Massa's Blog: Everyone is pushing hard to improve the car

So far we have had two Grands Prix this season, producing the same winner and the same three teams on the podium, while Ferrari has not been part of that. If you are not winning, then of course you are not happy and you try and change the situation but the facts show that our situation is not as bad as some might say.

It’s true that in qualifying in both races so far, we were not quick enough and in Melbourne, even our race pace was not that impressive. However, in Malaysia our car had the performance on Sunday in the race. That is something we must keep up but in addition, even if this sounds like what we said last year, we need to push hard to improve our car’s performance over a single lap in qualifying. Over the winter, there was speculation that qualifying would be less important this year because of an expected increase in overtaking, but so far, we have seen that if you do not start at the front, life is more difficult for you, even if you have good pace.

Everyone in the team, back in the factory is pushing particularly hard to improve the car as soon as possible. But it’s hard to say how long a job that will be and of course I hope it will happen very quickly. In China we will have some updates and something new to be tested on Friday, whereas Turkey in a month’s time is when we can realistically expect to bring some significant updates for the car.

My race was spoilt by a problem at the first pit stop. The fact that we are definitely going to see more pit stops per race throughout the season means this is an area of teamwork, driver’s role included, that we have to be sure functions perfectly. Also, in Sepang, my problem occurred the first time I came in to change tyres which is the worst possible situation as it is in the early stages of a race that a delay can cost you the most track position and places, because all the cars are much closer to each other. If it happens late on in the race when positions have stabilised and maybe you have five seconds over the car behind, then you can get away with this sort of problem at a stop. It highlights the fact that this is a team sport and while the driver is a very important part of that, so too are the engineers and also the mechanics, this year even more so than before.

Another trend we are seeing is that there can be many changes of position in the closing stages of the race, as drivers perhaps try to get to the race finish without making a further stop for new tyres, despite suffering high degradation. That was clearly the case in Malaysia with a lot of overtaking in the final laps. That is why the strategy is even more important now, in order to get the tyre change sequence just right, so that you can avoid finding yourself fighting for position in the last few laps, while dealing with tyres that are no longer at their best. This is not just down to the engineers to chose the best moment, because now the driver really has to think about managing the tyre situation himself, to avoid destroying them too soon.

I arrive in Shanghai on Wednesday, having stayed on in Malaysia for a couple of days. I have finished twice on the podium in China, with a second and third place, but last year I was only ninth in that wet race. It’s a nice circuit to drive even if the weather can be unpredictable. In the past, even with the long straight, overtaking was quite difficult but the combination of the long straight and the moveable rear wing should make passing easier.

There is no panic at Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, because we know panic does not achieve anything. Everyone has to work together and push hard to solve these problems we currently have and move in the direction that will see us secure better results as soon as possible.

Source: Ferrari.com

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

Alonso's Blog: A weekend to tackle one day at a time

I arrived in Malaysia a few days ago, having stayed a while in Australia, on Hamilton Island. I decided to stay in this part of the world so as to be used to the local time zone, given we now take on two races in the Far East, first in Sepang and then in Shanghai. It’s important to get used to the weather conditions, especially here where the temperatures are around the 30 °C mark and, much more significantly, it’s very humid. I have done some sport, because it’s essential to keep training: in this race you lose a lot of liquid and it’s very tough driving in these conditions, so you need to be on top form to tackle the weekend properly. Being 100% ready in this respect can make all the difference on Sunday afternoon as even on a mental level, this race is very special.

The fact that the weather can change so quickly here makes the preparation work for the various phases of work on track more stressful. Suddenly it can go from sunshine to a short sharp shower and you need to be prepared for every eventuality. It’s not just a problem for us drivers, as its affects the whole team: in some cases you need to be ready with a plan B or C, or even maybe a D for all the various scenarios!

Luckily it’s not all been work, as I was able to have some fun too which is good as it helps you unwind at such a busy time: from the start of testing there hasn’t been much of a break in this bit of the season.

I stayed in touch with the engineers, via email and phone. We re-examined the way the weekend had gone in Melbourne and we discussed our preparations for here in Sepang. We know we have to improve our performance level, but we are equally aware that in the end, the race result was not such a disaster. We will have a few minor updates on the car, but nothing very significant, or the sort of thing you could say would be the key to take a leap forward in performance terms. I believe we must stay concentrated on our own work and try to understand how to get all the potential out of the 150° Italia and I’m sure there’s plenty to come. Before we achieve that, it’s pointless standing here making predictions about how the weekend will turn out. We just have to tackle it one day at a time.

My happiest memory of Sepang circuit goes back to my first ever pole position, which I secured on 22 March 2003. Neither myself, nor my team, Renault, had expected that sort of result on Saturday morning, but come the end of qualifying, we found ourselves with both cars on the front row. It was a very happy moment and I can still clearly remember how the afternoon went, then the dinner and Sunday morning, when I was thinking about what would happen in the race. Every time I come back here, I think of that weekend, at the happiness of taking pole and the feeling of trepidation going into the race. I did not win, as later happened in 2005 and 2007, but I was still third and so managed to jump up on the podium for the first time. It was definitely a weekend to remember for a long time!

Source: Ferrari.com

Webber chasing Sepang champagne

Mark Webber is confident Red Bull will find the cause of his lack of pace in Australia and rectify the problem before he heads to Malaysia

While his team-mate Sebastian Vettel dominated the Australian GP weekend, Webber came up short at his home race.

He was almost a full second slower than his Championship-winning team-mate in qualifying while on Sunday afternoon could only manage fifth place.

It was a disappointing result for the Red Bull driver, made more so by the fact that the team could not pin-point why was second best to Vettel.

The Aussie, though, has revealed that although the team found "a few pointers", they still aren't sure as to the reason behind his lack of pace.

"We found a few pointers in the data but we'll need to strip the car down before drawing any conclusions," Webber told The Telegraph.

"Only then will we know whether something was broken, or whether there was something fundamentally wrong with the car.

"More than anything, I struggled with a lack of grip. That affected the longevity of my Pirelli tyres because the degradation was much higher on my car than on Seb's.

"I was forced to make three pit stops during the race, whereas he dominated proceedings with a two-stop strategy."

But despite losing out to his team-mate Down Under, Webber reckons there could be champagne on the cards for him this Sunday in Malaysia.

"It always provides an interesting race, especially with the weather," the 34-year-old said.

"It's a great challenge for the driver too in terms of temperature and we'll need to see how the tyres go there.

"We got a lot of information from the first race and we expect our car to be good in Malaysia - I want to get some champagne and up on to the steps."

Source: Planet-F1

Yuni Li Yen Chin! Taiwanese model

Yuni Li is a model born on May 25, 1985. She represented Taiwan at the Miss International 2005 pageant.Her beautiful legs measure in at 115 cm, comprising 2/3 of her 173 cm body.
Name: Yuni Li Yen Chin
Chinese Name: Li Yanjin
Profession: Super Model
Country: Malaysia, Taiwan
Height: 170cm
Hobbies: Dancing, Writing
Birthday: 05/25
Awards: World Miss Chinese, UK Web Cam Girl

Gwen Lu is now strutting the runway with the prestigious Elite Model Management New York.

Gwen Lu is now strutting the runway with the prestigious Elite Model Management New York. It was not a “bed of roses” during her early attempts to enter the industry as they were nothing but disappointments. Lu finally got her big break when she won the Elite Model Look competition in 2005 and represented Malaysia at the international round in Shanghai. She has not looked back since.

Name: Gwen Lu / Gwen Loo
Place of birth: Penang, Malaysia
Height: 5′9.5″ ; 176cm
Measurements: (US) 32-24-34 ; (EU) 81-61-86.5
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Black
Dress Size: (US) 4 ; (EU) 34
Shoe Size: (US) 8.5 ; (EU) 39 ; (UK) 6
Hobbies: Studying photography and being an avid cinephile.

About Malaysia

Malaysia (pronounced /məˈleɪʒə/ mə-LAY-zhə or /məˈleɪziə/ mə-LAY-zee-ə) is a country in Southeast Asia consisting of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of 329,845 square kilometres (127,354 sq mi). The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million. The country is separated by the South China Sea into two regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo (also known as East Malaysia). Malaysia borders Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and Brunei. It is near the equator and has a tropical climate. Malaysia's head of state is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, an elected monarch, and the head of government is the Prime Minister. The government is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system.
Malaysia as a unified state did not exist until 1963. Previously, the United Kingdom had established influence in colonies in the territory from the late 18th century. The western half of modern Malaysia was composed of several separate kingdoms. This group of colonies was known as British Malaya until its dissolution in 1946, when it was reorganized as the Malayan Union. Due to widespread opposition, it was reorganized again as the Federation of Malaya in 1948 and later gained independence on 31 August 1957. Singapore, Sarawak, British North Borneo, and the Federation of Malaya merged to form Malaysia on 16 September 1963. Tensions in the early years of the new union sparked an armed conflict with Indonesia, and the expulsion of Singapore on 9 August 1965
During the late 20th century, Malaysia experienced an economic boom and underwent rapid development. It borders the Strait of Malacca, an important international shipping crossroad, and international trade is integral to its economy. Manufacturing makes up a major sector of the country's economy. Malaysia has a biodiverse range of flora and fauna, and is also considered one of the 17 megadiverse countries.

Alonso's Blog: Finally at home!

Posted by Fernando Alonso

Finally I'm back at home! I left on 8 March for Bahrain and was on the road until last night, for what was probably the longest journey of the season. I'm glad being back in Europe, especially because the result of this season's start if definitely positive. Despite the negative outcome of the race in Sepang it's a dream to be on the second place in the standings just two points behind the leader, who is also my teammate and that Ferrari is leading the Constructors' standings.

We had a very difficult weekend in Malaysia. It's a pity, because we had very high expectations and as far as our performance level was concerned we had the confirmation that our expectations are justified. We made a bad evaluation mistake in the qualifying and we paid for it in the race, where we also had reliability problems. Something like this can happen to anyone and we have to learn our lesson so we don't repeat certain mistakes.

I'm not worried about the reliability. I think that what provoked the engine failure was a one-off and the team told me that there is no connection to the problems Sauber had and none to the anomalies we had before we changed the engines on Sunday in Bahrain. As far as the performance is concerned, we were also competitive in Malaysia. Sepang was a track with different characteristics compared to the previous two and the F10 showed that it could adapt itself very well. We still have to improve benefiting from the tyres on the first timed lap, but the pace in the race is very good.

We now have a week of preparations for the Chinese GP ahead of us. This is a good occasion for us drivers to charge the batteries, while the team will work on some new elements, which might be brought to China, making the car faster. I think that the F10 adapts itself very well to the Shanghai circuit's characteristics and we can be optimistic. During the next races we have to try to get on the podium: being constantly amongst the top three means to be in a good position for the fight for the title.

Source: Alonso's Blog - Ferrari.com

Ecclestone: F1 2010 still needs spicing up

'Don't be fooled' by Malaysia and Australia, says Bernie Ecclestone, as change is still needed to ensure there isn't more 'Bore-rains' in F1 2010.

Bernie Ecclestone has that said action is still needed in order to ensure F1 2010 remains entertaining – and he has warned that the sport got 'lucky' in Malaysia and Australia.

After the season opener in Bahrain there were calls to take drastic measures to liven proceedings up. Indeed it wasn't for nothing that the first race was dubbed 'Bore-rain'.

However since then the events in Australia and Malaysia have been a lot better, although Ecclestone is conscious that nothing has been fixed as yet. Indeed rain at the start in Melbourne ensured the event was a thriller, while at Sepang on Sunday theFerrari's of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa and the McLaren's of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button all started out of position after a chaotic qualifying session, which left both outfits red-faced, when they were caught out by the changeable conditions.

Speaking to British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, Ecclestone added though that the lack of overtaking is still a real problem.

"Don't be fooled," he said prior to Sunday's grand prix. "We have been lucky with the rain. We have got to do something. For the first time the teams have realised that they have to do something about it. We don't need reverse grids, we just need more overtaking.

"Force India's Adrian Sutil, who scored his first points of the season in Malaysia, after holding off Lewis Hamilton to take fifth, meanwhile added though that the new rules for F1 2010 still need to be given time.

"I am really happy with the new rules. It's a challenge in the race. There was lots of action on the circuit in the last two races. Of course the rain in the qualifying [at Sepang] made a little mix on the grid but I don't think we should be concerned for boring races really this year," he noted.

"It just needs a bit of time until every body settles in but I like the racing and I think it's really good."

Source: Crash.net

Sebastian Vettel interview after the race - Malaysia 2010

Sebastian Vettel says Red Bull deserved their victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix as he finishes first ahead of team-mate Mark Webber

Source: YouTube

Kimi's fans at the Malaysian GP

Source: motorsport-magazin

Courtesy: _TaniaS_@ KROF

Lewis Hamilton Q&A: McLaren have taken a step forward

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton ruled the roost in Malaysia on Friday, setting the pace in both the morning and afternoon practice sessions. But while he’s confident his MP4-25 is performing well around the Sepang circuit, Hamilton believes there’s more work to do if he wants to clinch pole position on Saturday afternoon…

Q: Lewis, you were quite frustrated about the team’s strategy decision during the Australian Grand Prix…
Lewis Hamilton: I think the situation is understood. We sat down together afterwards. I went back to the garage and was happy for the guys. To see them all in the red (victory) t-shirts was a great feeling. Whether I win or my team mate wins, it’s a great feeling, because that is what we work so hard to get. It is the one special thing the team gets to experience during a race weekend. We make split-second decisions and we are also still trying to understand how long these tyres will last within the non-refuelling regulation. I don't think we thought the tyres would last that long.

Q: Was it particularly frustrating that you were in the process of working your way back up the field when you were called in?
LH: The most frustrating part naturally was being taken out. It is like climbing a ladder and then slipping down a couple of steps, after you have worked so hard to get to that point. That is all. That was the feeling. But it is motor racing and that is why motor racing is so exciting.

Q: Coming back to this weekend’s race, it was a pretty successful day for you on Friday…
LH: Yeah, it wasn’t bad! I have a good feeling in the car here, probably the best feeling for years. Every time you come to a track this year it always feels light years better than it was last year.

Q: Do you think you can claim pole position on Saturday?
LH: Our qualifying pace hasn’t been great at the last two races, so hopefully tomorrow will be a little bit better for us. It appears that we are quite competitive but we have to wait and see.

Q: Do you feel you have closed the gap to Red Bull and Ferrari?
LH: I don’t really know if we are closer to them but we definitely took a step forward, which is our aim at every race. We are trying to learn and to improve.

Q: Your team mate Jenson Button was quite unhappy with the balance of his car. Was everything all right for you?
LH: There are some changes that I need to make, but nothing too serious. I will sit down with the engineers to discuss the changes.

Q: What are your thoughts on the threat of rain for qualifying and the race in Malaysia? How are you preparing?
LH: Hopefully the weather will be okay on Saturday and on Sunday. What can you do? In regards to preparations, as I said we will go through the data, as we don’t know where everybody really is after FP1 and FP2. The important thing obviously is not to get too excited and do a similar job tomorrow.

Q: What do you think is the key to doing well at this track?
LH: This is a quite special circuit. It is very, very high speed. It is also a flowing circuit, not like at many other tracks where you start and stop, start and stop. You have to keep the car flowing and use all of the road, even the kerbs. You need to have a lot of rear-end support in the car, have good balance, and also a good front end. That’s hard to have, but on top of that it is very hot, which is hard on the tyres, so you have to have a car that is not too hard on the tyres. You have to drive a little bit differently than at other circuits and probably my experience is helping me a little bit.

Q: You just mentioned the tyres. How hard is it to look after them?
LH: The option tyres are always the hard ones to look after but each time you go out you learn more and more about the degradation and techniques to look after them. It is never easy when you have to look after them whilst putting the car on the limit and doing quick times.

Source: Formula1.com