Posted by Claire T in Ferrari news, Videos | 0 Comments

Domenicali and Alonso: “Wrooom is a special event” / “Wrooom un evento speciale”

Posted by Claire T in Ferrari news | 0 Comments

Lauda: Vettel best of 2010, Alonso ‘no Schumacher’

As F1 2010 prepares to rouse itself again from the comparative slumber of its mid-summer break with next weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, former three-time world champion Niki Lauda has offered his evaluation of events so far – and those perhaps to come.

With seven races to go between now and the end of the campaign, the title tussle is developing into a thrillingly unpredictable five-way affair – with Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso all determined to be the one to lift the laurels following the Abu Dhabi finale in November, should the battle as is widely anticipated go all the way down to the wire.

Between them, the quintet have claimed all twelve of the grand prix victories thus far – though Felipe Massa should arguably be added to that list, Lauda’s feelings on which can be read here – and the Austrian legend reckons it is all shaping up to be a bahnstorming finish.

Posted by Claire T in Site News | 0 Comments

Just an update

Sorry there hasn’t been much updates but I’m ill with a really bad throat which the Dr gave me Penicillin for which is kinda bumming me out at the moment! I’m also going Vienna over the Belgium GP weekend so unless somone can update on facebook for me there isn’t much going to be on here for a while!!

Of course if i’m better between now and then I’ll add some stuff but I really do need to rest up! SORRY guys but honestly not had a throat like this in ages and it bugs me

Anyway hopfully will update before i’m away

thanks

Claire x

Posted by Claire T in Site News | 5 Comments

Poll : Will you use a forum here?

OK so I’ve done the website up again and people have been waning a forum the only thing is I don’t wanna set up a forum if people aren’t going to use it. Anyway I thought I’d do a poll about it! Please try and be honest lol. This will be online till the end of August  as i’m VERY busy this month ending with a small holiday in Vienna seeing U2 lol

So yes vote thanks

Posted by Claire T in Press Conference | 0 Comments

Hugary GP – post-race press conference

1st Mark Webber (Red Bull), 1h41m05.571s; 2nd Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), 1h41m23.392s; 3rd Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 1h41m24.823s.

Q: Mark, a commanding win by the end of 70 laps. But it was probably the 43 you managed in your first stint that really set it up.
Mark Webber: Yeah, that’s right. The start we always knew was going to be a little bit tricky on that side. Fernando got a good start. Seb’s was pretty good as well. But we all jumped into the slipstream in the run to the first corner and then I had Lewis (Hamilton) there as well, so had to make sure to at least get out in third position. If not, see what happened in front. Then settled in. You know around here it is going to be very difficult to make any moves on the track unless anybody made a mistake, so it was not a surprise to see Seb disappearing with Fernando doing his absolute best but I was still marking him and waiting for the crucial part of the race to see what would happen. That being the pit stop. Then we had the safety car and I had to go off strategy to try and pass Fernando and make it a bit easier to try and do that. But we were asking a lot of the option tyres. You are right, building from safety car through to when we decided when to make the stop we knew that we needed around 20 seconds but I told the guys ‘let’s get a bit more of a buffer to make sure the guys have less pressure in the pit stop.’ All those types of things. But they were on it anyway. The front left was completely finished, it was pretty difficult with the grip that we had finishing that stint. But in the end, I knew once I got the primes on, these guys had already done 20 odd laps and the race was pretty much in the bag. I knew that Seb had some difficulties on the re-start for whatever reason and it was a bit of a gift to day for me. But I have not had many of them, so I will take today’s. Tough luck for Seb as he lost a couple of spots. I enjoyed the fight with Fernando at the start. Not much of a fight but as I was saying I was just trying to get the most out of the car and keep pressing on and we were gapping Felipe (Massa) and Lewis. But an incredible day for the team. Another victory. One-two was our goal. Unfortunately we didn’t get that, so we still got a big chunk of the points, so it was a good day.
Q: Not a bad way to celebrate your 150th grand prix and we heard you say on the team radio when you lapped Michael Schumacher ‘boy that felt good.’
MW: Well, you know he did it a lot when I was in the middle of the field. A calibre of Michael, a driver like him, you know that you need to get everything right at this level. Credit to the team. Everyone pulling together. To lap someone of Michael’s quality is a good day out, so it is not rubbing anyone’s nose in it, it is just a unique thing to happen.

Q: Fernando, Mark said that the victory might have been a bit of a gift. A bit fortunate for him. Was second place for you and Ferrari a bonus given the pace difference between yourself and Red Bull this weekend?
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, I think so. But I think we have some credit still from this year’s bad luck. If we have five or six more gifts like this, still not enough maybe. I think it was a good race. The start was super. We passed Mark thanks maybe to the clean side and then we were side-by-side with Vettel in the first corner. Not able to overtake this time but very close. Then very stressful moments when the safety car came in. Tried to go to the pits. We were before the last corner, so there is always the minimum time to respond, so we were taking care about all the stints to do a good Sunday today with no mistakes, no penalties, not anything, so we found ourselves second. Mark was incredibly quick and the soft tyres this weekend were not too soft, so he was able to do 40 laps with a set of tyres which normally is not the case. Overall a good weekend knowing that the pace was not good enough. We had 40 laps with Vettel behind and one second or two seconds quicker than us, so the lay-out of the circuit also helps today as I think on a normal circuit it was impossible to maintain second.

Q: Sebastian, third place after starting on pole. The safety car caused a lot of confusion, a lot of chaos. You came in, in what seemed like a very late call for your pit stop but it was the resumption behind the safety car that seems to have clearly upset you. We saw your expression as you had the drive-through penalty, raising your hands off the steering wheel as you came in.
Sebastian Vettel: I didn’t understand what was going on and why I was penalised. It was a question mark for me. I didn’t understand at the time. Now after the race people told me what happened. The start was fine. We knew it was a long way to the first corner, so Fernando got the tow but we were able to defend. After that we had a very good first stint where we could use our speed. Then with the safety car it was very late, a late call, so I just managed to come in and after that usually it was a very easy race from there as we knew we had the pace advantage. We were probably the fastest car out there, so not much to do. At the re-start I was sleeping. I was probably relying too much on the radio but somewhere in the first stint I Iost the radio connection and I didn’t hear anything. I saw the safety car boards and was waiting for instruction when the safety car would come in. I didn’t see the lights. Also Mark, usually the leader when he does the re-start, he tries to drop back and then dictates the pace. Mark was very close and I was warming up my car. I was sure we had another lap, so I didn’t really understand. Then I saw Mark and the safety car at the second last corner, quite a big gap to myself. I noticed the safety car going into pits, so that must be the re-start and I was caught out, so I lost a lot of momentum and lost a lot in the first couple of laps which was not the intention. Then I got the drive-through. But during the race I did not understand. Pretty unlucky. Obviously very disappointed as otherwise it would have been a walk in the park today and we could have won the race but it didn’t happen, so we saved the podium. After that I was behind Fernando. I was clearly quicker but they are faster than us on the straights. We knew that, so it was impossible to pass.

Q: It is not the first time this season you have started on pole and not won the race. Is this the hardest one to take?
SV: Well, as I said I did not understand inside the car what was happening and I still do not really understand why I did get a penalty. In the end I should have won. For some reason it did not happen and we finished third. As Mark said none the less it was a good result for the team but surely I am very disappointed.

Q: Mark, you go into the summer break now as the man leading the World Championship. How much does that mean to you and how much does that spur you on for the return when we come back to racing in Spa?
MW: The victory is good. To maximise your opportunities is always good irrespective of what happens to your rivals. Not getting ahead of ourselves. We’ve still got some big events coming up. They all dish out the same amount of points, but all of them will provide different challenges for us as a team and technically for the cars. It is nice to have a few more points than other people, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Looking forward to the break for sure. Very, very timely. But two sensational venues to finish the European season off in Spa and Monza, so looking forward to them. Spa we all love driving there, so looking forward to going there.