Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Patrick Head leaves Williams F1 after 34 years of service

2012-01-02T22:31:00.000-08:00

Perhaps it’s the current slump, but many forget that Williams is the third most successful team in Formula 1, behind only Ferrari and McLaren. The team had it’s worst ever year in 2011, finishing the season with just five points, and last of the established teams. It’s with this background that Williams director of engineering and legend Patrick Head is leaving the team after 34 years of service.

Head has stepped down from the outfit’s board of directors with immediate effect. He will from now focus on the company’s thriving hybrid business and will remain a board director of Williams Hybrid Power Limited.

“Patrick and I have been in partnership for 34 years. During that time, he has been the leader of the technical team that has won the majority of our race wins and championships. This is a remarkable legacy and one which will be treasured and definitely not forgotten.,” said founder and friend Frank Williams.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

“Patrick is a very straightforward, hard working and truly gifted engineer who comfortably operates at a world class level. I will miss him very much, as I am sure his colleagues will, and he will always be welcome at Grove. Indeed, Patrick will still be seen around the factory as he continues to be involved in the development of our hybrid power activities,” he added.

In the glory days of the 1980s and ’90s, Head drove the team’s engineering department to win 113 grands prix, seven drivers world championships and nine constructors’ titles for Williams. As Frank said, a remarkable legacy.
source: paultan.org

Formula 1: Bernie Ecclestone Rebuffs £27M Paid as Bribe

2011-12-26T18:40:00.000-08:00

Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone has admitted paying 27 million pounds to German investment banker Gerhard Gribkowsky, but rebuffed reports that it was a bribe.

His own defense documents have revealed that he and his family paid the amount to Gribkowsky through a third party to conceal their identity.

Ecclestone claimed that he paid Gribkowsky after the latter threatened him.

Gribkowsky is already facing a criminal case related to payments in Germany and Ecclestone is also facing a case in London, a leading daily reports. Zee News

The parties are accused by former owner of F1, Constantin Medien, of materially undervaluing the motorsport when it was sold to CVC Partners in 2005, in part through the payment of bribes.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Mr Ecclestone denies any unlawful conduct. His defence states: “There was no conspiracy, no fraud, no combination and no unlawful conduct”.

The F1 boss says he made the multi-million pound payment to Mr Gribkowsky after being threatened by the banker.

The document states: “Mr Ecclestone did arrange for payments to be made to Mr Gribkowsky. These payments were made in response to insinuations from Mr Gribkowsky that he would create difficulties with the UK tax authorities with regard to the status and efficacy of the Bambino trust arrangements…. Mr Ecclestone chose to pay Mr Gribkowksy off rather than face the aggravation, delay and potential risks (however unqualified) that Mr Gribkowsky threatened.”

According to Mr Ecclestone’s defence the payments were channelled through third party companies with the help of an intermediary, Swiss financial advisor Andre Favre.

Mr Favre is described as someone who “provided services to Mr Ecclestone from time to time.”

There is no suggestion that Mr Favre was engaged in any wrongdoing.

As well as admitting the $44m payments Mr Ecclestone details how he was paid a 5pc commission from the sale of F1 to CVC. Telegraph.co.uk
source: www.google.com.my

Formula 1: best moments of 2011

2011-12-26T18:37:00.000-08:00

The 2011 season will be remembered for the domination by Sebastian Vettel, who steamrollered his way to back-to-back world championships by winning 11 of the 19 grands prix.

The combination of Vettel and the hugely effective, Adrian Newey-designed Red Bull RB7-Renault was unbeatable on some tracks, and it appeared that the German's first world title in 2010 had enabled him to move to a new level of confidence and performance.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Another talking point was the absence of a stout season-long challenge to Vettel. McLaren's Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber all won races, but none of them could go toe-to-toe with the reigning champ on a regular basis.

It was 2009 champion Button who emerged with the most credit, winning three times and annexing second in the points with some impressively mature drives. Team-mate Hamilton, on the other hand, was stymied by on-track incidents and off-track personal issues, and matched his worst finishing position in the points.

Ferrari had a below-par season by its standards, although lead driver Alonso wrung the neck of the car as often as he could, and scored a sole victory at Silverstone. Second driver Felipe Massa was disappointing for the second successive season, although hit the headlines for his year-long spat with Hamilton.

Webber ended the year with a welcome victory in Brazil, but he was otherwise comprehensively outperformed by Vettel, and admitted that he had taken too long to learn how to exploit the Pirelli tyres to their maximum. It's something he's vowed not to repeat in 2012, when he, Button, Hamilton and Alonso will all be itching to get one over on Vettel.

Here are the standout moments from the season, as selected by Autocar's grand prix editor Alan Henry.

Webber and Alonso, wheel to wheel at Spa-Francorchamps

Plunging down the hill towards the rollercoaster Eau Rouge corner at Spa-Francorchamps is akin to tackling the north face of the Eiger, and it demands considerable respect. So when Mark Webber popped his Red Bull out of the slipstream of Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari on that 170mph descent during the Belgian Grand Prix, you could almost hear the collective intake of breath from the surrounding grandstands.

Webber kept coming – and Alonso wisely conceded the line. In fact, the manoeuvre was a whole lot more secure than perhaps it looked, as Alonso later explained.

“I had total confidence that Mark would not do anything silly,” he said, with the strong implication that perhaps he couldn’t say the same for all of his colleagues.

“Anyway, I knew I could probably overtake him again next time round.”

So it proved, with Alonso deploying his Ferrari’s drag reduction system to excellent effect as he regained the place. It was epic stuff.

Alonso keeps the faith at Silverstone

There was a glorious slice of symbolism surrounding Fernando Alonso’s victory for Ferrari in the 2011 British Grand Prix. This year’s F1 Ferrari was an also-ran, certainly from an aerodynamic point of view, but the two-time world champion always squeezed a little more out of this lemon than one might reasonably have expected.

One such race took place at Silverstone, where Alonso also gamely got behind the wheel of a 1951 4.5-litre Ferrari 375 identical to the one that Froilan Gonzalez drove to Maranello’s first grand prix victory here at Silverstone, 61 years earlier.

The 375 is one of the many jewels in the seldom-seen Ecclestone Grand Prix Heritage Collection.

“I just can’t imagine what it must have been like in those days, sitting up in the slipstream for an entire grand prix distance,” said Alonso before climbing aboard Bernie’s precious machine for a demonstration lap. Now he does.

Vettel flexes his muscles

There are some people in the F1 community who think Sebastian Vettel is a cuddly bunny sort of character, but the truth is that he is tough beyond his years. Beneath that genial exterior is a steely man who’d run over his own grandmother if there was an extra point on offer for doing so.

My favourite Vettel moment came at Suzuka when he ruthlessly forced Jenson Button’s fast-starting McLaren to swerve on to the grass as they accelerated from the starting grid. It was an instinctive move by Vettel and proof, perhaps, that he’s as up for a bare-knuckle fight as he is serenely sailing around at the front.

Luca di Montezemolo shows his colours

Now that Silvio Berlusconi has stepped down from his country’s presidency as Italy stares into the economic abyss, can we expect Luca di Montezemolo to ride to the rescue on one of his Maranello stallions?

Could be. Most of us in F1 have long been of the view that Montezemolo is cut out for more than running a business empire, but he’ll have to content himself with continuing the Ferrari legend for the moment. His 2011 contribution to the debate involved the threat that Ferrari might quit F1 unless the rules were changed to enable top teams to run third cars.

I think there is merit in that viewpoint. But it isn’t going to happen, trust me, because it would spread the sport’s income too thinly. Great theatre, though.

Lotus changed to Caterham

I will never be able to clear the image of Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen battling it out in Caterham Sevens. When will Mercedes be renamed ‘Brackley?’

Grudge match

This was an on-going subtext rather than an individual event, but the edge between McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari number two Felipe Massa was certainly a classic demonstration of the raw meat calculated to entice the plebs into the Colosseum.

No fewer than five times did these two protagonists come together in a shower of carbonfibre, winglets and end plates as they found themselves repeatedly battling wheel to wheel. And as every confrontation passed, so the relationship between the two men worsened. Then at the end of the season there seemed to be something of a reconciliation.

But that just put me in mind of the parting shot Alan Jones offered Williams team-mate Carlos Reutemann in 1982 when the Argentinian driver left the team. “Shall we bury the hatchet?” asked Carlos. “Yeah, in your ******* back, mate,” Jones succinctly responded.

2011 drivers’ points standings

1 Sebastian Vettel (GER) 392 points; 2 Jenson Button (GBR) 270; 3 Mark Webber (AUS) 258; 4 Fernando Alonso (SPA) 257; 5 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 227; 6 Felipe Massa (BRA) 118; 7 Nico Rosberg (GER) 89; 8 Michael Schumacher (GER) 76; 9 Adrian Sutil (GER) 42; 10 Vitaly Petrov (RUS) 37; 11 Nick Heidfeld (GER) 34; 12 Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) 30; 13 Paul di Resta (GBR) 27; 14 Jaime Alguersuari (SPA) 26; 15 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) 15; 16 Sergio Perez (MEX) 14; 17 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) 4; 18 Bruno Senna (BRA) 2; 19 Pastor Maldonado (VEN) 1.

2011 teams’ points standings

1 Red Bull Racing 650 points; 2 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 497; 3 Scuderia Ferrari 375; 4 Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team 165; 5 Lotus Renault GP 73; 6 Force India F1 Team 69; 7 Sauber F1 Team 44; 8 Scuderia Toro Rosso 41; 9 AT&T Williams 5.

Race winners 2011

Australian Grand Prix, 27 March: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

Malaysian Grand Prix, 10 April: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

Chinese Grand Prix, 17 April: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)

Turkish Grand Prix, 8 May: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

Spanish Grand Prix, 22 May: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

Monaco Grand Prix, 29 May: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

Canadian Grand Prix, 12 June: Jenson Button (McLaren)

Grand Prix of Europe, 26 June: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

British Grand Prix, 10 July: Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)

German Grand Prix, 24 July: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)

Hungarian Grand Prix, 31 July: Jenson Button (McLaren)

Belgian Grand Prix, 28 August: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

Italian Grand Prix, 11 September: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

Singapore Grand Prix, 25 September: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

Japanese Grand Prix, 9 October: Jenson Button (McLaren)

Korean Grand Prix, 16 October: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

Indian Grand Prix, 30 October: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, 13 November: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)

Brazilian Grand Prix, 27 November: Mark Webber (Red Bull)
source: www.autocar.co.uk

Hispania reveal new boss

2011-12-15T20:19:00.000-08:00

Luis Perez-Sala has been appointed as the new team principal of Hispania Racing following the departure of former boss Colin Kolles.

Perez-Sala, who has considerable experience in motorsport across several categories including two years with in Formula One with Minardi in 1988 and 1989, replaces Kolles after the German spent two years at the helm.

Most recently, Perez-Sala has competed in Spanish touring car and GT championships, as well as working as a lecturer, commentator and technical analyst for different media channels.

Primarily, Perez-Sala has helped to bring through a number of young Spanish drivers via a specialised programme in Catalunya.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

After taking on an advisory role at HRT in July, the 52-year-old from Barcelona has now assumed the key position within the team.

Perez-Sala said: "This is an honour but also a great responsibility. I joined the team as an advisor to the new owners and to contribute with my experience in any possible way.
Rewards

"We had to establish a base from which to grow slowly and we are now seeing the first rewards of that work.

"But we mustn't lose our perspective and be aware that assuming responsibilities, such as designing the car or moving the headquarters to Spain, are huge tasks and we still have a lot of work ahead.

"We must be patient and keep in mind that we cannot expect to achieve great success in the short term, but we can take a team forward that we can all feel proud of.

"The simple fact Spain has a team in the pinnacle of motorsports is already a great feat."

With the team now based in Spain, and with Pedro de la Rosa named as one of the drivers for next season, the appointment of Perez-Sala continues the Spanish theme.

Chief executive Saul Ruiz de Marcos said: "The decision was an easy one given his knowledge and his way of doing things. It is the best decision we could make."
source: www1.skysports.com

Ferrari ready for Jerez

2011-12-15T20:16:00.000-08:00

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Ferrari have confirmed that their new car will be ready in time for the first testing session prior to the 2012 Formula One season.

The Maranello outfit will take their new car to Jerez on February 7 and say it will mark a "clean break" with the past.

They are looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2011 campaign when only one victory was forthcoming, with Fernando Alonso taking the chequered flag at the British Grand Prix.

Ferrari's communications director Luca Colajanni said: "The new Ferrari F1 car will be presented in early February, in time to take part in the first test session ahead of the new season.

"At the moment it is not important to say whether the new project is going to be extreme.

"For sure, it will be a clean break with the past, a very different programme, because it aims to win and it marks a change of mentality by the entire team."

Mercedes announced last week that their new car will not make its debut until the second pre-season test, which starts in Barcelona on February 21.

source: www1.skysports.com

Motorsport: Texas F1 race gets green light

2011-12-09T00:02:00.000-08:00

Formula One is returning to the United States in 2012, bringing its ultra-fast cars and flair for the exotic to the land of longhorn cattle and cowboy hats.

Formula One's 2012 calendar with the US Grand Prix in Austin on Nov. 18 was approved at a World Motor Sport Council meeting in New Delhi, India, this week. Race organisers announced a 10-year deal with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, ending a contract dispute that threatened to kill the race and a new $300 million track being built for it.

Work on the Circuit of The Americas had been stopped for several weeks during the dispute. Race officials said construction would resume immediately and would be finished in time for the race.

The Austin race will mark F1's first in the United States since 2007.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

"Now it's time to make it happen," said Steve Sexton, president of Circuit of the Americas. "We never did run out of gas. We may have slowed down and tapped the breaks a little, but now we're at full speed."

F1's presence in the US will increase in 2013, the first in a 10-year deal that will put a race in New Jersey along the Hudson River waterfront across from Manhattan.

Details of the Texas race contract were not released. Financial backers include billionaire businessman Red McCombs, a founding partner of Circuit of The Americas.

"Mr. Ecclestone received his check today," McCombs said in a statement. "We want to thank the fans supporting us, the local officials and businesses that have encouraged us, the State of Texas, Circuit of The Americas' staff and Bernie himself."

Circuit of The Americas officials had pledged to pay F1's original $25 million sanctioning fee, but a dispute over a final contract and the long-term financing had not been resolved. Wednesday was considered the final day to reach a deal because the 2012 calendar had to be set. Sexton said the sides came to agreement on Tuesday.

The initial dispute was caused by F1's decision to scrap a previous contract it had with Tavo Hellmund, a former driver with family ties to Ecclestone who was originally granted the right to stage the US Grand Prix.

The deal with Hellmund was recently canceled over a contract breach, and F1 officials instead began negotiating with Circuit of The Americas, who complained on Thanksgiving that Ecclestone was making "unrealistic" and "unfeasible" demands.

"Formula One is a strong brand and Mr. Ecclestone negotiates accordingly," Sexton said Wednesday.

Sexton said Circuit of The Americas will continue to seek money from the state of Texas' Major Events Trust Fund to help pay for staging the race. The fund has been used for other events such as the Super Bowl.

Austin would seem an unlikely destination for a Grand Prix event on a circuit that includes stops in Shanghai, Monte Carlo and Budapest. But with a metro-area population of about 1.7 million, Austin is a three-hour drive or less from Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

Ecclestone first announced the race and a pending 10-year contract in May 2010. Organisers lured F1 to Austin with the promise to build a track specifically for an F1 race.

The US Grand Prix was previously held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on a road course built inside the oval track. Other F1 races in Long Beach, Las Vegas, Detroit, Dallas, Phoenix and other cities were run on street circuits. Watkins Glen, N.Y., hosted a Grand Prix from 1961-1980.

The ratification of the 20-race calendar also means that the Bahrain Grand Prix is scheduled as the fourth race of the season on April 22. The 2011 race in Bahrain was supposed to be the season opener in March, but was called off amid violent anti-government protests.

Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull will start his bid for a third straight F1 title at the Australian Grand Prix in March. The season again ends in Brazil.

Although Vettel dominated this year, the races were the most exciting in many years. There were intriguing duels between Vettel and McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button in China, Canada and Germany as Vettel showed signs he could be beaten early in the season before reasserting his supremacy in winning the Belgian GP.

The majority of drivers were pleased with rule changes in 2011 that made racing more exciting, with a greater emphasis put on overtaking and the new Pirelli tires also favoring attacking drivers.

FIA plans to streamline races further next season.

There will be a maximum race time of four hours to ensure that a lengthy suspension of a race does not result in it lasting up to eight hours. Before the safety car returns to the pits all lapped cars will be allowed to return to the back of the pack, ensuring a clean restart without slower cars holding up those in contention.

Also, a driver can use all his allocated tires on the first day's practice, whereas previously only three sets were allowed, and for the first time there will be a three-day test carried out during the season, although FIA did not say when.
source: www.nzherald.co.nz

Formula One: Team Lotus adds McLaren's John Iley as performance director

2011-12-08T23:57:00.000-08:00

Formula One's Team Lotus on Thursday appointed John Iley as its performance director. Iley leaves McLaren, where he was head of aerodynamics, to join the team and head its departments that work on aerodynamics, computational fluid dynamics and other related activities.

"We are absolutely delighted that John has taken up the challenge to help take us to the next level on- and off-track in one of the key areas of performance in Formula One," Caterham Group CEO Riad Asmat said in a team statement. "It is a real sign of our growth and development as a serious contender for long-term honors that we can attract someone of John's caliber, and we are all very excited about the contribution he will make to our future success from the moment he starts work with our team."

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Iley is a graduate of Imperial College in London. He made his start in motor racing with Brun Technics, a British design office working for the Eurobrun F1 team, and worked on the design of the Brun-Judd C91 sports car during 1990. Early in 1991, he was hired to be the aerodynamicist on the Allard J2X sports car. Iley joined Jordan Grand Prix in 1995 as an aerodynamicist. By 1998, Mike Gascoyne, Team Lotus's chief technical director, had also joined Jordan and promoted Iley to chief aerodynamicist, where they worked together on the team's most successful F1 chassis. The duo moved to Renault F1 in 2002. From there, Iley moved to Ferrari and finally McLaren before making the move to Team Lotus, which will be known as Caterham F1 Team for 2012.

"John greatly contributed to the aerodynamic capability at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes but has taken the decision to accept an offer from Caterham F1 team for 2012 and beyond," McLaren-Mercedes team principal Martin Whitmarsh said. "We enjoyed working with John and wish him well for the future."
source: www.autoweek.com

Tamara Ecclestone: Mystery man demands 'six-figure sum' or he'll reveal details of relationship

2011-12-08T23:54:00.000-08:00

Police are investigating an attempt to blackmail socialite Tamara Ecclestone.

The alleged blackmailer threatened to reveal details of a relationship between the daughter of billionaire Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone and an unidentified man unless she paid a ‘tidy sum’, according to a source.

The amount involved could be as much as six figures, the source added.

Metropolitan Police officers are investigating the suspected blackmail attempt after Miss Ecclestone, 27, reported an alleged ‘inappropriate communication’ on Monday.

One source told the Mail: ‘Tamara has been really shaken up by all this.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

‘It has been a huge weight on her mind so she decided she had no option but to go to the police.’

Miss Ecclestone’s 82-year-old father is estimated to be worth £2.5billion.

He recently bought her a £45million house on one of London’s most desirable streets in Kensington.

Miss Ecclestone is having £18million of renovations carried out on the 55-room property. These include installing an underground nightclub, bowling alley, beauty salon and a dog spa for her five pets.

Other additions will be a vast dressing room to store her wardrobe – and £500,000 handbag collection – and a vehicle lift for her supercars.

Miss Ecclestone recently admitted her lavish lifestyle made her a ‘prime target’ for criticism in gloomy economic times, but claimed she was ‘like any other girl’.

She said: ‘People assume I’m a monster, have no emotions, and bad things haven’t happened to me.

‘I’m vulnerable like every other girl in the world – good days, bad days.’

In August, her younger sister Petra, 23, was married in a £12million extravaganza in Italy paid for by Mr Ecclestone and his ex-wife, former Armani model Slavica, the mother of both heiresses.

Miss Ecclestone, whose parents divorced in 2009 after 23 years of marriage, recently featured in the Channel 5 series Billion Dollar Girl, a three-part documentary detailing her extravagant life.

She has been dating stockbroker Omar Khyami, 37, since last year. She recently told how he had already agreed to sign a prenuptial agreement if they married.

She said: ‘We have talked about it [a prenup]. I’ve never brought it up, but when my sister’s wedding came round, Omar said he would want that, which is so nice.’

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said yesterday: ‘On Monday December 5 police from Kensington and Chelsea borough received a complaint regarding an inappropriate communication relating to the release of personal information.

‘The allegation was assessed and is now being investigated at this early stage as blackmail. CID in Kensington and Chelsea are investigating.

‘No one has been arrested. Inquiries continue.’

A spokesman for Miss Ecclestone said: ‘Tamara is aware of the matter and the police are handling it on her behalf.’
source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Brazilian GP - Sunday - Team Quotes

2011-11-27T17:49:00.000-08:00

Red Bull-Renault

Mark Webber (1st): "It feels very good; it's always nice to win. The battle with Sebastian wasn't a strong battle in the end because he had a problem, but even so, my pace was strong and I felt very good in the car. It's a nice way to finish the year. I felt good in the car and getting the fastest laps at the end was very rewarding. Looking back, it wasn't the greatest season for me, but also not the worst. I had a weak start to the year and wasn't able to capitalise on misfortune from others or put myself in a situation to win fair and square, which is what you want, but in motorsport you take the victories when they come. So, it was a very important win for me today and for the team to finish on a high is great. I really enjoyed the last few laps. This is a great track for the team and we have gained three wins in a row here."

Sebastian Vettel (2nd): "I got the message we had a problem, which was a shame as we had a great start to the race. After that, it was obvious that that I had to shift early and save the gearbox. I hoped it would recover so I kept pushing, but it didn't happen and then the target was to see the chequered flag. Mark had a great race and deserved to win. I got second and I'm happy to have a trophy. It was a great end to the season; to finish with both cars and a one two is very good. I would have loved to have won the race, but nonetheless we had a great season. It's really incredible - going into the season we thought we had a competitive car and that maybe we could win some races, but it has been phenomenal. The team has been faultless most of the time and raised their level massively compared to the last two years. We enjoy what we do and it's nice to come into the garage each day and see everyone with a smile on their face being happy. That's the main thing - we love what we do and are passionate about it."

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Christian Horner, Sporting Director: "It was an incredible race. To sign off the year with a one-two finish is a fantastic way to end the year. The race was dominated by trying to manage the problem that Sebastian had; he did an unbelievable job to keep his car alive to the end of the race. The problem appeared on lap 5, due to a gearbox that was losing oil. Temperatures were therefore creeping up, but he adopted his driving technique and did an awesome job to get the car to the end. Mark was not far behind at the time and Sebastian conceded the lead. Thereafter Mark drove a fantastic race and had a very deserving victory to sign off what has been an unbelievable year. To have won 12 grand prix and defended both World Championships is fantastic and the timing's right to thank every member of the team for all their hard work. I'd like to also thank Renault and all our partners and obviously a very special thank you to Red Bull and Mr. Mateschitz for all the tremendous support they have shown us all year, without which none of these results would have been possible."

Cyril Dumont, Renault: "A fantastic result. To finish this season with a one-two finish was the result we deserved today. I'm happy for Mark and to see him back on the top step of the podium is great - it's really important for him for now and next year. I would like to thank of course Red Bull but also all the people from Renault, as clearly the reliability has been there all year - so a big thank you to everyone at Viry Chatillon and Mecachrome. I would also like to thank my team here at the track, they have done a wonderful job and now I think they deserve some good holidays."
McLaren-Mercedes

Jenson Button (3rd): "I couldn't really get the soft tyre working around here - we had massive degradation on each set - and that prompted the decision to run two sets of Primes in my final two stints. My pace on the Prime was great - and using two sets really meant I could find a good balance and work out where the grip was. Earlier in the race, it was disappointing to be passed by Fernando [Alonso]. Out of Turn Five, I saw lots of debris on the circuit, and I didn't know what it was. I didn't want to drive over it, and I couldn't pull to the left because Fernando was there, so I had to back out of it and fall behind. It was a pretty easy move for Fernando to make after that. But the Prime was working really well and that helped me chase Fernando down in the final stint and pass him out of Turn Three. Ideally, I wanted to get him into Turn One, because it's more fun to pass someone without using DRS, but I set him up and got him out of Turn Three after getting a good run along the straight. We gave it everything today - and a podium is a great way to end the year. I've had 12 podiums from this season's 19 Grands Prix - and I didn't finish two of them due to reliability issues. All in all, it's been a good, consistent season for us. There are a lot of positives to take away from this year. We'll have a strong winter and come out fighting from the first race. We've just got to start the season a bit more strongly, that's all, and that's what we'll be aiming to do. We want to make it hard for Red Bull in 2012. Finally, I want to say a big thank-you to the whole team - we've really grown together this year. I really feel like I'm part of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes family now: there's an awful lot of passion in our organisation, and I'm proud to be part of it."

Lewis Hamilton (DNF, Gearbox): "At the start I wanted to avoid any aggro, and that meant I lost a position to Fernando. After that I had reasonably decent pace, and I was able to stay close to Fernando and Jenson until I encountered a gearbox problem. It occurred quite early on - I was having problems with first and second - and it meant I started losing quite a lot of time and Fernando and Jenson were able to pull away from me. The problem meant I stopped being able to make good, clean gearshifts. Then I lost seventh, and then the whole thing just let go. Of course, it's not the way I'd like to have ended the season, but it wasn't so bad. I enjoyed my race while it lasted. I was challenging Felipe and I was hoping I'd get him, but then the gearbox failure stopped me. It's been a long year, and I want to say a huge thank-you to the team. They've never given up, and they've worked incredibly hard all season. We didn't get the ultimate result we wanted, but we had some great times along the way. I'll be attacking next season; 2012 will be my year."

Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal: "Today we saw yet another brilliant performance from Jenson, who has driven magnificently all season but particularly in the second half of it. It was his eighth podium finish in the past nine grands prix - and the odd race out in that splendidly consistent sequence was the Korean Grand Prix, in which he finished a fighting fourth. Today he drove cleanly, shrewdly and patiently - but forcefully too - and the way he optimised his pace on the Prime tyre was masterful. He drove his two final stints on the Prime, in fact, which enabled him to hunt down Fernando's Ferrari in the closing stages of the race to take a beautifully judged third place. Lewis drove extremely well today too, but unfortunately he was let down by gearbox failure. Quite early on, we noticed a loss of oil pressure, then he lost seventh gear, and then he lost all drive and was forced to call it a day. But prior to that he was improvising intelligently and never gave up. Moreover, his typically combative approach played a significant part in the afternoon's entertainment, and surely thrilled TV viewers worldwide. Lewis has had a challenging year - but his gutsy performances here and, in particular, in Abu Dhabi, where he took his third win of the season, represent an eloquent testimony to an emphatic return to form on his part. He's already focusing on 2012, and I'm sure he'll prepare for the new season with his customary determination and will to win. The same can be said for all at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines, in fact. We've been concentrating our energies on MP4-27 for some time now, and we'll maintain that intensive effort throughout the winter months. All things considered, 2011 was a pretty decent year for us - we finished second in the constructors' world championship, 122 points ahead of the third-placed team and 332 points ahead of the fourth-placed team - but we aim to win outright. Next season we intend to do just that."
Ferrari

Fernando Alonso (4th): "Yet another race in which we did everything to perfection, from the start to the strategy and the work of the team. The final result is more down to the performance of the others than our own, because we could not have done more. Once again today, we got a very good start, putting a nice passing move on Button, but then, on the Medium tyres, we no longer had the speed to fend him off. I also had a problem with the DRS which would not activate: I was not fighting closely with other drivers, but it would certainly have helped me gain a few tenths while overtaking. This Grand Prix produced an accurate reflection of the season: we have almost always done our maximum, fighting for a podium finish in a car that was not as good as the top two. In terms of team work we grew a lot in 2011 and we must absolutely make this the starting point for a very different 2012. If I had to score our performance, I can but repeat what President Montezemolo said, giving us something between a five and six, but all the same I am proud of what the team was able to do. We need a car that is about five or six tenths quicker: achieving that won't be a walk in the park, but I have every confidence in our engineers and in a team that dominated the last decade in Formula 1 and holds every possible record in this sport. Let us not forget that I managed to get on the podium ten times and to score more points than last year. Losing out on third in the Drivers' Championship is definitely not a big problem: first place is the only one that really counts..."

Felipe Massa (5th): "It was a difficult race, at the end of a weekend that was not the best from a technical point of view. We never managed to find the right balance and then came the sting in the tail of the puncture we discovered yesterday, which robbed me of a set of Softs for the race and thus meant I had to make only two stops. I knew it would be penalising because I would have to do a lot of laps on the Medium, a tyre with which we have a bigger performance gap than on the Softs when compared to our closest competitors. Sure, I would have liked to celebrate my one hundredth Grand Prix with Ferrari with a much different result, but I have to accept the way things went. In fact, the race pretty much summed up the season: reasonably good on the Soft, then struggling on the harder compound. I was very pleased to feel the affection of the crowd, who supported me from the start to the end of the weekend. It's been a difficult year for me and the team and now we can turn the page. We must work on improving the car and I will do all I can never to have such a disappointing season again. I want to say I was pleased that Lewis came round to see me while I was talking to the journalists: it was a very nice gesture on his part. What do I want from Father Christmas? Along with Felipinho, I will be writing and asking for a fantastic car right from start to finish in 2012..."

Stefano Domenicali, Team Principal: "We had hoped and wanted to end the season with at least one more podium finish, even if we knew it would be very difficult given the quality of opponent we had ahead of us after qualifying. Fernando came close to achieving our wish, fighting to the bitter end, but he had to settle for looking up at the podium, which along with Webber's win, means he won't be off to India to take part in the FIA Gala for the top three finishers in the Drivers' Championship: it's a shame because given how he performed this year - he even scored more points than in 2010 - he definitely deserved better. Felipe was forced to adopt a strategy which looked slower on paper, but he had a good race all the same and would have finished fifth on track even without having to wait for the retirement of the second McLaren. Now we can definitely file away a year where our performance was insufficient by our standards and think only of next season. Once again, we congratulate those who did a better job than us and we look forward to facing them again next year, when we will try to be the best of the lot. That is our target and we have no intention of hiding the fact. We have weeks of hard work ahead of us and we will only start to see the fruits of our labours in February, when it's time to fire up the engines again. Finally, let me say I am happy to hear that Lewis came round to see Felipe during his press meeting, which thus puts an end to all the recent misunderstandings."

Pat Fry: "A logical outcome to a not particularly exciting race. We had expected rain but it did not come, even if it occasionally circled the area around the track. Another surprise, unfortunately a negative one, came last night, when we discovered that the right rear tyre from the first set of Soft tyres that Felipe had used in qualifying had a puncture: this meant he had to run a two stop strategy, which we knew would penalise him in terms of overall race time compared to those who were three stopping. Both drivers got great starts: they could have even gained another place but at that point the track ran out! Fernando was fantastic in the first half of the race, passing Button with a very nice move and then he managed the gap in impeccable fashion. Then, once he switched to the Medium tyre, he paid the price we usually do with the harder compound, when compared to McLaren and he was not able to fend off Button's comeback. A shame, as it would have been nice to finish on the podium, but I have to say Fernando has had an incredible 2011, if you just think how often he managed to finish in the top three. Now it's up to us to give him and Felipe a much more competitive car than this one. That is our aim, which we have been thinking about day and night and on which we are pushing as hard as we can. I want to congratulate the entire team for the way they have worked at the track this year. We have made significant steps forward and we must continue down this route for next year. We can expect some busy months ahead when there will be plenty of opportunities to improve still further."
Mercedes GP

Nico Rosberg (7th): "Today wasn't an ideal ending to the season, and although I scored some points, I expected to finish higher than P7. I didn't get a good start, and I had problems with my tyres overheating as the track temperatures were very high. So I had to manage my tyres very carefully during the whole race which impacted on the pace. Now I'm looking ahead and I hope we can do better in 2012. I look forward to an exciting time in the winter as we work hard to develop a better car for next year."

Michael Schumacher (15th): "It was a bit of a shame today with the incident with Bruno, which was caused perhaps due to some lack of experience, but then those things happen. Otherwise I think we could have had a nice race with some solid points. After the collision, all I could do was try to fight as much as possible, and hope for rain which did not come. In the first stint after the incident, my car was not well-balanced with a lot of oversteer. Unfortunately we could not change this at the pit stop which handicapped the balance in the second stint, whereas in the last stint the balance was good. We very much look forward to next season now. With all the effort that is being put into the development of the car, I am confident we can make another step forward to where Mercedes belongs; fighting at the top."

Ross Brawn, Team Principal: "Nico didn't have a great car balance today, struggling with oversteer, and he had to look after the tyres very carefully. He experienced high levels of degradation and consequently had a frustrating afternoon trying to manage the balance, in a situation where the tyres were particularly sensitive. Michael had a good battle with Senna in the early laps, and his pass at the start of lap 10 was clear-cut. However, Senna showed his inexperience trying to defend a position that he had already lost, and the contact ruined Michael's race. After an unplanned stop to replace his punctured tyre, Michael was able to demonstrate the car's innate pace, thanks to a better car balance, and his lap times looked reasonably competitive. I want to say thank you to all the team in Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart, whose efforts have not waned at any point during a long season. There are accomplishments we can be proud of this season, such as our consistently strong pit stops, and we know that we need to put everything together next year. Finally, I would like to highlight the excellent support we have enjoyed from all our partners in 2011. Formula One is a true team sport, and they have played an integral role in helping us build towards a more successful future."

Norbert Haug, Mercedes Motorsport Director: "It was certainly not a perfect end to our season and not the results we had wanted to achieve at this final race in Brazil. We need to investigate why Nico's speed over the major part of the race, suffering from a less than optimal car balance, was quite different to Michael's, who had an unfortunate coming-together during his second passing move of the race. This cost him dearly as he had to do a whole lap with a punctured left-rear tyre, but his pace afterwards did not look bad at all. I would like to take the opportunity at this season's final race to say thank you to all our team members in Brackley, Brixworth, Stuttgart and Fellbach for their dedicated work and relentless efforts. Also, I would like to thank all the partners and families of our team members - without their fantastic support, our colleagues could not get their demanding jobs done. There will be a short and well-deserved break for most of our team around Christmas before attacking next year with a better technical package, and the clear target of closing the gap to the top of the field."
Renault

Vitaly Petrov (10th): "Definitely it is good to finish with a point, which was a good response to yesterday's qualifying position. My race start was good and my speed was not too bad and I was quite happy with the car. We came in quite early and I think we lost out being behind both Toro Rosso as it was very difficult to overtake them. I lost quite a lot of time like this, otherwise I think I could have been ahead of Kamui Kobayashi and it would have been better to finish in P9 instead of P10. The pit stops were better, with one very good one - my crew were working well right up to the end of the season. I wanted more points this year. It was not a fantastic season but I want to say thank you to all the team who have supported me and believed in me. Next year is another season and I hope we can work even better together and achieve much better results."

Bruno Senna (17th): "What can I say - it's been quite a difficult day and the overall feeling is one of disappointment. I started the race in a healthy position on the grid and I was hoping to capitalise on that. There were many difficulties preventing us from having a better race, namely the incident with Michael and the gearbox problems. I would love to have given my home fans something to smile about, but unfortunately it was not to be."

Eric Boullier, Team Principal: "There are positives to take from today. On the surface, 10th and 17th positions would not seem good enough but we took a point from the final race of the season. Vitaly did this for us from a lowly 15th position on the starting grid, so that has to be commended - he drove a reasonably good race. Bruno was unfortunate not to have a better time of things in front of his home fans. The team have once again put in a lot of hard work this weekend and I'm very thankful to everyone for that."

Alan Permane, Chief Race Engineer: "A tricky race for us as those we were racing were able to run to two stops and our tyre wear meant that we had to make three. Vitaly drove strongly to go from 15th to 10th, whereas Bruno's race was totally compromised with a gearbox issue leaving him without fourth gear. Bruno didn't suffer from his wing making contact with Michael's car and it would have taken longer to change the wing than we would have gained from replacing it. Bruno's contact with Michael looked like a racing incident so we were surprised at the penalty, but of course we respect the stewards' decision. Overall, it's certainly been a trying season and I can't wait till next year."

Riccardo Penteado, Engine Support Leader: "The Brazilian GP is not a tough one for engines, but on account of the high altitude the RS27 engine can be around 8% down on power. We tried to compensate for this with an aggressive engine strategy on both cars and it paid off for Vitaly as he gained five positions and finished in the points, which is quite satisfying after a challenging second half of the season. Unfortunately Bruno had a few issues in the race which meant he couldn't capitalise on his strong starting position, but the most important is that we consolidated fifth in the constructors' championship."
Williams-Cosworth

Rubens Barrichello (14th): "We thought it was going to rain today so we were running a long first gear. I started at the bottom of the hill, and as it was a dry start, I slipped back. It was a fun race but we don't have a car that can finish in the points just yet. I want to thank the team for all their hard work this year. We have had a tough season but we've pushed together. There's been a lot of talk over the weekend, but I believe I will be back again next season."

Pastor Maldonado (DNF, Spin): "I had a good start until I lost position fighting for space on track. Our overall pace during the race was fine, but the rear wing setting slightly held us back on the long straight. My retirement came after I passed Senna on lap 26. The car had too much oversteer and I just lost control of it."

Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer: "Rubens had a difficult start which cost him a number of positions. We then changed his planned two stop strategy to a three as we were experiencing higher tyre wear than expected. Rubens continued to push hard to finish in P14, having held Schumacher off for the last few laps of the race. Pastor ran wide in turn 6/7 on lap 26 and had to stop having damaged the car. Rubens and Pastor fought hard today but ultimately did not have the pace to finish in the points. I'd like to thank the team for all their efforts this season."
Force India-Mercedes

Adrian Sutil (6th): "I'm really happy about the result today. It completes a great weekend where everything went to plan. I had a good feeling in all the sessions and the team did a brilliant job to give me such a good car today. We also made the right calls with the strategy because we knew there was a chance to beat Mercedes, and that's exactly what we did. So I'm very happy with my sixth place - it's the best way to end the year and it also means that I move up to ninth place in the drivers' championship, which was my aim."

Paul di Resta (8th): "My eighth place today is a great result after quite a tough race for me. There was a concern with the gearbox around half way through the race so the team told me to just try and bring the car home. In the final stint it was just a case of managing the gap to Kobayashi behind me and we had enough to do that quite easily in the end. So that's the end of my first season of Formula 1 and it's been a great year, especially now we have finished sixth in the championship. It's well deserved for the entire team and I want to thank everyone for their help and support during this amazing year."

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: "Today's result is the perfect way to end what has been a tremendous season for Sahara Force India. Adrian and Paul drove brilliant races to add 12 more points to our tally and confirm our sixth place in the championship - our highest finish to date. I'm also very pleased that we could move Adrian up to ninth in the drivers' standings. As a team we have taken great strides forward this season and now is the time to congratulate everyone who has contributed to that. We head into the winter in good spirits and determined to come back even stronger next year to pick up where we left off."
Sauber-Ferrari

Kamui Kobayashi (9th): "The team did a very good job to recover from a really bad qualifying. I had a good start and also a good race pace. We worked a lot on the race pace and I'm happy that I was able to score in the final two races of the season. It was important for us to finish ahead of Toro Rosso and I'm glad we managed to do that. The strategy was good and the car was as well - many thanks to the guys. After we have struggled a bit in the second half of the season, we have a lot to work on over the winter. I think it is good that we will have the same team with the same drivers again, but we want to become stronger."

Sergio Perez (13th): "The team's main target for today was to make sure we finished the season in seventh, and I am very happy that this was achieved, although I couldn't contribute this time. As a team I think we are all already looking forward to the next season. After all that has happened I am happy with my rookie season. I have learned a lot and with this experience I want to do a good job in 2012. However, my race today wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. The start was fine, but we had opted for wet conditions and the result was that the rear tyres tended to overheat. The car was quite difficult to drive and I'm sorry for the spin at half distance."

Peter Sauber, Team Principal: "It was an important result today. We were able to move up one position in the constructors' championship compared to last year, which is good for the morale of the team. Kamui drove a fantastic race, making up positions in the early laps and then driving fast and consistently to take two championship points. Thanks to the whole team at the track, in Hinwil and to our partner Ferrari."

Giampaolo Dall'Ara, Head of Track Engineering: "Everything went according to plan today. Both drivers were able to make up positions in the early stages of the race. It was important that Kamui was immediately in front of Sebastien Buemi and Sergio directly behind him and in front of Jaime Alguersuari. This is want we wanted. After that it was a matter of controlling the race. Our strategy was to be ready for some rain, which was predicted but in the end didn't happen. So for both drivers the tyre choice was soft, soft and medium. As it has been for most of the time this year, our pace was good in the race. Congratulations to the whole team."
Toro Rosso-Ferrari

Jaime Alguersuari (11th): "This was a difficult race right from the start, with low grip in the first stint on the softer tyre, especially in terms of traction and at the exit to slow corners and I was struggling a lot to follow Buemi and Perez. The second stint on the harder tyre was much better, but it's hard to understand in general why we seem to have lost performance in the last two races. Overall, I am happy to finish the season on 26 points whereas last year I had only five, so hopefully I can continue this improvement by doing better next year."

Sebastien Buemi (12th): "Of course, we were hoping to score points today, but we were not competitive enough, finishing 11th and 12th. I got a good start, passing Jaime and Barrichello but after that I soon suffered with tyre degradation partly because we did not have the best set up for these conditions, but in terms of my own performance I feel I did the best I could. I am disappointed we could not get ahead of Sauber, but that's racing. Overall, the season has not been too bad and I had some good races, but I lost points with various mishaps and problems. The team has worked well but we need to improve still further next year if we want to do better than this."

Franz Tost, Team Principal: "At the start of the season, we set ourselves the target of finishing at least eighth in the Constructors' championship and that is where we have finished, 36 points ahead of those in ninth place. However, having come so close to challenging for seventh place when we picked up a significant number of points in Korea and India, we cannot be happy with missing out on overtaking the team ahead of us, failing to score in the last two races. As for today's race, Sebastien got a good start, while Jaime dropped a couple of places and then on the Soft tyre, we struggled to match the pace of the Saubers who had got ahead of us at the start and therefore Kobayashi pulled away a bit. Once back on the Medium compound, Jaime was able to close the gap but not enough to get past. As for Buemi, he did not have the pace today, which was partly due to the fact we opted to give him a set-up that would have been more suited to a wet race. Work is already well underway on our next year's car and as from tomorrow, the entire team's focus switches to 2012."
Lotus-Renault

Heikki Kovalainen (16th): "Thank you to everyone for another excellent weekend for the team where I don't think we could have got anything more from the whole package. All afternoon the car felt great and we managed to make the most of the performance we put in yesterday in qualifying. I had another great start today, they've really been excellent for some time now, and from there I got straight into a good rhythm right throughout the whole race. I had a few issues with the blue flags towards the end, with so many cars coming around it kind of messes with your own race, but that's just something you have to deal with. All year we've kept on progressing and we've finished on a real high with that tenth place so we're set us up perfectly for next year where we can take another step forward in the development of this team."

Jarno Trulli (18th): "For me it was a pretty standard race. I didn't have a great start but was easily ahead of the cars we needed to beat today and it was really just about getting the car home in one piece so we could seal our place in the championship. I want to thank the whole team for the work they've done this weekend and all year. We keep on progressing and it's great to be part of something that shows real signs of where it can go."

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "Almost tears for me today! I am absolutely overjoyed. Two years of hard work have paid off today and it was great to see both cars home safely, helping us win tenth place. The icing on the cake was beating a Renault - that meant a lot to me as I have always said the good guys do win. We have a fantastic little team here, and some incredible partners in GE, Dell, Intel, APC and CNN and I know how much it means to each and every person associated with us to have finished this season where we wanted to. Now we look forward to our new life as Caterham F1 Team and we say goodbye to Team Lotus. Colin - we hope we did you proud and we hope you keep an eye over us as Caterham F1 Team. We know we will do you proud there as well."

Mike Gascoyne, Technical Director: "I think that is a great way to end the season and secure tenth place. It was a tense afternoon for us with all the possible weather changes, but the conditions held off and we had the sort of race we have been putting in for much of this year. Both drivers were pushing all afternoon - with Jarno we put him on a two stop race which meant he had to look after his tyres. That might have ended up costing him some time, but with Heikki we ran a three stop race and he brought his car home where we thought he could. Really though today is about doing the job for our shareholders and our partners, in particular Renault Sport F1 and Red Bull Technology who have played such a key role in today's success. Congratulations to our shareholders for the rewards we have now gained from finishing tenth for two seasons running. They deserve this success for the incredible support they give us every day and we will keep working hard to make them proud."

Thierry Salvi, Renault: "That was a good race for us. Both drivers were able to maintain their positions which was not such an easy task because of the amount of activity on track, but they finished where we aimed for and that was what was all important. What I do want to talk about is the relationship between Team Lotus and Renault Sport F1. We have had a very good year in terms of how our partnership has developed. The whole team were very easy to work with right from day one and we have put ourselves in a very good position to keep moving forward next year."
HRT-Cosworth

Daniel Ricciardo (20th): "The race was a bit up and down because the pace was a bit mixed. In the first stint for the first laps it seemed that I was quicker than Tonio and Glock but then a few laps later they were pulling away so it was hard to know if I was quicker or not. In the second stint we went with option tyres again and our pace wasn't bad but I think we abused the tyres a bit too much and I had to pit a bit earlier for the primes because the tyres were finished. It took a few laps for the primes to start working but once they did the times were better than ever. At that stage D'Ambrosio was too far in front but the positive thing for me was that I was able to continue producing good lap times towards the end of the race. It's been a really good six months and I'm happy with how the season has gone, you always want a bit more but realistically it has been really good and I have learned a lot. I want to thank HRT and Red Bull for giving me the opportunity to come and do it."

Vitantonio Liuzzi (DNF, Alternator): "At the start my car went into anti-stall so when I dropped the clutch the car stopped and everyone passed me and, therefore, I was last coming into the first corner but then during the first lap I managed to make up for it. Everything went well in qualifying and during the race we had a good pace and competed well with the Virgins so it's a great shame that I suffered an alternator failure towards the end which forced us to retire. It's unfortunate because we wanted to finish the season with a strong result. It's a shame because we could have achieved it. Now we have to work hard for next year and try to recover from this problem and make up for it in the future because we need to be strong and competitive in every race."

Colin Kolles, Team Principal: "After yesterday's performance, we were hoping for a better race. Neither Tonio nor Daniel had a good start and we lost the position to the Virgin but from there both drivers had a good pace throughout the race. The pit stops were also good but, unfortunately, we couldn't finish the race with both cars due to an alternator failure on Tonio's car at the final stages. It has been a hard and difficult season but I want to say thank you to Tonio, Narain and Daniel, but also all the mechanics and team personnel for their efforts and commitment to the team. I'm proud of them all."
Virgin-Cosworth

Jerome d'Ambrosio (19th): "I think today was a great race and a great way to finish the season for me. We did a good job in qualifying yesterday and today was one of my best races so far. I'm happy this has happened here in Brazil, as I love this track. I'm also glad to finish ahead of HRT - definitely a very positive way to end the season. I want to thank the team for all their hard work. I have really enjoyed working together with them this year."

Timo Glock (DNF, Wheel): "A very disappointing way to end the season. It's a real shame to have had to retire after losing the left-rear tyre after my first pit-stop but unfortunately these things happen. So it wasn't the way I would have liked to end the season but, anyway, I want to thank the team for all the effort they have put in during the whole year. It has been great to work together."

John Booth, Team Principal: "Both drivers had excellent starts and were it not for Timo being over to the left into Turn 1 I'm sure they would both have emerged n front of the HRTs. Jerome drove another strong race and really proved that yesterday's qualifying positions were an anomaly for us this season. We apologise to Timo for the incident in his pit-stop which cost him the chance to end his season on the high note that would have been reflective of his commitment all year. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our team on their hard work and dedication right through to the end of what has been a long and challenging season. We may have suffered one final disappointment here today, but ultimately we have achieved a great deal in terms of laying important foundations for a more successful future. I would also like to thank our Partners for their unfailing support and we look forward to rewarding their faith in the steps we are taking to ensure we can all look forward to some very positive times ahead. Our thanks also to Cosworth and Pirelli for the positive working relationship we have shared this season."
source: www.grandprix.com

Post-race press conference - Brazil

2011-11-27T17:45:00.000-08:00

Mark WEBBER: Yeah, very good. Felt good all weekend to be honest. Seb did a great lap for pole yesterday but y'know today I had a little bit of the rub of the green. It would have been nice to have a race with Sebastian all the way through but I think he's had a little bit of a problem. It's a win that you'll take, for sure, because I've had enough bad luck and whatever you want to call it. That's the way that motorsport goes sometimes. So, very important win for me and the team again to finish on a high. I enjoyed the last few laps, to be honest. It's always nice when you finally... I could pit a bit later and cover people off and do all that sort of stuff, so that was good. I enjoyed doing the last few laps. That was a nice way to finish. I want to dedicate this win to a close friend of myself and my family, Bob Woods, who's a very ill man at the moment, so this win is for him.

Q. Sebastian, you compared yourself to Ayrton Senna here in 1991, nursing a gearbox problem for a lot of the race. Describe the struggle you had today to get to the chequered flag.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Sebastian VETTEL: The difference is he won! Yeah, it was a real shame because I had a very good start and then a good feeling. I was able to pull a gap straight away at the beginning of the race but very early got the call that we have to manage a gearbox problem. And yeah, I had to turn down the engine, short-shift and it was just getting worse throughout the race so I ended up using higher gears pretty much everywhere and that's why the comparison came into my head. Nevertheless, Mark drove a fantastic race, he deserved to win. I don't really like calling this bad luck. Surely, if something like this happens it's not in your hands. Still, I tried to do my best: tried to stay as close as I can; tried to keep the gap to Fernando for most of the race and then Jenson at the end. I think we had a pretty amazing season and I think it would be over the top being upset now. We take this second place and a one-two finish for the team, which is great and yeah, it has been a phenomenal year and a very strong finish as well so now I think we are all ready for the winter and looking forward to the break to recharge our batteries and come back as strong as this year, hopefully, at the beginning of the season next year.

Q. Jenson, a fighting drive to the podium today after losing a place to Fernando Alonso earlier on.

Jenson BUTTON: Yeah, it was a difficult race for me on the softer of the two tyres. Fernando was very close out of turn five, so I covered the line into six. Normally it's an easy place to block but I looked at where he was and then when I looked forward again there was lots of debris on the inside. I think it was Michael's [Schumacher] tyre and a bit of front wing. As soon as I saw that I didn't want to drive through it. I couldn't pull to the left because Fernando was already there, so I had to back out of it and just pull in behind Alonso. That was a bit disappointing and a little bit unlucky - but I just didn't have the pace on the softer of the two tyres. We decided to put the harder tyre on for the last two stints and it worked pretty well for me, especially the last stint where I could hunt down Fernando. Ferrari, I think, struggle on the harder of the two tyres. I was able to make the pass but third was as high as we could get. I was qualifying every lap but I still couldn't catch Seb.

Q. Mark, it got a little tight between you and Fernando after the first round of stops. He took three-and-a-half seconds out of you there. Were you ever concerned at that point?

MW: Well I knew he gained something out of that first round of stops. Obviously I went a bit longer than I would have liked to because Seb had the priority obviously on the first stop, so I was out of juice on the tyres at that point so I knew I was going to lose if someone else was going a bit shorter. In the case it wasn't just to lose out a bit to Seb obviously I lost out a bit more to Fernando. I was a bit surprised at the margin, nearly three seconds or a bit over. He must have had a good stop and risked a little bit more here and there on in and out laps. I think I had a bit of traffic on my out lap as well, so, y'know, sometimes that's just the way it goes.

Q. Sebastian, sum up your feeling on what's been a pretty historic and dominant season for you.

SV: You have time? Keep it brief

SV: It's difficult to sum up. I think it was a great end of the season to finish with both cars on the podium, a one-two. Surely I would have loved to have finished the race in a normal way today but nevertheless I think we had a great, great season. Pretty incredible. Going into the season we thought we have a competitive car, maybe we can win some races but it has been phenomenal. The team has been faultless most of the time, so they've raised their level massively compared to the last two years. We seem to enjoy what we do. It's nice every weekend to come into the garage, see the boys with a smile on their faces, being happy with what they do. At the end of the day I don't think it really matters if you, I don't know, race Formula One cars, touring cars, sports or business, as long as you enjoy. I think one thing about us: you walk into the garage, I think even as a guest, and you get that feeling that we really love what we do. We are passionate and it doesn't matter if we have to work until late or work harder than others. We are ready to take that because we know how sweet it can taste at the end of the race, at the end of a grand prix or the end of the season. I'm really grateful to all the guys here on the track but more so even to the guys in the factory. All year long pushing to keep the car at the level that it is. McLaren were pushing massively and I think at the end we were pretty even. I don't think that one car really had the edge. Sometimes here, sometimes there, but all in all it was much tighter than probably it looked. Looking at the Championship score obviously it wasn't that tight but that shows how good we work on the operational side. More or less getting 100 per cent out of us as a package all the time. We can be really proud of that. I'm very proud to be part of that. This will be a year that we will look back to and always be very proud of.

Q. Jenson, you're confirmed second place in the Championship, a strong end to a strong season. Where do you and McLaren go from here?

JB: Into a long winter, ready for next year. I think at this moment in time we shouldn't think too much about next year this evening. We should celebrate what we've done this year. It hasn't been perfect, no, these guys have been quicker than us, more consistent than us, but all round it's been a reasonable season. We've grown as a team together and I think that we have a very good base going into 2012, so I'd just like to say a big thank you to everyone for 2011, thank you to all the guys involved in the team but also the other guys who've surrounded me for the last 12 years of my career. Big thanks to them and bring on 2012.

Q. Mark, finishing with you, obviously a dominant year for Red Bull but next year are you going to give the little fellow to your right [Vettel] a bit of a harder time, do you think?

MW: I think I can have a stronger season than this year. Clearly I started off poorly for lots of different reasons. You've got to look at all different areas to get at the highest level, and when the bar's high it's obviously not just Seb. I don't come here thinking about just him, we've got some class operators in other teams: JB, Lewis, Fernando these boys are on the case. So, that's what makes it rewarding. It's a nice little tonic for me to finish the year, that's why those last few laps for me to feel the car and give the RB7 a bit of a send off for me because it hasn't had an amazing amount of memories for me but today was a very special day for me and I'll have that over the winter. Although some other nice drives as well but Seb clearly had a great year and so did the team, Renault, reliability. We were bomb-proof in many areas and that made it hard for the opposition. So that is important. And I'm looking forward to learning how to surf in the winter and backing off a bit, recharging and then coming back in February and concentrating on the job again. PRESS CONFERENCE

Q. Well done, Mark. Is there a little bit of relief there, to have won?

MW: There is, yeah. Just the feeling is nice. Obviously in motor sport you take them as they come. It was actually brewing into a reasonable little battle with Seb and I. The pace wasn't too bad at the end of my stints. I'm not exactly sure when he started to have a few little issues, but obviously I can only control what I'm doing, so I kept pushing and then really it was down to then covering off whatever Fernando might be able to do, and that obviously turned out to be possible and then we spread the race out, then obviously made sure we loaded the tyres correctly to get to the flag. Yes, with ten laps to go, I started to think 'OK, it's nice to finish the year with a win, nice to finish with the car feeling good underneath you, nice to have my second victory here in Brazil it's always been a nice little track for me, a little classic.' It's been a pretty good year but not like 2010 obviously, so all the guys on my car, Gav and Ciaron in particular, have worked their nuts off all year so it's been good, and I'm happy to get the win today.

Q. And you were talking about those last ten laps; certainly the last three were all fastest laps of the race.

MW: Yeah, it was getting a bit frustrating because I kept pinching the front a little bit into turn eight. On the last lap I got it a little bit better otherwise I was probably going to bail a bit earlier, but I kept pushing pretty hard. Yeah, that's what it's about, isn't it, pushing yourself and backing yourself and having a crack. I was only racing myself at that point so it was a nice little feeling, as I say, to have the car working well underneath me. As I said, this winter a close family friend of ours has been in very very ill health so I dedicate this win to him.

Q. What was the team saying to you about Sebastian's problems?

MW: It came pretty quickly. I thought he was either in tyre trouble way earlier than he should be or no KERS or something was going on, because one thing Seb doesn't do is forget how to drive from one lap to the other. When I started to take a pretty big chunk out of him per lap, I thought something might have been going down and then Ciaron informed me that he had a gearbox problem and I think I could smell it a little bit when I got close, and there was also a little bit of fluid. Normally, that's a nice feeling OK, it was mixed obviously for me, because there was the chance to get the win but I know how hard the guys worked on Seb's gearbox last night because it wasn't completely smooth. They got it together but it turned out, obviously, in the end that something's let them down. I thought that with that far to go in the race he obviously would not finish but the car still got home and that's it.

Q. When exactly did the problem occur, Sebastian. Was it lap 13 when you started to lose time to Mark? Was it before the stop or after?

SV: Yeah, it was already at the end of the first stint. It was during the first stint, at some stage, that I got the message 'we have a gearbox issue'. It sounded pretty strong, pretty severe, so I turned down the engine and then immediately started to short shift and it just kept getting worse. I got through the first pit stop and obviously gained a little bit on Mark, because I came in a lap earlier but then at some stage I realised that it was still pretty early in the race, our main priority is to finish the race and Mark would be catching up and the most important thing would be to help the team to win the race. I tried to be very clear on the radio that I cannot keep first position with the pace that we were going or whatever they asked me to do, what was required to manage the gearbox and then I told them 'OK, but obviously advise Mark' or 'tell Mark that I would let him through', to give him the chance to keep pushing, don't lose any time getting past me because at that stage I didn't know whether I would see the chequered flag or not. So I'm really happy to be here, but obviously it was a little bit of a shame. I then just kept losing more and more time towards the end, so I had to be more and more conservative. At some stage I said that 'I feel like Senna in 1991 when he had to manage the gearbox problem around here'. Obviously it was totally different for him, he was Brazilian and he still managed to win the race. I was forced to push in areas where I was allowed to, in the corners, but as soon as I went on the straight, I obviously had to shift earlier. I don't know if you have walked the track or have run the track, but getting out of the last corner is pretty steep so there was no chance to really I tried to stay with Mark as well as I could, in case the problem solved itself and we could go again, but in the end I was just trying to keep the gap. When I heard that Jenson was going on P2 I wasn't very happy because I've heard that a couple of times, when he was coming through at the end of the race, but this time we had enough pace in hand to keep him behind and enough of a gap, so that was fine, but all in all, as I said earlier, I'm very happy. It would be wrong to complain today, it's an amazing result for the team to finish first and second. Mark drove a very good race and had very strong pace, so I'm not sitting here and saying if if if this and that, then I would have won. The fact is that he won the race, he deserved to. As I said, we've had an incredible year, the team, myself, so I'm not really wanting to complain.

Q. We did see the fairly rare sight of you off the circuit as well.

SV: Yeah, I was a bit surprised when I got onto the primes and warm-up was a bit poor and then I think I just got caught out with the traffic ahead and lost too much at the front with a little bit of warmup. It's quite tricky, the exit kerb of turn four, because it's off-camber and then it pulls you to the exit or off-track and then I said 'OK, there's no point' so I tried to open, give the car enough space and come back easy on the circuit before I tried to do something stupid, so that was that.

Q. Jenson, was it planned that both of you would come in fairly early? You were about the first and second to pit.

JB: No, I pitted earlier than expected. I really struggled on the tyre that I've been struggling with all weekend and strangely, I couldn't look after the tyre, I really struggled with degradation, especially at the rear end, which was a little bit of a shock. But for me, the problem in the first stint was Fernando, he pushed me very hard, and when someone's doing that, you have to drive a little bit harder, so I was pushing the tyres pretty hard. And then Fernando got the run on me out of turn five, got alongside me and I picked the wrong line, because that lap is when Michael had his puncture and there was rubber all down the inside (of the track) and I didn't know what it was, whether it was part of a car, so I couldn't risk just driving straight through it, and I couldn't pull to the left because Fernando was there, so I had to back off early and pull in behind. I would say he was gifted the position quite easily. And then I pitted early because I couldn't look after the tyres, so that was the issue, put a second set on, exactly the same thing happened and then we went to the prime tyre where the pace was much better, the car felt more consistent and the good thing was that we could get a good feeling on that tyre for the last stint, when I stuck on some new primes and I was able to hunt down Fernando. It was definitely the right call. I think we need to look at the reasons why I couldn't look after that tyre because it's quite unusual, but all in all, it ended well and I had a lot of fun fighting with Fernando today.

Q. At one point you were on the prime and Lewis was on the option and you were still lapping quicker than he was.

JB: Yes. I don't know, I don't know if it was just our car with that tyre, I don't know. For me, we made the right call in the end, but we just didn't have the pace to fight these two today, but I'm happy to be on the podium. It's nice to get my 12th podium this year. As I said before, it's been a good year, it's not been a perfect year but it's been a good year and we can really take a lot from this season, a lot of positives, sort out a few little issues that we had with reliability and I think we will be looking pretty good. I think for us the main thing is to have a strong winter we're not able to drive the car but have a strong winter at the factory and come out fighting at the first test not at the first race. But no, a big thank you to the guys. I think we've really grown as a team this year, I feel a big part of the family of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. They might not look like it from the outside but they do have a lot of passion and they will do anything to win.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q. (Livio Oricchio O Estado de Sao Paulo) Mark and Sebastian: we also heard that Sebastian had gear problems and suddenly, very hard gear problems. Then we started following your lap times. We should expect you to lose time in sector two maybe, when you used the low gears which your mechanics suggested you use. But you didn't lose time there and you could maintain the pace with Mark and you also finished very close to him. We had the impression at some times, I'm sorry to say, that it might not be true.

SV: I can tell you that I had a gearbox problem and I was forced to I didn't like the message but I had no choice. Either you finish the race or you don't. As I said, I turned down the engine, I felt happy in the car and I felt more and more able to understand the tyres after the first stint and keep the pace reasonably well, so I tried to stay as close as I could with Mark and then push where I was allowed to which was in the corners, not so much as soon as I started feeling the throttle, because I was forced to use high gears and upshift earlier. At the beginning, I think I was able to keep reasonably close, especially in the second sector. Of course, I lost not traction but then acceleration but then the straights are relatively short in the second sector. But then if you compare the last sector, for instance, which has only one corner, and then it's killing uphill when you have to upshift early. At some stage I got the message 'we need to save the gearbox and slow down' but I told them that I'm aware and I wasn't pushing hard. Yeah, I think we had good pace in the car and we were quite quick on the soft tyres at the end. Obviously it was more about getting the car to the chequered flag, but you can believe me, if I had the choice, I would have gone for the racing option.

MW: Well, I didn't drive Seb's car. All I can do is what I can do. When I first got past Seb, obviously, I realised that the race was not over for him, but I thought, OK, I'm maybe managing the race with the other guys, because problems normally only get worse. So my rhythm wasn't only judging myself against Seb at that point. If I pushed, obviously, most of the time it was half a second per lap or four tenths, and then some laps it would the same, mainly because I was not completely disciplined myself because I knew I could give the tyre a bit of a chance to breathe a bit more and make the stints a bit longer, and keep the gap at whatever it was. Some laps I could push, obviously, and give the tyres a bit more of a chance when I had less fuel and stuff like that. I've agreed with you many times this year, but not this time.

JB: Viewing this from the outside, I can say whatever I wanted, but as a driver you learn to adapt to a situation. If you're told to save fuel, if you're told to save brakes, you learn to adapt and you drive in a different manner. Many times this year we've saved fuel and you can pretty much match a lap time after five or six laps, because you adapt to it and you drive in a different way. That's what we're paid to do.

Q. (Frederic Ferret L'Equipe) Seb, at what time did you think you might take all risks to catch Mark or did you prefer to save second place?

SV: It's never nice to finish second when you know you have a car or a package good enough to fight for victory. But yeah, very early in the race I got the message and then, as I said, the main priority was to make sure that at least if I went out, Mark could carry on and win the race. I didn't want to hold him up, so I gave way and after that, more and more, I was forced to slow down and in the end, I was going round and not using second gear, which around here, in the slow speed corners, is not a help. Sure, I lost time, but in the end I don't want to sit here complaining. As the team told me and as I understood, the most important thing was to finish the race and it's great to be on the podium here. I think the people here at Interlagos are very passionate about racing, the drivers' parade is very nice. When we stand on the truck and go around the lap, there are so many people cheering for what we do. They get excited for what we do a little bit later on on the same day. It's great to be part of that and then going into the track, you never know what's going to happen, so if you see the chequered flag and then stand on the podium, get a trophy, it's not a bad day.

Q. (Dan Knutson National Speed Sport News) Mark, your season started off with momentum, quite bumpy; thing smoothed out, pace got better. How much will this win kickstart the momentum for next year and give you a flying start?

MW: Well, Dan, even if the win didn't come today, I think there were some positive signs in the last three or four events. To be honest, the team knows there's been some races where it's been a reasonable pace for me, considering some of the things that have been going on, whether that's damage to the car or bits and bobs here and there. That's not an excuse, it's just what happened. Sometimes my pace on Sundays has definitely been better than it was at the start of the year so there were some indications to get more positive. Today was a good Grand Prix for me, the pace was good, all that sort of stuff. Obviously if Seb we're not sure how it would have turned out but maybe I wouldn't have finished too far behind, maybe a little bit ahead. Who knows how it would have worked out if he made a mistake or whatever, or if I made a mistake? We can't judge what would have happened in the rest of today's Brazilian Grand Prix but it's not a bad thing to finish the year like this. One of the most important things is that I've started to feel the car a little bit better, in terms of direction and working better with the guys and what we need to do, which happened a while ago, not just at this race but starting to get a bit more of an understanding, which, together, has actually helped both of us again, because we've got the most out of the car and that's been a success for the team as well. Yeah, happy for the win mate, that's for sure.

Q. (Kate Walker Girl Racer): This is for all three of you. We saw quite a high number of gearbox problems in the course of the race. I was wondering, do you guys think that's mechanical fatigue at the end of the year or the particular challenges of Interlagos?

MW: I think it's mechanic fatigue maybe? Caipirinhas? You never know. It's been a long year, maybe a bit of a coincidence. Turn two is pretty hard, inside, outside with the rear end of the car there. The gearboxes these days are pretty reliable. They've got to do a lot of events. I don't know in terms of the cycles of where people were with their boxes but I think because we've had a couple of high-profile ones today obviously one with Lewis and Seb who got home that's the way it's been but it's unusual to have retirements these days. Normally the cars are like a computer game: they just keep going round. The drivers drive them. We had a few stoppages today.

SV: I'm not sure. My gearbox was brand new, so it was the first race. Maybe we should have kept the old one, I don't know. I think yes, the circuit is pretty rough but on the other hand there are places where it's way worse. Street circuits where you use low gears all the time, you do very short ratios in the car so you have a lot of changing gear Fatigue would be a bit odd after only one race, not even that.

Q. (Rodrigo Gini O Estado de Minas) Question for Mark and another for Jenson. Mark, you had it seems this time you had a quite normal start, you hadn't any problem and sometime you had a gap of up to three seconds to Sebastian. Do you think under normal conditions you'd have been able to fight him on the race? And to Jenson, do you think that without that stuff with the exhausts at the start of the year, the pre-season where the team needed to revamp the rear part of the car, you should be able to be here still fighting for the Championship and do you think having the right things in the right place next year, you'll be able to make a better year and fight Red Bull?

MW: As you say, the gap was in the three-second window. Be nice to be a bit less but that's what it was at that point. When you're within that margin it can be the drop of a wheel nut, it can be a small lapse of concentration from Seb and you're there. So, it's impossible to say how the rest of the race would have gone. Sebastian was very strong in qualifying and very strong at the start of the stints and I felt I was a bit more comfortable at the end of the stints, which was probably one of the first times this year, to be honest. Difficult to say mate, but it would have been a very tough race to challenge Seb hard but we never know.

JB: I don't think we can take anything away from Seb and Red Bull this year. I think they've done a phenomenal job and it's wrong to say we could have fought them if we had a better winter. We don't know that. What we do know is that we didn't have a very good winter. The guys did a great job of turning it around for the first race. Our performance was pretty good but obviously you lose a lot of preparation work in terms of reliability but also in terms of set-up and moving forward in terms of aerodynamics and also the blown diffuser. It wasn't an easy start of the season but it's just the way it is. These guys had a better start to the season. For next year? We hope we have a winter, basically, of testing, whereas this winter we didn't. We didn't really do any set-up work because of the issues that we had. Hopefully we can start the year off well in testing and not do all of our set-up work at the first race. Actually do something over the winter tests. That's the aim for 2012. And I hope we can achieve that.
source: uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

Mark Webber win rounds off great year for Red Bull

2011-11-27T17:42:00.000-08:00

MARK Webber won the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix yesterday after Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel struggled with a gearbox problem.

Vettel, who had already secured the Formula 1 title, finished second after letting Webber get past him almost halfway through the race at the 4.3km (2.6-mile) Interlagos track in Sao Paulo.

Britain’s Jenson Button of McLaren finished third to win second place in the drivers’ standings after a solid season.

Webber easily passed Vettel on lap 30 after his team-mate reduced his pace on being told by the team that there were problems with his gearbox.

“Very early I got the call that we had to manage the gearbox problem,” Vettel said. “It sounded pretty severe. It started to get worse. My main priority was to finish the race.”

Webber finished third in the championship with the victory, his first of the season. It was his seventh overall in F1, and the second in Brazil after winning at Interlagos in 2009.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

“Today was a good grand prix for me. It’s not a bad thing to finish the year like this,” Webber said. “I felt good all weekend. It would have been nice to have a race all the way through [with Vettel] but he had a bit of a problem.”

Vettel, the winner in Brazil in 2010, won 11 races this season but finishes the year without victories in the last two races. He retired on the first lap in Abu Dhabi following a puncture.

The second-place finish came a day after the two-time champion captured his 15th pole position of the season to break Nigel Mansell’s 19-year record.

The 24-year-old German was trying to win his 12th race of the year, which would allow him to finish the season only one victory short of Michael Schumacher’s record set in 2004.

“I think we had a pretty amazing season and it would be over the top being upset now,” Vettel said. “So we take the second place, the one-two finish for the team, which is great.”

Vettel clinched the title four races ago, at the Japanese GP.

Red Bull had already won the constructors’ championship, with McLaren finishing second and Ferrari third.

On a dry track despite forecasts of rain in South America’s biggest city, Webber took the lead when Vettel gave his teammate plenty of space at the end of the main straight.

Red Bull told Vettel on lap 14 that data from his car showed a gearbox problem and asked him to short shift when in second gear. The problem then got worse and the team later said Vettel had to short shift in every gear, considerably slowing his lap times.

After Webber got past, though, Vettel again increased his pace and had no problem staying behind his teammate. He even set fastest laps a couple of times. Webber eventually finished with the race’s best lap.

Vettel dismissed suggestions that team orders may have come into play to try to help Webber finish second in the points standings.

“We had no choice,” Vettel said. “More and more I was forced to slow down and at the end I was not using second gear.”

Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was fourth and crowd favourite Felipe Massa, in his 100th race for Ferrari, was fifth. Adrian Sutil of Force India finished sixth, and Nico Rosberg of Mercedes was seventh.

Lewis Hamilton, the winner in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago, had a gearbox problem on his McLaren and eventually retired on lap 48.

Seven-time champion Schumacher of Mercedes had a punctured left-rear tyre while trying to pass Bruno Senna of Renault at the end of the main straight. Schumacher had already got past Senna when the Brazilian’s car touched his tyre and forced him to make a pitstop that led to a 15th-place finish.

Senna also had to make a stop because of damage to his car and eventually received a drive-through penalty for the incident and finished 17th.

Adrian Sutil finished sixth for Force India, with team-mate Paul di Resta eighth – securing sixth in the constructors’ championship for the team – with Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes sandwiched between the pair in seventh. Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi was ninth, while Vitaly Petrov claimed the final point for Renault.
source: www.scotsman.com

Formula 1: Bernie Ecclestone to Drop U.S. Grand Prix From 2012 Calendar

2011-11-20T17:57:00.000-08:00

Bernie Ecclestone has signalled he is ready to drop the inaugural US Grand Prix in Austin from next season’s calendar, after revealing no party connected to the project currently has a valid contract to stage the event.

Speculation that all was not well with the Austin event had swirled around for several weeks but revelations from both the race organisers, and now Formula 1’s commercial supremo Ecclestone, in recent days appear to have taken the situation to the brink.

In wake of the circuit developers, Circuit of the Americas (COTA), announcing that work on the purpose-built facility had been halted while they awaited the delivery of a contract from Formula One Management, Ecclestone has now revealed the original agreement signed last year with Tavo Hellmund’s Full Throttle Productions promotional firm had recently been cancelled owing to an unspecified breach of the terms.

He says COTA had tried to take on the original contract but the Briton says no financial guarantee has been forthcoming from the organisers and therefore the situation remains in limbo. ITV.com

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Explaining how the situation has spiralled, Ecclestone said: “We had an agreement with Full Throttle Productions.

“Everything was signed and sealed, but we kept putting things off like the dates, various letters of credit and things that should have been sent, but nothing ever happened.

“Then these other people (COTA) came on the scene, saying that they wanted to do things, but that they had problems with Tavo.

“They said they had the circuit, and that they wanted an agreement with me. I told them they had to sort out the contract with Tavo, which they said they would.

“But that has gone away now because we’ve cancelled Tavo’s contract as he was in breach.

“We’ve waited six months for him to remedy the breach. He knows full well why we’ve cancelled. He’s happy.

“But these other people haven’t got a contract. All we’ve asked them to do is get us a letter of credit. “We are looking for security for money they are going to have to pay us. That is via a letter of credit, normally from a bank.

“If people don’t have the money they find it difficult to get the letter of credit, and so we don’t issue a contract.” Telegraph.co.uk
source: www.autoracingdaily.com

Austin's Formula One race is falling apart: Construction halted on the track, financial support withdrawn

2011-11-20T17:54:00.000-08:00

Circuit of the Americas (COTA) has suspended construction of the Formula 1 track being built in Elroy, just southeast of Austin.

A press release sent Tuesday afternoon makes it clear that Circuit of the Americas and Formula 1 have reached a road block in agreeing to a contract. "We have spent tremendous resources preparing for the Formula One and MotoGP Championship races, but the failure to deliver race contracts gives us great concern," said Bobby Epstein, founding partner of Circuit of The Americas.

According to COTA, the track and Formula 1 agreed to a contract timetable which has not been met. Without a contract with Formula 1, there can be no race. Despite plans for MotoGP and concerts, without Formula 1, the track has no chance.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

The State of Texas has withdrawn its commitment to help pay for Austin’s Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix. Further, even if the state wanted to help, there is not current application for funding on file; the application submitted by Circuit of the Americas back in July for $25 million of the state's Major Events Trust Fund (METF) was withdrawn in September.

In a statement issued at noon Tuesday, State Comptroller Susan Combs cites the high-profile and very public disagreement that has emerged between Tavo Hellmund and his Full Throttle Productions on one side and the investor group funding the Circuit of the Americas track on the other.

According to the State Comptroller’s statement: “The recent announcement of an annual Formula 1 race in New Jersey is a concern, as additional races have the potential to reduce the number of attendees to a Texas race, thereby decreasing the economic impact. Additionally, the reports of a slowdown in construction at the Circuit of the Americas, and recently publicized disagreements between the race rights-holder and the circuit developers have prompted speculation about whether the Austin race will even occur.”

This is the first public acknowledgement that Austin’s U.S. Grand Prix is in great jeopardy. And it’s led Combs to change the state’s stance on a commitment to helping the track financially — even if a new application is submitted.

Combs continues in the statement: “Let me state clearly: We have not paid out any money for the Formula 1 event. The only dollars that can be spent on the United States Grand Prix are tax revenues attributable to the successful running of a race. The state of Texas will not be paying any funds in advance of the event. Further, as is the case with all METF events, each application will be reviewed and analyzed for its likely economic impact and only after the race occurs would any funds be disbursed.”

That means no money will be committed before the race happens, which is a complete change from what had been discussed by the COTA and the State Comptroller’s office just five months ago.

Combs has been a vocal proponent of Austin’s Formula 1 deal and was one of the first to support it publicly. Her commitment to the race came in the form of a promise to pay $25 million dollars per year for 10 years out of the state’s METF. The money was to be used to help pay the Formula 1 license fee and could be paid as early as one year before the race was held.

The METF money comes from tax revenue collected from those who attend big events around the state. Their hotel stays and sales taxes go into the fund.

As reported by CultureMap on Monday, the investor group, led by president Steve Sexton, appears to be working to move Hellmund out. Hellmund, however, is the main connection COTA has with Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone. Hellmund and Ecclestone are lifelong friends.

Suffice it to say this: The U.S. Grand Prix is now in deep trouble and may not happen at all.
source: houston.culturemap.com

Lewis Hamilton wins the 2011 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

2011-11-13T18:40:00.000-08:00

A new name went into the Yas Marina record books when Lewis Hamilton won the 2011 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for McLaren Mercedes.

In a sensational start to the 55-lap race Sebastian Vettel, whose Red Bull Renault started from pole position, spun off on the second corner with a deflating right rear tyre.

Although the World Champion limped back to pit lane the team could not repair the damage to his wheel and he was out of a race for the first time in 2011.

Hamilton streaked into the lead with a fast-starting Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari behind him, relinquished it for one lap at the first round of pit stops but was then never headed en route to his third win of the season and the 17th of his F1 career.

“One of my best races – I said that to myself as I slowed down,” said the 26-year-old Englishman. “I’m ecstatic, very happy to be back up here. I can get on my flight tonight and smile!”

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Alonso came home second for Ferrari’s first podium finish in Abu Dhabi while Jenson Button was third – for the third time here – for McLaren.

Mark Webber’s hopes of securing a top result in Vettel’s absence disappeared when the team fumbled the Australian’s first pit stop, leaving him stationary for almost 10 seconds and effectively out of the running.

Switching to a three-stop strategy, Webber pitted with one lap left but still stayed comfortably ahead of Felipe Massa’s Ferrari. The Brazilian now has only one race, his home Grand Prix in two weeks, to avoid being the first Ferrari driver for 20 years to go through a whole season without getting on to the podium.

With Mercedes and Sahara Force India filling the spots from sixth to ninth, Kamui Kobayashi’s 10th-place finish for Sauber edged the Swiss team ahead of Toro Rosso again in the fight for seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship.

There were 20 classified finishers, with Virgin’s Jérôme D’Ambrosio, Toro Rosso’s Sébastien Buemi and Daniel Ricciardo of HRT the other men not to make the chequered flag.
source: www.abudhabicityguide.com

Lomu thrilled at Abu Dhabi race invitation

2011-11-04T20:04:00.000-07:00

Abu Dhabi: Jonah Lomu, the legendary New Zealand All Blacks winger and all-time leading Rugby World Cup try scorer, has been invited to take in next week's Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Motorsport-mad Lomu and his wife Nadene will attend the lavish, red carpet Chequered Flag Ball at the new, five-star St Regis Saadiyat Island on November 11, as well as official qualifying and Grand Prix race day on November 12 and 13 as an Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) guest.

"I've never been to Abu Dhabi before, but I've heard great things about the place and some of the events coming up, like the Formula One Grand Prix and the Volvo Ocean Race, have certainly got my attention," said Lomu.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

"I can't wait to tick it off my to-do list and from what I've seen and heard it's a beautiful place. I love the heat and outdoor living, so Abu Dhabi looks like a fantastic place to live and visit."

Despite the distinctly sporting edge to Abu Dhabi's third Grand Prix weekend, Lomu insisted romance will be in the air. "We'll be leaving the kids at home to take some time out for ourselves — it will be a bit of a romantic break, both Nadene and I love that part of the world. And the Yas Marina Circuit track looks amazing with the sun going down and it's going to be great to see how the drivers deal with the light — there will be some battles I'm sure.

"It might be a battle ground for the drivers — but I think it's a bit of a romantic setting as well," he added.

Ahead of his first trip to the emirate, the 6ft 5in winger — a losing finalist in the 1995 Rugby World Cup final in South Africa — reveals he expects two-time world champion Sebastian Vettel to make it three wins out of three in Abu Dhabi.

"I'm an absolute car fiend and I've always loved Formula One," said the 63-capped All Black. "Everyone will want to win, but you can't look past Vettel at the moment."
source: gulfnews.com

Abu Dhabi prepares for Formula 1 Etihad Airways Grand Prix 2011

2011-11-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

With the inaugural Indian Grand Prix fading from the rear view mirrors all eyes are now on Abu Dhabi in the Middle East as the Formula 1 circus rolls into town.

Taking place from November 11th-13th, the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will see thousands of sports fans from around the world descend on the emirate for a sporting spectacle unrivalled in the region.

With Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel having already been crowned 2011 drivers champion, the race is set to offer a celebration of Formula 1 at the iconic Yas Marina Circuit.

Now entering its third year, the event has gone from strength-to-strength.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Etihad Airways

Key to the success of the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix has been the support of United Arab Emirates flag-carrier Etihad Airways.

Headline sponsor of the event since its inauguration in 2009, Etihad - recognised by the World Travel Award as the World’s Leading Airline in 2010 for the second consecutive year – flies two F1-branded aircraft to destinations across its network.

One of these specially-painted aircraft will perform a flyover at the Yas Marina Circuit to open the 2011 event.

The airline recently reiterated its support for the race, signing up to the role of title sponsor for a further four years.

Signing the agreement, James Hogan, Etihad Airways chief executive, said: “We have seen that F1 is a highly effective vehicle, no pun intended, for promoting the values of the Etihad brand and showcasing our home city of Abu Dhabi to a massive global audience.

“The additional four year term also allows us to strengthen our footprint with F1 and leverage our investment in their global platform more strategically.”

As part of the partnership, Etihad will continue to promote the event globally through its various communication channels and marketing programs.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone said: “The Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has been an immense success for Etihad, Abu Dhabi and for Formula One, bringing the airline and destination to an estimate worldwide audience of more than 500 million F1 fans.

“The influx of visitors travelling to Abu Dhabi also brings a direct economic benefit, with over 20,000 people pouring into the UAE for the event, representing tens of millions of dollars for the local tourism industry.”

Royal Jet

Another airline taking the lead in preparations for the event is Royal Jet – the Middle East’s Leading Private Jet Charter according to World Travel Awards.

Royal Jet will focus its activities on Abu Dhabi International Airport, where the international luxury flight services company has already confirmed record levels of business through its Fixed Base Operation and VIP Terminal facility.

“Just like the highly trained and experienced pit crews on the F1 track, Royal Jet’s very own expert fixed-base operator team also delivers a fast, high quality service to every aircraft that flies into our award-winning facility,” said Shane O’Hare, president of Royal Jet.

“Being in such close proximity to the Yas Marina circuit - three minutes by helicopter transfer or five minutes by limousine – is another big plus for the teams and spectators alike.”

Yas Viceroy
It has been all change at the iconic Yas Viceroy – which bestrides the Yas Marina Circuit – following recent reflagging of the property.

Viceroy Hotels & Resorts took over management of the hotel – which has previously been recognised as the World’s Leading New Hotel by the World Travel Awards - in October and has rung in the changes ahead of the showpiece Grand Prix, including a new lobby.

Leading international design firm Poltrona Frau Emirates transformed the area by creating inviting clusters of space in which guests can lounge or work in an intimate yet open environment.
The upgraded lobby is complimented with new branding, an expanded greeting area as well as improved concierge facilities to ensure guests a swift and seamless check-in process.

The Hotel has also re-introduced the executive club suites with benefits that include complimentary access to the executive lounge, private check-in and checkout, among other amenities.

“The improvements we have already made since taking over the management of the hotel exemplify our dedication to immediately introducing Viceroy Hotels’ unique service standards to the Yas Viceroy,” said Heiner Werdeling, general manager of Yas Viceroy.

“Over the next 12 months our guests will see both cosmetic and service changes to Yas Viceroy designed to ensure that what is already an architectural icon of Abu Dhabi becomes a standard bearer for hospitality in the region.”

Yas Viceroy is considered one of the leading hotels in the Middle East
Emirates Palace
Away from the circuit, Emirates Palace will host Salon Privé – a spectacular Grand Prix launch event - on Thursday 10th and Friday 11th November.

Kicking off a thrilling weekend of world-class F1 racing, Emirates Palace’s pristine white shores will come alive as some of the most eminent and influential figures in the world come together for an evening of glamour and sophistication. Watching the sunset, guests will mingle beneath the stars as famous Parisian DJ Stéphane Pompougnac takes to the decks.

A favourite of the fashion elite, models for Gucci and Yves Saint-Laurent have sashayed down the runway to the sounds of Pompougnac. With such a celebrated DJ providing the soundtrack to the evening, Salon Privé is set to be one of the landmark events the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – an exclusive star-studded evening that sets the tone for the weekend ahead.

Emirates Palace general manager, Bugra Berberoglu commented: “Emirates Palace is the icon of Arabian hospitality in Abu Dhabi and we are providing a gorgeous setting at Salon Privé to usher in the weekend of events in style.

“Salon Privé is one of many upcoming events that we have planned at Emirates Palace, providing world-class entertainment for visitors and residents alike.” source: www.breakingtravelnews.com

Tamara Ecclestone Banned By Father From Using F1 Name

2011-11-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

Tamara Ecclestone has been banned by her billionaire father Bernie Ecclestone from using his Formula One brand for her own business ventures. Tamara was quickly told to remove certain footage from her new reality show, while also warned off using the F1 name for a new shampoo, according to the UK's Daily Mirror.

A source close to the model and socialite said, "Tamara was totally devastated. There were clips of her with Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button which will never see the light of day.But Tamara did manage to keep a few of the clips in for episodes two and three". Bernie is understood to have wanted the footage removed in fear of it tarnishing his multi-billion dollar brand. The news has scuppered plans Tamara had for new show 'Billion $$ Girl', which is supposed to show off the most glamorous aspects of her notorious lifestyle.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

During the first few weeks of filming, she took the crew track-side in Abu Dhabi, where she had full access to the drivers, cars and F1 parties, but Bernie had other ideas. An insider said, "Bernie made it clear that the F1 name, branding and any events in conjunction with F1 should be limited on the show.Tamara also wanted to launch a shampoo range called F1 but her father put his foot down".

Peta activist Tamara did manage to catch some footage of her sister Petra's luxury wedding show, which will feature in the upcoming series.
source: www.contactmusic.com

'People think I'm spoilt and vacuous' - Tamara Ecclestone

2011-11-04T19:51:00.000-07:00

She moaned that people just see her as a 'very spoilt, very stupid, vacuous and empty human being'.

But if Tamara Ecclestone wants to dispel that misconception about her, she needs to try a bit harder, especially if her new reality TV show is anything to go by.

From getting her hair and nails done once a week, regular massages and a £25,000 table at a Cannes nightclub, the heiress also showed off her collection of Birkin bags, many of which sell for tens of thousands of pounds.

It was the first episode of her new show on Channel 5 called Billion $$$ Girl and the opening scene sees her cursing because she's chipped a fingernail.

And while most of us are at work earning a crust, the 25-year-old socialite spent a couple of days being massaged, getting her dogs pampered at Harrods and jetting off to Cannes and Monaco.

And she starts by bemoaning: 'There are so many misconceptions about me and it gets frustrating no matter how thick skinned.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

'They see me as pointless and this really spoilt, really stupid vacuous empty human being. So many people don't understand who I am and judge me on the fact my dad has money, which must make me a monster.'

Tamara, the daughter of Formula One supremo Bernie who is worth almost £3billion, is seen in her house in Chelsea which she has been in for five years but is looking to sell so she can move in with her stockbroker boyfriend Omar Khyami.

But her favourite part of her house is the walk-in wardrobe which is full to bursting with shoes, handbags and designer dresses.

And she declared: 'Some people need crack, I just need shoes. Some people collect vintage cars, I collect Birkins. The leather ones are £20,000.'

Her first stop of the day is a trip to the world-famous department store to get her five dogs pampered in its exclusive pet spa where Alvin the bulldog gets a pedicure and Hobnob the spaniel gets a treadmill session and blueberry facial scrub.

But Prince the chihuahua has other ideas and scoots around the spa refusing to stay still to be treated.
source: www.dailymail.co.uk

An interview with the Billion $$ Girl

2011-11-04T19:47:00.000-07:00

Although she’s 27, pretty, amusing and bright, Tamara Ecclestone starts with another huge advantage, apart from millions in the bank thanks to her multi-billionaire Formula One supremo father, Bernie: she knows she’s thought of as a spoilt airhead who’s easy to mock and even hate in these financially troubled times. “I’m a prime target,” she agrees, adding, “I’m naive, impulsive and sometimes don’t think things through.”

We meet in what she calls her Chelsea “girly pad” while a home in west London is refurbished. She denies suggestions it cost £45 million (“although I won’t say the exact price”), and is dismissive of reports she’s had a £1 million bath installed. “I won’t lie – I love luxury. But it’s just not me to spend that on a bath.”

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

She’s just been photographed in six-inch Louboutins and a blue wraparound dress of such easy access she’s now, less than a minute later, curled on a sofa and changed into low-cut pink Juicy Couture pyjamas that reveal a sinuous, callipygian body and bosoms that show her sunbathing is done topless. She plays prettily with lustrous brown hair. A large gold Rolex glints on her wrist. You would not call her a feminist icon.

“I like chunky things,” she explains, giggling, and is immediately contradicted when she caresses a chihuahua, Duke, who jumps onto her lap. “I’m crazy. Dogs are so much work. I have a walker, but still have to do it in the morning and last thing at night.” She has five, cared for at Harrods’ pet salon where Alvin, a bulldog, has toenails painted pink and a blueberry facial. “They love you whatever – the truest kind of love.”

Outside, on a turntable, so she doesn’t have to reverse into the street, is a £400,000 Ferrari 599 GTO bought for her by her stockbroker boyfriend Omar Khyami, 37. “It takes a strong person not to be threatened by my family. I’d like to marry, but I want to concentrate on my career first [a line of hair products], as does he. I’ve worked for Great Ormond Street Hospital for five years, and threw a massive party where we raised £600,000. I try to do as much as I can.”

She answers antagonistic questions with good humour and contemporary Sloaney modulation: ending each sentence on an upward syllable. There are nine tattoos on her body, some visible. “I’ll regret a few, but hopefully in five years there’ll be technology to get rid of them without leaving a scar.” They include a butterfly (her first, when she was 16) on her back, which is complemented by a picture on the wall – “a Damien Hirst called Butterfly, I think, which I bought at a charity auction”. Slavica, the name of her 6ft 2in Croatian mum, is on her back with an angel. Her right foot boasts a padlock and key inscribed with “the best is yet to come”, “which I had done one Saturday just before I met my boyfriend”.

On the inside of her left wrist is her name and a tiara. “That’s me sending myself up as a princess; sometimes it’s funny, for five minutes. You can’t take yourself too seriously. That’s not who I am. It’s a persona.

“People assume I’m a monster, have no emotions, and bad things haven’t happened to me. I’m vulnerable like every other girl in the world, good days, bad days, arguments with my boyfriend. I had spots as a teenager, which made me massively insecure. I diet, have hair and make-up done, which I wouldn’t if I felt secure.” Her beautician, Gary Cockerill, has just left. “He and his husband [DIY expert Phil Turner] are two of my closest friends. They came on holiday with us to Las Vegas and Greece.” He’s also responsible for Katie Price’s look. Tamara blanches when I mention this. “He doesn’t do that if you don’t want it, which I don’t.”

Nevertheless she’s following Ms Price in the most dangerous way possible: with a three-part reality series (which started on Channel 5 on 4 November). “At first Mum thought I was a lunatic, but now she understands. Viewers couldn’t have a worse opinion of me, so I’m in a win-win situation. This is my right to reply. It’s a bit of fun. If they’re going to hate me, they will. Listen, at least it will be who I am and not because a journalist has misquoted me. I wanted access to all areas of my life, otherwise what’s the point?”

True enough. She has a row with Omar at a nightclub in Cannes (private plane – £10,000, £5,000 hotel suite, £5,000 dress, VIP table £25,000) when he meets a previous girlfriend. “No one is perfect and if you try to come across as that, people won’t believe it. It would be like Made in Chelsea – contrived and not even fun.” She hopes it will lead to more TV work.

“I presented Formula One on Sky Sports Italia in Italian for two years, so I can’t be a complete moron.” She bridles when called “England’s Paris Hilton”. “You can’t deny she’s created a brand of some description, but I’m different.” Brighter? “I hope so. I watched her World According to Paris, which was really boring.”

By way of diversion, she shows me her wardrobe – a room with 20 Birkin handbags (starting at £4,200), 210 pairs of shoes (£500 each), numerous dresses. “I have OCD so have to hang them in order. You know what – buying shoes – I love ones that sparkle. And clothes make me happy. Is that bad? But I’ve come to realise it’s not the most important thing in life – like true love and peace of mind.” She feels no guilt about money. “My parents came from nothing and worked so hard. I feel proud of what they achieved. Money hasn’t changed them. They both ask for discounts. Mum flew easyJet on holiday to Sardinia. When we were at school, Dad dropped me off on his way to work and Mum picked me up and made spaghetti bolognese when I had friends over. I love cooking, too – a roast, pasta, cottage pie – but not clearing up, so I have help. My boyfriend says he likes my cooking more than any of our housekeepers’.”

After private school in London (four A* A-levels) she dropped out of University College, London and the London School of Economics – “because I never wanted to go” – and began modelling, notably for an FHM cover, in knickers and bra. “Dad [now 81] was traumatised. He’s a complete control freak and I was demonstrating, probably subconsciously, that I’m a woman and can do what I like. He doesn’t feature much in my day-to-day life and doesn’t understand reality TV. He’s so shy, but has a thick skin and doesn’t care what’s written about him. I hope I’ve got his dry sense of humour and I’d like to think I’ve inherited one per cent of his business brain. I get on well with him but don’t have a relationship with his girlfriend [Fabiana Flosi, a Brazilian 49 years his junior]. I’m so close to my mum – we’re both hotblooded. I pour my heart out to her.”

Their divorce (in 2009, after 24 years’ marriage) was difficult. “It can affect you worse when you’re older. We had Christmas together all those years. I thought they were a couple whose dynamic was to argue and make up. Maybe I was in denial. I don’t worry about the same thing happening to me. I’m a hopeless romantic, optimistic about love, but anxious. I worry if we have milk in the fridge or what I’ll cook for dinner, or the dry cleaning needs collecting. Then I realise, ‘You’re a freak. Who cares?’” Surely someone does it for her? “Like, I had a housekeeper who left and I was in the lurch when Omar had this massive operation on his knee recently and was, like, bedridden.”

She’s close to her younger sister Petra. “I’ll tell you why: we’re so different in looks and personality, so there’s not a lot to be hugely competitive about. We decided this year was Petra’s.” And how! She bought a $85 million house in Beverly Hills, and in May had a wedding that reportedly cost £5 million at a medieval castle outside Rome. Some might think such ostentation obscene for a 22-year-old, I suggest.

Tamara agrees. “But, knock on wood, it’s something that only happens once in a life and she and my parents made large donations to charity. Petra lives in Los Angeles, and is launching a range of handbags. I’m not sure if we’ll move there. We went in September and I loved it – weather means a lot to me – and it’s an easier lifestyle. Even stupid things like valet parking are helpful.

“I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘Woe is me.’ Obviously I’m very fortunate and don’t have to worry about electricity bills, but sometimes it’s hard: people can be friends for the wrong reasons. I don’t want to be cynical and put up barriers, but my first serious boyfriend at 17 did a kiss and tell – that was hard to deal with. I pretend not to care, but deep down things hurt.

“I wonder if I’ll get tougher over the years, or if it’s possible to have it all. You see so many people in the public eye whose marriages break down. At this moment, though, I have a wonderful relationship, a great family, friends, enjoy my career.”

Omar hobbles in. “She’s been a good nurse,” he says. “A new vocation – if all goes wrong.” Or come the revolution.
source: www.radiotimes.com

Formula 1: Indian GP to 'break even in four years'

2011-11-01T06:08:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Indian Grand Prix organisers said they hoped to break even within four years and were talking to MotoGP and other race series in a bid to make up for their limited profits from Formula One.

The private Jaypee infrastructure group revealed the plans as other grand prix organisers struggle, including South Korea which is trying to renegotiate its Formula One contract just a year after its debut.

Jaypee spent $200 million building Buddh International Circuit and another $200 million on their Formula One licence fee, spokesman Askari Zaidi.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

He said the Formula One profits were confined largely to ticket sales as revenues from sponsorship and broadcast rights were controlled by the sport.

But the company will also profit from building and selling houses and commercial space on a large new development around the track, known as Jaypee Greens Sports City.

"In Formula One there's not much scope to make money barring the sale of tickets but there are other races which we're planning to hold, like MotoGP, and some other race organisations have contacted us," Zaidi said on Monday.

"So whatever we spend we hope to recover in four years."

Zaidi said Jaypee's agreement with the government was to fill 35 percent of the 2,500-acre (1,000-hectare) site near New Delhi with sports facilities including a 100,000-seat cricket stadium, a golf course and a shooting range.

"The rest we can develop and sell as commercial space or houses. That's how we intend to recover the money," he said.

Several grand prix organisers have wrestled with the dilemma of Formula One, which is known to boost prestige but at a high cost.

China and Australia are among those who have baulked at the outlay while Singapore is yet to sign a new contract, and France and Turkey have both dropped off the Formula One calendar.

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone this weekend flatly rejected South Korea's request for a cheaper contract, saying there were "lots of things in life you can't afford, and you don't have to have them".

But Vicky Chandhok, president of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs in India (FMSCI), said Jaypee would not have the same problem.

"The organisers and promoters have taken it as an investment, they're using it as their ground to globalise their image," Chandhok said.

"They're a very large infrastructure company, they build apartments, they build hydropower, they build golf courses.

"They will now on the back of this be able to sell their apartments and golf club memberships better. They're using it as a marketing tool. So the event loss is of no consequence.

"It's a very good business model. They're not looking at the event to make money, because everyone knows no Formula One event makes money."

Chandhok, who was a key figure behind the project, said other grands prix had run into trouble because they were publicly funded.

"Those are government-run. The ups and downs of the governments and the changes of political scene will not affect us. This is private," Chandhok said.

"There, it's the South Korean government, they feel they can't afford it any more. So this is the advantage of having a private company running it. We will not suffer the consequences or vagaries of political will."

Organisers were forced to slash ticket prices to attract visitors to the purpose-built circuit, which is about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from New Delhi.

The 120,000-capacity venue was less than half-full for Saturday's qualifiers and 95,000 fans - 79 percent of the maximum - attended on Sunday's race day.

Zaidi said Jaypee would open talks with MotoGP, which has 18 stops on its 2012 calendar, and was "quite hopeful that this thing will come through".
source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Formula 1 in India: Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel victory sets up F1's big race; India Inc big shots expected to attend today

2011-11-01T06:01:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Red Bull's two-time world champion Sebastian Vettel will take pole position for the Airtel Indian Grand Prix — India's inaugural F1 race — on Sunday as he set the fastest qualifying lap on Saturday for the 13th time this season. He is now one pole position short of the all-time record of 14 pole positions a season set in 1992 by British driver Nigel Mansell (there were fewer grands prix then, however).

He will be joined on the front row by Red Bull teammate Mark Webber, as McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who set the second fastest qualifying lap on Saturday, had received a three-place grid penalty during the practice sessions on Friday. Vettel's pole position gave reigning world champions team Red Bull a record 16 pole positions in a season.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

source: articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Stray dog gatecrashes India's Formula One party

2011-10-28T05:26:00.000-07:00

GREATER NOIDA: A stray dog spoiled India's grand entry into the world of Formula One when it halted the first practice session at the newly-constructed Buddh International Circuit for five minutes on Friday.

The black dog ran around on the track before being chased away by officials in a safety car, making for an embarrassing scene ahead of the inaugural Indian Grand Prix on Sunday.

It wasn't the first organisational glitch to hit the event. On Thursday, Williams' driver Rubens Barrichello's press conference was interrupted by a power cut.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

On Friday, the dog strayed on to the track after Force India's Adrian Sutil outmanoeuvred Team Lotus' Karun Chandhok, who lost out on a race seat as his outfit decided to stick with regular driver Jarno Trulli, while coming out of the pit lane.

The proceedings were stopped for five minutes after that. There was another minor glitch when a bat flew into the media centre before being chased away.
source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Formula 1, all set for India pit stop

2011-10-28T05:13:00.000-07:00

As the country revs up for the Formula One weekend, Business Line has a special treat for you inside that will make sure you are all geared up for the ride.

In case you are wondering what the hullabaloo over 12 cars racing around a closed circuit is, let the fastest Indian Mr Narain Karthikeyan explain exactly how physically and mentally challenging it is to compete in the top rung of motorsport. We also have an exclusive interview with the youngest-ever double F1 Drivers' Champion (2010 and 2011), Mr Sebastian Vettel, where the German talks about what he expects from the first Indian Grand Prix.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India President, Mr Vicky Chandhok, also tells us about the rich motorsport tradition of this country and how the F1 can take it to lofty heights that have not even been imagined before.

For those wondering how such an expensive sport makes money, we have tried to explain the revenue model. We have also highlighted how a few companies and industries such as hospitality are raking in the moolah from the buzz around this glamorous sporting event.
source: www.thehindubusinessline.com

Formula 1: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes - Indian Grand Prix Preview

2011-10-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I’ve been a few times before – we’ve done a few Vodafone promotional days there. The last time was just crazy – just after Singapore, we did a demo run in Bangalore and were expecting 5,000 people to turn up. On the day, there were around 40,000 fans – it was just incredible.”

Do you think India is looking forward to Formula 1?

“You can’t believe how many people are aware of Formula 1 and how many are looking forward to the race next week. There’s already a great deal of knowledge about the sport – I think it’s going to be a big deal.

“India’s a sport-mad nation – mostly, it’s about cricket, which is understandable because they’re a very successful cricketing country, but I really think the people of India are going to take Formula 1 to their hearts. The reception we’ve had in the last few years has been greater than I could ever have predicted and I think the whole country is ready for something new and something exciting.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

“I really hope India will get turned on to Formula 1 in a big way – it would be amazing to have an entire continent supporting you – and I really hope we can put on a fantastic race!”

Do you think Vodafone McLaren Mercedes will be competitive next weekend?

“It’s too early to say, but I think we’re set to be competitive at all of the final three races. We were quick at Singapore, Japan and Korea – and I think the pattern at the front has sort of settled down now as we reach the end of the season. I think we have a car that can be quick anywhere, so I’d like to think we’d be in the hunt again next weekend.”

Jenson Button
What challenges do you face when learning a brand new track?

“The first time you run on a new circuit is a strange experience because you’re piecing together an incredibly diverse and vivid set of data in your mind. That’s quite an intense experience.

“You’re quickly gathering everything together – constantly assessing the grip-level, watching for unexpected bumps, checking the kerb-height, run-off areas, pitlane entry and exit, gradient. And that all happens at about 170mph!”

What are your first impressions of the Buddh International Circuit?

“Well, I can’t really say properly until I’ve driven it. But the track itself has quite a nice mix of corners – the start of the lap is pretty stop-start, there are a couple of long straights mixed with tight hairpins, but it’s the end of the lap that’s more interesting: there are some pretty high-speed changes of direction through the esses and some gradient change.

“One of the things that looks really interesting is the double-apex banked corner at the back of the circuit – that’s pretty unusual. It’s sort of a mix between Turn 13 at China and Korea’s Turn 11.

Are you looking forward to the race?

“I always look forward to the next grand prix. The word is that people in India are really excited about Formula 1 and the event – it’s important for the sport that we make a good first impression and I really hope we have a fantastic race. Our car’s been pretty competitive recently and we’d like to win more races before the end of the season.”

Martin Whitmarsh - Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

How important is the Indian Grand Prix for the sport of Formula 1?

“Certainly, every new venue we visit is important to the sport of Formula 1 and to our partners, many of whom have a considerable presence in India, and who are delighted by the prospect of the inaugural Indian Grand Prix.

“I think it’s important that the world championship is fully represented on the world’s stage – and a grand prix in India is certainly a very positive step. For Formula 1, the most important thing is to educate, nurture and cultivate our audience – I firmly believe that Formula 1 is the greatest sport in the world and I want us to spread that word across the whole Indian subcontinent.

“Secondly, we want to take Formula 1 to the people. I know that our partners such as Vodafone are already very actively engaged in this activity in India, but I think we’ve done the right thing by establishing the circuit close to New Delhi. Initial impressions suggest the track will be a good one, with particular regard paid to close and exciting racing. And I’m also told that the prospect of the grand prix is causing a great deal of excitement within the city and the country as a whole.

“So I think we’re doing everything right – and I sincerely hope we can walk away on Sunday evening having done a great job for the country and for Formula 1.”

What is the atmosphere like within the team now that both world championships have been settled?

“There’s not been a great distinction: we go racing to win, and, as I’ve said before, that’s the firm intention we take with us to all remaining races on the calendar. We’ve made some good progress recently with the 2011 car and we feel we have a car that can challenge for victory at all the remaining grands prix.

“While we’re winding down the development of the 26 and ramping up development of MP4-27, we still have a few more opportunities to track-test components and developments that can be carried over to next year.

“And we take plenty of positives away from the last two races: I think Jenson’s win in Japan and Lewis’s drive in Korea were two of the best performances of their respective careers. Both drivers are motivated to win and want to lead the team through these final few races and into the winter. There’s a lot of positive energy back at MTC, and you’re seeing that at the racetrack, too.”
source: www.autoracingdaily.com

Formula 1 gets a Hindi anthem

2011-10-23T03:38:00.000-07:00

Formula One debuts in India next weekend. And now it has a Hindi anthem too — Hum Mein Raftaar, Jeene Baar Baar…. Leslie Lewis of Colonial Cousins fame composed the tune and sung it along with Daler Mehndi, Lucky Ali and KK. It was released last Tuesday during the launch of the first Buddh racing
circuit. The quartet will be performed live at the Grand Prix on October 30.

Last year, Daler also crooned the theme song for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and sung the anthem for Preity Zinta’s IPL team, Kings XI Punjab.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Excited at this new sporting opportunity that, he is confident, will open new avenues for all four artistes, he says, “It’s an interesting composition by Leslie, with the F1 track song and our national anthem, Jana Gana Mana… incorporated. It should appeal to both the young and the old.” The singer took just 30 minutes to dub his portion.

The Bhangra king is a self-confessed car buff and admits that whenever a new model comes to India, he likes to be the first to have it. “Right now I have three cars in my garage, including a Range Rover. It’s not possible to race down Indian roads, but whenever I’m abroad, I satiate my passion for speed,” he smiles, adding, “As for the F1, so far I’ve been watching the races on TV, now I’ll get to watch the action live. It’s a proud moment for India… and a proud moment for me knowing that I’ll be a part of history.”
source: www.hindustantimes.com

Formula 1 set to add second American race on New Jersey street track

2011-10-23T03:36:00.000-07:00

Formula 1 looks set to get a second American date from 2013 amid reports that a spectacular street event in New Jersey will be launched next week.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a press conference will take place at Port Imperial on Tuesday to confirm plans for the race.

F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone has long hinted that he wanted to see the world championship racing on the streets of New York - and that while F1's return to the United States had been secured with the deal to race in Austin, Texas, next year, he was open to a second American date at the right venue.

It had previously been reported that the mayors of West New York and Weehawken were collaborating with Leo Hindery Jr, former CEO of the YES TV network, on the New Jersey F1 race project.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

F1 has not raced in America since Indianapolis held its final grand prix in 2007.

The Indy 500 venue had hosted F1 from 2000 - ending an absence of nearly a decade following the failure of the Phoenix street race.

Teams and their sponsor finders have long been edgy about the lack of a US date on the calendar, seeing it as a key market despite the American public having yet to take to grand prix racing with the same enthusiasm that they show for leading domestic motorsport series NASCAR.

F1 will make its return to the US on 16-18 November next year, when the purpose-built new circuit in Austin hosts the penultimate round of the 2012 championship.
source: www.itv.com

MotoGP rider Simoncelli dies after Malaysia crash

2011-10-23T03:32:00.000-07:00

SEPANG, Malaysia — Italy's Marco Simoncelli died on Sunday of injuries sustained in a crash that resulted in the cancellation of the Malaysian MotoGP, in the latest tragedy to hit motor sports.

The crash occurred just minutes after the race began when the 24-year-old Honda rider's bike veered across the track and into the path of riders Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi.

Simoncelli had his helmet knocked off in the ensuing collision, which occurred on turn 11. MotoGP later announced Simoncelli's death in a one-line statement on its website.

"Marco Simoncelli succumbed to injuries sustained in Malaysia," it said.

Motor sports have seen a nightmare stretch recently and Simoncelli's death looked certain to throw open more questions over safety.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Last weekend, 2010 MotoGP champ Jorge Lorenzo crashed during warm-ups in Australia, severing a finger, while two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon died in a 15-car crash in Las Vegas in Indy Car.

The race at Malaysia's Sepang track was immediately red-flagged following the crash and organisers later announced it had been cancelled.

Edwards also fell but escaped serious injury, while Rossi was able to return to the pits.

Although there is a final race in Spain still to come, Australia's Casey Stoner has already secured the 2011 championship with his win last weekend in the Australian Grand Prix.

source: www.google.com

Formula 1 boosts local economy ‎

2011-10-21T19:43:00.000-07:00

New Delhi: India’s first Formula One (F1) Grand Prix has its fans even in the villages not so close to Greater Noida’s state-of-the-art Buddh International Circuit (BIC), spread across 875 acres in what’s usually regarded as Noida’s nearby quiet neighbour.

They include farmers like Manoj who have found gainful employment at the site. As a private security guard at Jaypee Sports International Ltd’s BIC, Manoj has earned Rs10,000 in the two months he’s been employed, better than what he used to make from his farm in Ghaziabad.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

“The money is far better and the income is regular. Though I commute 30-35km a day back and forth from my village, it is worth the money,” said Manoj who, like many others from the mainly rural vicinity, goes only by one name. “They employed me after looking at my high school certificate. I intend to work here for as long as they allow me to, after which I am unsure of where I will go, but I don’t want to return to the village.”

The F1 event has meant assured daily wages for Kiran, who is in her mid-50s, and her daughters Manju (17) and Kamal (15). They have been planting grass on the verge lining the Yamuna Expressway, which connects BIC and Jaypee Sports City, for almost two years now.

“This is a regular income unlike in the village,” she said. “My younger daughter dropped out of school to earn and help me support the family. We will work here for as long as we can and then go back to the village.”
source: www.livemint.com

F1 : Vettel could give up 2011 Formula 1 race win to help RBR team-mate Webber

2011-10-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

Sebastian Vettel has hinted he might be willing to give up a Formula One race victory to help his team perform a perfect score in 2011.

Red Bull and the 24 year old German have already secured the constructors' and drivers' World Championships, but Mark Webber currently lies in only fourth place behind Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button with three races left to run.

Webber has failed to win a single race in 2011 compared with Vettel's ten so far, so the Australian might need some help to curb the 13 point gap to second place.

"With three races left, we hope for the best results possible for ourselves but also for the team," Vettel is quoted by the AFP news agency.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Agreed team boss Christian Horner: "He (Webber) has had a very strong year and we want to get him second in the drivers' championship.

"That's our remaining target for the remainder of the year, to get him a race win and finish the season in style."

When asked if that might involve him giving up a win so that Webber can reach the top step of the podium, Vettel answered: "Yeah, definitely."
source: www.f1sa.com

Watch: Driver's-eye camera of a Formula 1 car

2011-10-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

(CBS) - Buckle up and take a ride in the cockpit of a Formula 1 speed machine. This video represents a leap forward in in-car camera technology. This isn't a dashboard cam or a helmet cam; this is what an F1 driver actually sees on the track. Strap yourself in, hit play, and don't forget to lean into the turns.

Lucas di Grassi is the man behind the wheel of Pirelli's tire-tester Toyota F1 car. The track is Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya. The view is excellent. But don't try this at home. As di Grassi points out, "I had to drive with only one eye open as the camera was blocking my other eye, quite tricky."

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

source: www.cbsnews.com

PIL against tax relief for Formula One

2011-10-18T22:20:00.000-07:00

The Supreme Court has asked the UP government to explain why tax exemption has been granted to the company organising the Formula 1 Grand Prix. The event is scheduled to be held in Greater Noida on October 30.

A bench headed by Justice DK Jain also sought response from Jaypee Group, the organiser of the sporting event, following a public interest litigation which challenged the UP government's decision to grant tax exemption. The court asked the company to file it reply by Friday on why the event should be exempted from entertainment tax.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Jaypee Group Chairman Manoj Gaur said the company will respond to the SC notice and that the exemption was part of a UP government policy that applied to all entertainment events and not F1 alone.

"Formula 1 racing is an elitist and dangerous sport, there was no justification for the State Government of Uttar Pradesh to grant exemption from payment of entertainment tax to M/s Jaypee Sports International," the petition said. It alleged that the company was politically well-connected to the Mayawati-led government, due to which it has been granted tax exemption.

"Because the aforesaid exemption from the payment of entertainment tax has been granted to the said private respondent purely because it is well known that the company is very close to the political leadership and the ruling government in the state" the PIL alleged. The exemption helped the company gain crores of rupees, "all at the cost of the exchequer and the tax-paying citizen of this country," the petition alleged.

According to the PIL, "Formula-1 racing sport has not connection with the general populace at the grassroots level and panders to the tastes of the very rich and the social and financial elite and therefore the grant of exemption from the payment of entertainment tax was not warranted in the facts of the case".
source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

India's Formula 1 track unveiled to the public

2011-10-18T22:16:00.000-07:00

The track for the first Formula 1 race ever to be staged in India has been unveiled to the public.

On October 30th, Lewis Hamilton and co will take to the Buddh International Circuit, which is 5.14 km long.

An opening ceremony has been planned and will feature Metallica and Lady Gaga among the acts performing.

Last month, Sameer Gaur, managing director and chief executive officer of Jaypee Sports International, the company behind the project, said he was excited about the entertainment on offer to the thousands of fans expected to attend the opening.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

He also stated that much effort has gone in to ensuring that the track is of the same standard as others located around the world, making for a terrific race for everyone to enjoy.

India's first-ever F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan said that he is of no doubt that the Buddh International Circuit is of the highest quality.

"I have raced on all the major F1 tracks across the world and I rate this track as one of the best in the world," he added.
source: www.carloan4u.co.uk

Red Bull Racing makes History

2011-10-18T22:12:00.000-07:00

fter thrilling Formula One fans with an exhilarating performance at New Delhi’s Rajpath and breaking records at 18,380 feet with a run along the world’s highest motorable road in Khardung La, Red Bull Racing has become the first Formula One car to go on track, ahead of the Inaugural Indian Grand Prix, at the Buddh International Circuit.

Fresh from Khardung La and buckled up in the cockpit was Red Bull driver Neel Jani. One of the fastest circuits of the season with a mix of slow turns and high speed straights, the elevation of the Buddh International Circuit increased the challenge for Neel Jani, as he sought to push the car to its limits.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

“For me, India is as good as coming home. Setting two records in one week with Red Bull Racing in India is a fantastic feeling. Getting to open the track with my Indian roots is a big honour for me and to being doing that with the 2011 World Champions Red Bull Racing is an added honour. I’m sure, come race weekend, that Seb and Mark will push their RB7s on this extremely exciting and fast track,” said Neel Jani

As the lights turned green, the car sped onto turn 1, braking hard, and once again speeding up past turn 2 to the elevated blind corner of turn 3. Rocketing down the 1.2 KM straight towards turn 4 where there are a lot of overtaking opportunities, Neel quickly downshifted before revving up once again down the 1 KM straight leading up to turn 5.

Quick braking and gear changes from turn 5 through to turn 9 led onto the elevated section of the track at turns 10 and 11. With a series of bends and straights from turn 11 to turn 16 and past the pits, Neel recorded the first ever lap in a Formula One car at the 5.14 KM Buddh International Circuit and now holds the lap record!

With two weeks to go to the Indian Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing have defended their titles and have tied up both the Drivers’ World Championship and the Constructors’ World Championship for the second year in a row. Red Bull Racing is relishing the chance of fighting for victory when RB7 arrives at the Buddh International Circuit.
source: www.indiainfoline.com

F1 : McLaren Formula 1 team boss quiet on Lewis Hamilton private troubles

2011-10-18T22:08:00.000-07:00

Martin Whitmarsh has refused to comment on whether it is Lewis Hamilton's troubled private life that is steering his Formula One career on the wrong track.

Despite winning pole position and finishing a fighting second in Korea last weekend, the 2008 World Champion was visibly and audibly despondent on the back of a terrible run of form and on and off-track incidents.

The Swiss newspaper Blick reports that his girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger has linked up with "a new man", pushing Hamilton into a foul mood that is affecting his job.

"The McLaren mechanics are upset with Lewis," reported veteran correspondent Roger Benoit, "because he treated them so coldly in Korea.

"They say he is behaving like a stubborn child."

26 year old Hamilton hinted at his split by saying he has received "massive support" from those close to him in the past days in the form of "emails from my brother, my mum and in particular my dad".

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Team boss Whitmarsh also hinted at behind the scenes troubles by telling the PA Sport news agency that "professionally, he's happy".

"I comment on his professional life," said the McLaren principal.

"He says he is happy, and any other enquiry regarding his state of happiness should be directed to Lewis and not me."
source: www.f1sa.com

Formula 1 is safety example for Indycar

2011-10-17T20:54:00.000-07:00

Former world champion Nigel Mansell says IndyCar can learn from Formula 1 after the death of Dan Wheldon.

Briton Wheldon, 33, was involved in a 15-car crash in a race in Las Vegas.

Some IndyCar contests take place on oval circuits surrounded by a perimeter wall, while F1 races usually employ barriers well away from the track.

Mansell told BBC Radio 5 live: "In Indy racing there is simply nowhere to go. When an accident happens you are into the wall in a split second."

Mansell, who won the F1 world title in 1992 and the IndyCar equivalent a year later, added: "This is why Formula 1 does an exemplary job.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

The tarmac runs off so the driver has time to decelerate the car."

The 58-year-old also said he agreed with former Formula 1 world champion Jody Scheckter, who wants his son Tomas to quit IndyCar after the death of Brit Wheldon.

Scheckter believes it is "the most dangerous motorsport in the world" because of the speed and number of cars on the track.

Mansell said: "To have 34 cars travelling at at 220mph on a mile-and-a-half long circuit, there are too many cars on the track.

"The trouble is there are no small accidents when accidents happen. There were a number of rookie drivers and others driving in their first race of the season.

"I heard Jody and he said it well. The smallest mistakes turn into catastrophic ones and Dan was on the receiving end of it."

However, despite Mansell's praise of the safety of F1, former world champion Sir Jackie Stewart believes that Wheldon's death should serve as a warning to the sport.

"We had very few people colliding with each other in my period of racing and thereafter," Stewart told BBC Radio Scotland.

"Now it has become somehow or other acceptable and that is a warning.

"Yesterday's accident is sadly a terrible wake-up call and they have to recognise the risk is very real.

"I think there needs to be more discipline by the governing body. If drivers do consistently collide with each other, there should be heavier penalties.

"It should be marked down as something that just can't happen."

Derek Warwick, president of the British Racing Drivers' Club and a former F1 driver, claims that a host of changes are needed in IndyCar racing.

Warwick echoes Mansell's criticism of the number of cars on the track and feels that F1 is safer because their drivers are better.

He told 5 Live Sport: "They do an enormous amount but they need to understand the quality of the drivers that are in the field as well.

"With Formula 1 the drivers that go into a Formula 1 race are all great drivers who have won championships from working their way up from Formula 3 to GP2 before they get a super licence to be able to race.

"I sometimes question the depth of talent in IndyCar races and that will lead to inexperience and the inexperienced generally end up having accidents. They need to tweak what they're doing a little bit."
source: news.bbc.co.uk

IndyCar Tragedy - Could it Happen in Formula 1?

2011-10-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

Now matter how many safety fences and how much protective equipment you have, nothing can protect racers from the inherent risk of driving in excess of 200 m.p.h. around a track in competition with other drivers. Myself and other race fans around the world are mourning the tragic death of Dan Wheldon in Las Vegas on October 16.

Formula 1 fans like me wonder, could it happen in Formula 1? I don't think so, I think the nature of the F1 courses and races is more about turns and handling than an oval track race. You just don't, and haven't seen the kind of horrific, high speed, multi-car crashes like the one in Las Vegas. The set-up of Formula 1 tracks usually has the barriers far away from the track, with hay-bales or other things to slow the cars.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

In the IndyCar tracks, you have the walls right at the track, there is nowhere for the cars to go and I think they do need to change the track design. Even racing icons like Nigel Mansell and Sir Jackie Stewart are calling the IndyCar races unsafe and suggesting the sport use the tragedy to make improvements to make the races safer.

The crash in Las Vegas, at the final event of the IndyCar season, has some strong connections to Formula 1, as Dan Whledon was a British driver, who raced alongside some of F1's greatest drivers while they were still coming up the ranks. Like any sport, drivers are eager to rise up in the ranks and sometimes have to travel to find that next opportunity that can move them up. For Dan Wheldon, it was moving to the United States to compete in the IndyCar series, after stints in Britain and Europe for some of the lower levels of racing, Formula Ford and Formula 3. These are levels all drivers compete in, in hopes of reaching the pinnacle of auto racing, driving for Formula 1 I think the level just under that is driving in the IndyCar series and I don't doubt that we might have seen Dan Wheldon someday make the switch to Formula 1.

Wheldon was a true champion, having won two Indianapolis 500 races and the overall IndyCar driver's championship once already in 2005. His death is a tragedy and reminds up how dangerous the sport is. I hope IndyCar makes changes to the tracks to prevent further disasters and learns from Formula 1 on how to make the sport safer, for drivers and spectators.
source: sports.yahoo.com

Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Wins Korean Grand Prix Ahead of Lewis Hamilton

2011-10-16T23:49:00.000-07:00

Sebastian Vettel handed Red Bull back-to-back constructors titles with his 10th victory of the season in Korea.

The newly crowned world champion grabbed the lead off Lewis Hamilton with a brilliant move at Turn 4 and never looked back as he charged over the finish line 12 seconds clear of the McLaren ace 55 laps later.

“Fantastic Seb, well done we’ve won the constructors championship,” said boss Christian Horner over the radio.

“Yes, yes, yes, we’ve done it my friend,” was the champion’s response. Mirror.co.uk

Vettel, who clinched his second straight drivers’ championship at last weekend’s Japanese GP, claimed his 10th F1 victory of the season with three races remaining, meaning he still has a chance of matching Michael Schumacher’s record of 13 wins in a season. The 24-year-old Vettel is the series’ youngest two-time champion.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

“Ten is a nice number,” said Vettel, who claimed his 20th career win, tying him for 12th on the all-time list with Mika Hakkinen.

“It was a long, long battle and, to be honest, I didn’t know if I could keep him behind me,” Hamilton said.

Red Bull’s Mark Webber was third — securing back-to-back constructors’ titles for the team — followed by McLaren’s Jenson Button and Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso, with second through fifth tightly bunched as they crossed the line. The Associated Press

Webber added: “It was the team’s day today. It’s been a phenomenal year but I’m disappointed not to get second today. BBC Sport

“I think at the second stop we did the worst thing, we stopped on the same lap and that was disappointing as we had some good pace to pull away from Lewis. I look forward to the next one.”

Jaime Alguersuari put in another strong performance to finish seventh, the Spaniard passing Rosberg for the position on the final lap after a couple of unsuccessful earlier attempts, while his Toro Rosso team-mate Sebastien Buemi was one place further back.

Paul di Resta completed the points scorers, ahead of his Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil, while Pastor Maldonado - who was in the mix with the Force Indias behind the safety car, was given a drive-through penalty for hitting a bollard at pit entry, and later retired. Yahoo! Eurosport UK
source: www.autoracingdaily.com

Formula 1 Korean Grand Prix Preview

2011-10-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

South Korea’s Yeongam circuit was new to the Formula 1 calendar last year and has not been used since, meaning that the drivers will likely be presented with a slippery surface this weekend that will challenge both them and their tires.

The track’s official title is Korea International Circuit and it stretches some 3.5 miles.

It’s a mix of fast, open corners at the start of the lap and a street circuit finish, and drivers will complete a total of 55 laps.

October is also the rainy season in South Korea so teams should be expecting to use their rain tires at some point over the weekend.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

As we reported earlier this week, Red Bull Racing star Sebastian Vettel was crowned the 2011 Formula 1 World Champion at last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, however, there are still sufficient points available for a couple of teams to take out the Constructors’ Championship.

Going into this weekend’s race, Sebastian Vettel sits on 324 points, followed by McLaren’s Jenson Button on 210 points and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso on 202 points.

In the Constructors’ Championship, Red Bull Racing is the clear leader with 518 points, followed by McLaren on 388 points and Ferrari on 292 points.

Stay tuned for our full coverage of the 2011 Formula 1 Korean Grand Prix, with our qualifying report coming tomorrow, weather forecast on Sunday and full race results on Monday.
source: www.motorauthority.com

South Korea's Formula One circuit too far from the madding crowd

2011-10-14T20:08:00.000-07:00

Lost in a little corner of south-western South Korea, far from the swagger of Seoul or the neon nightlife of Busan, lies the small, coastal, industrial county of Yeongam.

At times, with a low mist hanging over the Yellow Sea and the mountains of nearby islands looming on the horizon, this quiet rural town is reminiscent of Muscat. But with a population of only 60,000 it offers far less life than even sleepy Oman.

A few shops are dotted around, five men squat in a circle in a grassy field, a woman walks along the roadside with a tattered bag of vegetables.

However, a few kilometres along the road, like a spaceship having landed from planets afar, sits a splendid racing complex which is home to the Korean Grand Prix.

The Korea International Circuit cost US$500 million (Dh1.8bn) to build and is capable of seating 130,000 spectators. It was funded by the local government, yet precisely why Formula One is in Yeongam - and why it has a contract to remain here until 2016 - continues to baffle many of the people who plod around the paddock.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

The answer is, inevitably, money. The hosting fee remains confidential, but organisers pay on a year-by-year basis.

Already, critics are wondering if the circuit's contract will run its course. Sebastian Vettel, the world champion, called Yeongam "a bit too quiet" and said it was "a shame" the race was not closer to the Korean capital. "Really to judge the country you have to go up to Seoul," Vettel said.

Yet that is not the plan of the local government officials, who want the grand prix to bring publicity to the southwest of the country.

As Park Won-hwa, the circuit's chief executive, explained: "Other than the agricultural industry, there is nothing in particular here to boost the economy, so that is why we bring the Formula One."

Outside of motor racing, a long-term plan is spoken of that involves residential properties and marine sports for the county, but in the 12 months since the inaugural race, little appears to have changed in terms of development.

"I think, generally, there hasn't been a lot going on since we left," Vettel said.

"The circuit was ready just in time last year and obviously they've had a year break to finish everything. As I said, it looks unchanged in many ways."

Heikki Kovalainen, the Team Lotus driver, said: "I would have thought in a year they would have done more."

Park, who became chief executive in January, said that while it is relatively easy to build a grand prix circuit, "building a city is a lot harder and these things take time".

He added that while he was disappointed by international criticism that denigrated local transport links and nearby accommodation, he accepted that it was fair: "To be honest, last year was not a success, but this year we are confident it will be different."

More than 80 per cent of tickets available for Sunday's race have been sold, and organisers expecting to surpass last year's attendance figure of 150,000.
source: www.thenational.ae

F1 : 2011 Korea - Cosworth Yeongam Formula 1 preview - Engine perspective

2011-10-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

Formula One preview - Free Practice for this round of the Formula One World Championship gets underway at the Yeongam circuit tomorrow.

Cosworth have provided their own look at each race weekend with a fact list and table analysing the circuit from an engine’s perspective.

The ‘Cosworth Circuit Tracker’ takes a look at the circuit characteristics from an engine's eye view with more topical insights direct from the race track.

Cosworth also details specific metrics that are intended to give an ‘at-a-glance’ look at the race track's demands on the engine.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Engine’s Eye View

The Korean Grand Prix made its debut in 2010, and the track layout is essentially unchanged from last year. The circuit features what is reported to be the longest straight in Asia, where the drivers are at full throttle for over 1100m. There are two other significant straights, across the startfinish line and between turns 3 and 4, which are approximately 700m and 500m respectively.

Last year in qualifying trim, the drivers were also able to take the sequence of corners from turns 6 to 9 flat, resulting in another 700m at full throttle. These all pose a significant challenge for the engine, but during the latter part of the lap the emphasis shifts more towards car set-up and chassis performance. As a result, the circuit’s power sensitivity is only marginally above average, similar to the Nürburgring and Malaysia.

With the regulation changes introduced for 2011, the drivers might not be able to take turns 6-9 flat. Whilst this will effectively reduce the circuit’s power sensitivity, there will be a greater emphasis placed on drivability, mainly due to increased tyre wear.

This year the drivers have to modulate the power for longer periods as the tyres degrade, so a driver’s throttle application towards the end of a stint will be different to that at the start. The engine calibration has to be robust enough to cope with this, as well as the more general trend change brought about by the fuel load reducing throughout the race.

From the Race Track

As at any circuit that features such a long straight, selecting suitable ratios will be important, particularly 7th gear. Wind conditions were changeable in 2010, possibly due to the circuit’s close proximity to the Yellow Sea. Conditions look set to be equally changeable this year, with rain possibly affecting Friday’s running and the wind strength expected to both increase and change direction throughout the weekend. Strong gusts are forecast for Sunday, which will make the ratio decision on Friday night difficult to predict.

The DRS also adds further complication to the ratio decision, a compromise must be reached between Qualifying and the Race. Aiming to just reach the 7th gear throttle based limiter in Qualifying will optimise your grid position, but adding a race fuel load and regulated DRS use 24 hours later could leave the driver a sitting target down the straights on Sunday. Cars in the mid-field will tend to ratio longer to ensure they get the maximum DRS delta to assist with overtakes during the race.

During FP3 last year, an interesting feature of the circuit was discovered by chance. The pit lane entry is after T17 and, when the driver enters the pits at speed, the corner is effectively extended for another half second. This extra period of sustained lateral G at a low oil level was enough to trigger the oil pressure protection strategy, resulting in the car returning to the garage in ‘limp-home’ mode. As the driver was boxing anyway, the loss of track time was fortunately kept to a minimum.

Information provided by David Lamb, Cosworth Senior Engineer

Data Analysis

Metric	What does this mean?	Severity Ranking*
Fuel Consumption	How full does the fuel tank need to be on the startline?	5
Lap Power Demand	How long is the engine at full power during a single lap?	3
Time Off Throttle (KERS Recharge Opportunity)	How much of an opportunity does the track provide for KERS recharging?	3
Total Race Power Demand	How hard does the engine work over the total race distance?	3
“Shortness of Breath”	How much is the maximum engine power compromised by the atmospheric conditions?	4
Engine Challenge	How do all of the factors combine to challenge the engine?	3

* Rating of 1-5 where 1 is the lowest severity and 5 is the highest. source: www.f1sa.com

Formula One: Vettel, 24 more mature than Schumacher, 42

2011-10-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

Sebastian Vettel has finally won the Formula 1 Championships at the Japanese Grand Prix, something that I never doubted he would achieve.

Unlike last year, where he had to chase the championship instead of winning it in the last race, he has been leading the championship right from the beginning. To do that, you have to be very mature and committed. I thought that Red Bull went with the wrong strategy this time.

They pitted early, which resulted in overtaking by other drivers. Vettel may have only gotten third in the race, but I would say winning the overall world championship is a rather good compensation.

His childhood hero on the other hand, Michael Schumacher, is not doing as well as him.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

To be honest, I don’t think that Schumacher has accepted where he is. Coming out of retirement last year, he probably thought that winning back the crown would be an easy task, which is definitely not the case. The Mercedes driver has always been embroiled in controversies and incidents, such as the collision between him and Damon Hill, and cases where his teammates would have to let him win the races. I would say nothing has changed much about him except the car that he is currently driving. In my opinion, the car is not that good. Really, it makes a difference because he is now racing in the middle and not the start, which makes it a lot tougher for him to win races.

Talking about winning races, I have to congratulate Jenson Button. This season, he has competed in six races altogether, winning three and being on the podium for the rest of them. I was never a fan of Button until this year. He has been doing really well and driving better than I have ever seen him. A smart and confident driver, he now has McLaren’s full attention, having overtaken Lewis Hamilton as their best driver, who he couldn’t match up to when he first joined the team. Hamilton is sure to be feeling the pressure now, having been involved with a few controversies recently as well.

Earlier this season Button was forced to drop out of two races due to mechanical faults. I do think that his skills were hampered by the car, which lost him 30 points as he could have definitely reached podium places in those two races. After a change of car, he managed to beat Vettel and win the Japanese Grand Prix.

McLaren has learned a lot this year improving their cars after a poor start at the beginning of the season. To keep up their momentum, they have to understand their problems. Now that they are in the position, as they saw during the Suzuka race, they have a chance against Red Bull next season. Whereas you take Ferrari as an example, they haven’t made improvements to the car, resulting in them being in the same position all year. It may be difficult to maintain your position, but to move forward, it is a lot harder.

Both McLaren and Ferrari have to understand the regulations of the game and work their way around them. At the start of this season, both teams started off with really basic cars. If they want to have a shot at next year’s championship, they have to develop new and faster cars. Red Bull had the best car in both of the latest seasons, and to do that three years in a row is a tough.

For next season, I definitely think that Vettel will come back stronger, while his teammate Mark Webber will probably struggle to do better than this season. I think the difference between these two drivers is that Vettel has the hunger for change, while Webber is content with his current circumstances. After this season’s great results, Button will be a lot more motivated for next season. Hamilton, despite all his problems, is a really quick and talented driver. I am not quite sure what is happening to him, but he has been struggling on the grid.

The big challenge next year for me is between Red Bull’s Vettel, McLaren’s Button, and finally, Ferrari’s Alonso.
source: www.thejakartapost.com

Mercedes GP deny breaking spending cap

2011-10-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

Yeongam: The Mercedes Grand Prix racing team has hit back at suggestions that they may have broken Formula One's self-imposed spending cap.

According to paddock sources, the teams have scheduled a meeting at this weekend’s Korean Grand Prix to make sure all teams are abiding by the so-called Resource Restriction Agreement (RRA).

The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) is understood to have planned to meet on Sunday, with grumbling discontent about the agreement high on the agenda.

After similar rumours about Red Bull, Mercedes hit out late on Thursday and strongly rejected suggestions they are overspending after a period of investment in the team staff.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug said: "We are well inside the limit, absolutely. No doubt. We were not at the limit before and we still are taking it very seriously.

"We don't know if all people are acting in the same way, but we are 100 percent within the RRA.

"We were one of the prime movers for that concept and really are living with it. This is the basis for Mercedes Benz for the future. We want to have decent limits and not spending money unnecessarily."

But Haug added that teams were making different interpretations about the rule and said at least one outfit was "probably not on the same page".

"I do not think that the interpretation is the same in each and every place, but it is mostly the same," he said.

"Having said that, I am not a specialist - I am just not running the operation. I am not involved and I absolutely can stress that we are well inside the limits, and we will be.

"If people are questioning it, they should question us. If they are questioning the hiring of two engineers - are they inside or outside (the RRA)? They are inside.

"I think this is an ongoing business. They have I think a very constructive approach and I do not want to go into detail about which team is just probably not on the same page. But most of the teams are."

Haug’s comments follow those made in Japan last weekend by Ferrari team chief Stefano Domenicali, who stressed the importance of the agreement for the sport's stability.

"I think that it is a subject that is quite sensitive," Domenicali said.

"It is a subject where we need to make a final clarification because, at the end of the day, the RRA was very important to keep the level of expenditure as low as possible.

"It should not become a performance differentiator so that you are able to do something that some others are not able to do." source: sports.ndtv.com

F1 2011 Korean Grand Prix qualifying: Pole position in Hamilton’s sights

2011-10-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

The 26-year-old motor racer from Hertfordshire was fastest in today’s rain-hit opening practice sessions around a wet Korea International Circuit in Yeongam.

Hamilton was fractionally quicker than F1 team-mate Jenson Button as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes set the pace ahead of qualifying on Saturday.

After Friday’s restricted running, Herts-born Hamilton said: “Today’s times don’t really give us a relevant read on pace and set-up, particularly as I hear that the weather will be better for the next two days.

“Still, if it rains on Sunday then I think we’re in a good position – which is a positive.”

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Second in last year’s inaugural race in the Asian powerhouse, Hamilton is looking for a strong grid position in Korea qualifying, which starts at 6am UK time tomorrow (Saturday).

Hamilton said: “It would be great to get the pole here tomorrow.

“It’s difficult to read too much into today’s times – the lap on slicks at the end was impossible – but I think we are quick, the car is good and Jenson [Button] showed at the last race that we can be very competitive.

“So I have no doubt that we’ll be able to challenge the Red Bulls in qualifying. “I think we’ll get a much better feel for things tomorrow [Saturday].”

Button, winner of last Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, didn’t post a time in P1 today but was just 0.104s slower than Hamilton in second practice.

He said: “Our car was quick in today’s conditions – but it’s difficult to say how it will be in the dry.

“I hope it’ll be the same: it’d be nice to have the same gap back to the cars behind, but that’s unlikely. “We didn’t really learn too much today – the humidity was so high that the track never really dried out.

“It looked like it was going to be dry right at the very end, but you couldn’t get any grip from the slicks because you couldn’t get any temperature into them.”

Nevertheless, Button is convinced McLaren have closed the gap on constructors’ championship leaders Red Bull and will be battling world champion Sebastian Vettel, and the German’s team-mate Mark Webber, for front row spots in qualifying on Saturday.

“Over the last few races, we’ve been getting stronger in qualifying,” said Button.

“I’d love to qualify well here, and I’ll definitely be giving it a go, but P3’s also going to be very important tomorrow because nobody knows how the cars behave on high fuel and dry tyres.

“There’s a lot more to understand.”

Hamilton’s team boss Martin Whitmarsh isn’t taking anything for granted due to today’s slippery conditions in Korea and the dry forecast for qualifying.

The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team principal said: “Despite the wet weather, this morning we were able to carry out a useful test on Lewis’s car, which allowed us to successfully evaluate some components.
source: www.whtimes.co.uk

F1 : 2011 Formula 1 world champion eyes laps of honour as calendar races out

2011-10-14T19:39:00.000-07:00

Sebastian Vettel on Wednesday said he intends to enjoy the rest of the Formula One season in winning style.

The 24 year old German is about to experience the rare joy of having concluded a successful campaign as the unassailable defending champion with plenty of races to spare.

"It's different to Abu Dhabi 2010," he told Germany's Sport Bild, referring to last year's season finale when he emerged as the surprise champion.

[Domenicali]

Domenicali
"This year there are four Grands Prix to go, basically, four long laps of honour ahead of me. I can enjoy my second title much, much more," said Vettel.

And he intends to celebrate by winning, a feat he could not manage at the scene of his 2011 championship victory, Suzuka, on Sunday.

"We did not manage it in Japan so we will try to take advantage in the next race," said Vettel, referring to Formula 1's imminent round in Korea.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

In the wake of his title triumph last weekend, the Formula 1 world has been busily hailing Vettel, including Stefano Domenicali who said he can imagine the youngest double world champion driving alongside Ferrari's number 1 Fernando Alonso, also a back to back title winner.

The Italian recently said he does not consider Vettel a true team leader, "But I never said I didn't think he was good," Domenicali told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Vettel has also flirted with a potential future switch to Maranello, revealing his desire to race for a "myth" team like Ferrari or Mercedes-Benz.

But he said on Wednesday: "If we win a few races and championships, maybe Red Bull will become a legend as well. I will work hard next year."
source: www.f1sa.com

Tamara Ecclestone hired lesbian perform

2011-10-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

Tamara Ecclestone hired two lesbians to pour hot wax over each other at her sister Petra's hen party last month. The 27-year-old socialite surprised her younger sibling and her then-fiance James Stunt - who tied the knot in a lavish Italian ceremony last month - with a bash featuring pole dancers and lesbian performers who poured hot wax over each other.

Tamara said: "I turned my living room in to a strip club with pole dancers, made skittle vodka shots and hired two lesbians from The Box nightclub to pour hot wax all over each other."

Despite being worth £3 billion, the heiress

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

- whose father is Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone - insists she is not "a princess", and enjoys flying on budget airlines and watching "tacky" reality TV shows.

Tamara - whose own three-part UK fly-on-the-wall show 'Tamara's World' airs later this month - told the Daily Star newspaper: "I'd love to be a bartender, that would be great. And I fly on Ryanair.

"People think I act like a princess but I really don't. And I love watching all those tacky reality shows too, like 'Jersey Shore', 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' and 'Girls of the Playboy Mansion'."
source: entertainment.stv.tv

Formula 1: Back-to-Back Titles for Vettel as Button Wins Japanese GP

2011-10-09T07:07:00.000-07:00

British driver Jenson Button won an enthralling Japanese Grand Prix ahead of Fernando Alonso, but it was 24-year-old Sebastian Vettel who took the top honours as he clinched back-to-back Formula One world titles. He secured his second world title with 15 points in third.

Red Bull's German driver, who had started from pole position for the 12th time this season, had needed only a point at Suzuka to clinch his second successive crown with four races to spare. He thus becomes the youngest man to achieve the feat.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, the previous youngest double world champion when he won for Renault aged 25 in 2006, was a close second to Button on a beautiful sunlit afternoon at the Honda-owned circuit.

Jenson Button (second left) winner of the Japanese GP
on the podium with Fernando Alonso (left), who finished
second, Button's engineer, and Sebastian Vettel (third
and world champion)
Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

It was a tight finish as tyre degradation dominated the race and Alonso closed to within 1.1s of Button at the chequered flag. Alonso pulled in the McLaren in the final five laps, but with two laps remaining Button responded and upped the ante with personal bests to maintain the gap and win the race.

His voice trembling with emotion as he choked back the tears behind his visor, Vettel told his team over the team radio after being told he was the 2011 world champion: "Thank you so much, every single one. We took nothing for granted and we did it."

He became only the ninth driver to take back-to-back championships and on the podium for the 14th time in 15 races this year. Vettel had vowed to retain the title in style and his aggression and determination was evident from the start as he cut across Button and forced the Briton onto the grass. Now he has 324 points to Button's 210 and Alonso's 202.

Both Button and Alonso congratulatd the youn driver afterwards.

Vettel, who led up until the second pit stops, settled for third in the knowledge that he needed just a single point for the title, and both he and Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber in fourth were ordered not to take any risks. Nevertheless he was still within 0.8s of the lead battle as they crossed the line.

Lewis Hamilton had another difficult race and finished fifth after a puncture and another tit-for-tat battle with Felipe Massa. Michael Schumacher managed to split the pair of them in sixth using a different tyre strategy and one of his most competitive races of the season.

The final points positions were occupied by Serio Perez, Vitaly Petrov and Nico Rosberg after a drive up from 23rd.

The start of the race saw Button get a better start than Vettel, but the championship leader was aggressive as he blocked the inside line, forcing Button on to the grass.

That allowed Hamilton through in to second, while Button appealed in vain for a penalty to be handed out. Vettel couldn't pull more than a three second gap in the first stint, but just as Hamilton appeared to be closing the gap a right rear puncture saw him lose out to Button and have to pit early.

"He's got to get a penalty for that," Button shouted over the radio but stewards, who included Australia's 1980 champion Alan Jones, decided to take no further action after reviewing the incident.

The German pulled away initially at a second a lap but 2009 champion Button reined him in and took the lead at his second pitstop when he emerged just ahead of the German in a race dictated by tyre wear.

"I think we were a little bit too weak today on the option tyre," said Vettel, who has been otherwise dominant in his charge to the title after seizing his first against the odds in the final race last year.

"To win the championship here is fantastic. So many things you want to say in this moment but it's hard to remember all of them," he added. "There are so many people, it's hard to name them all to thank them."

A safety car incident triggered by another coming together between McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Felipe Massa, as well as a contact between Red Bull's Mark Webber and Mercedes' Michael Schumacher, bunched up the field for three laps while marshals retrieved debris.

Button kept his lead and took the chequered flag for what he considers a second home race, thanks to his Japanese girlfriend and long-standing passion for the country, just 1.1 seconds over Alonso.

"It was a great race, the start was very good - maybe too good and I ended up on the grass," grinned Button, ecstatic at his third win of the season and 12th of his career.

"It's always a very special place to race, Suzuka. This is one of the most perfect places to race and the crowd are very special. It's one of our most special victories, it means a lot to me," added the Briton, who had written off his own title chances long ago.

Alonso had threatened to take the win but Button had just enough in his tyres to keep him at bay. Vettel was only 0.8 seconds further back.

Button appeared to have the race in control as he extended his lead to over five seconds, with the focus on the battle between Alonso and Vettel. Webber was closing in, but a team radio message told him not to challenge Vettel and informed him that Vettel would not be attacking Alonso.

That left the Ferrari free to chase Button, and Alonso closed the gap to a second with a lap to go. Button had the response right at the end though, pumping in fastest laps before crossing the line and bringing the car to an immediate halt.

The win cut Vettel's overall lead over the Briton to 114 points, an insurmountable advantage with a total of 100 left to be won.

Hamilton finished fifth after stewards took no further action for the incident with Massa that ripped off the Ferrari's front wing endplate.

Australian Mark Webber, still without a win this year, was fourth for Red Bull, who have 518 points to McLaren's 388 and could wrap up the constructors' championship in South Korea next weekend.

Schumacher, who briefly led the race during the pitstops, was sixth and Massa seventh.

In a race of only one retirement, Mexican Sergio Perez was seventh for Sauber ahead of Renault's Russian Vitaly Petrov.

Germany's Nico Rosberg, who started on the back row after failing to set a lap in qualifying, roared back to take the final point.

Full Results of Japanese Grand Prix

1. Jenson Button (McLaren)
2. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
3. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
4. Mark Webber (Red Bull)
5. LewisHamilton (McLaren)
6. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes)
7. Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
8. S Perez (Sauber)
9. Vitaly Petrov (Renault)
10. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
11. A drianSutil (Force India)
12. Paul di Resta (Force India)
13. Kamul Kobayashi (Sauber)
14 Pastor Maldonado (Williams)
15. Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso)
16 Bruno Senna (Renault)
17. Rubens Barrichello (Williams)
18. Heiki Kovalainen (Lotus)
19 J Trulli (Lotus)
20. Timo Glock (Virgin)
21. Jerome d'Ambrosio (Virgin)
22. Daniel Ricciardo (HRT)
23. Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRT)
24. Retired: Seabstien Buemi (Toro Rosso)

Drivers' Championship Top Six
1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) – 324 points
2. Jenson Button (McLaen) – 210
3. 3. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) – 202
4. Mark Webber (Red Bull) – 194
5. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) – 178
6. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) – 90

Constructors' Championship Top Six
1. Red Bull Racing – 518 points
2. 2. McLaren – 388
3. 3. Ferrari – 292
4. 4. Mercedes GP – 123
5. 5. Renault – 72
6. 6. Force India - 48
source: tripolipost.com

Sebastian Vettel leads the field for Japanese Grand Prix

2011-10-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

Sebastian Vettel gave Red Bull Racing yet another pole position on Saturday at Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix, but this time the German cut it fine--beating McLaren's Jenson Button by the tiny margin of 0.009 second.

Lewis Hamilton, Button's McLaren teammate, was fastest on the first runs in the third qualifying session and had every chance of holding on to pole in the final runs, but he failed to get past the start/finish line to start his last lap before the checkered flag waved. Slowing a bit to find a gap, Hamilton was shuffled out when Red Bull's Mark Webber and Mercedes GP's Michael Schumacher--both of whom were equally keen to start a new lap and beat the flag--hustled their way past.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Hamilton's problems left Vettel free to set a last lap time that put him on top. Button, who has been quick all weekend, just failed to dislodge Vettel with his final effort.

Vettel was helped by the fact that a new front wing arrived just before qualifying. The team had arrived at Suzuka with only two of the latest spec wings and Vettel had to revert to an old one after crashing in practice.

"We sat down after the practice session this morning and fortunately got everything together and we were able to get everything, every single bit out of the car, which was crucial," said Vettel. "There isn't much between Jenson and myself. It was a tough qualifying but I enjoyed it a lot. It's a long lap. You start off with this mega first sector.

"We come here, not for the first time, but still, every time is a challenge, especially in qualifying to really get it as good as you can. I had a bit of a wobble in sector one but then I made up for it in the second sector and we have been strong in the third sector, so, all in all, fantastic."

Behind Button and Hamilton, Felipe Massa took fourth place, ahead of Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso. Webber had a scrappy session and was at a loss to explain why he ended up only sixth.

The other four drivers who made Q3 failed to register times as they tried to save tires for the race. Sauber's Kamui Kobayshi went out, crossed the line and came in, and on the basis that he has attempted a flying lap, he earned seventh place.

Schumacher, and Renault teammates Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov all hit the checkered flag when they went out so were deemed to have not started a flying lap. They line up in numerical order.

The fastest driver not to make Q3 was Force India's Adrian Sutil, who will start 11th and is the first of those with a free choice of tires. He lines up ahead of teammate Paul Di Resta, the Williams teammates Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado, and the Toro Rossos of Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari. Sergio Perez did not manage a flying lap in Q2 after hydraulic problems with his Sauber, and will start 17th.

Quickest of those who didn't make it out of Q1 was Heikki Kovalainen, and the Finn will start in 18th, ahead of Lotus teammate Jarno Trulli. Jerome D'Ambrosio beat Virgin colleague Timo Glock to take 20th, while HRT's Daniel Ricciardo starts 22nd.

The biggest victim of qualifying was Nico Rosberg, who had a hydraulic problem at the start of the session and did not get a flying lap in. He will start 23rd, with three new sets of soft tires available. He does start ahead of HRT's Tonio Liuzzi, who had an engine failure and did not record a lap time. source: www.autoweek.com

Vettel pips Button to Japan pole after tense finale

2011-10-08T05:57:00.000-07:00

Sebastian Vettel pulled out all the stops in qualifying at Suzuka to narrowly overcome the biggest assault on Red Bull’s stranglehold on pole position this season, putting himself in the perfect place from which to seal the world championship in style in Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix.

For the first time since last November’s Brazilian GP it appeared that someone not driving a Red Bull would be starting a race from pole position as McLaren’s pacesetting form from practice continued, Lewis Hamilton comfortably topping Q2 and then holding provisional pole ahead of team-mate Jenson Button after the first Q3 runs.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

However, qualifying king Vettel is never one to give up on a fight easily and, despite putting a wheel on the grass at both Dunlop and Spoon Curve on his final hot lap, sneaked past the McLarens to secure his remarkable 12th pole, and RBR's record-equalling 15th, of the year ahead of a race he needs just one point from to become Formula 1's youngest ever double champion.

The in-form Button was behind on the road and was up on the German following the first two sectors but ultimately came up an agonising 0.009s short, although this was still enough to usurp Hamilton from the front row after his team-mate was involved in a strange incident at the final chicane which meant he didn’t cross the line in time to complete his final lap.

Despite the clock fast ticking down to zero, Hamilton appeared to slow under braking for the chicane more than normal in order to build a gap to the car ahead but was suddenly passed on either side by Mark Webber and Michael Schumacher, both seemingly concerned they were about to run out of time.

While the delayed Hamilton and Schumacher – who had anyway caped his tyres with dirt after taking to the grass – ran out of time, Webber did get a final lap in yet couldn't improve on his earlier time and ended up in sixth behind both Ferraris.

The Italian marque got within four tenths of pole although just for the third time this season it was Felipe Massa who was their lead qualifying runner after edging out Fernando Alonso by eight hundredths of a second to join Singapore rival Hamilton on row two.

Mercedes’ Schumacher was still classified seventh despite not completing a Q3 lap time at all, the German joined in that category by the two Renaults and Sauber's Kamui Kobayshi as the bottom end of the top-10 again chose to sit out running to save tyres for race day.

For Renault duo Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov it marked a return to form for the team following the nightmare of Singapore, while home star Kobayashi gave the packed grandstands something to cheer as he made the top 10 for the first time since Turkey, having earlier even topped Q1 thanks to the use of the soft tyres.

Force India narrowly missed out on getting either driver into Q3 as Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta found themselves on row six in the dying stages of Q2, the Williams pair to start directly behind as Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado who took 13th and 14th positions respectively.

Despite showing strong pace throughout practice, Toro Rosso appeared to sacrifice a shot at a rare Q3 appearance to save a set of soft tyres for the race for each of their drivers and therefore didn’t go out for a final run in the second knockout stage.

The inevitable consequence was that Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari were shuffled down to row eighth, although this was still ahead of an under-the-weather Sergio Perez who didn’t set a Q2 time after his Sauber ran into hydraulics problems.

Those issues had already accounted for the other Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, the German’s demise having made Q1 even more academic than normal given the three second-year teams as usual were unable to trouble the lower-end of the midfield in dry conditions.

The technical problem on Rosberg’s W02 ended the German’s impressive 100% Q3 appearance record this season although he was saved from last position on the grid by the HRT of Tonio Liuzzi, whose already problematic weekend hit another snag thanks to a misfiring Cosworth engine.

Meanwhile, filling 18th to 21st positions , Heikki Kovalainen edged out Jarno Trulli in the intra-Team Lotus battle by a mere six hundredths of a second, while over at Virgin things were similarly close as Jerome D’Ambrosio sneaked ahead of team leader Timo Glock right at the Q1 death, the first time that has happened since Turkey. source: www.itv.com

Formula 1: Mark Webber Shunts Retirement Speculations

2011-10-08T05:54:00.000-07:00

Question: Mark, is this the kind of track where you would like to beat your team mate?

Mark Webber: Ha, it’s nice to do this at any track, but yes, Suzuka is a rewarding track for all the drivers. There are not many tracks around where you can feel a Formula One car breath. Here you feel that the car really loves to be driven, hoping that the guys put them on the limit. (laughs) It is a real challenge.

Question: You have eight podium finishes this season, but no win. Can Suzuka - which you love - change that?

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Mark Webber: It could, yes. It is a flowing track and I definitely love to race here. Let’s wait and see. Seb (Sebastian Vettel) wants to win the championship here and I want to win the race, so we have to wait until Sunday to see whose wish gets going.

Question: There has been a lot of talk about a radio message to Felipe Massa from his Ferrari race engineer telling him to ‘destroy’ Lewis Hamilton’s race. Would you say that these things happen quite often and that we just never get to hear these messages?

Mark Webber: No, I mean I am not sure if you guys hear all the messages between the pit wall and the drivers, but from what I’ve heard about this particular message it was strategy-wise. And of course you want to make it as hard as possible for your opponents without losing too much time yourself by doing so.

Question: You have a contract for next season with Red Bull, but is it your plan to stay in Formula One for many more years?

Mark Webber: Yes, if I can keep up the racing I’m doing now. I think that retirement is overrated. I think the first few weeks it’s nice, but then… I enjoy my driving and I like the challenge on this level - and if you have the possibility to do this then why walk away? Read the full story source: www.autoracingdaily.com

Pirelli wants solution to cars sitting out Q3

2011-10-08T05:49:00.000-07:00

Pirelli says it urgently wants a solution to stop drivers sitting out Q3 to save tyres for races, after anoter qualifying session marred by the tactic at Suzuka.

Although Pirelli's deliberately high-wearing tyres have created some superb races this year, the trade-off has been that teams have learned that saving tyres for the race can pay big dividends - especially when they are in positions where they are unlikely to qualify much higher up the grid even if they tried their utmost. That practice led to four of the 10 Q3 cars in Japan not setting a time in the session, with Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) and Renault duo Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov all avoiding going for flying laps.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Pirelli motorsport chief Paul Hembery said his firm had ideas for solving the problem - reportedly including a return to special qualifying-only tyres - but that teams have yet to agree to any of their suggestions.

"It now seems to become a trend that some cars qualifying in Q3 do not set a time in order to save tyres, so we will be working with the teams and the FIA to find a solution that is acceptable to everybody to avoid this kind of scenario in the future, as it is not fair on the spectators," said Hembery.

"We have made a number of proposals in the past, which the teams rejected, but today showed that this remains a problem, which we would like to solve."

Senna admitted that he was not comfortable with the practice despite having gone for a conservative strategy himself in Suzuka qualifying.

"It's a really difficult situation because you are always having to think about your race when you are using your tyres or not," he said.

"You don't want to have this situation where it's better not to run in the qualifying session to have a better race.

"You're supposed to do everything - qualify your car in a position where it deserves to be - then have a good race as well."

Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn agreed, and said he hoped an acceptable solution could be found before the 2012 season.

"I suspect we're probably going to have to have a look at it, because having the back four cars in qualifying not running properly to conserve tyres for the race is not really where we want to be in Formula 1," Brawn admitted.

"So I think over the winter we'll have a look at how we can improve the situation to remove the incentive for cars to try and save tyres in final qualifying.

"I don't think any of us really want it, but that's the way it's evolved, and we'll work hard to find a solution with the FIA and Pirelli to avoid it happening, because I don't think it's a good thing generally - I think we should all be out there trying to set a time."

With teams keen to avoid a significant increase in tyre allowances on cost grounds, Brawn is hoping Formula 1 can come up with something ingenious.

"The simple way to resolve it is more sets of tyres, and not having to start the race on the tyres you qualified with," he said.

"That would solve the problem completely, but there might be a more efficient way of solving the problem."

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali also voiced his frustration at the situation.

"Once again today, as has happened before during this season, we have seen cars - no less than four in Q3 – give up on doing a flying lap," he said.

"Far be it for me to criticise those who made this choice, which is absolutely respectable from a technical point of view.

"I think it shows something is not right in the way qualifying is run and we should give it some careful thought for the future, because I don't think it's such a good thing for the spectators in the grandstand, who, I must say here are amazing in the way they make you feel their passion for Formula 1 and for those who are watching on television." source: www.itv.com

Jenson Button commits to McLaren by signing new 'multi-year contract'

2011-10-05T06:24:00.000-07:00

Jenson Button has pledged his future to McLaren by agreeing a new "multi-year contract" with the British-based Formula One team.

The 2009 world champion joined McLaren at the start of the 2010 season, recording two wins on the way to finishing fifth in the championship.

This season the 31-year-old has enjoyed the upper hand on his team-mate Lewis Hamilton and lies second in the drivers' championship behind the seemingly impregnable Sebastian Vettel with five races remaining.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

The team said in a statement: "Jenson's re-signing is a move that will strengthen Vodafone McLaren Mercedes's long-term stability as it continues to grow and develop its race-winning form into further world championship successes."

Button, who famously won the 2009 title with Brawn GP after ending 2008 with his F1 career in tatters following the withdrawal of Honda, said he was delighted to commit his future to the team.

"I've never felt more at home at a team than I do at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes," said Button. "I've won four of the greatest races of my life here, I'm currently lying second in the drivers' world championship, and I feel that I'm driving better than ever.

"You can only achieve that with the right level of support – and I truly believe that the passion and determination to win are stronger here at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes than anywhere else.

"As a grand prix driver, those are incredibly powerful feelings to share and be part of, and they've only reinforced my desire to commit my long-term future to this team.

"I've made no secret of my ambition to continue winning races and world championships, and I fully believe this is the place where I can achieve those aims."
source: www.guardian.co.uk

Formula One will adapt to ensure maximum viewing figures in light of ECJ ruling, says Benie Ecclestone

2011-10-05T06:19:00.000-07:00

Formula One's 80 year-old chief executive claimed that Formula One "has always been ahead of the game” when negotiating TV rights deals and would adapt as necessary in the future.

Ecclestone said he might even allow pubs to show the sport for free if that helped to increase viewing figures and, by extension, commercial revenues.

“We'll wait and see what happens,” Ecclestone told The Daily Telegraph of yesterday’s ruling. “It's not been signed off by the High Court yet. But we were ahead of the game a long time ago when we broke away from the European Broadcasting Union in the 1980s and started dealing with TV companies individually and we'll try to stay ahead in the future and find a way of maximising our revenues.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

“As far as we're concerned the most important thing is to get the largest number of viewers possible to watch F1. We’ll adapt."

Formula One only recently negotiated a new seven-year TV rights deal in the UK which will take it through to 2018.

Despite the global recession, Ecclestone managed to increase the sport’s take from the UK TV market by around £15 million per year after brokering a hugely controversial rights-sharing agreement between Sky and the BBC, which will bring in an estimated £55 million annually.

However, there is concern in some quarters that the increase in TV rights fees may be offset by a dramatic decrease in viewing figures, and therefore sponsorship, with the subscription-based Sky Sports having the bulk of the coverage. Yesterday's ruling may mean even fewer subscribers sign up to Sky, given the fact that they may be able to find cheaper coverage elsewhere.

Ecclestone, though, said he does not believe viewers will want to watch foreign channels with foreign commentary and he hinted he might fight their ability to watch it allied to 5Live commentary.

"That's if 5Live still have the rights,” he said. “We could stop that. Ultimately I think people want something they can see and listen to live with the commentary in sync. As for pubs, maybe what will happen is we'll give it to pubs for free in the future if that's what's needed.” source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Olivia Wilde Lands Leading Lady Position in Formula 1 Flick 'Rush' ‎

2011-10-05T06:16:00.000-07:00

It’s not a feature film about Ayrton Senna, but it will do. Ron Howard has been slowly putting the pieces of his true-life Formula 1 film Rush together, with scarce word about casting beyond the principal roles of Niki Lauda and James Hunt, but with the film recently starting production, that’s changing quickly. Olivia Wilde is reportedly joining the film, and she may not be alone, as Howard is apparently hoping to add Russell Crowe in a somewhat amusing and pretty spot-on role.

Wilde’s role is a plum one – she’ll play 1970s supermodel Suzy Miller, who Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) married in 1974. Though the two were in love, Hunt was a bit of a womanizer (okay, fine, he reportedly slept with thirty-three British Airways flight attendants during a two-week period alone).

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Needless to say, Hunt and Miller’s marriage was short-lived, and not just because of Hunt’s catting around, but because Miller subsequently fell in love with Richard Burton (the role that Howard would like to see Crowe take on). As if the romantic entanglements of the three didn’t sound complicated enough, Burton was still married to Elizabeth Taylor when he fell in love with Miller in 1975, and the actor was no less than twice the former model’s age. Yet, in a weird twist of fate, Hunt was reportedly already trying to get rid of Miller, so when she fell so quickly in love with Burton, they all agreed to get divorces, and Burton agreed to pay Miller the $1m divorce settlement that Hunt would have been on the hook for. Burton and Miller were married for just six years, but that’s one story that will live on forever, and that’s just a subplot in Howard’s film.

Rush will really focus on the iconic rivalry between Formula 1 drivers Hunt and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl). The film will center mainly on the 1976 Formula 1 season, an athletic season that was truly one for the ages. Lauda and Hunt were consistently at the top of their sport, but that’s not the root of the film’s drama – it’s the horrific, fiery accident at the German Grand Prix that scarred Lauda to the point that he was unable to properly close his eyes due to severe burns. Despite his burns, other damage to his lungs and blood, and a period spent in a coma, Lauda was back to racing in just six weeks, desperate to make up the points he had lost during his recuperation, lost points that could have allowed Hunt to win that year’s World Championship.

Did I mention that Lauda’s return to racing happened before he had the reconstructive surgery that would allow him to close his eyes? Because that definitely happened.

Wilde has already got a full slate, with two new releases coming up (Butter, In Time), three films either completed or in post-production (Welcome to People, Blackbird, The Words), with three films in pre-production (The Longest Week, Better Living Through Chemistry, and the rumored Lovelace). However, it’s fair to assume that none of those film will have quite the same amount of romantic drama and trauma of Rush.
source: www.filmschoolrejects.com

London to Sydney in 2 hours: spaceship to jet round the world by 2030

2011-10-04T05:35:00.000-07:00

A Formula One mogul has set up a project to rival Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic - and make every city in the world accessible within two hours.

At £60,000, tickets would cost half the price of Branson's space flight, and 35 people have reportedly already signed up for missions, which would take off from the Caribbean island of Curacao.

Space Expedition Curacao is the brainchild of Michiel Mol, the co-owner of the Force India Formua 1 racing team, who has paired up with Dutch airline KLM for the project.

They expect to have scheduled commercial space journeys under way within 15 to 20 years.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Dutch millionaire Mr Mol, 42, told the Daily Mail: 'Being able to travel from London to Sydney in an hour and 45 minutes, that is the future.'

Mol added that the spaceship will be able to fly at 14,000mph, and his website describes how it will break through the sound barrier within a minute, reaching 62 miles high before gliding back to earth in an hour-long flight.

Businessman Anton Kriel, who appeared on the TV show Million Dollar Traders, is thought to be the first Briton to buy a ticket.
source: travel.aol.co.uk

Renault to unveil small car during the Indian F1 GP weekend

2011-10-04T05:29:00.000-07:00

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

If you think the build up to the inaugural Indian GP can’t get exciting enough then wait till you find out what Renault has in mind. Renault India will unveil a small that the car maker plans to introduce into the Indian market next year. The new family hatchback will be unveiled during the grand prix weekend ahead of the inaugural Formula 1 grand prix on October 30th.

Renault and Nissan chairman CEO Carlos Ghosn will be present for the event to take the wraps off the concept car that is poised to debut at the Delhi Auto Expo in January next year.

Formula 1 will provide the perfect backdrop for the car makers marketing efforts as it tries to build the buzz around its upcoming small car. Renault spilt up with Mahindra & Mahindra recently and since then has launched two new products in to the Indian market.

Renault has adopted a top-down approach by launching to premium products that include the Renault

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Koleos crossover and the Renault Fluence sedan. The car maker, with the new small car will be hoping to generate volumes. The product in fact, will rival the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Swift and its sister firm Nissan’s Micra. Also, Renault being a known figure in Formula 1 since quite a while, it will be very much appropriate to schedule a global unveiling for a car that will also be offered in markets other than India.

Thus Renault-Nissan is hoping to tap into the popularity and reach of Formula 1 and use it to promote their upcoming product. Renault F1 has been doing fairly well in the 2011 F1 season. Although, the teams aspirations took a hit when Robert Kubica, their #1 driver injured himself in a crash early this year.

Vitaly Petrov has been performing satisfactorily while Bruno Senna who was recently added to the team after the sacking of Nick Heidfeld has impressed greatly. source: www.indiancarsbikes.in

F1 Roar: Red Bull Denies Brought Own Food to Japan

2011-10-04T05:20:00.000-07:00

The Red Bull Formula 1 racing team had a stumbling run up to its visit to Japan, days before the No. 1 team lines up on the track for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.

The Japanese online circuit went wild Tuesday when local media outlets reported the European racing team had arrived with enough food to feed the 80-strong team and staff members so they can avoid eating Japan-made products during their stay, and with it any conceivable risk of food contaminated by radiation from the disaster-struck Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. In addition, the reports stated that team leader Christian Horner advised staff and racers to limit eating meals out.

But as the clamor grew, there was just one small problem with the story: Red Bull Japan said the reports — based on a story originally reported in German newspaper Bild am Sonntag — are not true.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

The company explained the team uses local vendors to supply the team with on-site meals. In Japan, some items such as Australian beef have been imported, but domestically produced food is included in the mix, adding that this composition is no different from past years nor other destinations on the team’s globe-trotting itinerary. The company’s Japan arm also said it’s not true that Mr. Horner had directed staff to shun outside food, saying some members have already eaten local meals since landing earlier Tuesday.

The team is part of an army of the world’s fastest racers descending on Japan up for what could be the season’s deciding championship race at the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Japan at the Suzuka race track this weekend. The track, located in Mie prefecture, is about 470 kilometers away from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Still, the groundless story comes at a sensitive time among racing fans here, torn between their admiration for the speedway heroes and the visitors’ unreserved concerns about radiation exposure. The Formula 1 racers arrive shortly after the MotoGP riders, who were vocal about their worries ahead of the Japanese motorcycle grand prix meet.

Reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo said last weekend he used bottled water to bathe himself to avoid showering in tap water in Japan. Honda rider Dani Pedros considered leaving his clothes in Japan championship racer, while Casey Stoner flew in at the 11th hour from Australia to keep the trip to Japan short, according to news reports from Agence France-Presse. source: blogs.wsj.com

Ferrari denies malice towards Hamilton

2011-10-04T05:17:00.000-07:00

Ferrari says there was no malicious intent in Rob Smedley's comments to Felipe Massa at the Singapore Grand Prix, where the race engineer told the Brazilian to "destroy" Lewis Hamilton's race.

The two drivers made contact at the Marina Bay race, and the controversy was fuelled further when the official highlights video posted on Formula 1's official website included Smedley's radio message to Massa.

"Hold Hamilton as much as we can. Destroy his race as much as we can. Come on, boy..." Smedley told Massa.

But Ferrari, speaking through its 'Horse Whisperer' column, said on Tuesday that Smedley's message had been simply blown out of proportion.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

The Italian squad admitted the comments were not the "most politically correct" but insisted they had absolutely nothing to do with the collision that took place between the drivers moments later.

"Words, words, words...Reading some of the English daily papers, it seems the Horse Whisperer is not alone in having his thoughts turn to William Shakespeare when he stumbled across the polemical mountain made out of the molehill that was the phrase delivered by Rob Smedley during the Singapore Grand Prix," wrote the Horse Whisperer on Ferrari's website.

"It's true that Felipe Massa's race engineer was caught up in the heat of the moment and chose to use the verb 'destroy' at some point.

"It might not have been the most politically correct choice of word, but it definitely carried no malicious intent, especially when you take into account that Rob is a Middlesbrough lad, born and bred!

"It is also true that this exhortation to Felipe came at the exit to Turn 5 on lap 11 of the race, at the end of which both the Ferrari man and Hamilton were due to come in to the pits together. In other words, it had nothing to do with the collision between Felipe and Lewis that happened on the following lap.

"It would not have taken much to avoid this misunderstanding, but that's what happens in the frenetic world of Formula 1. When all is said done, as the Bard of Avon himself might have put it, it was all much ado about nothing." source: asia.eurosport.com

Drivers face taxing time in India

2011-10-04T05:13:00.000-07:00

While the Indian Grand Prix import duty tax row appears to have been resolved, concerns about punitive levels of tax for teams and drivers have not been so easily assuaged.

Negotiations with the relevant Indian authorities are still ongoing, but the Formula One world is worried that a race in India will see teams and drivers alike paying income tax in India - on a reported 1/19th of their annual earnings - as a consequence of spending less than a week racing in the country. There has been no mention of similar tax demands on the media or team support staff, triggering the suspicion that the income tax row is merely an attempt to eke extra money out of what will be an expensive event to host.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Tax law varies around the world, but it is highly unusual to pay income tax in a country one is simply visiting for the purpose of work.

FOTA chairman and McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh admitted to some concerns about the possible tax penalties of racing in India, but was unable to shed any light on the current state of affairs. "There are some concerns, and it's a concern for drivers as well as teams. It's quite a tough tax regime, but I'm certainly not competent to tell you exactly where we're at," Whitmarsh said. "But there is quite a lot of negotiation and discussion going on. I am sure we will race in India, but we need to resolve some of those issues." source: en.espnf1.com

Sauber plays down Perez Ferrari link

2011-10-04T05:10:00.000-07:00

Sauber says it does not expect Sergio Perez to test for Ferrari again in the immediate future, amid continuing speculation about the Mexican's chances of a future Ferrari race seat.

Formula 1 rookie Perez was added to Ferrari's Driver Academy system this season, and tested a 2009 Ferrari at Fiorano between the Italian and Singapore Grands Prix.

Comparisons have been drawn with current Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, who spent his initial seasons in F1 with Sauber, while also testing for Ferrari. But Sauber chief Peter Sauber said Perez's situation was very different.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

"We can't make a comparison with Felipe because Felipe had a contract with Ferrari when he came to us," he said.

Sauber's managing director Monisha Kaltenborn said Perez's Ferrari test was "an integrated part of the [FDA] activities, so we knew at some point it would come up", and played down the chances of Perez becoming a bigger part of Ferrari's programme.

"There's no such situation, he's really just part of their academy," she said. "It's just running in parallel, basically. The academy is meant for drivers who should go into Formula 1, and he is already in Formula 1, so I think you have to put that in the right perspective.

"There are no further arrangements regarding that. As we understand it, there is one test. The programme is not developed with us. We make sure that none of these activities conflict with any of our activities, and Ferrari respects that. We found a time when we could do his test and that's it."

Perez is currently 16th in the world championship, with seventh place at Silverstone his best result in F1 so far. He has received plaudits for regular outpacing his highly-regarded - and more experienced - Sauber team-mate Kamui Kobayashi. source: uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

Column: Vettel aside, tires are star F1 performer

2011-10-04T05:07:00.000-07:00

PARIS — Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull aside, the star of this Formula One season has been Pirelli for being brave enough to supply teams with tires that wear out cleverly — something easier said than done.

No offense intended, but Vettel has sucked the suspense out of the driver's championship by being so successful.

Starting on pole for 11 of the 14 races and winning nine of them, he has left only crumbs for everyone else. Since Vettel needs just one more point to do it, you can all but bet the house that the young German will win the world title in Japan next weekend, effectively making dead-rubbers of the last four races in Korea, India, Abu Dhabi and Brazil.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

In years past, when nothing much happened in too many F1 races, that might have been our cue to switch off the TV and turn to more interesting pursuits like watching grass grow or paint dry.

But not this season. The paradox is that even as Vettel stormed away, more often than not, the racing behind him has still been too enthralling to miss.

Thanks, Pirelli.

The easier and arguably safer path for the Italian manufacturer would have been to supply F1 with tires that just ran on and on, that wouldn't lose grip and speed, wouldn't need changing in a race. After all, who wants to be associated with a product that doesn't last?

But that would have been zero fun.

Instead, at risk of staining its reputation with potentially bad publicity, Pirelli accepted the challenge of delivering tires that would wear out after roughly 10 or 20 laps (depending on the type used), forcing drivers to pit more and to use their brains to fit the right tire at the right time.

Tires, in other words, packed full of key ingredients for good entertainment — interest, action and uncertainty.

We have been treated to the sight of world-class drivers struggling to control their cars and dramatically losing speed as their tires wore out. We have seen them caught by drivers with fresher tires. The chess game of tire strategy has brought the entire field alive. Some purists may find it silly to deliberately throw a spanner in the works of such finely engineered cars by fitting them with such capricious tires. But the result has been a more absorbing spectacle.

The same goes for the overtaking aid — a go-fast moveable rear wing — fitted to F1 cars this season. F1's governing body has got the balance with those about right. The wings generally haven't made overtaking stupidly easy, which would have undermined the credibility of the racing. But nor is overtaking as ridiculously difficult as it too often was without them.

Together, the tires, the wings and the electric power booster that many teams use have all combined to give F1 the extra oomph it so badly needed.

Which is good because Pirelli could have switched to a more conservative approach if the gamble it took with the tires had backfired. Thankfully, it didn't.

"We always had a plan B," Pirelli's motorsport director Paul Hembery said in a telephone interview. "We could have run in very quickly with tires that lasted the whole race. We prepared ourselves for all eventualities. ... If we felt that the public didn't buy into it, or the sport didn't buy into it, and it wasn't working, we could have just gone back to what had been termed before as 'boring.'"

The first tires Pirelli tested preseason were so durable they could have lasted for three races; "we were too conservative by far," Hembery added.

The teams and F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone wanted tires that would require about 2 or 3 pit stops per race. That required tire compounds that would wear neither too quickly nor too slowly, and "it took us a lot of time to understand how to do that," he said.

"It would have been far easier from our point of view to have made something that just lasted the weekend," for the whole Grand Prix, he said.

Hembery promises more of the same next season, with "2-3 pit stops average," and only modest tweaks to the tires. One of those is to encourage teams to make more use of Pirelli's somewhat harder "medium" compound tire.

At the moment, cars running those more durable tires can expect to be about 1-1.2 seconds slower than cars with the less durable but faster "soft" tires, he said. So that, in layman's terms, is roughly a choice between sprinting for a short distance or running a little slower but over a greater distance.

Hembery wants to close that gap to 0.7-0.8 seconds, so cars on the harder tires aren't penalized so much for using them. The hope is that will give teams a greater variety of viable tire strategies to play with. Pirelli tested tires for next season last week in Spain.

"The idea is to close the gap, maybe, some of the gaps, in performance," he said.

Vettel's audacious overtake of Fernando Alonso at the Italian Grand Prix in September, in itself, proved him to be a worthy champion. With two tires on the grass, Vettel was brave, decisive, quick and error-free — everything you want the world's best driver to be.

But Pirelli should take a bow, too. Hembery says they've been getting fan mail. Deservedly so.

"I get people randomly coming up to me and just saying, 'Brilliant, well done, thank you, I'm finally watching Formula One again,'" he said. "That, certainly, in my motorsport career, has never happened before. That is gratifying."
source: www.ajc.com

Formula One Fantasy - Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi

2011-10-04T05:03:00.000-07:00

Believe the stereotype and the average Swiss is a quiet, unassuming character, more impressed with the qualities of precision and punctuality than with those of flare or imagination. But then, in a country where motorsport was banned while he was growing up, Sebastien Buemi is not your typical Swiss. Asked to go Formula One daydreaming, Buemi conjures up arguably the ultimate F1 dinner party, a grid full of ‘fan cars’, and a new-and-improved version of Eau Rouge (if such a thing is possible)…

Q: You must choose a city for a new Formula One street circuit - which city, anywhere in the world, do you choose, and why?

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Sebastian Buemi: Of course I would pick a city in Switzerland - Bern, Lausanne, Zurich, whatever - even though I know it is not possible to race in Switzerland. But isn’t that a Formula One Fantasy? So I can wish for anything...

Q: If you could choose one former world champion as your team mate, who would you choose and why?
SB: I would take Ayrton Senna. He was so special.

Q: Formula One innovations of the past - ground effect, active suspension, turbocharging, six wheels, the list goes on. If you could bring back one past innovation, what would it be and why?
SB: I would go for that intake device on the so called ‘fan car’ that Niki Lauda had on his Brabham in Sweden in 1978. That must have been a hell of a thing! (laughs)

Q: What innovations would you like to see in the future?
SB: Maybe going in the hybrid direction: to push something forward that could also be used in normal road cars, to yet again make Formula One a frontrunner in technical innovation.

Q: You can only drive at one circuit for the rest of your life - which circuit, past or present from anywhere in the world, do you choose?
SB: I would pick Spa because the track is simply fantastic - and maybe if we did a whole year there we could also have a dry race once in a while! (laughs)

Q: Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Tyrrell, March are just some of the teams that have departed the sport. Which former team would you most liked to have raced with and why?
SB: The old Colin Chapman Lotus team. He was so innovative and such a colourful personality.

Q: You have to design a new F1 circuit, combining all your favourite corners from other tracks around the world. Which three corners are top of your list and why?
SB: Firstly Eau Rouge, but I would change it a bit to make it more difficult. Or just bring the old Eau Rouge back - what we have now is a bit too easy. Second on my list would be the Monaco tunnel and third the fast ‘S’ from Suzuka. It would be a track of high-speed corners that would make a driver’s heart beat faster.

Q: You can travel back in time and compete in any decade of Formula One racing, from the 1950s to the 1990s. Which decade would you choose and why?
SB: The late 1980s. There was so much innovation on the car and the fights were incredible - and the sound was deafening… (laughs)

Q: What current Formula One regulation would you most like to change and why?
SB: I would change the rules on tyres - to get more tyres for a race weekend. We are spending millions on the cars and then sometimes not being able to drive because we have to save tyres. I think rookies and young drivers in particular would benefit from a more generous tyre allocation.

Q: If you could pick two Formula One greats of the past (from different eras) to watch race against each other, who would you pick?
SB: It actually really happened: Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. They made something very special out of their fight.

Q: If you were a team boss, which current driver would you pick first for your team (excluding yourself and your current team mate)?
SB: Sebastian Vettel. He comes from the same breeding ground that I do.

Q: Just 19 of the world’s motor racing circuits feature on the current F1 calendar. You can add one more. Which circuit do you pick and why?
SB: The Red Bull Ring in Austria. It is a beautiful landscape and has a very long Formula One history.

Q: You are having a dinner party and can invite four people from the world of motorsport, past or present. Who do you invite?
SB: Bernie Ecclestone, Dietrich Mateschitz, Enzo Ferrari and Ayrton Senna.

Q: You are given the chance to drive any legendary Formula One car of the past (excluding those made by your own team). Which car would you choose?
SB: It’s not a legendary car in the true sense, even though it will be a legend in the future: the Red Bull RB7. It has won nine races so far - and still counting.

Q: Rooftop swimming pool, bowling alley, revolving sushi bar - just some of the features most F1 motorhomes don’t possess. If you could add one thing to your team’s motorhome, what would it be?
SB: Probably a swimming pool. After a hot track session I can imagine jumping into a pool would be extremely nice.

Q: Imagine you have just won the world title. Where would you go for your celebratory meal and what would choose from the menu?
SB: Of course it would be in my home country with family and friends and good traditional Swiss food - the drinks would be decided on the spot! (laughs)
source: www.formula1.com

Whatever Happened to the Racing Incident?

2011-10-02T02:08:00.000-07:00

The long-time Formula One fans among us will recall a phrase that, though once a staple of every Grand Prix, has been left by the wayside.

Two simple words uttered by drivers, fans and commentators alike. A response to a locked brake, a misjudgement, or the guy in front closing the door a split-second after the move had been made... it was everywhere.

But those who only started tuning in to F1 in recent years will be totally unaware it ever existed.

The racing incident.

The racing incident is almost as old as motorsports—it's unlikely any occurred between the horseless carriages during the 1894 Paris to Rouen event, but I imagine the first one didn't come long after that.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Though what constitutes a racing incident has changed over the years, in our era of Formula One it could be broadly defined as "just one of those things that happens when two highly skilled drivers are going hundreds of miles an hour and trying to overtake each other in cars that are horribly difficult to overtake in, on circuits seemingly designed for a procession."

I say could rather than is because the racing incident has seemingly slipped away into the ether, usurped by a rather more sinister foe.

In our extremely sanitised modern F1—in which success is measured as much by profit as by points—making a mistake or taking a risk just isn't allowed. Committing such an act will see you charged with a crime against your fellow drivers—"causing an avoidable accident."

Which would perhaps be fair enough, if "more overtaking" wasn't the most frequently chirped phrase when the FIA and FOTA tell us what their visions are for the future of Formula One. And if the drivers were quite happy to sit in 11th and wait for a pit stop to try to pass the sluggish rival who somehow ended up ahead of them.

But it is, and they aren't.

So we're left with the quite silly situation in which drivers reach the pinnacle of their sport, are expected to provide entertainment, want to race and overtake... but get a penalty if the guy in front brakes a foot earlier than usual, or the inside line has a little less grip than anticipated, or someone moves when they least expect it.

The recent Singapore Grand Prix provided two notable incidents of a faster car colliding with a slower one while trying to overtake. The Schumacher and Perez collision left the German in the wall and brought out the safety car. Depending on who you ask, Perez braked too early or Schumacher braked too late.

I think Michael just got his line a few inches wrong as he tried to go down the inside. It was a 100 percent racing incident, and thankfully it was treated as such.

The other was the Hamilton and Massa coming-together, which left Lewis with a broken front wing and Felipe with a puncture. Massa was slow on the apex due to a defensive line, and Hamilton tried to take more speed through the corner for a better run out of it—and didn't correctly anticipate the Brazilian's speed.

The touch was so tiny it would have required replays to notice had no damage occurred. It was certainly no worse than Schumacher-Perez, but Hamilton was given a drive-through, perhaps because Massa got a puncture. But the penalty seemed very harsh—it was a racing incident.

Just 20, 10, even 5 years ago, a driver prepared to risk a safe second for the chance to win would be hailed as a true racer and applauded—even if he got it wrong. Senna or Mansell, for example.

As recently as 2009, the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 points system was criticised for providing too little incentive to go for the top step of the podium.

Now, despite changes to make overtaking easier and more attractive, drivers seem to be punished for wanting to race.

No one wants recklessness, and overly optimistic punts and downright bad driving should still be punished. But just getting it slightly wrong? An accidental tap? Misjudging the off-line grip level? Such things happen in motorsports, even at the very pinnacle.

The drivers are human, not machines, and the cars are on a track, not rails.

It's supposed to be racing. So let them race. source: bleacherreport.com

Catching a glimpse of the vroom!

2011-10-02T02:04:00.000-07:00

One could have easily mistaken the packed visitor stands at Rajpath on Saturday for a Republic Day gathering, but for the strong afternoon Sun. Instead of drums and marching soldiers, the traditional parade ground played host to the speed machine —Red Bull Formula-1 car.

The vroom and the lightning speed of the F-1 car sent the crowd into a tizzy. At the centre of all this madness was a blue Renault zipping across the central vista in New Delhi at 250-270 km an hour.

Delhi got the first taste of F1 on Saturday, ahead of the real thing — Grand Prix — to be showcased at Greater Noida from October 28 to 30. Red Bull, one of the participants of the upcoming race, presented a car show — Speed Street — here on Saturday in a flag-off event.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

Braving the scorching sun, Delhliites made the most of it this festive weekend. Spectators included die-hard motor lovers, school and college students and professionals, who had taken a day off, and even curious onlookers. Of course, celebrities and corporate biggies occupied prime seats at the venue. But the excitement kept them on their toes.

Rock band, Indian Ocean, built up the mood, while daredevil bikers wooed the crowd with their life-cheating stunts. Besides going in circles on front wheel, rapidly emitting thick smoke, they also displayed some breathtaking stunts, including the stand-up wheelie.

But the excitement hit the crescendo when Red Bull-supported racer Daniel Ricciardo stepped on the gas.

The crowd went berserk when he accelerated the machine within seconds after leaving one end of Rajpath, racing to the other. Though it was not a new machine, the car managed to touch 250-270 km, crisscrossing Rajpath — the majestic road that connects Rashtrapati Bhavan with India Gate in the capital.

Even in its old body, the racing car was so fast that the humble mobile phone with its 2.5-megapixel camera failed to capture a shot.

When the brute sound of the F1 car was out and gone, all that one was left with was a collective ‘wow’ from the boisterous crowd.

Even as the venue was quite chaotic and people had to walk miles to reach there, the pain was worth it.

After all, it is not every day that you can go vrooming!source: www.business-standard.com

Paes can't wait for the Indian Grand Prix

2011-10-02T02:00:00.000-07:00

Tennis ace Leander Paes has always spoken of his love for the adrenalin rush that comes with wearing India on his sleeve. But on Friday, he revealed to MiD DAY that he has a love for speed and all that goes with it too. "I love Formula One. It's an exhilarating sport with some crazy speed and demands a very high level of fitness," said Paes.

Inevitably, the Indian GP is high on Paes' agenda. "I can't wait for October 30. I think we'll do a great job of the Indian GP. I'm keen to see how it pans out. 110 percent I will be there to watch it in New Delhi," he said.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

The five-time Olympian even has an F1 hero. "I've been a huge fan of the late Brazilian Ayrton Senna. He was my hero," said Paes. Senna, 34 years old at the time, was killed after his Williams' Formula One car slammed into a concrete wall while attempting a corner at high speed (about 135 mph) even as he was leading in Lap 6 of the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994. The three-time Formula One champion (1988, 1990, 1991) was the last F1 driver to die in a crash.

Paes said he admired the Brazilian for his lifestyle both on and off the pitch. "On the track, Senna was definitely one of the best Formula One drivers ever. But off the track, he was a good human being too. I admired him for his ideologies and for all that he stood by. I think he was a fantastic athlete, superb driver and great human being," added Paes, who could not take to the court for his US Open mixed-doubles semi-final with Russian partner Elena Vesnina due to a back injury.

Subsequently he even missed India's Davis Cup tie against Japan. Currently though the 38-year-old 12-time Grand Slam winner has returned to full training and will travel to China with partner Mahesh Bhupathi with the Shanghai Masters on his mind.

Paes has visited quite a few F1 races too. "My favourite race has to be the Monaco GP. I think it's one of the world's most beautiful F1 street races. I'm keen to witness a night race in Singapore though. Somehow, due to my tennis commitments, I've not been able to catch that one," he said.
source: sports.ndtv.com

Mark Webber looking forward to the challenges of Suzuka

2011-10-02T01:58:00.000-07:00

Red Bull Racing team driver Mark Webber has recently stated that he is looking forward to the challenges of Suzuka at the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix.

The Suzuka track requires a car to be completely on the limit and that is what he plans to do in order to secure his first win of the 2011 Formula 1 season.

“Rhythm is very important there as well; you have to make sure you have the car completely on the limit for all the corners and you have to get certain sections absolutely right. It's a good challenge for the drivers and there are some good elevation changes as well - I'm looking forward to it,” he said.

His teammate Sebastian Vettel has been dominating the 2011 Formula 1 season quite effectively and it seems that defeating him is not going to be easy at all especially when a driver is using the same technology as he is.

Webber has secured a couple of pole positions in 2011 and RBR have a perfect pole position scoring record for the season. The Aussie’s rivals Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have already secured victories this year and keeping in mind that Webber has a faster car than him, it is quite disappointing that he has not won a single race in 14 races.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

However, Mark is quite excited about the Japanese Grand Prix and claims that he is aware of the technicalities of Suzuka.

“It has a sensational combination of corners; it's very quick in the first sector. It's quite a narrow track, so you have to be very, very accurate,” he added.

Other than that, he stated that this Formula 1 race in Japan should also have a positive effect on the country keeping in mind that a massive earthquake struck there in March 2011.

It is indeed going to be a memorable race for the drivers and winning such a historic race after one of the most tragic incidents in Japan might turn out to be the most special win this year for any driver.source: blogs.bettor.com

Formula One: Mercedes GP hires Geoff Willis, Aldo Costa

2011-10-02T01:55:00.000-07:00

Mercedes GP's hopes of creating a winning package in Formula One received a serious boost with the team's recruitment of two more big names to an already strong technical department.

Geoff Willis, who parted recently with HRT, will on Oct. 17 join Mercedes as technology director. He was previously technical director of the HRT team under its former identity of BAR/Honda.

Meanwhile, former Ferrari technical director Aldo Costa, a longtime associate of team principal Ross Brawn, will become engineering director on Dec. 1.

Both men will report to technical director Bob Bell, who joined from Renault last year and who has quietly been rebuilding the team behind the scenes.

The addition of two former technical directors might suggest that the team is in danger of creating a "too many cooks" scenario, but their roles are defined clearly.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

The team said that "Aldo will be responsible for design and development, and Geoffrey will head the aerodynamics, vehicle dynamics, control systems and simulation functions."

Regarding the hirings, Brawn commented, "Geoff is a highly respected engineer with over 20 years of Formula One experience, and we look forward to his arrival next month. Having worked closely with Aldo for many years, I know that he will bring dedication and championship-winning expertise to the team when he joins in December.

"Building a winning team is an exciting challenge for us all as we work towards the competitiveness and standards that we aspire to as the Mercedes-Benz [factory] team. With a strong technical structure led by Bob Bell, we are moving ourselves into the best possible position to achieve our ambitions."source: www.autoweek.com

Lady Gaga's 30 minutes performance at F1

2011-10-02T01:50:00.000-07:00

International pop queen to belt out a half-hour performance at Indian Grand Prix after-party The Indian Grand Prix just got racier. Pop queen Lady Gaga, 25, will perform for a whole half an hour during the closing ceremony of India’s first Formula One Grand Prix in Greater Noida on
October 30. She lands in Delhi on October 28-29, and this will be her first visit to India.

The closing celebrations will be co-hosted by Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal and restaurateur AD Singh. “It can’t get bigger than this. Lady Gaga is undoubtedly the number one artist in the world, and the thought of having her perform at the Formula One after-party is so exciting!

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

I am sure it will create history, and we should be happy to be part of this history,” says the 38-year-old actor, whose restro-bar Lap is the official partner for the event’s parties. “We want her to try Indian food, but we’re waiting to know what she wants,” adds AD Singh, who is tightlipped on her stay details and itinerary due to security reasons.

He adds, “Gaga has a massive fan following in India, and is thrilled to perform here. She stands for originality, and a whole generation has been mesmerised by her. I love her music and she stands for something that is different. My wife and children are huge fans of hers, and as far as I am concerned, I love her song Poker Face the most.”

Gaga will perform at the ticketed event that will take place at Jaypee Greens Golf and Spa Resort in Greater Noida after the final race on the Buddh International Circuit. A special lounge, called the LAP Buddh Circuit, will be created on the resort’s premises, and Gaga will perform on the last day. Apart from the American pop star, some international DJs will perform on the other days of the racing gala, to be held from October 28-30. World famous DJ Roger Sanchez will perform on day one, Edward Maya on day two and Tom Navy on day three.
source: www.hindustantimes.com

'No excuse' for Lotus reliability woes

2011-10-02T01:46:00.000-07:00

Tony Fernandes has urged his Lotus team to 'maintain standards' and to properly get on top of the reliability problems that continue to cost it finishes.

Jarno Trulli had to park his car with a gearbox problem during last weekend's Singapore Grand Prix - an event that saw the Italian racing with the Toro Rossos and Renaults before being hit by Jaime Alguersuari, and Heikki Kovalainen beat Vitaly Petrov's Renault in the straight fight.

But Fernandes said that while he was overjoyed with Lotus's performance in Singapore, Trulli's mechanical failure showed that there will still areas where the team had to raise its game.

Formula One Heiress Tamara Ecclestone

"I said after Singapore that that grand prix was just about our strongest ever race performance, and having been through the post-race reports it is very pleasing to see that our pace has definitely improved as a direct result of the upgrade package we brought out there," said Fernandes.

"Jarno suffered again with bad luck, but the reliability issue that ended his race is still something we need to improve on - we may be small and we may not have the facilities of the teams ahead of us, but that does not mean our standards should be any lower than them.

"So we have to make sure in Japan, and at the remaining races, that we are a two car team that can help us guarantee 10th place this year. That is a reasonable aim and one everyone in the team is working very hard to achieve."

Trulli said he was simply hoping for better fortune in Japan.

"I'd just like to have a race without some of the bad luck that struck again in Singapore," he said.

"I'd had such a good start and was holding off the Toro Rosso and both Renaults well, even running 11th at one point as we went into the first round of stops, but the puncture I suffered when Alguersuari hit me was just another one of those things.

"Hopefully in Suzuka I can make up for that and get as much out of the car as I did on Sunday around Marina Bay."
source: au.eurosport.com

Lewis Hamilton must improve 'mind management'

2011-10-02T01:39:00.000-07:00

The 26 year-old was confronted by Felipe Massa after the Singapore Grand Prix following a near miss between the two during qualifying and a collision during the race. Hamilton, clearly upset, cut short his interviews and left the track.

The Briton assured his Twitter followers on Monday that he was fine, saying: “Thanks 2 the fans this weekend, the support was incredible. Still got 5 races 2 go and I will give it my all until the end of the season!”

But Stewart, three-times world champion, believes there is a fundamental problem.

“I am a bit confused because he certainly knows how to drive and has a very large amount of natural talent,” Stewart said. “But if [Lewis] is going to be a great driver he cannot have serial incidents. And none of the great drivers ever drove in that fashion.

“He has all the skills but somehow or other, he jumps out of gear mentally - like in [Singapore] qualifying, leaving the pits. I cannot believe he nearly had an incident that would have taken him out of qualifying.

“The race incident was again uncalled for, so I think he needs to think about his mind-management. Michael [Schumacher] has had the same problem, but all the great drivers, the Fangios, Jim Clarks, Niki Lauda, myself - we didn’t have many accidents.”

Neither McLaren nor Hamilton’s management agency, XIX Entertainment, would comment on Monday on accusations made by the driver’s father, Anthony, to the effect that his son lacks support at races.

Anthony Hamilton, who guided Lewis’s career for over 20 years until they split up acrimoniously at the start of last year, suggested on Sunday that Hamilton was lacking a personal touch from his new management team.

No one from Hamilton’s new management, Simon Fuller’s XIX group which also has David Beckham and Andy Murray on its books, was present in Singapore.

But it is understood that Hamilton was consulted over that decision and decided himself that he would be fine with McLaren’s support as he was for the whole of 2010.

Following Sunday’s race McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh dismissed concerns that Hamilton was not getting enough support from McLaren.

“Lewis is getting plenty of love from the team,” he said. “I’ve known him since he was 11 and there’s affection between us and many other members of the team.

“Undeniably this has not been a good year for Lewis Hamilton. He’ll regroup as there are five more races and he’ll try to win them and try to win the championship next year.”source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Vettel untouchable in Singapore GP

2011-09-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

SINGAPORE - Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel put on a flawless performance to win Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix, but Vettel will have to wait at least one more grand prix before he can clinch his second straight Formula One world championship due to Jenson Button's second-place finish.

Vettel started on pole and led all 61 laps around the 3.152-mile (5.073- kilometer) Marina Bay Circuit for his ninth win of the season and the 19th of his F1 career.

"It was a fantastic result," Vettel said. "I really love this track, and I love the challenge here. It's one of the longest races of the season. The car was fantastic. We were in a comfortable position for most of the race, which is pretty handy around here, because it's a challenge to put the sectors together in qualifying and in the race."

Vettel came within one point of securing the championship at Singapore. With five rounds still remaining this year, the 24-year-old German has accumulated 309 points compared to 185 for Button.

If Vettel scores at least one more point this season, he will clinch the title, regardless of any other driver's performance. The October 9 Japanese Grand Prix is the next race.

"It looks like we have another chance at the next race," Vettel added.

Vettel held a sizeable lead over Button for a majority of the race. He held an 18-second advantage over the McLaren driver at one point, but Button came on strong in the closing laps and finished just 1.7 seconds behind Vettel.

"There were some frustrating moments in the race," Button said. "One was [Kamui] Kobayashi when I sat behind him for a lap and couldn't get past him before he finally pulled over...It was the best we could have done today."

Mark Webber from Red Bull finished third, despite another sluggish start in a race this year.

"Unfortunately, I find myself having to come back through too often this season, because I can't make the starts like I did last year," said Webber, who started alongside his teammate Vettel on the front row. "I just need to keep working harder, because it makes the race quite frustrating and risky to come back through to regain position."

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who started on pole and won this race one year ago, took the fourth position. Lewis Hamilton from McLaren bounced back from a penalty early in the early going to finish fifth.

On lap 12, Hamilton clipped the back of Massa's Ferrari. Hamilton sustained front-wing damage, while Massa had a right-rear tire puncture.

Race stewards later assessed a drive-through penalty to Hamilton for causing the collision.

Paul di Resta from Force India finished sixth, while his teammate, Adrian Sutil placed eighth. Mercedes' Nico Rosberg was seventh.

Massa ended up ninth.

Michael Schumacher was involved in a frightening crash just prior to the halfway point. Schumacher ran into the rear of Sergio Perez, launching the front of his Mercedes GP car briefly skywards before slamming head-on into the barrier in turn eight.

"[Perez] just lifted off too early, and I couldn't anticipate it," Schumacher told BBC Radio shortly after the incident. "I was about to try and go on the inside as he was a lot slower than myself."

Perez from Sauber completed the top-10. Schumacher finished 23rd.
source: www.torontosun.com

Sebastian Vettel crowned as 2011 Singapore GP winner!

2011-09-25T18:17:00.000-07:00

Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel has collected yet another win in the 2011 Formula 1 World Championship, bringing him even closer to his second world title. The Red Bull ace who has been having a phenomenal season this year was the first driver to cross the finish line under the beautiful night sky at the Singapore GP.

The German who started the 61-lap race around the breathtaking Marina Bay street circuit from pole position finished the race ahead of fellow World Champion Jenson Button from McLaren and team mate Mark Webber. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was fourth while fifth was taken up by Lewis Hamilton of McLaren. Force India’s Paul di Resta was sixth. Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg was seventh followed by Adrian Sutil from Force India, Felipe Massa from Ferrari and Sauber’s Sergio Perez in tenth.

Lotus Renault struggled today as Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov only managed 15th and 17th respectively. Both drivers sandwiched Team Lotus’ Heikki Kovalainen as team mate Jarno Trulli joined Michael Schumacher and Timo Glock in the retirement’s list.

As soon as the start lights went off, all drivers charged to Turn 1 and everyone managed to keep their noses clean with no drama whatsoever. Vettel enjoyed a good start while Webber dropped to fourth from second. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton had better starts as he dropped down to seventh after starting from fourth. Just moments after the start, the night race picked up its first casualty as Daniel Ricciardo broke his front wing. Nevertheless the HRT driver pitted and continued racing.

By Lap 6, Vettel was running in first and increasing his lead from Button, Alonso, Webber, Massa, Rosberg, Hamilton, Schumacher and the two Force India drivers Adrian Sutil and di Resta. Soon drivers started to make their first scheduled stops and the race moved on with minor yellow flags and few incidents including a retirement by Virgin’s Timo Glock when he spun into the barriers at Turn 18.

Moments after both Hamilton and Massa made their stops, both drivers suffered from contact as Hamilton tried to make a move on Massa. That incident resulted in a broken front wing for Hamilton and a rear puncture for Massa. Both drivers had to pit again and that easily dropped them down the grid. A while later, Hamilton received a drive through penalty from the race stewards which pushed him back further.

As Vettel crossed the line on Lap 29, it was Button, Webber, Alonso, di Resta, Sutil, Rosberg, Perez, Schumacher and Hamilton who made up the top ten. A lap later, just when you thought the Safety Car would not be deployed this time around, Schumacher’s Mercedes racer ‘flew’ into the air after his front left tyre came into contact with Sergio Perez’ right rear tyre. The Sauber driver managed to continue racing but Schumacher crashed into the barriers and the SLS was deployed.

After the Safety Car was pulled back in at about Lap 33, Vettel managed to maintain his lead ahead of Button, Webber, Alonso, di Resta, Rosberg, Sutil, Hamilton, Perez and Massa. The Safety Car benefited drivers such as Hamilton who was placed right back into the top eight following his accident and his subsequent penalty. The champion gave a good show as he was carrying out some hair raising overtaking moves.

With five laps remaining, Vettel’s gap against Button was reducing as the latter was able to set faster lap times and the former had to deal with back markers. With three laps to go, the gap was 3.7 seconds but with one lap remaining the gap increased to 5.6 seconds as Button lost a lot time negotiating traffic. The Brit couldn’t do much and Vettel who drove a smooth and clean race crossed the finish line in first.

In the championship standings, Vettel now has 309 points while Jenson Button is second with 185 points, just one point ahead of Fernando Alonso. Red Bull is 491 points strong while McLaren lies second with 353 points and Ferrari in third with 268 points. You can safely expected Vettel and Red Bull to clinch both titles this season but the battle still remains for second place in the Driver’s Championship between Button and Alonso. More will be revealed on 9th October at the Japanese GP.
source:

Singapore Grand Prix 2011: The top six drivers’ reaction

2011-09-25T18:14:00.000-07:00

“I am very, very pleased with the result today, the car was fantastic all the way through. When we needed to push, we could pull away quite easily, which helped us. When the safety car came out, it didn’t really fit to our plan as we had a gap of about 30 seconds with thirty laps to go, but nevertheless I had a very good restart.

“I was a bit lucky that there were some back markers between me and Jenson (Button) and I was able to get back into the rhythm straight away. I pulled out a gap and I was quite happy. All in all it is a fantastic result. I really love this track and I love the challenge here – it’s one of the longest races of the season, but the car was fantastic and engine-wise everything was great.

“Renault again did a very good job, so we were in a comfortable position for most of the race, which is pretty handy around here because it’s quite a challenge to put all the sectors together, not only in qualifying, but also in the race. I’m very pleased and for the championship it looks like we have another chance at the next race.”
Jenson Button (McLaren) – Second

“I was being told throughout the race to look after the car and the tyres; the only time I was really able to push was in the last 12 laps, when I chased down Seb on the super-soft tyre.

“I gave it everything, but in the end, we didn’t quite have the pace to make up the gap. Still, I think we had the best possible strategy for both Saturday and Sunday, and I couldn’t realistically have asked for a better result this weekend.

“In fact, we didn’t make any mistakes this weekend and, as a team, I think we did the best possible job with the equipment we had. We need to improve a few things in our package, but I think Suzuka should suit us a little better [than Marina Bay].

“I’ve had a run of podium finishes recently, so I’d really love to finish one step higher at the next race!”
Mark Webber (Red Bull) – Third

“Unfortunately I’ve found myself having to come back through the field too often this season. I can’t make the starts I made last year at the moment. I need to work on those; we’ll look at them and definitely improve.

“I have to keep working harder because it’s quite frustrating and it’s quite risky to have to come back through and try to regain positions on the track, particularly when the DRS isn’t working. In the end I probably lost a position today out of that, JB (Button) put a good last stint together so it would have been good battle with him, even if he did have track position.

“Seb deserved the victory today and overall, if you come here and you get a podium, it’s not too bad. Of course you’d love a win, that’s what we all strive for, but this is a very challenging venue. The guys have done a great job all weekend, for me in particular – as it’s not the easiest track for me here. I want to thank all the guys – they’ve done a great job for me all weekend and Renault also – we have had 100 per cent reliability, so a great job.”
Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) – Fourth

“Unfortunately, today it was impossible to finish on the podium. We were not fast enough and, even if we were third for some parts of the race, we knew that sooner or later we would be overtaken. Sure, if you nail the start and something unusual happens and you do everything perfectly and then some, the podium might come your way, but at the moment, the reality is that our car is third best in terms of performance.

“Then, as happened today, if the Safety Car wipes out the few seconds advantage we had put together over Webber and the backmarkers, who were maybe a bit distracted, create unexpected problems, then everything becomes more difficult. At the start, on the Supersofts, we had very high degradation, while on the Softs the situation got back to more or less normal compared to Red Bull and McLaren.

“We fought all weekend long and I’m pleased with the way the team worked, because they always did their very best and we got the most we could have done out of this race. We have five difficult races ahead of us, but our motivation does not change: at some point maybe we will be able to attack, while there will be other times when we have to defend, but either way, we will always do our best.”
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) – Fifth

“Congratulations to Seb on a great drive – he drove fantastically all weekend.

“And well done to Jenson, too – he showed what was possible from our package by really getting the maximum out of it. He nearly brought home the victory too – so I’m encouraged that we can continue to challenge for wins for the rest of the season.

“I had fun picking off cars after my penalty, but it was frustrating to once again be down the field when I felt we had a car that could have challenged up at the front.

“For me, this weekend was a bit of a missed opportunity. As always, though, I’ll put it behind me – I’m already looking forward to Suzuka!”
Paul di Resta (Force India) – Sixth

“My first Singapore Grand Prix was a lot of fun and I’m very happy with the outcome. I don’t think the safety car really helped us because I still had a lot of life left in the supersoft tyres in the middle of the race, but it didn’t really hurt us either.

“After that it was a case of managing my pace to Rosberg, looking after the tyres and bringing the car home. I was in free air for the final part of the race, which helped, and the pace was strong. It’s probably my best race of the season, but it’s the result of all the hard work behind the scenes.

“We came here with an upgrade package that has allowed us to gain performance in the race, gain tyre life, and we saw the benefits of that today.”
source: www.thesportreview.com

Youngster Afiq scores a double in Singapore

2011-09-25T18:09:00.000-07:00

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s Mohd Afiq Ikhwan continued his hot streak with a double sweep in the Singapore leg of the JK Racing Asia Series at the Marina Bay Circuit in Singapore yesterday.

The 18-year-old claimed an incident-filled pole to flag win in front of the 2011 Formula One Singapore Grand Prix crowd in Round 11.

Afiq completed the race in 25:13.931 ahead of Lucas Auer of Eurointernational, who finished in 25:14.386.

Malaysia’s Nabil Jeffri earned third placing by clocking 25:15.076.

Afiq went on to repeat his winning act in Round 12 to finish just ahead of Nabil with a time of 27:10.178.

Nabil also got on the podium for the second time with a time of 27:11.121.

Afiq Ikhwan

Afiq, driving for Meritus GP in his second season in the series, was full of emotion when the Malaysian national anthem came on during the prize giving ceremony.

It was his sixth win after pulling off a clean sweep of four victories (Round 7-10) at the Indonesian leg in July.

“I am so happy to hear the Negaraku being played back to back. The car was really good, everything was perfect and I would like to thank my team and sponsors Petronas for this.

“We will keep on pushing until the end of the season,” said Afiq, who is bidding to become the second Malaysian to win the series after Jazeman Jaafar in 2007.

The first race was marred by two safety car periods, the first after an incident at Turn 6 on Lap 3 when Auer tried to make a move on Malaysia’s Aaron Chang from the inside of the turn.

Auer’s front touched Aaron’s rear tyre causing the Malaysian’s car to flip and go sideways into the wall.

Aaron, who drives for Eurasia Motorsport, came out of the car and was kept for observation in the medical centre for two hours. He missed the second race due to the shunt.
source: http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2011/9/26/sports/9574244&sec=sports>thestar.com.my

Vettel roars to Singapore GP victory

2011-09-25T18:05:00.000-07:00

Singapore: Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel proved why he was champion as he revved-up another astounding win to finish the Singapore Grand Prix 2011 on top of the podium. He has to gain a point from the remaining five races to end another year as World Champion.

It was Vettel’s first victory at the Marina Bay street circuit on a day that defied bad weather predictions to serve a perfect evening to speed enthusiasts.

Vettel was followed by McLaren’s Jenson Button who kept the race alive in second place and the British racer was visibly happy to make it count in a race that saw teammate and fellow Brit Lewis Hamilton finish fifth after coming back from behind. Hamilton had to serve a pit drive-through penalty for crashing into Ferrari's Felipe Massa on lap 12.

Red Bull’s Mark Webber helped the constructors’ cause, complimenting his team mate and finishing third in the night race on the street circuit. The top five drivers used the DRS to suit their strategy and made a healthy competition out of it.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was superb for most part of the race but was outmanoeuvred by Webber to finish fourth, casting a deep shadow of doubt over his chances as ending the year on the ultimate pinnacle.

Vettel was a man on a mission at the Singapore GP, leading the pack in a dominating fashion right from the first lap to the half-race point and ended it at that spot only.

Michael Schumacher, on the other hand, paid the price for being rash and crashed out of the race, bringing the safety car out for a short while. The German's Mercedes shunted the back of Sergio Perez's Sauber between turn seven and eight of the floodlit street circuit, and flipped up at the front before slamming into the barriers.

Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari too crashed out towards the end to wrap up a bad day at office for his team.

For most part of the race, Vettel was followed closely by Button and Alonso while Mark Webber looked for that small window to put his car a notch ahead to finish on the podium. Webber got the better of Alonso in the 34th lap and from there on, there was no looking back.

Singapore GP 2011 started with the roar of Formula One engines, led by the man who is most certain to end the season as world champions, Red Bulls’ Sebastian Vettel.

He was leading the pack with Button breathing down his neck at the end of the tenth lap as Alonso and Mark Webber fought it out in that order respectively.

The Singapore GP kept its promise of being a thrilling night race on a street circuit as the drivers turned on the speed and upped the intensity instantly.

Fernando Alonso had a 30+ seconds pit stop in the 11th lap and came out eleventh as Button took the second position. Hamilton and Massa were in the pit stop in the 12th lap as well, one behind the other.

It was a great race for Force India as rookie Paul di Resta was sixth in his best-ever finish.
source: zeenews.india.com

Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Cruises to Singapore Win

2011-09-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

Sebastian Vettel has produced another faultless drive in a near-perfect season to move within one point of becoming the youngest driver in Formula One history to claim back-to-back world titles.

In taking the chequered flag by 1.7secs from Jenson Button in his McLaren in today’s Singapore Grand Prix, Vettel holds a 124-point lead over the Briton, with just 125 available from the final five races.

It means the championship champagne will have to be put on ice for another fortnight until the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka where the 24-year-old has won on the last two occasions.

In claiming his ninth victory of a thoroughly dominant season, only one man has won more races in a single campaign -Michael Schumacher who chalked up 11 in 2002 and a record 13 in 2004.

Behind the leading duo Mark Webber was third in his Red Bull, with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso fourth.

Both men are now out of the championship reckoning, along with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton who finished a distant fifth, 67.7secs down following more controversy. Telegraph.co.uk

Another Briton, Paul Di Resta, was an excellent sixth for Force India, his best result to date in his rookie season in Formula One, ahead of Germans Nico Rosberg in seventh for Mercedes and Adrian Sutil in the second Force India.

Felipe Massa of Ferrari, who collided with Hamilton in the early stages, finished ninth with Mexican Sergio Perez in the final points scoring position in 10th.

Perez had a coming together with seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, which eliminated the German in his Mercedes. CNN International

Pastor Maldonado beat Williams team mate Rubens Barrichello, as Sebastien Buemi also slipped ahead of the Brazilian late in the race to take 12th. His Toro Rosso team mate Jaime Alguersuari had a tough race, clashing early on with Kamui Kobayashi, and crashing in the late stages.

Kobayashi was 14th following a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags, ahead of Bruno Senna who had an up and down race for Renault but caught and passed team mate Vitaly Petrov, who was 17th. Between them, Heikki Kovalainen was 16th for Lotus but is under investigation after the team may have unsafely released him into Vettel’s path during their final stops.

Behind Petrov, Jerome D’Ambrosio drove tidily for 18th for Virgin, with Daniel Ricciardo recovering for 19th for HRT after needing a new nose and front wing on the first lap, while team mate Tonio Liuzzi later ran into trouble and dropped back to 20th. Formula 1
source: www.autoracingdaily.com

Singapore Grand Prix preview

2011-09-19T19:30:00.000-07:00

Sebastian Vettel is going to be Formula 1 world champion again this year – no one doubts this anymore.

With a 112-point lead and 150 available over the final six races, Vettel could miss quite a few grands prix before anyone else approached his current tally - and given the fact that no single rival has managed to emerge as the Red Bull man’s main challenger this year, the chances are that even if he were hit by a meteorite, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton would split the points between them and never quite manage to overhaul Vettel even in his absence.

The only remaining question is when he will clinch the now inevitable second straight crown, and it could be as early as Singapore this weekend.

After being spoiled with last or penultimate round deciders in recent years, many fans will be disappointed to see a title sealed in September.

If Vettel does put the championship beyond reach this weekend, it will be the earliest clincher in month terms since Alonso wrapped up his first title at Interlagos in September 2005 – although only two races remained then, whereas in this scenario there would be five – and the earliest in F1 calendar terms since Michael Schumacher became 2002 champion with six rounds to spare by winning that year's French Grand Prix.

To become champion in Singapore, Vettel needs to out-score Alonso by 13 points, Button and Webber by eight, and to avoid being out-scored by Hamilton.

So if Vettel wins, he needs Alonso to be fourth or lower, Button and Webber to be outside the top two, and whatever Hamilton does is irrelevant.

Such a result is a relative long shot (as it largely relies on it being Hamilton who takes second rather than any of the trio for whom the runner-up spot would mean a delayed celebration for Vettel), which means Vettel might not get to have his celebration pictures in Singapore's evocative night-time backdrop, but he surely won't complain if he can instead wrap things up at the majestic Suzuka circuit – where he has been unbeatable in recent years – instead.

Thrill and spill potential

Quite high. Marina Bay has a good balance for a street circuit - with barriers close enough that errors really do have consequences, but sufficient space that not every minor incident triggers a safety car.

Every grand prix held there so far has been eventful, and with DRS and Pirelli set to tackle the only problem with the track – a lack of scope for overtaking – this ought to be a highly entertaining weekend.

Talking points

* Were Mercedes and Renault's gains real? After their seasons started going into freefall, both the contenders for the 'best of the rest' honours rebounded in Belgium and Italy. But both teams are nervously waiting to see if it was just a case of F1's remaining fast tracks suiting their car, or whether they really have made enough progress to feature nearer the front in the remaining races.

* Which McLaren will be on top? Button has started to assert himself over Hamilton recently, with Lewis driving relatively tentatively in Italy - his confidence knocked by recent errors. As always with Hamilton, you suspect he's just one epic win away from returning to his full glory. He won in Singapore in 2009, but collided with Webber last year – but that 'glory or disaster?' unpredictability is part of the Lewis magic.

Singapore trends

* Something unusual will probably happen – A race-fixing scandal, Felipe Massa driving out of a pit stop with his fuel hose still firmly attached, Heikki Kovalainen putting out a blazing Lotus by himself... Singapore does tend to see the unexpected.

* Something involving Alonso – Winner in tainted circumstances in 2008, back on the podium as the scandal finally erupted in 2009, and thrusting himself right into title contention by triumphing again in 2010, whether it's been through brilliance or controversy, Alonso has always seemed to be at the centre of the Singapore story.

Winning pedigree

Current drivers who have won in Singapore

Fernando Alonso - Two wins (2008, '10)
Lewis Hamilton - One win (2009)

Current teams who have won in Singapore

Renault - One win (2008)
McLaren - One win (2009)
Ferrari - One win (2010)

Memorable Singapore moments

2008 - Alonso flies in practice but a qualifying fuel pump failure leaves him only 15th the grid. Yet he ends up winning after his Renault team-mate Nelson Piquet deliberately crashes to bring out a safety car at the perfect time for Alonso's strategy. Although Renault is heavily punished when the scandal emerges a year later, Alonso's win stands. Some good luck with safety car queues and traffic enables Nico Rosberg and Williams to take second despite a penalty, while title contender and pole-winner Massa leaves his pit with a fuel hose still attached - the first in a string of disasters that would dump him to 13th.

2009 - Hamilton takes victory, but the big news is underdog podiums for Timo Glock (Toyota) and Alonso (Renault), with the latter dedicating his win to ex-team boss Flavio Briatore, who had just been kicked out of the sport for the previous year's Singapore scandal... Rosberg and Williams again see a shot at victory lost to a pit penalty.

2010 - No question marks over Alonso's victory this time as he fends off Vettel's faster Red Bull all the way to the flag. A collision with third-place finisher Webber is a big blow for Hamilton's title bid.
source: www.itv.com

No major incidents, please

2011-09-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

Workers preparing the Mercedes garage at the Pit building on Monday.
Photo by OOI BOON KEONG

2011 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix

SINGAPORE - Preparations for one of the most glamorous races on the Formula 1 calendar have entered the final stage, with crews of most of the 12 teams yesterday unloading their respective containers at the paddock of the Marina Bay circuit.

The fourth edition of the SingTel Singapore Grand Prix gets underway on Friday with the traditional practice session.

Only the garages of Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren remained locked yesterday evening, and the word in the paddock was that the three main protagonists for Sunday's race would only start work later in the night, as they look to overcome jet-lag after flying in from Europe.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, who leads the drivers' championship on 284 points, will retain his world title here if closest rival, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, finishes no better than fifth, and the German's Australian's team-mate, Mark Webber, and McLaren's Jenson Button, fail to secure second place.

The Singapore Grand Prix's chief medical officer, Dr Kevin Chew, will watch the race closely from the control room.

He believes it will end in Vettel's favour.

The sports doctor won't be paying too much attention on the action upfront, though, when the cars go off at 8pm on Sunday.

Chew will be in constant communication with his team of 30 doctors around the 5.073-km street track and at the site's medical centre.

"I'll be watching over 30 monitors that cover every part of the track as the race unfolds, so it will be difficult to enjoy it," Chew told Today at the paddock.

"Touch wood, nothing that needs us will happen, but if it does, we are ready."

Singapore is home to the only night race on the Formula 1 calendar and in the three races so far, there have been no major incidents either in the main event or the support races.

According to Chew, it takes a maximum of eight minutes by road to evacuate any race casualty to the Singapore General Hospital.

Singapore is the first host country not required to use medical helicopters for such evacuations, and Chew said: "We have outriders who clear the traffic along the East Coast Parkway and conduct dry runs two days before the start of every Grand Prix.

"Last year, we clocked six-and-a-half minutes, which is far quicker than the 20 minutes required by the FIA (the sport's governing body).

"Because we were able to do this, the Australian Grand Prix started doing away with helicopters this year."

It takes a month to set up and equip the medical centre, which is located at the end of the pitlane.

It is stocked with all the latest machines and instruments to deal with trauma cases, including an X-Ray machine.

"If required, we are able to perform emergency surgery at the track. We have four doctors with their own respective speciality in emergency, trauma, anaesthesia and orthopaedic, as well as a staff of emergency-trained nurses," said, Chew, who is based at Changi General Hospital.

Pit crews have suffered some minor injuries here.

"The most high-profile one involved Ferrari in the 2008 race when Felipe Massa left the pitlane with the fuel hose stuck in his car," Chew recalled. "One of the pit crew was knocked out and was brought to us. Luckily, it was only a bruise.

"I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we only have to deal with these types of cases."
source: www.todayonline.com

'Formula One R&D is a 24x7 affair'

2011-09-19T19:23:00.000-07:00

Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa will surely be the Ferrari flag-bearers at the first-ever Indian Grand Prix October-end, but their success will depend on how the support team performs on the big day.

Ferrari’s partners, Shell, have been the first to connect with the Indian media as they prepare for the Indian GP. In New Delhi recently, Ian Albiston, Shell’s project manager, spoke to espnstar.com about Ferrari’s 60-year partnership with one of the world’s major petrochemical giants.

Excerpts:

Shrikant Shankar: Shell Helix has partnered Ferrari for a long time. How successful has the relationship been?

Ian Albiston: As two big brands, we have shared 60 years of sheer passion with Ferrari. We celebrated our 450th race last year with Ferrari and are now onto the 470th race with the Scuderia. In that period, we have had 160 wins, 12 driver’s and 10 constructors' world titles. That shows how strong the partnership is. The numbers stack up for themselves.

SS: As a project manager for Ferrari with Shell, what are the various aspects that you have to oversee?

IA: First, I have to see the whole programme’s budget, how the programme is delivered on time and within the budget. Second, I’m in charge of all the logistics, to make sure all the products are in the right place and at the right time and thirdly, I go to about six races a year as acting-technology manager. I also oversee the partnership at the races.

SS: Tell us about the Formula One programme with Ferrari.

IA: The Formula One programme is about the Research and Development. We have about 50 scientists working every year and for about 20,000 hours per year. That is just on R&D and motorsports. You can see the size of the programme and all the knowledge from that gets used in commercial products that you and I can buy.

SS: What are your plans for the future phases of the programme?

IA: We are currently working on three programmes, one is for the rest of this year, two for the engine next year and thirdly, on the 2014 engine (current ones are 2.4 litre V8 engines. In 2014, engines will be 1.6 litre six-cylinder turbo engines) when it comes in. The technical side of Formula 1 carries on 24x7, 365 days a year.

SS: There is talk of Ferrari having already begun work extensively on the 2012 car with the 'Challenger' looking very innovative. Has the team shifted focus to next season already?

IA: We are still pushing hard for the remainder of this season, but there is always a natural progression in any team. The testing season is so short now. When I started this job in 2001, the season finished in October and didn’t start till March. Now, we are racing till the first week in December and testing in the first week of February. Thus, teams like us have to start our work a lot earlier, but that is a natural thing. You need the car on the drawing board somewhere around the middle of the year to get it out ready at the end of January, and testing in February!

SS: What are the goals for the remainder of the 2011 season?

IA: The goal for the remainder of the season is certainly to finish as strongly as possible. We know it is a big challenge to win it from where we are, but all we can do is keep pushing, never say die until it is impossible to win. We at Shell will continue to develop products for next year. The 2012 car comes out at the end of January so that we can get to testing in February and start the season strongly in Australia in March.
source: www.espnstar.com

F1 : Vettel has true killer instinct in Formula 1 and is not a points hoarder

2011-09-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

Triple Formula One World Champion Niki Lauda has hailed Sebastian Vettel for refusing to follow his example.

Writing in the Swiss newspaper Blick, the red capped Austrian great revealed that with Vettel's 100 point lead at Monza recently, he would not have driven so attacking a race.

Referring to the German's overtaking pass on Fernando Alonso en route to victory, Lauda said: "Any other driver would have tackled this race strategically with the championship standings constantly in mind.

"'Many points without risk', that is the all too logical motto that I have used in similar situations," added the 62 year old.

"But, no, Vettel has proved with his killer instinct and aggressiveness that he is a true racer, not a points hoarder."

Whether Vettel can or is prepared to go wheel to wheel with his rivals has been, for some, the final question mark over the Red Bull driver's talents.

The team's Helmut Marko insists Monza was a "masterpiece" and that Vettel is prepared to keep attacking in 2011 rather than cruise and collect.

And the same is true of Red Bull, he added. "Driving safe races is not our philosophy. We are always on full attack and new parts are already going out to Singapore," Marko told the Formula 1 website.
source: www.f1sa.com

Ecclestone wants return to South Africa, Mexico

2011-09-19T19:17:00.000-07:00

Formula 1 could return to South Africa and Mexico in the forthcoming years, according to Bernie Ecclestone.

The countries were regular fixtures on the calendar from the 1960s before disappearing from the schedule in the early 1990s but speculation about potential returns for both has increased in recent years.

Speaking to The Independent, Ecclestone, F1’s commercial boss, revealed that after the sport goes to Russia for the first time in 2014 a return to its two former territories is on his agenda.

"After Russia I would like to go to South Africa and Mexico,” he said.

“Both countries are trying to do something."

According to the newspaper a delegation from the Mexican beach resort of Cancun visited Ecclestone recently, while last month FIA Senate member Carlos Slim Domit, son of the world’s richest man Carlos Slim, revealed a potential F1 return to the revamped Hermanos Rodriguez circuit in Mexico City that hosted all 15 of the country’s grands prix was being looked at.

Following the continued expansion of the F1 calendar over the past decade Ecclestone has already faced pressure to keep the schedule at no more than 20 races, the Turkish Grand Prix the first event to make way so that limit is not exceeded next season following the return of the US GP.

There was scheduled to be 20 rounds for the first time in the sport’s history this year before the Bahrain GP was postponed and eventually cancelled following civil unrest in the country, but speaking in the same interview on Monday Ecclestone expressed confidence that the 2011 race – scheduled for April 22 – wouldn’t go the same way.

"I spoke to the Bahrainis yesterday and they said everything is going to be fine. I hope they are right for their sake, not ours,” he said.

The Briton also revealed that the Gulf nation had still paid their race hosting fee for 2010 despite him having previously offered to waive it.

"I don't think [the F1 Group’s] turnover will be down this year,” he said.

“I think it will be flat because we were paid for Bahrain. I said we will give them the money back and they said don't bother. "I think the turnover and profit will be more or less the same as 2010."
source: www.itv.com

Vettel Impresses Formula 1 Racing World

2011-09-19T19:14:00.000-07:00

After establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with at the end of the 2009 season, Formula 1 racer Sebastian Vettel went on a run the likes of which the F1 world has rarely, or perhaps never, seen. With Vettel currently leading the championship race this year with no signs of slowing down, how can people not wonder: “Is he the next Schumacher?”

Obviously for this to be completely true, Vettel would have to continue racing for quite some time, let alone be spectacular. Fellow German Michael Schumacher won two consecutive World Driver’s Championships in 1994 and 1995, then put together a streak of five in a row from 2000-2004.

Schumacher holds the F1 driver’s records for wins (282), most wins in a season (18), most wins at the same Grand Prix (French-8), most pole positions (68), total starts from the front row (115), total fastest laps (76), most fastest laps in a season (18), total podium finishes (154), most podium finishes in a season (17), most consecutive podium finishes (19), most consecutive podium finishes from first race of season (17), total races finished in the points (210), total points (1493) is tied for most consecutive wins (7), and most pole positions at the same Grand Prix (8 at Japanese Grand Prix).

If you can believe it, the list goes on and on, and if Schumacher isn’t number one, he may very well be found as sole occupant of the number two or three spot on many driver records lists. It may seem like it’s impossible for anyone to ever come close to equaling Schumacher, but make no mistake, as of right now, no one can race quite like Vettel.

Vettel finished second behind Brawn JP driver Jenson Button in the Driver’s Championship in 2009 (Button now races for McLaren), Vettel became the premier driver in F1 in 2010, securing 10/19 pole positions, winning five races in all, and taking home the Driver’s championship for Red Bull Racing.

This year, the season is 13 races in, and Vettel has won all but three pole positions and only surrendered first place four times. Formula 1 hasn’t seen anything close to this brand of dominance since Schumacher himself in 2001. That year, Schumacher took 11 pole positions and wins out of 17 races, and won the championship by 58 points.

Aside from his current stretch of superiority, Vettel has also claimed some records for himself. Vettel is currently the youngest champion and polesitter in history, and has the highest average points per race entered at 8.87. He also has the records for most championship points in a season for this season at 284, breaking the record of 256 he set last year. The way points are done now it’s easier to accomplish these feats, but even with the new format, Vettel is without doubt far above his contemporaries.

Blossoming at such a young age (he’s 24), has given Vettel the opportunity to dominate Formula 1 for years to come and challenge some of the all time greats. But will he overtake Schumacher, the greatest there’s ever been? Only time will tell.

Having won the last three pole positions and two races in Belgium and Italy, Vettel will look to extend his remarkable run next week in Singapore.
source: my.hsj.org

Ecclestone: Bahrain still paid for GP

2011-09-19T19:11:00.000-07:00

Formula 1's finances will not be hurt by the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix, after the sport's commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone revealed that the race organisers still paid for the event.

The Bahrain GP was dropped as the 2011 season-opener in the wake of political troubles in the Gulf state, and attempts to get it reinstated later in the campaign failed after teams complained of logistical problems.

Although there were suggestions earlier in the year that Ecclestone would return the race sanctioning fee, believed to be around £25 million, he has now said that the Bahrainis were happy for it to remain in F1's coffers.

Speaking to the Independent, Ecclestone said: "I don't think turnover will be down this year. I think it will be flat because we were paid for Bahrain. I said we will give them the money back and they said don't bother. I think the turnover and profit will be more or less the same as 2010."

The Bahrain GP has been given an April slot in next year's calendar, even though there remain reports of ongoing clashes between police and protesters in the Gulf island state.

Ecclestone said he was hopeful, however, that the event would not need to be dropped again.

"I spoke to the Bahrainis yesterday and they said everything is going to be fine. I hope they are right for their sake, not ours."

Looking longer term, Ecclestone also suggested that his next targets for races are Mexico and South Africa.

"After Russia I would like to go to South Africa and Mexico. Both countries are trying to do something," he said.
AutoSport
source: uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

2011 F1 In Schools World Finals underway in Malaysia

2011-09-19T19:08:00.000-07:00

The 2011 F1 In Schools World Finals is currently underway in Malaysia – over 200 students making up 23 teams from 17 countries are competing to be crowned champions in this year’s edition of the annual event. The event, held at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in KL, runs from today till Wed.

The competition seeks for a winning team to design, build and manufacture a Formula 1 car of the future. The event involves three days of judging and racing, with every element of the team’s operation carefully scrutinised, including the engineering of the car, a written portfolio about the team, a verbal presentation by the team of their work, and, of course, racing of the car to determine its speed. The teams’ intricate and innovative race car designs have been developed using CAD/CAM software and tested with CFD programmes as well as in wind tunnels.

The goal of the Bernie Ecclestone World Champions trophy, together with Motorsport and Automotive Engineering scholarships to City University London for each team member, is a valuable prize for the winning team.

The initiative is proud and privileged to have the support of the Formula 1 fraternity – category awards and prizes are even provided by each of the Formula 1 teams and suppliers. “As a starting point for F1 in Schools, we’re using the popularity of Formula 1 to engage with students and spark their interest in learning more about engineering,” said Andrew Denford, founder and chairman of F1 in Schools.

“We’re very fortunate to have the support of the F1 industry and F1 management, which enables us to bring many of the successful students closer to the sport, with visits to Grands Prix and team headquarters, as well as helping students to secure placements and even full time employment with companies involved at the sharp end, from engine suppliers to F1 teams.”

“As an aside to this, we’re finding that students who came into the initiative without any knowledge or interest of Formula 1 are now avid viewers and spectators, with their F1 in Schools experience drawing them into it, and an appreciation of just what it takes to be creating a passion for this global sport,“ he added.

The 23 teams competing at the 2011 F1 in Schools World Finals have won through regional and national finals to represent their country at the event, with collaborations formed from second placed teams at national events, linking students from different countries to compete together.
source: paultan.org

Formula 1 test and reserve drivers set for Singapore fashion show

2011-09-19T19:05:00.000-07:00

Formula 1 test and reserve drivers including Karun Chandhok and Romain Grosjean are to take part in a special Amber Lounge Fashion Show at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Although the drivers' fashion show has become a regular in Monaco, this is the first time that the event will be held in Singapore.

As well as Chandhok and Grosjean, Jules Bianchi, Sam Bird, Alexander Rossi, Luiz Razia, Robert Wickens and Sakon Yamamoto have agreed to take part in the event, which will be held on Saturday night.

British pop sensation Taio Cruz will also be performing at the show, as well as at the post-race party on Sunday night.
source: www.autosport.com

Renault get go-ahead for new simulator

2011-09-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

Renault have received planning permission to build a new simulator at their Enstone factory, which team boss Eric Boullier says underlines their commitment to investing in their infrastructure.

West Oxfordshire District Council gave the Genii Capital-owned outfit the go-ahead to build the new simulator next to the team’s on-site wind tunnel, simulators having become increasingly important tools for Formula 1 teams in recent years.

Renault say work will begin imminently with an expected completion date of March 2012.

“We’re very pleased that planning permission has now been granted and we can begin the latest phase in our development at Enstone,” Boullier said.

“We’ve already stated the level of our ambition with the upgrading of our wind tunnel from 50 to 60% and the development of our new supercomputer for CFD computer simulations.

“The confirmation that our simulator is on the way is further evidence of our continued investment for the future.”

According to Autosport, Renault are to benefit from design and technical knowledge from rivals McLaren in the building of their simulator system after agreeing a deal with the Woking squad.
source: www.itv.com

Scuderia-Ferrari switch focus to setup of their 2012 car – Formula 1 news

2011-09-19T19:00:00.000-07:00

Scuderia-Ferrari principal Stefano Domenicali has told the media that they have stopped working on their 2011 car and are instead focussing on their 2012 car.

Domenicali added that the team wants a big step in the 2012 season following their performance so far in the 2011 Formula 1 season.

The Maranello-based outfit did not have good start in the ongoing season, as their 150° Italia car did not play a supportive role for them.

Other than that, both of the drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were struggling on the sets of hard tyres by Pirelli in the early stages of the season.

The team driver Alonso was back on the grid at the 2011 British Grand Prix, where he successfully won the race for the first time in the season. However, Ferrari are still not able to achieve a race victory since then in the season despite having several changes and developments in their car.

On the other hand, Ferrari technical director Pat Fry is hopeful the team will take a strong start in the next year with a more competitive package.

Fry said, “We know we have a gap to recover in terms of performance and we need an extra effort to get rid of it: this is one of the main targets of the winter time. Adrian's Red Bulls have been the quickest cars in the last two or three years.”

He went on to mention, “(But) to be honest I do not think this is a man-against-man sport, not at all. It is a very complex sport in which a very talented engineer cannot make everything along as he needs the support of many people to succeed. At the moment, Red Bull are the reference; our aim is to win, whoever will be our opponents.”

Fry further added that the team’s aim is to win races at the moment. After the 2011 Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari were placed at the third place with 254 points in the constructors’ championship.

Let’s see how they perform in the last six rounds of the ongoing season following their positive Italian Grand Prix weekend.
source: blogs.bettor.com

2011 FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX

2011-09-19T18:28:00.000-07:00

Webber: It would have been a mistake to quit now

2011-09-01T04:53:00.000-07:00

Mark Webber’s decision to stay with Red Bull for 2012, announced over the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, was an easy one to make says the Australian, who still feels he has plenty to offer the team - and Formula One racing.

Prior to confirmation of his new deal there had been endless speculation that Webber, 35, could be set to retire at the end of the year, having seen his 2011 title challenge fade relative to team mate Sebastian Vettel’s.

However, following his strong second place at Spa, Webber insists he has now adapted to the new-for-2011 Pirelli tyres - an issue for him at the beginning of the season - and is ready to push Vettel all the way in 2012.

“I've been an integral part of Red Bull since the start and I still enjoy it there,” said Webber in his column for UK Formula One broadcasters the BBC. “It would have been a mistake to stop racing.

“I'm still driving well. I had a bit of a slow start to this year because it took me a little while to get on top of the new tyres. I'm looking forward to taking on Seb - and everyone else - again next year.”

Webber finished third in the standings last year, just 14 points behind champion Vettel, after winning four Grands Prix. This year he has been Vettel’s closest rival, but has thus far scored zero victories to the German’s seven and trails his team mate by 92 points. Nevertheless, he isn’t quite ready to write off 2011.

“This year isn't over yet,” he said. “There are still seven races to go, starting with Monza next weekend, and anything can still happen.”
source: www.formula1.com

Mark Webber will not concede title to Sebastian Vettel

2011-09-01T04:45:00.000-07:00

Mark Webber has refused to concede the title despite trailing Red Bull team-mate and championship leader Sebastian Vettel by 92 points.

On Saturday, the Australian announced a new deal with Red Bull which will keep him at the team until the end of 2012.

"I'm looking forward to taking on Seb - and everyone else - again next year," said Webber in his BBC Sport column.

"But this year isn't over yet. There are still seven races to go and anything can still happen."

Webber, who has been part of the Red Bull set up since 2007, challenged for the title right up until the final race last season, but the six-time race winner has failed to win a single race in 2011.

Webber has finished on the podium seven times this
season but is yet to reach the top step

In contrast, team-mate Vettel has won seven of the 12 races.

Webber's future has been the subject of speculation all summer but the 35-year-old said quitting the sport would have been the wrong decision.

"I've been an integral part of Red Bull since the start and I still enjoy it there," said Webber.

"It would have been a mistake to stop racing. I'm still driving well.

"I had a bit of a slow start to this year because it took me a little while to get on top of the new tyres."

And Webber, who had to weigh up offers from other teams not as competitive as the reigning champions, admitted that once he'd decided on staying with the team, the deal was completed quickly.

"It might look as if it took a long time to sort out, and I was weighing up various possibilities," he said. "But in the end the contract talks were done very quickly."
source: news.bbc.co.uk

Formula 1: Is the real Michael Schumacher back?

2011-09-01T04:41:00.000-07:00

There was a fairytale logic to Michael Schumacher's Belgian Grand Prix on the 20th anniversary of his debut in Formula 1.

Schumacher made an impressive charge from last on the grid to fifth at the end, overtaking his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, 18 years his junior, along the way.

So is this the breakthrough of his comeback, a sign that he is at last approaching the levels he routinely reached in his first career?

Unfortunately, there was nothing to definitively suggest that.

It was almost impossible to compare Schumacher's performance with Rosberg's; their race strategies were entirely different, Rosberg two-stopping, Schumacher three.

Yes, Schumacher was able to overtake, but on faster soft tyres.

Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn said: "The softs were around one second per lap faster than the mediums and that was the decisive thing that tipped it in Michael's favour. That and the earlier safety car.

"That wiped out much of Michael's earlier time deficit to the cars in front [including Rosberg], by which time he had already got his medium tyres out of the way, having started on them and then pitted after four laps."

So the seven-time world champion got to have his cake and eat it thanks to the way the race played out, the safety car gifting him an artificially created proximity to Rosberg on track but on a tyre that at the critical time was much faster.

Looking at their respective fastest laps, set at similar stages of the race, Schumacher's was 1.1 seconds faster than Rosberg's - roughly what Brawn reckoned the time difference between the two tyre types to be.

In other words, the pace of the two drivers was roughly equal and circumstances just played more kindly to Schumacher than Rosberg. Their actual performances were very similar.

But that in itself is progress.

Although for several of the last few races Schumacher has been as fast or slightly faster than Rosberg in the races, he has invariably qualified behind him and very often got himself into clumsy incidents as he tries to progress from poor grid positions.
The F1 field flow through La Source

Belgian Grand Prix in 90 seconds

This time, the German combined his usual opening lap charge (up from 24th to 15th) with good judgement and calm, clean passing. Even the potentially tricky situation of chasing down Force India's Adrian Sutil, while being attacked by Jenson Button's McLaren did not trigger incident.

Schumacher was perhaps aided in this by the very strong straight-line speed of his car on a circuit at which this creates a lot of passing opportunity. Whether he can deliver similar clean race-craft in tighter confines remains to be seen.

The very early laps of the first practice session on Friday, in the 10 minutes before the rain arrived, saw the two Mercedes lapping in formation, the only cars doing serious running at this time.

Schumacher was clearly enjoying himself, pushing very hard even though the track was still 'green' and pulling steadily away from Rosberg.

The car control is still very evident and in such situations that is all that is really needed to be quick. But usually as the track's grip builds up and everyone gets a finer handle on car set-up, tyre behaviour etc, then driving becomes more about finesse than raw car control.

Schumacher used to have this in spades, but too often since his comeback he has appeared to lack the fine judgement required to maximise the car and tyre.

He used to be able to find the adhesion limit and sit delicately upon it, regardless of handling and tyre traits, but second time around he more often appears to be transgressing the limit and wrestling with the consequences.

This tends to hurt more in the exercise in technical perfection that is qualifying than in the improvisation around varying traits of tyre degradation and fuel loads a driver must contend with in the race.
Michael Schumacher

Schumacher crashes out of qualifying

Schumacher was not able to demonstrate what he could do in qualifying at Spa because a detached wheel on his out-lap pitched him off the track.

But that enabled him to show off the upside of his current skill set in the race, combined with a favourable set of circumstances concerning strategy and the safety car.

Schumacher did nothing wrong all weekend and scored a great result - a Mercedes in its current state of competitiveness could not feasibly have scored better than his fifth.

But it has to be said that the circumstances of the weekend did not play out in a way that might have brought out the shortcomings of his performances.

It was a great foundation for more, but let's reserve judgement before proclaiming that the real Schumacher is back.
source: news.bbc.co.uk

Tamara Ecclestone for I'm A Celebrity?

2011-08-17T07:48:00.000-07:00

Tamara Ecclestone has been offered a place on 'I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here!', with ITV1 bosses said to be keen to inject a touch of glamour into the jungle-based reality show.

Tamara Ecclestone has been offered a place on 'I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here!'

Bosses of the ITV1 reality show are said to be desperate to sign up the 27-year-old lingerie model - who is the daughter of Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone - to inject a touch of glamour into the Australian jungle with her tales of her luxury lifestyle, and have offered her a "huge deal".

A friend of the star said: "Producers are really keen for Tamara to go on and have offered her a huge deal."

However, it is thought the money "won't mean anything" to filthy rich Tamara - whose father is a billionaire - and she will only agree to take part in 'I'm A Celebrity...' if she feels she show is right for her.

The pal added to The Sun newspaper: "She is so rich anyway that they money doesn't mean anything to her. She'll only do it if she feels it is right for her."

Former teen star Aaron Carter, twin singing sensation Jedward and model Imogen Thomas are among the celebrities reportedly set to enter the jungle when the series returns this November.
source: www.list.co.uk

Tamara Ecclestone models another of her tiny bikinis

2011-08-17T07:44:00.000-07:00

If there's one thing Tamara Ecclestone can't be criticised for it's shyness.

The daughter of billionaire F1 mogul Bernie appears to prefer beachwear that's a size too small for her, not that many men will complain.

In the latest of the photos she's been posting to her Twitter page the 27-year-old poses in front of a pink open top car.

She sports another tiny two-piece with a garish lilac, gold and fuchsia design on it. Tamara is currently enjoying the sunny climes of Greek island Mykonos.

Staying in a luxury holiday complex, she has been constantly updating her Twitter page with posts and photos to keep her followers up to date on her movements. Yesterday Tamara pushed a gold bandeau top looked to its limits struggling to cover her ample assets with the bikini top as she posed for a picture for her Twitter page.

A make up free Ecclestone, 27, tweeted the picture from a bar this weekend as she relaxed on her third holiday this summer so far.

She was joined on the island by her stockbroker boyfriend Omar Khyami, 37, who also posed up for pictures as they enjoyed some nights out. And they weren't alone as the F1 heiress also invited Katie Price's gay BFFs Gary Cockerill and Phil Turner. She excitedly tweeted some pictures of herself and the boys as they enjoyed the Greek nightlife and the hangover cures the following day.

Tamara has already spent some time away this summer - holidaying in Monaco on board a luxury yacht with her boyfriend, her sister Petra and her fiance James Stunt at the end of last month. After a brief trip home to London, she jetted off again, this time to Sardinia in Italy on board the yacht again.

And it was during that holiday that she showcased some very small bikinis, some of which were in danger of revealing a little too much. She narrowly avoided an embarrassing slip up when she almost popped out of her Missoni bikini top as she sunbathed with the straps down.

However, her parade of different miniscule bikinis went a long way to proving why she was snapped up by lingerie giant Ultimo.
Tamara was joined in Sardinia by her younger sister Petra after their whirlwind trip to New York last week for her wedding dress fitting.

Petra, 22, is set to wed businessman James Stunt in Italy over the Bank Holiday weekend later this month. Her businessman fiance who has insisted on having the ‘his and her’ pre-nuptial agreement drawn up.

Friends say he wants the marriage to start on an equal footing and he is keen for Petra to hold on to her assets – and him to his – should they ever separate.
source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Gorgeous Tamara Ecclestone’s up for I’m A Celebrity

2011-08-17T07:38:00.000-07:00

I'M A Celebrity bosses want to put some vroom into the next series by luring billionaire F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone's sexy daughter Tamara into the jungle.

Producers have offered the 27-year-old Ultimo bras model a six-figure deal.

They believe the socialite's tales of luxury houses and expensive cars will fascinate viewers.

A pal said: "Producers are really keen for Tamara to go on and have offered her a huge deal." The pal said Tamara, a team captain on David Walliams' Wall of Fame on Sky1, was carefully considering the offer.

But he warned: "She is so rich anyway that the money doesn't mean anything to her. She'll only do it if she feels it is right for her."

Tamara could be joining model Imogen Thomas and Jedward, who have been linked with the next series, to air in November on ITV1.

She already has plenty to keep her busy, though.

Besides her modelling, she is launching her own Channel 5 reality show.

Her sister Petra, 22, recently paid a reported £55million for one of America's largest homes - an LA mansion built by the late TV mogul Aaron Spelling.
source:

Mercedes helps youngster get new hand

2011-08-17T07:31:00.000-07:00

Mercedes GP team boss Ross Brawn has helped a young Formula 1 fan to achieve his dream of being fitted with a new bionic hand.

Teenager Matthew James was born without a left hand and had been forced to use a bionic version which was akin to a claw with a simple open and close mechanism.

The 14-year-old had been keen to replace the device with a more sophisticated model but had been unable to raise the £30,000 needed given that his chosen hand – featuring a number of motors to allow movement to individual fingers - isn't available on the NHS.

Having met Brawn when the F1 team boss made a visit to his school, James wrote to the team principal to ask for help and offered to have his hand sponsored by Mercedes.

After being invited to visit Mercedes' Brackley base, a team member got in touch with Scottish firm Touch Bionics with agreement being reached to share technology used in both the arm and in F1 machinery.

The fee to fit the hand and train the teenager to use it was waived and Mercedes is helping to fund-raise the rest of the money needed, with the arm having been fitted last week.

"Matthew's letter to the team was very touching,” Brawn told the BBC. "Meeting Matthew, and hearing first hand how the new device would improve his quality of life, was a pleasure and I am delighted that our initial contact has now led to such a positive conclusion."
source: www.crash.net

Formula 1 Indian GP tickets sale starts August 20th

2011-08-17T07:27:00.000-07:00

So, it is the first time that a Formula 1 grand prix will be held in India and if you are planning to be at the Buddh International circuit for the race weekend then, here is something that will help you plan for the weekend that none of us have ever witnessed in India. The tickets for the grand prix will go on sale on August 20th for the F1 race scheduled for October 30th.

This will be the very first time, the 2.4 litre V8 engines will roar to life on home soil. The Buddh International circuit has been built to welcome the Formula 1 circus to the most colorful country on the planet. Indians are passionate about racing and the new race track and with Formula 1 making its first appearance here, the fan following is only set to increase. So if you are planning to go and cheer for our very own Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok then, hurry up and book a seat for the October 30 race.
Force India Indian F1 Driver Talent Hunt

Tickets will range from Rs 6000- Rs 35,000 (according to Hormazd Sorabjee, Editor, AutocarIndia) depending upon the stand you choose. Also, the Indian GP venue has a Formula 1 Paddock Club which of course will be one of the most expensive ways to watch the grand prix. But, this is where you will get to watch the men and the machines they drive from up close. It also includes breakfast and a bar and the best bit of them all is a chance to walkabout in the pit lane. Now, that is some thing worth it right?

The race weekend starts with the usual free practice sessions followed by a Qualifying session on the eve of the race with the actual race on Sunday. If you are planning for a F1 weekend, please visit the Indian GP official website for accommodation and ticket details.
source: www.indiancarsbikes.in