Hamilton still 'trying to find balance'

Lewis Hamilton had only minor complaints about his first day of running in Canada, confident he can get his MP4-26 dialled in ahead of qualifying

Hamilton finished fourth quickest in Friday's second practice, clocking a 1:15.977, which put him just 0.870s behind Fernando Alonso.

However, it wasn't a perfect day for the McLaren driver, who suffered a puncture and also struggled to his car dialled in.

But despite those small issues, Hamilton is confident McLaren have the race-pace needed to fight at the front of the pack in Montreal.

"It was a very good session and a positive day for me. In P2, I think some debris from one of the incidents must have caused my puncture because I'd only just left the pits when I suddenly felt the rear sliding about," said the 26-year-old

"Nevertheless, we got through a lot of test components. I'm still trying to find the exact balance I need, and I'm not quite sure which direction I want to follow with my car, so I'll sit down with my engineers to analyse the data this evening.

"Our long-run pace is pretty good; the speed is there. It looks very close once again between Red Bull, Ferrari and ourselves, so we'll work on qualifying, get the car nicely dialled in and then I'll keep my fingers crossed."

Friday's running was marred by four accidents, three of which resulted in red flags. However, as Hamilton put it, that's the nature of Montreal, it leaves no room for error.

"It's surprising to see so many incidents here, but it's such a demanding and slippery circuit that I guess some people just got caught out today. We're all testing the limits of our cars and you can't blame people for trying.

"There's no room for mistakes around a place like this and, unfortunately, some people paid the price today - but they'll bounce back tomorrow."

Source: Planet-F1

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

Lewis Hamilton eyes strong result

Lewis Hamilton is relishing being amongst friends this weekend as he escapes the animosity that followed his on-and-off-track Monaco madness

Hamilton was forced to make a handful of apologies in the wake of his contentious sixth-placed finish in the principality 10 days ago.

Initially Hamilton "made peace" with the four-man panel of stewards after suggesting, via an apparent joke that badly backfired, that his skin colour lay at the heart of their decision making.

The 26-year-old vented his frustration against the stewards after being penalised three times over the course of the weekend, and five times in six races this year.

Hamilton was given drive-through penalties - one retrospectively - for causing a collision with first Felipe Massa in his Ferrari and then Williams' Pastor Maldonado, the latter at a time when he was on course to score his first points for the team.

The McLaren star described the Brazilian and Venezuelan as "ridiculous" during his post-race outburst, later apologising to both men via his Twitter account on which he had also been abused in the aftermath of what unfolded.

Hamilton has already made it clear a victory in one of his favourite races, the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend, will help put the stigma of what happened in and after Monte Carlo behind him.

Aiming for a third win in five races at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Hamilton said: "Montreal is a very special place for me.

"It's where I took my first Formula One pole position and won my first race. I also won there last year from pole.

"I've always got on really well with the track as the layout seems to suit my driving style.

"Perhaps even more importantly the fans in Montreal, and everyone in North America who makes the trip to the city, are some of the best in the world.

"They are so positive, supportive and friendly. My trips to the city have been some of my favourite experiences in Formula One.

"I'm massively looking forward to arriving in Montreal to a friendly welcome."

With Hamilton currently 58 points adrift of reigning Champion and current leader Sebastian Vettel, he knows a third Canadian win is a must this weekend.

"Our car should be well suited to this track," said Hamilton, who led a McLaren one-two with Jenson Button a year ago.

"We have a great engine, the best KERS (power boost) system in the sport and excellent traction out of slow corners.

"All in all it's set to be another good weekend for us. I'll be looking for a strong result on Sunday."

Source: Planet-F1

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

Video: BBC - Lewis Hamilton fuming after Monaco 'weekend to forget'

Lewis Hamilton is furious after being called to the stewards about two incidents in the Monaco Grand Prix



Source: FiftyBuckss

Video: BBC F1 2011 - Lewis Hamilton bullish about his chances in Monaco Grand Prix

McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton believes this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix is his "best chance so far" of getting ahead of Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel, as "a driver can make more of a difference" around the principality's circuit than on other tracks



Source: FiftyBuckss

Hamilton: Not a disappointing result

Despite losing the Spanish GP by less than seven tenths of a second, Lewis Hamilton insists he's not disappointed

With everyone expecting the Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber to romp away to a 1-2 in Spain, the race was turned on its head when Fernando Alonso took the lead.

But it was all change after the second round of pit stops when Vettel and Hamilton emerged in first and second places.

And although the McLaren driver did his utmost to take the lead away from the reigning World Champ, it was not to be.

"I don't think we can be disappointed with today," said Hamilton, who had only words of praise for his McLaren team.

"The team did a fantastic job throughout the pit stops and throughout the weekend, they put us in a fighting position.

"We got the best start and were able to keep up with the Red Bulls and Mark (Webber) in particular as Fernando (Alonso) was holding the Red Bulls up.

"As the race went on we had some serious pace but it was very tough to get past Seb at the end, they were massively quick in high speed corners and in the last corner his downforce was incredibly clear.

"Nonetheless I gave my all and to move forward and score some good points and retain second place is great."

The latter stage of the grand prix saw an intense fight between Vettel and Hamilton with the McLaren driver dogging the German lap after lap.

However, the Brit concedes that even though McLaren have improved their car, the Red Bull is still the quicker of the two.

"We did a great job considering their car is a good step faster than ours," he said.

"Our race pace has improved since last race, that was the positive.

"I wasn't able to follow through high speed Turn 3, obviously Turn 9 and the last corner, I was never able to get close enough to maintain the gap and then able to use the DRS.

"But I am very happy with the job both me and Jenson did and to be able to apply pressure to Red Bull considering the circumstances is good."

Source: Planet-F1

Lewis Hamilton: Button is my best team-mate

Lewis Hamilton insists Jenson Button is the best team-mate he has had in Formula One

The McLaren duo are contesting their second season together, against the backdrop of suggestions last year they do not get on.

But Hamilton, 26, put that one to rest by confirming he rates 2009 world champion Button the bee's knees.

Hamilton, gunning for his second victory of 2011 in this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, said: "To be a good driver, it's not only about speed.

"It's about your presence in the team, the comments you make, your persona and your behaviour when you win and when you lose. Jenson is definitely the best overall package I've been up against."

Hamilton trails Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel in the world championship by 34 points. Button is another 13 points behind, in fourth place behind Vettel's partner Mark Webber.

The Red Bull drivers have had their in-house rows but remain a huge obstacle to Hamilton as he seeks to add to his 2008 world crown.

Hamilton admitted: "I have to beat Red Bull. They have the best car.

"The last time I drove at Barcelona, during winter testing, the car had no grip. I've downforce now and I'll be more competitive in the race."

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes have transformed the performance of their MP4-26 car in recent weeks.

The team completed fewer laps in winter testing than anyone else due to reliability problems. But Hamilton and Button have finished every race this year.

Hamilton also expects a close battle with local hero Fernando Alonso.

The double world champion finished one place ahead of the Brit in Turkey last time out and the Ferrari star will have the crowd's support in his home race.

Hamilton said: "There's mutual respect between us. He has some serious talent. He's very, very quick but not impossible to beat. No one is."

The McLaren duo will be boosted by more than 10 new upgrades this weekend.

McLaren's engineering director Tim Goss said: "We have about 10-12 upgrades, some of which will be recognisable from the outside and some that will not be."

Vodafone UK is giving all its customers the chance to be at some of Britain's best events, including exclusive behind-the-scenes tours of the McLaren Technology Centre and the chance to win tickets to the 2011 Formula One Santander British Grand Prix.

Source: The Sun

Q&A with Lewis Hamilton after Istanbul

"Things didn’t really come together in the race"

Fourth place in Turkey was a pretty satisfying result at the end of a somewhat unsatisfying weekend, wasn’t it?

“Yeah, I think it was a realistic result. I think that, if everything had come together, then we might have been able to get onto the podium. I think we had the pace but things didn’t really come together in the race: I had a bit of a scrappy start and then lost ground to the leaders, so fourth was pretty satisfactory. It could’ve been worse.

“And I think Sunday showed how close it is among the top teams: we saw at the weekend how strong Mercedes GP and Ferrari can be when they have a clear run at a weekend. But we also know that we didn’t really get the maximum from the package we expected to run in Turkey. As always, we’re fighting to bring lots of new parts to the track, and it isn’t always possible to run them either from a performance or reliability point of view.

“Even before first practice, we knew we were going to have to scale back our ambitions on the development front for this particular race. Of course, that’s disappointing but you have to look at the bigger picture: the championship will be won through consistency, so it’s better to score points with a decent result than risk a non-finish through a reliability failure despite having greater performance.”

You had a great tussle with Jenson out on the track did that bring back memories of last year?

“Only in the sense that it was a fair fight. We respect each other both as drivers and people; and I know that, when I’m racing Jenson, it’ll always be clean and fair he’s a driver you can really depend on in a close situation.

“It was good to have a little battle with him – but last year, too, it was for first position; this year, we were only fighting for the minor placings so it wasn’t as much fun. Still, I enjoy racing with KERS Hybrid and DRS it makes it more entertaining for the drivers and the fans. I think anything that makes the racing more exciting should be applauded and we’ve definitely had four interesting races so far this year.

“Sure, you don’t always win – and sometimes the system actually works against you, because it can make you vulnerable when you’re the car in front but, in general, I like the new rule-changes this year.”

There now look to be four teams in with a shot at winning races does that make your job harder?

“At the start of the season, we certainly expected Ferrari and Mercedes GP to be competitive – and, even when they couldn’t quite deliver on their winter testing performance in the first three races, we knew it was only a matter of time before they got back into their stride. So seeing their pace at Turkey wasn’t a surprise it was actually more of a surprise that they hadn’t shown it since the start of the season.

“Having more teams in the fight works both ways – it makes it harder to score good points if you’ve got lots of other drivers taking points off each other, but on the flipside, it should make it harder for anyone to decisively pull ahead in the points table which was something we saw last year.

“It didn’t work out for us in Turkey but I’m already looking ahead to Barcelona – it’s a circuit where I’ve never won, so it would be a great boost for the team if we can get a great result there next week.”

Source: NextgenAuto

Q&A with Jenson Button after Istanbul

Jenson Button says he'll put Turkey "down to experience and move on" after he lost out due to his three-stop strategy...

Q: Turkey was a race where you seemed to hold all the right cards yet couldn't play them at the right times...
JB: "Yeah, pretty much. I think, like everyone else, we went into the race believing that a three-stopper was the best strategy. And while it quickly became quite apparent that most people were being pushed into a four-stopper, I looked after the tyres in that first stint, managed to gain a few laps on the cars around me and still looked set to make a three-stop strategy work.

"I think we were on course for a decent result, but I suffered a bit when, in the team's attempt to get me into clear air, I was boxed a bit too soon into the tyres' life. Plus, I was released into traffic and then those earlier-than-necessary stops left me with a bit of a final stint, which meant that I really struggled for pace on tyres that were really past their best."

Q: And what do you draw from that?
JB: "It's disappointing because, from the cockpit, I didn't really do anything wrong - I drove a clean, strong race and looked after the tyres, but I suffered a bit as a result of that. As we've seen in the first three races, all the teams and drivers are on a steep learning curve with these tyres and we just have to notch this one down to experience and move on. I think we'll all learn something from Sunday and, hopefully, we can put it to good use as soon as possible.

"Besides, we didn't really have the pace in the car, to challenge for victory on Sunday. When you have the car beneath you that has good pace, it does make your strategy easier: when you're forced to push, you sometimes have to make a marginal call, or try to make a less-than-perfect strategy work. We never said it was easy, and it's good that we feel confident enough to make risky calls. I'll be heading into the next two races feeling more confident that we'll be back to our usual position up at the front."

Q: It looked like the team's performance took a knock at Turkey - do you think you'll bounce back in Spain and Monaco?
JB: "For Turkey, we'd planned to introduce a couple of useful upgrades, but for several reasons, we weren't able to get them onto the car. As we've said before, the championship battle is basically a development race, and we stumbled a little bit in Turkey because the progress that we'd anticipated making wasn't quite there.

"But I know how this team reacts - they won't have liked having fallen off the bubble in Turkey, and we feel pretty confident that we'll be able to get the pace and reliability from some of our planned upgrades, so I'm optimistic that we'll have those components back on the car for Barcelona.

"We're always developing new solutions, too, and I know that the designers are pushing hard on all fronts to make sure we're in a position to win more races."

Source: jensonbutton.com

Video: Start to blame for fourth in Turkey - Lewis Hamilton

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton says too much front wing at the start of the race was the reason he could only finish fourth at the Turkish Grand Prix



Source: FiftyBuckss

Lewis Hamilton: Start cost me second place

Lewis Hamilton believes he would have been in the fight for second place at the Turkish Grand Prix had he not lost out at the start to Mark Webber in turn three.

Hamilton made a reasonable start from the dirty side of the grid and attempted to pass Webber ahead of him out of the first sequence of corners. However, he got stuck on the outside of the Red Bull and lost traction, putting him behind Fernando Alonso and team-mate Jenson Button.

"I had a good start and probably should have been up to third at the start of the race," he told the BBC. "I could have been battling for second in this race but we came out in fourth in the end."

His tyres then started to degrade more quickly than the cars around him as he tried to fight back past his team-mate Jenson Button, setting up one of the closest battles of the race.

"I had such great pace and in actual fact I had too much front wing on the car to start off with and that was one of the reasons I struggled to look after the rear tyres, because it's better to drive a car with a bit of understeer and I had too much front end," he said. "Obviously when I was trying to get past Jenson I had so much pace, but by the time I did get past I had nothing left in my tyres and that pushed me into a four stopper. But considering we had a bad pit stop as well we did well to get back up to fourth place. But the battle was good and Jenson was fair all the way through it - we look forward to the next race."

Source: ESPNF1

Button: Strategy was wrong

Jenson Button: It's a pity to finish so far back after everything in the first stint seemed to go so well. Strategy-wise, I don't think we got it right today

Jenson Button has said his strategy was to blame after only finishing sixth in today's Turkish Grand Prix.

Button, who opted to three-stop, was running fourth in the closing stages, but on worn tyres he was powerless to fight off his team-mate, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, who both four-stopped, and he eventually finished more than 10 seconds behind the latter.

“It's a pity to finish so far back after everything in the first stint seemed to go so well,” Button lamented. “Strategy-wise, I don't think we got it right today.

“My battle with Lewis [early on] was great fun and there was a lot of excitement on the track, but I was disappointed to finish where I did: the car felt very good but we just went the wrong way on strategy.

“I think most people probably started the race aiming for a three-stopper, but because many of them damaged their tyres in the first stint, they changed their approach. We didn't, and I was able to put a couple of laps on everyone and my tyres still felt pretty good – but I felt the next two stops were earlier than the tyres could have done, which is disappointing.

“We didn't leave the stops late enough – the tyres were still good at the end of every stop, so we should have stayed out longer because it just made the last stint extremely difficult.

“During the final stint, I was trying to get the best out of the car but it's so hard because the difference in pace between a fresh and used set of tyres is so great.”

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh meanwhile concurred it was a mistake to three-stop: “Jenson was the quickest of the three-stoppers, but with hindsight it probably wasn't the optimal strategy, and consequently he struggled a bit – through no fault of his own.”

Source: Crash.net

Hamilton: Not pole but better than nothing

Lewis Hamilton is adamant he's "in the fight" for the Turkish GP victory after qualifying in fourth place for Sunday's race

The McLaren driver, the winner of the last grand prix in China, was one of the favourites to at least secure a spot on the front row of the Istanbul grid.

However, he had no answer to the pace of the Red Bulls while Nico Rosberg also put his resurgent Mercedes GP ahead of the McLaren driver.

"It's not pole position but it's better than nothing," Hamilton told the BBC.

"We're starting on the dirty side, but we're in the fight.

"We're not far away but now you see the Mercedes have picked up their pace and also the Ferraris have.

"I'm looking forward to a strong race. It's a long one here but there are chances to overtake and it should be good."

The one thing, though, that Hamilton doesn't have which aided his climb to the top step of the podium in China is an extra set of the softer option tyres.

And that, he admits, could cost him this Sunday.

"We don't have an extra set, we went out, whether that was right or not I don't know."

Source: Planet-F1

Leading teams to meet for talks on potential takeover and Formula One's future

Four of Formula One’s biggest teams will meet in Germany this month for summit talks regarding the future of the sport

Representatives from Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull are scheduled to meet in Stuttgart a week on Saturday to discuss a range of issues including negotiations over the new Concorde Agreement, various technical regulations including the planned switch to a new 1.6-litre turbo engine from 2013 and, of course, the potential takeover of the sport by a consortium including Rupert Murdoch’s News International and Exor, an investment firm with links to Ferrari.

On Tuesday night, News Corp and Exor released a joint statement confirming their intention to approach the sport’s stakeholders regarding a takeover.

CVC, Formula One’s owners, responded by claiming that the sport was currently not for sale but leaving the door open for a bid.

McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull are likely to grill Ferrari on their intentions with regard to the News Corp-Exor partnership. They may even investigate the possibility of joining the consortium themselves and trying to become joint owners in Formula One.

Former team boss Eddie Jordan said on Wednesday that the News Corp-Exor takeover was “just posturing” and there are many who believe that the teams led as usual by Ferrari are trying to use the threat of a takeover, or a breakaway series, to extract a better deal from F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

Source: The Telegraph

Hamilton: The thrill will continue

Having ended Sebastian Vettel's perfect start, Lewis Hamilton heads to the Turkish GP looking for ways to further close the gap on the defending Champion

When Vettel won the opening two races of the season and took his third straight pole position in China, talk was building that the German driver's lightning-quick Red Bull would be impossible to catch - until Hamilton beat him at the Chinese GP last month.

With the season heading into Europe for the first time, Vettel holds a 21-point lead over Hamilton and is 30 ahead of the Briton's McLaren team-mate Jenson Button. Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber is a point behind Button in fourth.

Hamilton, the F1 Champion in 2008, thinks the suspense is just beginning and predicts further twists in Istanbul.

"There's every reason to believe that the run of interesting and exciting races will continue," he said. "I won this race last year and Istanbul Park is a circuit I really enjoy."

Vettel was undone by McLaren's strategy in Shanghai, where Hamilton took one more pit stop and had fresher tyres in the closing stages.

But it will take more than one glitch to upset the 23-year-old Vettel, whose cool temperament is already a hallmark.

"We have to respect our competitors," Vettel said. "People are pushing hard, but we are pushing very hard too to maintain our strengths."

Tire strategy is likely to prove crucial again in Istanbul, especially given the cooler temperatures than usual.

"We'll be seeing drivers working quite hard to look after their tires throughout the race, particularly in Turn Eight, which is fast and bumpy," Hamilton said. "It's one of the most demanding corners for tyres anywhere on the calendar."

The weather could also dictate how quickly the Pirelli tyres degrade.

"It's going to be a bit colder than we're used to," Button said. "The race is three weeks earlier in the season than it was last year, and that might also have an effect."

Red Bull will be hoping history does not repeat itself in Istanbul. Vettel and Webber lost out on a 1-2 sweep last year when their wheels touched as Vettel passed Webber on the inside, forcing Vettel to spin out of the race.

That gifted Hamilton and Button a 1-2 finish, and sparked a feud between the Red Bull drivers that lingered until the end of the season.

Webber has had to watch Vettel dominate so far this year, but the Australian thrilled fans with an inspired drive in China as he carved his way through the field after starting 18th to finish third.

That means Vettel now has Webber to contend with again, along with the resurgent McLarens, the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, and the aggressive Renaults of Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov.

"Sebastian is very fast, he's got a notable temperament and now he's also got a decent amount of experience," Webber said. "But he's not unbeatable."

Alonso, meanwhile, needs a strong performance to avoid slipping out of contention for the Championship. The two-time former World Champion has yet to finish on the podium this season and is already 42 points adrift.

Alonso's best result was fourth at the season-opener in Australia, but the Spaniard finished behind his team-mate Felipe Massa when finishing sixth in Malaysia and seventh in Shanghai.

Ferrari's lack of pace compared to the Red Bulls and McLarens has been alarming, although engineers have been working hard on improving the aerodynamics in the three weeks since Shanghai.

"We are going through a difficult period and there is no point denying that our start to the season was a disappointing one," Ferrari's chief designer Nikolas Tombazis said.

"We have tried to see if our approach was too conservative and we realized that, for various reasons, we were neither reactive nor aggressive enough in the development stages."

Aggression has not been lacking in Heidfeld and Petrov, with each getting a third-place finish - Heidfeld in Sepang and Petrov in Melbourne.

"We've shown over the first three races that we have a good car," Heidfeld said. "Istanbul could be very interesting because it is the first European race and a lot of teams will bring updates - including us."

Istanbul's circuit features Turn Eight - the 640-meter corner is the longest of the season - and its layout should give Hamilton and other challengers plenty of chances to attack Vettel.

"It is quite a wide track which makes it quite safe," Petrov said. "Overtaking maneuvers are possible so that should help make a great race."

Source: Planet-F1

Jense plans to end F1 career at McLaren

Jenson Button has reiterated his desire to see out his Formula One career with McLaren

The 31-year-old's three-year contract with the team expires at the end of the 2012 season, but both parties have previously indicated that they would be keen to extend the deal so that the "dream team" of Button and Lewis Hamilton remain intact for the foreseeable future.

Recent reports suggested that McLaren would be willing to spend up to £100m in order to retain their current line-up until 2017.

Button admits he is eager to remain part of the Woking-based outfit until he quits the sport.

"When I finish racing here, I won't be racing in Formula 1 anymore," Button told Autosport. "I'm very happy here. I want to enjoy my racing and I'm really enjoying my time here. I can't see any reason to be anywhere else.

"I'm driving for one of the best teams in the world. It's a position that most drivers would love to be in and I've worked very hard for it. I might be around for three years, five years... I don't know."

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh also gave the clearest indication yet that they are eager to hang onto Button's services.

"If Jenson says he is totally committed and wants to do x more years, then I suspect that we could quickly come to an agreement," Whitmarsh told Autosport. "He's a tremendous asset to the team and when we get around to that, I hope that it will be a quick and easy conversation."

Source: Planet-F1

Manager outlines Räikkönen’s racing plans

Kimi Räikkönen’s current racing agenda has been outlined to GPUpdate.net this week by the Finn’s long-term manager, Steve Robertson. The 18-time Grand Prix winner is currently contesting the World Rally Championship (WRC) with ICE 1 Racing and will continue to do so while embarking on his new NASCAR ambitions.

The ex-Sauber, McLaren and Ferrari Formula 1 driver signed a deal with Kyle Busch Motorsports earlier in April to compete in the NASCAR Truck Series and Robertson has explained that, if Räikkönen’s selected races prove enjoyable throughout the season, the 31-year-old could commit himself to the sport.

"He’s got a plan for this year, so he’s doing some races this year in the trucks and also the Nationwide cars," Robertson told GPUpdate.net.

"That’s happening very, very soon. Obviously he’s got a pretty heavy programme with WRC as well and he’s going to combine the both, which is not so easy to do, but that’s what he wants to do.

"But (his move to NASCAR is) with a view for possibly 2012 and 2013, but he wants to see if he enjoys it first before he makes a decision as to what he does."

Source: GPUpdate.net

Video: 2011 Formula 1 UBS Chinese Grand Prix Race Edit

Source: LewisWDC11

Mark Webber desperate for Red Bull to fix KERS

Mark Webber has warned Red Bull will fall off the pace quickly unless it can resolve its KERS curse

Formula One's leading team has struggled from the start of the season with the power-boosting device.

Despite either having KERS part-functioning or not working at all, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel managed to win the first two races and was second in China last week behind McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

Webber carved his way through the field from 18th to third in perhaps his best-ever drive but says Red Bull won't be able to hold McLaren at bay for long unless its KERS issue is fixed.

"McLaren have a huge amount of experience with Mercedes from 2009 and they're doing a good job of it, and that's not an excuse," Webber said.

"It means that we have to work harder, we have to work as cleverly as we can and as fast as we can.

"Fortunately, we now have a bit of a break, so it will be a clear focus for us in terms of durability and consistency and also understanding the system.

"We have awesome guys on the case. With the limited experience we have, that's the way it is and we're still going okay in the constructors' championship, so let's regroup, get to (the next race in) Turkey and work hard on it."

Webber said the KERS problem was doing more than just slowing down Red Bull's cars.

"It's not only a performance thing but it's also incredibly disrupting in the garage. My car was rebuilt about four times this weekend," he added.

"It makes it so much harder for them in terms of making mistakes, when you open a car up and put it back together all the time, it's not easy."

Webber has yet to run a working KERS in a race this season, and Vettel has only had it part-time at the last two grands prix.

According to Vettel, the lack of KERS cost him his third win of the season in Shanghai.

Team boss Christian Horner said Red Bull would make the reliability of their KERS a priority during the three-week break to the start of the European leg of the season in Turkey next month.

Source: Herald Sun