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Archive for October, 2011

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Motorsports Mondial - October 31, 2011

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f1weekly @ 8:45 am

Indian Grand Prix

Photo. Sutton Images

Vettel’s Triple Play. “You are the man!” Christian Horner congratulated the young man from Heppenheim on his 11th GP victory of the season, fifth in last six races.

The recently crowned youngest double world champion checked out at the start of the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in his Renault-powered Red Bull from his 13th pole of the 2011 season, one short of equaling the record set by Nigel Mansell in his 1992 Championship winning year. The 24-year old German led every lap and also set the fastest lap on the final tour of the Hermann Tilke-designed circuit.

The second Red Bull of Australian Mark Webber inherited front row start thanks to a penalty to Lewis Hamilton for ignoring the yellow flag in qualifying. His teammate Jenson Button passed Webber at the start and kept Vettel in sight, taking second place at the finish.

Fernando Alonso put in his usual ‘solid as a rock’ performance to take the final step of the podium. With Ferrari team already focusing on the 2012 car, chances are Alonso’s win at Silverstone may be his only triumph of the season.

Webber was fourth, followed by the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher and his teammate Nico Rosberg.

Till we meet again…..

                                                                                            Photo. Getty Images

As common as Vettel on pole and top step of the podium in 2011, so is the clash between Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton. The ‘numero dos’ duo continue to play Rock the Kasbah at Greater Noida circuit.

Massa’s version, “My view is that I was in front, I braked later than him and I was in front, I was on the grippy area as well and then I started to turn and I didn’t see him on the left as he was behind. He touched my rear wheel. So, to be honest I don’t understand why I have the penalty. It is not really understandable. Maybe for him. Because all the incidents are that he touched my car. So, I didn’t do anything wrong.”

The Brazilian’s view was not shared by the stewards and Massa was judged to be the guilty party. Ex-GP winner Johnny Herbert assisted the stewards.

Hamilton’s rendition, “There’s not really much to say. It’s a disappointing day. My team worked hard all weekend as they always do. I don’t really know what else to say. We had the one minute silence before the start of the race and me and Felipe were standing next to each other. He hasn’t spoken to me in a long, long time so I put my arm around him and just said ‘good luck for the race’.

The McLaren driver went on to finish seventh after a nose change following contact with Massa. The Ferrari driver retired in a repeat of his qualifying incident; the suspension broke after hitting the kerbs.

Mika’s Mantra

“All problems are psychological,” in the few and famous words of two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen. Hamilton was unable to put on a smile even after grabbing the only non-Red Bull pole position of the season in Korea after his split from Nicole Scherzinger, Pussy Cat Doll.

Massa has been suffering from cat scratch fever since the arrival of Alonso in Maranello. 

Another Spaniard, Jaime Alguersuari, brought the Toro Rosso team to equal points in the championship with Sauber after his eighth place finish.

Adrian Sutil was ninth and his wish has been granted by Force India’s boss man, Vijay Mallya. The King of Kingfisher has agreed to confirm his driver line-up for next season before December.

There are strong rumors that the Mercedes-powered team will replace one German with another German. Nico Hulkenberg, currently the team test and reserve driver, is set to re-enter F1 after losing his seat at Williams to petro-dollars and Pastor Maldonado.

The final point was taken by Sergio Perez. The Sauber driver is the Mexican Jenson Button, ‘smooth operator.’ After starting from the 10th row on hard tires, he made his one and only tire change for soft rubber at the end of the opening lap. His teammate, Kamui Kobayashi, was taken out at the start. Both drivers will continue next year with the Swiss team.

                                                                                           Photo. Getty Images 

 

The checkered flag on the 60-lap race was waved by Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. The race was well attended and the general feeling is that the Indian Grand Prix will become a permanent fixture on the F1 schedule.

 

– Nasir Hameed

 

   Greetings and spicy racing regards.

 

P.S. Song without words

 

 

Motorsports Mondial - October 30, 2011

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f1weekly @ 9:09 am

Photo: Renault sports F1

The vettel train continues with victory 11 in India

Another crash between Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton

Sebastian Vettel: “To be honest with you, it is a little bit of a mixed emotion,

On the one hand I am very happy, very proud to be the first winner, but on the other hand looking back at last weekend we lost two of our mates. I didn’t know Dan but obviously he is a big name in motorsport.

This year I got to know Marco Simoncelli and our thoughts are with them. We are ready to take certain risks when we get in the car, but sometimes things happen. As I said a bit of mixed emotions and our thoughts are with them at the moment.

Obviously it was a very good race for us. I enjoyed the time in the lead very much. I had a bit of a fight with Jenson in the distance as he was always four seconds behind and with the strategy he kept closing in during the pitstops.

I think we can continue. The car is fantastic and the team is enjoying it. We are on a run since the beginning of the season. We enjoy every race. The great thing is when you walk in the garage every morning, they are flat out and pushing very hard.

It’s really enjoyable to see that knowing what we have achieved, we are still hungry, not lacking motivation. The people come with questions but we come back with the right answers, so we don’t want this to end.”

Felipe Massa: “My view is that I was in front, I braked later than him and I was in front, I was on the grippy area as well and then I started to turn and I didn’t see him on the left as he was behind. He touched my rear wheel. So, to be honest I don’t understand why I have the penalty. It is not really understandable. Maybe for him. Because all the incidents are that he touched my car. So, I didn’t do anything wrong.

If it is Lewis or not Lewis, whatever the driver is there, I would do the same. I know he was on my side. But when I braked, this is the important place, not when you are on the straight, when I braked, he was not on my side. So, I turned because I braked later than him. I cannot understand why I am supposed to back off and let him by, no? I braked later. He was on the dirty side. And then I turned and he touched me from behind. He did not touch on my side, or wheel-to-wheel. If it was wheel-to-wheel I would not try to close the door.”

Lewis Hamilton: “There’s not really much to say,” It’s a disappointing day. My team worked hard all weekend as they always do. I don’t really know what else to say. We had the one minute silence before the start of the race and me and Felipe were standing next to each other. He hasn’t spoken to me in a long, long time so I put my arm around him and just said ‘good luck for the race’.

But in the race I tried to overtake and I tried to come out of it because it didn’t look like he was going to give me any space, and we collided. I’m really, really sorry for my team. I had some vibrations, in right handers it felt like the floor was scraping on the floor, and I just had very, very poor performance and I was pushing as hard as I could just to have the pace of anyone, The car looks fine so maybe it’s just me.”

The Indian Grand Prix Noida, New Delhi, India; 60 laps; 308.220km
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h30:35.002
 2.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +     8.433
 3.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    24.301
 4.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    25.529
 5.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +  1:05.421
 6.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +  1:06.851
 7.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +  1:24.183
 8.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
 9.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
10.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
11.  Petrov        Renault                    +     1 lap
12.  Senna         Renault                    +     1 lap
13.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
14.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps
15.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +    2 laps
16.  D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth            +    2 laps
17.  Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth               +    3 laps
18.  Ricciardo     HRT-Cosworth               +    3 laps
19.  Trulli        Lotus-Renault              +    4 laps

Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:27.457

Motorsports Mondial - October 29, 2011

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f1weekly @ 8:24 am

Sebastian Vettel grabs pole for the Indian Grand Prix.

VETTEL: Yeah, it was a good session for us. New circuit, new venue, tricky for all of us first time round in qualifying. I think it was tricky. We have seen all weekend with the dust on the track so in the end we ended up with one racing line clear of dirt and just a little bit out it makes you lose a lot of time so it was quite tricky. But I think we managed pretty well. The car was fantastic, to be honest since yesterday, this morning as well and throughout qualifying. I think in the end there was a little bit left in the first sector. It is quite tricky, I think we saw some people going for two times laps, others only one. I think then it becomes a bit trickier to hit the first sector. There is a long straight as well after Turn Three so you want to make sure you don’t lose time so I am extremely happy. It is good to be here. I think it is a very interesting race, a challenging circuit, looking forward to tomorrow and first time in India so excited to race tomorrow.

WEBBER: Yeah, as Seb said it has been a good challenge for all of us, new venue. Tricky to work out the right strategy for qualifying. The tyres weren’t easy for one timed laps so we had to work out how we were going to do the strategy. Lots of teams tried different styles to get the best lap time out of the car. First sector it was tricky to get right on one time. I could have done better in the first sector on my only run basically and then I got yellow flags with Felipe (Massa), so I couldn’t do my second lap. But overall good job from the team. Came to a new venue but prepared well and have laid a good foundation for a good race tomorrow.

HAMILTON: It was interesting that you smile about that. No, really it has been a good day for me. I am quite surprised that we were able to split the Red Bulls and it is great to be on the front row in terms of how we qualified. Of course, we had the penalty which was a bit of a silly mistake from myself and I have paid the price but from tomorrow we have good race pace and it is a long race with two DRS zones so overtaking should be a lot easier than perhaps other places. I am still optimistic regardless of where I start.

SENNA: “That was definitely disappointing. The circuit evolved from this morning and the changes made to the car took me, I believe, in the wrong direction given the conditions of the track. I struggled a lot with balance and paid the price for that. I have one set of new soft tyres so it’s going to be difficult tomorrow, but I’m hoping that maybe the temperature will be lower and then perhaps we will have a stronger day than today. I think the track has evolved more to suit other cars, but maybe we’ll look better tomorrow at the start of the race, particularly on the high fuel load that we will have. The level of tyre degradation looked fine in FP3 so let’s see how that leaves us for the race.”

Pos Driver Team Time Gap 
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m24.178s
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m24.474s  + 0.296
 3.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m24.508s  + 0.330
 4.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m24.519s  + 0.341
 5.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m24.950s  + 0.772
 6.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m25.122s  + 0.944
 7.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m25.451s  + 1.273
 8.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes
 9.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari
10.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari
Q2 cut-off time: 1m26.319s Gap **
11.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault              1m26.319s   + 1.662
12.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m26.337s   + 1.680
13.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m26.503s   + 1.846
14.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth    1m26.537s   + 1.880
15.  Bruno Senna           Renault              1m26.651s   + 1.994
16.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth    1m27.247s   + 2.590
17.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m27.562s   + 2.905
Q1 cut-off time: 1m27.479s Gap *
18.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m27.876s   + 1.687
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault        1m28.565s   + 2.376
20.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault        1m28.752s   + 2.563
21.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth         1m30.216s   + 4.027
22.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth         1m30.238s   + 4.049
23.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth      1m30.866s   + 4.677
24.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth      1m34.046s   + 7.857

Motorsports Mondial - October 28, 2011

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f1weekly @ 10:03 am

India Grand Prix Friday practice.

Lewis Hamilton takes three place grid penalty.

Bruno Senna : “I enjoyed today. Both LRGP cars were in the positions they should be and the track looks like it could be an ally for our car. We need to develop and extract more from the set-up, but we definitely have potential here. The track is very good, that’s for sure. When I walked it yesterday it was clear it was going to be very dusty, and that was also the case this morning, but it is improving all the time. The corners are very fast and they encourage you to push, push, push so I think we can have a good weekend here. As the grip to improves and the racing line widens we should be able to push even harder!”

Vitaly Petrov : “The track was very dirty which makes it difficult to get the maximum from the car but it’s the same for everyone. We completed today’s programme without any mechanical problems which is always beneficial. I am feeling positive about the car and the set-up; we just need to improve a little but we have potential for a good weekend. The layout of the circuit is quite tricky. On some corners you can’t see the apex which makes it difficult to find your braking point and turning in point. But we’ve found more or less a good line and hopefully we’ll gain some more speed through P3 tomorrow morning before qualifying.”

Lewis Hamilton: I was engaging the DRS when the yellow flags were out and you’re not allowed to,” Hamilton admitted. I went in there and I put my hands up and said I accept whatever penalty they give, and that’s what they gave me. It is what it is and I’m just frustrated with myself,” said Hamilton. “It’s my fault as usual so I just have to do what I can from wherever I qualify tomorrow. It was looking good for us to qualify on pole at one stage. But tomorrow could be a different day. I have no one else to blame, it was only me driving. It’s not good for the weekend, It doesn’t look like we’re the quickest. Wherever we qualify, we’ll be three places back from there, and that’s going to make my race very, very difficult. It’s not impossible, the race will be very long and we have DRS so overtaking is possible. We’ll have to wait and see tomorrow how quick we are. Today was just practice, and tomorrow’s the day when you have to really knuckle down and I’m already on the back foot and have put the team on the back foot with the penalty.”

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
 1.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari                1m25.706s   	      33
 2.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1m25.794s  + 0.088  34
 3.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                1m25.930s  + 0.224  34
 4.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes       1m26.454s  + 0.748  26
 5.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       1m26.500s  + 0.794  30
 6.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1m26.714s  + 1.008  28
 7.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   1m27.316s  + 1.610  34
 8.  Bruno Senna           Renault                1m27.498s  + 1.792  36
 9.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes   1m27.853s  + 2.147  35
10.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m27.868s  + 2.162  35
11.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault                1m27.890s  + 2.184  37
12.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari         1m28.050s  + 2.344  34
13.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari         1m28.289s  + 2.583  36
14.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m28.552s  + 2.846  31
15.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth      1m28.691s  + 2.985  29
16.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth      1m28.708s  + 3.002  24
17.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault          1m29.332s  + 3.626  39
18.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault          1m30.241s  + 4.535  41
19.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               1m31.098s  + 5.392  38
20.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth        1m31.469s  + 5.763  32
21.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes               1m31.804s  + 6.098  28
22.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth        1m32.593s  + 6.887  12
23.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth           1m32.768s  + 7.062  33
24.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth           1m32.824s  + 7.118  33

Motorsports Mondial - October 27, 2011

Filed under: General,Interviews,Motorsport Mondial,News
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f1weekly @ 8:22 am

Cedar Rapid

 

    

Noel Jammal is a Madrid-based Formula 3 driver of Lebanese heritage. After sampling speed on two wheels and winning a championship, he is now racing in European F3 Open and took victory this month at Jerez. F1 Weekly would like to wish him continued success.

Q: What was your introduction to motorsports?

A: I started motor sport in 1994, when I was 4 years old…we were going, my dad and I, to karting and I saw 500m before the karting racing track a small track with pocket bikes, so I told my dad to stop for a try. I tried it for the first time. I loved it, and we started going every weekend to train.

Q: Please tell us about your karting and racing on two wheels experience?

A: After 5 or 6 months I started racing in the Spanish Championship, my first year I ended up 3rd, then I stopped because I wasn’t doing good at school.

In 1999 I re-started racing in the same category and I won the Spanish championship. Then after winning the championship, Aprilia wanted me to be one of their official pilots. But my mother didn’t let me to sign the contract due to her fear from one side and school from the other.

In 2008, for my 18th birthday, I told my dad that I would love to sign up into a course of BMW Motorsport (a school that teaches you the way to drive on dry and wet tracks). So he knew a team where there is a potential to try a Formula 3 car, in other words, his decision to go forward with a Formula 3 attempt was the ideal one as he knew I would like it more.

The first time I ran with a Formula 3 car, I ended up in front of the South American Karting champion without me holding any background of formula driving neither karting. So, I pushed the team manager to talk to my dad that I should persist and race in the championship. I did second training in Valencia, however, I ended up in the last position with very close timing from the participants. 

After the 2nd training, I travelled to the US to continue my studies so I wasn’t able to compete in the first race. My third time I drive a formula car, was my first race in Jarama, Madrid and I ended up 14th out of 31 cars participating. So that was my start in Formula 3 world. 

My first year was a bit tough as I was promised to have a coach driver, however, I couldn’t have one, so it was hectic driving without one all over the season. The second season I started with another team called Cedars Autosport and I won the European F3 Open Cup.

This year I’m finishing my season in the European F3 season with a very bad luck, however, in many races this year it was spoken by the media that I am one of the most potential drivers that has a future to reach Formula 1, especially at Spa when I started the race in the last position and ended up reaching the second position before another competitor hit me from behind and I ended up out of the race.

Q: Your father is from Lebanon, how popular is motorsports there?

A: My father is Lebanese and he is so much into motosport culture despite the Lebanese society that is not into such sport. I am currently the only guy who is promoting the image of motorsports in Europe as a Lebanese. I might not be the first Lebanese driver to go and race outside Lebanon but I am the reputable and media-tic among all drivers with a glorious portfolio.

Q: Have you ever raced at Pit Stop Kart track at Zouk Mosbeh, Lebanon?

A: While I was studying in Beirut, I had to train for my Formula 3, so I went to Pit Stop Kart in Zouk Mosbeh to conduct special training on Kart.

Q: You are racing in European F3 Open last three years. What has been the difference in you as a driver this season compared to your first season in 2009?

A: Simply experience and maturity in Driving.

Q: What is the game plan for 2012 and where would you like to see your career go in the next few years?

A: The next year, I’m planning to win the Formula 3 Championship, and then move to the World Series 3.5 or GP2. I would love to see my career ending in Formula one.

Q: You have spent some time in the United States; please tell us about that experience?

A: I studied 2 years in Valley Forge Military Academy and college from 2007 to 2009 in order to finish my high school and freshman year. It was a tough but nice experience.

Q: Any interest in pursuing a career in Indy Car or NASCAR?

A: Well I expect to race in Formula One in the coming years, but in case it doesn’t happen, I welcome all kinds of motor experience including Nascar and Indy Car.

Q: Paella or Falafel?

A: Paella, but if you are asking the question to see the sense of my patriotism, if it comes to Lebanese food of course Falafel is one of my favorite.

Q: Please tell us about the non-racing side of Noel Jammal, like your interest in music and what other sports you enjoy watching apart from motorsports?

A: When it comes to music, I love all kind. I consider myself down to earth, love life and enjoy it to the max. I love skiing and Soccer. I consider myself an outgoing person and very friendly

 

– Nasir Hameed

 

Photos: Noel Jammal Facebook

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