Niki Lauda eagerly waits Kimi Räikkönen's performance in the F1 season next week starting

- Just awesome, that Kimi has come back, Lauda told Austrian TV channel ORF's Sport am Sonntag program.

Lauda has frequently in the past given negative statements about Räikkönen, but not at this time.

- Kimi's natural speed has always been excellent, and even if he has newer spoken a lot in interviews, he is a very talented man. I also believe that Lotus is not so bad car, the triple world champion said.

Lauda continues to work as TV commentator in all F1 races.

- Watching Kimi should be fun. It is however important that he is now and then at the top, because then he interests us even more. If the car does not help Kimi at all and he drives in the mid field, he will be forgotten after three races. It is just so cruel in Formula One.

- But Kimi will certainly be refreshing for this season, because as the sixth world champion he wants to know how good he really is, Lauda said.

MTV3, Janne Aittoniemi

Courtesy: reppo

Video: BBC - Indian GP - Lewis Hamilton pleased with his Indian GP qualifying performance

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton says he is pleased with his qualifying performance, despite being handed a three-place grid drop for pignoring yellow flags during practice on Friday.

The 2008 world champion qualified second-fastest behind Sebastian Vettel, and says he is optimistic of having a strong race in the first-ever Indian Grand Prix.

Source: SixtyBuckss

Räikkönen's perfomance was praised by experts

Räikkönen is not considered to be any morning person but this time he started very flashy both on Friday and especially on Saturday.

On SS17 the Citroën bumped into a stone and crashed with the rear first in a wooden fence.

– The front bumper was twisted and the air started going under it. When I went a little bit faster, the front started to go in every direction and didn't want to stay on the track anymore. There was no sense in driving fast when the front went in every direction, Räikkönen said.

However the perfomance was classy. Appreciation for Räikkönen only grew bigger in experts minds.

– Of course as a Finnish viewer I would rather see Kimi going on with winning in F1, but things are like this now. Kimi is in a position where he can drive whatever he wants. He wants to drive rally and everybody knows that that boy controls cars. He will improve as a rally driver when he learns the notes so that he gets everything he wants out of them, Lasse Lampi thought.

– One shouldn't look at it so that one only stares on positions and says, oh, Kimi is 8th again. I observe Kimi's driving in a completely different way and I think his performances are better than I could have expected, Rauno Aaltonen said.

– Kimi shows a good control of his nerves and mind when he stays on the road. Rally on this level is in any case a battle and when you are on the limits, the marginal for making mistakes is always bigger. I take my hat off for Kimi.

Aaltonen wondered over Olivier Quesnel's statement that spread on the websites, about him being disappointed with Kimi's pace.

– I think it was a wrong verdict. One has to understand that people drive on different stages with different speed. A human being isn't a machine. For some a fast road is good, some again are at their best on very curly roads. It depends completely on motor function, the muscle's function and the way one thinks about where to look, Aaltonen said.

Turun Sanomat, Jyväskylä

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: Nicole

Video: BBC - German Grand Prix - Fernando Alonso satisfied with Ferrari performance

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso refuses to be too downbeat after qualifying fourth for the German Grand Prix and says the team are pleased with improvements made to the car



Source: SixtyBuckss

Mark Webber writes exclusively on his performance at the British GP 2011

You get what you deserve in motor racing and Fernando Alonso was the deserved winner of Sunday's British Grand Prix

He drove very well and Ferrari's race pace was strong, as it has been at the last few races

Third wasn't exactly a bad result for me, but we didn't get the maximum out of the race on my side of the garage.

My start from pole position was okay, but the right side of the grid had more grip and Seb (Vettel) got the jump into turn one.

I then had a big moment at Becketts on my in-lap, which allowed Fernando to gain a bit of time, and the pitstops weren't quite as sharp as at other races.

All of these things added up and you have to get everything right if you want to win on Sunday afternoons.

From a performance point of view, the RB7 performed well through Silverstone's fast sweeps.

Seb and I locked out the front row of the grid and the car performed well on intermediate tyres at the start of the race.

That first stint was demanding because one part of the track was wet and the rest of it dry, so it was a constant battle to look after your tyres.

Michael Schumacher was the first guy to pit for dries and we watched his lap times carefully.

I stayed out for three more laps, which was longer than ideal, but judging the crossover point is part of the game.

The car was good at the beginning of my subsequent stints, before tailing off because I lost the left-front tyre on each occasion.

The last stint was probably my best of the race and I was able to pass Lewis (Hamilton) pretty easily for third place.

That gave the team a double podium and extended our lead in the constructors' championship to 110 points.

Seb and I had a good battle late on. The team put in a few calls asking me to maintain the gap, but I kept pushing because you can never give up in F1.

If Fernando had retired on the last lap, we would have been fighting for the lead. Obviously the team wanted the points for the world championship – and they got them – but so did I.

The team was worried about Seb and me crashing into each other and we proved that we can race without doing that.

I don't want to crash into anyone, be it my teammate or my compatriot Daniel Ricciardo, who, incidentally, finished his first grand prix in the Hispania, which is great for him.

It's now time to look forward to the German Grand Prix in two weeks time.

The Nurburgring is where I won my first grand prix in 2009 and I always enjoy driving at the track.

Like Silverstone, it has a lot of history – particularly the 22km Nordschleife that lies adjacent to the modern racetrack and around which I drove a lot of laps when I raced for Mercedes in sportscars – and the fans there enjoy their motorsport.

There's always a good atmosphere and I'm sure Seb will get a lot of home support.

The race is sure to be another exciting one and it's difficult to predict which teams will be fighting for victory.

Lewis pushed Seb over the line in Spain and Fernando has been very quick at the last couple of races. It'll be close, which is what the fans want to see. I'm looking forward to it!

Source: Herald Sun

Vettel warns against complacency

After three wins in four races, reigning Champ Sebastian Vettel had every right to celebrate on Sunday following his triumphant performance in Turkey

But instead of revelling in his Red Bull team's dramatic one-two finish - Mark Webber claiming his highest finish of the season - ahead of all their rivals, the 23-year-old German said he was keen to make sure everyone kept their feet on the ground and remained calm.

He now leads the title race by 34 points ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who could only manage fourth place on Sunday.

"It's good to get as many points as you can at every single race," said the reigning World Champion. "But we see how quickly it can change.

"We saw it last year with this guy (Fernando Alonso) coming and going, so we have to really go step by step, see every race as its own and try and maximise our points.

"A good start to the season always helps, but there is a long way to go. Four out of 19. So, you can work out how many more points there are to get so we have to keep focused."

Vettel thanked his team for their hard work in repairing his car, dubbed 'Kinky Kylie' after he had almost destroyed it in a major accident during Friday's rain-hit first practice session.

"All in all I am very happy," he said.

"On Friday, I had an accident and crashed the car badly. All the guys, even Mark's guys helped and fixed the car. It meant some extra hours which I am sorry for, but yesterday and today made up for it.

"I am pleased with the results and a big 'thanks' to the team."

He admitted he was open about his strategy and said the Red Bull team had learned from their mistakes in China where they were beaten by Hamilton.

He said: "It wasn't easy from the start to know what is going to happen.

"You have an idea about the tyres and how long they will last, but you have to wait for the first and second stints to see the trend. I could have stayed out on primes (soft), but if the safety car comes out you are on used tyres.

"So I had a another short stint. I was very much in control, I am very happy with how we communicated with the race and how we reacted.

"I am very pleased and since China we have definitely made a step forward. We have learned our lesson and have to make sure we keep momentum into the next race."

Source: Planet-F1

Button: Who knows? Maybe we can win

Jenson Button has not ruled out a third straight win in the Australian GP despite his new MP4-26's mediocre performance in pre-season testing

The 2009 Champion, in an interview with his team's official website, said: "Albert Park has been good to me: I've won there for the past two seasons.

"It's a great circuit for racing, it always seems to create unpredictable races.

"And, perhaps because it's habitually at the start of the season when a precise pecking order has yet to be established, we often see fast cars running out of sequence - and the excitement that that brings.

"With the added issue of multiple tyre stops, it could be a very exciting and unpredictable race weekend."

On his prospects for next Sunday's season-opener he added: "I'm regularly being asked if I can make it three wins in a row this year.

"On paper that might not look likely, but, seriously, who knows? I most definitely wouldn't rule it out."

He said he had added motivation this year after the triple trauma suffered by Japan of last Friday's earthquake, tsunami and radiation scare.

"I go to Melbourne this weekend resolving to not only try my best, but also to salute the brave people, and my many friends, throughout Japan."

His team-mate, fellow Briton and 2008 Champion Lewis Hamilton, conceded that on paper at least, McLaren faced a tough task to cope with the speed shown in testing by the likes of rivals Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes.

"We can't hide the fact that testing has been tougher than we expected," said Hamilton, who won at Albert Park in 2008.

"Our test mileage hasn't been as high as that of our rivals, nor have we had the outright pace of the fastest cars.

"Still, I have a good feeling with MP4-26: I like driving our car, I think it will look after its tyres quite well and I understand that we'll be making further performance steps ahead of this opening race.

"Nevertheless, we know we go to Melbourne ready for battle: some teams are extremely well prepared - both from a pace and reliability point of view - but that can sometimes count for little in the unpredictable and somewhat chaotic opening races where it's equally vital just to take points home.

"I strongly believe that, while our preparations haven't gone as smoothly as we'd have liked, I get the impression that we'll be arriving in Melbourne with everything finally meshing together - and that makes me really excited."

Team principal Martin Whitmarsh acknowledged that McLaren would not figure among the favourites to win in Melbourne, but he echoed his drivers' optimism that a decent showing was possible.

He said: "Do I think our testing pace is representative of the pace we'll show in Australia? No.

"Do I think we head into the weekend as race favourites? Unfortunately, no.

"But do I feel that we have the capacity to surprise a few people and be competitive? Very much so."

Source: Planet-F1

"One of Räikkönen's best performances"

According to Kimi Räikkönen’s experienced co-driver Kaj Lindström the ex-F1-star has taken steps forward as a rally driver

The second Sweden Rally in Räikkönen’s career brought him the 8th position and a bunch of good special stage times.

- It's a great thing that we have improved, and we have to improve from here on, but it was one of the best performances from Kimi, Lindström evaluates.

According to Lindström Räikkönen still has studying to do in the precision of making the notes. It can be seen in the driving when the special stages are driven for the first time.

- When the note is being done, there are some spots, which are not that detailed and when a spot like that occurs in the first run you start to look out for other "spots" that could be in the note, Lindström said.

- On the second run when the notes are more reliable, the driving comes already wicked well.

Räikkönen reached one fourth position and a bunch of position within top 6.

- We didn't have any bigger problems. Always you could go faster though, Räikkönen said.

- Always something stays to bug you. Now we spinned once, there was one puncture and the beginning of the race was somewhat difficult, but it improved towards the end. It's nice that I have learned something.

Räikkönen's season continues at the end of March in Portugal WRC-rally.

Source: MTV3
Courtesy: Leijona