Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/06/29/2999400/ron-capps-tops-funny-car-qualifying.html
Henry Banks Fabrizio Barbazza John Barber Skip Barber Paolo Barilla
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Race - selected team and driver quotes
Pirelli on the tyre issues that afflicted several drivers; Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel on his retirement from the lead; Force India's Adrian Sutil and Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo on mixing it with the frontrunners; Red Bull's Mark Webber on his tremendous fight through the field to third; and Nico Rosberg on claiming his second victory of the season. All the drivers and senior team personnel report back on Sunday's action…
Source: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/6/14739.html
Fernando Alonso Giovanna Amati George Amick Red Amick Chris Amon
Who said what after Friday practice for the British Grand Prix
Read what the drivers and teams had to say after Friday practice for the British Grand Prix
Source: http://en.espnf1.com/greatbritain/motorsport/story/113013.html?CMP=OTC-RSS
Don Beauman Karl Gunther Bechem Jean Behra Derek Bell Stefan Bellof
Raikkonen an option for Red Bull, but it's in no rush
Red Bull will not make a decision on who will replace Mark Webber until later in the season
Source: http://en.espnf1.com/redbull/motorsport/story/112677.html?CMP=OTC-RSS
Giulio Cabianca Phil Cade Alex Caffi John CampbellJones Adri·n Campos
FIA approves post-race tests, penalty-point system for 2014
The FIA's World Motor Sport Council has approved a number of changes to the Formula One regulations for 2014 after meeting at Goodwood in the UK on Friday. Among them are post-race tests at four Grands Prix and the introduction of a penalty-point system for driver offences.
Four, two-day tests will be allowed during the season
Four, two-day tests will be allowed during the season
Source: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/6/14718.html
Bill Cheesbourg Eddie Cheever Andrea Chiesa Ettore Chimeri Louis Chiron
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Lewis Hamilton move would not be a huge surprise
If Lewis Hamilton does move to Mercedes from McLaren for next season, as Eddie Jordan believes he will, it would be a massive shock but not a huge surprise.
There has appeared no urgency from either Hamilton or McLaren to sort out a new contract for 2013 and at the same time there have been signs of unease in the relationship.
The 27-year-old's management team have approached all the big teams this summer and they got short shrift from Red Bull and Ferrari.
Mercedes's reaction has been warmer, and negotiations are known to have taken place, but the issue is complicated by Michael Schumacher's situation.
Lewis Hamilton is on the verge of leaving Mclaren to drive for Mercedes next season. Photo: Getty
Schumacher has not exactly been setting the world on fire this season, with the notable exception of qualifying fastest in Monaco, but at the same time Mercedes cannot be seen to be sacking him because of his status, particularly in Germany.
The German legend is of huge promotional value to Mercedes but the company is split on whether he should continue.
From a marketing point of view, he is a dream - and as he is considered untouchable in Germany any decision to move aside must appear to have come from him.
But those who see the F1 programme from a performance point of view would rather Schumacher stepped down and made way for someone younger and faster.
If they can replace him with someone of the highest calibre - someone such as Hamilton, for example - then that helps, too, as the decision is more easily understandable.
And it is clear after an increasingly uncompetitive season that the team could benefit from employing Hamilton, who is one of F1's 'big three' alongside Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, neither of whom are available.
The attraction Mercedes might have to Hamilton is less clear, given their current struggles, but perhaps the continuing frustrations of his time at McLaren have convinced him it is time for a change.
McLaren struggled by their own high standards in 2009-11, during which time Hamilton did not have a car competitive enough to mount a full-on title challenge.
They came closest in 2010, but it was always a battle against the generally faster Red Bull and Ferrari.
And although McLaren started this season with the fastest car - and have it again after a brief mid-season dip in form - operational errors earlier in the season hit Hamilton's title bid.
Money may well also be an important factor. Hamilton made some cryptic comments in Belgium last weekend about his future move being a "business decision".
Equally, there have been signs of friction between him and McLaren.
In certain quarters of the team, they are uncomfortable about Hamilton's approach to his job and his mindset. And the disconnect was made public this weekend with his ill-advised behaviour on the social networking site Twitter, on which he posted a picture of confidential team telemetry.
Where does that all leave McLaren, Mercedes and Hamilton? Time will tell.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/09/lewis_hamilton_move_would_not.html
Bill Cantrell Ivan Capelli Piero Carini Duane Carter Eugenio Castellotti
F1 dream lives on for Lopez
A disappointed Jose Maria Lopez has not ruled out mounting a new Formula One foray in the future
Source: http://en.espnf1.com/teamus/motorsport/story/11489.html?CMP=OTC-RSS
Eddie Cheever Andrea Chiesa Ettore Chimeri Louis Chiron Joie Chitwood
Sat: Red Bull, Merc, Williams, Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel secured pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix, edging Lewis Hamilton while Valtteri Bottas was third...
Source: http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3370/8765833/Sat-Red-Bull-Merc-Williams-Ferrari
Edgar Barth Giorgio Bassi Erwin Bauer Zsolt Baumgartner Elie Bayol
Alonso: Vettel not out of reach
Fernando Alonso has called on Ferrari to "remain calm and do our job" as they look to close the gap to Sebastian Vettel in the Championship...
Source: http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3370/8795640/Alonso-Vettel-not-out-of-reach
Mark Blundell Raul Boesel Menato Boffa Bob Bondurant Felice Bonetto
Relationship didn't cause Webber exit - Vettel
Sebastian Vettel says he doesn't believe his relationship with Mark Webber had any impact on his team-mate's decision to leave Formula One
Source: http://en.espnf1.com/redbull/motorsport/story/112827.html?CMP=OTC-RSS
Michele Alboreto Jean Alesi Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot Cliff Allison
Friday, June 28, 2013
Singapore swing hands Vettel the initiative
Lewis Hamilton cut a remarkably phlegmatic figure after the Singapore Grand Prix, considering his retirement from what seemed a victory for the taking left his championship hopes in tatters.
The McLaren driver said all the right things after the race about not giving up, but the sad reality is that he is 52 points behind Ferrari's Fernando Alonso with only 150 still available.
To expect Hamilton to be able to make up more than a third of the points still remaining on a man who is driving one of the best seasons in Formula 1 history is ambitious in the extreme, although it's certainly going to be entertaining watching him try.
Hamilton's performance in Singapore confirmed two things about this season - McLaren are the team to beat with the consistently fastest car and the 2008 world champion is driving superlatively well.
A gear box failure caused McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton to retire from the Singapore Grand Prix. Photo: Getty
His pole lap on Saturday was a sight to behold, all controlled aggression and commitment, brushing the walls, judging the balance between risk and reward to perfection to leave his rivals breathless.
Until that point, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel had appeared to be evenly matched with Hamilton but when it mattered the German found his car's grip had mysteriously disappeared. Hamilton found plenty, though, to go more than half a second clear of anyone else.
It was, as McLaren sporting director Sam Michael put it, a "fantastic" lap and he followed it with a controlled performance in the race, taking only as much as he needed to out of the car and tyres, confident that he had pace in reserve if Vettel upped his pace behind him.
But then the oil started leaking out of his differential, he lost his seamless gearshifts, then third gear and finally all his gears, and he sadly coasted to a halt at Turn Five with more than half the race still remaining.
It was the latest in a series of disappointments for Hamilton this year, without which he would be right up with Alonso in the championship.
For nearly all of them he has been blameless. Only in his collision with Pastor Maldonado in Valencia could you perhaps lay any small fault at his door - of course the Williams man drove into him, but ex-drivers, including Ivan Capelli, have questioned whether Hamilton might have been wiser in the circumstances to leave him a bit more space.
Despite the series of McLaren-related incidents that have cost him his best chance of the title since 2008, Hamilton's mood upon getting back to the paddock was notably different from his subdued bearing after taking pole and victory in Italy two weeks ago.
In Monza, he was downbeat, almost monosyllabic, despite his crushing performance. Here, the speed was the same, but the disposition far sunnier.
It remains to be seen whether that was to do with him making up his mind about his future one way or the other.
But it would take a brave man who gave up the pace of the McLaren for the uncertain and unimpressive form of Mercedes, whatever the difference in remuneration, real or potential, there may be between the offers.
"I think it would have been a nice result for us but we still have more races to go," he said.
"We really couldn't afford today but it is what it is. The good thing is we have good pace. I have to go and win the next races."
On his and McLaren's current form, he could easily win all of them, but if the season continues in its topsy-turvy way, with wins shared about, it is difficult to see him making up so many points on Alonso.
Vettel, though, is a different matter. The low-downforce circuits of Spa and Monza behind them, the Red Bull is likely to be competitive everywhere.
Even if it is not as strong as the McLaren, it is certainly consistently quicker than the Ferrari and in that context a 29-point deficit following the victory he inherited from Hamilton in Singapore is eminently bridgeable.
As Red Bull team boss Christian Horner pointed out, Vettel "was 25 points down with two races to go in 2010, which indicates anything is possible for all the drivers. We need to keep taking points off Fernando, which ideally means getting a few more cars between us and him."
And there's the rub.
Alonso has not won since Germany in July. A potential win escaped him in Italy two weeks ago because of a mechanical problem in qualifying, but Ferrari's poor performance in Singapore, when he had been expecting to fight for pole and victory, was a wake-up call.
On the form of this weekend, Alonso does not look likely to win in normal circumstances unless Ferrari can bring some more speed to the car.
But what he does keep doing is finishing in the points.
In the 10 races since the Spanish Grand Prix in May, Alonso has retired only once - after being hit by the flying Lotus of Romain Grosjean in Belgium three weeks ago. Of the nine he has finished, seven of them resulted in a podium - including two wins - and the other two fifth places.
No-one else has consistency anything like that, and it is in that consistency that lies his best hope.
The concern for Alonso is that if both McLarens and Vettel finish races, those podiums will be hard to come by, and in those circumstances that gap would come down quickly indeed.
So well has he been driving this year that Alonso has to still be considered a narrow favourite for the title.
But while McLaren's weaknesses have made the championship a long-shot even for Hamilton, as Alonso leaves Singapore, he will be casting worried glances over his shoulder at Vettel.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/09/in_singapore_lewis_hamilton_cu.html
Jose Dolhem Martin Donnelly Carlo Abate George Abecassis Kenny Acheson
F1: Britain practice quotes: Williams
Britain practice quotes: Williams
Source: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108362
Sebastien Buemi Luiz Bueno Ian Burgess Luciano Burti Roberto Bussinello
Alonso: Vettel's luck will run out
Fernando Alonso reckons the time will come when Sebastian Vettel has a spate of bad luck and that's it up to Ferrari to make the most of it...
Source: http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3370/8760735/Alonso-Vettel-s-luck-will-run-out
Jim Crawford Ray Crawford Alberto Crespo Antonio Creus Larry Crockett
Massa hopeful of Silverstone podium
Felipe Massa is hopeful that Ferrari will have sufficient race pace to claim a podium finish at the British Grand Prix this week...
Source: http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3370/8792221/Massa-hopeful-of-Silverstone-podium
Christijan Albers Michele Alboreto Jean Alesi Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot
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
Harry Blanchard Michael Bleekemolen Alex Blignaut Trevor Blokdyk Mark Blundell
Hamilton desires Ferrari drive
Lewis Hamilton says he would like to drive for Ferrari at one stage in his career but insists he is happy at Mercedes for now
Source: http://en.espnf1.com/ferrari/motorsport/story/112389.html?CMP=OTC-RSS
Jose Dolhem Martin Donnelly Carlo Abate George Abecassis Kenny Acheson
Team orders in spotlight again
 Will Christian Horner regret not utilising team orders in Brazil? |
“The extra seven points Alonso collected when Ferrari ordered Felipe Massa to move over for him in Germany earlier in the season are now looking even more crucial. “And the £65,000 fine they picked up for ruthlessly breaking the rules will seem loose change if Alonso clinches the title in his first year with the Maranello team. “Red Bull could have switched the result yesterday given their crushing dominance and still celebrated their first constructors' championship just five years after coming into the sport. “That would also have given Webber an extra seven points, leaving him just one behind Alonso.”The Guardian’s Paul Weaver says that if Fernando Alonso does take the drivers’ title in Abu Dhabi, Ferrari owes a debt of gratitude to Red Bull for their decision not to employ team orders in Brazil.
“If Alonso does take the title next week it would not be inappropriate were he and Ferrari to send a few gallons of champagne to Red Bull's headquarters in Milton Keynes. “While Red Bull should be heartily applauded for the championship they did win today their apparent acceptance that Ferrari might carry off the more glamorous prize continues to baffle Formula One and its globetrotting supporters. “Their refusal to make life easy for Webber, who has led for much of the season and is still seven points ahead of Vettel, means that whatever happens in the desert next week Alonso, the only driver who was capable of taking the championship in the race today, only has to secure second place to guarantee his third world title.”The Independent’s David Tremayne is also of the opinion that Red Bull may regret not using team orders in Brazil.
“Had Red Bull elected to adopt team orders and let Webber win – something that the governing body allows when championships are at stake – Webber would have left Brazil with 245 points – just one point off the lead. For some that was confirmation of his suggestion that Vettel is the team's favoured driver – which generated an angry call from team owner Dietrich Mateschitz in Austria and was much denied by team principal, Christian Horner. “And it sets up a situation where, if the result is repeated next weekend, as is likely, Vettel and Webber will tie on 256, five behind Alonso.”The Mirror’s Byron Young has put Lewis Hamilton’s fading title chances down to an inferior McLaren machine and he admits the 2008 World Champion now needs a miracle.
“Sebastian Vettel's victory sends the world title fight to a four-way showdown for the first time in the sport's history. “Hamilton goes there as part of that story with a 24-point deficit to Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, but with just 25 on offer in the final round in six days' time it would take more than a miracle. “Driving an outclassed McLaren he slugged it out against superior machinery and stiff odds to finish fourth.”
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/11/team_orders_in_spotlight_again_1.php
Tony Brooks Alan Brown Walt Brown Warwick Brown Adolf Brudes
MOTOGP: Lorenzo suffers collarbone fracture
Jorge Lorenzo suffered a fractured left collarbone which will rule him out of the Assen TT after a huge crash in a wet second MotoGP practice session
Source: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108313
Francois Cevert Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain Karun Chandhok Alain de Changy
Thursday, June 27, 2013
MOTOGP: Rossi: Lorenzo absence adds pressure
Valentino Rossi admits the pressure is now on him to spearhead Yamaha at the Dutch Grand Prix after his title-chasing team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was sidelined with a fractured collarbone.
Source: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108323
Derek Bell Stefan Bellof Paul Belmondo Tom Belso JeanPierre Beltoise
F1: Maldonado: points possible in Britain
Pastor Maldonado believes he can score a points finish to add gloss to Williams's 600th grand prix celebrations at Silverstone this weekend
Source: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108320
Elie Bayol Don Beauman Karl Gunther Bechem Jean Behra Derek Bell
F1: CEO Tim Routsis leaves Cosworth
Formula 1 engine supplier Cosworth has completed a major management reshuffle, with its CEO Tim Routsis leaving the company.
Source: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108314
Geoff Crossley Chuck Daigh Yannick Dalmas Derek Daly Christian Danner
Exclusive Jenson Button Q&A: McLaren will bounce back
2013 has proved a difficult year so far for Jenson Button. The 33-year-old could rightly have expected to challenge for the world title this season given McLaren's form at the tail-end of 2012.
But instead of competing for race wins, Button has faced a battle to even score points. In this exclusive interview he explains why he's confident that McLaren won't be down for long
But instead of competing for race wins, Button has faced a battle to even score points. In this exclusive interview he explains why he's confident that McLaren won't be down for long
Source: http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2013/6/14683.html
Jo Bonnier Roberto Bonomi Juan Manuel Bordeu Slim Borgudd Luki Botha
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Flashback: Britain '51 - Gonzalez seals Ferrari's first F1® win
The Formula One world recently mourned the death of two-time Grand Prix winner Jose Froilan Gonzalez, who passed away in Buenos Aires aged 90.
Ahead of the 2013 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix, we pay tribute to the Argentinian racer by remembering his historic victory at Silverstone in 1951 - the very first of Ferrari's record 221 Formula One world championship wins
Ahead of the 2013 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix, we pay tribute to the Argentinian racer by remembering his historic victory at Silverstone in 1951 - the very first of Ferrari's record 221 Formula One world championship wins
Source: http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2013/6/14698.html
Anthony Davidson Jimmy Davies Colin Davis Jimmy Daywalt JeanDenis Deletraz
Speed and sensitivity - Alain Prost on 2014's new turbo era
Four-time world champion Alain Prost is a veteran of F1 racing's first turbo era back in the 1970s and '80s. Following last week's official launch of Renault's 2014 engine, the Energy F1-2014, Prost - now a Renault ambassador - looks ahead to the new 1.6-litre, turbocharged V6 engine formula and considers how it will force both team and driver to change their approach
Source: http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2013/6/14695.html
Tommy Byrne Giulio Cabianca Phil Cade Alex Caffi John CampbellJones
Lewis Hamilton move would not be a huge surprise
If Lewis Hamilton does move to Mercedes from McLaren for next season, as Eddie Jordan believes he will, it would be a massive shock but not a huge surprise.
There has appeared no urgency from either Hamilton or McLaren to sort out a new contract for 2013 and at the same time there have been signs of unease in the relationship.
The 27-year-old's management team have approached all the big teams this summer and they got short shrift from Red Bull and Ferrari.
Mercedes's reaction has been warmer, and negotiations are known to have taken place, but the issue is complicated by Michael Schumacher's situation.
Lewis Hamilton is on the verge of leaving Mclaren to drive for Mercedes next season. Photo: Getty
Schumacher has not exactly been setting the world on fire this season, with the notable exception of qualifying fastest in Monaco, but at the same time Mercedes cannot be seen to be sacking him because of his status, particularly in Germany.
The German legend is of huge promotional value to Mercedes but the company is split on whether he should continue.
From a marketing point of view, he is a dream - and as he is considered untouchable in Germany any decision to move aside must appear to have come from him.
But those who see the F1 programme from a performance point of view would rather Schumacher stepped down and made way for someone younger and faster.
If they can replace him with someone of the highest calibre - someone such as Hamilton, for example - then that helps, too, as the decision is more easily understandable.
And it is clear after an increasingly uncompetitive season that the team could benefit from employing Hamilton, who is one of F1's 'big three' alongside Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, neither of whom are available.
The attraction Mercedes might have to Hamilton is less clear, given their current struggles, but perhaps the continuing frustrations of his time at McLaren have convinced him it is time for a change.
McLaren struggled by their own high standards in 2009-11, during which time Hamilton did not have a car competitive enough to mount a full-on title challenge.
They came closest in 2010, but it was always a battle against the generally faster Red Bull and Ferrari.
And although McLaren started this season with the fastest car - and have it again after a brief mid-season dip in form - operational errors earlier in the season hit Hamilton's title bid.
Money may well also be an important factor. Hamilton made some cryptic comments in Belgium last weekend about his future move being a "business decision".
Equally, there have been signs of friction between him and McLaren.
In certain quarters of the team, they are uncomfortable about Hamilton's approach to his job and his mindset. And the disconnect was made public this weekend with his ill-advised behaviour on the social networking site Twitter, on which he posted a picture of confidential team telemetry.
Where does that all leave McLaren, Mercedes and Hamilton? Time will tell.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/09/lewis_hamilton_move_would_not.html
Paul Belmondo Tom Belso JeanPierre Beltoise Olivier Beretta Allen Berg
F1: Mercedes: rookie test ban will hurt
Mercedes boss Ross Brawn says his team's development programme for the rest of the season will be hampered by having to miss Formula 1's young driver test
Source: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108279
Francois Cevert Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain Karun Chandhok Alain de Changy
Rookie diary - Caterham's Giedo van der Garde
At 28 years of age, Caterham's Giedo van der Garde is comfortably the oldest of the five rookies on the 2013 grid, but that doesn't mean that he's had any less to learn.
In the latest instalment of our series charting the personal and professional progress of this year's F1 newcomers, Van der Garde reflects on the ups and downs of his debut season, including that fine qualifying effort in Monaco
In the latest instalment of our series charting the personal and professional progress of this year's F1 newcomers, Van der Garde reflects on the ups and downs of his debut season, including that fine qualifying effort in Monaco
Source: http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2013/6/14694.html
Michael Bartels Edgar Barth Giorgio Bassi Erwin Bauer Zsolt Baumgartner
Sebastian Vettel Q&A: I'm going to try like hell to win
Three-time world champion Sebastian Vettel is no stranger to success, but the Red Bull driver is still waiting to win in Montreal. After securing pole position on Saturday, Vettel assesses his chances for the race, gives his views on Mercedes' controversial Pirelli test and discusses the recent debates about tyres
Source: http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2013/6/14657.html
Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers Michele Alboreto Jean Alesi
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
US F1 loses sponsor
The beleaguered US F1 outfit has taken another hit after one of its sponsors, Locstein, confirmed it had withdrawn its support
Source: http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/9485.html?CMP=OTC-RSS
Philippe Adams Walt Ader Kurt Adolff Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr
LEMANS: Makowiecki won't dwell on mistake
Frederic Makowiecki insists he will not dwell on his late mistake in the 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours, after crashing from the lead of the GTE Pro class.
Source: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108265
Piero Carini Duane Carter Eugenio Castellotti Johnny Cecotto Andrea de Cesaris
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
Fernando Alonso Giovanna Amati George Amick Red Amick Chris Amon
F1: Maldonado says FW35 suits Bottas better
Pastor Maldonado believes Valtteri Bottas's driving style is better-suited to the troublesome Williams FW35 than his own.
Source: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108270
Philippe Adams Walt Ader Kurt Adolff Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr
Red Bull under the spotlight
| Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel celebrate with Red Bull boss Christian Horner on the podium |
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/11/red_bull_under_the_spotlight.php
Larry Crockett Tony Crook Art Cross Geoff Crossley Chuck Daigh
Would Vettel or Alonso be more deserving champion?
On the surface, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso seem very different. Alonso is all dark, brooding intensity; charismatic but distant.
Vettel is much sunnier - chatty, long answers, always ready with a joke and, as the Abu Dhabi podium ceremony proved, a salty English phrase.
Underneath, though, they share more than might at first be apparent. Both are highly intelligent, intensely dedicated to their profession, and totally ruthless in their own way.
Equally, although Alonso’s wit may be less obvious than Vettel’s, it is highly developed, bone dry, effective, and often used to tactical ends.
Sebastian Vettel (right) leads Fernando Alonso in the Championship going into the penultimate race of the season. Photo: Reuters
And they are both, of course, utterly fantastic racing drivers.
These two all-time greats head into the final two races of a marathon and topsy-turvey 2012 Formula 1 season separated by a tiny margin. Ten points is the same as a fifth place - or the margin between finishing first and third.
Vettel, on account of being ahead and having comfortably the faster car, is favourite. But within F1 there is a feeling that Alonso would be the more deserving champion, so well has he performed in a car that is not the best.
But is that a fair and accurate point of view? Let's look at their seasons, and you can make your own judgement.
THE GOOD
Vettel
It seems strange now, in the wake of Red Bull's recent pulverising form, but at the start of this season the world champions were struggling.
The car always had very good race pace - it was right up with the quickest from Melbourne on - but qualifying was a different matter.
In China, Vettel did not make it into the top 10 shoot-out in qualifying; in Monaco he did – just - but then did not run because he didn’t feel he had the pace to make it worthwhile.
In both races, though, he was competitive, taking a fifth place in China and fourth in Monaco, where he nearly won.
That was the story of the first two-thirds of Vettel’s season. He kept plugging away, delivering the points and keeping himself in contention in the championship.
He took only one win – in Bahrain, from pole – and he should have had another in Valencia, when he was as dominant as he ever was in 2011 only to retire with alternator failure.
Then, when Red Bull finally hit the sweet spot with their car, he delivered four consecutive wins (one of them inherited following Lewis Hamilton’s retirement in Singapore), the last three from the front row of the grid, including two pole positions.
And in Abu Dhabi there was an impressive comeback drive to third after being demoted to the back of the grid, albeit with the help of a significant dose of luck.
Alonso
It is hard to think of a race in which, assuming he got around the first corner, Alonso has not been on world-class form.
In Australia, when Ferrari were really struggling with their car at the start of the season, he fought up from 12th on the grid to finish fifth (including getting up to eighth on the first lap).
His three victories have been among the best all year –in the wet in Malaysia from ninth on the grid; in Valencia from 11th, including some stunning, clinical and brave overtaking manoeuvres; and a superbly controlled defensive drive in Germany, holding off the faster cars of Vettel and Jenson Button for the entire race, by going flat out only where he needed to, lap after lap after lap.
Then, to pick out some other highlights, there was beating the Red Bulls to pole in the wet at both Silverstone and Hockenheim; his rise from 10th on the grid to third in Monza, including a courageous pass on Vettel a couple of laps after being forced on to the grass at nearly 200mph; and splitting the Red Bulls to finish second in India.
THE BAD
Vettel
Impressive Vettel has been this year, flawless he has not.
In Malaysia, he cost himself a fourth place by sweeping too early across the front of Narain Karthikeyan’s HRT while lapping it. There was a hint of frustration and a sense of entitlement about the move – as there was in his post-race comments in which he called Karthikeyan an “idiot”.
In Spain, he was penalised for ignoring yellow caution flags.
In Hockenheim he overtook Jenson Button’s McLaren off the circuit, earning himself a demotion from second to fifth place, despite the drivers being warned only a month or so before that they could not benefit by going off the track.
In Monza, he earned a drive-through penalty for pushing Alonso on to the grass at nearly 200mph, in presumed retaliation for a similar move the Spaniard had pulled on Vettel in the same place the previous year. Again, this was despite the drivers being warned that they had to leave room for a rival who had any part of his car alongside any part of theirs.
In qualifying in Japan, he got away with blocking Alonso at the chicane, despite Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne being penalised for doing the same thing to Williams’s Bruno Senna earlier in the session.
And in India he appeared to break guidelines about having all four wheels off the track at one of the chicanes on his only top-10 qualifying lap, but kept his time because the only available footage was from outside the car, and showed only the front wheels. So the FIA had to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Alonso
Er… Has Alonso made any errors at all this year?
Well, he did cost himself a couple of points in China when he ran off the road attempting to pass Williams’s Pastor Maldonado around the outside of Turn Seven – a move that Vettel did pull off against Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen.
He spun in a downpour in second qualifying at Silverstone, just before the session was red-flagged because it was too dangerous.
And some argue that, defending a championship lead, he should not have put himself in the position he did at the start in Japan, where his rear wheel was tagged by Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus on the run to the first corner, putting Alonso out of the race.
The claim is that Alonso had everything to lose and that, while he did nothing wrong, trying to intimidate Raikkonen into backing off, and squeezing him twice, was too big a risk.
The opposing view of that incident is that Raikkonen, who was behind Alonso, had a better view of the situation and should have realised he wasn’t going anywhere from where he was and backed off.
THE MISFORTUNE
Vettel has lost points from two alternator failures, one in Valencia when he was leading and one in Italy when he was running sixth. And third became fourth in Canada when a planned one-stop strategy had to he aborted. That’s 36 points lost.
Alonso was taken out twice at the start – once definitely not his fault (Belgium, when Romain Grosjean’s flying Lotus narrowly missed his head); and once arguably not (Japan).
He lost a possible win in Monaco because Ferrari didn’t realise that if they left him out a bit longer before his pit stop he could have overtaken leader Mark Webber and second-placed Nico Rosberg as well as third-placed Lewis Hamilton.
He should have finished second in Canada and probably won in Silverstone - rather than being fifth and second - but for errant tyre strategies, and he would have been on the front row and finished at least second in Monza had his rear anti-roll bar not failed in qualifying.
That’s 60-odd points lost.
A POST SCRIPT
While we’re analysing Vettel and Alonso, spare a thought for Lewis Hamilton.
The McLaren driver finally lost any mathematical chance of the title after his retirement from the lead in Abu Dhabi. He is 90 points behind Vettel.
Hamilton has said that he has driven at his absolute best this season, and it’s hard to disagree – he has not made a single mistake worth the name.
But his year has been a story of operational and technical failures by his team.
At least three wins have been lost (Spain, Singapore and Abu Dhabi), as well as a series of other big points finishes, as detailed by BBC Radio 5 live commentator James Allen in his blog.
Without that misfortune, Hamilton would be right up with Vettel and Alonso, if not ahead of them.
So, if you’re thinking about ‘deserving’ world champions, if such a thing exists, spare a thought for him too.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/11/benson.html
Paolo Barilla Rubens Barrichello Michael Bartels Edgar Barth Giorgio Bassi
Journalists shocked at Korea award
 Scarecrows adorn the entrance to a barren Korean International Circuit |
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/12/journalists_shocked_at_korea_a.php
Enrico Bertaggia Tony Bettenhausen Mike Beuttler Birabongse Bhanubandh Lucien Bianchi
Monday, June 24, 2013
Ferrari maintain innocence in test-gate
Ferrari insist the only matter up for discussion in the Pirelli testing saga is what car was used - "everything else is irrelevant detail"...
Source: http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3370/8752457/Ferrari-maintain-innocence-in-test-gate
JeanDenis Deletraz Patrick Depailler Pedro Diniz Duke Dinsmore Frank Dochnal
FIA inspects US F1 factory
The FIA has sent technical delegate Charlie Whiting to inspect US F1's factory, after reports suggested the Charlotte-based squad is way behind on its chassis build and in financial trouble
Source: http://en.espnf1.com/teamus/motorsport/story/9521.html?CMP=OTC-RSS
John Cannon Eitel Cantoni Bill Cantrell Ivan Capelli Piero Carini
Nico Rosberg Q&A: tyre test played no role in Monaco win
Nico Rosberg had a dream weekend in Monaco, topping every session before winning the classic street race 30 years after his father's triumph in the Principality. Since then, however, his Mercedes team have been engulfed in the controversy surrounding their Pirelli tyre test just prior to the Monte Carlo round. Did the test play a role in Rosberg's victory? Will it help Mercedes' performance in Canada this weekend?
Source: http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2013/6/14639.html
Tom Bridger Tony Brise Chris Bristow Peter Broeker Tony Brooks
Sunday, June 23, 2013
LE MANS: Audi Wins Frantic LM24
Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Loic Duval take win in rain-soaked and tragic 90th anniversary 24 Hours of Le Mans...
Source: http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/le-mans-audi-wins-frantic-lm24/
Hans Binder Clemente Biondetti Pablo Birger Art Bisch Harry Blanchard
FR3.5: Vandoorne takes points lead with win
Stoffel Vandoorne moved into a slender Formula Renault 3.5 points lead with a dominant second victory of the weekend at Moscow Raceway
Source: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108250
Karl Gunther Bechem Jean Behra Derek Bell Stefan Bellof Paul Belmondo
Lotus sells stake in team to investment group
Lotus have sold a 35 percent stake in the team to investment group Infinity Racing Partners Limited, they announced on Tuesday.
The Enstone-based squad was previously 100 percent owned by Genii Capital, the investment firm co-founded by Lotus F1's chairman Gerard Lopez
The Enstone-based squad was previously 100 percent owned by Genii Capital, the investment firm co-founded by Lotus F1's chairman Gerard Lopez
Source: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/6/14684.html
Felice Bonetto Jo Bonnier Roberto Bonomi Juan Manuel Bordeu Slim Borgudd
LEMANS: H9: Toyota on verge of being lapped
Audi ace Tom Kristensen increased his lead in the ninth hour of the Le Mans 24 Hours and is now on the verge of putting the chasing Toyotas a lap down
Source: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108230
Michele Alboreto Jean Alesi Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot Cliff Allison
Tyres should be changed on safety grounds - Vettel
Sebastian Vettel has criticised the resistance against introducing a new structure of tyre at the Canadian Grand Prix, arguing it should have been changed on safety grounds
Source: http://en.espnf1.com/redbull/motorsport/story/109830.html?CMP=OTC-RSS
Gianmaria Bruni Jimmy Bryan Clemar Bucci Ronnie Bucknum Ivor Bueb
Singapore swing hands Vettel the initiative
Lewis Hamilton cut a remarkably phlegmatic figure after the Singapore Grand Prix, considering his retirement from what seemed a victory for the taking left his championship hopes in tatters.
The McLaren driver said all the right things after the race about not giving up, but the sad reality is that he is 52 points behind Ferrari's Fernando Alonso with only 150 still available.
To expect Hamilton to be able to make up more than a third of the points still remaining on a man who is driving one of the best seasons in Formula 1 history is ambitious in the extreme, although it's certainly going to be entertaining watching him try.
Hamilton's performance in Singapore confirmed two things about this season - McLaren are the team to beat with the consistently fastest car and the 2008 world champion is driving superlatively well.
A gear box failure caused McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton to retire from the Singapore Grand Prix. Photo: Getty
His pole lap on Saturday was a sight to behold, all controlled aggression and commitment, brushing the walls, judging the balance between risk and reward to perfection to leave his rivals breathless.
Until that point, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel had appeared to be evenly matched with Hamilton but when it mattered the German found his car's grip had mysteriously disappeared. Hamilton found plenty, though, to go more than half a second clear of anyone else.
It was, as McLaren sporting director Sam Michael put it, a "fantastic" lap and he followed it with a controlled performance in the race, taking only as much as he needed to out of the car and tyres, confident that he had pace in reserve if Vettel upped his pace behind him.
But then the oil started leaking out of his differential, he lost his seamless gearshifts, then third gear and finally all his gears, and he sadly coasted to a halt at Turn Five with more than half the race still remaining.
It was the latest in a series of disappointments for Hamilton this year, without which he would be right up with Alonso in the championship.
For nearly all of them he has been blameless. Only in his collision with Pastor Maldonado in Valencia could you perhaps lay any small fault at his door - of course the Williams man drove into him, but ex-drivers, including Ivan Capelli, have questioned whether Hamilton might have been wiser in the circumstances to leave him a bit more space.
Despite the series of McLaren-related incidents that have cost him his best chance of the title since 2008, Hamilton's mood upon getting back to the paddock was notably different from his subdued bearing after taking pole and victory in Italy two weeks ago.
In Monza, he was downbeat, almost monosyllabic, despite his crushing performance. Here, the speed was the same, but the disposition far sunnier.
It remains to be seen whether that was to do with him making up his mind about his future one way or the other.
But it would take a brave man who gave up the pace of the McLaren for the uncertain and unimpressive form of Mercedes, whatever the difference in remuneration, real or potential, there may be between the offers.
"I think it would have been a nice result for us but we still have more races to go," he said.
"We really couldn't afford today but it is what it is. The good thing is we have good pace. I have to go and win the next races."
On his and McLaren's current form, he could easily win all of them, but if the season continues in its topsy-turvy way, with wins shared about, it is difficult to see him making up so many points on Alonso.
Vettel, though, is a different matter. The low-downforce circuits of Spa and Monza behind them, the Red Bull is likely to be competitive everywhere.
Even if it is not as strong as the McLaren, it is certainly consistently quicker than the Ferrari and in that context a 29-point deficit following the victory he inherited from Hamilton in Singapore is eminently bridgeable.
As Red Bull team boss Christian Horner pointed out, Vettel "was 25 points down with two races to go in 2010, which indicates anything is possible for all the drivers. We need to keep taking points off Fernando, which ideally means getting a few more cars between us and him."
And there's the rub.
Alonso has not won since Germany in July. A potential win escaped him in Italy two weeks ago because of a mechanical problem in qualifying, but Ferrari's poor performance in Singapore, when he had been expecting to fight for pole and victory, was a wake-up call.
On the form of this weekend, Alonso does not look likely to win in normal circumstances unless Ferrari can bring some more speed to the car.
But what he does keep doing is finishing in the points.
In the 10 races since the Spanish Grand Prix in May, Alonso has retired only once - after being hit by the flying Lotus of Romain Grosjean in Belgium three weeks ago. Of the nine he has finished, seven of them resulted in a podium - including two wins - and the other two fifth places.
No-one else has consistency anything like that, and it is in that consistency that lies his best hope.
The concern for Alonso is that if both McLarens and Vettel finish races, those podiums will be hard to come by, and in those circumstances that gap would come down quickly indeed.
So well has he been driving this year that Alonso has to still be considered a narrow favourite for the title.
But while McLaren's weaknesses have made the championship a long-shot even for Hamilton, as Alonso leaves Singapore, he will be casting worried glances over his shoulder at Vettel.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/09/in_singapore_lewis_hamilton_cu.html
Art Cross Geoff Crossley Chuck Daigh Yannick Dalmas Derek Daly
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Raikkonen favourite to taste victory in Belgium
At Spa-Francorchamps
In this remarkable season of unpredictability and uncertainty, of seven winners in 11 races, of the most open title battle in years, Formula 1 is still waiting for one big result.
A victory for the revived Lotus team has looked inevitable since the start of the year. And as the world championship re-starts in Belgium this weekend following a month-long summer break, the expectation is that this could be their race.
The car, from the team formerly known as Renault that won two world championships with Fernando Alonso in 2005-6, has been fast all season. Its best result has been four second places. But the momentum seems to be with them.
Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus pushed Lewis Hamilton's winning McLaren all the way in Hungary five weeks ago. The Finn has a stunning record at the stunning Spa-Francorchamps track that hosts this race and Lotus have been working on a technical trick that could give them a key advantage on the demanding track that swoops and twists around the contours of the Ardennes mountains.
Kimi Raikkonen has won the Belgian Grand Prix four times. Photo: Getty
The 32-year-old Finn seems to have a special affinity with the circuit regarded as arguably the biggest test for a racing driver anywhere in the world. He has taken four victories here - and either won or retired from every single race he has competed at Spa since 2004.
Raikkonen's all-action style, based on fast corner entry in a car with good front-end bite, seems perfectly suited to Spa's cascade of long, fast corners.
Two of his wins - for McLaren in 2004 and Ferrari in 2009 - came in years when his machinery was otherwise uncompetitive. The other two were dominant victories from the front in 2005 and 2007.
But Raikkonen's position as arguably the favourite for victory this weekend is not founded just on his renowned Spa specialism. He is widely expected to have the car to do the job.
Lotus have come agonisingly close to victory twice already this year - in Bahrain in April and at the last race, in Hungary at the end of July.
Both times it was Raikkonen who challenged only to just fall short, behind Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel in Bahrain and Hamilton in Hungary. But the Finn, who returned to F1 this season after two unproductive years in world rallying, has actually been Lotus's weaker driver for most of the year.
His team-mate, the Franco-Swiss Romain Grosjean, who is in his first full season, has generally had a marginal advantage - to the point that around the European Grand Prix in Valencia at the end of June there were murmurings of dissatisfaction with the Finn, who won the world championship for Ferrari in 2007.
Raikkonen ultimately finished second to Alonso in Valencia, but had been off the pace of Grosjean all weekend - indeed the younger man was pushing the Ferrari hard when his alternator failed late in the race.
When, following the race, Raikkonen expressed his frustration at it taking so long for Lotus to win, one team member privately expressed the view that he would be better focused on beating Grosjean before moaning about not winning yet.
Since then, though, Raikkonen has upped his game and in the race in Hungary he was fantastic, the middle stint there that lifted him from fifth place to potential victor one of the most impressive pieces of driving all season.
Had Raikkonen not made a mess of qualifying, and taken the front row slot he should have earned rather than the fifth place he did, he might well have won. The same can be said of Bahrain, where a decision to save tyres for the race left him down in 11th place on the grid and with too much to do.
Grosjean, too, must be considered a potential Spa winner. Despite making too many errors, he has been all confidence and commitment this year.
He has looked a different driver on his return to F1 in 2012 from the haunted figure who was demoralised by Alonso during his first half-season at Renault in 2009, after which he was dropped.
The high expectations for Lotus at Spa are partly based on the car's inherent qualifies - a factor in its general competitiveness this year has been strong performance in fast corners, and Spa is full of them.
As well as that, though, is that innovation mentioned earlier. In Hungary, and in Germany the week before, Lotus trialled a clever system aimed at boosting the team's straight-line speed without compromising its performance in other areas.
Like the DRS overtaking aid featured on all the cars, the Lotus system affects the rear wing to reduce drag.
It works by channelling air from scoops behind the driver's head to the rear wing, which this extra air then 'stalls', reducing the downforce the wing creates and therefore its drag, boosting straight-line speed.
What is not clear is when exactly the Lotus system comes into play.
Is it independent of the DRS, as some believe, and therefore active above a pre-set car velocity and usable at all times, including in the race when DRS use is restricted to a specific zone?
Or is it, as BBC F1 technical analyst Gary Anderson believes, linked to the DRS and simply an extra boost to the car's speed when that system is employed, like the system Mercedes have been using but without the inherent compromises that team have discovered?
Either way, it could be a significant boost to Lotus's chances in Spa. Lotus have yet to use the system outside free practice, and this weekend they will again try it out on Friday before making a decision whether to race it.
For all the talk of Lotus, though, a win for them is a very long way from a foregone conclusion. Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren will be as strong as ever on a track that should suit all their cars.
In fact, it will be a particularly interesting weekend all round.
Which teams have made best use of the mid-season break to develop their cars?
Have Ferrari made the step forward in performance they seemed in Hungary to need if Alonso - unquestionably the stand-out driver of the season so far - is to hang on to his championship lead?
Can McLaren maintain the upward momentum they showed in Germany and Hungary after a brief slump?
Will Red Bull finally unlock the potential of what has looked, on balance, overall the fastest car?
The climax of one of the sport's greatest seasons, a hyper-intense period of nine races in three months, starts here.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/08/raikkonen_favourite_to_taste_v.html
Michele Alboreto Jean Alesi Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot Cliff Allison
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