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

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

Sebastian Vettel Blog: Sweet taste of success

Sebastian Vettel talks tactics and savours victory after extending his lead at the top of the Formula One Drivers' Championship with a win at the Monaco Grand Prix

by Sebastian Vettel on May 30, 2011

What an amazing day! I know that champagne tastes sweet, but the one I drank after the ceremony in Monte Carlo tasted even sweeter than usual! I am indescribably happy with our win and very proud about the whole team. They did an amazing job today.

I think it's easy to describe the race in one word: thrilling. I'm sure it was for the spectators and fans and it definitely was for us drivers. I would never have expected a strategy like the one we had today and that we would be able to get to the finishing line with only one pitstop. Well, almost one pitstop! We talked about it a lot and decided to put it all on one and not go into the pit for a second time. The worst that could have happened was a third place but I think that we would also have won if the safety car had stayed out.

'I never expected that we'd be able to finish with only one pitstop'

The key to our success today was definetely our endurance and the fact that we never lost faith in ourselves. Even the pit stop, which wasn't perfect, didn't change that. We lost time and the lead through it but that was when we knew that we had to give everything we had and attack. In the end, this approach helped us get back into the lead and, when we had the safety car coming out towards the end, it helped me to relax a bit and cool off the tyres. After the restart, we luckily didn't have too many laps to go and after a few minutes we were finally allowed to celebrate this fantastic victory.

I'm pretty sure that we'll go on and party tonight and have an amazing time. I want to send out a big thank you to everyone involved in this victory. It wouldn't have been possible without you. And also a big thanks to all the fans – you were amazing guys!

Talk to you soon from Canada!

All the best,

Sebastian

Source: Red Bull

Massa's Blog: For the fans, it’s the race that counts

I’m back home in Monaco after the first race of the season where I failed to score any points and it’s fair to say, that given my previous track record in Istanbul, this was obviously a very disappointing result. I ended up eleventh, when I could have been challenging for fourth place and that was mainly down to poor pit stops. However, looking on the positive side, the aero updates we ran for the first time at this race definitely increased our performance level as can be seen from the fact that Fernando secured Ferrari’s first podium finish of the year.

Once again, qualifying was not that easy and then, as we have seen at every race this year, the car was much better in the race itself. I had an incident packed Sunday afternoon, but the first stint went very well for me and I was able to pass several cars, up to the point that I overtook Hamilton just before we pitted. This was where my race got complicated as my pit stop was not that great and we ended up side by side leaving pit lane, with him just having the edge in the end. After that, only the second of my total of four pit stops went well and Lewis went on to finish the race in fourth place, which shows what I could have been challenging for.

Even if we had a difficult qualifying and I did not even bother making a second attempt in Q3 to save tyres, the gap in terms of our qualifying to race performance did come down in Turkey, because we struggled less in qualifying and then made an even bigger step forward on Sunday, which is more proof that the car is improving. Why do we have that gap? It’s hard to pinpoint the exact reason, but let’s say it just seems to be a characteristic of the car, because even last year, we had a similar situation. I think qualifying is still important, but much less than before, like in the days when it was almost the most crucial part of the weekend, when overtaking another car during the race was so difficult. Even if qualifying is less important, there is nothing disappointing about that, because for the fans, it’s the race that counts as the most important part of the weekend, so the current situation is, in my opinion, good for the sport.

As for the pit stop difficulties, I would say I had a few too many, because without them I was definitely heading for a top five finish. This was frustrating for me and for the team. We do a lot of pit stop practice, but that Sunday it just did not work properly. We will have to study the problem and try and be more consistent, because in a single stop, just a small delay in changing wheels and you can lose position, as happened to me in Istanbul. The pressure on the pit crew is now very great, because not only are they having to be perfect several times during a race, but also since the banning of refuelling, they no longer have that time cushion changing wheels, while waiting for all the fuel to go in. We all have to improve ourselves, drivers included, because our role in the pit-stop operations is very important as well.

Today I am in Rome for a convention run by our technical partner Shell and then for the last two days of the week, I will be in Maranello, in meetings with the engineers and of course, spending time in the simulator; all part of our efforts to keep on pushing to improve our car, because with two more races coming up in the space of two weekends, we have to react as soon as possible to turn our season around. I mentioned the simulator just now and so I would like to wish a speedy recovery to Davide Rigon, a young driver who does a lot of work for us in the simulator and who unfortunately broke his leg in an accident in Sunday’s GP2 race in Istanbul.

Source: Ferrari.com

Alonso's Blog: We must keep going down this road

It’s been a long week of work, starting on Tuesday May 3 with a session on the simulator. It has only just finished today as we kept working with the engineers to prepare as well as we can for the coming races. In between came the grand prix in Istanbul, where we took our first podium of the year. It was about time because we’d missed out on finishing a race in the top three for too long, but what was especially important was to fight for the top places until the end. That already happened in China with Felipe and in the two previous races we were also close to the podium: finally we have now achieved what we were capable of.

Third place was also important for the morale of the team. We were all unhappy with a start to the season that did not live up to expectations and we know how much good it does to see that the efforts expended every day are paying off. But we certainly can’t be happy with a third place and what matters most is that we must be much more competitive in qualifying. If we always start from the third row or lower it’s a struggle to fight for the podium. We have a lot of irons in the fire and we hope that as early as next week in Barcelona we will have new parts that allow us to take an important step forward in qualifying as well.

You know I like playing with numbers – and as I travelled backwards and forwards between home, Maranello and Turkey, I made a comparison between my first four races of last year and those of this year in the corresponding grands prix. What came out of this little game was that compared to 2010 I’m eight points short (49 versus 41) but in the same four races, this year I’ve brought home 13 more points compared to last year (41 versus 28). It’s true that my current gap to the top of the drivers championship is much greater (52 points) compared to what I had after Shanghai 2010 (11 points) but I well recall that after Silverstone we were 47 points away and we only had eight races left. Today we still have 15 grands prix to come. This shows that you can look at the same thing in two different, even completely opposite ways. What matters are results and we’ve started to make the podium: we must do that regularly and if so I’m convinced that we will again be able to fight for the title.

On Sunday morning in Istanbul there was a serious accident in the GP2 race, which involved our driver, Davide Rigon. I’m very sorry for him as he will have to stop racing for a while. We hope that he recovers soon – and I say that also for selfish reasons because he was doing precious work for us in the simulator.

Now I’m returning home: a few days of rest before a very demanding double-header made up of Barcelona, one of my home races, and Monaco. Now we hope to keep going down the road we took in Turkey.

Source: Ferrari.com

Alonso's Blog: Never give up: things can change very quickly in Formula 1

A break was much needed after such a packed start to the season. I had not been home for a month, given that I stayed out in that part of the world between Australia and Malaysia, so it’s nice to have a bit of free time with the family and close friends. Truth is there’s always something to do because you need to keep in shape, given that after this slightly longer than usual break we will face a really busy May, with three Grands Prix – Turkey, Spain and Monaco – in the space of four weeks.

It was definitely not the start of the season we were hoping for, for us and all our fans. Fifty points between the two of us is not much and we know our performance is not good enough at the moment, but we are aware that this can change very quickly. Formula 1 has always been like this: in one race you struggle to get into the top five and in the next, you’re fighting for the win. This year has been no exception to that rule: after the final test in Barcelona, everyone reckoned the McLarens were nowhere and then they always got on the podium, ending up with a win in China. At the same time, others were saying Vettel was unbeatable and then in Shanghai, we all saw how things turned out in the end. Three races are not yet enough to give a definitive judgement.

But this does not mean to say I am underestimating the seriousness of our situation, far from it. We have to work very hard to improve on every front. Success only comes when every element is operating at its best: the car, strategy, pit stops, drivers and everyone else included. I’ve stayed in touch with the engineers these past few days and I know there is no let up in the development of the car at Maranello. We have to catch up and we cannot allow ourselves to lose too much time, especially as the others won’t be twiddling their thumbs over the coming weeks. I trust in the team: I know what it’s made of and I can feel the will to fight back from everyone at Maranello. In the past I have experienced, first as an opponent and then as an insider how capable the Scuderia is of staging a comeback. I well remember when I was at Renault in 2006, that in the first part of the season I had built up a big lead but then Ferrari made such a good job of developing its cars that Schumacher staged a great fight back, overtaking me with two races remaining. Then you only have to look at last year: first in Turkey and then in England, it was suggested we should already be looking to the following year, but we did not give up and we managed to be in the fight for the title right up to the final race. It sounds like a slogan, but it’s the absolute truth: never give up in Formula 1!

If the racing season has yet to make me very happy, at least on the football front there’s been one bit of good news. I was very happy that Real Madrid won against Barcelona in the final of the Copa del Rey, as it’s a title that has eluded them for such a long time and it came at the end of a very closely fought game. Next up comes the Champions League semi-final, again against Barca. Whatever the outcome, it will be a truly fascinating tussle and obviously I’m hoping for a win for Mourinho’s team!

Source: Ferrari.com

Massa's Blog: I hope I continue to fight at a higher level

A couple of days have passed since the Chinese Grand Prix and I am still in Shanghai attending various events in a city which I find I enjoy more every time I come here. I had a very good race on Sunday, running strongly and getting involved in a lot of fights. The result should have been a bit better than my eventual sixth place, but I was very happy with how it went and I hope I can continue to fight at a higher level for the coming races.

For sure, we need to qualify better so we can start further forward on the grid which helps in the race, even with the talk of grid position being less important this year. In China actually my grid position, sixth, was not too bad and then I gained one place immediately after the start which moved me up to fifth. Most importantly though, if you look at the pace of the car, it was good enough to allow us to fight with the leaders. That meant I had a very interesting race, being able to make up several places because effectively, the car we had in the race was completely different to the one we had the day before in qualifying. It definitely worked well, because I even led the race for a short while at one point and I held a genuine second place for quite some time. Unfortunately, those who were three stopping for tyre changes caught us up much faster than we had expected in the closing stages and, on tyres that were in much better shape than mine, they were able to get past.

It’s easy to say, having seen how the race evolved, that I should have been on a three stop rather than a two stop strategy, but in fact, I am not completely sure this would have been correct, because the main problem I had was much poorer performance than the other cars experienced on the hard Pirellis, which meant that, when these tyres were fitted, the car had a pace more similar to what we had seen in qualifying and we definitely had more problems than the others. Up until then, the car was quite competitive. People have pointed out that Webber drove a fantastic race, which involved three pit stops, but you have to accept that, because he failed to get further than Q1 on Saturday, he had plenty of new tyres: everyone would want to be in that position, but you must remember he has a very good car, the quickest of the year so far. Nevertheless, we are always learning at this stage of the season and we should analyse everything very carefully to see if we should adopt a different approach, maybe modify our qualifying strategy to have some fresher tyres for the race. But after three Grands Prix it is still too early to say what is the best way to work with all these new rules, because in China at the weekend, you saw many different combinations of strategies and tyre useage and many of them seemed to work well. Nothing is one hundred percent clear yet and at Ferrari, we have to work out what is best for our car. It is possible that we could see very different strategies in the next few races, depending on the characteristics of the circuits.

In Shanghai, it was good for the sport of Formula 1 that Lewis won the race, so we don’t have the same car winning every time. However, we must not forget that Sebastian still finished second which is a very good result, which still keeps him in a good position for the championship. We have three weeks now during which everyone at Ferrari has to push hard to try and arrive at the next race, or more specifically the next qualifying, in a stronger position, so we can continue to take the fight to these guys. After Shanghai, we must also consider Mercedes as being part of the fight for the top places. They definitely have a quicker car than us for qualifying, but it’s not yet a match for Red Bull. But it is also true that the Red Bulls suffer more than most in a performance drop off from qualifying to the race, so this could see Mercedes continuing to be very competitive now in the races.

I am now preparing to leave Shanghai for home in Monaco. On Monday, I attended an event for a personal sponsor, Richard Mille who manufacture watches and in the evening I was at a dinner for Ferrari owners. Then before flying home, on Tuesday morning I was at the Shanghai Motor Show, making an appearance on the Ferrari stand, doing some press interviews and unveiling the Ferrari FF, the recently launched four wheel drive car, seen for the first time now in China. I am looking forward to this slightly longer than usual break at home before heading for Istanbul and I will be following very carefully the work going on at Maranello during this period.

Source: Ferrari.com

Sebastian Vettel blog: 'My Chinese learning curve'

He may have a 100% record so far this year but F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel is not about to take his foot off the gas as he prepares for the Chinese Grand Prix...


by Sebastian Vettel on Apr 15, 2011

'I can't believe how fast time passes. Just a few days ago we were celebrating victory in Malaysia and now we are in China.

I have to confess that I haven’t really expanded my Chinese vocabulary over the last year… I'm still no further than "Thank you" (Xiéxie) and "Bye" (Xiàcìjiàn) but I promise to try harder for 2012.

Looking ahead to the weekend I’m very optimistic, especially after our victories in Melbourne and Sepang. I think that this track will suit the RB7, and I think it will also suit KERS.

I know that, as a team, we had some difficulties with the system last weekend and had to deactivate it on my car for a short time, but it worked on my car for most of the race. The team will work very hard to make sure it will be fully functioning throughout the weekend.

And as always, we need to stay focused and do our best. I know we are winning now and people are already speculating about the title but we can't even think about that right now.

We have only won two races so far and we all know how fast things can change in F1. So there we won’t lie back and relax now.'

Source: Red Bull

Alonso's Blog: In China to seize every opportunity

I arrived in Shanghai this morning. Two days relaxing were much needed after what was a very tough weekend in Sepang and now I’m ready for the second race in as many weekends, which also brings to an end the first run of Grands Prix outside Europe. I was disappointed not to get to the podium in Malaysia, as it was within my reach and it would have been a great result. It would also have been useful in terms of being a nice morale booster. Unfortunately, things did not work out the way we wanted and we paid a very heavy price for the failure on the system that runs the moveable rear wing. I know that the engineers, with whom I’ve been in touch a lot over these past days, have discovered the problem and fixed it. If the system had worked, I could comfortably have got past Hamilton on the pit straight and I would not have found myself having to fight him wheel to wheel and taking risks. What happened is part of racing and you have to accept it: I was quicker than him and so I had to try and pass, otherwise I would have been caught by those behind us. As for the penalty I was given, I already said on Sunday night in Sepang, I don’t want to talk about it because it changes nothing.

As we had already seen in Australia, once again in Malaysia, our race pace was much better than that in qualifying. In Sepang, both Felipe and I were running at a pace good enough to get to the podium and that was an important indication, even if we did not end up getting all we could have done. Clearly, I would like to always be fighting for the win but, at the moment, one car, Vettel’s Red Bull, seems to be out of reach.

In Maranello, the engineers are working a lot to try and improve the performance of the 150º Italia. In Shanghai, we are due to try a new front wing and a few other aero updates: let’s hope they bring us something, but we will have to evaluate them very carefully in Friday’s practice. Our aim in this Grand Prix will be similar to the one in Malaysia, which means to make the best of qualifying and try to exploit any opportunity that comes our way during the race. It should be much cooler this weekend than in Sepang, more like what we experienced in Melbourne. Starting on Friday, we will see how the tyres behave and once again we have the Hard as the Prime compound and the Soft as the Option. Malaysia produced a different situation to the first race but we still need to work out how much was down to the temperatures and how much to the nature of the circuits, in terms of their layout and surface.

I spoke to President Montezemolo after the Malaysian race: he was not happy and why would he be, as I was not either. We know we need to react quickly to make up the gap to the championship leader. It’s true that if you compare the situation after the first two races of 2010 with this year, we are a long way behind: back then, yours truly was in the lead and Vettel was quite a way off, but it’s also true that, if you take into consideration the individual races in Australia and Malaysia, I have got eight points more than was the case last year. It’s a bit of a game, but it’s also a way to understand that there are different ways of looking at things, even direct opposites. Also not to be taken seriously was the joke our President made about a hypothetical fantasy government made up of drivers: I thank him for having thought of me for the role of premier, but I’d rather stick to racing!

Source: Ferrari.com

Sebastian Vettel blog: 'There's no need to panic'

There might be a few unknowns with tyres and KERS for Seb, but Red Bull Racing’s reigning F1 champion is far from uncomfortable at sweltering Sepang


by Sebastian Vettel on Apr 8, 2011

I was 17th quickest in practice on Friday morning, which was not very encouraging, but setting the fourth-fastest time in the afternoon was way better!

Today we were using KERS which, if it works as we hope, will help us improve our lap times.

Tyres don’t last very long in Malaysia, but that’s not a big secret. You really notice the degradation here. When we start racing, we’ll find out how long they last, but at the moment we’re happy with both the hard and soft compounds of the new Pirellis.

Mark [Webber] and I have been using the same strategy today, but he was just faster than me – in both practice sessions. His pace in the last sector was outstanding.

And this is not tactics on my part, I always want to go as fast as I can and no shilly-shallying…

Besides, it’s not a good idea to get caught with your trousers down on a Friday! But I’m certain I’ll improve my times tomorrow, so there’s no need to panic.

Source: Red Bull

Massa's Blog: All my thoughts are with Gustavo

Before getting on to what I’ve been doing in the lead up to the Malaysian Grand Prix, I wish to express my great sadness at the death of Gustavo Sondermann, killed as a result of a terrible accident which happened last Sunday at Interlagos, during a pick-up race, run as part of the Brazilian Stock Car championship. I knew him well and our fathers are friends: I feel great pain at his loss and definitely, all my thoughts are with him and his family at this difficult time. It would be nice if I could get a good result next Sunday in Malaysia which I could dedicate to him.

I have just arrived in Kuala Lumpur, having spent the days since the first Grand Prix, back home in Sao Paolo. I made the most of my time there, with family and friends, because after the Chinese Grand Prix, I will be based in Europe until the later stages of the championship. I have kept in touch on a regular basis with the engineers in Maranello, so I know I can expect some changes on the car when I get inside the cockpit again on Friday. No one at Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro was satisfied with our overall performance, nor the final result of the Australian Grand Prix and much work has gone into understanding why that race did not live up to our expectations and then to plan how to move forward this weekend.

Here in Malaysia for the second race, there will still be a lot of unanswered questions as we start practice, because if you compare Melbourne with Sepang, the difference is as clear as black and white. The Melbourne asphalt is not very abrasive, the temperature is cool, the track is more of a city track, even if it is a real race circuit and the corner types are very different. Sepang is very hot, it’s a proper race track, with a lot of high speed sections, fast corners and many changes of direction. Then from a physical point of view the difference is also obvious: driving Albert Park is very easy and you get out of the car at the end of the race feeling completely fresh, whereas in Malaysia you lose a lot of fluid and lose weight and generally it is much more demanding. For all these reasons, I expect to see a completely different performance from our team and from our car.

With the moveable rear wing, the situation will be interesting here, because for the moment, the plan is to be allowed to use DRS during the race on the straight in front of the pits, but at Sepang, the straight that runs back the other way is actually longer. It is also true that it would offer a higher chance of overtaking. So, we are waiting for the final decision from the FIA to see if we use DRS on the front straight, the back one or both. The right decision could make the race more interesting for drivers and the spectators too. Personally, I am not sure that allowing DRS on both straights is the best option, because I think it might actually make overtaking too easy. You have to get the right balance between helping the chances of overtaking and having almost too much passing. At Sepang, the two straights follow one another, so if you are quicker than the car ahead, you might not even try and pass on the first straight, preferring to get well prepared and as close as possible, before then having a simple overtaking move on the second straight.

Looking at the weather here, it seems inevitable that we will have the usual heavy showers at some point every afternoon, which will be interesting. So far, I have just had one day of testing on Pirelli rain tyres, at the Jerez test back in February, which is not enough to have a good understanding. We will have to be well prepared for any eventuality and it will be an interesting experiment seeing how the tyres work in both very hot and very wet conditions. This will therefore be a very important weekend for Pirelli after what was a relatively easy debut for them in Melbourne.

As a driver, there is not much you can do to deal with the hot conditions, but honestly, if you are fit enough there is not much else you need to do. I have tried various methods, such as soaking my overalls in cold water before the start. Whatever you do, this is going to be a tough race: it’s not just the hot conditions, because it is the humidity that makes it unpleasant. For example, we have raced in Bahrain in an ambient temperature of 40 degrees, but I did not even sweat in the car because there in the desert it is a very dry heat. In Malaysia the problem is the humidity which makes you suffer more, losing body fluids, which then affects your strength and your concentration. No matter how fit you are, you suffer more at this circuit than at others. At least the time I spent in Brazil was useful as it was very hot there too. Last year, we made a strategic mistake in the wet qualifying at Sepang and I started twenty first on the grid, eventually making it up to seventh at the end of Sunday’s race and we will be working hard to avoid a similar error: like I said, the key in Sepang is to be ready for anything.

Source: Ferrari.com

Massa's Blog: Hot days in Sao Paulo

I arrived home in Sao Paolo on Monday and looking back at the weekend, after what seemed like a long time of preparation and testing, it felt good to have finally gone racing again in Melbourne, because while developing the car in testing is enjoyable work, the thing we drivers like best is fighting against other drivers on track. The Australian Grand Prix did not go the way myself and the team had expected, as we were not as competitive as we had thought we would be, based on the winter performance. If there is one lesson we take away with us after the opening round is that we have a lot of work to do. We urgently need to find out exactly what happened in Australia, understanding what we did and what the other teams did. We did not come away with as many points as we thought we could score in the first race, so we have to get back to where we want to be by the next race.

I was asked many times over last weekend what surprised me most, the pace of the Red Bulls or of the McLarens. The answer is that I was more surprised by Red Bull, because what Vettel did in qualifying was very impressive. It’s true that McLaren seemed to have made a step forward, but Red Bull was really far ahead of everyone else. As for ourselves, our car is better than it looked in Melbourne and it is hard to explain exactly why we failed to deliver, which is why we have to arrive in Malaysia with the car we actually built, not the car we raced last weekend.

We did not have to wait long to see the effect of the adjustable rear wing and KERS on the racing, with my fight in the early part with Jenson. You could see he could get much closer to me on the straight: even if he did not manage to get very close on the previous corner, by the end of the straight he was alongside me. Clearly the rear wing helped him, although in the end, he only got past me by cutting the corner. During the battle, I feel I did a very good job of defending my position by using KERS, knowing how to save the power until it was time to use it at exactly the right moment so he could not get past. But it’s definitely easier to be the attacker than the defender in this situation. I’m sure it was exciting for the spectators and it was a shame that after the incident I did not have the pace to keep fighting him. I expected him to give back the position after he got by, because the rules are clear you must do this if you cut a chicane and Jenson is experienced enough to know that, without having to wait for the team to tell him what to do. After he got by, Alonso also got past me, as I ended up being quite slow because of the fight with Jenson. And given that Fernando pitted before me, that left Jenson with another chance to give me back position but he did not. Later in the race, I passed Buemi, because I had better tyres than him and I could use the wing as well. To be honest it was not that easy, because even if the wing helped me get close I could not pull alongside, as we did not have the best top speed last weekend, but in the end, I braked much later than him because of the better tyres and got by that way.

Now I am spending just a few days in Brazil, for what is my last visit here for a few months and it is also useful to help prepare for the next race in Malaysia, as it is very hot at the moment in Sao Paolo. Then on Sunday, I fly to Kuala Lumpur when I hope that we can begin to prepare for a more competitive race weekend.

Source: Ferrari.com

Alonso's Blog: An uphill start but no dramas

It wasn’t the start that we all wanted but nor is it anything to get worried about. I already said it yesterday evening at the track: 12 points is not far below the world champion’s average last year and two title contenders finished behind me. So overall the Australian Grand Prix can’t be defined as disastrous. Certainly, in qualifying we were very far from Vettel’s Red Bull and far from Hamilton’s McLaren but in the race the situation improved – perhaps not compared to Sebastian but certainly against the others. The start was a pity: if I hadn’t found myself down in 9th place at the beginning of the first lap I’d have been able to fight to the finish for the two lower steps of the podium.

I’m not one of those who believes a degree of temperature here or there can determine major changes in the performance of the car on the track. So I don’t agree that the fact that yesterday was hotter compared to Saturday necessarily played into our favour. On Friday, when temperatures were similar to those during qualifying, the car went very well. The next day, from the morning, it wasn’t so good and we have to understand why that happened by carefully analysing the data.

For me there weren’t any big surprises this weekend, particularly because I didn’t arrive in Melbourne with a clear idea of how the grid would line up. From the tests, especially this year, it was difficult to have a realistic picture of the situation. The only positive surprise was the behaviour of the Pirelli tyres which, at least at Albert Park, showed less degradation than what we saw at the test. We will see how things go in Malaysia at Sepang, on a track that is very different to the semi-street circuit of Albert Park.

I’ve stayed in Australia and I will remain here until the beginning of next week, when I will head to Malaysia. It’s important to prepare very well for the next two rounds, which are back-to-back. They are both very demanding from the physical point of view, especially Sepang where we drive in very high temperatures.

Source: Ferrari.com

Massa's Blog: I’m ready to race

It’s time to go! When you will read my words, I will be flying from Sao Paolo to Melbourne. It is the longest flight of the year for me, but I can’t wait to get going: I’m ready to race and I think the whole team is well prepared after doing so many laps over all the days of winter testing, even more than we had planned in the end. The car appears to be reliable, but on its own this is not enough as the car needs to be quick too. For the moment, reliability has been good and I don’t think we can complain about performance, but we won’t have a clear picture until all the teams are together on track in Melbourne.

The start of a new season is always a thrilling time and this year we have plenty of novelties to get used to, even if KERS is something we understand well having already used it in 2009. Actually in terms of running the adjustable rear wing, we did thousands of laps using it, so we are fully aware of how to run it – you press a button, the wing moves and drag is reduced and I would estimate the car goes between 12 and 15 km/h quicker than before on the straight. In practice and in qualifying, you can use the wing as much as you want, even on the shortest straights. This is something we concentrated on a lot during the winter, so that it becomes an automatic reflex for the driver as you drive the car. That means we have a good understanding of how to use it to improve performance and lap times, but when it comes to using it in the race, when you cannot use it all the time and it is simply an aid to overtaking, then in this situation, we do not have a clear picture of how effective it will be. I am sure it can help, but we must wait and see what is the true situation in a race.

Before I drove the car for the first time in testing, I was really concerned about what it would be like having all these systems to control and buttons to press, with the wing, with KERS and so on. Then, after the first few days of testing it started to become automatic and, together with the engineers, we came up with some good methods to be able to operate these systems without affecting your concentration and your visibility of the track without taking your eyes off the road.

While KERS and the rear wing will have an impact on the races, the biggest change of all in terms of its influence on the character of the race weekend is perhaps also the simplest, which means the arrival of Pirelli as the tyre supplier. Getting to understand the new tyres has been one of the most interesting aspects of the winter tests and for my part, it’s true I don’t have any difficulty warming up the tyres which was a big problem for me last year. With the high degradation we are seeing, the races will be very different and we will need to pit several times, whereas last year many races needed just one stop. It will also be interesting to see how the tyres operate when we reach the warmer countries, although maybe not Australia, as it is not expected to be so hot in Melbourne next week. Also, the difference between the soft and hard compounds is far greater which might even change the way you approach with a view to what tyre you will then use to start the race the next day. Certainly the drivers will have more influence over when we make the pit stops in the race: of course there will be a plan regarding our strategy made before the event, but I expect the situations to change far more quickly during the races with a driver feeling when tyre degradation is starting and choosing to pit early to get ahead of the car in front, or in the case of a safety car period. It will be very different and maybe more exciting for the spectators.

I’m happy to be starting the season in Australia, although I am also disappointed not to be going to Bahrain from a racing point of view. I really liked going there, as the track seemed to suit me very well and also the team, because Ferrari has won so many races there. But, when you build an F1 car, you build it to be good at every track, so wherever the championship starts you have to go there thinking of the victory and I will be concentrating on doing my best in Melbourne, even if the Albert Park circuit has not been a very successful venue for me, or a lucky one, as I’ve had a few accidents there. Last year was better as I got my best ever result here finishing third on the podium. I hope this time we can have a great start to the season in Australia and I am optimistic about our chances, based on the reliability we have shown so far and I can’t wait for us to measure up against the other teams and see where we stand.

Source: Ferrari.com

Alonso's Blog: In love with Ferrari

Waking up was hard after yesterday’s disappointment, I can’t deny it. It hurts to come so close to the goal and see it slip away like that, but that’s the way sport goes and we have to accept it. The closing chapter of the season must not erase all the positive things that we’ve done this year. And – I repeat – for me it’s been a top year. There have been wonderful moments, such as the Monza podium, that will stay in my memory and the bitter end will never be able to cancel them out.

Now it’s pointless to try and work out who got things wrong: a world championship that slips away by four points after 19 races can be lost on so many occasions, not just at the end. We are a team: we win and we lose all together. I’m happy to be at Ferrari – to feel, together with all the men and women who work here the pride of being a part of this family and this extraordinary history. We are a great group and we will show that – especially in this hardest of moments where this bitter taste will be felt inside every one of us. I know that at Maranello everyone will be working hard on the new car to try to be even more competitive at the start of next year. I know that here at Yas Marina the mechanics are again on track preparing for a week of testing. I can’t wait to get back involved on Friday when I’ll return to Abu Dhabi to try out the new Pirelli tyres on Saturday. This is the spirit of our people: they want to react straightaway, to work even harder to chase victory. That has made me fall in love with Ferrari even more today than ever.

Source: Ferrari.com

Wales Rally GB driver blog: Kimi Räikkönen

For the last Pirelli driver blog of the season we've entrusted the wrc.com laptop to 2007 Formula 1 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen

Kimi sent this second update at the end of Saturday’s competition.

Blog two: Saturday 13 November, 2100hrs.

“Well, here we are. I never thought that I would be so pleased to see Cardiff again. But there are two reasons to be happy. Firstly, it’s stopped raining. Secondly, we’ve had a really good day.

The first day of the rally on Friday was a little bit of a shock, because while I expected it to be difficult, I didn’t expect it to be that difficult. I thought that it might be because of the rain but today was a lot drier and it was still slippery. So it must be just how these roads are.

I think the biggest difficulty is that the amount of grip that there is doesn’t really match up to the amount of grip that you think there is. So you might see a corner that you think looks OK, but in actual fact it’s like driving on a road made of banana skins. On the other hand, you might then see a corner that looks like a skating rink, but then when you get there the grip is actually OK.

So how do you tell the difference? If I knew that, I suppose I would be leading the rally...

But for me it was always going to be a question of learning step by step. We started the day 10th and ended it eighth, which is always good. Sure, some of that is because Ogier went off. But the fact is that he made a mistake and we didn’t, which shows that we are learning.

It wasn’t a completely perfect day. We had a broken front-left spring in the morning, which cost us a bit of time, and then in the evening our light pod wasn’t perfectly adjusted. But these were just small things, and in rallying you have to learn how to drive around problems. So that’s what we tried to do.

We can’t take anything for granted tomorrow, as we’ve still got the Resolfen stage to drive twice, which is sure to be very tricky. I’m discovering new things all the time, and I know that I’ve said this before, but Rally GB is definitely one of the most complicated rallies that I have faced all year.

I’d really like to finish my first season in a positive way, so tomorrow we’re determined to get to the end and score some points. If we can do that, it will be mission accomplished.”

Source: WRC - Pirelli

Wales Rally GB driver blog: Kimi Räikkönen

For the last Pirelli driver blog of the season we've entrusted the wrc.com laptop to 2007 Formula 1 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen

Räikkönen has never tackled the British round of the championship before, so it represents another leap into the unknown for the Finn, who drives a Citroën C4 World Rally Car for the French manufacturer’s Junior team.

As always though, he is able to rely on co-driver Kaj Lindström to guide him through all the potential pitfalls. Kaj has plenty of experience of Great Britain, having even taken part in - and won - the British Rally Championship.

Kimi sent this first update just before the rally opening Superspecial.

Blog one: Thursday 11 November, 1800hrs.

“I’ve been in motorsport for a few years now, so you would have thought that I should be used to it by now. But every season I’m always surprised by just how quickly the year has gone - especially this year.

It feels like my first rally of the season, in Finland on the Arctic Rally in January, was like yesterday. Or is that just because it’s so cold here in Wales? Actually, I’m used to the British weather now because I lived for a few years in England. My house was in Essex, where they filmed ‘Footballers’ Wives’. That’s all it’s really famous for I think...

I’ve heard a lot about Rally GB and it’s always been good for Finnish drivers for some reason. We’ll have to wait and see if it’s good for this particular Finnish driver but one thing is for sure: it looks extremely tricky.

There’s going to be a lot of mud, which is something that you don’t see in Formula One very often - unless you happen to be in a gravel trap. We start quite a long way down the order tomorrow and that’s not going to help us because the roads will be in bad condition by the time we get there.

In the end though it doesn’t matter because we’re not here to set really quick times: we just want to learn and above all get to the finish of the rally. We’ve made a lot of progress this year and if we can end the season by scoring some points, this would be really good. Hopefully I’ll get a bit of help from my co-driver Kaj: he’s a former British Rally Champion, so he should know his way round. Or at least that’s what I’m hoping.

A lot of people have been asking me what I’m doing next year and the truth is that I really don’t know. My management is working on a few options, but rallying is definitely what we are looking at; I’m not going back to Formula One next year.

Obviously it makes things a bit easier if we can end the season with a strong result, so that’s what we’re going to be concentrating on this weekend. Rallying is all about experience, so with everything we’ve learned so far, I’m sure we’re going to be in a much stronger position next year. If we’ve not drowned in all the rain by then...”

Source: WRC - Pirelli

Alonso's Blog: A weekend to get everything right

I arrived in Abu Dhabi yesterday evening, straight from Sao Paulo in Brazil. It was a long flight but I still managed to rest. Then I made a quick trip to the circuit where I met the team and fitted in a lap of the track on a bicycle.

Our approach hasn’t changed for this all-important race: we know that if we get everything perfectly right, then we will have the chance to reach the target that we set ourselves at the beginning of the season.

The Interlagos result allows us to be in charge of our own destiny: with a win or a second place we won’t need any more calculations. We can do it, even if we know our principal opponents are very strong: so far, perhaps apart from one race, theirs has been the best car on every type of circuit. That still doesn’t mean we expect to be beaten – anything but.

This evening, after taking part in an event organised by our partner Shell, I visited Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, the theme park dedicated to Maranello that towers next to the circuit. The structure already dominated the view last year but to see it finished offers another impression altogether. Inside you can really live the emotion of a day inside the Ferrari world, from the speed of Formula 1 to the style and technology of the road cars.

From tomorrow we will concentrate totally on preparation for this race. We are at the final round of a season that will remain wonderful whatever happens. We aim to complete it in the best way – and rest assured we’ll be giving everything to achieve it!

Source: Ferrari.com

Massa's Blog: Taking points from Fernando's rivals

I have just arrived in Abu Dhabi, having left Sao Paolo on Monday night and, apart from the fact that I was racing in Brazil, in front of my home crowd, I can think of very little that was the good about the weekend in Interlagos. Qualifying did not go so well and then the problem with the wheel nut during my pit stop meant that my race was effectively over, as I had to come back in on the very next lap to change wheels again. If it had not been for that, I think I could have ended the race in the top five, which would have been a reasonable performance. From that point on, the race was very tough with so many cars in front of me. The situation with the traffic was particularly tricky and confusing. For example, at one point, Rosberg let me pass him and I did not understand why, but I think there was a bit of confusion with some drivers racing each other on the same lap being shown the blue flag by mistake. When the Safety Car came out, the situation got even more complicated. In my opinion, it was better when the rules allowed cars to un-lap themselves when they were behind the Safety Car, as it would have made the racing more interesting. This is especially true when you consider the situation in the championship, because there were at least a couple of backmarkers between Vettel and Webber at the restart and a lot more between Webber and Fernando, so it was not particularly good in terms of the show.

But now, let's look forward rather than back, as it is time for the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi. This will be a completely new track for me, as I was unable to race here last year, the first time this Grand Prix was on the calendar. I have driven it on the simulator and I have also used a computer game to practice it more at home in Brazil right up to yesterday so that I have as much information as possible, even if it is never the same as actually driving the track itself. Even though I was not racing in 2009, I did attend the Grand Prix and I thought the facility was fantastic. For Ferrari, this is a special event, as the team has strong links with the area through our sponsors Mubadala and Etihad and now there is also the Ferrari theme park, just outside the race track. As we will be staying in Abu Dhabi for a week after the race, when we have the Young Driver test and then the Pirelli test, I hope to get some time to spend at the park, which should be an enjoyable experience. Speaking of the Pirelli test, I am looking forward to it as it will be an interesting experience seeing what differences there are between them and Bridgestone, who have given us such good tyre service over so many years. It will be an important couple of days to get a good idea about tyre behaviour ahead of the winter break.

As for the Grand Prix itself, Ferrari is still in the fight for the Drivers' title and I really hope to be racing at the front, in the middle of the fight between the drivers still involved. If I can score some good points, taking them away from Fernando's rivals, it can be useful for him.

Source: Ferrari.com