Sunday, May 29, 2011

A special helmet for Fernando in Monaco !

Fernando Alonso will , throughout the weekend of the Monaco GP, wear a special edition of his helmet as usual. In fact the design is the same but the colors have changed since we can see the gold and white. Unusual colors, but used for a good cause since the helmet will be auctioned at the end of the season. All proceeds will go to the association of Fernando called "Fondazione Fernando Alonso" working for children's safety on the roads. Note that Fernando will repeat this operation in Singapore for the same cause. A very nice initiative.

Monaco GP : the qualifications

Pos
Drivers
Teams
Q1
Q2
Q3
Laps
01
S. Vettel
RBR
1:15.606
1:14.277
1:13.556
02
J. Button
McLaren
1:15.397
1:14.545
1:13.997
03
M. Webber
RBR
1:16.087
1:14.742
1:14.019
04
F. Alonso
Ferrari
1:16.051
1:14.569
1:14.483
05
M. Schumacher
Mercedes
1:16.092
1:14.981
1:14.682
06
F. Massa
Ferrari
1:16.309
1:14.648
1:14.877
07
N. Rosberg
Mercedes
1:15.858
1:14.741
1:15.766
08
P. Maldonado
Williams
1:15.819
1:15.545
1:16.528
09
L. Hamilton
McLaren
1:15.207
1:14.275
10
S. Perez
Sauber
1:15.918
1:15.482
11
V. Petrov
Renault
1:16.378
1:15.815
12
R. Barrichello
Williams
1:16.616
1:15.826
13
K. Kobayashi
Sauber
1:16.513
1:15.973
14
P. di Resta
Force India
1:16.813
1:16.118
15
A. Sutil
Force India
1:16.600
1:16.121
16
N. Heidfeld
Renault
1:16.681
1:16.214
17
S. Buemi
Toro Rosso
1:16.358
1:16.300
18
H. Kovalainen
Lotus
1:17.343
19
J. Trulli
Lotus
1:17.381
20
J. Alguersuari
Toro Rosso
1:17.820
21
T. Glock
Virgin
1:17.914
22
J. d'Ambrosio
Virgin
1:18.736
23
N. Karthikeyan
HRT
24
V. Liuzzi
HRT
* To note :
-Sergio Perez was the victim of a high overrun in Q3. Fortunately, the Mexican driver had nothing but will not participate in the GP Sunday because he had a concussion.
- Lewis hamilton has received a penalty and will start ninth on the grid because he cut a chicane in his only fast lap.

Monaco GP : Alonso & Massa Saturday quotes

Fernando Alonso :
"In qualifying I was not such a good feeling with the car during free practice, and we need to know why exactly. Today, McLaren is very fast and I think that Hamilton was probably the favorite for the pole . I do not think the outcome of Q3 represents the true hierarchy because the red flag has disrupted the plans of many drivers. For Hamilton, it went wrong, while everything went well for Red Bull. In we are concerned, we were between the two: we should have done two stints of two timed laps without refueling and therefore we did not get the best tires. I think that will be almost impossible to overcome tomorrow, despite the KERS The adjustable rear spoiler and everything else. The start will be very important and our race pace is good. So I hope I can win seats, taking also advantage of some unexpected situations and our strategy.
I expect that some drivers try two stops and maybe other risks that only one stop. The car handles better than last week at the Circuit de Catalunya: the balance is correct and super-soft tires work well."
Felipe Massa :
"A mixture of satisfaction and regret after me on these qualifications. With the team we were able to improve the behavior of the car compared to free practice, reducing oversteer, but an error at me Rascasse in Q3 cost one or two places. A disappointment because I was on a good lap. Starting from sixth place is not brilliant but here in Monaco, you need to use your head during the race so we will concentrate throughout the Grand Prix because anything can happen .
The start is very important, but remain calm and unruffled will be just as, lap after lap, because the slightest mistake can cost you. The tire degradation is less important than what we had originally planned, so I do not there will be plenty of stops. I hope that Sergio is going well: it was a scary accident and the impact wasreally violent. This part of the circuit is very difficult and accidents are very common here."

Monaco GP : Alonso & Massa Thursday quotes

Fernando Alonso :
"In Monaco, it is mainly to have a good feeling driving the car over the driver feels well, he can attack more lap after lap. It seems we are a bit more competitive than the other circuits Even if we take the usual precautions do not know the amount of gasoline adversaries, However, the reason for our return to form is very simple: the aerodynamics are few and suffer less. On a circuit with the lowest average speed per lap, some weaknesses are hidden by other factors, such as mechanics and engine. I immediately felt at ease here, in the morning. I was able to attack Increasingly, because the car felt good and I trusted her.
I'm satisfied, but we know that this is just the first day that Red Bull could hide a bit, before going out for qualifying on Saturday.
After tomorrow, the day will be more stressful because the slightest error here is unforgiving. We must try to take risks because we have to close the gap on the best."
Regarding the tires, I think their performance is reasonably similar to what we saw during winter testing, although Temperatures are now much higher: compared to other races, there is not such a big difference between hard and soft, at least that's the initial feeling."
Felipe Massa :
"I am reasonably happy with the car, even if there is still a bit of understeer, especially with the super-soft. Compared to Barcelona, I think we are better equipped to fight: it is not As in previous times, when it was clear we could not get the tires. Now there were times when I was a little on the edge: so I brushed the barriers at least three times . I did a long stint with the tender in an attempt to find their limit at the level of degradation. overtaking is difficult, as usual on this track, but perhaps thanks to that KERS will be possible to pass a car that is in trouble with his tires, although it will not be easy. traffic? Here, it is impossible to avoid it ."

Friday, May 27, 2011

Monaco GP : FP2

Pos
Drivers
Teams
Times
Gap
Laps
01
F. Alonso
Ferrari
1:15.123
42
02
L. Hamilton
McLaren
1:15.228
+ 0.105
33
03
N. Rosberg
Mercedes
1:15.321
+ 0.198
44
04
J. Button
McLaren
1:15.448
+ 0.325
38
05
S. Vettel
RBR
1:15.667
+ 0.544
46
06
F. Massa
Ferrari
1:15.781
+ 0.658
45
07
M. Schumacher
Mercedes
1:16.356
+ 1.233
33
08
M. Webber
RBR
1:16.642
+ 1.519
42
09
A. Sutil
Force India
1:17.101
+ 1.978
46
10
N. Heidfeld
Renault
1:17.126
+ 2.003
38
11
V. Petrov
Renault
1:17.337
+ 2.214
35
12
S. Perez
Sauber
1:17.541
+ 2.418
47
13
R. Barrichello
Williams
1:17.570
+ 2.447
39
14
S. Buemi
Toro Rosso
1:17.581
+ 2.458
32
15
P. Maldonado
Williams
1:17.633
+ 2.510
49
16
K. Kobayashi
Sauber
1:17.706
+ 2.583
37
17
J. Alguersuari
Toro Rosso
1:17.789
+ 2.666
43
18
H. Kovalainen
Lotus
1:18.266
+ 3.143
50
19
J. Trulli
Lotus
1:18.490
+ 3.367
39
20
P. di Resta
Force India
1:19.053
+ 3.930
15
21
J. d'Ambrosio
Virgin
1:19.185
+ 4.062
40
22
T. Glock
Virgin
1:19.338
+ 4.215
35
23
N. Karthikeyan
HRT
1:22.066
+ 6.943
33
24
V. Liuzzi
HRT
---
0

Monaco GP : FP1

Pos
Drivers
Teams
Times
Gap
Laps
01
S. Vettel
RBR
1:16.619
25
02
F. Alonso
Ferrari
1:16.732
+ 0.113
24
03
N. Rosberg
Mercedes
1:17.139
+ 0.520
20
04
F. Massa
Ferrari
1:17.316
+ 0.697
24
05
L. Hamilton
McLaren
1:17.350
+ 0.731
23
06
J. Button
McLaren
1:17.534
+ 0.915
24
07
P. Maldonado
Williams
1:18.527
+ 1.908
30
08
A. Sutil
Force India
1:18.578
+ 1.959
24
09
V. Petrov
Renault
1:18.733
+ 2.114
16
10
M. Schumacher
Mercedes
1:18.805
+ 2.186
14
11
N. Heidfeld
Renault
1:18.928
+ 2.309
19
12
S. Buemi
Toro Rosso
1:19.234
+ 2.615
24
13
R. Barrichello
Williams
1:19.395
+ 2.776
24
14
D. Ricciardo
Toro Rosso
1:19.463
+ 2.844
25
15
K. Kobayashi
Sauber
1:19.768
+ 3.149
25
16
S. Perez
Sauber
1:19.792
+ 3.173
26
17
H. Kovalainen
Lotus
1:20.083
+ 3.464
23
18
J. Trulli
Lotus
1:21.116
+ 4.497
27
19
P. di Resta
Force India
1:21.548
+ 4.929
32
20
J. d'Ambrosio
Virgin
1:21.758
+ 5.139
31
21
T. Glock
Virgin
1:21.815
+ 5.196
17
22
V. Liuzzi
HRT
1:22.840
+ 6.221
13
23
N. Karthikeyan
HRT
1:23.885
+ 7.266
37
24
M. Webber
RBR
* to note : Mark Webber hasn't made many laps in this session because of a gearbox problem .

Thursday, May 26, 2011

The paddock podium of the Barcelona GP

The 3 in:
* Sebastian Vettel: the German driver , who was not in pole , earned his fourth victory this season thus strengthening its position in the championship! Yet it was not easy because he had to first battle with Fernando Alonso and withstand the onslaught of Lewis Hamilton but Seb escaped.
* Mclaren: British team has brought no fewer than a dozen new on this GP and the least we can say is that it worked because its two pilots were on the podium! Lewis even being alone in having been able to deceive Vettel! about Jenson, with a very good strategy and a set of new tires extra good care wisely, could surpass Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso to walk up on the third step of the podium.
* Fernando Alonso: the Spanish gave everything to his audience and has successfully led the first 20 laps of the GP after a great start, the best to date for Alonso. Then when placing the hard tires, the Ferrari driver lost seats, the fault to a severe lack of downforce on its 150° Italia. In Monaco let's hope that Fernando will shine for this legendary race!
The 3 out:
* Mark Webber : after snatching pole position, we thought Mark was finally able to beat his teammate! Well no! Mark has once again made a bad start and has finished fourth after that long remained stuck behind Alonso and Ferrari with a strategy that was not the best. Too bad when you know he won the 2010 Spanish GP!
* Felipe Massa: It was a black weekend for the Brazilian driver! after qualifying in the semi shade (since he has finished as the eighth) and despite a fairly good start Felipe eventually abandoned at the end of the race because of a problem on his gearbox.
* Mercedes: after a return to form in Turkey we thought that the team was finally confirmed in Barcelona but it was not the case, owing mostly to an improved car less than his opponents. In Monaco Will they climb in the ratings?

Monday, May 23, 2011

Barcelona GP : Alonso & Massa Sunday quotes

Fernando Alonso :
"The best moment of the race was obviously the start. We worked hard on this area and you see the result. It was fantastic to see the reaction of people in the stands! I tried to do the maximum, maintain faster behind me for about twenty laps, but then I could not do anything .
It was stressful to constantly check my mirrors and I did my best to copy or anticipate their maneuvers. Then I had to do half of the race hard tires, so we really penalized. This made the gap bigger than it actually is. We are short of support. Here we had no flap adapted to this track. We must carefully analyze any changes that we had for this Grand Prix and understand why, in two weeks we have lost ground on Red Bull and McLaren."
Felipe Massa :
"Towards the end of the race, I could not change gear. That's why I chose to dwell on the side of the runway. It was the end of a terrible weekend. Fortunately, we start immediately with the race in Monaco, which is just a second home race for me, since I live in Monaco,
We will also fortunate not to have hard tires that we had today. They do not really work for us. When we went from soft to hard, we started to suffer more. It does There was no grip and I could hardly keep the car on the track. Thanks to the strategy, we have doubled the Mercedes and Renault Petrov, but it was useless in the end. Moreover, we do not have enough support to properly run the tires hard as we had seen on other races, but here it posed more problems."

Barcelona GP : the race

Pos
Driver
Teams
Laps
Gap
Points
01
S. Vettel
RBR
66
Abandon
25
02
L. Hamilton
McLaren
66
+ 0.6 secs
18
03
J. Button
McLaren
66
+ 35.6 secs
15
04
M. Webber
RBR
66
+ 47.9 secs
12
05
F. Alonso
Ferrari
65
+ 1 Tour
10
06
M. Schumacher
Mercedes
65
+ 1 Tour
8
07
N. Rosberg
Mercedes
65
+ 1 Tour
6
08
N. Heidfeld
Renault
65
+ 1 Tour
4
09
S. Perez
Sauber
65
+ 1 Tour
2
10
K. Kobayashi
Sauber
65
+ 1 Tour
1
11
V. Petrov
Renault
65
+ 1 Tour
12
P. di Resta
Force India
65
+ 1 Tour
13
A. Sutil
Force India
65
+ 1 Tour
14
S. Buemi
Toro Rosso
65
+ 1 Tour
15
P. Maldonado
Williams
65
+ 1 Tour
16
J. Alguersuari
Toro Rosso
64
+ 2 Tours
17
R. Barrichello
Williams
64
+ 2 Tours
18
J. Trulli
Lotus
64
+ 2 Tours
19
T. Glock
Virgin
63
+ 3 Tours
20
J. d'Ambrosio
Virgin
62
+ 4 Tours
21
N. Karthikeyan
HRT
61
+ 5 Tours
Ret
F. Massa
Ferrari
58
+ 8 Tours
Ret
H. Kovalainen
Lotus
48
+ 18 Tours
Ret
V. Liuzzi
HRT
28
+ 38 Tours

Barcelona GP : Alonso & Massa Saturday quotes

Fernando Alonso :
"I did a perfect lap. I acknowledge that if I tried to do this 20 times, I would not do better! When you go around like this, it is difficult to put into words what you feel. Always be to limit, in each turn is a special feeling for a driver" "I'm really happy with this result because we have never been on the second line this year. Of course, the pole is far away. Today, Red Bull was again out of reach and we must work hard to try to get close to them. This morning, we made several changes in the settings of the car, but that has not produced the desired results. This is partly due to changing conditions, at wind direction."
"So we came back before qualifying and everything went better.
In general, we made a step forward in performance, thanks to the improvements we've made. Of course, we are better in the race than qualifying. So I think we will fight for a podium. This will be difficult initially because the McLarens are on the correct side of the track and they have an extra set of tires from us."
Felipe Massa :
"It certainly was not the performance we expect of these qualifications, but throughout the weekend we've struggled with the balance of the car we would have to be perfect so we soar a little more the front of the grid but it was not the case. Hopefully, with a full tank the car run better and then we will see if we can get good results.
On a circuit like this, it will not be easy to manage tires in the best possible way, nor find the best possible strategy. In Q2, we decided to stay in the garage during the first part of sitting, running the risk of being eliminated because it would not have meant much to spend in Q3 and after ending up with no new tire and the result showed that we were right, although we were hoping to take greater advantage of this opportunity. Overruns? We will certainly see more than in the past on a circuit like this and it will be mainly due to tire degradation."

Barcelona GP : Alonso & Massa Friday quotes

Fernando Alonso :
"We tried many new things today and now we must extrapolate all this information and select the best pieces to put on the car for tomorrow. My first impression is positive: I think we made a step forward"
"It is always difficult to judge differences in the free practice because there are always differences between all the cars. I'm certainly not surprised that the Red Bulls are still in front of everyone: now they are and faster circuits like this or like that of Budapest suit them particularly well."
"Having said that, even if it's true that we might have trouble beating them in qualifying, perhaps we could be closer in the race, also in relation to McLaren, and put them under pressure. We still work to do on set:
Today, we had too many things to test and we did not have time to make too many changes. I think the chances of fighting for the podium are even more likely here than they were in Turkey."
"Tires? Pirelli has introduced a new type of tire hard and it is difficult to imagine that we can move in Q1 without having to resort to soft. One thing we've seen in winter testing and was confirmed today is that the degradation is quite significant and it is therefore expected to revive a race like we had in Istanbul at the number of pit stops."
Felipe Massa :
"It was not an easy day for me. I met a lot of problems to run my tires, especially with the hard, and I have not managed to achieve a good time. It is a pity because new plays that we made here have improved our performance, even if other teams are very strong. However, we still have a long delay on our main rivals. Now we must make the right decisions to prepare ourselves as best we can for qualifying and the race.
Regarding the tires, I'd rather not go into details. Let's say there's a lot of work to do in this area. When I took the track, I lost the rear and I ended in the gravel I've been very close to the barriers, but fortunately I did not hit. So I managed to regain the track .

Alonso and Massa at the opening of a Ferrari store in Barcelona .

Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were at the opening of a new Ferrari store in Barcelona on the Passeig de Gracia .

Barcelona GP : Alonso press conference


Question: How do you feel at home here?
Fernando Alonso: "Obviously it's good to be here where even in Valencia, which are two home races for me. Running is special here in Spain but as Alguersuari said, it's a good motivation there are additional pressures but this is positive because there are a lot of support in the stands, people and hotels, so it is a unique weekend.

Question: Nigel Mansell in the habit of saying that without the motivation of saving time on the track, your opinion?
Fernando Alonso: "We must be optimistic, but you try to do the best you can and the whole team is trying to support you so that everything is ready to find perfection in a weekend. Anything is possible, it can help them win one or two tenths."
Question: Is that all? Fernando Alonso: "Yes."

Question: After extending your contract, you said that is probably your last team, what to say?
Fernando Alonso: "Yes it is good news for me to extend my contract until 2016. As I already said last year, my intention is to finish my career at Ferrari, I can not imagine best team for a race car driver especially since I had the chance to come to Ferrari last year. I felt immediately comfortable, like home from day one and today I had the opportunity to extend my contract until 2016, a total of 7 seasons with the Reds. I feel privileged to be happy about that, and perhaps that in 2017 there will be another contract so I am not too old and if Ferrari still wants me."

Question: What does it mean for a driver so that stability of being in a team so long?
Fernando Alonso: "It does not really change my mind or in my head, because for me it was clear that I would stay long enough. Despite the contractual conditions things were clear and I felt it was the case for the team. This is just an official confirmation, but nothing has changed years the team and everything is stable and it is always a plus for a team of Formula 1. There are many exchanges in this type of partnership and we hope to bring great success in Maranello."

We made some new parts in Turkey and it seems to work well for us and we have closed the gap with Red Bull. Following the developments come here in Barcelona and I hope we can still grow and as some of the teams have said it will see tomorrow and Saturday afternoon to see who has done the best job and we are confident and optimistic we have worked hard and is expected to reduce the gap here to fight for victory very soon."

Question: Who had the idea to extend your contract, you or the team?

Question: Do you think Red Bull will be much dominating as last year here?
Fernando Alonso: "You talk of another car, so I can not answer ask Mark Webber. But the gap last year was regularly beyond a second and this year we saw the same thing so yes anything is possible, but we are working hard to address this, I think all the teams trying to catch up and the gap should theoretically be smaller and smaller with every race. Here I'll be disappointed if I am a second Red Bull, we must give them a hard time this weekend."

Question: Do you think Mark Webber may play a key role this season as he is the only one to have the same car as Vettel?
Fernando Alonso: "Yes, of course, Mark was strong last year just a few points of Sebastian, but we can not judge on four races In the figures there Vettel head and a group of six or eight cars one behind the other, and only Sebastian has quite a lead with his fantastic engine in these early races, he was fast, has not made mistakes and he deserves all these points. We must therefore make great efforts to address this and get back on the opponents, anything is possible because the championship is still long, it happened some years as in 2006 and I was 32 points ahead of Schumacher in Canada, so that there were 80 late at the start and end of the season we resolutions for the title, so it is difficult to judge which is why we work hard this year, but Mark and Red Bull can win just as Sebastian and they can also did not finish the race, so anything is possible."

Q: Fernando, you came to Turkey in thinking that the car would be two tenths quicker than before, compared to others. It proved to be much more than that: you have almost halved the gap to Sebastien in qualifying. Where did it come from and what do you expect this weekend? Fernando Alonso: "Well, he came to race pace and I think tire management. Because in qualifying in Malaysia was second. In China, it was 1.4s and Turkey that has was a second behind pole position, thus more or less the same distance. But the race pace depends on the tire management, you can have in the race, how easily fit your car in this race in particular, settings or you can find on Friday. It helps the performance on Sunday.
In Turkey, it seems that we went in the right direction in terms of car setup and in terms of tire. We were a little more competitive than expected in the race. So we want to bring this experience in the coming races and hopefully we can keep an edge with the tire and behavior. And here, I do not know. We'll see what the performance of the car, how the new parts, but as I said, the most important thing is how you approach the weekend and how you manage your tires."


Friday, May 20, 2011

Fernando's blog : a race at home !


Here we are with the Spanish Grand Prix just round the corner, a race that has a special feel about it for me. I will arrive in Barcelona tonight, because right from tomorrow morning I’ve got an appointment in my diary: attending the launch of the first ever Ferrari Store to be opened in Spain, in the heart of the Catalan capital, on one of the most important streets in the city, Paseo de Gracia. Felipe will be there, as will Marc who will be very much the main man given he is from Barcelona. Then it will be time to head off to the track for the usual Thursday jobs, most of them dealing with media work.

It’s always nice to race in Spain. I love the feeling of warmth one gets from the fans right from the very first free practice sessions. Day after day, you can see the grandstands fill with flags – the red of Ferrari and the azure blue of my compatriots from Asturias – and that is a special feeling for me. My win here in 2006 is still one of the best moments of my career and it would be a dream come true to do it again with Ferrari sooner or later.

I know that you all want to know if that might happen already this weekend, but I am not able to give you an answer to that. On paper, we do not yet have the potential to be in a straight fight for the win, with one team clearly the favourite in this regard. However, we know things can change quickly in our sport and, in Turkey, finally we managed to bring home a podium finish. The road is still long, but I believe we have at least started down it going in the right direction.

These past few days, the team has worked so hard in Maranello on developing the 150° Italia and in order to be as well prepared as possible for these two back to back races, given that next week will be back on track in Monaco. During the days I spent in the factory I could feel that everyone there really wants to fight back: the feeling is so strong you can almost touch it, whether you are speaking with people in meetings or as you walk around the Gestione Sportiva. Both Felipe and I have done so many kilometres in the simulator and we feel that the updates being introduced will see us make progress in terms of performance. Whether or not this will be enough to close the gap to the best, we will only find out over the weekend, because we cannot ignore the fact that the others have not been twiddling their thumbs. We will see who has been the cleverest in the development championship.

The Catalunya Circuit is one of the ones we know best because traditionally it is a favourite venue for winter testing. This year, we have already had two sessions there, one at the end of February and the other in early March.

This means we will all arrive there with a pretty good idea of what settings we will use as a baseline on the car to start the weekend, even if the conditions we will encounter will be very different, especially in terms of temperature.

It will be very important to run continuously in Friday’s two free practice sessions to fine tune the car and check out the behaviour of the new technical components. It will also be vital to study the performance and wear of the tyres. In the race simulations we did during testing we saw significant degradation, especially on the front left tyre, which is put under major stress: we will see if, with different temperatures, that situation changes. Compared to previous races at this track I think we will see more overtaking, especially down to the difference in tyre performance that could be a factor during the race: further reason to come to the track to watch the Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. It would be nice to jump on the podium again and be able to salute all our fans from there: as far as me and the team are concerned, as usual, we will be giving it our very best shot.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

La gazzetta de Ferrari

* Ferrari will bring new parts in Barcelona which will be tested in the coming days by Jules Bianchi during a test flying straight at Vairano.
* The changes will be complete and totally new car for the GP of Canada even if other changes will be made anyway in the following GP. Moreover Stefano Domenicali said that Ferrari should start winning from Canada even if it expects that Ferrari should be on the podium with improving its performance (with respect to Turkey) in Barcelona and Monaco.
* The newspaper Marca reports that Ferrari is leading two projects simultaneously:
- first a team is continuing to improve the 150 Italia particular dish at the bottom of the diffuser, exhausts and engine mapping.
- And another team is to begin development of the car in 2012 which will be much more aggressive especially at the chassis, the gearbox , the suspension and the cooling system .

The news of the week

* Jean Todt said recently that he would propose the return of private testing (3 sessions of 2 days spread over the entire season) during a season of F1 in 2012. But it is reported that the teams would refuse this measure to not increase costs. But Jean Todt said that even if teams refused this measure for 2012, it will automatically happen in 2013.
* FIA has given a new deadline to Bahrain to organize his GP. It is set to 1 June.
* Adrian Sutil has been involved in a fight with a shareholder of Genii Capital, Eric Lux. The scene occurred in a famous nightclub in Shanghai in the evening of the China GP . Sutil, with Lewis Hamilton, was invited into the VIP area by Eric Lux but suddenly the tone would be mounted between the two men: Eric Lux blaming the two pilots to take over their ease while the box was packed there was no room.
while Sutil would have taken a glass of champagne and breaking it would be used to deliver a blow to Lux making it a notch from the ear to the carotid! Shortly after this incident Sutil took the first plane, Hamilton was evacuated by his bodyguards and Lux \u200b\u200bhad 20 stitches! But that does not stop there, since Eric Lux refused any settlement agreement with Sutil and filed a complaint against the German pilot in 6 different countries. More Lewis Hamilton testified in favor of his friend but it would seem that his version of events does not correspond at all with the recordings made by the surveillance camera! Of course all this is to take the usual precautions saw that Adrian did not comment saying that this case is more privacy. But all we can say is that it is a sad case for Sutil!

Alonso's blog : continue on this road !


Third place was also important for the morale of the team. We were all unhappy with a start to the season that did not live up to expectations and we know how much good it does to see that the efforts expended every day are paying off. But we certainly can’t be happy with a third place and what matters most is that we must be much more competitive in qualifying. If we always start from the third row or lower it’s a struggle to fight for the podium. We have a lot of irons in the fire and we hope that as early as next week in Barcelona we will have new parts that allow us to take an important step forward in qualifying as well.

You know I like playing with numbers – and as I travelled backwards and forwards between home, Maranello and Turkey, I made a comparison between my first four races of last year and those of this year in the corresponding grands prix. What came out of this little game was that compared to 2010 I’m eight points short (49 versus 41) but in the same four races, this year I’ve brought home 13 more points compared to last year (41 versus 28). It’s true that my current gap to the top of the drivers championship is much greater (52 points) compared to what I had after Shanghai 2010 (11 points) but I well recall that after Silverstone we were 47 points away and we only had eight races left. Today we still have 15 grands prix to come. This shows that you can look at the same thing in two different, even completely opposite ways. What matters are results and we’ve started to make the podium: we must do that regularly and if so I’m convinced that we will again be able to fight for the title. On Sunday morning in Istanbul there was a serious accident in the GP2 race, which involved our driver, Davide Rigon. I’m very sorry for him as he will have to stop racing for a while. We hope that he recovers soon – and I say that also for selfish reasons because he was doing precious work for us in the simulator.
Now I’m returning home: a few days of rest before a very demanding double-header made up of Barcelona, one of my home races, and Monaco. Now we hope to keep going down the road we took in Turkey.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

The paddock podium of the Turkish GP


* The 4 in:
- Sebastian Vettel:
the German pilot continues his perfect start to the season by winning his 3rd victory in 4 GP. He perfectly managed his pit stops and made a solid race. However note that the gap between the third and Vettel was only 10s! will he catch up in Barcelona?
-Mark Webber:
After a bad start, because being on the wrong side of the track, Mark has managed to come back and overtake Nico Rosberg to clinch 2nd place and give his team its first double of the season. After having lost the 2nd place(in favor of alonso) then he took back it to the Spanish driver with a new set of tires that have been carefully kept the difference at the end of the race. That said, in the podium Mark was felt a less expressive than his teammate, more withdrawn.
Has Mark lost the willpower he had last year ?
-Fernando Alonso:
Finally ! Fernando gave his first podium of the season at Ferrari after starting the season below expectations for the Scuderia. For the first time we felt that 150 ° was fast and with more downforce. The news ran but we must not rest on our laurels! Ferrari must continue to improve especially in qualifying, by the way new evolutions are expected in Barcelona.
- Kamui Kobayashi :
He had promised to bring back points to his team and he did ! Sauber driver went last on the grid and came in 10th place thanks to daring overtaking and a good strategy. This driver shows a lot of good things this season and follows an upward curve since last season.

* The 3 out: -McLaren-Mercedes: nothing happened as planned for the English team! Hamilton lost places from the start which forced him to fight against his team-mate Button. Then there was the pit stop which caused him to lose precious seconds! Lewis nevertheless saves the furniture finishing fourth and remains second overall. Jenson situation is similar although he has made a good start and showed some nice things in racing, especially with the overtakings . But what about his strategy? Button stayed too long on the track before his first pit stop and eventually lost a lot of seconds. At the end of the race with excessively worn tires he could not stop (because not having enough ahead of his pursuers) and has been forced to pass Nico Rosberg. - Felipe Massa :
while his team mate on the podium, Felipe finished outside the points in 11th.
While he started from far down the grid but he managed to turn the 7th place at the start. So what has happened? must look in the stands for that is that Felipe has lost so much time in particular during his 3rd pit stop when his right rear wheel was not fully fixed, while Felipe was preparing to leave. Too bad when you see that his car was capable of much better.
-Michael Schumacher: Michael has accumulated errors in the GP as when he hooked up with Petrov. He finished far behind his teammate and one can legitimately ask whether to continue in F1 in 2012.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Turkish GP : Alonso & Massa Sunday quotes

Fernando Alonso :
"I am delighted with this result, which is the result of three weeks of hard work from the team in Maranello and at the circuit this weekend. We had not started the Grand Prix of good foot, having had quite a few problems Friday, but then we have grown and today it was great to be back to fight for top positions. We were already so close to the podium in Malaysia and China and today we managed to take the step, but only the first step: we must continue in that direction. Given the shape that we had early in the season is an excellent result. The next three or four races will be crucial. Had I not been stuck behind Rosberg so long, maybe I could put Vettel in trouble, forcing him to attack more. In the end, Webber passed me because he benefited from a new set of tires when I had none left.
I know it sounds strange to have stopped at 11 laps to go, but it became difficult to keep the car on the track and there was a risk of ruining the race. There are more overtaking, but I think there is more to do with the behavior of tires rather than the adjustable rear wing. It is true that the gap is quite big in the championship, but there are still plenty of points to scrounge: there is no reason to give up."
Felipe Massa :
"Everything happened to me today and I could not get the result that was within my reach. It's a shame because the car was competitive and the pace was very good. We made the first stop at the right time but already at that point I lost the place I had just taken in Hamilton. Then, I also had problems at the third and fourth stops: we must all work together to improve this aspect of the race, which becomes very important.
I was always fighting with other drivers, meaning I was unable to get the best tires, as Fernando was able to do and he certainly had a run cleaner than mine. The thing positive this weekend, is improving the performance of the car: we had a little more downforce and also a greater top speed in a straight line.

Turkish GP : the race

Pos
Drivers
Teams
Laps
Gap
Points
01
S. Vettel
RBR
58
Winner
25
02
M. Webber
RBR
58
+ 8.8 secs
18
03
F. Alonso
Ferrari
58
+ 10.0 secs
15
04
L. Hamilton
McLaren
58
+ 40.2 secs
12
05
N. Rosberg
Mercedes
58
+ 47.5 secs
10
06
J. Button
McLaren
58
+ 59.4 secs
8
07
N. Heidfeld
Renault
58
+ 60.8 secs
6
08
V. Petrov
Renault
58
+ 68.1 secs
4
09
S. Buemi
Toro Rosso
58
+ 69.3 secs
2
10
K. Kobayashi
Sauber
58
+ 78.0 secs
1
11
F. Massa
Ferrari
58
+ 79.8 secs
12
M. Schumacher
Mercedes
58
+ 85.4 secs
13
A. Sutil
Force India
57
+ 1 Tour
14
S. Perez
Sauber
57
+ 1 Tour
15
R. Barrichello
Williams
57
+ 1 Tour
16
J. Alguersuari
Toro Rosso
57
+ 1 Tour
17
P. Maldonado
Williams
57
+ 1 Tour
18
J. Trulli
Lotus
57
+ 1 Tour
19
H. Kovalainen
Lotus
56
+ 2 Tours
20
J. d'Ambrosio
Virgin
56
+ 2 Tours
21
N. Karthikeyan
HRT
55
+ 3 Tours
22
V. Liuzzi
HRT
53
+ 5 Tours
Ret
P. di Resta
Force India
44
+ 14 Tours
Ret
T. Glock
Virgin
0
Abandon

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Turkish GP : Alonso & Massa Saturday quotes

* Fernando Alonso :
"Fifth place is not the kind of results that can satisfy you, but today I am happy because I felt the car was more competitive, which was when the first three qualifying sessions this season. Get in Q3 without using the soft tires is important. We made a small step forward in performance: it is not enough and we need to make a bigger quickly, but cest certainly a boost in confidence for all the team, working in the right direction. I would say that we see the end of the tunnel.
Fifth place also means that I avoid the dirty side of the runway, which is usually a major handicap here. It's hard to say what the best strategy for tomorrow because we do not know how the tires will behave : we will be ready for any eventuality and be very flexible.
* Felipe Massa :
"It was not an easy qualifying session for me: I am not able to have a clean lap in Q3 after committing a major error in Turn 9, when I got out of the path. We have therefore decided to return to the pits to save this set of tires for departure. In Q1, with the hard tires, I have not done a very good lap and then to take no risk, we decided to use soft . So I had only one set of tires for the final part of qualifying. Now we'll see what we can do during the race tomorrow: Usually, our pace is better than in qualifying, but this will not be easy to properly included, since I jumped from tenth place.
We'll see what the tire degradation, perhaps it will be somewhat larger than what we saw in China.
It's a shame, because I could be on the third line, alongside my teammate. This morning in free practice, engineers have seen an uncertain parameter in the engine and it was therefore decided to change it at the end of the session. I came back to the engine that I had used in Malaysia and China, it will always be three races scheduled."

Turkish GP : qualifications

Pos
Drivers
Teams
Q1
Q 2
Q 3
Laps
01
S. Vettel
RBR
1:27.039
1:25.610
1:25.049
12
02
M. Webber
RBR
1:27.090
1:26.075
1:25.454
10
03
N. Rosberg
Mercedes
1:27.514
1:25.801
1:25.574
15
04
L. Hamilton
McLaren
1:27.091
1:26.066
1:25.595
13
05
F. Alonso
Ferrari
1:27.349
1:26.152
1:25.851
16
06
J. Button
McLaren
1:27.374
1:26.485
1:25.982
14
07
V. Petrov
Renault
1:27.475
1:26.654
1:26.296
15
08
M. Schumacher
Mercedes
1:27.697
1:26.121
1:26.646
13
09
N. Heidfeld
Renault
1:27.901
1:26.740
1:26.659
13
10
F. Massa
Ferrari
1:27.013
1:26.395
16
11
R. Barrichello
Williams
1:28.246
1:26.764
10
12
A. Sutil
Force India
1:27.392
1:27.027
14
13
P. di Resta
Force India
1:27.625
1:27.145
11
14
P. Maldonado
Williams
1:27.396
1:27.236
14
15
S. Perez
Sauber
1:27.778
1:27.244
11
16
S. Buemi
Toro Rosso
1:27.620
1:27.255
9
17
J. Alguersuari
Toro Rosso
1:28.055
1:27.572
7
18
H. Kovalainen
Lotus
1:28.780
8
19
J. Trulli
Lotus
1:29.673
8
20
J. d'Ambrosio
Virgin
1:30.445
8
21
V. Liuzzi
HRT
1:30.692
7
22
T. Glock
Virgin
1:30.813
8
23
N. Karthikeyan
HRT
1:31.564
8
0
K. Kobayashi
Sauber
No time

Turkish GP : Alonso & Massa Friday quotes

Fernando Alonso :
"The two sessions were very different from one another because of climate change. We have taken advantage of the fact that the track is wet this morning because it could start raining tomorrow or even in the race. Everything is good to take. We have installed various elements such as front and rear wings, and new brake ducts. We analyzed the data and now know what works best. I had a hydraulic problem which m forced him to stay in the stands during an hour this afternoon. What is that Felipe has made a big part of the job. Then in one of my few laps I was able to try the fin moving back, I am very satisfied. He will confirm this race performance. We have closed the gap a few tenths, which should help us get closer to the leaders. What is certain is that we don't abandon it along the way."
Felipe Massa :
"From what I saw today we have made progress in performance, but we're not close enough faster. In fact, it is unclear whether we are close rivals after two sessions free practice. I think now we must wait to see the qualifications clearer, but we must work hard to be first. We're in theright direction, but others are not lagging behind as Mercedes example seems to have strongly progressed and the rain could open many possibilities. The race could also occur in the dry, and as it is a demanding circuit, we must be cautious but I really enjoy driving here because this circuit is very technical."

Turkish GP : FP2

Pos
Drivers
Teams
Times
Gap
Laps
01
J. Button
McLaren
1:26.456
26
02
N. Rosberg
Mercedes
1:26.521
+ 0.065
29
03
L. Hamilton
McLaren
1:27.033
+ 0.577
31
04
M. Schumacher
Mercedes
1:27.063
+ 0.607
21
05
M. Webber
RBR
1:27.149
+ 0.693
31
06
F. Massa
Ferrari
1:27.340
+ 0.884
37
07
V. Petrov
Renault
1:27.517
+ 1.061
37
08
P. di Resta
Force India
1:27.725
+ 1.269
37
09
S. Perez
Sauber
1:27.844
+ 1.388
32
10
A. Sutil
Force India
1:28.052
+ 1.596
37
11
F. Alonso
Ferrari
1:28.069
+ 1.613
27
12
S. Buemi
Toro Rosso
1:28.153
+ 1.697
36
13
N. Heidfeld
Renault
1:28.475
+ 2.019
35
14
J. Alguersuari
Toro Rosso
1:28.765
+ 2.309
32
15
P. Maldonado
Williams
1:28.828
+ 2.372
19
16
R. Barrichello
Williams
1:28.946
+ 2.490
20
17
J. Trulli
Lotus
1:29.409
+ 2.953
39
18
K. Kobayashi
Sauber
1:29.637
+ 3.181
27
19
H. Kovalainen
Lotus
1:30.281
+ 3.825
37
20
J. d'Ambrosio
Virgin
1:31.035
+ 4.579
28
21
T. Glock
Virgin
1:31.221
+ 4.765
22
22
N. Karthikeyan
HRT
1:31.320
+ 4.864
29
23
V. Liuzzi
HRT
1:31.989
+ 5.533
30
24
S. Vettel
RBR
---

Turkish GP : FP1

Pos
Drivers
Teams
Times
Gap
Laps
01
F. Alonso
Ferrari
1:38.670
13
02
N. Rosberg
Mercedes
1:40.072
+ 1.402
14
03
M. Schumacher
Mercedes
1:40.132
+ 1.462
18
04
N. Heidfeld
Renault
1:40.338
+ 1.668
9
05
V. Petrov
Renault
1:40.401
+ 1.731
10
06
K. Kobayashi
Sauber
1:40.421
+ 1.751
16
07
F. Massa
Ferrari
1:40.697
+ 2.027
14
08
D. Ricciardo
Toro Rosso
1:41.094
+ 2.424
18
09
S. Buemi
Toro Rosso
1:41.178
+ 2.508
22
10
N. Hulkenberg
Force India
1:41.347
+ 2.677
16
11
M. Webber
RBR
1:42.564
+ 3.894
5
12
P. Maldonado
Williams
1:42.597
+ 3.927
7
13
P. di Resta
Force India
1:43.525
+ 4.855
11
14
R. Barrichello
Williams
1:43.913
+ 5.243
5
15
J. Trulli
Lotus
1:43.986
+ 5.316
6
16
V. Liuzzi
HRT
1:44.787
+ 6.117
20
17
S. Vettel
RBR
1:44.954
+ 6.284
4
18
T. Glock
Virgin
1:45.183
+ 6.513
15
19
J. d'Ambrosio
Virgin
1:45.237
+ 6.567
11
20
N. Karthikeyan
HRT
1:48.461
+ 9.791
8
21
K. Chandhok
Lotus
1:51.676
+ 13.006
6
22
S. Perez
Sauber
1:55.791
+ 17.121
13
23
J. Button
McLaren
2:00.666
+ 21.996
4
24
L. Hamilton
McLaren
---

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Fernando's blog : Turkish GP


here is a new post from Fernando about the Turkish GP :
I arrived in Istanbul this evening along with the team on the usual charter flight that we use for European races. I was in Maranello from Monday night onwards: we had programmed some work in the simulator to prepare for these first few races of the European part of the season and so it was the perfect opportunity to meet up with the engineers to discuss how development is coming on with the 150O Italia. Already in Turkey, we will have a few new aerodynamic components, but further updates are due to arrive in the following races. We know we have to take a significant step forward in terms of performance if we want to get back to fighting for the top places, especially in qualifying. Im not expecting a major change in Istanbul: on Friday we will see if the new parts work the way we are expecting, but we are well aware that the others have not been twiddling their thumbs these past few weeks, so its impossible to say today where we are compared to our main rivals.
Weve had a slightly longer break than usual and it was useful to pause for breath after the first run of races outside Europe. I made the most of it to spend time with my family, but also to concentrate on upping my training level, working mainly on the bike.
The Istanbul circuit is very technical, with many different types of corner, some serious ups and downs and a couple of places where overtaking was possible in the past: this year that should be even more the case thanks to the moveable rear wing. This element has proved to play an important part in making overtaking easier, but the factor that has the biggest effect on whether one driver can pass another is the difference in tyre performance, as we clearly saw in China. When you end up in trouble with the tyres, it gets very difficult to defend your position from another driver, even if his tyres are just a few laps fresher than yours. Usually, the Istanbul race is pretty demanding on tyres and

so it will be very important to get an understanding of their behaviour in Fridays free practice. At the moment, the weather forecast looks very uncertain, especially for Friday, which adds a further unknown to this weekend.
I don’t want to make any predictions about the final result: we know it will be tough for us, but the will to work hard and to do well is not lacking. I saw that these past few days in Maranello where everyone is working very hard, from Domenicali to the mechanics, so that everyone can get on top of the situation in their own area as soon as possible. It is this great desire to get the job done that makes the people at Maranello so special."