I was very, VERY lucky in that I was granted permission to bring home the Moebius International LoneStar kit that was on display at NNL East.
[]
Edited to three-image limit.
John, please repost with max of three images per post, or post a link to all images on an image-hosting site.
John
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/953726.aspx
At Silverstone
For a man making his grand prix debut this weekend, Daniel Ricciardo finds himself with an unusual amount of Formula 1 experience.
The Australian Red Bull protege has driven three different F1 cars in the last 12 months.
He piloted Red Bull's championship-winning RB6 car at a test for young drivers at the end of last season, and then became Toro Rosso reserve in 2011 before he was loaned out to Hispania as their race driver for the rest of this season just in time for the British Grand Prix.
Despite going from the fastest car on the grid to the slowest in the space of a few months, Ricciardo is viewing his promotion to Hispania race seat as a big step in the right direction.
"The car can't be compared to the Red Bull but it's still an F1 car," said the 22-year-old with an ear-to-ear smile. "It does some amazing things speed-wise and the potential under braking is still pretty strong. I'm definitely having fun.
"I was only 18 when I was picked up by Red Bull, and I knew there was still quite a few years to prove I could go through the categories and get into F1. It's only become a reality now."
The wet and windy weather that buffeted Silverstone on Friday meant Ricciardo did not have the best conditions in which to show his capabilities during his first full day of practice.
Ricciardo is hoping to impress at Silverstone this weekend. Photo: Getty Images
But he made a solid start, closely matching team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi in the morning and beating the experienced Italian by 0.209 seconds in the afternoon.
All drivers use the man on the other side of the garage as their initial benchmark but Liuzzi presents an interesting comparison for Red Bull as they assess Ricciardo. The team know just how far Liuzzi's talents reach because he drove for Red Bull in 2005 before joining Toro Rosso.
Does Ricciardo's future with the Red Bull family hang on whether he can regularly beat the Italian?
"It wouldn't hurt," responded Ricciardo. "I'll drive as fast as I can and where I end up will determine my future.
"Tonio is quite experienced and has spent more time with the team than I have. Going by the pace today I was quite happy to be in a competitive range and we'll see how it goes in the dry.
"The plan is to be around and to race in F1 for many years to come so with that I have to be fast and to prove myself."
Ricciardo asked fellow Aussie Mark Webber for some advice this weekend and there is even speculation that Ricciardo could be fast-tracked into Webber's seat in 2012.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has even compared Ricciardo's situation to Damon Hill's route into F1.
Hill stepped into a race seat with Brabham halfway through the 1992 season when he was a reserve for Williams. The next season, Hill was promoted to a race seat with Williams and four years later he won a world title.
So, does Ricciardo fancy a seat with the fastest car in the field?
"Having a connection and a link with Red Bull, it's somewhere in the back of my mind and it would be nice one day," said the Australian, who handily already lives near the team's headquarters in Milton Keynes.
"The news I got last week has filled up quite a bit of space in my head so I will just try and enjoy that at the moment.
"My main objective this weekend is to finish the race. Of course I'll push and try and get as much as I can from the car.
"I don't think we'll be fighting with Red Bull or Ferrari but I don't plan running at the back and having my own race. If I can be a few more places up the grid then of course I'll go for it. It would be nice to be involved in a good fight and I'll be pushing through all the race."
At the end of his first media session as an F1 racing driver, Ricciardo made another unusual gesture as he gathered up the dictaphones in front of him and handed them back one-by-one to each member of the media.
"There are a few more people here than I thought," said Ricciardo, with another trademark grin. "It's nice that people are taking an interest."
It's fair to say that there are plenty of people watching this space. After all, who's to say Ricciardo won't emulate former Red Bull protege Sebastian Vettel and rise through the ranks of Toro Rosso and Red Bull to become a world champion?
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/sarahholt/2011/07/ricciardo.html
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/formula-f1/~3/RBJWIX-d9BU/
At Silverstone
Sebastian Vettel surveys Formula 1 serenely from a dominant position at the top of the world championship as he heads into this weekend's British Grand Prix, where the Red Bull driver is the hot favourite to win for what would be the seventh time in nine races.
The German's record has been rooted in the dominance of the Red Bull car and it is expected to be as tough to beat as ever at Silverstone, where the track layout could have been designed to suit its superb aerodynamics.
But Vettel is not unbeatable - as McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have already proved this year. If the German is going to be stopped this weekend, or at any other race this year, this is how it is likely to happen.
CHANGE THE RULES
Undoubtedly the biggest talking point ahead of the British Grand Prix is the decision to ban the use of off-throttle blowing of diffusers. This is a technology with which teams blow exhaust gases over the rear floor of their cars even when the driver is not pressing the accelerator, smoothing the airflow and increasing downforce and stability in corners.
This ruling will affect all the leading teams, and it remains to be seen whether it will change the pecking order. Intriguingly, though, it may also affect Vettel in comparison to to team-mate Mark Webber.
Red Bull and engine partner Renault were the pioneers of the technology last year, when they introduced it mid-season. But the run of form that put Webber top of the championship, including dominant back-to-back wins in Spain and Monaco, was achieved before it was introduced.
At that time, Red Bull were blowing their exhausts over the diffuser, but not when the driver was off the throttle, a practice that can lead to instability as the downforce comes off the car just when the driver needs it most - when he lifts off to enter the corner.
Webber found a driving style that minimised the effects of this more effectively than Vettel managed.
The Australian admitted to me that this "might have been a small part" of the reason why he was stronger than Vettel early last summer.
I asked him if he felt, therefore, that the new ruling could work in his favour in his attempt to beat Vettel for the first time this year.
"I don't think it can hurt," he said. "We're going to have a big change in how the cars are probably going to behave - I don't see that as a bad thing, mate."
Vettel adapted incredibly well to the new Pirelli tyres this season, while Webber has struggled to get on top of them - it is one of the reasons the German has dominated so far.
But as Webber says: "It's another start for both of us. You hope it's the other way around for me so I go, 'Bosh'. I might drop on to this a bit nicer than he might."
GET AHEAD OF HIM AT THE START
Vettel has based most of his wins this season on a simple strategy -put the car on pole, lead from the start and control the race.
The only way to stop him doing this is to either out-qualify him - as only Webber has managed to do this year, and then only once - or beat him off the start.
This was achieved by the McLarens in China - a race Hamilton went on to win - and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in Spain.
Do that, and Vettel is suddenly out of his comfort zone.
The limiting factor in races this season has been the sensitivity of the new Pirelli tyres - they lose grip quickly and if you abuse them, you are in trouble.
So leading at the start allows Vettel to treat the tyres gently while building up a small cushion.
He seeks to build a lead of about five seconds to enable him to respond to any attempts by rivals to use what is called "the undercut" - pass him by making an earlier pit stop and using the pace advantage of new tyres to get ahead.
This was demonstrated in Spain - where Vettel twice tried to undercut Alonso when running second to him in the early stages of the race. It failed at the first pit stops, but succeeded at the second, demonstrating the difficulty any driver in front of Vettel will have keeping him behind when he has a faster car.
But it doesn't always work like that.
In China, Vettel was beaten away by both McLaren drivers. He easily had the pace to stick with them during the first stint, but a decision to do a two-stop strategy rather than the three of McLaren backfired - the extra grip in Hamilton's tyres in the closing stages of the race made Vettel a sitting duck.
HOPE RED BULL MAKE A MISTAKE
As well as China, this also happened in Monaco, where a mix-up at his first pit-stop put Vettel on the wrong tyres and forced him into a strategy that would have lost him the race had it not been for a later safety car.
Without that, the advantageMcLaren's Jenson Button built from what would have been a better strategy would have seen him win the race.
Even in the situation that did unfold, Red Bull's strategy might not have paid off - Vettel headed into the closing stages of the race with Alonso and Button right behind him and pressuring him hard on much fresher tyres.
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
McLaren believed Vettel's tyres would wear out to the point of him becoming defenceless before the end of the race, but then Vettel had what they call "the luck of champions". A late safety car led to a red flag and he was able to change to fresh tyres for the final eight laps.
DON'T MAKE MISTAKES YOURSELF
Leaving the Spanish Grand Prix in May, the chances of Vettel facing a challenge this year still looked pretty good.
Vettel had won in Barcelona, but only after fending off a clearly faster Hamilton in the closing laps - only the difficulty of overtaking at the Circuit de Catalunya had prevented the McLaren winning.
Coming up were two races on tracks where Hamilton fancied his chances - Monaco and Canada. But instead of beating Vettel, these events turned into a disaster for the Englishman.
A decision to do only one run in qualifying in Monaco led to him qualifying ninth when he had hopes of being on pole, and in the race he collided with two people on the way to sixth place.
In Canada, Hamilton's judgement seemed to have been clouded by qualifying only fifth. After making an impromptu visit to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner to discuss his future that evening, he collided with two cars in the space of three racing laps on Sunday and retired. As Button later proved, it was a race Hamilton could have won.
So Hamilton could have been looking at a total of three - maybe four - wins instead of just the one, in which case Vettel would not be anything like as far ahead in the championship.
PRESSURE VETTEL - HE'S VULNERABLE
The vast majority of Vettel's F1 victories have come when he has dominated from the front, a situation in which he is supremely comfortable.
He is much less at ease having to make up positions or fending off pressure - as was proved in the thrilling climax to the Canadian Grand Prix this year.
After dominating in Montreal throughout, Vettel lost the win on the last lap, half-spinning while being pursued by the flying Button, who stormed through to a brilliant win.
This was not the first time he has made a mistake in a pressure situation, although in Vettel's defence, he was flawless under attack from Hamilton in the closing stages in Spain in May this year.
Nevertheless, Vettel - like anyone - can crack if pushed hard enough; it's getting into that situation that has been the difficulty for his rivals so often this season.
As Hamilton says: "You can push people into mistakes, and as long as you continue to apply pressure that's what you hope they're going to do. But for us to win this championship we have to be finishing ahead of them."
MAKE YOUR CAR FASTER
All of the above is all very well, but the reality is that Vettel's pursuers are fighting a losing battle as long as he has a fundamentally faster car.
"It is difficult to think about how to beat Vettel without a big improvement in our car or in McLaren's car for Jenson and Lewis," says Alonso, the man who was narrowly beaten to the title by Vettel last year.
"Their car so far is too dominant. It is a dominant position that maybe we don't remember since 2004 and Michael (Schumacher)'s time.
"Hopefully here in Silverstone we can see a turnaround of this situation in terms of performance. There is always the motivation to win a race but we need a step forward."
Alonso was not the only man at Silverstone on Thursday to liken Vettel's domination this year to Schumacher's seven years ago, when he won 13 races on the way to the most dominant of his seven championship victories.
So what does the great man himself think? Can Vettel be beaten this year?
"Difficult," Schumacher said.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/07/how_do_you_beat_vettel.html
Not too many things remain static throughout our lives. Yet throughout mine one thing has remained a part of the landscape of my life: my dad?s 1968 BMW 2002. He has had this car since it rolled out of Munich in 1968. I have many childhood memories sitting in those Recaro bucket seats. The learning did not cease; if anything it picked up because as I became more interested in cars, this car become the embodiment of everything I look for in a great car: style, performance, fuel economy. Then my dad and I upgraded virtually every component of it and made it better.
This was my study hall where some of my fondest memories were with my dad installing the engine and soaking up the knowledge like a new sponge. Now as I sit in its seats, the recollections flood back. Yet when I turn the key, the engine rumble prompts me to go out into the world and make new memories.
Details on the 1968 BMW 2002 after the jump.
BMW 2002: The product of a father/son build originally appeared on topspeed.com on Saturday, 30 July 2011 06:00 EST.
Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/1968-bmw-2002-the-product-of-a-father-son-build-ar112497.html
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/1MfwdGN48Cs/
What do you guys use to clean your plastic display cases? I have a custom made one that is quite dirty and I don't want to harm or scratch the plastic. TIA
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/971023.aspx
Michael Andretti Keith Andrews Elio de Angelis Marco Apicella
German tuning adds more than 50 HP to the 3.0 liter diesel unit and provides suspension lowering, new exhaust and a new set of wheels too.Source: http://feeds.worldcarfans.com/~r/worldcarfans/Jxfz/~3/S2cl38ZZfJc/audi-a7-30-tdi-by-senner-tuning
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/931602.aspx
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2011/07/29/lewis-hamilton-you-can-get-excited-or-you-can-get-down/
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/jur_PJBm-is/
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2011/07/29/lewis-hamilton-you-can-get-excited-or-you-can-get-down/
Back in 2008, German tuning extraordinaire, Mansory, took to the Geneva Motor Show with a spectacular package for the Ferrari 599 Fiorano called the Stallone. This package came baring 720 HP and a number of weight saving upgrades for spectacular performance. At the time, anyone would have been crazy to suggest to Mansory that the Stallone was not complete, but after three years and a couple of debuts, one guy thinks he knows just what the Ferrari needs to finish its look.
The brains behind the Stallone makeover is a TeamSpeed forum member and car enthusiast who feels that a matte red paint job, an updated interior, and possibly an extra engine/software upgrade or two would complete the package. At his request, Mansory prepared this one-off edition Stallone and the result is the beautiful machine seen in these pictures.
For the transformation, the forum member took inspiration from the 599XX and the 599 GTO, both revealed after the original Stallone package. The new Stallone’s interior, covered in Alcantara, was taken from the GTO, while the special shark wings on both sides of the car came from the 599XX. Next to these additions, the Matte Red Stallone also received a new rear with an integrated diffuser and new side skirts.
Mechanically speaking, Mansory tweaked the V12 engine by adding a new exhaust system, improved cats, and a remap of the ECU. These additions were then combined with a lowered suspension. All we need to hear now is the final output.
Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano Matte Red Stallone by Mansory originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 28 July 2011 19:00 EST.
Designed for fuel-conscious shoppers, the crossover features a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with 240 hp (179 kW / 243 PS) and 270 lb-ft (366 Nm) of torque.Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers Michele Alboreto Jean Alesi
Global premium segment growing for all three German luxury brands but Audi and BMW are inching ahead of Benz.
Some will argue that Top Gear will only go as far as Jeremy Clarkson takes it, and to a certain extent, there’s some truth to that. But that’s not to say that his co-hosts, Richard Hammond and James May, are scrubs by any stretch of the imagination. As a matter of fact, one of them is going to get his own show in, of all places, America.
That’s right. The Hamster himself is crossing over to the other side of the pond. As BBC continues to expand its line-up in our neck of the woods, one of the shows that has already been confirmed will feature Richie Boy in a show called ’Hard Drive with Richard Hammond.’
The show is being being pegged as something along the lines of the World’s Toughest Driving Tests. Hammond will be traveling across the vast expanses of our wondrous land in search of the weirdest machines that he can get to move faster than Captain Slow ever could. We don’t know what kind of contraptions are going to be in store for us, but we’re definitely digging the concept of the show.
Let’s hope that the show more than lives up to the pretty awesome concept.
Richard Hammond to get his own car show in America originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 28 July 2011 12:00 EST.
Source: http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-robin-millers-mailbag-727/
Conny Andersson Mario Andretti Michael Andretti Keith Andrews
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/formula-f1/~3/ZnrxkxHJshc/
Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers Michele Alboreto Jean Alesi
It wasn’t that long ago when the first rumors for a more powerful Porsche 911 GT3 RS version began and now we have the official specifications for that model that map out a more powerful engine (duh) and improved aerodynamics. The vehicle will debut in July 2011 and prices will start at 178,596 euro including 19 per cent value added tax and country-specific equipment, or about $261,964 at the current exchange rates. Only 600 units will be made.
Details were so sketchy at first that we didn’t know if Porsche was for real, or just playing a really sick joke. Thankfully, this is as real as it gets with the 911 GT3 RS 4.0 utilizing a 4.0 liter engine producing an incredible 500 HP and 339 lb-ft of torque. This engine will be mated to a six-speed sports transmission optimized for low weight and high efficiency.
Weight is always an issue when wanting to make fast cars go faster, so Porsche made sure that was addressed with the GT3 RS 4.0. Many changes were made to the interior of the vehicle to drop weight, including the deletion of the air conditioning system and the addition of carbon fiber.
UPDATE 07/13/2011: Rennlist Forums has posted new images of the GT3 RS 4.0. Some were taken at the Porsche museum and some at the Nurburgring race track, but all reveal a beautiful black and white GT3 RS! Check out the gallery to see them all!
UPDATE 07/25/2011: Philip Raby from Total 911 Magazine got the chance to spend a couple of hours with the 911 GT3 RS 4.0. See what he thought of the more powerful Porsche after the jump!
More details on the Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 after the jump.
Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 25 July 2011 18:00 EST.
Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/porsche/2011-porsche-911-gt3-rs-40-ar108173.html
Here are some pics of my progress and a list of parts used to build this. Evergreen plastic rod was used to update the chassis. RB motion rod ends were used for shocks and torsion bars. MAS photo etch set was used for the steering arms, bird cages, and wing supports(not done yet). Pro Tech braided line and Detail Master fittings were also used. Also used a Nascar seat fort his build. Hope you enjoy!
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/816186.aspx
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/07/23/q2-hamilton-goes-top/
Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers Michele Alboreto
Source: http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/wsbk-in-yer-dreams-the-world-cup-of-superbike/
At Silverstone
Sebastian Vettel surveys Formula 1 serenely from a dominant position at the top of the world championship as he heads into this weekend's British Grand Prix, where the Red Bull driver is the hot favourite to win for what would be the seventh time in nine races.
The German's record has been rooted in the dominance of the Red Bull car and it is expected to be as tough to beat as ever at Silverstone, where the track layout could have been designed to suit its superb aerodynamics.
But Vettel is not unbeatable - as McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have already proved this year. If the German is going to be stopped this weekend, or at any other race this year, this is how it is likely to happen.
CHANGE THE RULES
Undoubtedly the biggest talking point ahead of the British Grand Prix is the decision to ban the use of off-throttle blowing of diffusers. This is a technology with which teams blow exhaust gases over the rear floor of their cars even when the driver is not pressing the accelerator, smoothing the airflow and increasing downforce and stability in corners.
This ruling will affect all the leading teams, and it remains to be seen whether it will change the pecking order. Intriguingly, though, it may also affect Vettel in comparison to to team-mate Mark Webber.
Red Bull and engine partner Renault were the pioneers of the technology last year, when they introduced it mid-season. But the run of form that put Webber top of the championship, including dominant back-to-back wins in Spain and Monaco, was achieved before it was introduced.
At that time, Red Bull were blowing their exhausts over the diffuser, but not when the driver was off the throttle, a practice that can lead to instability as the downforce comes off the car just when the driver needs it most - when he lifts off to enter the corner.
Webber found a driving style that minimised the effects of this more effectively than Vettel managed.
The Australian admitted to me that this "might have been a small part" of the reason why he was stronger than Vettel early last summer.
I asked him if he felt, therefore, that the new ruling could work in his favour in his attempt to beat Vettel for the first time this year.
"I don't think it can hurt," he said. "We're going to have a big change in how the cars are probably going to behave - I don't see that as a bad thing, mate."
Vettel adapted incredibly well to the new Pirelli tyres this season, while Webber has struggled to get on top of them - it is one of the reasons the German has dominated so far.
But as Webber says: "It's another start for both of us. You hope it's the other way around for me so I go, 'Bosh'. I might drop on to this a bit nicer than he might."
GET AHEAD OF HIM AT THE START
Vettel has based most of his wins this season on a simple strategy -put the car on pole, lead from the start and control the race.
The only way to stop him doing this is to either out-qualify him - as only Webber has managed to do this year, and then only once - or beat him off the start.
This was achieved by the McLarens in China - a race Hamilton went on to win - and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in Spain.
Do that, and Vettel is suddenly out of his comfort zone.
The limiting factor in races this season has been the sensitivity of the new Pirelli tyres - they lose grip quickly and if you abuse them, you are in trouble.
So leading at the start allows Vettel to treat the tyres gently while building up a small cushion.
He seeks to build a lead of about five seconds to enable him to respond to any attempts by rivals to use what is called "the undercut" - pass him by making an earlier pit stop and using the pace advantage of new tyres to get ahead.
This was demonstrated in Spain - where Vettel twice tried to undercut Alonso when running second to him in the early stages of the race. It failed at the first pit stops, but succeeded at the second, demonstrating the difficulty any driver in front of Vettel will have keeping him behind when he has a faster car.
But it doesn't always work like that.
In China, Vettel was beaten away by both McLaren drivers. He easily had the pace to stick with them during the first stint, but a decision to do a two-stop strategy rather than the three of McLaren backfired - the extra grip in Hamilton's tyres in the closing stages of the race made Vettel a sitting duck.
HOPE RED BULL MAKE A MISTAKE
As well as China, this also happened in Monaco, where a mix-up at his first pit-stop put Vettel on the wrong tyres and forced him into a strategy that would have lost him the race had it not been for a later safety car.
Without that, the advantageMcLaren's Jenson Button built from what would have been a better strategy would have seen him win the race.
Even in the situation that did unfold, Red Bull's strategy might not have paid off - Vettel headed into the closing stages of the race with Alonso and Button right behind him and pressuring him hard on much fresher tyres.
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
McLaren believed Vettel's tyres would wear out to the point of him becoming defenceless before the end of the race, but then Vettel had what they call "the luck of champions". A late safety car led to a red flag and he was able to change to fresh tyres for the final eight laps.
DON'T MAKE MISTAKES YOURSELF
Leaving the Spanish Grand Prix in May, the chances of Vettel facing a challenge this year still looked pretty good.
Vettel had won in Barcelona, but only after fending off a clearly faster Hamilton in the closing laps - only the difficulty of overtaking at the Circuit de Catalunya had prevented the McLaren winning.
Coming up were two races on tracks where Hamilton fancied his chances - Monaco and Canada. But instead of beating Vettel, these events turned into a disaster for the Englishman.
A decision to do only one run in qualifying in Monaco led to him qualifying ninth when he had hopes of being on pole, and in the race he collided with two people on the way to sixth place.
In Canada, Hamilton's judgement seemed to have been clouded by qualifying only fifth. After making an impromptu visit to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner to discuss his future that evening, he collided with two cars in the space of three racing laps on Sunday and retired. As Button later proved, it was a race Hamilton could have won.
So Hamilton could have been looking at a total of three - maybe four - wins instead of just the one, in which case Vettel would not be anything like as far ahead in the championship.
PRESSURE VETTEL - HE'S VULNERABLE
The vast majority of Vettel's F1 victories have come when he has dominated from the front, a situation in which he is supremely comfortable.
He is much less at ease having to make up positions or fending off pressure - as was proved in the thrilling climax to the Canadian Grand Prix this year.
After dominating in Montreal throughout, Vettel lost the win on the last lap, half-spinning while being pursued by the flying Button, who stormed through to a brilliant win.
This was not the first time he has made a mistake in a pressure situation, although in Vettel's defence, he was flawless under attack from Hamilton in the closing stages in Spain in May this year.
Nevertheless, Vettel - like anyone - can crack if pushed hard enough; it's getting into that situation that has been the difficulty for his rivals so often this season.
As Hamilton says: "You can push people into mistakes, and as long as you continue to apply pressure that's what you hope they're going to do. But for us to win this championship we have to be finishing ahead of them."
MAKE YOUR CAR FASTER
All of the above is all very well, but the reality is that Vettel's pursuers are fighting a losing battle as long as he has a fundamentally faster car.
"It is difficult to think about how to beat Vettel without a big improvement in our car or in McLaren's car for Jenson and Lewis," says Alonso, the man who was narrowly beaten to the title by Vettel last year.
"Their car so far is too dominant. It is a dominant position that maybe we don't remember since 2004 and Michael (Schumacher)'s time.
"Hopefully here in Silverstone we can see a turnaround of this situation in terms of performance. There is always the motivation to win a race but we need a step forward."
Alonso was not the only man at Silverstone on Thursday to liken Vettel's domination this year to Schumacher's seven years ago, when he won 13 races on the way to the most dominant of his seven championship victories.
So what does the great man himself think? Can Vettel be beaten this year?
"Difficult," Schumacher said.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/07/how_do_you_beat_vettel.html
Eric Bernard Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia Tony Bettenhausen
Lewis Hamilton picks his five all-time favourite races ahead of the British Grand Prix, in the latest instalment of BBC Sport's classic Formula 1 series.
This year, we have asked all the drivers to make such a choice, and we are serialising them before each race to whet your appetites for the action ahead.
The drivers have taken different approaches to this task so far.
Multiple world champions Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, for example, chose a mixture of their own races and events that resonated with them from before their own time in F1.
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, by contrast, did not take his own races into account at all.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Hamilton - like reigning champion Sebastian Vettel before him - has gone for his five favourite races from his own F1 career. And what a selection it is.
Hamilton has been F1's most exciting driver since he entered the sport with a bang in 2007, and in that time he has produced drives that are not only among the best of his era, but will stand the test of time as all-time great performances.
His five choices reflect that, and you can watch him discussing his choices with F1 presenter Jake Humphrey in the video embedded immediately below. He starts off by talking about this season's Chinese Grand Prix.
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
Hamilton has included a couple of career landmarks because of what they mean to any driver - a home race, a Monaco win, for example - so not all of them would necessarily be on a list of the five greatest drives of his career. But at least three of them would.
His superb wins in Belgium 2010 and Hungary 2009 do not make his list, nor is there a mention for his breathtaking qualifying lap in Japan last year.
Nevertheless, I'm sure many could make a case for the other two as well, and all are stand-out performances from a man even his team-mate Jenson Button describes as "super-talented, one of the best drivers Formula 1 has ever seen".
Hamilton has not ranked them himself, either in order of preference or in order of status, so I have done so myself, after discussing their merits with our F1 commentary box producer Mark Hughes.
In what we perceive to be reverse order of merit, they are as follows:
5. The 2008 Monaco Grand Prix
Hamilton has chosen this because, he says, as a grand prix driver "you always remember your first Monaco". He undoubtedly drove superbly to win in mixed conditions, but the victory owed a lot to luck.
He crashed into the barrier at Tabac corner on lap six, damaging a rear wheel, as rain began to fall more heavily. But he managed to get the car back to the pits undamaged, enabling him to take on more fuel and delay his final tyre change to dry tyres until he had built a winning lead.
4. The 2007 Canadian Grand Prix
Hamilton made an instant impression in his debut season in F1, overtaking his team-mate Alonso around the outside of the first corner at the first race of the season in Australia.
After a series of increasingly impressive performances, and podium finishes in every race, his maiden victory came at the sixth race of the season, the Canadian Grand Prix.
It was a dominant performance, leading from lights to flag, despite four safety cars, and such was Hamilton's superiority that it appeared to completely unsettle Alonso.
The Spaniard went off at the first corner after the start disputing the lead with his team-mate and, most uncharacteristically, ran off the track there a further three times during the course of the race, eventually finishing seventh.
3. The 2007 Japanese Grand Prix
Run in horrendous, monsoon-like conditions on the Fuji Speedway in the shadow of Japan's iconic mountain, this was the first real indication that Hamilton had the almost supernatural ability on a wet track that marks out the truly great drivers.
He led the race throughout, coping well with a safety car intervention, while other drivers - including Alonso - were caught out by the rivers of water that were running across the track or the appalling visibility.
Hamilton joked with Humphrey that seeing his team-mate, with whom he was at the time disputing the world championship, had crashed was one of the reasons he remembered the race so fondly.
He describes it as "the race in the wet in Fuji where Fernando crashed".
"That made it great, did it?" Jake asks.
"Yeah," Hamilton says with a laugh, before adding: "No, it was a great race because it was the trickiest conditions. And you've got a two-time world champion who's been racing a lot more than me and he's put it in the wall. And the others who were trailing around and struggling, to have those races and keep the car on the track in those conditions, it doesn't compare to anything."
2. The 2011 Chinese Grand Prix
Hamilton's only victory so far this season was the result of a breathtaking drive, in which all his raw pace and daring overtaking skills were on display.
He chased Vettel down in the closing laps and passed him brilliantly into the 150mph Turn Seven to take the lead. That was impressive enough.
But the win hung on an equally stunning overtaking move on Button earlier on, diving audaciously down the inside into Turn One at the last possible moment. The two came very close to disaster, Button having a wobble as he noticed his team-mate was there and took avoiding action.
"Every moment was amazing," Hamilton remembers. "To express what you feel in the car, you can't put it into words.
"I race a Formula 1 car. It's crazy to be able to even say that. I've been racing since I was eight and now I've got my own F1 car that I can race and help develop. I feel very privileged.
"When you're in that race and you feel you've got the car beneath you, overtaking Vettel, the world champion, was amazing - and also doing it in a place where he didn't expect it.
"It's definitely one of the best grands prix I've had."
1. The 2008 British Grand Prix
Hamilton was brief on the subject of this race, his first and so far only win in his home grand prix, describing it as "wicked". Another way of looking at it is as one of the greatest wet-weather performances in F1 history.
It was a drive that reminded onlookers of Ayrton Senna's iconic victory at the 1993 European Grand Prix at Donington Park, Michael Schumacher in Spain in 1996 or Jackie Stewart's at the Nurburgring in 1968 - a day when one man is on a completely separate level from his competitors.
In treacherous wet conditions, Hamilton was at times four of five seconds faster than anyone else. It was, as McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said at the time, "an astonishing performance".
Highlights of that memorable afternoon are embedded below, with beneath it links to short and extended highlights of Mark Webber's victory for Red Bull in last year's British Grand Prix.
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
CLICK HERE FOR SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 BRITISH GRAND PRIX
CLICK HERE FOR EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 BRITISH GRAND PRIX
Short highlights of Canada 2007, Japan 2007, Monaco 2008, Great Britain 2008, China 2011 and extended highlights of the 2010 British Grand Prix will be broadcast on satellite and cable from 1500 BST on Wednesday 6 July until 1830 BST on Friday 8 July. They will be broadcast on Freeview from 1040 BST until 1240 BST on Friday 8 July.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/07/lewis_hamilton_-_classic_f1_20.html
6-Series Gran Coupe will debut sometime in 2012 - a late-comer in the four-door premium coupe category dominated by the Mercedes-Benz CLS and the Audi A7 Sportback.
