Chris Amon Bob Anderson Conny Andersson Mario Andretti Michael Andretti
Friday, June 29, 2012
Why Grands Prix are cheap
People often say that the fees to get a Grand Prix are excessive. These vary from country to country and the numbers of usually secret to avoid one promoter complaining that he should have the same prix as another. The fees range from very little (for Monaco) to more than $40 million a year. The [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/06/26/why-grands-prix-are-cheap/
Georges Berger Gerhard Berger Eric Bernard Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia
Journalists shocked at Korea award
 Scarecrows adorn the entrance to a barren Korean International Circuit |
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/12/journalists_shocked_at_korea_a.php
Fabrizio Barbazza John Barber Skip Barber Paolo Barilla Rubens Barrichello
London Grand Prix A Reality?
You could be forgiven for forgetting that the British Grand Prix will be taking place next weekend, with all of the talk surrounding F1 in the nation switching to a possible London based event. Although there is nothing concrete as of yet, Formula One chief, Bernie Ecclestone, has reportedly bid �35 million to host an [...]
Rubens Barrichello Michael Bartels Edgar Barth Giorgio Bassi Erwin Bauer
DMC announces LP700 M-GT kit for Lamborghini Murcielago
DMC is following up 2011's Murcielago GT with a revised styling and performance kit dubbed M-GT.Edgar Barth Giorgio Bassi Erwin Bauer Zsolt Baumgartner Elie Bayol
Mazda MX-5 Kuro special edition announced (UK)
Named after the Japanese word for black, the special edition features unique styling and an upgraded interior.Eric Bernard Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia Ferrari Spider Tony Bettenhausen
Ferrari Launch Their 2011 Car The F150
Ferrari have become the first team to launch their 2011 Formula One car – named the F150. Thw F150 name comes from the fact it is 150 years since Italian unification, the flag bearer for the nation decided it was important to increase exposure of the major event in the country’s long history. �The cars [...]
Source: http://f1fanatics.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/ferrari-launch-their-2011-car-the-f150/
Tom Belso JeanPierre Beltoise Olivier Beretta Allen Berg Georges Berger
McLaren drivers out of title race
 Is it now a three-way battle for the title? |
?Focus and concentration will be of paramount importance and there is none stronger in this regard than Ferrari?s Fernando Alonso.?The Guardian?s Oliver Owen thinks that it is Mark Webber?s title to lose now, and that this may be the Australian?s last realistic chance of winning the title.
?He has driven beautifully. Monaco and Silverstone spring to mind. He has been an uncompromising racer, not giving Vettel or Lewis Hamilton an inch in Turkey and Singapore respectively. Most importantly, he has largely avoided the bouts of brain fade that can wreck a season ? his on-track hooning in Melbourne when racing Hamilton being the only exception. But there is a feeling that for Webber it is now or never, that a chance of a tilt at the title may never come again. He is certainly driving as if that is the case and that has been his strength.?According to The Mirror?s Byron Young, both McLaren drivers are now out of the title hunt after their fourth and fifth place finishes in Suzuka.
?McLaren's title hopes died yesterday in a weekend from Hell at Suzuka. Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton finished fourth and fifth in a Japanese Grand Prix they had to win to have the remotest chance of keeping their title bid alive."The Sun?s Michael Spearman was of the same opinion, saying ?Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button's title hopes were in tatters after a shocker in Japan.?
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/10/mclaren_drivers_out_of_title_r_1.php
Mercedes Benz Walt Ader Kurt Adolff Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr
Ferrari Launch Their 2011 Car The F150
Ferrari have become the first team to launch their 2011 Formula One car – named the F150. Thw F150 name comes from the fact it is 150 years since Italian unification, the flag bearer for the nation decided it was important to increase exposure of the major event in the country’s long history. �The cars [...]
Source: http://f1fanatics.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/ferrari-launch-their-2011-car-the-f150/
Peter Ashdown Ian Ashley Gerry Ashmore Bill Aston Richard Attwood
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Hamilton's new 'headspace' wins admirers. And races
Lewis Hamilton was almost overcome with emotion after winning the Canadian Grand Prix and taking his first victory of the season at the seventh time of asking. Which is ironic, because one of the most impressive aspects of his performance was its control.
The McLaren driver admitted he too often let his emotions get the better of him in 2011, and he went away for the winter intending to reset his mental state. His performance at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Sunday was the final confirmation that the world is seeing a new, more potent, Hamilton in 2012.
His change of approach has been apparent from the start of the season. He has remained calm in the face of much adversity when last year he might not have and has never once deviated from his determination that consistency is what will win him the title this season.
Until Sunday, there had been questions about whether he could marry that approach with winning races in the same spectacular style that has earned him such a huge following - not least because winning was exactly what he had not done.
Lewis Hamilton celebrates winning the Canadian GP with McLaren chairman Ron Dennis (left). Photo:Getty
But he drove a superb, perfectly judged race in Montreal to take the 18th victory of his career and the world championship lead – albeit by only two points from Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.
Hamilton talked in Canada about the difference between last year and this.
“I think I’m driving the same,” he said, “but last year, every year, I’m able to drive fast, but to remain in the right headspace and remain focused this year is not an issue.”
This new “headspace”, it seems, finally contains room for a skill he has shown only rarely before.
The headlines – and much of the attention – will focus on the exciting last 20 laps in Montreal, when Hamilton dropped to third following his second pit stop and had to make up 15 seconds on Alonso to win the race.
But more impressive was Hamilton’s coolness and awareness of what was going on around him before that.
There have been times in Hamilton’s career when he seemed to look to the team for answers that other great drivers have tended to be able work out themselves.
Brilliantly skilled as his driving is, planning a race had never seemed to be one of his strongpoints. But on Sunday all that changed.
As he led the race during the second stint, he was told by his engineers that Alonso and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel were on the same two-stop strategy as he was. He questioned it, saying: ‘Are you sure they’re not doing a one-stop?” He was right; they were wrong.
It was the sort of leading from the cockpit that is more usual from Alonso, Hamilton’s great rival. But on Sunday it was the Spaniard and Ferrari who got it badly wrong, and Hamilton and McLaren who called it exactly right.
“When the guys were behind me,” Hamilton said. “I kinda had a feeling that Fernando would be doing a one-stop, so I knew I had to make a gap while looking after the tyres.
“I was able to make a gap and then hold it, even though Fernando started to pick his pace up. It was one of the best stints I’ve had for a long, long time.”
The final, winning, stint was spectacular to watch. But with the tyres on the cars of Alonso and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel fading fast, and Hamilton lapping as much as two seconds faster than them, it was obvious from pretty soon after the McLaren driver’s second stop that he was going to win.
And so, in a moment, the narrative of Hamilton’s season has turned full circle.
Before Canada, the talk was all about how McLaren had taken the fastest car and thrown away their advantage through operational errors – several pit stop problems and the refuelling error in qualifying that cost Hamilton almost certain victory in Spain.
Those criticisms remain valid, and Hamilton did have hiccoughs at both his pit stops in Canada, but the win has finally come – and in a style that suggests strongly it will not be his last.
“I’m definitely not going to change my approach, but I think it’s working reasonably well so far,” Hamilton said.
“I probably definitely had to be more on the limit today to catch the two guys ahead, perhaps a little bit more risky than in the past but it is about consistency this year.
“It’s unbelievable to see just how close it is. We got a win and 25 points and I only have a two-point lead and I think it will stay that close throughout the year. Again, it just highlights how important consistency is.”
On the other side of the McLaren garage, things are not as rosy.
Jenson Button sounded like a broken man after struggling to 16th place, saying he was “confused and very lost” about his lack of pace – which has been a problem since Bahrain four races ago.
“I couldn’t look after tyres, I didn’t have any pace, there was nothing there,” he said, cutting a forlorn figure as Hamilton celebrated.
Why do you think you were so slow, he was asked? “Haven’t a clue,” he replied.
Button started the season with a dominant win in Australia, where he made Hamilton look pretty ordinary, and after a lacklustre race in Malaysia, Button again beat Hamilton in finishing second to Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg in China.
At that point, Button looked like the favourite for the title. But since then he has scored two points in four races.
Clearly something is going very wrong somewhere in the set-up of Button’s car for as he put it himself: “I’m not two seconds slower than Lewis and I don’t know what’s going on.”
He is now 43 points behind Hamilton in a season that looks, for all its unpredictability, as if it is distilling down to a battle between Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel, the three finest drivers in the world.
Unless McLaren find some answers soon, Button will be reduced, like the rest of us, to watching it from afar.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/06/hamilton_1.html
Ferrari Spider Tony Bettenhausen Mike Beuttler 458 Italia Birabongse Bhanubandh
Team orders in spotlight again
 Will Christian Horner regret not utilising team orders in Brazil? |
?The extra seven points Alonso collected when Ferrari ordered Felipe Massa to move over for him in Germany earlier in the season are now looking even more crucial. ?And the �65,000 fine they picked up for ruthlessly breaking the rules will seem loose change if Alonso clinches the title in his first year with the Maranello team. ?Red Bull could have switched the result yesterday given their crushing dominance and still celebrated their first constructors' championship just five years after coming into the sport. ?That would also have given Webber an extra seven points, leaving him just one behind Alonso.?The Guardian?s Paul Weaver says that if Fernando Alonso does take the drivers? title in Abu Dhabi, Ferrari owes a debt of gratitude to Red Bull for their decision not to employ team orders in Brazil.
?If Alonso does take the title next week it would not be inappropriate were he and Ferrari to send a few gallons of champagne to Red Bull's headquarters in Milton Keynes. ?While Red Bull should be heartily applauded for the championship they did win today their apparent acceptance that Ferrari might carry off the more glamorous prize continues to baffle Formula One and its globetrotting supporters. ?Their refusal to make life easy for Webber, who has led for much of the season and is still seven points ahead of Vettel, means that whatever happens in the desert next week Alonso, the only driver who was capable of taking the championship in the race today, only has to secure second place to guarantee his third world title.?The Independent?s David Tremayne is also of the opinion that Red Bull may regret not using team orders in Brazil.
?Had Red Bull elected to adopt team orders and let Webber win ? something that the governing body allows when championships are at stake ? Webber would have left Brazil with 245 points ? just one point off the lead. For some that was confirmation of his suggestion that Vettel is the team's favoured driver ? which generated an angry call from team owner Dietrich Mateschitz in Austria and was much denied by team principal, Christian Horner. ?And it sets up a situation where, if the result is repeated next weekend, as is likely, Vettel and Webber will tie on 256, five behind Alonso.?The Mirror?s Byron Young has put Lewis Hamilton?s fading title chances down to an inferior McLaren machine and he admits the 2008 World Champion now needs a miracle.
?Sebastian Vettel's victory sends the world title fight to a four-way showdown for the first time in the sport's history. ?Hamilton goes there as part of that story with a 24-point deficit to Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, but with just 25 on offer in the final round in six days' time it would take more than a miracle. ?Driving an outclassed McLaren he slugged it out against superior machinery and stiff odds to finish fourth.?
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/11/team_orders_in_spotlight_again_1.php
Paul Belmondo Tom Belso JeanPierre Beltoise Olivier Beretta Allen Berg
Renaud de Laborderie 1930 ? 2012
It is with great sadness that I must report the death on Sunday of my friend and colleague Renaud de Laborderie. He reported on more than 600 Grands Prix and until very recently was in robust good health, unaffected by the endless travel that we undertake, chasing racing cars around the world, looking far younger [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/renaud-de-laborderie-1930-2012/
Zsolt Baumgartner Elie Bayol Don Beauman Karl Gunther Bechem Jean Behra
Michael Schumacher: ?It is a beautiful feeling??
Michael Schumacher secured the first podium of his comeback with a hard won third place in Valencia. He survived a scare after the race when he was investigated for using DRS in a yellow flag zone. However the stewards decreed … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/06/24/michael-schumacher-it-is-a-beautiful-feeling/
Bobby Ball Marcel Balsa Lorenzo Bandini Henry Banks Ferrari Enzo
Next-generation Dacia Logan spied
The second-generation Dacia Logan has been spied undergoing testing in Europe. It will reportedly be based on the Renault Fluence.Source: http://feeds.worldcarfans.com/~r/worldcarfans/Jxfz/~3/UDRNtyDFh8k/next-generation-dacia-logan-spied
Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers Michele Alboreto Lotus
Report: The Emerg-E may not be the Halo Car that Infiniti is Seeking
 |
There is no doubt that a fairly wide gap exists between Infiniti and its F1 sponsorship. Really, there is not a single production Infiniti that anyone can point to and say ?Ah, that is a car that relates to open-wheel performance racing.? Sure, there have been concepts and so forth, but nothing firm.
The halo car was once thought to be the upcoming Emerg-E hybrid, but signs are pointing that the Emerg-E may disappoint. Infiniti is planning to have a running prototype of the Emerg-E ready to go for Goodwood Festival of Speed and, according to several outside sources that Car and Driver has spoken to, this gas-electric hybrid may not be the performance car that everyone is expecting (sub-five-second 0 ? 60 time, 420 horsepower, etc.).
While that is really disappointing, as we were anticipating huge things from the Emerg-E, we cannot say that we are surprised. Infiniti has been really tight-lipped on this project, which oftentimes means that there are some issues going on. If the reports are accurate, then the tight lips have been due to the Emerg-E not being able to reach the power numbers that Infiniti estimated.
Don?t fret though, as Infiniti does have a fallback plan, in the form of the 2009 concept, the Essence. Yes, the Essence has been effectively shelved since its debut, but, according to reports, there are still talks about this 592-horsepower hybrid making its way into production in one form or another.
For now, all we have are unconfirmed reports from outside sources, so we will reserve our judgment for Goodwood. Who knows, the Emerg-E could come out and blow us away, and Infiniti may have kept it quiet just to avoid the competition, like Acura?s NSX and BMW?s i8, from knowing what Infiniti is planning.
Goodwood kicks off on June 28th, so we don?t have to wait too awful long to find out. We?ll update you just as soon as we hear more about this situation.
Report: The Emerg-E may not be the Halo Car that Infiniti is Seeking originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 27 June 2012 14:00 EST.
Philippe Alliot Cliff Allison Fernando Alonso Giovanna Amati George Amick
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Millionaire man Maldonado answers critics
At the Circuit de Catalunya
The smile on Pastor Maldonado's face dropped in the immediate aftermath of the frightening fire that broke out in the Williams garage after the Spanish Grand Prix, but it soon came back again once he was told nobody had been seriously hurt. You can bet it will stay for quite some time.
Maldonado started this season as a man who owed his place in Formula 1 to the millions provided to his Williams team by the Venezuelan government.
After yet another bizarre and unexpected twist in this most unpredictable of seasons, he leaves Barcelona as a grand prix winner and talking about a possible championship challenge.
Maldonado drove a superb race at the Circuit de Catalunya, mature and controlled in a way of which few in the paddock believed him capable.
He came into F1 with a reputation for being quick but fiery and a bit accident-prone. In his first season last year he fitted the mould.
This season started in the same way - Williams's upturn in form had him battling with some unfamiliar rivals close to the front. But he started the season wrecking what would have been a strong points finish in the first race of the season when he crashed chasing Ferrari's Fernando Alonso for fifth place on the final lap.
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Since then, though, Maldonado has turned a corner with some strong performances. But no-one - not even Williams - expected what happened in Spain.
The Mugello test before this race went well, and Williams knew they had improved their car. They thought they had made a step forward, Friday practice confirmed it, but not in their wildest dreams did they imagine they would qualify on the front row.
Second place, half a second behind Lewis Hamilton, was impressive enough, but it became pole position after the McLaren driver's penalty and, despite losing the lead to Alonso at the start, Maldonado always looked in contention for victory.
Alonso is the most formidable of rivals, but Maldonado kept him in sight in the first and second stints, before Williams succeeded in 'undercutting' the Ferrari at the second stops.
Ferrari almost certainly made a mistake in leaving the Spaniard out for two laps before his stop - nearly all of which he spent behind Marussia's Charles Pic, who was subsequently penalised for not letting Alonso by.
But Maldonado's pace on his first lap out of the pits suggested he might well have taken the lead anyway.
The pressure never relented, though. After the final stops, Alonso came back at Maldonado, but the Williams driver raced like a veteran and always looked in control of the situation.
The win does not change the reality of why Maldonado has his drive - but it certainly proves beyond all doubt that he deserves his place in F1, even if one inevitably has to wonder what the Williams would be capable of with Alonso or Hamilton behind the wheel.
To his credit, Maldonado does not seek to hide the financial support he is given, nor the fact that he is basically a state-sponsored driver who has the personal backing of his President, Hugo Chavez. In fact, he embraces it.
"I'm very lucky to have a country behind me, pushing so hard, to see me here in Formula 1 and especially to be here, between these guys," he said in the post-race news conference, as he sat between Alonso and another world champion, Kimi Raikkonen.
"I'm pretty happy for Venezuela, I'm happy for Williams as well. They did a wonderful job to give me a great car for this race. We are getting better and better, race after race."
There has been no magic in Williams's revival this year after several seasons in which they seemed to be inexorable decline.
There have been changes at the top of the engineering team, and a focus on fixing obvious, major operational and technical problems.
"We made big changes in the factory," Maldonado said. "We have new staff in some of the departments and completely changed the approach to building the car.
"I need to say that this year's car has great performance, great potential to become even stronger than it is and, for sure, this is great for motivation, to motivate the team, the factory, to keep pushing like that. I think this is the way. We are motivated and we need to keep pushing."
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.
Whether Williams can maintain this form remains an open question - but the same goes for every other team in this incredibly topsy-turvy season.
There have been five different winners from five different teams in the first five races. It is the first time that has happened since 1983, when Williams were reigning world champions and were also, incidentally, the fifth winner.
Monaco could easily provide the sixth winner in six races, as Raikkonen's Lotus team also seem on the verge of a victory.
The 1983 season eventually settled down into a title fight between three teams. This one may well go the same way, but you wouldn't count on it right now.
The new tyres created by Pirelli this year have left all the teams scratching their heads.
One weekend you can be winning, the next you can be nowhere and not know why, as world champions Red Bull found out in Spain, following Sebastian Vettel's victory in Bahrain last time out.
As Alonso put it after the race: "We were 57 seconds behind Vettel in Bahrain, and we were lapping (his team-mate Mark) Webber here. No one understands probably. Not us either."
There is a recognition throughout the sport that this unpredictability is adding to the superficial appeal of F1, especially as the years of Michael Schumacher's domination with Ferrari are not so very long ago.
Nevertheless, there is also a growing sense of unease - largely unspoken publicly until now, apart from Schumacher's comments after Bahrain - that it's somehow not quite real.
The tyres, some feel, are introducing too much of a random element that demeans the sport in some ways. That F1, whisper it, may have gone too far the other way.
Fun, though, isn't it?
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/05/maldonados_maiden_victory_over.html
Marcel Balsa Lorenzo Bandini Henry Banks Ferrari Enzo Fabrizio Barbazza
Team Lotus Launch Their 2011 Machine The T128
Team Lotus (the one who raced last year) have become the second team to officially pull the covers off their new 2011 car. The green and yellow liveried machine will start be raced by Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen this season under the name of Team Lotus as the management’s row with Group Lotus, now [...]
Source: http://f1fanatics.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/team-lotus-launch-their-2011-machine-the-t128/
Michele Alboreto Lotus Mini Cooper S Jean Alesi Jaime Alguersuari
Schumacher is oldest driver on podium since 1970 | 2012 European Grand Prix stats and facts
Schumacher is oldest driver on podium since 1970 is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
European GP stats and facts: Alonso's 29th win and 20th consecutive race in the points ? Schumacher oldest driver on podium since 1970 ? First Mercedes fastest lap since Moss.
Schumacher is oldest driver on podium since 1970 is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/P9kZyIVd-GM/
Julian Bailey Mauro Baldi Bobby Ball Marcel Balsa Lorenzo Bandini
Bruno Senna: ?It was one of those days??
Bruno Senna says he was surprised to be given a drive through penalty in Valencia after contact with Kamui Kobayashi. The FIA stewards deemed that Senna had moved across on the Japanese driver after Kimi Raikkonen had passed him on … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/06/27/bruno-senna-it-was-one-of-those-days/
Enrico Bertaggia Ferrari Spider Tony Bettenhausen Mike Beuttler 458 Italia
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
'The point of no confidence is quite near'
 The wreckage of Jochen Rindt's car at Barcelona |
?Colin. I have been racing F1 for 5 years and I have made one mistake (I rammed Chris Amon in Clermont Ferrand) and I had one accident in Zandvoort due to gear selection failure otherwise I managed to stay out of trouble. This situation changed rapidly since I joined your team. ?Honestly your cars are so quick that we would still be competitive with a few extra pounds used to make the weakest parts stronger, on top of that I think you ought to spend some time checking what your different employes are doing, I sure the wishbones on the F2 car would have looked different. Please give my suggestions some thought, I can only drive a car in which I have some confidence, and I feel the point of no confidence is quite near.?A little more than a year later Rindt's Lotus suffered mechanical breakdown just before braking into one of the corners. He swerved violently to the left and crashed into a poorly-installed barrier, killing him instantly.
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/09/the_point_of_no_confidence_is.php
Chuck Arnold Rene Arnoux Peter Arundell Alberto Ascari Peter Ashdown
Why Michael Schumacher Could Win The 2011 World Championship
Michael Schumacher?s 2010 comeback was somewhat abortive.� The results, the driving standard and the overtakes were well below par for the former champion.� He even let his team mate beat him for the first time in his career.� So why can Schumacher, the fallen Ferrari hero, win the world championship for an 8th time? It?s [...]
Derek Bell Stefan Bellof Paul Belmondo Tom Belso JeanPierre Beltoise
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