Source: http://www.metrof1.com/blogs/metrof1/2011/10/lewis-wants-to-see-us-night-race.html
Monday, April 30, 2012
A perfect example of what NOT to do - original MPC 1970 Charger
Here's an example of what NOT to do with your plastic model builders.
About 10-12( maybe more) years ago I took this car to a local show that happend to have a model contest as well. Once there I quickly found out most of the entries were kids, so I with drew this car and sat it on the console of the actual car it was to replicate. for show purposes only. and left the contest to the kids.
Lesson learned , the sun came around when I wasn't there and quickly baked this car, warped the body and hood well beyond repair. ( time span was probably less than 10 minutes)
Thats a mistake I will never make again. 
And hopefully someone else can learn from my mistake.
From now on, no models sit in cars unless the car is at an 'indoor' show.
I've been cleaning out the closest and came across the spare body I picked up to fix this one and made me think about it all over again. ( not a good feeling )
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/1014463.aspx
Massa threatened with jail over team orders
 |
“A public raised on a diet of Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna were simply appalled and saddened in equal measure by Massa’s apparent lack of ambition.”
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/11/massa_threatened_with_jail_ove.php
Rosberg: Tyres “couldn’t be better for F1″ | F1 Fanatic round-up
Rosberg: Tyres “couldn’t be better for F1″ is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
In the round-up: Nico Rosberg says F1 races have not become too much of a lottery in 2012 due to the tyres.
Rosberg: Tyres “couldn’t be better for F1″ is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/LXwsmH6q6cM/
'The point of no confidence is quite near'
 The wreckage of Jochen Rindt's car at Barcelona |
“Colin. I have been racing F1 for 5 years and I have made one mistake (I rammed Chris Amon in Clermont Ferrand) and I had one accident in Zandvoort due to gear selection failure otherwise I managed to stay out of trouble. This situation changed rapidly since I joined your team. “Honestly your cars are so quick that we would still be competitive with a few extra pounds used to make the weakest parts stronger, on top of that I think you ought to spend some time checking what your different employes are doing, I sure the wishbones on the F2 car would have looked different. Please give my suggestions some thought, I can only drive a car in which I have some confidence, and I feel the point of no confidence is quite near.”A little more than a year later Rindt's Lotus suffered mechanical breakdown just before braking into one of the corners. He swerved violently to the left and crashed into a poorly-installed barrier, killing him instantly.
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/09/the_point_of_no_confidence_is.php
Rubens Barrichello Michael Bartels Edgar Barth Giorgio Bassi
TRADERS-BEWARE!!!
This has been festering for a while and I have to let it go.I traded a fellow(Who will for fairness,will remain nameless)A somewhat miscombobulated,but complete and undamaged(except the decals) 1/8 scale BLACKBIRD by MONOGRAM.I also sent him a 1/12 scale VETTE.To sweeten the deal I gave him a brand new COLOR ME GONE DODGE !
Now after seeing what the postage was that I had to pay,and two more attempts to contact him I don,t have anything to show except a big hole in my stash.He knows who he is.I thought this fellow was fairminded and straight up.GUESS NOT. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE !!! I get by on S.S. and I cannot afford to spend over 80 bucks in postage and get nothing in return.So TRADERS BEWARE_____oldcarguy
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/1013991.aspx
Sunday, April 29, 2012
1969 Chevy Nova Z-28 "A What If Project"
Finally finished my What If Project... Here's my 1969 Chevy Nova Z-28.
This is what a Z-28 Nova could of looked like if Chevy ever did create this Nova model type.
Factory Z-28 Package Specs:
302 ci Engine
Z-28 Stripes
Z-28 Rear Spoiler
Hurts Shifter
Z-28 Center Console with Gauges
Cowl Hood
Rally Wheels
Here's the build.
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/1014311.aspx
Conny Andersson Mario Andretti Michael Andretti Keith Andrews
Massa: The truth will emerge in Melbourne
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa has been speaking about his team’s preparations for the 2012 Formula 1 season. Check out our Ferrari review for 2011! The Brazilian – who will take part in testing this week – believes that he will try many new ideas as they look to find a winning formula for the season ahead. [...]
Under Pressure: The driver’s who need to deliver in 2012
Whilst Sebastian Vettel had the year of his life, for some of the other frontrunners, 2011 proved to be an unhappy hunting ground. Matthew Roulstone assesses the drivers who need to find form fast in 2012. Three wins and three podiums would be considered by some drivers as an incredible feat but for Lewis Hamilton [...]
Massa: The truth will emerge in Melbourne
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa has been speaking about his team’s preparations for the 2012 Formula 1 season. Check out our Ferrari review for 2011! The Brazilian – who will take part in testing this week – believes that he will try many new ideas as they look to find a winning formula for the season ahead. [...]
Scalefinishes acrylic enamel paint...clearcoating??????
Howdy all , I've just completed a Shelby GT-350R and I painted it with Scalefinishes enamel . Can I clearcoat it with Modelmaster clear enamel spray can paint ? I always use lacquer auto paints and am a novice when it comes to enamel paints . Is the modelmaster clear any good? Thanks in advance
Steve D.
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/1014150.aspx
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Ferrari Launch Their 2011 Car The F150
Ferrari have become the first team to launch their 2011 Formula One car – named the F150. Thw F150 name comes from the fact it is 150 years since Italian unification, the flag bearer for the nation decided it was important to increase exposure of the major event in the country’s long history. The cars [...]
Source: http://f1fanatics.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/ferrari-launch-their-2011-car-the-f150/
Colin Chapman Dave Charlton Pedro Matos Chaves Bill Cheesbourg
Ferrari Launch Their 2011 Car The F150
Ferrari have become the first team to launch their 2011 Formula One car – named the F150. Thw F150 name comes from the fact it is 150 years since Italian unification, the flag bearer for the nation decided it was important to increase exposure of the major event in the country’s long history. The cars [...]
Source: http://f1fanatics.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/ferrari-launch-their-2011-car-the-f150/
Mark Webber: “We’ve always been there or thereabouts”
He might not have generated many headlines this year, but Mark Webber has quietly kept himself in the title hunt with an unusually consistent run of results. The Red Bull driver has finished fourth in each of the four races … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/04/24/mark-webber-weve-always-been-there-or-thereabouts/
2012 Formula 1 season – Time to get in the mood!
The 2012 Formula 1 season gets underway this month and here are some videos to get you in the mood. While you are here, why not check out which drivers are under pressure in 2012? Enjoy these videos! More to come! [There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog [...]
Friday, April 27, 2012
Sebastian Vettel: “We’ve got a very good result today”
Sebastian Vettel put his season back on track by taking his first pole after a strong performance in Bahrain saw him trounce Lewis Hamilton. Vettel has however used two sets of prime tyres when others have used one, and that … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/04/21/sebastian-vettel-weve-got-a-very-good-result-today/
JeanPierre Beltoise Olivier Beretta Allen Berg Georges Berger
Thursday, April 26, 2012
2012 Formula 1 season – Time to get in the mood!
The 2012 Formula 1 season gets underway this month and here are some videos to get you in the mood. While you are here, why not check out which drivers are under pressure in 2012? Enjoy these videos! More to come! [There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog [...]
Vittorio Brambilla Toni Branca Gianfranco Brancatelli Eric Brandon
Chrome Removal
Does anyone out there have a tried and true method for removing chrome from engine parts or wheels?
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/1013846.aspx
Life in the pit lane
 The Mercedes pit crew prepare for Michael Schumacher in Singapore |
These are not select millionaires but up to 16 ordinary, yet gifted, guys; team mechanics who have worked their way up the system and often migrate from team to team, are paid real-world wages of between £30,000 and £50,000 a year, are drilled to perfection – and whose split-second synchronisation brings their teams huge rewards.
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/09/life_in_the_pit_lane.php
Kurt Adolff Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers
Martin Whitmarsh: “There’s a lot of pressure nowadays”
After Sunday’s Bahrain GP Martin Whitmarsh defended the McLaren mechanic who was most closely involved in the two botched pit stops on Lewis Hamilton’s car, and another with Jenson Button in the previous race in China. Whitmarsh stressed that it … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/04/23/martin-whitmarsh-theres-a-lot-of-pressure-nowadays/
George Abecassis Kenny Acheson Andrea de Adamich Philippe Adams
Webber ‘will threaten’ Vettel in 2012
Bernie Ecclestone has stated his belief that Mark Webber could be Sebastian Vettel’s biggest rival for the title this year. Check out our review of Red Bull in 2011! Webber failed to win a race last year of course, but Ecclestone is convinced that the Australian will improve, threatening his Red Bull team-mate along the [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/WvCtgq-iUMQ/webber-will-threaten-vettel-in-2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Fernando Alonso: “We limited the damage again”
Fernando Alonso may have finished only seventh in Bahrain on Sunday, but the Spaniard was pleased to have bagged some useful points – and ended the run of the first four flyaway races just 10 points off the World Championship … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/04/24/fernando-alonso-we-limited-the-damage-again/
Massa threatened with jail over team orders
| |
“A public raised on a diet of Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna were simply appalled and saddened in equal measure by Massa’s apparent lack of ambition.”
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/11/massa_threatened_with_jail_ove.php
Elio de Angelis Marco Apicella M·rio de Ara˙jo Cabral Frank Armi
Drivers' meeting 'promises to be very interesting'
Oh to be a fly on the wall at the drivers' briefing ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix next month.
The controversial decision not to penalise either Nico Rosberg for his aggressive defence against Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso at the Bahrain Grand Prix or Hamilton for overtaking by going off the track has led to considerable debate within Formula 1.
So much so, that Alonso, a man who weighs his words carefully, has decided to speak out about it. After learning of the ruling, the Ferrari driver said to his 400,000-plus Twitter followers: "I think you are going to have fun in future races! You can defend position as you want and you can overtake outside the track! Enjoy!"
Nico Rosberg (left) and Lewis Hamilton may have differing views at the drivers' meeting. Photo: Getty
On the face of it, and at first glance, the stewards' decision does appear difficult to understand.
With both Hamilton on lap 10 and Alonso on lap 24, Rosberg veered dramatically to the inside - and, unusually, right across to the white line that demarcates the edge of the circuit.
Both Hamilton and Alonso went off the track in avoidance, to varying degrees. Whereas Hamilton kept going and succeeded in passing the Mercedes, Alonso backed off and tried for the outside line, but had lost too much momentum to pull a move off.
Article 20.4 of the sporting regulations says: "Manoeuvres liable to hinder other drivers, such as deliberate crowding of a car beyond the edge of the track or any other abnormal change of direction, are not permitted."
So why was Rosberg not penalised?
The stewards said his defence was legitimate because although it was Rosberg who started to deviate from his line first, he did so in a "constant and continuous straight-line manner" and neither Hamilton nor Alonso had "a significant portion of their car... alongside" Rosberg's.
In other words, because Rosberg moved first, he was always clearly in front and it was therefore effectively the other driver's decision to keep moving to the inside to the point that he was off the track.
In Hamilton's case, if you watch the TV footage back, you can clearly see this is the case.
It is less obviously so with Alonso - and the stewards had to use the footage from the Ferrari's onboard camera before they came to a conclusion.
I have not seen the footage, but I'm told it showed again that a) Rosberg moved first; and b) at no point was "a significant portion" of Alonso's car alongside the Mercedes.
During the race, viewers heard Alonso say over his team radio: "He pushed me off the track. You have to leave a space. All the time you have to leave a space."
This, though, is not actually what the regulations say.
A new rule, article 20.3, was introduced this year to formally enshrine that "any driver moving back towards the racing line, having earlier defended his position off line, should leave at least one car width between his own car and the edge of the track on the approach to a corner".
But this only applies when he is making a second move - there is nothing in the rules to stop drivers going right to the edge of the track in their first defensive move.
In other words, you might think - as Alonso did - that Rosberg's driving was unfair, overly aggressive, even dangerous, but the rules contain nothing the stewards could use to penalise him.
There is no obligation, I'm told by a senior figure, to leave room for a rival, unless he is partially alongside. The question then becomes, how far alongside does a driver have to be before the man he is overtaking has to leave him room with his first move?
That's where it starts to get awkward.
"It's no different," a senior insider says, "to a conventional overtaking manoeuvre when one driver dives down the inside, gets halfway alongside and they collide. One guy says: 'You should have given me room.' The other says: 'You weren't far enough alongside.' Often drivers' perception of a situation differs from the reality."
The stewards have to use their judgement, including factors such as speed differential between the cars, when a driver moved, how many moves he made, and so on.
Back, though, to what the rules do say. Article 20.2 says drivers "must use the track at all times". This is why Rosberg said over his team radio: "Hamilton passed me off the track."
Which Hamilton clearly did. So why was he not penalised?
The stewards, I'm told, asked: "What advantage did Hamilton gain by going off the track?" And they concluded that if he had gone to the outside, he was carrying so much momentum he would have passed anyway.
The most obvious of several counter-points to that is: "Yes, but Hamilton did go off the track when you have established he didn't need to, and he did pass him by doing so, so he should be penalised."
At least two leading drivers share this view, I'm told. But you have to bear in mind that Hamilton is not the most popular driver on the grid and his rivals are "always looking for ways to nail him", as one source put it on Monday.
The problem arose in the first place because concrete run-offs surround the circuit in Bahrain. Drivers can use these with impunity, safe in the knowledge that if they are forced off the track they are not going to spin on wet grass or hit a wall.
Had there been grass there, Hamilton would not have been able to pull off the same move (another argument for a penalty being applied) and Alonso might have backed off sooner.
Equally, had there been grass there - or even a wall - Rosberg might well have given them both a bit more room.
The stewards weighed it all up and felt that, in this instance, penalising Hamilton would have been overly harsh.
The result is some drivers believe Hamilton should have been penalised, some believe Rosberg should have been, and Alonso is saying the stewards' ruling gives drivers carte blanche to overtake off the track or crowd their rivals as much as they like.
Which is why that drivers' meeting in Barcelona promises to be so interesting.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/04/unanswered_questions_for_rosbe.html
Alonso the new favourite
 Fernando Alonso is the new favourite for the title |
“He is the man with the momentum and, on the same basis that I backed Mark Webber to win the title before Korea, is now my favourite to claim the world title in Abu Dhabi on Nov 14. “When the cars are so evenly-matched you have to back the man in possession. Especially when that man is a two-time world champion and arguably the finest driver of his generation.”The Mirror’s Byron Young drew comparisons between Alonso and seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher as the Spaniard bids to become the sport’s youngest ever triple world champion.
“Like Schumacher, Alonso accepts no opposition within his team. Ultimately he fell out with McLaren over their refusal in 2007 to bring Lewis Hamilton to heel. “He returned to Renault on condition he was No.1, only to be at the centre of the Singapore cheat scandal - engineered to hand him victory. “The Spaniard has always denied involvement but at the German GP in July he was brazen enough to radio Ferrari to rein in team-mate Felipe Massa so he could start the winning streak that has taken him to the brink of history.”
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/10/alonso_the_new_favourite_1.php
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
No administration for Group Lotus
Lotus F1 Team boss Gérard Lopez remains keen to buy Group Lotus, in order to develop an automotive brand of his own. His F1 team provides an estimated $30-40 million worth of advertising for the Lotus brand and that is currently going to waste as Lotus’s development is stalled following the takeover of Group Lotus’s [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/no-administration-for-group-lotus/
Perez leads the way in Q1, Schumacher out
Sergio Perez led the way in the Q1 session in Bahrain, beating Daniel Ricciardo to the fastest time by a tenth of a second. Mark Webber was third ahead of Romain Grosjean with Kamui Kobayashi fifth with Sebastian Vettel, Felipe Massa, Bruno Senna, Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Rosberg completing the top 10. Nico had an [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/perez-leads-the-way-in-q1-schumacher-out/
McLaren drivers out of title race
 Is it now a three-way battle for the title? |
“Focus and concentration will be of paramount importance and there is none stronger in this regard than Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.”The Guardian’s Oliver Owen thinks that it is Mark Webber’s title to lose now, and that this may be the Australian’s last realistic chance of winning the title.
“He has driven beautifully. Monaco and Silverstone spring to mind. He has been an uncompromising racer, not giving Vettel or Lewis Hamilton an inch in Turkey and Singapore respectively. Most importantly, he has largely avoided the bouts of brain fade that can wreck a season – his on-track hooning in Melbourne when racing Hamilton being the only exception. But there is a feeling that for Webber it is now or never, that a chance of a tilt at the title may never come again. He is certainly driving as if that is the case and that has been his strength.”According to The Mirror’s Byron Young, both McLaren drivers are now out of the title hunt after their fourth and fifth place finishes in Suzuka.
“McLaren's title hopes died yesterday in a weekend from Hell at Suzuka. Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton finished fourth and fifth in a Japanese Grand Prix they had to win to have the remotest chance of keeping their title bid alive."The Sun’s Michael Spearman was of the same opinion, saying “Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button's title hopes were in tatters after a shocker in Japan.”
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/10/mclaren_drivers_out_of_title_r_1.php
Christian Horner on Bahrain: Political if you race, political if you don’t
Christian Horner says that his Red Bull team focussed on the sport in Bahrain over the weekend despite the obvious distractions that surrounded the event. “We’ve focussed on motor racing this weekend,” said Horner, who had a chat with the … Continue reading 
Are the Aussie resin kits any good??
I'm an aussie and i build models but i seem to have no aussie cars in my collection and i think its time to get some. I'm a holden person but there are a few fords that i find irrisitable (XA,XB,XC falcons), and i know there are a few resin aussie cars in 1/25 or 1/24 scale, but what i want to know is are they worth the 70 or so bucks that they are?? and are they accurate to the 1:1 cars?
I have been eyeing off the HQ, HK and FC holden and the XB ford resin kits but they seem..... well..... expensive and i have no idea if they are worth the price.
So if anyone has made them please tell me if they are any good, and if they are worth the money, I would really like to know...
I havn't made a definite decision on if i will be getting one of these resin kits, im just wondering about them....
Any info about them is much appreciated......
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/1013511.aspx
Monday, April 23, 2012
1965 Dodge A100
The upcoming Classic Plastic Model Club show in September, 2012 will once again have a Club Challenge. This time it will be pickup trucks...built anyway you want. I threw my hat into the ring with a 1950 Ford F1, but changed my mind after a few days after seeing modelcarjr's A100 factory stock build, I was influenced to try my hand at an A100. This kit has been in my stash for a while and I have been needing an opportunity to built it. This will be a slow build since this is for the Club Challenge and I want to get this one right, especially after hearing stories about the door hinges. I have a Overhaulin' look in mind.
I have a set of Pegasus Chrome T's for this build. Let's see if I can get them to fit.
I am undecided on the color right now. I'm thinking of copper, metallic brown, fiery orange...or maybe Hemi Orange! We shall see...
More to come...
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/993509.aspx
Reading between the lines in a phoney war
The annual Formula 1 phoney war was in full swing at the second pre-season test at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya this week.
Fernando Alonso was talking down Ferrari's form, Lewis Hamilton was talking up McLaren's - as, intriguingly, was Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel. And the unlikely combination of Kamui Kobayashi and Sauber set the fastest time of the week.
As ever, the headline lap times were a poor guide to the order of the grid that can be expected in Melbourne at the first race in just three weeks' time.
But look behind the fastest laps, and there is usually a way of gleaning at least some sense of form ahead of the season.
Fernando Alonso's Ferrari could yet to turn out to be a dark horse. Photo: Getty
I'll preface what follows with a major caveat - this has been one of the most difficult tests to read for some time. But here goes.
Red Bull, as ever, looked especially strong. Vettel was fastest of all on the first day of the test, and throughout the four days he and team-mate Mark Webber set consistently formidable-looking times.
On Wednesday afternoon, Vettel and Hamilton set out to do race-distance runs at more or less the same time. Both did 66 laps - the length of the Spanish Grand Prix, which will be held at the track in May.
Vettel did five pit stops; Hamilton four. Discount laps on which they went in and out of the pits and they both managed 55 flying laps. Vettel completed his more than two minutes faster than Hamilton.
If that was repeated in a race, Hamilton would be lapped by the end.
And the pattern was repeated on Thursday with Mark Webber and Jenson Button, although the margin was reduced to about half a minute.
Of course, this is very far from an exact scientific comparison.
They didn't use the same tyres as each other - although they don't necessarily have to in the race either.
We don't know what they were doing with fuel loads - although it would be counter-intuitive to start putting fuel in at pit stops because it would provide the team with data that was never going to be relevant to competition.
And it's an especially confusing situation because only the day before Vettel was saying how impressed he had been with the McLaren's pace on the longer runs.
But there was more - none of it especially happy ready for those hoping for a close season.
On the Wednesday, Vettel's fastest time of all was nearly a second faster than Hamilton's on the same type of tyres. Although both were set on very short runs - suggesting a qualifying-type simulation - that's still potentially meaningless as there is no way of knowing the level of fuel on board at the time.
Nevertheless, if you then look at the lap times both were doing at the start of their race-distance runs, they were about the same margin slower than each driver's fastest laps as you would expect given a full race fuel load.
That suggests that the headline lap times of those two drivers could be a reasonably accurate indicator of form - again worrying for McLaren.
Of course, this is only testing, and teams have updates to put on their cars before the first race - as Button pointed out. And everyone expects McLaren to be a close to challenger at the front come Melbourne. Nevertheless, few are under any illusions about Red Bull's strength.
"You're old enough, Andrew," one senior insider said to me during the test, "to know that Red Bull look very strong. McLaren and Ferrari are a bit behind. Force India look like they have a quick car, too."
He might have added that the new Mercedes looks quite decent as well.
But few teams are as difficult to understand right now as Ferrari - who have not done any race simulations to compare with their main rivals.
The messages coming out of the team have all seemed pretty negative.
There has been a lot of attention put on technical director Pat Fry's remark at the first test in Jerez that Ferrari were "not happy" with their understanding of the car.
Start raking through the time sheets, though, and you begin wonder what's behind all the negativity.
On headline lap times, Alonso was less than 0.3secs behind Vettel. And on both his days he started 10-lap runs with a lap in the region of one minute 24.1 seconds.
If you take 10 laps' worth of fuel off that time, you are left with a lap in the low 1:23sec bracket - again, not far off what Vettel managed. And you can bet the Ferrari was running with more than just 10 laps of fuel anyway; most top teams routinely test with 60-80kg of fuel on board.
In other words, the Ferrari actually looks reasonably fast, and an insider did admit: "The car is not as bad as a lot of people think."
If - and it's a big if - Ferrari can start to extract that potential before the first race of the season, Red Bull might just have a serious fight on their hands. And that's without even considering what McLaren might be able to achieve.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/02/reading_between_the_lines_in_a.html
2012 Bahrain Grand Prix lap charts | 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix
2012 Bahrain Grand Prix lap charts is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
The lap and race charts show how Kimi Raikkonen lost more time behind Felipe Massa than Romain Grosjean - and how poor starts spoiled Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg's races.
2012 Bahrain Grand Prix lap charts is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/dXqWbe5oroM/
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Vettel collision: A champion under pressure?
Sebastian Vettel's behaviour during and after the Malaysian Grand Prix has been causing a bit of a fuss in Germany over the past few days.
The media have lapped up his response to his collision with backmarker Narain Karthikeyan, in much the same way as their British counterparts would have done with a similar incident involving Lewis Hamilton, and Vettel has come in for a fair bit of criticism.
On the BBC after the race, Vettel called Karthikeyan an "idiot" for his role in the collision that cost the world champion fourth place.
Speaking in German, the word he chose was "cucumber" - a common insult in that country for bad drivers on the road.
Vettel faces increased competition from outside and inside his Red Bull Team. Photo: Getty/AFP
It has also been pointed out that shots from Vettel's onboard camera appear to show the 24-year-old Red Bull driver giving Karthikeyan a middle-finger salute as he drives past. This has led some to call for him to be punished by governing body the FIA, which so far is keeping a low profile on the matter.
Comparisons have been drawn with McLaren's Jenson Button - who also failed to score any points in Malaysia, but who reacted with his usual calm.
Vettel, some in Germany have said, doesn't know how to lose.
They point out that last year he won 11 races on his way to one of the most dominant championship victories in Formula 1 history. Failing to win four races in a row in that context, the critics say, should not elicit this kind of reaction.
Vettel has not spoken in public since leaving Malaysia, and Red Bull are shrugging it off.
After the race on Sunday, team principal Christian Horner defended Vettel's driving in the collision with Karthikeyan, saying that it was the Indian's "responsibility to get out of the way of the leaders as he is a lapped car".
Although the stewards penalised Karthikeyan for the incident, others are not sure it's quite so clear-cut.
One leading F1 figure told me: "It was completely Vettel's fault - he needed to give Karthikeyan more space. He only had to clear the last inch and he cut across the front of him. He was showing a bit of frustration and it bit him."
Certainly Vettel has found himself at the start of 2012 in a situation with which he is not familiar.
Vettel has had the fastest car in F1 since at least the middle of 2009, and he has used it to good effect.
But now things are different. Red Bull's new car is not a match for the McLaren, and it has also been behind one Mercedes and one Lotus on the grid in each of the first two races.
For a man who is as driven to win - to dominate even - as Vettel is, that will not be a comfortable situation.
Nor will it have escaped his attention that team-mate Mark Webber has so far out-qualified him in both races this year - again, quite a turnaround from 2011, when the Australian managed it only three times in 19 grands prix.
It is early days, but so far the comparison between the two Red Bull drivers looks much more like it was in the first part of 2010 - before the team started fully exploiting the exhaust-blown diffusers that dominated the last 18 months and which have been banned for this season.
Webber was never that comfortable in last season's Red Bull - and while he came to match Vettel on race pace in the second half of last season, he never really got on terms with him in qualifying.
Much of that was to do with the behaviour of the car on corner entry, where the exhaust-blown diffusers were so powerful in increasing performance.
Red Bull's decline has also coincided with the stiffening of the front-wing load test, an attempt to stop teams allowing the ends of the wing to droop towards the track at speed to increase downforce. Red Bull were noticeably better at doing this than the other teams.
It may be an unrelated coincidence, but this year's Red Bull suffers from understeer, a lack of front-end grip - a handling characteristic Webber is comfortable with, while Vettel prefers oversteer.
This is not the first time Vettel has been criticised for letting his emotion get the better of him when things are not going his way.
There was the infamous 'nutter' sign he directed at Webber following their collision in the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix.
There were also mistakes in Britain, Belgium and Singapore that year as he very nearly gifted the world title to Ferrari and Fernando Alonso, who lost it only after a strategic error in the final race.
Such was Vettel's domination in 2011 that it never arose- leading some to say he had reached a new level of maturity both in and out of the car.
The truth of that claim looks set to be tested this year, as Red Bull and Vettel struggle to regain a position that the driver at least seems to consider is rightfully his.
Meanwhile, his rivals will have been watching with interest.
Webber, Alonso, Button and Hamilton remember Vettel's behaviour in 2010 all too well.
Betraying his emotions in such an obvious way will be seen by them as a weakness - they will look at it and think he is rattled.
So it is true to say on the one hand that Vettel's reaction proves he is a winner.
But it is also the case that learning how to lose gracefully - as Button and Alonso, particularly, have learnt in recent years - has its benefits as well.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/03/vettel_collision_a_champion_un.html
Birabongse Bhanubandh Lucien Bianchi Gino Bianco Hans Binder
Q3: Vettel on pole
Sebastian Vettel gave F1 another surprise in the Q3 session on Saturday in Bahrain with a lap that was a tenth faster than Lewis Hamilton’s best. Mark Webber was third ahead of Jenson Button, with Nico Rosberg fifth. The top 10 was completed by Daniel Ricciardo’s Toro Rosso, Romain Grosjean’s Lotus, the Sauber of Sergio [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/q3-vettel-on-pole/
Slim Borgudd Luki Botha JeanChristophe Boullion Sebastien Bourdais
MPC 6cyl What Kit???
What kit did MPC have a slant 6cyl in???. l am very curious l don;t need one but l saw one on ebay and l don't ever remember seeing an MPC kit with a slant 6 cyl before....Slusher
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/1012592.aspx
Massa threatened with jail over team orders
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“A public raised on a diet of Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna were simply appalled and saddened in equal measure by Massa’s apparent lack of ambition.”
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/11/massa_threatened_with_jail_ove.php
How McLaren got back to the top
Amid the widespread astonishment at how Fernando Alonso has found himself leading the world championship after two races despite driving the worst car Ferrari have produced for nearly 20 years, it has been somewhat overlooked that McLaren are topping the constructors' championship.
Victory for Jenson Button in Australia, two third places for Lewis Hamilton and two front row lock-outs have demonstrated that the MP4-27 is not only the best-looking car on the grid, it is also the fastest.
This is quite a turnaround from the last three years, when McLaren have been off the pace at the start of the season, putting their title challenge on the back foot before it had started.
The man responsible for this turnaround is McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe, who is in charge of the team's design and engineering.
A likeable, down-to-earth character, Lowe says "relief" is the first emotion he feels as a result of this impressive achievement after three years of struggling in vain to keep up with Red Bull.
He says: "There is a lot of pressure - people going around saying what you need to do is deliver a car that is quickest at the first race, as though we hadn't thought of that, you know?
"You go and estimate what you think that involves with no certain knowledge and then you go and try to deliver it. It's tough."
McLaren driver Jenson Button tackles a rain-swept Malaysian Grand Prix. Photo: Getty
Ask Lowe how McLaren have ended up with the fastest car at the start of a season for the first time in four years, and he'll tell you there is no "magic".
In reality, there are several factors behind McLaren's ability to leapfrog Red Bull this year and stay ahead of everyone else.
McLaren had a successful winter that was not affected by reliability problems with the car, as had been the case in 2011. That meant they could spend pre-season perfecting what they had rather than, as Lowe puts it, "fighting fires".
Equally, Red Bull appear to have been more badly affected than most other teams by the banning of exhaust-blown diffusers, last year's must-have technology, which the world champions are widely believed to have exploited more effectively than any other team.
For McLaren, starting 2012 with the fastest car is the culmination of a three-year battle to return to the top that began with the disaster of 2009, when they started the season more than two seconds off the pace.
That was the result of Hamilton's intense title battle with Ferrari's Felipe Massa in 2008 - which deflected resource away from both team's new cars - as well as the introduction of the biggest regulation change for 25 years.
McLaren recovered well in 2009 to win a couple of races later in the season, once they had adopted the 'double diffuser' that caused controversy at the start of the year and led to Brawn's championship win.
In 2010 they moved forward, but were still only third fastest behind Red Bull and Ferrari; and in 2011 they leapfrogged Ferrari but were still behind Red Bull.
At the same time, there was a re-organisation of the technical department undertaken in 2010-11, which has taken time to settle down.
"We came out (in 2011) pretty much in the same place we had been at the end of 2010," Lowe says. "So Red Bull had made decent progress over the winter and so had we.
"You have got to do not only what your competitors have done over the winter but then a bit more and then some to generate a lead over them.
"But that is difficult when there aren't fundamental changes in the rules for the car.
"You'd need Red Bull to go on holiday for a month, and then if you were working to the same general output you'd catch them up, but obviously they don't do that so you've just got to push it."
The same thoughts were going through the minds of the bosses at Ferrari. But whereas Maranello responded by undertaking a major change in design philosophy - which has backfired, notwithstanding Alonso's win on Sunday - McLaren realised this would be a mistake.
"In general you are going to be reluctant to say: 'I need to tear this up'," Lowe says.
"Here and there we were quicker than a Red Bull and we were certainly close to them when we weren't.
"The car performance at that point, given also there is not a big regulation change, is a consequence of a great deal of hard work. So it's quite rash to throw that away in too many areas rather than just build on it and iterate further and further.
"That doesn't mean you're not constantly looking for new ideas and trying to make them work. (But) you have to make very sure that whatever change you make is going to be better."
Lowe's contention that there has been no miracle at McLaren, just good, solid development work, is backed up by the fact that other teams have clearly made even more progress compared to Red Bull than they have - such as Lotus and Williams.
In pointing this out, Lowe betrays the natural caution of the F1 engineer - an approach that is understandable when, as Malaysia proved, even having the outright fastest car is no guarantee you will win the race.
Hamilton stepped down from the bottom step of the podium on Sunday to tell the waiting media he needed to find more race pace to capitalise on his strong qualifying form.
Lowe's "new challenge", it seems, has already arrived.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/03/lowe_confident_of_mclaren_succ.html
Opposition representative says F1 good for Bahrain
Bahraini politician Dr Jasim Husain, a senior opposition figure and former MP for Al-Wefaq, had an informal chat with visiting F1 journalists this morning. Escorted into the Sakhir media centre by FOM and FIA representatives, he gave a positive view … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/04/19/opposition-representative-says-f1-good-for-bahrain/
Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers Michele Alboreto
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Perez revels in success
Fernando Alonso raced home to clinch first place in the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, but you might argue that for all his joy at winning, there might have been someone just slightly happier at Sepang that day. Step forward Sergio Perez. The Mexican might not be a household name just yet but, aged 22, [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/-_7itVK0ToQ/perez-revels-in-success
Massa: The truth will emerge in Melbourne
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa has been speaking about his team’s preparations for the 2012 Formula 1 season. Check out our Ferrari review for 2011! The Brazilian – who will take part in testing this week – believes that he will try many new ideas as they look to find a winning formula for the season ahead. [...]
CUP: Junior Studying His Family's History
Dale Earnhardt Jr. wants a better understanding of his family roots...
Source: http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/cup-dale-earnhardt-jr-studying-his-familys-history/
Andrea de Cesaris Francois Cevert Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain
Button Steps Up Pre Season Training With Lance Armstrong
Jenson Button teamed up with record breaking cyclist Lance Armstrong, as he continues to prepare for another Formula One season. The McLaren driver excitedly tweeted that he would be riding with Armstrong, the 7 time Tour de France winner, in Hawaii. Armstrong responded via Twitter “I hope he doesn’t ride as srong as he drives [...]
Source: http://f1fanatics.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/button-steps-up-pre-season-training-with-lance-armstrong/
Friday, April 20, 2012
Doctors use Formula One pit crews as safety model
American Medical News reports hospitals in at least a dozen countries are learning how to translate the split-second timing and near-perfect synchronisation of Formula One pit crews to the high-risk handoffs of patients from surgery to recovery and intensive care.
"In Formula One, they have checklists, databases, and they have well-defined processes for doing things, and we don't really have any of those things in health care."
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/10/doctors_use_formula_one_pit_cr.php
Webber ‘will threaten’ Vettel in 2012
Bernie Ecclestone has stated his belief that Mark Webber could be Sebastian Vettel’s biggest rival for the title this year. Check out our review of Red Bull in 2011! Webber failed to win a race last year of course, but Ecclestone is convinced that the Australian will improve, threatening his Red Bull team-mate along the [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/WvCtgq-iUMQ/webber-will-threaten-vettel-in-2012
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