to settle for P3 (his worst ever Japanese GP result). Webber came home in P4, Hamilton a glum P5 and Michael Schumacher an eventful P6. Midway through the race he had been given a hefty nerf from Mark Webber's front wing, which broke bits off the Red Bull but he had survived a puncture - unlike Felipe Massa in Singapore.

The performance of the Ferraris and McLarens at a circuit where Red Bull were thought to reign supreme had been remarkable, but the day was all about Sebastian Vettel claiming his second World Championship. It was as inevitable as Massa and Hamilton making contact.

Results
01. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1h30:53.427
02. Alonso Ferrari + 1.160
03. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 2.006
04. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 8.071
05. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 24.268
06. Schumacher Mercedes + 27.120
07. Massa Ferrari + 28.240
08. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 39.377
09. Petrov Renault + 42.607
10. Rosberg Mercedes + 44.322
11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 54.447
12. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:02.326
13. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:03.705
14. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:04.194
15. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 1:06.623
16. Senna Renault + 1:12.628
17. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1:14.191
18. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 1:27.824
19. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 1:36.140
20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps
21. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps
22. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
23. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps

Did Not Finish
Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 35

Source: Planet-F1

Singapore GP: Vettel takes the win, not the title

Sebastian Vettel stormed to his ninth victory of the season, dominating the Singapore GP from lights to flag

The Red Bull driver was incredibly quick, absolutely sublime, flawless, faultless and just about every other adjective one could use to describe arguably the most dominant drive seen this season.

However, Vettel's Singapore win was not enough to ensure him of the World title as Jenson Button put in an equally brilliant drive.

Taking second through the first corner, as was his pre-race place, Button pulled away from the chasing pack and was pretty much assured of P2 before even the halfway stage of the grand prix.

Mark Webber finished in third place after thrice overtaking Fernando Alonso, who had to settle for fourth, his first Singapore GP off the podium.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton once again caused the drama of the grand prix as he crashed into Felipe Massa while they were battling for position.

The incident broke Hamilton's nose and left Massa with a puncture. It also earned Hamilton a drive-through penalty and dropped him all the way back to P16.

But while Massa struggled to come back from the collision, Hamilton stormed through the field to finish in fifth place. Massa was P9.

There was, as predicted, one Safety Car situation during the grand prix when Michael Schumacher crashed heavily on lap 30.

Fighting with Sergio Perez for position, the seven-time World Champ carried too much speed as Perez braked for the corner, resulting in Schumacher hitting the back of the Sauber, launching into the air, landing heavily and smashing into the barriers nose first.

Thankfully Schumacher was not hurt.

Results
01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h59:06.537
02. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 1.737
03. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 29.279
04. Alonso Ferrari + 55.449
05. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 1:07.766
06. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:51.067
07. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap
08. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
09. Massa Ferrari + 1 lap
10. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
11. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
12. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
13. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
14. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 2 laps
15. Senna Renault + 2 laps
16. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 2 laps
17. Petrov Renault + 2 laps
18. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps
19. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps
20. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps
21. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 5 laps

Did Not Finish
Trulli Lotus-Renault 48
Schumacher Mercedes 29
Glock Virgin-Cosworth 10

Video: BBC - Singapore GP - Vettel primed for championship title bid in Singapore

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel says he is "excited" ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, where he could become Formula One's youngest double world champion.

Despite having never won in Singapore, the 24 year-old tells BBC Sport's Ted Kravitz the race at Marina Bay is "one of his favourites" and that to win the title there would be "very special".



Source: SixtyBuckss

Sebastian Vettel to receive ‘Kinky Kylie’ as title gift

Red Bull Racing insists the champagne is not yet on ice, but the team’s owner Dietrich Mateschitz has already decided what present he will be giving Sebastian Vettel for winning the 2011 world championship.

“The same as last year,” Mateschitz said in an interview this week with the German news agency DPA. “His championship-winning car.”

In 2010, when German Vettel became F1′s youngest ever title winner, Mateschitz delivered the Adrian Newey-inked RB6 to his home in Switzerland.

Red Bull’s team management are coy over the 24-year-old’s chances of wrapping up a second consecutive championship in Singapore this weekend, but billionaire Mateschitz is more honest.

“We anticipate that, once again, we will achieve both of the titles this year”, said the famously low-profile Austrian, 67.

He has high praise for Vettel, who enters this weekend’s Singapore night race with a lead so big that his only championship rivals have already given up the fight.

“The fact that Sebastian is highly capable, we knew,” said Mateschitz. “That he would be able to deliver it so consistently over a long time has surprised many people.”

Bild newspaper said Vettel’s championship present, the RB7 chassis that he has unofficially dubbed ‘Kinky Kylie’ – but minus a EUR 200,000 Renault engine – is worth almost a million euros.

“Slowly, his garage in Switzerland is becoming too small,” confirmed Red Bull driver manager Dr Helmut Marko.

So what does Vettel think about his championship present?

“I am not thinking about that because I haven’t won anything yet,” said the driver at Zurich airport before boarding a flight to Singapore.

Vettel told the German-language Eurosport that he is not counting on celebrating his second title this weekend.

“When it happens does not matter. As long as we are still first after the final race, that will be ok,” he said.

The RB7′s designer Newey insisted that Vettel will not be playing a points-counting game under the Singapore lights.

“Seb doesn’t want to cruise to the world championship, he really wants to earn it,” the Briton told The Sun newspaper.

Source:YallaF1

Vettel still has the winning instinct

In order to seal his consecutive title Vettel doesn't even have to win anymore. Although he would everytime settle for 2nd position, nobody would win the WDC's points even if they won all remaining 8 races.

– I rather take two victories and drive off in a few races than start to ensure my lead, Vettel assures.

– The most important is not to lead now, only after the last race. Last year taught that. Now the situation in my case is different than back then, but I haven't even wanted to know what my difference to the others is.

When Vettel was asked if he is worried when three last races weren't victories, he gives a wide smile.

– Not at all. It's how one wants to see these things. I think it's the media who is starting to be concerned. We have had difficult races but yet got an okay result. There hasn't really been any dramatic turn here.

Vettel celebrated each victory with different hand gestures. They created all sorts of buzz in the opponent's camps but Vettel assures that he hasn't intended to annoy anyone with his finger tricks.

– They are all my own choreography. And I have new hands left when I win again, Vettel promises.

Webber's continuance still not confirmed

Webber's contract was supposed to be signed in the middle of July and 'sure sources' claimed that it would be announced during the break in August. Yet nothing has been heard. The whisper on Spa paddock and Red Bull's VIP-premises is that they still wouldn't have made the final decision.

In the rumour mill they have been grinding Kimi Räikkönen to replace Webber although Christian Horner has time after time denied that the Finn would be an option to drive alongside Vettel next year.

Ferrari's development work stops in Monza

Red Bull uses a smaller rear wing in order to compensate for their loss of powers on long straights. When the track was dry the lead McLaren and Ferrari achieved on long straights only grew bigger.

In Ferrari they have made a guideline that they will work on 150 Italia -car to Monza and charge everything to next year after that. However if it would happen that Fernando Alonso would reach Vettel's 50 points lead, then the plans could change.

Turun Sanomat, Spa

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: Nicole

Alonso: We've nothing to lose

Fernando Alonso has once again urged Ferrari to take risks in the final stint of this year's World Championship

The Spaniard, who was fighting for the World title up until the final lap of last season's finale, currently finds himself down in fourth place in the Drivers' Championship, 89 points behind reigning World Champ Sebastian Vettel.

And Alonso reckons the only way Ferrari have any chance of beating the Red Bull driver to this year's crown is to go all out.

"We didn't program anything to be conservative at the beginning, or more aggressive now," said Alonso.

"It's just that the way things have worked out in the last couple of races, we've been lucky with strategies and they've worked out okay.

"With this year's tyres and the degradation, you need a bit of luck with strategy because tyre behaviour is very unpredictable from lap to lap.

"With 70 to 80 pit stops in general for the whole grid, you catch people when they go into the pits or they're coming out.

"There is nothing we can lose now if we take risks, like in the last race in Hungary where it was wet and dry, so you can take a bit more risk.

"In the past, if you want to fight for the Championship, normally you wait for someone to put on dry tyres when it's wet, or vice versa.

"Now we can be the first because we've nothing to lose."

But, however, Ferrari play it in the final eight races, Alonso admits his chances of success rest on him claiming maximum points at as many races as possible.

"Until the maths say otherwise, and if there is a possibility, then we will fight," said Alonso.

"We've seen many times in Formula One strange things happen, and in two, three races with the new points system, anything could happen.

"So we will not give up at this point. We will try to win every race.

"With four or five races to go, if there is still a possibility we will try and go for it.

"At that stage, if it is not possible, then it will be time to give up, but not now with the amount of points still on the table."

Source: Planet-F1

Lewis: Together we can destroy the field

Lewis Hamilton admits everyone at McLaren need to cut out the mistakes if they want to "destroy the field"

Hamilton finds himself third in the Drivers' Championship, 88 points behind pacesetter Sebastian Vettel with just eight races left in the season.

The 2008 World Champion, though, insists he is not losing too much sleep over his position in the standings.

"I could easily get upset about it."

He added: "What's important is that I drive the best I have ever driven.

"I think at the last race I wasn't at the top of my game, so I want to make sure I am at my best, and that's what I'm working towards.

"The team are also working towards being at their best so together we can destroy the field."

The 2008 World Champion will no doubt feel he should be a lot closer to Vettel as individual as well as team erroris cost him dearly. At the Hungarian Grand Prix a poor strategic call from the pit wall, a spin and a drive-through penalty saw him finish fourth instead of battling it out with team-mate Jenson Button for the victory.

The Brit adds that he will be striving for consistence in the latter stages of the season.

"I had the realisation a long, long time ago I could not afford to make any more errors, but we've still had them," he said.

"That's why I'm kind of relaxed. What will be, will be. We'll have some ups and downs for the rest of the season, that's the way it has gone.

"I've just got to take it one race at a time and see how it goes because you can have a good race here, a bad race there.

"So many things can affect it, not just your driving, but things you are affected by in the car, decisions made by the team.

"So I have to keep a lot of energy to make sure I make the right decisions. Everything has to come together, to be on point.

"We have not been as consistent in that area as we would like to be and that's something else we are working on.

"But if we're consistent for the rest of the season, like the time when I was always on the podium in 2007, that would be beautiful.

"I would definitely take that."

Source: Planet-F1

Mark Webber: All to play for in F1 title race

As F1 returns from its summer holidays, Mark Webber is ready for a fight: the racing is going to be tight, he says, and the Drivers’ Championship is still up for grabs

by Matt Youson, Aug 26, 2011

While most drivers spent their free time chilling at the beach, Mark Webber spent his on a bike racing four times F1 World Champion and semi-professional cyclist Alain Prost up the fearsome Alpe D’Huez.

It’s proof, if it were needed, that Webber is a competitor to the core, and despite being in second place, 85 points behind team-mate and championship leader Sebastian Vettel, he believes there is still plenty of racing ahead before the season is done. Here’s what he has to say…

Mark, what’s going to happen this weekend?
MW: It’s always great to come here: the drivers love Spa – because thankfully it hasn’t been designed in the last 10 years. So, it’s got some real corners and a beautiful, undulating layout. You feel pretty remote out there in the forest, just you and the car.

I see the weekend being tight, to be honest. I see Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull with no clear advantage. I think it’ll be like the last three or four grands prix – very, very tight, nip and tuck around the pitstops. It’s going to be tight between all of the teams.

This hasn’t been a good track for Red Bull Racing…
MW: In the last couple of years there’s a few places where we have been very strong, like Budapest and Silverstone, Barcelona too, whereas this year you’ve had Seb practically pushed over the line in Barcelona by Lewis. So the tracks have tightened up in terms of us having an advantage at what we’d call our better tracks – but let’s see what happens on the tracks that have been a little bit difficult for us, like this one here and obviously Monza. Canada [where Red Bull have also struggled previously] wasn’t too bad this year. So we’ll see how we go here. It is in our minds a bit but not full-on.

you think it’s possible for a driver to dominate the end of the season like Seb did at the start?
MW: No. I think that’s over. To have five, six, seven victories on the bounce, that’s not going to happen. I think it’ll be more spread out. The same people though, and I’d love to get involved myself.

So, does is the [Drivers’] Championship is over?
MW: No. Not if Seb fails to finish in two races. Seb’s in a great position, no question about it, but it’s not completely comfortable for him yet.

It has seemed in recent races that the RB7 has been struggling with its tyres. Has something changed?
MW: It’s a big question and it is a challenge. We had a strange month with those cooler temperatures. Silverstone was very cold, Germany, Hungary… it was a bizarre little month. We saw Valencia be normal, and McLaren in the shit on Sunday, but the other races they’ve been very, very, very strong – so clearly there’s a lot to understand.

We knew from winter testing that [temperature and tyres] was going to be a big part of the racing, but now it’s really getting down to a fine line, and a fine part of how you manage to pull everything together.

We do everything we can to understand it and develop to suit it. We’ve had a successful recipe for the last few years where Adrian [Newey] sometimes isn’t even looking at the results. He’s still just looking at performance and how can we make it better irrespective of guys closing in on us.

Source: Red Bull

Räikkönen tips friend Vettel to keep title lead

Kimi Räikkönen has tipped his friend Sebastian Vettel to pip F1’s class of 2011 to become world champion for the second time.

In 2007, former Ferrari driver Räikkönen came from a long way behind to beat the feuding McLaren duo Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to the championship at the final race of the season.

Now as a F1 spectator and world rally driver, the Finn was asked by Turun Sanomat newspaper about German Vettel’s 85 point lead with just 8 races to go.

"Quite often the situation levels off by the end if someone has pulled out early in the season," Räikkönen said.

"(But) Vettel probably doesn’t even have to win any more races in order to stay in front until the end."

Räikkönen, meanwhile, will turn 32 in October but he is not yet making any plans for 2012 — nor ruling out a shock return to formula one.

"I don’t know," he answered after a series of probing questions.

"Even if you ask the same thing a hundred different ways, the answer stays the same. If I don’t know then nobody else does either."

Räikkönen, like his contemporary Jacques Villeneuve, admitted to being not so keen on the 2011 formula, including the DRS overtaking rear wing system.

"It doesn’t have anything to do with real overtaking," he insisted. "All you do is move close and push a button and the guy in front can’t do anything about it.

"I guess they are trying to push it in the right direction, maybe it’s good for the TV, but for the drivers it’s not so good."

Source: NextgenAuto

LEWIS HAMILTON’S REVVING ’N’ READY

Lewis Hamilton's craving for a second Formula One world title has filled him with fighting talk

And he can’t wait to quit his holiday and start racing again.

The four-week break couldn’t have come at a worse time for 2008 champion Hammy.

McLaren have enjoyed back-to-back wins via Hamilton and Jenson Button.

The next round is in Belgium on August 28 and Hamilton said: “I am 88 points behind but it is not an impossible task.

“It’s a shame we didn’t have another race straight away but there’s nothing we could do about that. There are 200 points up for grabs and I will enter all the races believing I can win them.

“It is going to be an exciting run-down to the last race in Brazil and I can’t wait for the next round in Belgium.

“Our car’s pace is there right now as we have shown with our wins, mine in Germany with the fastest lap and Jenson’s in Hungary.

“The car’s on song because of our excellent qualifying pace at both.”

Source: Daily Star

Villeneuve: Räikkönen a champion by sheer luck

The 1997 F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve made a controversial comment on Kimi Räikkönen: the Canadian states Räikkönen did not deserve his title. Felipe Massa, Villeneuve suggests, did, however.

- If Kimi won the championship, it was by luck, he certainly didn't deserve it, Villeneuve told the Brazilian website TotalRace.

- Felipe was a lot more deserving. He was always more capable than Kimi and it was easy to beat him, he continued.

"I don't get people who criticise Massa"

Villeneuve came down hard on Räikkönen, while having Massa's critics have it.

- He has won races and almost a title, perhaps two. He's a great driver. At the moment he is driving strongly for Ferrari. I don't get people who criticise him, he concluded.

Source: RacingFlashNews