Formula 1 2011 Red Bull Racing Preseason Interview Sebastian Vettel

Source: AutomotoTV

Saluting ten years in F1 for Fernando Alonso

A stellar career in karting and a Formula Nissan title earned the Spaniard a test drive for Minardi. On the day he was 1.5 seconds quicker than the other young drivers lined up for the test which also included Marc Gene.

In 2000 he finished fourth in the Formula 3000 championship (at the time the steppingstone to F1) and was signed to race for Minardi in F1 for the 2001 season.

The Minardi PS01, was neither fast nor reliable. However Alonso’s qualifying performance was good, out-qualifying team-mate Tarso Marques by 2.6 seconds on his debut and four races later, at Imola, he out-qualified both Benettons, a feat he repeated later in the season.

The young Spaniard had arrived and suddenly he was hot property as his performances in the Minardi were not going unnoticed. A number of teams were enquiring about him and he was at one point under consideration for a seat at Sauber F1 Team. The drive with the Swiss team went to Felipe Massa…

In 2002, Alonso’s manager Falvio Briatore was tempted to drop Jenson Button from the Benetton line-up but instead made Alonso the team’s test driver. Here the youngster from Oviedo relished the opportunity to spend time testing and gathering track mileage, and this he did racking up almost 8000 km in the cockpit. His work ethic impressed those around him. Alonso also did a test with Jaguar team in May that season.

The following year, 2003, Briatore dropped Button in favour of Alonso ,who joined Jarno Trulli in the team’s new guise as Mild Seven Renault F1 Team – the Renault works effort in their return to the top echelon of the sport.

That year Alonso suffered his biggest accident to date when he crashed at 290 kph crash during the Brazilian Grand Prix. He survived unscathed. A few races later the Spaniard became the youngest driver to achieve a F1 pole position at the Malaysian Grand Prix. He finished second at his home grand prix two races later, and at the time became the youngest driver to win a F1 race at the Hungarian Grand Prix. He finished the year sixth in the championship, with 55 points and four podiums.

In the 2004 season, a win eluded Alonso but he scored podiums in Australia, France, Germany and Hungary. In France he took pole position and finished second, running Michael Schumacher close for victory. He ended the year fourth in the championship standings with 59 points.

From 2000 to the end of 2004 Schumacher and Ferrari had dominated the F1 world championship in commanding fashion, taking five world titles on the trot. The record was about to come to an end.

In 2005 Alonso and Renault brought the red stranglehold on F1 to a halt. The Spaniard won seven times and was on the podium on 15 occasion,s on his way to his first F1 title and bringing an end to the Ferrari/Schumacher incredible run.

Alonso said after claiming his first title, “I just want to dedicate this championship to my family, and all my close friends who have supported me through my career. Spain is not a country with an F1 culture, and we had to fight alone, every step of the way, to make this happen. A huge thank-you should also go to the team as well — they are the best in Formula One, and we have done this together. It will say that I am world champion, but we are all champions — and they deserve this.”

Alonso and Renault were on a role and the Spaniard made it back to back titles as he scored another seven victories en route to the 2006 title. Again defeating his arch rival Schumacher in the Ferrari.

In 2007 Alonso, as world champion, moved to the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team. Hence began a torrid association which only lasted a year and was severely marred by animosity between Alonso, the McLaren management and a precocious talent in the form of Lewis Hamilton. In a season filled with behind the scenes intrigue, politics, accusations, spying, blackmail and non-stop drama it was quite clear that Alonso and McLaren were not meant to be. The Spaniard returned to the comfort of Renault despite four wins and third place in the championship with the Woking team.

The 2008 and 2009 seasons with Renault were poor by Alonso’s standard. The team was no longer the power it was and his one year absence had seen development sink the team to the midfield zone. Thus 35 races over the two years delivered one race win, his controversial “crashgate” victory at the 2009 Singapore GP.

By this point it was no secret that Ferrari was set on obtaining the Spaniard’s services and did so by paying Kimi Raikkonen a substantial amount to leave. The Finn moved on to the World Rally Championship which opened the door for Alonso’s move to Maranello.

The ensuing love affair would do any soap opera proud as Alonso and Ferrari shared a glorious honeymoon, the Spaniard sparing no opportunity to endear himself to the tifosi and Ferrari management. And vice versa.

In 2010, Alonso won his first ever race for Ferrari in Bahrain, and was a title contender to the very last race, scoring five wins and finishing second in the championship. A major gaffe by his team in the final grand prix of the season cost him the title. In a nutshell Alonso started the Abu Dhabi GP with an eight-point lead, and qualified third but a major strategic error saw him finish seventh. Vettel won on the night and became world champion.

For 2011, despite denials by all and sundry, Alonso is the Ferrari team leader and will remain so unless his team mate Felipe Massa can make a huge leap in performance. Alonso’s romance with Ferrari continues as the Spaniard continues to use every opportunity possible to eulogise his team.

As any of the great drivers in modern Formula 1 history, including the likes of Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, controversy has followed Alonso along the way.

We highlight some of the controversial moments in his career to date:

• At the 2003 European Grand Prix, David Coulthard and McLaren managing director Martin Whitmarsh accused Alonso of giving Coulthard a brake test. This was in relation to a passage of racing towards the end of the race when Coulthard was trying to overtake Alonso, who was holding him up. Coulthard swerved off the track and into retirement during an attempted overtake. After talking to the drivers and viewing telemetry and video data, the FIA stewards decided that the incident did not warrant any “further judicial action”.

• At the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, Alonso was involved in an incident in which he brake tested Red Bull Racing test driver Robert Doornbos in the second free practice session. The stewards decided that Alonso’s actions were “unnecessary, unacceptable and dangerous”, and awarded him a one second time penalty to be applied to his fastest lap time in each of the qualifying sessions.

• After a separate incident from the same race, when Michael Schumacher was asked whether he thought Alonso deliberately slowed down so that Schumacher had to pass him under red flags in practice, Schumacher replied, “You said that, I didn’t.”

• In the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, after stewards ruled Alonso had potentially blocked Felipe Massa in Saturday qualifying and relegated him five places on the starting grid, Alonso stated “I love the sport, love the fans coming here — a lot of them from Spain but I don’t consider Formula One like a sport any more”.

• In the qualifying for the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix, while both McLarens were in the pits, Alonso remained stationary in the McLaren pit for a few seconds. This delayed the then provisional pole sitter and team-mate Lewis Hamilton long enough to prevent him from getting another ‘hot lap’ in. Alonso then went on to claim pole. McLaren boss Ron Dennis later said the team had got “out of sequence” when Hamilton did not as agreed allow Alonso past earlier in the qualifying session. He added that Alonso was “under the control of his engineer” when he was waiting in the pit lane. However, Alonso was subsequently given a five-place grid penalty and his McLaren team were docked the 15 constructors’ World Championship points they would have earned in the race.

• As a result of this investigation, it emerged that some team members within McLaren, among them Alonso, were aware of confidential information belonging to the Ferrari team. This information was commented on to Alonso by McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa who had also received information from McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan. The email contained text suggesting that Alonso was surprised by the data and doubted its authenticity. According to the “spygate” related email exchanges between Alonso and de la Rosa, it was clear that Alonso knew about Ferrari’s pit strategies in the Australian Grand Prix and Bahrain Grand Prix. Alonso finished 2nd and 5th respectively in those races. Ron Dennis told the FIA about the case during the Hungarian Grand Prix. Amid media allegations that Alonso threatened Dennis with reporting the team to FIA himself if he was not given number one driver status, Ron Dennis stated in a televised interview that there had been an argument, and that Alonso had said something in the heat of the moment but immediately apologised. This was when Dennis found out about Ferrari data and immediately informed the FIA.

• In what became known in the media as “Crashgate”, Renault allegedly ordered Alonso’s teammate Nelson Piquet, Jr. to crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, causing a safety-car incident at a moment where Alonso would get tremendous benefit from his race strategy, putting him towards the front of the field, and giving him a fighting chance to win the race, after a number of opponents (Felipe Massa, Robert Kubica and Kimi Raikkonen to name a few) suffered. However, the FIA confirmed that no evidence had shown that Alonso had knowledge of the plan, and neither did many of the personal mechanics of both drivers. Piquet has gone on record recently stating that Alonso was not involved and not to blame for the incident.

• In the 2010 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, Alonso became involved in a controversy with team-mate Massa, as Ferrari were accused of using team orders during the race. The incident started when Massa was leading the race and Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley said “Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?”. Shortly after this, Massa slowed down and was overtaken by Alonso in what appeared to be team orders. Shortly after the race notable people of the senior personnel in Ferrari, Massa and Alonso were summoned to the stewards. The matter was then referred to the FIA World Motor Sport Council. and Ferrari were given a $100,000 fine but the result of the race was unchanged.

• In the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Alonso was seen gesticulating furiously at Vitaly Petrov on the slowing down lap in front of TV cameras, and initially it seemed that he had blamed the young Russian for costing him the world crown as he ended up being unable to find a way past the Renault driver while race winner Sebastian Vettel was crowned world champion. However, Alonso denied accusations that he had accused him of denying the Spaniard the title.

Photo gallery commemorating Fernando Alonso’s ten years in Formula 1, from his debut at the 2001 Australian GP for Minardi to the last F1 test in Barcelona at the wheel of a Ferrari.

Photo gallery here: Alonso 10 years at the top

Source: YallaF1

Boullier: Kubica’s strength amazes doctors

Renault team boss Eric Boullier has given some more insight into Robert Kubica’s injuries sustained in the freak rally accident last month and how the Pole has stunned doctors with his mental strength.

Speaking on BBC Radio Five Live the Renault boss said, “He surprised everybody at the hospital in Italy. All the doctors came to me and said they were amazed about how his mental state could be so strong, and he was even smiling – it was an example for the department.”

“He’s progressed very well, and his recovery is going as well as you would dream when in that state. It’s still very early, he’s just started his rehabilitation this week, and the hand and the elbow are two tricky parts that got injured in the accident,” said Boullier.

Since the horror accident during a club rally in Italy evidence has emerged how a barrier sliced through Kubica’s Skoda and in truth he is lucky to be alive.

Boullier went on to say, “He’s progressed very well, and his recovery is going as well as you would dream when in that state,” Boullier told BBC Radio Five Live. It’s still very early, he’s just started his rehabilitation this week, and the hand and the elbow are two tricky parts that got injured in the accident.”

The Frenchman explained, “We still need to wait a couple of weeks, I think, to have a clear understanding of the recovery. It’s not easy for him to understand [how the recovery] will go and now morale is difficult for him as well because obviously you realise how tough it will be to work and be back.”

In a twist of fate Kubica’s former BMW team mate Nick Heidfeld, who until recently was unemplyed by an F1 team, has been drafted into the squad as substitute.

“Nick fits very well with the team,” said Boullier. “It’s clearly an opportunity for him, and it was the right time for him. So far it’s not easy to step into the footsteps of Robert, but I think his experience and his commitment and his ambition made his integration into the team easier.”

Source: YallaF1

Lewis Hamilton says new tyres will slow F1 teams down

Formula One is on a go-slow, according to Lewis Hamilton, one of five world champions on the grid when the new season gets under way in Melbourne three weeks time.

The new season will herald a number of technical changes, including the introduction of an adjustable rear wing and the return of the kinetic energy recovery system (KERS), which will make life busier than ever for the drivers.

But it is another change, the arrival of Pirelli as the sole tyre provider, which has made the biggest difference. According to Hamilton it has made the cars slower. As McLaren prepare for their final testing session in Barcelona, Hamilton said: "There is more to think about in the car. But Formula One does seem to have slowed down

"The cars are slower on a race distance. Last year we had to make tyres last with heavier fuel load and now it's even slower. I did run the other day and it was painfully slow, it really was. Just not exciting, to be honest.

"The first run – I didn't think I was pushing very hard – and the tyres were finished after nine laps, down to the canvas. On the next run, I had to go easier. It was almost like doing an out lap and just about made it to 15 or 16 on a soft tyre."

McLaren already have their hands full as they try to close the gap between themselves and the pace-setting Red Bull and Ferrari cars, but all the teams will have to come to terms with the new, fast-wearing tyres, which is likely to result in more pit-stops and more changes in the running order.

"Over the years you have to change your style and adapt, while keeping the important part, which is the speed and aggression," Hamilton said. "Now the biggest step is how we are going to have to look after the tyres.

"You'll see it's going to be just as competitive this year, if not more. The regs are bringing the teams closer, making it more competitive, but not as hard-core competitive. In 2007 and 2008, the teams were so quick and pushing each other so fast at the front. They've now slowed down the cars a little, it's maybe a more even playing field."

Hamilton's team-mate, Jenson Button, has seen a very fast Ferrari in the early testing sessions. Fernando Alonso has been very quick in testing – both drivers have at Ferrari. "And they have been reliable," Button said. "They were doing 140 laps a day and a couple of days we did 55. Big difference.

"They are in a great position. I don't really know how quick they are. I know he [Fernando] did his quick lap on a supersoft tyre in Barcelona. We didn't have one. You can look at their long runs and say they are consistent and so they must have downforce. They look strong.

"Red Bulls are the same as last winter. They didn't look amazingly strong and got to first race and were massively quick. Then you have a gaggle of cars. The Toro Rossos look very competitive, they have done a great job, the Renault is a step behind that, even Force India … There are a lot of quick cars out there."

Source: The Guardian

Vettel prepared for a 'long, hard and tough season'

Sebastian Vettel: We seem to have a good car, but it's still too early to tell so we have to wait and see. There have been a lot of changes which has involved a lot of work over the winter trying to get the whole package ready to start the new season

Sebastian Vettel is hopeful he will be stronger this season now he has won the world championship.

Vettel will be out to try and defend his crown in F1 2011 and while he has been pleased with the new RB7 in pre-season testing, he remains cautious about his prospects in the countdown to Melbourne's Australian Grand Prix.

“It's very difficult in the beginning to tell,” he replied when asked about the pecking order. “I don't have an advantage with having the number '1' on the car.

“Obviously it's a nice feeling, and it was a great success and a big relief for me last year. Hopefully that has made me a bit stronger, but nevertheless, it will be a long, hard and tough season.”

Pressed on if he feels different now he is world champion, Vettel added that for him little has changed.

“It was good to have a little bit of time for myself over the winter and to spend it with friends and family,” he continued. “But now we've started again with the new car preparing for the new season, I wouldn't say life has changed too much.

“We seem to have a good car, but it's still too early to tell so we have to wait and see. There have been a lot of changes which has involved a lot of work over the winter trying to get the whole package ready to start the new season.

“Obviously it's very busy now with preparation work, and we're all doing our best to try to get the best possible package together. You can never have enough preparation to make the car ready.

“The tyres are very different to last year, but then again, it's the same for everybody.

"I think the racing will change and that one-stopping – maybe even two-stops – is impossible at this stage, so it will be at least three or four-stop races, which will make it interesting.”

Source: Crash.net

JENSON BUTTON: KIDS CAN SLOW YOU DOWN

Jenson Button will not have a family until his Formula One career is over, in case it distracts him from chasing his goals

Button heads into the new season determined to regain the title he had to concede to Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel last season and he laughs at the idea that, having just turned 31, his attitude to racing at 200mph might change.

“No, when I have kids it will change but not yet,” says Button, who is dating model Jessica Michibata. “That’s one reason why I don’t want to have kids while I am racing. It’s not worth the risk.

“Also, you don’t get enough time to spend with them. It hasn’t crept in yet. I will stop when it does. If you start feeling fearful of pushing the car to the limit, you have got to stop. There is no point.”

Button and Lewis Hamilton head to the final F1 test in Barcelona this week before the start of the season in Australia on March 27, both hoping to see improvements in pace and reliability to get closer to Red Bull and Ferrari.

The McLaren car may not be up to the challenge yet but Button dismisses the idea that Vettel will be more ravenous for success because of an eight-year age difference.

“He won’t be any hungrier than I am,” says Button. “I’m as fit as I have ever been. Mentally? We have to make sure we are mentally strong and make sure everyone in the team is focused and positive.”

He won’t rule out Michael Schumacher as a contender either, even though the seven times champion is now 42 years old.

Suggest that Schumacher has lost raw pace and Button says: “I don’t agree with that at all.

“I think he is not happy with the car. Look at NASCAR, where you have guys in their 50s still winning.

“I know it is very different but you need to have a good reaction, a good eye.

“As long as his fitness levels are good – and his are pretty damn good – he is fine.”

Source: EXPRESS.CO.UK

Ferrari tweak 2011 car's name

Ferrari's 2011 challenger has once again undergone a name change so that even the "thickest of people" don't mistake it for a Ford

Ferrari initially named their 2011 car the F150 but in the wake of legal action by Ford, who have a popular truck called the F-150, the Scuderia changed the car's name to the F150th Italia.

And although on Friday it was confirmed that Ford had dropped their legal action against Ferrari, the Italian outfit has still opted to tweak the name of the car in order to avoid confusion.

"It might seem like a Kafkaesque scenario, but the affair relating to the name of the car with which Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa will tackle this year's Formula 1 World Championship saw its final and decisive episode played out these past few days with the concomitant withdrawal by Ford of the summons. Therefore common sense has prevailed," Ferrari wrote in the 'Horse Whisperer' column.

"In order to avoid the slightest risk of anyone confusing a Formula 1 car with a pick-up truck, for their part, the men from Maranello have decided that the car will lose the F that precedes the number 150 and which stands for Ferrari, as it has done on numerous occasions when it's come to giving a car a code name, be it for the race track or the road.

"It appears that this could have caused so much confusion in the minds of the consumer across the Pond that, at the same time as losing the F, the name will be completely Italianised, replacing the English "th" with the equivalent Italian symbol.

"Therefore the name will now read as the Ferrari 150° Italia, which should make it clear even to the thickest of people that the name of the car is a tribute to the anniversary of the unification of our country. Let's hope the matter is now definitely closed and that we can concentrate on more serious matters, namely ensuring that our car that already seems to be pretty good out of the box, becomes a real winner."

Source: Planet-F1

Massa and Domenicali visit Saudi Arabia

Trying a new circuit for the first time is always exciting for a racing driver. And if that “first time” can also be applied to the country he is in, with a very different culture and feel to it from one’s own, then it becomes a truly interesting experience. That was the case today for Felipe Massa, who was working at the Reem International Circuit, near Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

Felipe was the main attraction at an event organised by Philip Morris International, which involved him using the safety of a race track to help around forty guests experience the intoxicating thrill of speed as he took them round in an F430 Challenge.

Also present along with the Brazilian was Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Team Principal, Stefano Domenicali. “It’s always nice to visit somewhere new and I’m just sorry I can’t spend more time here,” said Felipe. “The track is very interesting and fun, so I hope I get a further opportunity to drive here. At the moment, our work in the build up to the start of the World Championship is intense and so we have to get back to base soon.”

“Events and venues like these are important to boost motor sport in countries which have only recently embraced it,” added Stefano Domenicali. “For Ferrari, the Middle East is a very important market which we watch very carefully.”

Fernando Alonso had been due to take part in this event, but as he was very slightly under the weather, he felt it best not to make the trip, given that he must be ready very soon for the upcoming Barcelona test session.

Source: YallaF1

Alonso: Ferrari legend better than I expected

Fernando Alonso has revealed he is more than happy with life at Ferrari in his tenth grand prix season in Formula 1 and the start of his second year with the Maranello squad.

“I expected a team of legend and magic and it has been a pleasant surprise, even better than I expected,” the 29-year-old told the Spanish sports daily Marca on the tenth anniversary of his F1 debut at the Australian GP on 4 March 2001.

Asked how long he might stay in F1 and with Ferrari, Alonso answered: “I am in no hurry to go; here, I even enjoy finishing second, eighth and twenty third.”

It has been suggested in the past, however, that Alonso does not completely enjoy F1 overall because it is not a pure sport.

“It’s not just racing; F1 is also very much business and with other interests,” he agrees.

“It’s not a competition, pure and simple. Cars are not equal, the rules are not equal for all. But we know this and accept it because this is perhaps some of the charm of formula one,” added Alonso.

Asked about the cars he has driven since debuting in 2001, he said the 2009 Renault was “the worst but I managed a podium in Singapore”.

And with the same team, he said 2004 and 2005 were the most enjoyable cars.

“There was the war with the Bridgestone and Michelin tyres that made us a couple of seconds faster, already with 900 horse power,” he explained.

“Even with the inferior aerodynamics that we had six years ago compared to today, in Cheste (Valencia) we were doing 1m08, compared to 1m14 now — six seconds different. Those cars are hard to beat,” said the Ferrari driver.

Alonso revealed that when his F1 career began with Minardi ten years ago, he also had the option of going to Ferrari-powered Prost.

“The offer was to go there (Prost) and then maybe be a Ferrari tester, or maybe not and I’ll have to return to F3000,” he explained.

“It did not guarantee anything, while Renault were giving me a better opportunity,” added Alonso, who indeed became Renault’s test driver in 2002 before racing with the team in 2003.

Alonso also reinforced his view that he is in F1 only to win.

“I’m not racing to make friends but to achieve many titles. Let’s see if I win enough to be remembered. If not, I will also retire very happy, proud of the experience,” he added.

Source: YallaF1

Mark Webber unhappy with Ecclestone's 'fake rain' idea

Mark Webber has dismissed Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone's idea to liven up grands prix with sprinklers to make tracks artificially wet

"No and no," Red Bull driver Webber told the BBC when asked whether the sport needed such measures and whether he was in favour of them.

"It wouldn't be the most sophisticated way to make the show more entertaining," added the Australian.

Mercedes GP boss Nick Fry was also unconvinced with the idea.

"I think Bernie's putting forward some entertaining ideas but Formula 1 is about contending with the conditions that prevail at the time," said Fry.

"I think that fiddling with those conditions artificially is not the nature of Formula 1.

"The beauty of Formula 1 is that there is now huge variety. We have races in the evening and during the day and halfway between the two and I don't think anyone could say that last year was boring.

"It was tremendous and I'm sure that this year will be better still."

Webber added: "It can be more exciting when we have some different weather conditions, that does happen. But you just try and think of Jimmy Clark, and Jackie Stewart and (Ayrton) Senna and those guys, masters in the wet.

"Jackie's still here but the other two would be turning in their graves if they thought we'd have sprinklers and hoses lined up around the track."

Ecclestone suggested the sprinklers could be switched on with no more than a two-minute warning to ensure suspense.

"I'm happy to make it happen," the 80-year-old told the BBC on Thursday.

"My idea is that we should make a programme that nobody knows exactly which programme is going to be used and it would start at some time during the race. It would be raining effectively.

"It would maybe stop and maybe rain again later. Or maybe not. So nobody would know."

Ecclestone did find some support from Paul Hembery, motorsport director of Formula 1's new tyre supplier Pirelli.

"I thought Bernie Ecclestone's comments were quite interesting," he told autosport.com.

"Straight after our recent successful (wet-weather) Abu Dhabi test I saw him and said, 'Why don't we do an artificial wet race?' The technology is such that you can wet a circuit with a sprinkler system, so the idea is not as daft as it sounds."

Source: BBC Sport

Vettel votes against Bahrain rescheduling

If Sebastian Vettel was in charge of formula one, he would not reschedule the 2011 Bahrain grand prix.

With political protests still ongoing in the island Kingdom, it has been suggested that either an August or November date is likely if Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA do reinstate the postponed race later this season.

The problem with August is that temperatures in Bahrain are likely to be pushing 40 degrees, while the date would also interfere with F1’s summer break.

A pairing with Abu Dhabi in November, meanwhile, would create a strenuous triple back-to-back ’flyaway’ race scheduling at the tail-end of an already busy calendar.

"The end of a season is already stressful enough, and we seem to have enough races anyway," reigning world champion Vettel reportedly told Finland’s Turun Sanomat at the Geneva motor show.

Source: Nextgen

Glock released from hospital

A very happy Timo Glock has been released from hospital after having his appendix removed on Monday

The Virgin Racing driver suffered a 'sudden case of appendicitis' and had to be rushed to hospital in Switzerland on Monday for the routine procedure.

The German, who will not take part in next week's final pre-season test in Barcelona, returned home on Wednesday, informing all of the good news via Twitter.

"Great news, can leave hospital!!!" he Tweeted on Wednesday.

"Straight back home but unfortunately more recovery no training!!! That's boring !!!"

Source: Planet-F1

Loeb: Kimi's lack of success a good thing

Seven-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb admits to being relieved that Kimi Räikkönen has not done too well in the World Rally Championship series.

- It has been a good thing from the point of view of the level of the World Rally Championships series. This shows that it is not easy for the former F1 champion to win in rally, said Loeb, who is preparing for the World Rally Championship round in Mexico, in an interview with the local magazine Excélsior.

To date, Räikkönen's career-best rally result is fifth place in last season's Rally of Turkey. However, Loeb does not overlook the Formula One champion's skills.

- Kimi is a good driver and can show flashes at any time, Loeb said.

Raikkonen will skip Mexico's leg, which starts tonight Finnish time.

Source: MTV3
Courtesy: sleenster

McLaren duo admit car is not up to scratch

Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton have confirmed what most people have been suspecting: the MP4-26 is not up to scratch just yet

The two McLaren drivers had a lot of reliability issues with their new car during the first three winter tests and as a result didn't get enough mileage under the belts. With only one more pre-season test to come in Barcelona, McLaren will have their work cut out for them.

Button admits he had concerns about the MP4-26 pretty much from the word go.

"When I first jumped in the car my first reaction was not 'wow, we're going to blow everyone away'," Button told Press Association Sport.

"But then I don't think anyone would have felt that because the car has a lot less downforce and the tyres (Pirelli) are working very differently to the previous tyre (Bridgestone).

"There's nothing that really scares me about the car in a negative way, so there's a lot we can improve through general set-up work.

"This year, at the moment, we've had some issues in testing in terms of getting parts to the circuit and a couple of reliability issues.

"So we've not done as much running as we would have liked, which has hurt our set-up work.

"But we do have four more days and hopefully things are going to run more sweetly at the next test, we get a lot of laps in, and then we can improve the base we have."

Team-mate Hamilton concedes that they probably left their car launch a little too light.

"The team are aware of it, and of course we'd love to have had more mileage, but there is a real balance," he said.

"We left it (unveiling the car) a bit later, not because the car was late, but because we wanted a week or two more to develop it, and perhaps it's not played right into our hands.

"We've good things in the pipeline, and we definitely improved in the last couple of days' testing, doing 107 laps on the final day at the last test.

"We've not done the mileage at the beginning, but hopefully we can pick up on reliability, and that the downforce is on its way."

The 2008 World Champion added that there were some similarities between the 2009 car and the 2011 model when it comes to downforce.

"The '09 car was terrible as it was hopping, three-wheeling through corners, locking up, and it had no downforce," he said.

"This car doesn't lock up, it doesn't three-wheel, and it handles really nice, better than last year's car, but it just doesn't have as much downforce.

"Because the regulations have changed, it's a similar downforce level to '09.

"We have a little more, but it's not far off, so it feels weak in that area. Hopefully we've more downforce coming onto the car."

Source: Planet-F1

Fernando Alonso: "A 110 miles per hour is even hard to stay awake"

Source: Marca.com

Whitmarsh: "People do not realize how smart is Kimi"

Martin Whitmarsh maintains Kimi Raikkonen for extremely underestimated and explains how close this really the year at McLaren comeback by scraping

Kimi Räikkönen had in Formula 1 is always a reputation as a thoroughbred racer. For legend Stirling Moss was the Finn even the fastest man in the premier class. But there are critics who have long-standing McLaren drivers hold for simple and it has no technical skills let alone the potential to be a team to lead attest.

Wrongly, as McLaren team boss and Räikkönen connoisseur Martin Whitmarsh over says 'Motor Sport': "I'm Kimi fan and have it never made a secret I think it is a underrated drivers - underrated in the sense that everyone knows. how incredibly fast it is, but I think people do not realize is how smart he and how good the technical feedback, is that he can deliver a team. "

The Briton believes that Räikkönen in F1 has not fully exploited its potential: "He has a World Cup win, but I think he would have achieved more. " Whitmarsh makes no secret of the fact that he protege in the previous year to McLaren retrieve wanted many years his: "There was the year before serious negotiations, which were opened by me always. I got it I received and was very much interested I am. Personally agree with Kimi well-come and it would have been an interesting challenge to get him back. "

But what the big comeback with McLaren failed? "Our negotiations were very advanced," said Whitmarsh. "Ultimately he has not come back because I suddenly realized that Jenson could be available. I have made him an offer and Jenson has accepted this challenge, surprisingly. I am very happy about it."

Source: Motorsport-total
Courtesy: luieluv

Räikkönen not returning to F1 - Ecclestone

"No one really knows why Kimi left F1"

Bernie Ecclestone does not think F1’s world champion of 2007 is ever coming back to his sport.

After committing to a second full-time season in the world rally championship this year, Kimi Raikkonen said he has "no interest" in returning to F1.

"No one really knows why Kimi left F1, and many have tried to bring him back again," F1 chief executive Ecclestone told the German language Kicker magazine.

"But Kimi has decided to do something else - and that will remain the case," added the 80-year-old Briton.

Source: NextgenAuto

Alonso reveals admiration for Schumi

Fernando Alonso has spoken of his respect and admiration for seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher

Many pundits have raised doubts over Schumacher and Mercedes' ability to challenge for the title this year following a disappointing 2010 campaign and some mixed performances in pre-season testing.

However, Alonso - the man who ended Schumacher and Ferrari's dominance with back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006 - is refusing to write off the German before the start of the season.

"If there is one person I respect and admire, it is Michael for everything he has done," Alonso is quoted by German news agency dpa.

"We have to wait 'til Australia and the first three or four races and see how Mercedes is doing. If Mercedes is fighting for pole position, he will be one of our great rivals."

The decision to cancel the Bahrain Grand Prix has come as a relief to some while others feel it will affect them negatively.

"I don't think it changes much. Nobody really knows how anyone else is doing. This year there were no leaks in the paddock. Let's see who can draw an advantage from the late start," Alonso said.

When asked if Bahrain should still the race, Alonso replied: "They deserve to have that show. Let's hope we can go there in total calm."

Alonso and Ferrari have done a lot of mileage during the three pre-season tests, but the Spaniard is refusing to predict how fast the car will be.

"There is no clear reference point for where we stand. Are we happy with the car? Yes. Is it reliable? Yes. Fast? We'll know in Australia," he said.

"We're not anxious, but we would like to know more. We do not need to change the way we work, there is a lot of work to do. Australia is the definitive moment."

Source: Planet-F1

Alonso ignores Hamilton sabotage reports

Fernando Alonso has fended off the latest press revelations about his stormy relationship with McLaren and Lewis Hamilton in 2007.

In his newly-launched biography about Bernie Ecclestone, author Tom Bower said Spaniard Alonso had asked his then boss Ron Dennis in Hungary to sabotage the sister car driven by Hamilton so that it ran out of fuel.

Bower’s ‘No Angel’ book also claimed that Alonso, who now drives for Ferrari, tried to blackmail Dennis into making him the team’s number one driver in exchange for keeping quiet about spygate emails.

“I ignore what is said from other countries,” Alonso was quoted by the Spanish press at a sponsor event in Madrid.

Asked about the Bower accusations specifically, he added: “I don’t know — everybody is getting on with their own jobs.”

Source: YallaF1

Vettel worried about slow pay drivers in F1

Sebastian Vettel has admitted he is worried about the “pay driver” issue in formula one.

The global economic situation has led to an increase in the number of drivers who bring substantial financial backing to their teams.

World champion Vettel said on Austrian television Servus TV that the situation is compromising the quality of the F1 grid.

“There is a risk to us if the drivers being lapped are unpredictable,” answered the German when asked if the pay-drivers are dangerous.”

“There are some in the field that we know are moving obstacles,” added 23-year-old Vettel.

Complicating the issue, he said, is that the return of KERS and the debut of moveable rear wings causes drivers to take their eyes off the track.

“It’s a bit like driving a car while playing with your mobile phone,” said the German.

Source: YallaF1