Räikkönen has the 6th position forked

Kimi Räikkönen was 8th in Sweden's rally, in Portugal he was 7th and now in Jordan after the first day the Finnish driver is impressively 6th.

Räikkönen's first day in Jordan went without any bigger problems. Kimi snatched a valuable scalp on Friday-afternoon when he left the experienced Matthew Wilson behind him by driving and came in 6th in the result sheet.

Räikkönen improved significantly his times in the afternoon when they took the stages for the second time.

– There wasn't any more effort than it was in the morning but the driving was better. In the afternoon we drove one crossroad long and lost a bit of time. But otherwise it went a lot better, Räikkönen said.

A year ago Räikkönen was 8th in Jordan and hence he achieved his career's first WRC-points.

Turun Sanomat, Kuollutmeri

TONI HEINONEN

Courtesy: Nicole

Video: Chinese Grand Prix could be 'crazy', says Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel admits he was surprised to be comfortably ahead of the McLaren's as he qualifies on pole for the Chinese Grand Prix, but is not getting carried away as he believes the Shanghai circuit is a "crazy place for crazy races."



Source: FiftyBuckss

Vettel: Pole is still only eight metres on the track...

Despite having commandingly claimed his sixth pole position from the last seven races and the 18th of his F1 career, still Sebastian Vettel is keeping his expectations firmly in-check ahead of Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai

Early-season F1 2011 World Championship leader Sebastian Vettel was refusing to let himself get carried away after fairly demolishing his rivals for pole position ahead of Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix – his third in Shanghai in swift succession and his sixth from the last seven races full-stop – stressing that in reality, it's still only worth 'eight metres on the track tomorrow'.

Despite pacing all three practice sessions around the Shanghai International Circuit – where two years ago he led Red Bull Racing to its breakthrough F1 victory ahead of team-mate Mark Webber – there was still some doubt heading into qualifying as to whether Vettel would ultimately have the legs of the fast-improving McLaren-Mercedes' of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. On only his first run in Q3, he wasted little time in demonstrating that he did.

Laying down a commanding marker a staggering seven tenths of a second clear of Button, Hamilton's sole effort later on would make no indent either, and when the former failed to improve on his second flying lap, Vettel aborted his, safe in the knowledge that the 18th pole of his grand prix career was comfortably in the bag.

“We have done it again, but every single time is tough,” the 23-year-old underlined. “Today wasn't as straightforward as we planned, especially in Q2 – I made a bit of a mistake on the run I did then – but in Q3, I was confident that we would be able to improve quite a lot.

“Obviously, today we did a good job, but it's just eight metres on the track tomorrow. It will be a long race, but I think we can be happy with the car. We did some good long runs on Friday, so we have a reason to feel good, but it's also a threat to feel too good – and I pay attention that doesn't happen.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner similarly hailed his young protégé's performance, pointing out that having canned his second 'flyer' in the top ten shoot-out, Vettel will now have an extra set of soft tyres available to him on race day compared to fellow front row-sitter Button.

“A third consecutive pole for Sebastian and, as he wasn't required to complete his second run in Q3, he was able to conserve his tyres for tomorrow,” reflected the Englishman. “[It was] an excellent performance from him today – a really fantastic first lap. We weren't sure what Lewis' pace was going to be, which is why we ran again – but in the end, it turned out that we didn't need to.”

“An impressive display from Sebastian again,” concurred Cyril Dumont, from RBR engine partner Renault. “What pace – three races and three pole positions – so congratulations to him!”

Source: Crash.net

Video: Mark Webber rues disastrous qualifying in China

A disappointed Mark Webber says he could not get enough out of his tyres in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, as he is surprisingly eliminated in Q1 and will start the race in 18th place



Source: FiftyBuckss

Webber: We snookered ourselves

Mark Webber, arguably the most outspoken driver in F1, has refused to heap scorn on his team after dropping out in Q1 in China

The Aussie qualified down in 18th place for the Shanghai race as he team did not send him out on the soft option tyres despite him being in danger of being knocked out.

But, instead of lambasting the team for the decision, Webber appears to have taken it in his stride.

"When any top team goes out in Q1 we can all put the hindsight goggles on go yeah, we should have done this. In the end for sure options would have made life easier, that's completely obvious," he said.

"We could have made that decision, but we didn't, as a team.

"We all thought we were going to get enough laps in on the prime to get the two timed in, but we were a bit late going out, and they were the wrong tyre as well.

"The timing was the problem, not the tyre."

But it wasn't only in qualifying that Webber ran into problems as he also suffered an electrical issue during the final practice, which meant he went into qualifying with just five laps under his belt on Saturday - and only one of those was a flying lap.

"One lap in P3, that doesn't help. We were a little bit on the back foot.

"Obviously the guys did a phenomenal job, we just got the car together minutes before qualifying.

"We went out and my first run was probably half a second shy of where we needed to be, with obviously KERS as well added on top of that.

"We were on the bubble and decided to go for another run on the prime to have a few laps on it, but we never got out quick enough, so we only had one timed lap, and added to that the tyres weren't up to temp. So that second set was a bit more difficult to get the job done.

"I was pretty cool with it, but obviously we all started to panic a bit at the end when we knew we weren't going to get in two laps. The tyre should have been enough, but on one lap it wasn't enough.

"That's where we got squeezed. We snookered ourselves really."

Source: Planet-F1

Video: Fernando Alonso says Ferrari cannot win Chinese Grand Prix

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who qualifies in fifth for the Chinese Grand Prix, says the team is not quick enough to aim for victory in the race on Sunday



Source: FiftyBuckss

Alonso 'confident' of better race-pace

Fernando Alonso is adamant Ferrari will fare better in Sunday's grand prix than during qualifying in China

The Spaniard claimed his third P5 in qualifying on Saturday afternoon, once again failing to challenge Sebastian Vettel and the two McLarens.

However, this time round, he was also beaten by Mercedes GP driver Nico Rosberg.

But despite his Ferrari being only the fourth best car in qualifying, Alonso believes he will be stronger in Sunday's race.

"We are more confident over the race pace than qualy," Alonso told Autosport. "We saw in the first two races.

"On Saturday we struggle a little bit more, so I expect tomorrow we'll have a little bit more of a competitive car and starting fifth anything can happen.

"The podium is still the target for us, the dream for us. If we can do it, okay, and if not fourth will be okay, if not fifth will be okay."

As for the Scuderia's performance in qualifying, which saw Felipe Massa claim sixth place behind his team-mate, the double World Champion said: "I think we did okay.

"Fifth and sixth at the moment is the maximum we can do with what we have in our hands. We delivered today what we are supposed to deliver.

"We already knew all about Red Bull and McLaren, but here we saw an improvement from Mercedes, so the situation is even more difficult.

"The main thing for us is to improve the car and the expectation for tomorrow is to have a clean race with no problems at the start, no problems in the pit stop, choosing a good strategy and scoring as many points as possible. "We need the points."

Source: Planet-F1

Videos: Interviews with Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button after Qualifying at Chinese GP 2011

Lewis Hamilton says it's going to be "a serious battle" going into Turn One of the Chinese Grand Prix as he qualifies in third place behind McLaren team-mate Jenson Button and Red Bull's championship leader Sebastian Vettel



McLaren's Jenson Button says his team "have done well to wring the best out" of his car as he qualifies second behind Sebastian Vettel for the Chinese Grand Prix, and plays down the fact he has used one more set of tyres than team-mate Lewis Hamilton in third insisting he his happy with his choice of strategy



Source: FiftyBuckss

Button: Vettel's pace is phenomenal

Although he stopped short of saying Sebastian Vettel is unbeatable, Jenson Button reckons his only chance of winning in China is if he beats the Red Bull off the line

But even then Button's chances aren't looking that good given that Vettel qualified a massive 0.715s ahead of the McLaren driver on Saturday afternoon.

And the last time the German was over seven-tenths up in qualifying, which was in Australia, he cruised to victory, completely unchallenged by second-place finisher Lewis Hamilton.

But, despite the odds being in Vettel's favour, Button was delighted with his qualifying performance.

"This is my best grid slot of the year and from where we were on Friday we've improved the car a lot," he said. "We should be happy with what we've achieved."

Looking ahead to Sunday's race, the 2009 World Champ reckons his "best chance of winning the race is to challenge Seb into Turn One."

But, then again, he had been hoping to challenge the German in qualifying. "I thought we could fight for pole, but the pace of Sebastian in Q3 was phenomenal."

Even Vettel was "surprised" by the gap between himself and second-placed Button.

"The gap surprised us as well," said the reigning World Champ.

"Obviously we did it again but I try to remind myself and the team that every time is tough. It wasn't straightforward, in Q2 I had a bit of a mistake but in Q3 we improved.

"It all starts from zero again on Sunday. All it is is eight metres (in front of Button). We are as happy as we can be with the car, we had good long runs on Friday so have reason to feel good."

Source: Planet-F1

Hamilton: One run was a strategic call

Lewis Hamilton is confident McLaren's decision to send him out for just one run in Q3 will play into his hands in Sunday's Chinese GP

While team-mate Jenson Button edged ahead of Hamilton in qualifying by 0.042s having opted for two flying lap stints, Hamilton chose to put in just one late in the session.

But, despite having all the pressure on his shoulders to make it count, the 2008 World Champ still crossed the line with a 1:34.463, which was good enough to put him third on the grid.

And, it has left the McLaren driver with a fresh set of soft tyres for Sunday's grand prix.

"We made some really positive set-up changes on Friday evening and I was much happier with our car today," he said.

"In qualifying, Jenson and I were very close and we're both up there. Jenson did a fantastic job to put his car ahead of me, but I sacrificed a bit of my own pace to enable me to have a fresh set of Options for the race.

"We took the decision to complete just a single run in Q3. Of course, that was a compromise, but it means I'll have a fresh set of tyres for one of the stints tomorrow. And last week's race in Malaysia showed us how important it is to have fresh tyres for the race.

"Today's strategy should increase my chances in the race. It's always good to have a fresh set of tyres in the bag, and I wanted to make sure I had options to cover everything.

"To be able to put on a new tyre at the end of tomorrow's race will be a great positive and will help the longevity of the tyres."

Source: Planet-F1

Qualifying: Vettel's reign continues

There really is no stopping Sebastian Vettel at the moment as the reigning World Champ claimed his third pole of the season in China

Vettel will line up in P1 for tomorrow's Chinese Grand Prix, followed by McLaren's Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton with Nico Rosberg in fourth.

All the drama of the session occured in Q1 with Mark Webber going out and Q2 which eliminated Michael Schumacher and Nick Heidfeld and limited Vitaly Petrov's ambitions after he stopped out on track.

Times
01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 01:33.706 14 laps
02. Jenson Button McLaren 01:34.421 13 laps

03. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 01:34.463 11 laps
04. Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 01:34.670 19 laps

05. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:35.119 18 laps
06. Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:35.145 18 laps

07. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso 01:36.158 18 laps
08. Paul di Resta Force India 01:36.190 17 laps

09. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 01:36.203 16 laps
10. Vitaly Petrov Renault no time 11 laps

11. Adrian Sutil Force India 01:35.874 14 laps
12. Sergio Perez Sauber 01:36.053 16 laps

13. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 01:36.236 11 laps
14. Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 01:36.457 16 laps

15. Rubens Barrichello Williams 01:36.465 15 laps
16. Nick Heidfeld Renault 01:36.611 11 laps

17. Pastor Maldonado Williams 01:36.956 17 laps
18. Mark Webber Red Bull 01:36.468 8 laps

19. Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus 01:37.894 7 laps
20. Jarno Trulli Team Lotus 01:38.318 10 laps

21. Jerome d' Ambrosio Virgin Racing 01:39.119 8 laps
22. Timo Glock Virgin Racing 01:39.708 8 laps

23. Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT F1 Team 01:40.212 9 laps
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT F1 Team 01:40.445 9 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Video: Interview with Fernando Alonso after practices at Chinese GP 2011

Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso says Ferrari have not had enough time since Malaysia to improve his car's qualifying speed



Source: FiftyBuckss |

Alonso laments lack of Friday running

Fernando Alonso and Ferrari have lamented their lack of track time during practice at Shanghai on Friday

While his team-mate Felipe Massa completed a total of 63 laps, Alonso managed only 15 laps in Practice One and a further 17 laps in the second 90-minute session as he found himself in the pits more often than not with hydraulic problems.

"I lost valuable time because of a hydraulic problem, in both sessions, but most of all in the second one," he said. "Unfortunately, I did not manage to do any long run testing to get an idea of the tyre degradation, but fortunately, Felipe managed to do that on both types, so at least we have a good basis to start from."

After disappointing performances in the first two races in Australia and Malaysia, Ferrari decided to add new aerodynamic components to Alonso's car but the lack of mileage means they still don't have a clear idea about how well the upgrades work.

"As for the new aerodynamic components, it is too early to say if they really produce an advantage," Alonso said.

"The engineers will now have to study the data carefully, before drawing any definite conclusions as to whether or not we are moving in the right direction in terms of development. From the little I could see, there are no problems - or at least they are very slight - in terms of warm up on the hard tyres, which could be an improvement for managing the tyres in qualifying.

Assistant technical director Pat Fry, who along with team boss Stefano Domenicali and technical director Aldo Costa headed back to Maranello after the Malaysian GP, says a defective component was behind Alonso's hydraulic woes.

"I think we had more problems today in three hours than we had in the whole fifteen days of winter testing," he said.

"A shame, because we needed to cover some distance, especially with Fernando, who was experimenting with the latest aerodynamic solutions that they have come up with in Maranello. We will try and make a virtue of necessity and carry out the job of analysing the data with the data we managed to gather.

"The hydraulic problems on car number 5 stem from the same fault, a defective component and we will take action to fix it for the rest of the weekend."

Source: Planet-F1

Lewis Hamilton buys Prince's gold guitar for $100,000

McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton has bought musician Prince's famous Fender Stratocaster gold guitar at an auction for $100,000 [£61,100]

Discussing the auction, held to raise funds for art, education and the environment, Prince told US TV host, George Lopez: "We got $100,000 for that, brother Lewis Hamilton, the racing car driver. It will be hard to part with."

Hamilton's purchase comes just days before he looks to make amends for his nightmare race in Malaysia last weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday.

Having driven second behind Sebastian Vettel in the early stages of the race Hamilton finished a lowly seventh and was subsequently relegated to eighth after being handed a 20 seconds penalty for defending his position with more than one change of direction in a battle with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

Despite the misfortune, Hamilton is nonetheless confident of McLaren’s chances in Shanghai and moreover that the team have what it takes to catch the Red Bulls.

“We've got some upgrades that we're trying to get to work, so hopefully they'll help us to fight. I definitely plan to be at the front this weekend," he said.

"We're knocking on their [Red Bull’s] doors, but from track to track it's going to change quite a bit," the 26-year-old Briton, a former world champion, warned ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend in Shanghai.

"In the last race, it looked like they stepped back – I don't think we improved or were closer.

"But I definitely feel we're right there in the chase. They do have a slight advantage, but I'm hoping we can find some performance this weekend so we can compete for the pole position."

Hamilton's team-mate Button shared his confidence ahead of the race in Shanghai insisting he has the pace to thwart Vettel's bid to become the first ever two-time winner on the circuit.

This weekend the young German is gunning for the dual honour of registering five wins on the spin while also becoming the only man to win twice in Shanghai since the race's inception in 2004.

But Button – also part of that merry band of Shanghai winners alongside Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Rubens Barrichello and Kimi Räikkönen – believes he can tear up the form book and deny Vettel his little moment of history come Sunday.

"If we get a nice clean race start, we could have a fun race and I think the pace [between McLaren and Red Bull] will be reasonably similar," Button said.

"I finished three seconds behind him [in Malaysia] but he definitely slowed down at the end of the race, but I don't think he did on every lap. Our pace was quite similar."

Source: The Telegraph

Sebastian Vettel blog: 'My Chinese learning curve'

He may have a 100% record so far this year but F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel is not about to take his foot off the gas as he prepares for the Chinese Grand Prix...


by Sebastian Vettel on Apr 15, 2011

'I can't believe how fast time passes. Just a few days ago we were celebrating victory in Malaysia and now we are in China.

I have to confess that I haven’t really expanded my Chinese vocabulary over the last year… I'm still no further than "Thank you" (Xiéxie) and "Bye" (Xiàcìjiàn) but I promise to try harder for 2012.

Looking ahead to the weekend I’m very optimistic, especially after our victories in Melbourne and Sepang. I think that this track will suit the RB7, and I think it will also suit KERS.

I know that, as a team, we had some difficulties with the system last weekend and had to deactivate it on my car for a short time, but it worked on my car for most of the race. The team will work very hard to make sure it will be fully functioning throughout the weekend.

And as always, we need to stay focused and do our best. I know we are winning now and people are already speculating about the title but we can't even think about that right now.

We have only won two races so far and we all know how fast things can change in F1. So there we won’t lie back and relax now.'

Source: Red Bull

Räikkönen returned back to rally

Kimi about the shakedown:

– It went quite well - at least in the beginning. Of course it's going to be a little difficult in the beginning because I haven't got to drive for some time, Räikkönen thought.

– The car feels just the same as it felt before. There's no difference, Räikkönen stated shortly in his own way.

Ford's and Citroen's drivers from the main team got to try out Michelin's new tyre that shouldn't break as easily as it has broken in the previous rallies. Räikkönen got finally to test the new rubbers in shakedown.

– I didn't notice any difference in the tyres. There are lots of stones on the road but so far no tyres have broken. Hopefully the difference to the last tyres is big, Räikkönen said.

– They haven't made any changes to the car because of the new tyres. I suppose they don't have to do that either, he continued.

– This year there will be less tactics because the race is only two days long. I'm second on the road on Friday so I have to put the foot to the pedal immediately so that I won't lose too much when thinking of the second day, Loeb planned.

– It was difficult to make the notes because the rented car felt like a truck, Loeb said.

Turun Sanomat, Dead Sea

TONI HEINONEN

Courtesy: Nicole

Video: Sebastian Vettel focused on Shanghai victory

World Champion Sebastian Vettel says he is not looking back at his victories in the first two races of the 2011 season and remains focused on preparations for this weekends Chinese Grand Prix



Source: FiftyBuckss

Webber loses cool with journalist

Mark Webber lost his cool and was reduced to an expletive on Thursday as he faced the world’s press who tried to sum up his start to the 2011 F1 World Championship season.

A reporter in Shanghai dared to suggest that the Red Bull driver is to Sebastian Vettel, the reigning champion and two-time winner from pole in 2011, what Eddie Irvine was to Michael Schumacher all those years ago.

“Absolutely f***ing ludicrous question, mate,” he snarled.

Webber, with his contract running out with Red Bull, had an awful weekend in Australia and a KERS failure a week ago in Malaysia, but he vowed to fight back in China.

“He’s not just beating me, he’s beating everyone,” he insisted when asked about Vettel. “No one will turn up then, might as well stay at home. People always make the natural comparison between you and your teammate, and Seb is driving really, really well and is on top of a lot of things at the moment.

“It could be a lot worse than it is at the moment,” he added. “I am still performing pretty well, I believe, and also we’re learning a lot.”

As for his mental state two races down and 28 points behind, the Australian answered: “I’m fine mate. I think if you were much, much younger then obviously you’d be panicking. But I’ve been around the block.”

Source: YallaF1

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button could be at McLaren 'for five years'

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, the two McLaren drivers, could continue their partnership with the team for "another five years", the team's team principal, Martin Whitmarsh, believes.

Whitmarsh said that the pair's relationship was so competitive that it could withstand the pressures of pursuing world titles in Formula One.

He was speaking as McLaren arrived in Shanghai for the Chinese grand prix this coming weekend. "We have two drivers that do really have a particular bond. They like working together and are both enjoying it," Whitmarsh said of Hamilton, 26, and Button, 31.

Button, said Whitmarsh, could stay with McLaren for "another five years at least" and Hamilton seemed so comfortable with McLaren that the younger driver could keep the combination intact.

"I can't think of two drivers who are better communicators than Jenson and Lewis. And we've got both of them."

Source: The Guardian

Chinese GP Press Conference schedule

Championship pacesetter Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher will be among five drivers fielding questions at Thursday's press conference in Shanghai

Thursday, April 14 - 15h00:

Rubens Barrichello (Williams)
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRT)
Michael Schumacher (Mercedes)
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

Friday, April 15 - 16h00:

Aldo Costa (Ferrari)
James Key (Sauber)
Paddy Lowe (McLaren)
Naoki Takunaga (Renault)
Geoff Willis (HRT)

Saturday, April 16 - post qualifying:
Three fastest drivers from qualifying.

Sunday, April 17 - post race:
First three finishing drivers.

Source: Planet-F1