Vettel: McLaren and Ferrari look strong

Sebastian Vettel: McLaren and Ferrari look strong here, although I haven't seen all the times from practice yet. For us, I'm happy with the car's balance and how it performs, so we will see. It's a special circuit here, it's quite rough with the kerbs and chicanes, but I like it

Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel has declared himself happy with his car's balance and performance following practice today for the F1 2011 Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Vettel's weekend got off to a bad start when he shunted in the first session. However he bounced back in FP2 and eventually finished the day second overall on a 1 minute 15.476 second lap, three tenths off the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso.

“I had an incident this morning. I lost the rear, but by the time I hit the wall I had low speed, so the crash was quite mild. There wasn't much damage, so we could fix the car and get back out this afternoon,” said the reigning world champion.

“McLaren and Ferrari look strong here, although I haven't seen all the times from practice yet. For us, I'm happy with the car's balance and how it performs, so we will see.

“It's a special circuit here, it's quite rough with the kerbs and chicanes, but I like it. The target is to win, but it's a long weekend and a lot of things can happen. It's important to finish and do your best, whatever that is.”

Team-mate Mark Webber meanwhile was only 12th in FP1 and 8th in FP2. He didn't seem overly concerned though.

“We were a bit compromised with the red flags at the end of P2, so we could have had a smoother end to the final session, but it wasn't too bad,” he added. “We tried different fuel loads today and now we just need to chip away and get the car a bit quicker.”

Source: Crash.net

Practice Two: Alonso tops interrupted session at Canadian GP 2011

Fernando Alonso set the pace ahead of Sebastian Vettel as the drivers had to contend with a crash-interrupted practice in Canada

There were three accidents during the session. The first belonged to Adrian Sutil, who put his car into the wall exiting Turn 7. Moments later, Kamui Kobayashi brought out the red flags when he hit the at Turn 4.

The session was stopped for nine minutes while moments after the restart Jerome D'Ambrosio went off at the same spot as Kobayashi. His shunt also brought out the red flags.

The final ten minutes of the session saw Pedro de la Rosa put in his first laps in the Sauber C30. The McLaren tester will race for Sauber this weekend after Sergio Perez revealed he was not feeling 100 percent after Practice One.

Alonso emerged as the man to beat, clocking a 1:15.107 while Vettel came back from his Practice One woes to finish in second place, 0.369s off the pace.

Felipe Massa, finishing ahead of the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button and Force India's Paul di Resta.

Report: The track temperature was sitting at 44'C as Friday's second practice got underway in Montreal. The drivers were quickly out and almost immediately put lap times on the board. Paul di Resta went quickest with a 1:20.038 ahead of Jaime Alguersuari and Kamui Kobayashi.

Nick Heidfeld was the next to lead the way, clocking a 1:17.499, slotting in ahead of Felipe Massa, Vitaly Petrov and Fernando Alonso. Mark Webber improved to third place. Fernando Alonso powered by Nico Rosberg on the track as he made his way up to the P1 slot. His reign was short-lived as Mark Webber went quickest before, seconds later, he was overhauled by Sebastian Vettel by 0.334s. The German was back in action after his team made some hasty repairs to his RB7.

Lewis Hamilton joined the Red Bulls at the front of the packing, taking third place and then second while his team-mate Jenson Button improved to third.

After the initial rush, many drivers headed back into their garages before re-emerging out on track, putting in long-run heavy-fueled runs. This meant almost no changes to the timesheets, although there were a few off-track excursions as they tried to find the perfect line and braking point.

Massa took second place behind Vettel with Alonso slotting into third. The two Ferrari drivers both within a quarter of a second off the Red Bull driver's time. Alonso went on to overhaul Vettel by 0.271s while Heidfeld claimed seventh place on the softer option Pirelli tyres.

Adrian Sutil became the first casualty of the session as he hit the wall exiting Turn 7. Yellow flags were out as the marshals moved his car out of the way. Kamui Kobayashi was the next man out, crashing just minutes after Sutil as he hit the wall on the way out of Turn 4. The Japanese driver's accident brought out the red flags for nine minutes.

Less than a minute after the session had resumed Jerome D'Ambrosio put his Virgin racer into the wall. Hamilton suffered a right rear puncture but did not appear to have hit a wall or barrier. And with that the session was red flagged again.

Pedro de la Rosa completed his first lap for Sauber, a 1:21.873, which was 6.6s off the pace. De la Rosa improved to 20th place but cut the chicane to get his time. Alonso was also using more of the track than expected, taking a trip over the grass at Turn 2.

The session ended with Alonso in the P1 slot with a 1:15.107, followed by Vettel and Massa.

Times
01. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m15.107s 34 laps
02. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m15.476s + 0.369 29 laps
03. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m15.601s + 0.494 33 laps
04. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m15.977s + 0.870 26 laps
05. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m15.989s + 0.882 25 laps
06. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m16.089s + 0.982 34 laps
07. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m16.102s + 0.995 28 laps
08. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m16.324s + 1.217 32 laps
09. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m16.422s + 1.315 32 laps
10. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m16.687s + 1.580 28 laps
11. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m16.905s + 1.798 16 laps
12. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m16.941s + 1.834 39 laps
13. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m17.051s + 1.944 32 laps
14. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m17.684s + 2.577 34 laps
15. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m17.757s + 2.650 20 laps
16. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m18.470s + 3.363 33 laps
17. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m18.482s + 3.375 38 laps
18. Pedro de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1m18.536s + 3.429 14 laps
19. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m18.601s + 3.494 38 laps
20. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m19.209s + 4.102 28 laps
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m19.810s + 4.703 25 laps
22. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m20.284s + 5.177 31 laps
23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m20.311s + 5.204 38 laps
24. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m20.922s + 5.815 26 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Canadian GP - Alonso: “I see a positive response in the factory”

After attending a Shell event in downtown Montreal, a city that always reserves a special welcome for the Prancing Horse team, Fernando Alonso met the media at the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro hospitality unit, backing onto the Olympic Rowing Basin at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit.

Looking at the coming weekend, the Spaniard clearly wants to wait until he has completed some laps before making predictions. “I don’t know how competitive we can be here and we must wait and see once we get out on track,” he began. “It should be a better track for us, in the same way that Monaco was, because when we run on the softer tyres it seems we perform a little better. Secondly, aerodynamics is less important here, because there are not many high speed corners and that helps as we know that, aerodynamically, we are a bit behind our rivals. Therefore, we can maybe expect to be a little bit closer here. However, we must not forget that Red Bull has been quick at all types of circuit and McLaren has been fast at tracks with opposing characteristics, like Barcelona and Monaco. I think we can be closer to them here and have a chance of fighting to be on the podium, but it will be very tough, as indeed it has been throughout the season so far.”

Pirelli might be bringing the same tyres here as they did in the Principality, but the track conditions are much tougher on rubber in Montreal. “I expect more difficulties than in Monaco as far as the tyres are concerned,” confirmed Fernando. “Already there, a one stop was not the fastest strategy, but it was the best one because it is impossible to overtake there. Here it is very easy to overtake and if you tried to adopt the strategy of running to the end, like Vettel did in Monaco, you would find yourself down in eighth place. Even two stops could be difficult here so I expect a good number of stops on Sunday.”

For the first time this season, the DRS (Downforce Reduction System) will be used at two points rather than just one around the track. “It will mean we can adopt a different approach for this race, in terms of the number of pit stops and doing an extra one is not a problem as you can overtake easily and making more pit stops will seem more realistic,” maintained the Ferrari man. “However, let’s not forget that there is rain forecast for Sunday, in which case use of DRS will not be allowed. In a dry race with double DRS, we will see a lot of overtaking which will be a good show for the fans. If it does rain, then because of our situation – we are a long way behind in the championship in terms of points and we are not yet quite as quick as our opponents – the wet for us is not such a problem, because at the moment, we would not win a straightforward race in the dry. So, any strange factors can maybe help us, but wet races are also a lottery in which you need to gamble and you need to win.” Finally, Alonso was asked if he could sense a benefit to the restructuring of the technical department, announced a fortnight ago in Monaco. “I see a positive response back in the factory and a good atmosphere within the team, where everyone is prepared to work hard to apply all the new methods involved in this change.”

Source: Ferrari.com

Massa's Blog: Tackling the championship one race at a time

I just landed in Montreal a short while ago, having spent almost a week back at home in Sao Paolo and with just the one hour time difference between the two cities, there is no problem linked to jet lag, which is a good thing. It had been quite a while since I had been in Brazil, so I did not do much except stay at home, catching up with friends and family. As in the rest of the world, the Senna film has, not surprisingly, had a big impact here in Brazil and I went to the cinema to see it. I enjoyed it, because the director found images we had never seen before and the subject was well researched, covering not just all the highlights of Ayrton’s career, but also the political situations that developed around him. Even people with no interest in F1 have felt it was compelling viewing. Of course I also worked on my training and kept in touch with the guys back in the factory to see what developments are coming on the car. In the past, by the time you got to Canada, the shape of the championship was pretty much defined already, but now, as the calendar is so long, we cannot say anything is decided for sure yet. So, everyone in Maranello is working flat out in their respective areas to continue improving the car so that myself and Fernando can race competitively, as we showed we could in the last couple of races, even if in terms of points, I have gone through a bad patch. I hope that will come to an end in Canada.

Montreal is a place I enjoy coming to. To tell the truth, the circuit is not one of my favourites, but the city itself is great and the people are very welcoming and keen on Formula 1, with plenty of support for Ferrari among the fans. My results have not been that good here, the best being a fourth place in 2005. I also had a very good race in 2008, when I was fighting for a place on the podium until a refuelling problem at my pit stop. I then had to pass a lot of people coming through from the back of the pack to finish fifth at the flag. At the very least, I would hope to aim for my best ever Canadian GP result this weekend and to finish on the podium would be great. The track presents all sorts of interesting challenges and it is not very easy to set up the car, because the track surface evolves all through the weekend, starting off with virtually no grip at all on Friday morning. You need a car that works well over the kerbs, has good traction out of the slow turns, but this is actually a fast track, so you need good top speed too. That makes finding the best set-up and the right level of aerodynamic downforce a complex task for the drivers and the engineers. We will run quite low downforce to suit this circuit and to generate more speed and with the help of some updates on the aero front I expect we can be quite competitive. Further complicating the work is the fact that we can expect tyre degradation to be very high, so even though we have the same tyre compounds as in Monaco, don’t expect to see people attempting a one stop race this weekend.

As far as the championships are concerned, at Ferrari, we will never give up fighting. However, it is very clear that Sebastian (Vettel) is doing a great job, winning every race except one and even that time he finished second! He and his team are looking very strong, but we are tackling the championship one race at a time and everyone is still working very hard to make the car competitive so that we can continue fighting all the way to the end of the season. This coming weekend will be a very busy one for Ferrari on a global scale, because apart from the Grand Prix in Montreal, various factory supported private teams will be tackling the Le Mans 24 Hours in France in Ferrari 458 Italia and 430 GT cars. It shows just how much racing is at the very heart of everything that goes on in Maranello. Endurance racing is completely different to the sprint that is a Formula 1 race, with drivers having to race in the dark and cope with very different challenges. It’s something that I might consider one day when my Formula 1 career comes to an end and I hope all the Ferraris racing there have a successful weekend.

Source: Ferrari.com

Alonso's Blog: We want to make another step forward

After a brief cycle of races in Europe, here we are again on another long intercontinental voyage, this time heading West. The Montreal race is one of the most popular with the drivers and the teams: the city is very welcoming and the people are very interested in Formula 1, to the extent that the grandstands are already busy on Friday.

I arrived yesterday evening and this afternoon I popped down to the track to meet up with the team. I found that the boys were in good spirits, wanting to demonstrate here that Monte Carlo wasn’t a flash in the pan. There is promise that it can happen. Even though it has some very fast stretches, the Canadian track suits cars which can jump over the kerbs without losing too much balance and cars that have good traction on the exits of the slow corners. Those are both characteristics that are among the strong points of the 150° Italia.

Here aerodynamic efficiency, which is our Achilles Heel at the moment, is less important and so we think we can have more chance to fight for the top places. Brakes are another fundamental factor on this circuit: we will need to work hard during free practice to understand the correct level of cooling in order to avoid the risk of problems in the race.

In Montreal we will again have the two soft tyre compounds prepared by Pirelli: the Soft and the Supersoft. Last year this was one of the few races in which we saw more pit stops than the traditional one-stop because the degradation of the tyres is quite high. Even though the Pirellis are different to the Bridgestones, I don’t think we will see anyone manage to get to the end of the race with only one tyre change, as we saw in Monaco. As we have seen this year, it will be important to pick the right moment for the pit stop so as not to lose too much time compared to your direct rivals.

For the first time this year we will have two places where it will be possible to use the DRS on Sunday: the first is after the apex of Turn 10, the second on the pit straight. I’m interested to see what will happen: on paper whoever manages to pass in the first zone will then have a big advantage because they will be able to use the movable wing again on the main straight, even though they are ahead of the car they are battling.

Last year I managed to make the podium but we left Montreal with a definite sensation of having deserved more than our eventual third place. There were a couple of episodes that didn’t go well for us that prevented us from picking up the win that was within our reach. We also had the chance to win at Monaco ten days ago and it would have been good to have won there because wins have now eluded us for too long. It remains very difficult because I expect McLaren and Red Bull to be very strong but we must not count anything out.

The second third of the season is starting and the situation in the championship is far from favourable. It’s true that there are still many races to go but it’s clear that we must try to find a catalyst for this title chase in terms of points. We hope to start straightaway, on a track that carries the name of one of the drivers who is most loved by Ferrari’s tifosi: Gilles Villeneuve.

Source: ferrari.com

Kimi Räikkönen: F1 Misses the Iceman

As Mika Hakkinen’s illustrious career was coming to an end, another Flying Finn was ready to take his place on the grid and in the McLaren F1 team. Kimi Raikkonen of Finland had completed a mere 23 races apart from go-karting before he was drafted by Peter Sauber in his Formula 1 team. The FIA reluctantly granted this unknown Finn a super license to compete in the 2001 season.

Despite being numerically outperformed by his team mate Nick Heidfeld, his cool head behind the wheel was not unnoticed. Much to the annoyance of the German, Kimi was chosen over him to replace the ‘on sabbatical’ Hakkinen in the McLaren hot seat.

McLaren

2002 was Kimi’s first season in McLaren and it was another year of Schumacher-Ferrari domination. The ‘Iceman’ almost won his first race in the French GP, only to slip on a patch of oil on the track and let Schumacher pass him for first. Someone like a Hamilton or Vettel may have wallowed at the Podium or press conference, but Kimi was poker-faced and monotonous as usual.

In his frustrating stint with the Woking team, Raikkonen mounted credible title challenges in 2003 and 2005. The first of these was a three way battle between himself, Juan Pablo Montoya and Michael Schumacher. Eventually, Schumi edged the young Kimi by 2 points. Reliability cost Raikkonen the title in 2005, where he actually won the same number of races (7) as the eventual champion Alonso. On two occasions, his McLaren let him down while he was in the lead and on both occasions, Alonso took advantage to win the race.

Twice in the 2005 season, Raikkonen started the race dead last (due to engine failures in Qualifying) and finished on the podium. In one of the most memorable races of his career, Raikkonen starting from 17th place, won the Grand Prix in Suzuka Japan. He hunted down his rivals one by one, stormed past the likes of Alonso, Schumacher and passed the race leader Giancarlo Fisichella on the last lap of the race! It is doubtful if the modern day punks like Hamilton and Vettel can match that.

Ferrari

Sadly, Kimi’s McLaren was much too fragile to win him World Championships and he made the switch to Scuderia Ferrari in 2007 to fill the boots of Michael Schumacher. It can be an intimadting task for anyone to replace a legend of the sport. It didn’t seem to affect Raikkonen. He was notably absent in a media event where Schumi would ‘hand over’ his place to Kimi. When asked about it, Kimi replied in his typical monotonous tone – “I had gone to take a s***”. He never gives any, that’s for sure.

In Ferrari, he won his first race and made a strong start to the season. The 2007 season was a four way tussle between Kimi, Massa, Hamilton and Alonso. Massa fell away and it came down to the other three in the last race of the season. As things stood, Hamilton had 107 points, Alonso 103 and Kimi 100. So, for Raikkonen to win the Championship, he had to win AND hope that Alonso finishes 3rd or below AND Hamilton finishes 7th or below.

Kimi qualified 3rd behind teammate Massa with Hamilton in 2nd place. In a clever opening move, Massa pulled ahead of Lewis Hamilton and slowed down, allowing Kimi to pass both of them on the first corner. Hamilton then lost his bearings and though he will never admit it, accidentally pressed the Pit Lane speed limiter button. When he finally realized it, he was in last place. Hamilton could only finish 7th, and the Ferraris finished one-two. Thus, Kimi became World Champion in the most dramatic fashion, finishing a mere 1 point ahead of Alonso and Hamilton.

Driving Style

Kimi liked adventure in his driving. He never fussed much about the car setup with his mechanics and engineers, choosing to simply drive what he got. His only preference was to have a slight understeer, which enabled him to make a wide swinging turn out of the corners. Perhaps he got a kick out of the extra acceleration. Naturally, he enjoyed the ups, downs and twists of Belgium Spa Francorchamps the most, and was rightly called the ‘Spa Master’.

Apart from this, Kimi was a smooth driver, easy on the tires, brakes and good at overtaking (Fisichella can testify). He was as brief and monotonous on the car radio as he was in press conferences and as cool as ever. This sometimes led to criticism over his motivation levels by some commentators. But of course, he never gave a s**t.

Personality and Legacy

In 2009, Raikkonen left Ferrari and F1 itself to join rally car racing. With a solitary championship to his name, he wont be considered one of the ‘greats’, but he will never be forgotten either. Raikkonen was a man who thoroughly enjoyed racing and didnt care about the rest. While drivers like Schumacher and Hamilton obsess about rivals, car setup and so on, Raikkonen simply turned up, set the track on fire and left in the evening without a fuss.

Behind his ice-cold face and monotonous voice, was a colorful personality. No wonder he entered a snowmobile race under the pseudonym “James Hunt”, a party loving personality from the 70s. While many of the drivers nowadays are PR stuntmen, Kimi lived his life for himself. He celebrated his championship by getting drunk, being thrown out of the bar and sleeping on a public bench with an inflatable dolphin. He also once, fell headfirst in a yacht while being drunk.

He never apologized for any of it, he didn’t have to. Kimi never kept any pretenses, preferring to speak little, let his driving do the talking and enjoy himself off the track. With his retirement (doesn’t look like he will be back), F1 has possibly seen the end of an era.

Source: Sportskeeda
Courtesy: Sleenster

Gene: Alonso is better than Schumacher

Ferrari test driver Marc Gene has revealed that he regards Fernando Alonso as the best driver he has worked with in Formula 1, which includes Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen, amid reports that the team supplies superior equipment to the Spaniard.

Alonso, with a new long-term contract, is widely regarded as Maranello’s number one driver, particularly with Felipe Massa struggling to match him over the past two seasons.

But fellow Spaniard, Gene told El Mundo newspaper: “I can confirm 100% that both Felipe and Fernando have the same materials at their disposal. If the results of Fernando have been superior it is because of his very high level.”

“I cannot judge what he did in his time at Renault and McLaren but I have worked with world champions Schumacher, Villeneuve and Raikkonen and Fernando is the one who impresses me the most,” said Gene.

“Before he arrived at Ferrari I had great expectations, and now that I’ve seen and studied and worked with him, I can say he has exceeded all of the expectations,” added the Ferrari test driver.

Gene, meanwhile, said he does not believe it would be the right move for Ferrari to abandon work on the 150 Italia car in order to ensure a more competitive start to 2012. “It is true that the gap to Red Bull is significant, even if there are many races left. But no gap is unbridgeable, especially for a team like Ferrari.”

He concluded, “Also, if it is right that the regulations for next year do not change much, it is still useful to develop the current car because these improvements can also apply to the next one. Ferrari’s philosophy is to not give up while the maths do not prove otherwise.”

Gene was Ferrari test driver from 2004 until last year. He still keeps close ties with the Maranello squad while campaigning for the Peugeot factory team in sportscar racing, including Le Mans. Gene competed in 36 Grands Prix for Minardi and Williams.

Source: YallaF1

Massa's Blog: A Brazilian break

Given that the next race is in Canada, I’ve made the most of that to head home to Brazil, to spend a few days there with my family. The last few weeks were very busy, with three races crammed into the month of May and now a bit of a break is in order. Before flying off to Sao Paolo, I spent a day in Italy, in Parma, where I played alongside Fernando and Giancarlo in a three-way charity football tournament. Me and the other Ferrari guys were playing as part of the Telethon team, the association that raises funds for research into rare and genetic illness.

Those three races in May did not go well for me. I failed to pick up points and my biggest regret came in the last of the three, in Monaco. As Fernando showed, by fighting at the front right to the end, we had a very good potential there and I think I could have finished the race in fourth place. Unfortunately, there was the accident with Hamilton, which put me out of the running: a real shame, but there’s little point in going over it again. I said what I wanted to about the incident after the race and now it’s not worth wasting more time over it, so it’s better to look ahead.

For the spectators – and unfortunately I was one of them – the second part of the race was very exciting. It’s a shame that the red flag pretty much ended the three way battle at the front of the field ahead of schedule. The rules in this case allow tyres to be changed if the race is suspended and so the final laps lost their significance, because both Fernando and Sebastian were on reasonably fresh tyres and, in these circumstances, overtaking at Monaco is still practically impossible, even with KERS and DRS.

The weekend was marked by several accidents, the most serious being those that involved Rosberg and Perez. Nico was lucky, as he did not hit the wall at the chicane after the tunnel, but Sergio hit it hard: I am happy he is out of hospital and I hope we can see him back in action in Montreal already. It’s true that Monaco, by its very nature, will always have an element of risk attached and that particular barrier is probably the most critical point if you lose control of the car or if something breaks. We have often spoken about it in the past, because it has been the scene of several accidents and I hope a solution can be found to improve the position of the barrier at that particular point on the circuit.

There was at least one positive aspect to the weekend and that is the fact our car was much more competitive than we had seen it at the previous race. Finally, we could fight all the way to the end, even if circumstances meant that only applied to one of us. Our pace was very good and I hope that will also be the case in Canada and Valencia. We should have some new technical updates there, which along with the softer tyres, should be a help, on paper at least and then we will see what the actual situation is, starting on Friday in Montreal.

Source: Ferrari.com

Alonso's Blog: I tried to the very end

I arrived in Maranello late this morning and in the afternoon, I was involved in some PR activities. I also got the chance to meet two of our young FDA drivers, Raffaele Marciello and Brandon Maisano, who were at Fiorano for a Formula 3 test. Then, I headed off for Parma where tonight I am playing in the “Partita del Cuore” (game of the heart) a three-way football tournament which is raising funds for the Telethon charity.

Over twenty four hours have passed since the end of the Monaco Grand Prix and I certainly haven’t changed my mind. Yesterday we had a real chance of taking our first win of the season and the interruption following the accident with Petrov and Alguersuari robbed us of the chance of trying to the very end. In the second part of the race, after the pit stop, I tried to save the tyres specifically to be prepared for the closing laps, when I hoped I’d be able to make the most of it if Sebastian had any difficulties with his tyres, given he’d been on the same set for many laps. Unfortunately, that plan went out the window, but you have to accept it, because we know that situations like the one we saw in Monaco yesterday happen quite often.

Immediately after the race, I said the fight for the title was getting ever more difficult, not to say impossible. Sure, if Vettel ends up winning a race in which we felt there was a chance of victory, then you get a feeling of disappointment, but that does not mean will not continue working hard at the track and back home on developing the car. Clearly the gap in the championship is widening all the time: we can do the maths, but neither myself nor the team are used to throwing in the towel. Already today, I’ve been talking to the engineers about the new parts we will have in Montreal, but above all, of the steps forward we must take for Silverstone, when we will back at a track which requires a lot of aerodynamic downforce. That’s where we will really see how our season is going to pan out. Up until then, we want to and we must believe in ourselves.

I am pleased to hear that Sergio Perez has already left the Monaco hospital this afternoon. He had a truly horrible accident and the fact he came out of it almost unscathed is a clear indication of the progress made in terms of Formula 1 car safety. You can never do away with the risks completely, but they can be significantly reduced for the drivers and for all those who work at the track.

Source: Ferrari.com

Video: BBC - Monaco GP: Ferrari quicker than we showed today - Fernando Alonso

After finishing fourth in Saturday's qualifying, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso predicts pit strategy rather than overtaking will determine the result of Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix



Source: FiftyBuckss

Monaco GP – Domenicali: “It was a decision taken for the good of the team”

The Friday of the Monaco Grand Prix is always a strange day. Officially it’s a day of rest yet the paddock and the pit lane are a frenzy of activity until the evening. With so much time available, the engineers make the most of it to study the data they’ve collected in the three hours of yesterday’s free practice to the tiniest detail. They also meet with the drivers and give the latest information to the mechanics who have to prepare the cars for the rest of the weekend.

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro also followed this programme, with meetings that began at 11am and didn’t finish until after 7pm. Felipe and Fernando joined in with some of these briefings but they were also involved in PR activities, among them an autograph session organised by the grand prix promoter and cocktails with a group of Ferrari clients. For Felipe there was a special end to the day with his participation as a model at the Monaco Charity Fashion Show, which earned the most applause of the evening.

But Ferrari’s day was summed up above all by this afternoon’s briefing by Team Principal Stefano Domenicali for the press from Italy and the rest of the world. The hottest topic – and it couldn’t have been anything else – was the reorganisation of the technical division of the Scuderia that was announced last Tuesday.

“It was a decision that was taken for the good of the team, in order to improve,” explained Domenicali. “It was a rational decision, not an emotional one: a change that brings stability for the future.” It was certainly the hardest decision of Domenicali’s career, which will total twenty years at Ferrari a few days from now. “I don’t want to go into the details out of my respect for Aldo, a person who is a friend who I admire. We aren’t here to make things personal. Over the years there have been changes for various reasons: some have asked to have certain responsibilities taken away, such as Chris Dyer who had a problem of authority after the outcome of the race in Abu Dhabi. Now this decision was difficult because I’ve worked together with Aldo for so many years. But in my position you have to take the most rational decisions possible for the good of the team, even when they are hard.”

For those who made objections about timing, Domenicali replied: “These are structured timings that can’t be linked to the racing calendar. We want to keep competing for this world championship but we are obviously also working on the car for 2012, which is starting to take shape at this time. The decision was welcomed by the team, which reacted by immediately putting its foot on the accelerator. Clearly you can’t expect something to change in two days. It’s a question of changing working methods and trying to improve them, otherwise there’s no point in changing. We will try to establish different priorities in the car’s development.”

Domenicali didn’t play down his own responsibilities and he refused to see the reorganisation as a defeat for the Italian side of the team. “I know well that I am also under the microscope. It’s always like that and those are the rules of the game. It’s true that there is an Englishman, Pat Fry, in Costa’s place but when it comes to Italians there are also Marmorini and Lanzone alongside myself. Tombazis? Nikolas remains in charge of planning the car and he will have to concentrate on developing the aerodynamic side, the area where we concentrate the most effort. Perhaps the culture of aerodynamics doesn’t play a big part among the talents of Italy and we ought to make some important interventions to improve that situation.”

Source: Ferrari.com

Video: BBC Monaco GP - Team restructure will boost Ferrari - Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso says he has full confidence in Stefano Domenicali's choices after Ferrari restructured their technical team following a disappointing start to the Formula 1 season



Source: FiftyBuckss

Monaco GP: Alonso edges Hamilton

Fernando Alonso set the pace in Thursday's second practice session in Monaco as Ferrari and McLaren came to the fore

Alonso, who is bidding to win the Monaco GP with his third different team this weekend, crossed the line with a 1:15.123 to edge McLaren's Lewis Hamilton by 0.105s.

Third place went to Mercedes GP's Nico Rosberg, who finished ahead of Jenson Button, while Sebastian Vettel could only manage the fifth best time. The reigning World Champion was half a second behind the leading Ferrari.

Felipe Massa took sixth place ahead of Michael Schumacher and Mark Webber.

Report: The sun was out and the track temperature was a hot 45'C as Timo Glock hit the track to start Thursday's second practice in Monte Carlo. Pastor Maldonado narrowly escaped damaging his car as he locked up, run wide and had to take to the escape road.

The drivers were quick to get down to work with Vitaly Petrov leading the way ahead of Jaime Alguersuari while Mark Webber, who missed FP1 with a gearbox problem, took third place ahead of Sebastien Buemi. Felipe Massa was the next to lead the way with a 1:17.483. Yellow flags came out as Alguersuari made a mistake, hitting the barriers at Turn 1.

A near collision between the two Ferrari drivers as Fernando Alonso, on course for the P1 slot, came up behind his team-mate, who was slowing down to make room for himself. Alonso came within a millimetres of hitting the back of Massa's car. The Spaniard will not be happy.

Nico Rosberg took over at the top with Jenson Button improving to second place and Lewis Hamilton to fifth behind Massa and Petrov. Without his team-mate in front of him to bulk him, Alonso was able to take the P1 slot with a 1:16.408. Hamilton climbed to fourth place as Sebastian Vettel just, and only just, missed hitting the barriers with the rear left of his RB7.

Heikki Kovalainen had to take to the escape road after missing his braking point. Massa, pushing too hard, almost lost it around the Casino hairpin. Problems for Paul di Resta as the Scot is pushed down the escape road by the marshals after coming to a halt at the chicane.

At the halfway point of the session it was Alonso ahead of Rosberg, Button, Hamilton, Massa, Petrov, Rubens Barrichello and Buemi.

Massa is doing everything he can to put his car in the wall and mounts the kerb, almost hits the armco barrier and a few metres later, almost hits the barrier again. But hey he's up to third, 0.718s slower than his team-mate. Massa was dropped one place at Vettel took the P1 slot with a 1:15.667, almost a second quicker than his P1time from this morning. Massa moved up to second place, 0.114s off Vettel's time.

Alonso returned to the front, half a second up on Vettel's best. Rosberg improved to second place with Vettel taking third before he was dropped by Button. Hamilton climbed to second place, missing out on the P1 time by a tenth. Minor problems for Glock, Hamilton and Schumacher, all of whom ran off the track but without any damage. Massa stalled as he attempted to leave the pits and Petrov lost his front wing as he exited the tunnel.

Thursday's second practice ended with Alonso in the P1 slot, ahead of Hamilton and Rosberg.

Times
01. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m15.123s 42 laps
02. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m15.228s + 0.105 33 laps
03. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m15.321s + 0.198 44 laps
04. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m15.448s + 0.325 38 laps
05. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m15.667s + 0.544 46 laps
06. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m15.781s + 0.658 45 laps
07. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m16.356s + 1.233 33 laps
08. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m16.642s + 1.519 42 laps
09. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m17.101s + 1.978 46 laps
10. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m17.126s + 2.003 38 laps
11. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m17.337s + 2.214 35 laps
12. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m17.541s + 2.418 47 laps
13. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m17.570s + 2.447 39 laps
14. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m17.581s + 2.458 32 laps
15. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m17.633s + 2.510 49 laps
16. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m17.706s + 2.583 37 laps
17. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m17.789s + 2.666 43 laps
18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m18.266s + 3.143 50 laps
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m18.490s + 3.367 39 laps
20. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m19.053s + 3.930 15 laps
21. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m19.185s + 4.062 40 laps
22. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m19.338s + 4.215 35 laps
23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m22.066s + 6.943 33 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Monaco GP - A special helmet for a special cause

Monte Carlo, 25 May – The Monaco Grand Prix is a unique race on the championship calendar and, often the drivers like to display something unusual, either on the car, their race suit or their helmet.

As from tomorrow morning’s free practice, Fernando Alonso will be using something special: a helmet with the same design but new colours, as the traditional yellow and blue have been changed for a gold-white combination.

This scheme will also be used in Singapore, the second street circuit on the 2011 calendar and it is in a worthy cause: the helmet will be auctioned at the end of the championship and proceeds will go to the Fondazione Fernando Alonso which is mainly involved in projects aimed at developing road safety initiatives for children.

Source: Ferrari.com

Massa’s diary - Not long to wait to be on track again

I got back home to Monaco on Monday morning, after a very disappointing weekend at the Spanish Grand Prix. We had hoped to do much better than this in performance terms and also I suffered our first technical failure of the season. We had expected our main rivals to be strong in Barcelona, given the fact our car is not quite as efficient as theirs in terms of aerodynamic downforce. However, what we had not expected was to suffer so much on the new Hard compound tyre that Pirelli had introduced for this race. We had already found life difficult on the original version of the Hard and we had seen that we struggled a bit more than the others on these. Then with these new hards we discovered we were having an even tougher time to get them to work properly and I would say we lost two or two and a half seconds when compared to our lap times on the Soft. You could see the effect clearly in the race. Myself and Fernando were both able to fight at first with him doing better than me as he was actually at the front thanks to his start, while I was fighting with the Mercedes guys, passing them to move up to sixth. But after that, once I fitted the hard tyres, it was almost impossible to drive the car. I ended up losing all the places I had gained, then I had a spin and eventually with a few laps to go, I had to park the car at the side of the track as I could not select any gears. Meanwhile Fernando went from leading the race to being one lap down within the space of about 40 laps which is an unbelievable situation. I would say that in Spain, it looked as though Red Bull and McLaren were the only teams able to exploit the hard tyres properly.

Staying on the subject of tyres, starting with free practice this Thursday at Monaco, we begin a run of three Grands Prix using Pirelli’s Soft and Super Soft and that should work better for us. They will definitely suit the characteristics of our car which is a positive factor. We have seen this year that the biggest factor when it comes to passing another car is the tyres and we will have overtaking this year, even in Monaco, because of that. When a car in front of you is struggling with worn tyres, it will have very poor traction and even in places such as the exit to the chicane after the tunnel, if you don’t have traction, you will lose position before Tabac. I believe degradation will play a significant role on this track.

I enjoy the whole Monaco weekend and it is an important event on the calendar, but when I’m there I don’t walk to the track in the morning thinking about it being the most famous motor race in the world. It’s another race to concentrate on and it has a unique challenge because of the track itself. Nothing compares because even if Singapore comes close, that track is much bigger. So Monaco is just another race where you have to work hard and try to do your best. It’s nice to be home and I’m very lucky as I think I’m one of the few drivers to have two real home races, not just races that take place in the country you come from. Both here and Sao Paolo I actually get to sleep in my own bed in my own home and then have a short trip to the track. It’s another very nice aspect of this weekend, during which I hope we can make up for the disappointment of Spain.

At least we don’t have long to wait to be on track again!

Source: Ferrari.com

Fernando Alonso returns to live in Spain

Fernando Alonso has returned to live in his native Spain even though it will cost him a staggering £50million in tax.

The double world champion (below) had been living in Switzerland to cut his tax bill.

Over the winter he moved back to Oviedo in northern Spain to be closer to his family and friends.

But the move will cost him a third of his staggering new £150m contract with Ferrari.

Alonso admitted: "It's great to go home. I'm happy to pay the money. I'm not poor - just a little bit less rich now."

Source: The Mirror

Video: BBC F1 2011 - 5 ESP - Good start but Ferrari not competitive: Fernando Alonso

An impressive start by Fernando Alonso at the Spanish Grand Prix was not enough as he finishes fifth and admits his Ferrari was "not competitive" and that his team need to make a "step forward"



Source: FiftyBuckss

Alonso: The perfect lap

Fernando Alonso has hailed the qualifying lap that put him fourth on the grid for the Spanish GP as "perfect".

With Red Bull and McLaren dominating the weekend's running, it seemed that Alonso would be forced to settle for a place on the third row of the grid.

However, late in the third session of qualifying the Spaniard thrilled his home crowd by producing a lap just + 0.983 seconds slower than pole sitter Mark Webber and 0.032 seconds faster than Jenson Button's McLaren.

"I did a perfect lap: I reckon that if I tried to repeat it twenty times, I could not do better!" said a delighted Alonso.

"When you do a lap like that it's hard to put into words what one feels: always being on the limit, in every corner is a really special feeling for a driver.

"I am very happy with this result, because we have never made it to the second row this year. Sure, pole position is still a long way off: today, Red Bull was once again out of reach and we must work hard to try and get closer.

The 29-year-old was confident that Ferrari would be challenging for the top places on race day.

"So far, in the races we have gone better than in qualifying and so I think we can be in the fight for the podium," he explained.

"It will be tough at the start because the McLarens always get off the line well and then they have one more new set of soft tyres than we do."

Source: Planet-F1

Video: Shell Helix Ultra Mixology Class with Fernando Alonso

Starring Fernando Alonso, the 'Shell Helix Ultra Mixology Class' demonstrates the intricate and complex nature of the fuels and lubricants supplied to the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One team by Shell.
Much like a cocktail, the perfect fuels and lubricants are created from a blend of constituent parts and additives, constantly refined in the pursuit of an ideal end product.
Mixing a traditional fruit cocktail using local ingredients, Fernando Alonso explores the challenges Shell face throughout the season -- as explained by Ian Albiston, Shell's Formula One Project Manager



Souce: Shell

Alonso and Ferrari together until 2016

Maranello, 19 May - Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro announces that it has renewed its technical and racing agreement with the driver Fernando Alonso up to the end of the 2016 season.

“It is a great pleasure to have renewed our agreement with a driver who has always demonstrated a winning mentality even in the most difficult circumstances, commented President Luca di Montezemolo. “Fernando has all the required qualities, both technically and personally to play a leading role in the history of Ferrari and I hope he will be enriching it with further wins very soon.”

“I am very happy to have reached this agreement, said Fernando Alonso. “I immediately felt comfortable within Ferrari and now it feels to me like a second family. I have the utmost faith in the men and women who work in Maranello and in those who lead them: it is therefore natural for me to decide to extend my relationship in the long term like this, with a team at which I will no doubt end my Formula 1 career one day.”

Source: Ferrari.com