tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89812467931687619052023-07-18T06:02:21.944+01:00Full ThrottleThe Life and Times of a Motorsport & Formula One JournalistMax Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-77178355685274751892012-03-21T19:15:00.001+00:002012-03-21T19:15:39.257+00:00Full Throttle: Button takes the spoils Down Under<a href="http://maxdaviespr.blogspot.com/2012/03/button-takes-spoils-down-under.html?spref=bl">Full Throttle: Button takes the spoils Down Under</a>: Underlying my casual observations that this year, for the first time in quite a while, McLaren have finally...Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-65856462853223689662012-03-21T19:01:00.000+00:002012-03-21T19:01:23.523+00:00Button takes the spoils Down Under<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Underlying my casual observations that this year, for the first time in quite a while, McLaren have finally dispensed with their tradition of unleashing a new car made of brick and instead, delivered a race-winning machine from the off. With Jenson Button winning the 2012 season-opening Grand Prix in Australia, faith has been restored that finally, finally, Red Bull's dominance over the sport has been broken. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">True enough, McLaren are not set to disappear into the distance at every race but with Button's team mate Lewis Hamilton claiming pole position in Melbourne the previous day, the signs are that the boys from Woking have been paying attention in numeracy classes and have at last got their sums right.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Button's display in Oz was yet more proof that while Hamilton is largely regarded as being the 'faster' of the two over a single lap, winning grands prix necessitates multiplying that skill over the course of many laps and it is here were Button excels. The 2009 world champion is arguably the most relaxed human being on the planet let right now and his driving is of another world right now and this enables the 'Frome Flyer' to focus purely on his driving. Setting the fastest lap of the race in Melbourne with but two laps to go was testament to the speed of his McLaren and served notice to his rivals that his eyes are fixed firmly on the 2012 crown.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hamilton on the other hand looked on the podium like he had lost a million pounds and found a Euro. His face belied his 3rd place performance and while this natural-born winner was at a loss as to why his speed on Saturday was not replicated in the race, his demeanour was of a child who had just had his sweets taken off him. Although there is no doubt that Hamilton and Button do get on as team mates, there is no question that Button’s influence within what has been regarded as ‘Lewis’s’ team, has started to irk the 2008 champion.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Last year’s much publicised meeting between Hamilton and Red Bull boss Christian Horner at the Canadian GP was more than just a casual chat over a cup of tea and with Mark Webber out of contract at the end of this year, Lewis must surely be tempted by the prospect of driving an Adrian Newey-designed car in 2013. McLaren is now a different team to the one prior to Button’s arrival in 2010 and while Managing Director Martin Whitmarsh and Managing Director Jonathan Neale state otherwise, there is no doubt that the 32-year olds personality and laid back approach is replicated in the team’s appearance and personality. There are no more ‘serious-looking, deep in thought, pressure obvious looking’ faces down at Woking and they are all the better for it. Last year, Button signed for another 3 years and to many within the Formula One paddock, he is seen as the future, not Hamilton. Signing for the Entertainment PR guru Simon Fuller’s 19 Management after leaving the comfort of his father’s guiding managerial hand, Hamilton has immersed himself with the company of ‘other’ celebrities and one has to wonder whether this has impacted on his much publicised mental state of mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In declaring last year that he ‘missed’ the benefits of a Button-esq ‘comfort-zone’ around him throughout the grand prix paddocks of the world following the breakdown of his relationship with his father and splitting with his long-term pop star girlfriend, Lewis was undoubtedly at sea during most of 2011. Now he says he has adopted a similar approach to his racing to that of his team mate but is that going to be enough to help keep him at McLaren beyond this year?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Time will tell… <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br />
</div>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-44228460922955023622011-06-29T11:14:00.001+01:002011-06-29T11:22:14.623+01:00Toys and Prams"Which would you prefer Lewis? The soft teddy? The Sylvanian Families house and figures? Star Wars figures? Action Man doll? Barbie even?"<br />
"All of 'em please Martin. Please please, pretty please with a cherry on the top!"<br />
"Ok but only if you promise not to throw these ones out of the pram I am paying you squillions a year to sit in..."<br />
"I promise, I promise! I'll be a good boy - honest"<br />
"OK, there you go. Oops, you dropped your dummy now silly boy. There, that's better..."<br />
<br />
I have to be honest, while I admire Lewis Hamilton's aggressive nature behind the wheel and would never wish to see him abolish it (contrary to others banging that drum) I am growing tired of his endless moaning after each race as he continues to throw his toys out of the pram.<br />
<br />
As with all racing drivers, it is always the fault of another upon matters of contact on the circuit and while it has been hardly surprising to see Lewis adopting this stance in the wake of his troubled runs in Monaco and Montreal recently, his comments regarding the performance of his McLaren and of his title aspirations for the year are it is in bad taste.<br />
<br />
<div class="attribute-long">Speaking after Sunday's European GP in Valencia where he finished 4th and Sebastian Vettel claimed a 6th win in 8 races, Hamilton said: "It's finished really. In the sense of the championship it's almost over already."<br />
<br />
He then did all he could to garner support for his upcoming home race at Silverstone by declaring: "I'm not looking forward to it, I'm really not looking forward to it. I'll be going there as prepared as I can, racing as fast as I can, but we really might struggle." The PR department at Silverstone will no doubt have been raising a glass to those pre-race ringing endoursements...<br />
<br />
However the 26-year-old clearly woke up rejuvenated on Monday as he posted on his official Twitter account: "To all our supporters, ignore what u read in the papers today. My team will never give up & I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!!!! <br />
"Bring on silverstone, ur support will make a world of difference to us. I'm going to the factory now to do all I can with our team."<br />
<br />
Trouble is Lewis, the papers only reported what you actually said so you cannot lay the blame at their door on this occasion. The Ali G gag after his Monaco debacle went down like the Titanic and his assessment of suitable places to overtake other drivers were highly questionable in the rains of Montreal so a safe game was necessary in Valencia. All the while, Vettel romped to yet another win in a team Lewis unquestionably wishes employed him.<br />
<br />
Come to think of it, given his obvious frustration at the inability of McLaren to provide him with a consistent race-winning machine since his title winning campaign in 2008, is it any wonder he is unable to hide his displeasure at being unable to drive an Adrian Newey-designed winner?<br />
<br />
He is currently a man ill at ease with himself, his team or the attitude of consecutive Race Stewards and feels his talent deserves more respect. Lewis' attitude suggests he believes he deserves a bye within certain areas of the sport and while his cavalier technique should not be discouraged,it can only be acceptable when applied with correct judgement.<br />
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In contrast to the adolescent attitude of his team mate, Jenson Button was also disappointed to have had a poor showing but notably failed to be defeatist.<br />
"We had the fastest race car in Barcelona, Monte-Carlo and Montreal, but we didn't have the fastest race car here in Valencia today,” he said. “However, you can take it as read that we'll be working flat-out over the next ten days to do our utmost to ensure that we have as fast a race car as we possibly can for Silverstone.”<br />
<br />
Sure, button also appreciates that McLaren have a lot of work to do to catch Red Bull, but every other driver out there is in the same boat but still they offer no comments of a similar nature to Hamilton. <br />
<br />
The new regulations banning the 'off-throttle' devices from next Sunday's British GP could see Red Bull loose their advantage a little but will that be enough to appease Lewis? Who knows but it's going to be fun reporting what he does say after the race-but please remember, don't believe what we write, will you...</div>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-91658811797896643622011-06-08T18:27:00.002+01:002011-06-09T07:30:20.846+01:00Senna<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I tried my hardest but the end result was never in doubt, I cried....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There, I said it. yes, I, cried.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">'SENNA' is the work of genius and sitting through the docu-film for over an hour and a half was to re-visit why I fell in love with Formula 1 and motor racing in the first place. It was a wonderful visualisation of a man with a talent not of this world and it is unquestionably a brilliant collage of imagery that beautifully encapsulates all that was Ayrton Senna.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In capturing the main points behind the Brazilian's 10 year grand prix career, the viewer is subjected to footage of artistry in its purest form. Pictures of Ayrton making his Lotus Renault literally dance as he feathered the throttle around the Australian streets of Adelaide in 1985, or those on-board, mesmerising clips of Monaco in 1988 and 1989 as we ride with the McLaren Honda between the tight confines of the principality, all contribute to providing a glimpse into the passion with which Brazil's favourite son drove.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He was an emotional driver in extreemis, and while his blatant denial of wrong doing in the aftermath of the infamous Suzuka collision with Prost in 1990, was almost laughable yet the passion in his voice at the injustice he perceived had been directed at him the previous year, almost made you side with him...</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I thought the coverage of that weekend in hell back in 1994 was wonderfully handled and while sad, it was warming to see previously unseen footage of those three days at Imola which ended in such tragedy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Roland Ratzenburger's crash footage was preceded by a short clip of the man himself in discussion with a member of his Simtek team moments before his fatal run. Explaining that he was trying to stop over driving the car and needed to calm down was harrowing in the extreme when the following few minutes delivered the crash, the terrible scenes after the impact and Senna's clear distress at the fate of his fellow driver.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since Sunday May 1st, I have always been convinced that Senna was not mentally ready to race that fateful day and upon observing the pre-race images of the triple world champion sat in the cockpit of his Williams Renault FW16, frowning, shaking his head and sighing, I realised that he was in no fit state to race. We had known he was unhappy with the handling of the car until his death and that even during the weekend of Imola he is seen discussing these issues with the car's designer Adrian Newey and race Engineer David Brown. "The car is just unstable in every way" Ayrton is heard saying repeatedly and when you combine such factors with the anguish he was still obviously feeling at the demise of Ratzenburger the previous day, it makes those images of Senna in his final few moments all the more poignant.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The subsequent funeral was mammoth and the footage screened before me brought tears to the eyes and failed to dissipate until I had left the auditorium.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the final minute of the film, Ayrton is asked who was the driver he most feared and admired throughout his entire career: "Terry Fullerton," is the immediate response.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don't know who he is? Look him up and you'll see why he was held in such high regard by Senna. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The fact that Fullerton is not mentioned in the film is the only gripe I have with the movie. Showing Ayrton Senna in every light was not an easy task though personally, I feel that had his early career in karting been given more allocation, a greater picture would have emerged of why Ayrton Senna became the driver he was - and an idol to millions...</span>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-31376662198128574302011-06-07T12:02:00.001+01:002011-06-07T12:03:30.333+01:00Anticipating 'Senna' movie...<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Well, this is it, the moment has finally arrived for me to make my way to the cinema and indulge myself in a couple of hours of</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> joy, laughter and tears no doubt.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Much has been said of the Senna film and the impact it has had on audiences since it's general release in the UK on June 3rd and while non have been more eager to see it than I, knowing the emotions I am going to go through has meant needing to find the right moment to go.</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">today is that moment and while I am smiling at the thought off seeing this </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">docu</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">-film about a man who was my childhood idol, I am anxious at the thought of what I know will be heart-wrenching for me and countless </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ayrton</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> fans the world over.</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Imola</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> 1994 was the blackest day in contemporary Formula 1 and the memory of sitting the front room of my parents house,watching the accident unfold alongside my father, the two of us gasping in astonishment, will last forever. Much was said in the years that followed, opinion polls were unanimous in their results that Senna was a legend and in death, will forever remain so.</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What many </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">didn</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">'t appreciate was that away </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">from t</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">he track, </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ayrton</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> was capable of such generosity and kindness and from my understanding of the film, this is not lost on the audience and for that, i am thankful. He was a staunch Brazilian national and the people of Brazil worshiped him and both won and lost with him on the circuit during his short F1 career.</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">He was to me and millions </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">the</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> world over, a true inspiration and I hope in a few hours time, to be reporting on a wonderful motion picture.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In fact, I </span></span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">know</span></span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I will.</span></span>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-42354995656964811272011-05-28T18:50:00.002+01:002011-05-28T18:50:07.690+01:00<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; width: 755px;"><tbody>
<tr><td><img alt="Sauber F1 Team" border="0" height="90" src="http://www.pressreleasemanager.co.uk/crash.prm.storage/templates/images/269-sauber-logo.gif" width="303" /> </td><td> </td></tr>
<tr> <td><img alt="" height="45" src="http://www.pressreleasemanager.co.uk/crash.prm.storage/templates/images/77_blank.gif" width="1" /></td> </tr>
</tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; width: 755px;"><tbody>
<tr valign="top"><td style="width: 111px;" width="111"><img alt="" height="1" src="http://www.pressreleasemanager.co.uk/crash.prm.storage/templates/images/77_blank.gif" width="111" /></td><td> </td><td rowspan="2" style="width: 515px;" width="515"> <div style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> <div> <strong>Press release</strong></div></div><br />
<div style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> <div> <div> <span style="font-family: 'sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Monaco GP – Qualifying – Saturday, 28.05.2011 </span></div><div> </div><div> <span style="font-family: 'sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Further update on Sergio Pérez</span></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> <span style="font-family: 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Weather: sunny and dry, 23°C air, 45°C track</span></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> <span style="font-family: 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">After Sergio Pérez‘s heavy accident in the final minutes of qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, of course, the relief that the 21-year-old Mexican didn’t suffer any serious injuries is the overriding emotion inside the Sauber F1 Team. He was taken to the Hospital Princesse Grace in Monaco where he underwent an extensive examination. The medical staff informed the Sauber F1 Team that he escaped the shunt with concussion and a bruised thigh. Pérez will remain in hospital at least overnight and will definitely not start the race on Sunday.</span></div><div> </div><div> <span style="font-family: 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Until the accident Pérez had shown his strongest qualifying performance so far in what is his first Formula One season. He made it into Q3, the qualifying session for the top ten drivers. In Q2 he had finished ninth on a fresh set of super soft tyres (1:15.482 min). The accident happened when he was on his final fast lap in Q3 on another fresh set of super soft tyres. He crashed into the barrier in the fast section after the tunnel. According to the current information, the team has no indication there was a technical failure, but it is investigating the accident further to find the reason for it.</span></div><div> </div><div> <span style="font-family: 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">For his team mate, Kamui Kobayashi, qualifying was over after Q2. With a lap of 1:15.973 min on fresh super soft tyres he qualified 13<sup>th</sup>. The Japanese said: “Sergio’s accident was, of course, a shock and I’m obviously happy he has no severe injuries. In the beginning I didn’t know about the accident because I had been taken for a doping test. In qualifying I still had difficulties with my car, which kept bouncing too much despite some further set-up changes we did in the third free practice. Nevertheless, from my grid position points are within reach and this is what I’m heading for tomorrow.”</span></div><div> </div><div> <span style="font-family: 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Team Principal, Peter Sauber, said: “Of course we are very relieved that Sergio wasn’t seriously injured. Up to the accident he was doing very well in qualifying, and also better than expected as he had outperformed all his direct competitors. For Kamui it didn’t go too well in qualifying, but we know what his skills are and expect them to play a role in tomorrow’s race.” </span></div><div> </div><div> <span style="font-family: 'sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">The team’s Technical Director, James Key, said: “First and foremost we are obviously relieved with the reports that Sergio is okay. It’s always very worrying for a team when you see an accident of that magnitude, so it’s good to hear that he is fundamentally okay. We are looking into what happened. There is no indication at the moment from the data we have seen that there was a problem with the car. But we have to talk to Sergio to investigate further what happened.”</span></div></div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-21690974415510584602011-05-28T12:49:00.000+01:002011-05-28T12:49:20.481+01:00Delusions of grandeur<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">When Michael Schumacher and Ferrari made the long awaited announcement back in 2006 that the seven-time world champion would be retiring from the sport he had dominated for many a year, the consensus was that the German had been pushed out via the imminent arrival of Kimi Raikkonen from McLaren.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">The shoddily handled announcement came immediately after the chequered flag fell at the end of the Italian Grand Prix and in the post-race press conference, Michael was as uncomfortable as I had ever seen him. Despite his best efforts to deny it, it was clear the Maranello hierarchy had decided to announce the deal with Raikkonen and that Michael – who ideally wanted more time to finalise a decision, would have to like it or lump it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">The team was, correctly, looking after the interests of itself and it’s investors. One couldn’t help but feel that the man who had helped transform the once limping horse into a prancing one that galloped all over the record books, was being forced into early retirement.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">The following years saw Michael unable to prevent the urge to ‘race’ from rearing it’s addictive head and before long the German was competing once more, albeit on two wheels rather than four. An accident in a minor bike race in 2008 resulted in a hairline fracture of the vertebrae and apparently a lucky escape from more serious damage.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">After Felipe Massa’s unfortunate crash in Hungary 2009, Ferrari needed a replacement and immediately the rumour mill went into overdrive suggesting Schumacher would make a comeback. Initially, it seemed as likely to happen as seeing the Pope come out of a brothel but within days it was confirmed that yes, the red Barron would don his helmet once more. Ultimately however, the neck hadn’t healed sufficiently to permit a return and so with a heavy heart, Michael confirmed he would not, after all, be seen in a racing car once more.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Fast-forward six months and with Jenson Button leaving the Brawn GP which had just been bought outright by Mercedes – previously only the engine supplier to the team, there was now available a potentially race-winning seat. While the rest of the world was asleep, Schumacher and former partner-in-crime Ross Brawn quietly came to a deal for the German to return to the sport via a 3-year contract.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">While many questioned the move, most were anticipating the prospect of seeing how the old master would compare with the likes of new team mate Nico Rosberg and more importantly, the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoBodyText">Inevitably, much fanfare accompanied the German at the start of last year’s return to action but it was in essence, a disaster. The MGP-01 held not a candle to it’s predecessor which had taken Button to the title and Michael was emphatically out performed by his team mate in most areas.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Many have begun to wonder if the German will put himself through another winless year and perhaps more poignant, for the first time in his career, sorry, careers, his employer is contemplating a replacement for the seat he occupies.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Back in 2005, the BAR team - and in particular Jenson Button, were prevented from reaching the top step of the podium several times courtesy of Michael Schumacher who was enjoying another year of driving the best car in the field.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Despite being one of the main reasons Button had to wait a further year before his first win, the 2009 world champion is convinced that these days, grand prix racing is more competitive and thus, Schumacher’s end goal is all the more harder to achieve.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoBodyText">“Michael is in a very different situation to the one he was in before he retired,” Button declared during a recent McLaren Mercedes teleconference. “When he was at Ferrari he was in a competitive car and he knew that at almost every race he went into, he had a chance of winning. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">“It’s a very different situation now and for me, over the last twelve years I’ve raced in the sport, it has got more and more competitive in terms of drivers and teams that can fight it out at the front.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">There is little doubt that with age comes a gradual decline in performance. Ok, yes Nigel Mansell was 39 when he strolled to the F1 title in 1992 and yes, Andretti was still racing competitively in Indycars at the age of 53 two years later but the fact still remains that performing at the level of your immediate competitors in the hardest championship in the world, is not easy for a man of 42.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">At the 1979 Canadian Grand Prix, Niki Lauda casually informed Brabham owner Bernie Ecclestone that he was retiring from the sport with immediate effect; declaring that he no longer wished to "drive around in circles" and that he had simply had enough. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">His charter airline Lauda Air was in need of his attention and so it was that the then double world champion hopped on his plane – literally, and turned his back on the sport, returning home to Austria. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Fast forward three years and Lauda, now requiring additional funds to stabilize his business, was back, now a McLaren driver intent on winning a third title. Despite initial concerns about his speed having lost some polish from team sponsor Marlboro; the Austrian promptly won his third race back on the streets of Long Beach before winning that elusive third crown in 1984.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Granted, having John Watson as team mate was never going to be a problem for Lauda and the fact that in McLaren, he had a car at his disposal that was usually there or thereabouts in terms of pace. For his title winning year and his final one in 1985, a young Alain Prost arrived and immediately out-paced his more experienced team mate. Aware that on speed alone, Prost was untouchable, the calculating Austrian won the championship through strategy and stealth before limping out of the sport for the final time a year later – annihilated by the younger Frenchman who picked up the first of his four titles. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">“I think that today, it’s a lot tougher for a driver that’s spent three years out of the sport to then come back,” Button says. “I don’t know if Michael is as good as he was in his twenties but I think it’s more competitive now and he has a competitive team mate in Nico. I think he’s doing a pretty good job but he’s not setting the world alight because he is racing against some very talented drivers.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">The trouble for Michael though, is that because unlike Lauda before him, he has returned, then quickly won a race, his reputation as a race winner is being devalued with every passing grand prix.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">The German Grand Prix is scheduled to be the 278<sup>th</sup> start of his illustrious career and what better way to celebrate it than by announcing his retirement. At least this way - and unlike the façade that was Monza five years ago, he could bow out under his own terms, safe in the knowledge that the employee was dictating proceedings, not the employer.<span> </span></span>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-22590485734566453912011-05-27T00:58:00.003+01:002011-05-27T00:59:45.622+01:00Thursday's press conference - Monaco<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span> <span style="font-size: small;">TEAM REPRESENTATIVES - Graeme LOWDON (Marussia Virgin), Vijay MALLYA (Force India), Adrian NEWEY (Red Bull), Peter SAUBER (Sauber F1 Team), Martin WHITMARSH (McLaren)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">PRESS CONFERENCE</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. Graeme, what do you feel about this race. Is this going to be your best chance for points here?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Graeme LOWDON:</b> Monaco always has the potential for an unpredictable race and with the best will in the world that is our best chance at the moment until we can move the car further forward. We had a good run here last year until we had some car problems and I think now we are on top of the reliability problems that we had as a new team last year so we are looking forward to the race.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. You talked about bringing the car forward which is basically upgrades. Is there now going to be a regular flow or has there been a regular flow?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>GL:</b> There has been although we kind of went on hold a little bit in Barcelona. We were developing a blown exhaust system on the car and then following the directive from the FIA we decided that we would have to hold until the meeting next month when there is going to be a clarification of what direction to go in. We won't, in terms of pace... I don't think we will be moving much forward in this race but certainly we plan to keep moving forward as you have to of course. We will see what this clarification looks like and then determine then the direction we are going.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. Is there any technical contribution coming from Marussia?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>GL:</b> Marussia were sponsors of our team last year and then moved into an investment ownership element towards the end of last year so they are now gainfully integrated with the team and certainly in the future I think we will see information going in both directions. They have some really exciting road car plans for the long-term future and we are looking forward to playing our part in that as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. Vijay, in some ways again perhaps your best chance here. We saw (that) a couple of years ago when you really were looking on course for points until Kimi Raikkonen ended your chances. Is this race a good chance for points as well?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Vijay MALLYA:</b> Yeah, absolutely. Since the beginning of the season we knew that at least for the first few fly-away races we would still be in the development mode. We were hoping to launch a serious aero package in Barcelona. We haven't got everything together quite yet but certainly there are improvements that are already showing during free practice here in Monaco. This is a fantastic race, my favourite, I would love to score points here.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. We always tend to see you as a representative of your nation. How is the Indian Grand Prix coming along?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>VM:</b> Coming along really well actually. The track is almost ready and will be ready well in time. The recent press reports apparently quoting Bernie (Ecclestone) saying that if Bahrain is re-instated then the Indian Grand Prix may actually be pushed back to December obviously raised a lot of questions at home. But whether it is October 30th, as scheduled, or later in the year we are ready and quite happy with the progress the promoters have made.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. What's the reaction at home especially now that Narain Karthikeyan is back in a race seat?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>VM:</b> Well when Narain and Karun (Chandhok) were both on the grid there was a lot of joy and celebration in India. But as you may know Force India have launched the "One In A Billion" hunt. It is going very well. We have had a few rounds already and we hope to identify some talented Indian kids in the not too distant future.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. Is there going a lot of interest in that?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>VM:</b> Huge amount of interest, absolutely. In fact, people contact me directly saying 'my son or daughter is one month less than the prescribed age of 14 of a few days older than the limit of 17 and can we please get them in'. There is a huge amount of interest.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. Peter, tell us about the contribution James Key has made to your team?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Peter SAUBER:</b> The C30 is James Key's car and the car is a clear step forward. He is doing a good job and thanks to him we were able to move forward.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. Tell us about the modifications and the programme of development. How great is that? And, modifications for this race?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>PS:</b> Small modification to the front wing, rear wing, brake ducts and we have a modification on the front suspension.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. And then in terms of general developments. Are you expecting something every race?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>PS:</b> General development is on the aerodynamic side. I think that is the same for all the teams. We tried very hard on the exhaust side but it doesn't work.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. When you are looking ahead at your next team to overtake as it were, which team is that? Which is your target team?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>PS:</b> The target is to go forward and to keep the gap to the team in front of us and especially to keep the gap to the teams behind us.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. You don't want to catch and overtake Renault, for example?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>PS:</b> If it's possible, why not?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. Adrian, just tell us what the problem was with Mark's car this morning?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Adrian NEWEY:</b> It was a cut wiring loom, a gearbox wiring loom, which meant he lost one of the potentiometers on the gearbox barrel.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. Is that a major setback for him to lose the whole session?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>AN:</b> I am sure it's a pain. The question is whether that will have any affect on his qualifying, come, hopefully, Q3.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. Interesting the situation with the pit-stop procedure change. What has accelerated that?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>AN:</b> Sorry, I am lost here.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. We understand that Christian (Horner) mentioned after Spain that because of the way Ferrari were stopping and were mirroring your stops, you were changing your procedure.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>AN:</b> We suspected that Ferrari were able to judge when we were going to stop before we went on the radio to the drivers to say stop, so we made a small change based on what we thought they were spotting. Whether that was correct or not who knows?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. Is it just being a bit paranoid?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>AN:</b> Depends whether they were doing it or whether it was just one of those co-incidences. I cannot comment really.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. KERS seems to have been a recurring problem right from the start of the season. Give us some indication of how difficult it is to get it right as perhaps we just don't understand in the media?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>AN:</b> KERS is a complicated project. It needs a lot of research, lots of development. The packaging route that we have chosen, whilst the system has its roots in the Renault Marelli system that was run a couple of years ago, it has been altered in various ways to suit the package we want for our car. That has caused some problems. It's not proving easy to completely eliminate it. We have hopefully learnt how to change it, but it is challenging for us. It is not really our forte, KERS development. We are an aerodynamics and, sort of, chassis composite engineering group rather than a KERS group.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. Have you had to establish an entire new department?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>AN:</b> Yes we have, but the department is quite small. With hindsight probably a little bit too small and there is quite a lot of inertia to these things. It is not easy to react quickly to a problem.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. One of the things about this race is using the super soft tyre. Can you give us a little bit of information about how the super soft tyre performed. Did it perform how you expected or better or worse this afternoon?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>AN:</b> It seemed okay this afternoon. Difficult to know exactly what to expect of it. This circuit is one of the lightest, or even the lightest, on tyres that we go to. Hence Pirelli's choice to bring a softer range than we have had to date and it seems to be coping well with that.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. They have suggested 10 laps, even less than 10 laps, per stint on the super soft. Is that pretty much confirmed or can you not say until Sunday itself?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>AN:</b> Certainly the indication from today is they should last longer than that. But it is difficult to be concrete and as have seen in the first five races what happens on Friday can change in either direction on Sunday.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. Martin, that is the most extraordinary thing about this season. It is just unpredictable except for the fact that Red Bull are going to be fairly close to the front and probably on the front row.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Martin WHITMARSH: </b>Certainly, that is not too unpredictable at the moment. I would like it to be a bit less predictable. I am very happy if you keep asking Adrian questions. I would like to ask him a few myself. We made some progress in Spain. I think our guys were able to race with Adrian's and that was a step forward for us. We were not quite quick enough in qualifying. Had we had a better track position I think it would have been an even greater race but nonetheless it was exciting and encouraging. This circuit is very different from one week ago and from where we are going afterwards. This is a very specialist circuit. I think it is one which the drivers, the competitive drivers, believe they can go out and win so that makes it exciting. I suspect, I hope, it is going to be a bit closer this weekend. I think the strategy here is challenging. We know how difficult it is going to be to overtake here. I am not sure if DRS is going to be that helpful in my opinion but I can understand why people didn't want it going through the tunnel. But clearly the new chicane has been the overtaking place on the circuit so to not use DRS prior to that is a little bit of a shame in my view but we will see. Hopefully we will have a good weekend.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. You mentioned in the preview how important your performance through sector three was in Barcelona and it encouraged you for here. Has that been borne out today? MW:</b> I think we have, like Adrian and all the guys here, had Friday as a learning day. During the first session this time we only had one set of tyres, I am sure Adrian had some aero bits to try. We had a few aero bits to try. You are getting that information. You are doing some fuel heavy runs to see how durable the super soft is and also the soft tyre. The super soft tyre looks very consistent on all the cars. We are getting a lot of data and now the strategists and engineers can work hopefully to improve the set-up for tomorrow and also try and make sure we get it right in the race.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. We mentioned the pit-stop concerns that Red Bull Racing have. Do Vodafone McLaren Mercedes have similar pit-stop concerns?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>MW:</b> No, we don't. I don't know anything about that particular issue. I think you call the stops and try and make them as quick as you can. Inevitably, sometimes it is nice to know when others are making them but you judge that by where you see their tyre performance. It is very clear this year that if the driver goes longer than his tyres should have done then he lost lots of time so you can generally see just by looking at lap times when somebody is about to come in.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. (Alberto Antonini - AutoSprint) Coming out in the paddock yesterday, you could see that there was still a lot of action going on. Some of the facilities hadn't been completed, they were still being set up. So, I just wondered whether it's sensible, given the size of the current infrastructures, to have back-to-back races, coming to a place like this? Is it turning into a sort of logistic nightmare?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>MW:</b> Well, it's incredibly tough. Back-to-back races have always been tough on the crew and the team. Clearly because Monaco starts one day earlier, it's just that little bit tougher. There was a lot of action here, now there's a lot made of a forklift incident with Jenson but I think Jenson's probably done more dangerous things here in his life, both in cars and out of cars in Monaco, so I think it was probably a little bit overstated. It's tough. I'm sure that we're grateful – just as all the teams are here – to the people who build garages, build hospitality units, rebuild the cars to make sure we can be here racing.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">GL: We've probably got the smallest motorhome of anybody here but dare I say, one of the friendliest. We tend to have to wait until all the large structures are put together before we can put ours together but I think we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that Formula One and the finances of Formula One are very complicated nowadays and these structures do actually play an important part in servicing the requirements of sponsors and guests. So it is an important part of the whole show, and the people who put them together do a tremendously professional job under very tight circumstances. I take my hat off to them.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">VM: Well, we sometimes pay the price for our own enthusiasm. We wanted to create a sort of Taj Mahal out of our motorhome. In the process we created a pretty heavy and complex structure that requires a lot more time to erect and disassemble but that's life, we're used to it. We know that they're going to be back-to-back races and the guys coped pretty well.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">PS: Yes, it's tough but we have done it in the past many times.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. (Pierre Van Vliet – F1i Magazine) Martin, what is FOTA's position regarding the 2013 engine rules following the Barcelona meeting last week?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>MW:</b> I think FOTA's view is that this really is a decision for the engine manufacturers, not for the teams themselves. I think teams want to have affordable engines and they've made those points to the engine manufacturers and to the FIA and I have to say that those views appear to be respected. I think that with any rules changes, it would have been great if we could have introduced more engine manufacturers into Formula One but unfortunately, we're perhaps coming out of a recession, we were a little bit too early with these changes, but at the same time, we have to move forwards in Formula One, we have to be seen with developing technologies that are relevant to the needs of society, so there will always be an emotional pull to the past. Lots of us speak about 'wasn't it great when we had V12s', 'wasn't it good when we had V10s', isn't it great that we've got V8s?' And I think we must be careful that we don't get emotional about those things. What we need is Formula One to be the pinnacle of motor sport, to have the most advanced powertrain and they've got to be affordable for all of the teams. I think also, we need as many engine manufacturers in Formula One, we need independent manufacturers like Cosworth. We need to make sure we don't lose any of the engine manufacturers we've got now. We're very fortunate as a sport to have Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault with us. We'd like to make sure that we've still got them in 2013 and beyond and I hope, in time, find ways in which other automotive companies find this sport attractive to invest in it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Vijay, could I ask you on what basis you took the decision to allow Adrian to continue racing after his incident in Shanghai. And secondly, you've just launched your own driver development programme, I think for 14- to 16-year olds; is he still a good role model for the team?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>VM:</b> As far as my position is concerned, there has been a press release issued which describes an incident. We have not heard of any formal complaint being registered in any country for any sort of misconduct by Adrian. So it would be highly inappropriate for us to presume that he did something. It would be equally presumptuous that he would guilty of wrong-doing and take action against him. So my position is very clear: if at all we receive a formal complaint or there is some form of formal legal enquiry in any country, we'll take appropriate action at that time but we can't be presumptive.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. (Edd Straw – Autosport) Adrian, there was a lot of talk in Spain about the legality of the exhaust-blown diffuser operating while the driver is off the throttle. What's your interpretation of the legality of that, specifically relating to article 3.15 and could you explain your reasoning behind the position you take on this technology?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>AN:</b> Well, I think the key to 3.15 is that it talks about 'driver over-run then the throttle should be closed' then in brackets 'idle speed' so it seems to be implying that the throttle should be closed at idle, which it clearly is. What the throttle does on over-run at other times is not clear in the regulations, not as expected. Certainly, in the case of Renault, then they open the throttle to full open on the over-run for exhaust valve cooling, and that's part of the reliability of the engine. It has been signed off through the years for dyno testing and for them to change that would be quite a big issue, because the engine's not proven that it would be reliable if the throttle remained closed in that situation. Obviously if other people are going further and perhaps firing the engine on the over-run then clearly exhaust valve cooling is not part of that and that would be something that presumably they would need to explain to keep Charlie (Whiting, technical delegate) happy.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Vijay, you mentioned the Indian Grand Prix and Bernie's comments about it but I was wondering if you've spoken to Bernie or talked to him about it and what is your personal position on any possible re-scheduling of that race?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>VM:</b> There are no issues on whether the track will be completed or not. That track will be ready well in time. There's a huge amount of interest. I can tell you that people are already clamouring for tickets and it's a major step forward in Indian motor sport and sport in general in our country, so everybody is looking forward to it. Whether it's October 30th or December 4th - I believe that's what the media report said – really doesn't matter to us. In fact, in December the weather is cooler in India and Delhi in particular so it shouldn't impact the race in any way.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Can I just ask the other team bosses whether it would impact on them at all, to be racing in December?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>AN:</b> Makes for an awfully long season, doesn't it? It is for the people involved.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">MW: I think it's tough on the team, simple as that. I think the teams will go to the races that are on the calendar, that's for sure, but I think it makes it a very long season. The guys started working very hard in mid-January, building cars to go testing and it will make it a very, very long season for them.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">PS: I think first we have to wait for the decision about Bahrain.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">GL: I agree with Martin. I think it does make it quite tough on the teams. I think one of our guys is getting married on December 4th as well, so we might have a problem.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. (Rodrigo Franca – VIP Magazine) Question for all of you: what kind of advice would you give for a teenager who is beginning to study and one day wants to work in Formula One? What piece of advice would you five guys give?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>AN:</b> I guess the first question is where he or she wants to work, so is it technical, is it in marketing and so on and so forth? In my own area, on the technical side, I think by and large, academic studies help, so going to a good university, if that's possible, is clearly useful. At that point the person probably needs to decide which area they are going to specialise in, is it mechanical, aerodynamics, electronics, maths etc? Try and get some experience as well, even if it's working with a very small team, then anything that helps to build your CV and show that you are a committed, dedicated to motor racing and have both an academic flair and a real enthusiasm is mainly what we're looking for.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">MW: I don't have much to add to what Adrian said. I think you have to be realistic. Those of us who are working in Formula One or in motor sport, are very, very lucky. It's a great career but it's massively competitive, it's still a relatively small industry so I think if anyone sets their sights on a career within motor sport they should also have a Plan B because however good you are, you might not be fortunate enough to get in.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">VM: A lot of Indian technology companies are already supporting established Formula One teams but I represent a country that is full of aspiration, with 500 million youngsters under the age of 18, aspiration levels run really, really high and everybody wants to be part of Formula One because of the image that Formula One has. But I'm not just very, very pleased with the level of response in our one-in-a-billion hunt for a driver, the number of CVs and applications coming through from people who want to be involved in engineering and design is quite incredible. There's a lot of talent out there. In the technology industry per se, India has been in the forefront for many decades and there is talent out there and we can use that talent as well, as we go forward. We have some internships already running for young Indian engineers so yes, there's a huge amount of opportunity.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">GL: I agree with Adrian, it's a mixture of experience but also knowledge. There's a remarkable number of people who look to get into a racing team who haven't prepared themselves with either and it constantly amazes me. I'm sure like all the other teams, we operate internships as well, with SMT University – I'm sure the other guys work with various universities and have close links with them, with education, which is important and there is no secret, it's hard work and application, and if you're prepared to put in the hard work and apply yourself, then anybody can get into the sport. But as Martin says, whether they stay in is a different matter.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. (Ian Parkes – Press Association) As you know, the state of emergency is due to be lifted in Bahrain on June 1, two days ahead of a decision being made about the Grand Prix, but I was wondering if any of you have made representations to either Bernie or the FIA that it is arguably morally and ethically wrong to still be going to Bahrain after what has happened there this year and is still going on?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>PS:</b> I think it's important that we be safe and the other point is that if we have three back-to-back races; that's really crazy.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">VM: Well, I understand that there's a team principals meeting at 5pm to discuss this and after that I'm sure it will be debated at the World Motor Sport Council of which I'm a member, and I think it would be rather inappropriate for me to pre-judge the issue here, so let's wait for all the team principals to meet and to discuss it at the FIA level and see where we go.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">GL: I think you asked 'have we made any representations?' Certainly I haven't and John (Booth) hasn't but that's more because the situation so far is not clear in terms of what the recommendations would be from the FIA and from FOM etc and so we just have to wait and see what develops. As a company, we want to play an important role in this sort of decision as well, but I don't think we necessarily have all the information.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">MW: No representations, but I think, as Vijay said, I think it's probably something that's best discussed with the FIA and amongst the teams rather than via a press conference in any case.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. (Byron Young – The Daily Mirror) Could I ask Doctor Mallya: are you in the situation with Adrian Sutil that regardless of what he has or has not done, you're obligated to put him in the car for the year? If he's got a contract, he's got a contract.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>VM:</b> You know, contracts do not supercede misconduct so unless I'm convinced that there is misconduct the contract shall prevail. And I'm not willing to jump to any conclusions, based on a press release that has been given out by a potentially or supposedly aggrieved party. I don't know what happened there, none of my people know what happened at that particular incident so there's a due process of law. So if Adrian is to be charged with misconduct, let him be charged. If and when he's charged, I will assess the situation.</span>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-3018103942232384602011-05-20T18:58:00.000+01:002011-05-20T18:58:10.141+01:00When is a tyre not a tyre?<div class="base-text-bold"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I find Lewis Hamilton's assertion earlier today that the new super-hard Pirelli tyre debuting this weekend for the Spanish Grand Prix a totally unhealthy viewpoint.</span></div><div class="base-text-bold"><br />
</div><div class="base-text-bold"><span style="font-size: x-small;">For some reason, many involved directly within the teams, to say nothing of their multi-million pound darlings that sit in the cockpit, have seen it fit to criticise the new rubber on offer rather than try to adapt their driving skill. the result is that their is now a wider differential in lap performance between the hard and soft tyres which should allow the teams a chance to explore the use of more attacking race strategies.</span></div><div class="base-text-bold"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> </div><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"The super-hard tyre is a disaster," Hamilton declared after the first day of running at the Circuit de Catalunya. "It wasn't nice to drive and I don't know why they (Pirelli) have brought that tyre because the previous one was pretty good. This looks pretty difficult to get it to switch on, and we're now about two and a half seconds off the pace. We were thinking 'Wow! This is insane to drive'. Then you go out on the soft tyre, and boom. There is such a huge difference between the two tyres. The soft is fantastic, so I see most people driving that for the weekend, using as short a stint as possible with the new tyre in the race. It's not good." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Me thinks the double world champion doth protest too much... </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">As usual, his McLaren team mate Jenson Button has confirmed that while the tyre is certainly different to the previous spec, there is a job to be done nevertheless: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"The tyre is seriously hard, and a little bit of a shock but we've all got to work with the same tyre and make the best of it, but I don't think you'd want to do more than one stint (in the race) on that tyre" </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The bottom line is that while not everyone is bound to find them much to their liking, the drivers are all in the same boat and need to just get on with the tyres they have been provided with. Sure they may be a shock to the system but for those who can manage their tyres, chances are that Sunday's race will prove more eventful than the previous four rounds so far.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">If Hamilton fails to win in Fernando Alonso's back yard though, there is much to suggest whatever happens, he could lay the blame for a poor result soundly at the door of Pirelli and given that the company has done more than the Drag Reduction System to promote overtaking, that would cast a negative light over the 2008 world champion.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Hamilton is prone to throwing his toys out of the pram and while no-one can criticise his confidence and commitment in the car, I for one am growing a little tired of his negative attitude towards the tyres. For too long F1 fans have been crying out for entertaining racing and courtesy of Pirelli, we now have the basics of what could and should prove to be a healthy future for the sport in terms of on-track excitement.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Don't tell Mr Hamilton though, otherwise who knows who he'll hit from the pram...</span>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-46549982332468512462011-05-09T11:26:00.002+01:002011-05-09T11:29:28.839+01:00Turkish GP Report - Vettel takes 3rd win of year in style!<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In a race that housed more pit stops since the<span style="color: black;"> one</span> that cemented Ayrton Senna’s place in the pantheon of Formula One at Donington Park back in 1993, Sebastian Vettel took his third win out of four starts in 2011 to win the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With a back drop of cloudless skies (something that was not assured as the weekend began) and empty grandstands that gave little hope of Formula One making a return to the country next year, expectations were of an entertaining race but no-one expected <span style="color: black;">it</span> to deliver one of the most exciting in the history of the sport. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While Vettel maintained Red Bull’s dominant start to the year, there was overtaking a plenty all the way through the field. Yes the DRS system still needs a little work on as the majority of passing was a little too easy but in the main, <span style="color: black;">this was a motor race to savour.</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At the lights, Vettel made the cleanest getaway of his year so far and easily led into Turn 1. Also starting on the clean side of the track in third, Nico Rosberg was past Mark Webber into second place while Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso got the jump on the Australian too. Now on the gearbox of the Red Bull ahead, Lewis Hamilton made a move into Turn 3 but was a little too late on the brakes, got off line and allowed Massa and McLaren team mate Jenson Button ahead. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With the DRS system not applicable for the first two laps of the race, drivers were mindful of the fact that patience was the order of the day and as a result, the opening lap was largely contact-free, Sauber’s Sergio Perez being the only exception and had to pit for a new front wing after a minor collision further back down the field. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lap 2 and Vettel was already starting to pull away to lead Rosberg by 1.2 seconds with Alonso, Webber, Felipe Massa, Button and Hamilton chasing hard heading into the first turn. Up the hill and through turns 5,6 and 7, a frustrated Hamilton sought a way through before settling on a crazy attempt heading into the daunting Turn 8. Determined to hold his ground, Button slammed the door firmly shut while further back, Michael Schumacher and Renault’s Vitaly Petrov weren’t quite as professional. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Under braking for the hairpin, the German moved left to defend but the Russian was unflinching in his determination to pass and the two made contact with the Mercedes damaging it’s front wing on the right rear tyre of the Renault, necessitating a pit stop to repair the damage and dropping down the field. It was unnecessary for the German to place his car in the position he did and one had to wonder if the old ‘race-savvy’ Michael would have acted differently. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“The incident with Petrov kind of dictated my race,” Michael declared afterwards. “We were very close and I was surprised that we touched but it was mostly my mistake.” </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the midst of the battle in front of him, Massa squeezed through and was now up into seventh, ahead of Petrov while next time by, Hamilton tried to pass Button once more on the outside of Turn 12 but was still unable to pull off the move. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since first practice on Friday, Barrichello was driving with a renewed sense of purpose in a Williams that finally appeared to be more to his liking. This was admirably demonstrated as the Brazilian forced his way past Heidfeld for ninth under braking for the first turn while behind them, Adrian Sutil was up to 11th with Force India team-mate Paul di Resta in 12th, with the Toro Rosso of Buemi 13th. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Into the sixth lap and now Webber was on a charge, keen to re-establish a Red Bull one-two at the front. Into the slipstream out of the Turn 9 and 10 chicane, the Australian deployed his DRS and breezed past the Mercedes <span style="color: black;">of Rosberg</span> as if he were standing still. While the move to using the new-for-2011 device has undoubtedly added to the race action, when drivers are able to overtake this easily, it becomes <span style="color: black;">a little</span> artificial and unquestionably, the system needs tweaking further still. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two laps later and while Vettel’s lead at the front was up to 4.4s, the McLarens were really at it. Opting to tail his team mate out of Turn 8 and into the DRS activation zone, Hamilton was soon alongside Button heading into the Turn 12 hairpin. Now ahead but offline, the two former world champions took their charge onto the start-finish straight as Hamilton got too much wheel spin out of the final turn and in doing so, gave Button enough to get alongside and back in front <span style="color: black;">under braking</span> for the first turn. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This overtaking disease was now catching fast as Heidfeld re-passed Barrichello for ninth and a DRS-assisted Alonso flies past Rosberg and takes third in the process while at the back, a recovering Schumacher <span style="color: black;">passed </span>Hispania’s Narain Karthikeyan for 21st. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mirroring last year’s near-miss, Hamilton eventually dived ahead of Button into Turn 1 and immediately opened the gap and set off after Rosberg’s Mercedes while Massa – who had caught up the McLaren pair during their intense battle, began to seek a way past Button which he managed to do a lap later. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"I got a pretty decent start,” Hamilton said. “But I made a mistake on the opening lap and lost a lot of ground out of Turn 3 when I was trying to go around Webber and the battle with Jenson was good and fair, as always.” </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">His tyres now ruined, Petrov was the first of the front runners to stop on lap 9 with Massa and Hamilton next in a lap later. Having seen the Ferrari overtake him into the hairpin, Hamilton no doubt raised a wry smile after seeing the Brazilian drop back once more as they raced to the pit lane exit. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Driving like a man possessed, Kobayashi - having started dead last, was now up to 13th while Webber, Alonso and Rosberg all piled into the pits, soon followed by the trio of Heidfeld, Barrichello and Sutil. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lap 12 and race leader Vettel <span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">was</span> </span>in for his first stop, thereby promoting a three-stopping Button into the lead momentarily. Next time by the Brit was only a second ahead of Vettel with Webber third and Alonso fourth before pitting for new rubber two laps later.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While Barrichello was busy putting a forceful move on his nemesis Schumacher into Turn 1, at the hairpin, Hamilton was passing Rosberg for fifth while Vettel continued to pull away and Alonso began to keep Webber honest by matching the Red Bull for lap times over the next few laps. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The battle for sixth intensified as Massa continued to chase Rosberg’s Mercedes before getting a good run on the German exiting Turn 8 and sending down his Ferrari under braking for the following chicane. Not to be undone by the Brazilian’s pass, Rosberg was immediately on the throttle and now with the benefit of his DRS system, managed to re-pass the<span style="color: black;"> Ferrari</span> into Turn 12. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So much <span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">overtaking</span> </span>already and we were still not even at half distance… </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The battle ahead resulted in Button closing the gap in seventh while Hamilton pitted the other McLaren – having clearly spent the best of his tyres. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two laps later and still the Massa/Rosberg/Button duel wasn’t over with the Ferrari passing the Mercedes into Turn 12 and Button pulling an impressive pass on the outside to slot in behind Massa. Rosberg was soon into the pits though leaving Button to pass Massa a few laps later before both drivers stopping a second time. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alonso continued to slowly close the gap and by lap 30, was close enough to make a move into the regular overtaking zone at Turn 12.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lap 35 and with it came Hamilton’s second pit stop. What should have taken around under 4 seconds took over 6 as the right front wheel nut cross-threaded before the Englishman was on his way again, wheel spinning his McLaren in frustration; only to emerge behind his team mate once more. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Back at the front, Alonso was in on lap 37, covering Webber who had pitted a lap earlier with both now on the hard tyres with the Ferrari jumping ahead of the Red Bull in the process. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Also on a charge now, Rosberg – who had already run the harder tyres earlier and was now on soft rubber, was quickly ahead of Barrichello for seventh and looking strong for another points finish. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now realising that his three-stop strategy was a mistake, Button pitted two laps later and was now being asked to ensure his tyres would last 18 laps – a mammoth task, even for one with Jenson’s silky-smooth style. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Having pitted for the third time on the 40th tour, Vettel’s lead on lap 43 was up to 7.1s with Alonso and Webber trying to work out if they should try to go the distance or pit for new rubber. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reliability of contemporary grand prix cars has impressed in 2011 and Sunday was no different as Paul di Resta became the second mechanical retirement on lap 46, Timo Glock’s Marussia Virgin <span style="color: black;">being the first to falter after</span> failing to take the start. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“When I was leaving the pits after my final stop, the team came on the radio and instructed me to stop,” confirmed the Scottish rookie. “There was obviously a problem so I pulled up as soon as I could. It was unfortunate because the final part of the race would have been interesting on the fresh tyres." </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Meantime, Alonso was in for his stop, comfortably resuming in second, ahead of Webber in third while a lap later, Rosberg's fresh rubber was beginning to pay dividends as he passed Massa at Turn 12. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Covering his nearest challengers, race leader Vettel decided not to gamble and came in for a fresh set of rubber and a fourth stop on lap 48, ready to maintain the gap on the run to the chequered flag. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hamilton, now on fresher rubber and clearly quicker, received no competition from Button on lap 51 as he went by under braking for the hairpin and into fourth place. Now aware of Button’s plight, Rosberg was given the message to push on the radio while the battle for second became just as intense with Webber all over the gearbox of Alonso. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At this point, everywhere you looked there was action with Schumacher versus Massa for 12th, and Barrichello versus a chasing Sutil for 14th. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Webber was still on a charge and made a move on Alonso at the braking zone for Turn 12 and despite the Spaniard fighting his Australian rival every inch of the way, Webber was quickly ahead. It was firm but fair, with both men giving each other plenty of space. This was racing at it’s very best and a delight to observe.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It was a good fight,” Webber confirmed. “Both of us used the DRS to get the moves done, so that was part of it, but the tyres play a huge role. In the end I had a fresher set of tyres from qualifying and got the job done on Fernando.” </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The overtaking addiction was still prevalent through the field with Massa making a phenomenal late breaking pass on Schumacher into Turn 12, but Schumacher completed the switchback in Turn 13 to retake 12th. Schumacher then made a great move on Alguersuari at Turn 13 on the next lap to take over 11th, but almost immediately Massa sensed an opportunity and passed both of them as they squabbled amongst themselves. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As the flag fell, Vettel did his usual side-to-side car shake to take the applause from his team who were hanging over the pit wall and the German was delighted that his Friday crash in free practice had been forgotten. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Throughout the race I had this cushion and we were able to react rather than act, so I’m very pleased,” a beaming Vettel declared. “This one is for the guys, as I wrecked the car on Friday, but they got it back together and everyone played his role. Not only my mechanics, also Mark's mechanics helped a lot to fix the car and get ready for Saturday. I have to say, when I walked in on Saturday morning every little worry was gone immediately, as the mechanics gave me the impression that nothing happened, nothing is wrong and we will continue as usual. It was a very good race and I am obviously very, very happy.” </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A content Webber was third in the second Red Bull with Alonso a content third. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“The guys did a great job all weekend, maximum result for the team, so we can't do much more than that as a team,” Webber confirmed. “Yeah, wasn't a bad car race, I think. I'll have a look at it on telly and see what it's like.” </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I am very, very happy with the result but this is only the first step,” Alonso added. “We want to win races and first we need to be on the podium as we were today and now we need to keep moving forward. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fourth was the recovering Hamilton with fifth going to Rosberg who had breezed past the ailing Button on lap 56 who finished a disappointing sixth. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"It's a pity to finish so far back after everything in the first stint seemed to go so well,” a disconsolate Button said. “Strategy-wise, I don't think we got it right today. My battle with Lewis was great fun and there was a lot of excitement on the track, but I was disappointed to finish where I did: the car felt very good but we just went the wrong way on strategy.” </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Heidfeld was a disgruntled seventh for Renault – having been hit by his eighth-place finishing team mate Petrov earlier in the race. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Buemi finished an impressive ninth but unquestionably, the driver of the day was Kobayashi whose bravery seemingly knows no bounds after a sterling drive from 24th to 10th and a single point. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Eleventh went to Massa while another lackluster performance in 12th from Schumacher will not have gone down well with the bosses at Mercedes. Force India’s Adrian Sutil was 13th, Sergio Perez 14th in the second Sauber, Barrichello a disappointed 15th and Jaime Alguersuari 16th for Toro Rosso. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pastor Maldonado was 17th for Williams, ahead of the Team Lotuses of Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen and the Marussia Virgin of Jerome d'Ambrosio and the Hispania pairing of Narain Karthikeyan and Vitantonio Liuzzi. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Formula 1 circus now heads to the land of Alonso-mania and the passionate Spanish faithful will no doubt embrace the performance of their Ferrai-powered hero in Istanbul. Can it continue once the drivers hit the track in Barcelona in two weeks time and will it be enough to help the former double world champion to a home victory?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Not if Sebastian Vettel has anything to do with it.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-2273056605822934542011-05-03T11:30:00.000+01:002011-05-03T11:30:34.239+01:00Mike Coughlan Appointed as Chief Engineer<div style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt;"><strong></strong>With the scent of the 2007 'spygate' scandal which rocked Formula 1 now swiftly removed, Mike Coughlan has returned to the sport as Williams Chief Engineer and I for one am pleased to see him return. </div><div style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt;">Here's the full press release from Williams: </div><div style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt;">Williams F1 today announced that Mike Coughlan will join the team in June 2011 in the role of Chief Engineer.</div><div style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt;">Mike Coughlan undertook his training and education at Rolls Royce and Brunel University. He began his Formula One career at Lotus where he worked his way up to Chief Designer. He subsequently worked for Tyrell, Ferrari and Arrows before joining McLaren in 2002 as Chief Designer. Mike left Formula One in 2007 as a result of his role in the ‘Spygate’ affair. Since then, Mike has applied his skills principally as Chief Engineer in the development of the Ocelot Light Protected Patrol Vehicle. He joins Williams F1 from NASCAR competitor, Michael Waltrip Racing.</div><div style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt;"> Frank Williams, Team Principal, said: “Mike Coughlan is a fine engineer with extensive experience across Formula One and both civil and defence engineering. He left Formula One in 2007 because of conduct which he acknowledges was wrong and which he profoundly regrets. His two year ban from the sport expired some time ago and Mike is now determined to prove himself again. Williams is delighted to be able to give him the opportunity to do this and we are very pleased to have one of the most talented and competitive engineers in the sport helping us to return to the front of the grid. This is the first step in re-building and strengthening our technical group. We will announce the next steps as they develop.”</div><div style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt;"> Mike Coughlan commented, “I am grateful to Williams for giving me this opportunity. My experience in 2007 was life-changing. Since then, I have endeavoured to put my skills to good use in the design of the Ocelot vehicle whose purpose is to transport soldiers in safety. I have also enjoyed my time with Michael Waltrip Racing: they are an excellent race team and I wish them well for the future. Now, I am looking forward to returning to a sport which I love and to joining a team that I have admired for many years. I will dedicate myself to the team and to ensuring that we return to competitiveness while respecting the ethical standards with which Williams has always been synonymous.”</div>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-40628341080631792792011-05-03T11:21:00.000+01:002011-05-03T11:21:21.317+01:00Williams F1 Announces Technical Department Restructure<div style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt;">Interesting to see developments at Williams this morning. We did see it coming as there had been murmering of unrest at Grove since the team has been unable to convert pre-season testing form into tangible points finishes in 2011.</div><div style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt;"> Here's the full release announcing the departure of Sam Michael and Jon Tomlinson:</div><div style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt;">Williams F1 today announced that Technical Director, Sam Michael, and Chief Aerodynamicist, Jon Tomlinson, have resigned from their positions within the company, to take effect at the end of 2011.</div><div style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt;">Frank Williams, Team Principal, said: “Both Sam and Jon are talented and driven people who have worked hard for Williams over 10 and five years respectively. Nonetheless, they have recognised that the team’s performance is not at the level that it needs to be and have resigned in order to give the team the opportunity to regroup and undertake the changes necessary to get back to the front of the grid. Both will continue to work in their present positions through until the end of the year to ensure that the team maintains focus and momentum during the 2011 season. We are very grateful to Sam and to Jon for their professional approach.”</div>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-58276866159467875242011-05-02T07:24:00.000+01:002011-05-02T07:24:16.874+01:00The Real Obama Speech on the death of Osama Bin Laiden...<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Good evening. </span></div><div style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Hello you total fools, wait till you hear this...) </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaida, and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(Tonight I can report that the man we decided should be seen as the perpetrator of the murder led by the American government, is dead - again.) </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory - hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon; the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(We certainly did not, did not, allow FOUR commercial aircraft to go totally unnoticed for many minutes and without military intervention! The twin towers were brought down via controlled demolition, there was no wreckage in Shanksville, but hell we're gonna keep telling you they didn't! Our heroic citizens didn't actually do what we say they did but shhh, who cares...) </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world. The empty seat at the dinner table. Children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father. Parents who would never know the feeling of their child's embrace. Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(Which your own government was responsible for but you idiots will keep thinking we weren't) </span></span></div><div class="clear" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="thinCenter" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">On September 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together. We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of community and country. On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(Doesn't matter who you are, your all gullible and let us get away with murder - literally!) </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice. </span></div><div style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Despite having a pre-planned programme to go to war)</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al-Qaida - an organization headed by Osama bin Laden, which had openly declared war on the United States and was committed to killing innocents in our country and around the globe. And so we went to war against al Qaida to protect our citizens, our friends, and our allies.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(Despite assuring the American public and the world that proof of Al-Qaida's guilt would be forthcoming in the days after it was announced, we forgot to honour that pledge and decided to attack anyway...)</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals, we've made great strides in that effort. We've disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense. </span></div><div style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(We have made it look like we have spent years looking for him but we actually haven't but who's listening...)</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">In Afghanistan, we removed the Taliban government, which had given bin Laden and al-Qaida safe haven and support. And around the globe, we worked with our friends and allies to capture or kill scores of al-Qaida terrorists, including several who were a part of the 9/11 plot.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(There were definitely NOT named terrorits of 9/11 who were later reported and confirmed as still being alive.) </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Yet Osama bin Laden avoided capture and escaped across the Afghan border into Pakistan. Meanwhile, al-Qaida continued to operate from along that border and operate through its affiliates across the world.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(We let bin Laden go before 9/11 and a month after it but you don't need to know that so we won't tell you)</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al-Qaida, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(I instructed the head of the CIA to make me look good by letting me confirm to the world that we had killed bin Laden so we can provide momentary relief from the financial strife blighting our country...) </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(Do you really think we would spend MONTHS just watching him? Ha, you fools! Of course we wouldn't but that's sure as hell what we're gonna tell you we did!) </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;"></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">For over two decades, bin Laden has been al-Qaida's leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al-Qaeda.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Yet his death does not mark the end of our effort. There's no doubt that al-Qaida will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must - and we will - remain vigilant at home and abroad.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(We will keep raising the alarm every time we see fit but will continue to release proof to back up our claims of increased threats.)</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;"> </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">As we do, we must also reaffirm that the United States is not - and never will be - at war with Islam. I've made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al-Qaida has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(Our actions have brought an Islamic-led hatred against us because our war efforts were unjust back in 2001 and we had to blame him after our American government was responsible for the mass murders on US soil nearly ten years ago.) </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Over the years, I've repeatedly made clear that we would take action within Pakistan if we knew where bin Laden was. That is what we've done. But it's important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding. Indeed, bin Laden had declared war against Pakistan as well, and ordered attacks against the Pakistani people.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(Even though he died a few years ago...) </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tonight, I called President Zardari, and my team has also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts. They agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations. And going forward, it is essential that Pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al-Qaida and its affiliates.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(if they do not, we'll impose sanctions against them so it is in their interests to join the rest of the world and jump when we tell them too.) </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The American people did not choose this fight. It came to our shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens. </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(We let those planes crash into the towers, brought down the towers and fed you gullible fools a story you still believe is true!) </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">After nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war. These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who's been gravely wounded.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(I hate having to sign these letters because I know what really happened and to be honest, it wastes much of my time) </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">So Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. </span></div><div style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(And we won't wait for clear-cut evidence to prove our 'enemies' guilt)</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al-Qaida's terror: Justice has been done.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(We will be relentless in the slaughter of innocent women and children abroad to kill a man already dead and therefore we take great pleasure in announcing his 'death' as Justice being done. Even though bringing the previous government to trial would be the true case of justice being done.) </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tonight, we give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who've worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome. The American people do not see their work, nor know their names. But tonight, they feel the satisfaction of their work and the result of their pursuit of justice.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(Not that I'm assuming anything but you fools are stupid enough to believe me so I'll say it anyway) </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country. And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that September day.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Finally, let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(We haven't forgotten your loss but do you really think we're going to let the real perpetrators meet justice? Ha, as if we would!) </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed. Yet today's achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The cause of securing our country is not complete. But tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history, whether it's the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to standity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(we can do these things because no-one will stop us due to the propaganda machine being in full flow and we're being billed as the crusaders and not the murderers we are)</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America. </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">(Thank you for listening and believing it you total gullible people)</span></span></div>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-76410358084088662952011-05-01T11:55:00.002+01:002011-05-01T11:57:42.005+01:00<div style="text-align: center;"><style>
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</style> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">TAMBURELLO</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Just another ordinary Sunday</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">May the first of ninety-four</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">San Marino was the place where</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">We got shaken to the core</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Born into his world a leader</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Showing everyone the way</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Heading out into the distance</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">When our minds got blown away</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">He was the one</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">The one true champion</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Then lap seven</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Came and heaven</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Called his name</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Goodbye our friend</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">We’ll never see you again</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">We all cry together</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Senna Forever</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">When the realisation kicked in</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">And we knew that it was real</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Didn’t want to stop believing</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">That his fate God couldn’t seal</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">He was the one</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">The one true champion</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Then lap seven</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Came and heaven</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Called his name</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Goodbye our friend</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">We’ll never see you again</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">We all cry together</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Senna Forever</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">He will always be here with us</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Still in our hearts is left a hole</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">We’ll find peace of mind in knowing</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">With the angels lies his soul </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">He was the one</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">The one true champion</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Then lap seven</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Came and heaven</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Called his name</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Goodbye our friend</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">We’ll never see you again</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">We all cry together</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Senna Forever</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1999</span></span> Copright </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Max Davies</span></div>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-65056996264603053502011-04-13T21:24:00.000+01:002011-04-13T21:24:54.113+01:00Chinese GP Preview<span style="font-size: x-small;">And so we head to China for the third round of the 2011 season where the common opinion dictates that Sebastian Vettel is on course to win his 3rd straight win. Red Bull have been fast, no question there but now the chink in the armour has been revealed; KERS.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Adrian Newey is famed as being the designer sans peril in Formula One circles and while he has yet again created a race-winning machine that is a title contender, he has sacrificed potential reliability over speed with the development of red Bull's KERS system.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">There was much to suggest over the Australian GP weekend that the team were not running the device because of reliability concerns yet it was difficult to gain a 100% accurate reading on that. Christian Horner's admission after last weeks Malaysian GP that the reliability of the device was a severe worry has set tongues wagging in the pitlane that the title is far but assured to be staying in Milton Keynes for another year.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Although McLaren had made massive gains in the weeks between the final winter test and the first race, they were, over a single flying lap, still adrift of the Red Bull's, and by some margin. races however, are not won on Saturday's and Lewis Hamilton's second place in Melbourne and Jenson Button's second place last week in Malaysia would indicate that a McLaren victory is in the offing over the next few races.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">China presents a different challenge with it's mile-long back straight and the fear for red Bull is that in the interests of winning once more, reliability concerns may have to go out the window as the team will need to utilise the additional power afforded by the KERS system which will obviously be used by their nearest rivals.</span>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-7741010370929630702011-04-01T09:18:00.000+01:002011-04-01T09:18:44.586+01:00New safety device for F1?<span style="font-size: x-small;">Formula One team bosses are meeting at London's Heathrow Airport to discuss the proposal of fitting full body-surrounding bumpers to all cars from the Malaysian Grand Prix onwards.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">They are expected to all meet at the WHSmiths newsagents store in Terminal 5 before heading off to Starbucks for a coffee and croissant or two. The suggestion has come to light in response to the crashes that resulted in last week's Australian GP being found guilty of providing momentary entertainment.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">After a visit to the Blackpool Pleasure Beach (a poor mans version of Las Vegas and Disneyland in the UK) during the off season, Adrian Newey, famed Red Bull designer, studied the 'bumper cars' he saw competing around the popular tourist attraction and was intrigued by the benefits of fitting a similar safety feature onto a contemporary F1 car.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Adopting the body-wrapping rubber sculpted design, Newey has proposed that drivers can now forget the 'one-move' rule when overtaking and focus instead on smashing into each other to see who has the strongest car. </span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Drivin' standards are of a poor enough standard in 'tut sport anyways and ee by gum I thinks that by fittin' these thingymagigggs, Formula One is gonna be a right sport to watch on tut television," one luminary from the Pleasure Beach declared in his northern tones.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Rumour has it that in anticipation on the monsoons as witnessed during the 2009 Malaysian GP, drivers are to be fitted with mini wipers for their visors to help disperse the rain water should it arrive via mother nature and not Bernie's sprinklers...</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Word just in too that Ron Dennis has, after many years searching, found his sense of humour and is poised to appear under the watchful guise of popular comic Michael McIntyre at the London Apollo theatre as a stand up comedian...</span><br />
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</span>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-84009424805222001542011-03-21T10:33:00.001+00:002011-03-25T10:02:55.740+00:002011 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX PREVIEW: MCLAREN MERCEDES<div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Lewis Hamilton</b></span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“It’s felt like a very long winter. I started the new season feeling fitter and more positive than ever and I’ve maintained that enthusiasm and momentum despite a somewhat difficult few weeks of winter tests.</span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“We can’t hide the fact that testing has been tougher than we expected: our test mileage hasn’t been as high as that of our rivals, nor have we had the outright pace of the fastest cars. Still, I have a good feeling with MP4-26: I like driving our car, I think it will look after its tyres quite well and I understand that we’ll be making further performance steps ahead of this opening race.</span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“Nevertheless, we know we go to Melbourne ready for battle: some teams are extremely well prepared – both from a pace and reliability point of view – but that can sometimes count for little in the unpredictable and somewhat chaotic opening races where it’s equally vital just to take points home.</span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“I strongly believe that, while our preparations haven’t gone as smoothly as we’d have liked, I get the impression that we’ll be arriving in Melbourne with everything finally meshing together – and that makes me really excited.”</span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Jenson Button</b></span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“In the past, I’d always travelled to Melbourne full of positive energy and enthusiasm. But, at the moment, my heart is with the people of Japan as they struggle to come to terms with the scope of the terrible devastation and loss of life wreaked by last week’s earthquake and tsunami. </span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“While the prospect of a Formula 1 race seems to pale in the face of such a disaster, there have been occasions before when the healing power of sport can actually be beneficial; an escape for people. So I go to Melbourne this weekend resolving to not only try my best, but also to salute the brave people, and my many friends, throughout Japan.</span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“Albert Park has been good to me: I’ve won there for the past two seasons; it’s a great circuit for racing, it always seems to create unpredictable races and, perhaps because it’s habitually at the start of the season when a precise pecking order has yet to be established, we often see fast cars running out of sequence – and the excitement that that brings. With the added issue of multiple tyre stops, it could be a very exciting and unpredictable race weekend.</span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“I’m regularly being asked if I can make it three wins in a row this year. On paper that might not look likely, but, seriously, who knows? I most definitely wouldn’t rule it out.”</span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b> </b></span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Martin Whitmarsh</b></span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes</b></span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“Over the winter, we set ourselves some extremely ambitious performance targets for MP4-26. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes are an uncompromising team and, as with every car we build, we tend to push development to the limit.</span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“In some cases, we’ve pushed over those limits, and the resulting lack of mileage has invariably eaten into our pre-season preparation.</span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“However, it’s called testing for a reason – and testing MP4-26 beyond its limit has, in some ways, been highly instructive. In actual fact, we’ve gathered a huge amount of useful data about the car, its handling characteristics and its management of the tyres. So while we’ve further fine-tuned the package for Melbourne, we’ve once again set ourselves some extremely tough targets for this opening race weekend.</span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“So, do I think our testing pace is representative of the pace we’ll show in Australia? No. Do I think we head into the weekend as race favourites? Unfortunately, no. But do I feel that we have the capacity to surprise a few people and be competitive? Very much so.</span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“As with everything we do at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, we never give up: we’re fighters – that’s the spirit that has won us 20 world championships in the past and which makes us a team you can never under-estimate.”</span></div><div class="yiv180226941MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-78632384226494850802011-03-21T10:30:00.002+00:002011-03-21T10:30:50.969+00:00AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX PREVIEW: WILLIAMS<div style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong></strong><strong>When:</strong> Friday 25 to Sunday 27 March, 2011<br />
<strong>Where:</strong> Albert Park, Melbourne<br />
<strong>Round:</strong> 1 of 19<strong><br />
<br />
Rubens Barrichello:</strong> Everyone is doubly excited about the first race as we should already have been racing by now. It was great to get more time at home with the kids but I want to get started and can’t wait to see the red lights go out in Melbourne and for the season to be officially underway. It is always an exciting moment when everyone lines up on the grid with no points on the board. I always fantasise a little about what could be, but I keep my feet on the ground and focus on the race ahead. I am absolutely looking forward to getting to Australia.<strong><br />
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Pastor Maldonado:</strong> I feel more than ready to start my first season in Formula One. I have never been to Melbourne before but we’ve done a good amount of testing which will add to the time I have spent learning the circuit in our simulator. I am now just looking forward to going racing. It will be a very exciting moment. My aim this weekend is to get a solid finish, and to score some points.<strong><br />
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Sam Michael, Technical Director: </strong>Melbourne is a typical street circuit. It will be interesting to go there for the first time with Pirelli tyres, although there should be less stress on the tyres there than there has been at some of the higher speed test tracks we have been to so far. Albert Park evolves over the course of the weekend because the circuit is made up of predominantly public roads. This means that the track is slippery at the start of the weekend, but grip levels improve as rubber is put down on the racing line, largely done through all the practice sessions which help to clear oil and contaminants from the surface.<br />
<br />
The FW33 is fully prepared for the first race of the season. Regarding the aero package, we have all the parts that we ran on the final days of testing in Barcelona, plus a few additional changes that we will test on Friday. The main focus over the course of the first few races is, of course, performance, but also to ensure that the car is reliable. We will also find out where we sit in the order. Overall, we are just looking forward to getting out there and going racing again!<strong><br />
<br />
From Cosworth’s perspective: </strong>As a circuit, Albert Park is very enjoyable, flowing and quite straight-forward on engine demands. It is a street race, though, which usually means a lot of debris on the track, such as rubbish or leaves, and that can have an adverse effect on the cooling systems as the race progresses. The race is high fuel consumption per kilometre which means that cars run one of the highest fuel loads of the season to compensate. Wet weather and safety car incidents, both of which are quite common in the Australian Grand Prix, can help manage fuel consumption and safety car periods can often dictate race strategy.<br />
<br />
You could risk running lighter on fuel on the off chance that a safety car appears but if it fails to materialise there is a downside of having to run 'lean' for the entire race. On an engine severity scale, Albert Park is about middle of the range but the fact that it is the first race of the season means that this race will be the first time that the KERS-adapted CA2011k engine is run in anger over a full race weekend.<br />
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<strong>From Pirelli’s perspective: </strong>Here we are, at the start of what is a brand new adventure for us and all the teams. We’re very much looking forward to it, even though Australia is going to be somewhat different to the conditions we have experienced in official testing, with a more abrasive surface and higher temperatures. Despite that, we’ve seen that a number of teams already have a clear idea of the different strategies possible and Williams is certainly one of those. It’s obvious that there’s a lot of experience within the team, which will be a very useful resource.</span></div>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-26957125085435986772011-03-21T01:46:00.000+00:002011-03-21T01:46:08.127+00:00Super 1...<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Very busy day today at PF International where the Super 1 Series kicked off with the MSA side of things.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Last week, I was at Whilton Mill and courtesy of Russel Atkins, was able to generate much interest from drivers and teams and today was no different.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Never ceases to amaze me how strong and deep the quality of talent there is in karting within this country.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Just looking forward to helping some of these drivers get their names known in the press!</span></div>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-8044618823855062392011-03-11T11:16:00.000+00:002011-03-11T11:16:16.019+00:00Former McLaren boss gets driving ban<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">F</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">ormer McLaren Formula One team boss Ron Dennis has been banned from driving for six months after a string of traffic offences. </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A team spokesman confirmed today: "Our executive chairman's driving licence has been suspended for six months following four minor traffic infringements that resulted in 12 penalty points being accrued."</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span id="articleText"><span class="focusParagraph">The announcement and ban imposed on Dennis comes a mere two weeks before the formula One season starts in Melbourne, Australia. In 2008, Lewis Hamilton was charged with reckless driving outside the Alert Park circuit. The local newspaper - The Surrey Advertiser said Dennis, 63, had admitted to driving through a red light as his latest infringement.</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span id="articleText"><span class="focusParagraph"> </span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span id="articleText"><span class="focusParagraph">the former boss told the magistrates court that he feared bringing his executive-class Mercedes to a sudden stop would possibly cause a collision with a car in close attendance behind him.</span><span id="midArticle_0"></span><span id="midArticle_1"></span><span id="midArticle_4"></span> "There were only two other cars around but I felt that it would be more prudent to continue rather than stop," he was quoted as saying on the website (www.getsurrey.co.uk).<br />
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Martin Whitmarsh took over the reigns of the team in 2009 with Dennis taking on an executive chairman role and shifting his focus onto the company's new McLaren MP4-12C supercar. <br />
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</span></span></div>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-37918125012167572162011-03-11T09:56:00.000+00:002011-03-11T09:56:10.974+00:00Q&A WITH PASTOR MALDONADO<div style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>Q&A WITH PASTOR MALDONADO<br />
FRIDAY 11 MARCH, 2011</strong><br />
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<strong>Q: </strong>How did your first test day go in Barcelona this week?<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Pastor Maldonado</span><strong>:</strong> We had a KERS problem which unfortunately cost a few hours’ track time and we only did two short runs. It is better for the problems to come out now though than on a race weekend; that is what testing is for. We have a new aero package here as well, with more upgrades to come in Australia, so I am keen to get back in the car to try them out.<br />
<br />
<strong>Q: </strong>How are you finding the step up to Formula One? Do you think you are making good progress?<strong><br />
PM:</strong> I am feeling better and better within the team and I am enjoying working to adapt the car to my driving style. It is really good.<br />
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<strong>Q:</strong> How is your fitness coming along?<strong><br />
PM:</strong> You can always improve your fitness if you keep training. I do lots of running and have also improved what I eat so I’m a bit lighter than I was which is good for the team. I am hoping being very light will help me this season! </span></div><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><strong>Q:</strong> How does it feel to jump into a brand new car as opposed to the FW32, as you did in Abu Dhabi, which had a whole year of development behind it?<br />
<strong>PM:</strong> Starting from zero is a bit different. Last year I just had to focus on myself and on improving lap by lap. Now we need to keep working together to develop the car as well, so there will be more of a job to do. The feeling in the team and with my engineers is good. I know it will be a really great season with them.<br />
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<strong>Q: </strong>Do you feel there is a lot of pressure and expectation on you?<br />
<strong>PM:</strong> No, I don’t have this kind of pressure. I do my best to understand everything, and to do the best job I can for the team. Our aim is to get the most out of the FW33. We will see what we can do at the first race but I feel ready. I am very happy for my country as they are pushing very hard for me and that is something special. I am here to do my job as well as I can and once I am in the car that is my only focus.<br />
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<strong>Q:</strong> How do you feel heading into your first Formula One race?<br />
<strong>PM: </strong>It is going to be an exciting moment for me. I have been racing for many years and I have waited many years to be in Formula One so sitting on the grid in Melbourne is going to be great.. I am going to try to treat it like any other race though. My objective is to finish the race, if everything goes well, I don’t see why we can’t score points as well.<br />
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<strong>Q:</strong> What is your objective for the 2011 season?<br />
<strong>PM:</strong> To learn, be really quick, do my best for the team and improve race-by-race.<br />
</span></span>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-48039221598993311692011-03-09T20:29:00.000+00:002011-03-09T20:29:26.651+00:00Silverstone and progress...Well, yesterday (Tuesday 8th March 2011) saw me going to Silverstone for the F3/BGT press and media day.<br />
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Great chance to see the new cars and drivers in actiona nd to have an enjoyable meeting with Sean Driscoll.<br />
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Many things in the pipeline all of which to be revealed in the coming weeks...Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-9822530942654995402011-03-09T19:57:00.000+00:002011-03-09T19:57:04.142+00:00Luizzi confirmed at HRTVitantonio Luizzi has been confirmed as the second driver at HRT for the 2011 season.<br />
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The Italian, who will line upn alongside Indian Narain Karthekeyan, confirmed the deal is for all races and that he was delighted to be still involved in the sport folloiwng his departure from Force India at the end of last year.<br />
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“I am really happy to have signed this agreement with Hispania Racing," he said. “I never lost hope to be in Formula One as I knew I have the experience and the right attributes for a young and ambitious team. I face a new challenge now and this excites me.<br />
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“I also face a lot of hard work in guiding Hispania Racing through the development of our new car. I am extremely grateful to José Ramon Carabante and to Colin Kolles for giving me such an opportunity.”<br />
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Team principal Colin Kolles:<br />
“Luizzi is a very professional driver who will bring a lot of benefits to the team.”<br />
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“I have known Tonio for many years as he raced with me in lower categories. I am convinced about his skills to develop a car and his speed. He has shown this in the past having contributed to a large extend developing and moving a back grid car to the front. I had the pleasure of working with him and I am very happy and proud to have him racing with Hispania Racing.”<br />
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HRT have also confirmed they will present their 2011 F1 car and drivers on Friday at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, SpainMax Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-83976918207564167932011-03-09T17:04:00.000+00:002011-03-09T17:04:44.033+00:00Pedro De La Rosa back at McLaren<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">As mentioned to me a few weeks ago by an unnamed source at the team, today's news that De La Rosa has re-joined McLaren is welcomed by me as they will need all his expertese to get the MP4-26 sorted.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Not looking too great for the guys so far. Anyway, here's the official release...</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><h2 style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Team welcomes Spaniard back as official test and reserve driver</span></h2><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="first" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is pleased to welcome Pedro de la Rosa back as its official test and reserve driver.</span></div><div class="first" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Spaniard originally joined McLaren-Mercedes in 2003.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Working closely with our race and test teams for seven seasons, he helped develop cars that won 29 grands prix and, most memorably, the 2008 drivers’ world championship with Lewis Hamilton.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">As a Formula 1 racing driver, Pedro has driven 84 grands prix for Arrows, Jaguar, McLaren-Mercedes and BMW-Sauber.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">But it is as a Formula 1 test driver that his experience, expertise, discipline and communications skills have been most notably brought to bear - qualities that have always been very highly prized by his McLaren Mercedes team-mates.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Indeed, motor racing statisticians may be interested to learn that Pedro has driven a mammoth 361 Formula 1 test days in his long career (fourth on the all-time list behind only Luca Badoer [469], Alex Wurz [382] and Jarno Trulli [381]), encompassing 22,763 laps and 104,248 kilometres.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We will benefit significantly from being able to draw on his enormous experience once again.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Furthermore, we are equally delighted that we will also be retaining the services of 2005 German Touring Car (DTM) champion and 2002 German Formula 3 champion Gary Paffett.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gary will dovetail his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes test and development commitments in 2011 with a full racing campaign for Mercedes-Benz in the DTM series.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Although he will therefore no longer attend grands prix during what promises to be the most intense Formula 1 season in the history of the sport, encompassing races on five continents, he will work for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes away from the world's racetracks to ensure that we maintain our high standards of race simulation and vehicle engineering – increasingly important areas of development given the lack of in-season track running.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pedro said:</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“Of all the teams I’ve driven for in Formula 1, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is the one that really feels like home.So I’m very excited about returning to the team to help push the development of the MP4-26.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“Lewis and Jenson already have an extremely positive and productive working relationship - so, building on and adding to their existing rapport, I'm aiming to do everything I can to help them get even more from our car, our engineers and our technical resources back at the McLaren Technology Centre.”</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team principal Martin Whitmarsh added:</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“I know I speak for all my colleagues when I say that I'm delighted that Pedro has chosen to return to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. He rejoins us with even greater experience, and his motivation and attention to detail remain as sharp as ever.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"His recruitment adds considerable strength in depth to our driver line-up.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"With two world champion race drivers in Lewis and Jenson, and two of the world's most experienced and capable development drivers in Pedro and Gary, we feel we have a quartet of talent that is absolutely second-to-none.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“Our partners - Vodafone, ExxonMobil, Santander, Johnnie Walker, Hugo Boss and all the others - are also delighted that, once again, they'll be able to draw on Pedro's readiness to involve himself with marketing programmes during grand prix weekends, which he has always performed with enthusiasm and skill.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">“Meanwhile, we wish Gary a very successful season in the DTM series with Mercedes-Benz - and are delighted that, away from the world's racetracks, he'll continue to give us the benefit of his considerable technical and developmental abilities.”</span><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981246793168761905.post-69606209152961416832011-03-09T17:00:00.000+00:002011-03-09T17:00:04.319+00:00Barcelona Test 8th-13th March 2011 - Day 1WEBBER FASTEST FOR RED BULL<br />
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Here's the link to my report on Day 1 at Circuit De Catalunya...<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1852350881"><br />
</a><br />
<a href="http://www.motorsport.com/#/f1/article/?v=3&f=1&s=1&i=2&id=401155">http://www.motorsport.com/#/f1/article/?v=3&f=1&s=1&i=2&id=401155</a>Max Davies (Freelance Motorsport Journalist)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00213217962236252801noreply@blogger.com0