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Posts Tagged ‘Alonso’

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Motorsports Mondial - March 20, 2012

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f1weekly @ 8:51 AM

2012 Malaysian Grand Prix Preview

Paul Di Resta on Sepang

Paul, you got your season underway with a point in Melbourne – do you think you can deliver a repeat performance in Sepang this weekend?

That will certainly be the aim. We picked up a point in Melbourne at the very last moment, but we were quite fortunate with the way the last lap unfolded and so it was a nice surprise. As I said after the race, we struggled for consistent race pace in Melbourne and it will be interesting to see if we can improve on that this weekend on a circuit with very different characteristics.

How have you spent your time between the two races?

I left Melbourne on Sunday night because it was important to get to Malaysia and start acclimatising as soon as possible. Sepang will be a tough fitness test and I’ll see how well the work over the winter has prepared me. I definitely feel in good shape at the moment.

Would you say the Malaysian Grand Prix is the most physically demanding race of the season?

It’s up there alongside Singapore as one of the toughest races of the year, simply because of the heat and humidity. While you are driving it’s not too bad because you get some air flow through the car, but you really feel the heat when you’re sitting in the car in the garage with the heat soak from the engine and the tyres. That’s when you’re most uncomfortable in the cockpit.

Nico Hulkenberg on Sepang

Nico, what better way to put a disappointing race behind you than by getting back in the car just five days later…

I’m glad that we have back-to-back races because I just want to get back in the car. Seeing how the race developed it was frustrating not to be out there fighting for points, but it wasn’t meant to be. I’m now fully focussed on Malaysia because there’s no point thinking about what might have been.

Do you feel you have to make up some lost ground in Sepang because of your lack of mileage in Melbourne?

The way the Melbourne weekend unfolded means that there are still a lot of questions to which I don’t know the answers yet. That’s because I didn’t do the usual heavy fuel runs in the wet on Friday and I didn’t get a feel for the performance of the tyres over long runs. All I can do is rely on the feedback from Paul and his race data, and try and learn as much from that.

Tell us your thoughts about the Sepang circuit?

The lap has a nice variation of high and low speed corners and there are two long straights. So you have to find the right balance between top speed and having enough downforce for the corners. The high temperatures and the track surface also result in quite high tyre degradation so it’s important to find a race set-up that is quite easy on the tyres.

Pedro de la Rosa: “Our two main priorities for Malaysia are to have DRS and improve the power steering in this short time that we have whilst being away from Europe. In Australia we were only able to complete 7 timed laps so I need get more track time, get to know the car better and improve the set-up. If we can achieve this then we could have a good Grand Prix. Sepang is probably the toughest track of the year both for car and driver. Mechanically it’s very demanding because besides there being a lot of consecutive high-speed corners it is very hot and humid. Cooling is key for the car as is hydration for the driver”.

Narain Karthikeyan: “It wasn’t an easy first weekend for us in Melbourne but the team is working hard and we hope to complete the maximum amount of kilometres with the new car so that we can have it in prime conditions for qualifying and the race. The team is working on solving the reliability issues that we encountered, so I’m confident that things will go better in Malaysia. Sepang is a circuit that I like a lot and a place where I have raced numerous times. This was the only Grand Prix out of the eight that I took part in last year that I didn’t finish, so this year I’m looking to firstly qualify and then finish the race, that is the main objective”. 


Motorsports Mondial - March 19, 2012

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f1weekly @ 12:34 AM

“Excited Nervous”


Photo. Reuters

Mumm in Melbourne. Jenson Button goes three in four to win season opener. Two McLaren drivers on the podium. Two Aussie mates in the points. Maldonado meets the wall on final lap.

Jenson Button won the Australian Grand Prix with authority; beating teammate and pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton at the start and holding-off Sebastian Vettel in the closing laps.

Victory was Button’s third in Melbourne in the past four years, and the first all McLaren front row since the 2009 European Grand Prix in Valencia when Hamilton shared the front row with Heikki Kovalainen.

Button’s papito, John, was elated in his usual race-day pink shirt and claimed his son was “nervous, but excited nervous” before the race.

Michael Schumacher ran third in the early stages before grinding to a halt with gearbox issues.

Button and Hamilton were headed for a one-two finish after their second pit stop for tires; then the safety car was deployed as Vitaly Petrov parked his Caterham along the pit wall. This allowed Sebastian Vettel to change tires and he got the jump on Hamilton.

Vettel came within striking distance of Button late in the race but was happy to claim second step on the podium. The winner in Melbourne last year said, “I’m very happy with myself today – I think it was the most we could have achieved.”

Pole-winner Hamilton never had the pace to threaten Button and came under threat of losing his podium spot from local man Mark Webber who finished behind the Briton in fourth; his best place in his home grand prix.


Photo. Getty Images

Take Five. Alonso, as usual, hauled in important championship points and is already asking the Italian team to change thinking to save the season. Teammate Massa crashed out with fellow Brazilian Bruno Senna.

Fernando Alonso, in his usual fighting spirit after the blues in qualifying, came home fifth. “I am happy I managed to bring home a useful number of points.” The Ferrari star came under intense pressure from the Williams of Pastor Maldonado in the final few laps of the race.

The Venezuelan driver crashed heavily on the final lap of the race after a tremendous drive. Even Alonso felt sorry for him. “When I saw he’d gone off the track I breathed a sigh. I am sorry for him, because it’s a real shame to finish a race like that.”

Kamui Kobayashi was sixth in his Sauber-Ferrari.

Photo. William West. AFP/Getty Images.

Clear Channel. Kimi’s comeback was hampered by communication issues but he was in the points at the end. Teammate Grosjean was impressive in qualifying but was taken out early in the race.

The Comeback Kid, Kimi Raikkonen, was seventh for Lotus. His teammate, Romain Grosjean, started from the second row but fell victim to wheel banging with Maldonado’s Williams shortly after the start.

Mexican Sergio Perez did a repeat of last year and made only one pit stop. He was rewarded with eighth place finish.

Daniel Ricciardo made it two Aussie mates in the points, taking ninth in his Toro Rosso, his first world championships points. Final point was snatched by Paul Di Resta for Force India. His teammate and another Comeback Kid, Nico Hulkenberg, for the second time in Australia was taken out on the opening lap.

The 58-lap race featured six world champions for the first time in an F1 event.

The fastest lap was recorded by race winner at 1:29.187

Photo. Getty Images 

Vergne gone wild. F1 debutant Jean-Eric Vergne was impressive in Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso. He set the sixth fastest lap of the race and was highest placed of the three French drivers.

Two French drivers made their Grand Prix debut. Jean-Eric Vergne was first man out of points in 11th and surprisingly had the sixth fastest lap of the race. Charles Pic was 15th in his Marussia-Cosworth albeit two laps down. His teammate Timo Glock was 14th and a lap down.

F1’s Asian fusion follows next weekend at Sepang with the Malaysian Grand Prix. 

– Nasir Hameed

   Greetings and Fair Dinkum regards.


Motorsports Mondial - March 18, 2012

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f1weekly @ 9:49 AM

Photo: stupix

Jensen Button Dominates the Australian Grand Prix

Jenson Button: I think, as we all know sat here, every win means a lot to you, and for us as a team it really shows how important the winter is. We’ve had a strong winter – yesterday’s qualifying really showed that – so it’s nice to come away with a victory today (at the) first race of the new season. The guys back at Woking have done an amazing job this winter. This will definitely help them to push harder into the extra hours in the morning when they’re making that extra little part. So, big thank you to everyone at Woking and the whole of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team for this victory here in Melbourne.

Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, nevertheless I think we would have had a good shot at him because it was very close and I was quite quick and I decided to stay out and he went to the pits so I think we would have had a crack even without the Safety Car, it would have been very close but surely it did help a little bit. Nevertheless, I think it was a great race. Quite a lot of fun. A good start initially but then I was surprised by Nico. He had a very good start. I got a bit stuck at the inside, I didn’t really have an option on where to go and he got past and then I had two Mercedes ahead. I got past Nico very quickly – which was a great manouevre, on edge. And then I was behind Michael where I had a mistake, went off in the first corner and then he decided to do exactly the same the next time I got close to him. That was good. And then, obviously, catching up the McLarens. I think all in all, congratulations to McLaren and to Jenson, he drove a fantastic race and was unbeatable today but I’m very happy to come away with second, it’s a lot of points. I think a lot of people would not have expected that after the result of yesterday. I think we had a better car in the race and the car seems to have a lot of potential and it’s up to us to get to it. Then we should be very close to these guys but I think it was a great day and thanks to everyone for pushing so hard and making the race result today possible.

Lewis Hamilton: No. First of all, congratulation to Jenson he did a fantastic job and congratulations to the team for doing a great job over the winter. Yeah it as just a bit of a tough day but we have plenty of races ahead so I just have to keep my head down.

Kimi Räikkönen: “It feels like I’ve never been away. Yesterday we made some mistakes which cost us quite badly so it could easily have been better in the race. I made a good start but then there was an accident in front of me at the first turn, so we lost a few places there as I had to almost stop and move onto the grass to avoid it. That made the race harder again as we had the speed, but a lot of traffic to get through. When you look at all these things we could have finished in a much better position. We had the safety car which I think actually hurt us a bit as well. Overall the weekend was far from ideal, but the car feels good and to come back to 7th means we at least come away with some points.”

Romain Grosjean: “I think we could have achieved a great result today. It’s frustrating as I really wanted to make the chequered flag and even the podium, but on the positive side the car is performing very well. I was keeping pace with the guys in front of me and everything was looking good. My start wasn’t great so we’ll need to have a look at the data. Then of course there was the collision with Pastor (Maldonado). From what I saw he braked far too late and hit my right front wheel which broke the steering and that was it; my race was over. The team deserved better because they have been working very hard, but by tomorrow morning it will all be a memory. We’ll move on to Malaysia now which is one of my favourite circuits and focus on getting a result there.”


F1Weekly podcast # 561 - March 17, 2012

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f1weekly @ 7:19 PM

F1weekly podcast number 561

Special interview with Tiago Monteiro.

Tiago Vagaroso da Costa Monteiro a Portuguese racing driver. He drove for Jordan, Midland and Spyker MF1 teams—all different iterations of the same team as it was bought by new owners during a two year stint as part of the Formula One paddock. In the first year of his Formula One career he set a new record for the most finishes by a driver in their first season , and also achieved a podium finish (3rd place) at the controversial 2005 United States Grand Prix. He currently shares the record for the most finishes in a season with Nick Heidfeld and Felipe Massa, while he also shares the record for most finishes in a row for a rookie with Heikki Kovalainen, who had also achieved this landmark in 2007.

Monteiro raced with the semi-privateer SR Sport team in the 2010 WTCC season driving a SEAT León TDI, following the withdrawal of SEAT Sport at the end of the previous season. For 2011, he again drove for SUNRED Engineering, where he was partnered by rookies Aleksei Dudukalo and Pepe Oriola, as well as 2010 teammates Michel Nykjaer, Fredy Barth and Gabriele Tarquini. He remains with the team for 2012 under the “Tuenti Racing Team” banner.

In the United States Grand Prix he achieved his first podium finish in controversial circumstances when all but three teams pulled out due to concerns over tyre safety (the Michelin-equipped teams pulled out of the race, not taking their place on the grid. The Bridgestone teams were the only ones to run). Monteiro finished third out of just six drivers.

At the podium ceremony, at which none of the scheduled dignitaries were present, Ferrari drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello quietly accepted their awards, and quickly exited. However, Monteiro stayed behind to celebrate his first podium finish alone amid the booing fans, a decision which although initially controversial, was later met with some sympathy from the Formula One fraternity.

As of the 2005 United States Grand Prix, Monteiro is currently the most successful Portuguese driver in Formula One history. Pedro Lamy had previously held this record before with one point and sixth place achieved at the 1995 Australian Grand Prix with Minardi. Also of note, as of the Belgian Grand Prix (where he also scored another point), Monteiro had finished every race of the 2005 season, and holds the record for consecutive finishes for a rookie driver in Formula One, taking this from Jackie Stewart (1965 season) and Olivier Panis (1994 season), who finished their first six races. At the Brazilian Grand Prix however, driveshaft failure brought his run to end. Despite this however, by finishing the last two races of the season in Japan and China, he still managed to break the record for the most finishes in a single season. Michael Schumacher finished all 17 races of the 2002 season, whilst both Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello finished 17 out of 18 races in 2004. An 11th-place finish at the Chinese Grand Prix meant that Monteiro had finished 18 out of the 19 races.

Shortly before the 2005 Turkish Grand Prix, Monteiro suffered toothache that was severe enough to prevent him taking part in the race. However, his team principal Colin Kolles, a qualified dentist, performed emergency root canal surgery, and Monteiro was fit enough to race, which saw him finish 15th following a collision with Juan Pablo Montoya, which resulted in the Colombian running wide on the penultimate lap and losing second place to Fernando Alonso, thus preventing Montoya’s McLaren team scoring its first 1–2 finish since the 2000 Austrian Grand Prix.



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Motorsports Mondial -

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f1weekly @ 10:07 AM

Bulls Slaughtered in the Park

Photo. PAUL CROCK/AFP/Getty 

Hammy hammers a fast lap and Grosjean goes quick. F1 is back!

The 2012 Formula 1 season starts Sunday in Albert Park, Melbourne. It’s an all-McLaren front row with Lewis Hamilton starting from the 20th pole position of his career, which started here five years ago in grand style with a podium finish.

“Incredible feeling to be back here,” said the 2008 World Champion in the press conference after the qualifying session was over.

Teammate Jenson Button, winner of the Australian Grand Prix in 2009 & ‘10, was looking for his first pole position as a McLaren driver but was unable to beat Hamilton’s time of 1m 24.922s and will start on the front row, claiming the team’s performance is “only the beginning.”

Romain Grosjean led the return of French drivers in F1 – three in qualifying – and was Saturday’s biggest surprise. The 2011 GP2 Champion was all smiles after placing his Lotus-Renault third on the grid.

He will share row two with Michael Schumacher. Best qualifying result for the seven-time world champion since his return with Mercedes.

The reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull team were expected to continue their domination from the previous two seasons. Friday’s wet-dry session resulted in whispers of sand bagging, but the third and final practice session indicated the Red Bull stampede may be coming to an end.

“McLarens were out of reach today,” said the youngest double world champion and race winner here last year. Vettel will start sixth next to his Australian teammate Mark Webber. 

The second Mercedes of Nico Rosberg will start on the inside of row four. The German at one time looked good to grab his first career pole position. Next to him will be Pastor Maldonado of Venezuela in his Williams-Renault.

Nico Hulkenberg is the fourth German in top ten. His Force India-Mercedes starts next to second Aussie mate in the race, Daniel Ricciardo in his Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso. His French teammate Jean-Eric Vergne will start 11th on the grid in his very first Formula 1 race.

Ferrari Fever

The Reds were never a threat and both cars failed to reach Q3. Numero Uno Fernando Alonso was not a happy camper after he was trapped in the gravel and did not get the requested push from the marshals. He will share the sixth row with Vergne.

Felipe Massa, the lost man in Maranello, qualified 16th.

The HRT-Cosworth cars of Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan were outside the 107% rule. Both drivers were over seven seconds slower than Hamilton’s pole winning time.

Formula 1 first came to Albert Park to open the 1996 season and Jacques Villeneuve made a dramatic Grand Prix debut and put his Williams on pole.

Last year the race was won by Vettel over Hamilton. Vitaly Petrov was third and became the first Russian on an F1 podium.

– Nasir Hameed

Greetings and vegemite sandwich regards.


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