Heidfeld excited at F1 return

Nick Heidfeld has expressed his excitement at getting back into Formula One, especially with the first race back being the Singapore Grand Prix.

"I can't wait to get back in the race car," said Heidfeld. "I'm not just very much looking forward to going racing again, as I regard it as a special bonus that my first race will be the Singapore Grand Prix. Two years ago this race immediately became one of my favourites."

Sauber has turned to Heidfeld as the replacement for Pedro de la Rosa for the remainder of the 2010 season and he is expecting the car to perform well this weekend.

"Of course I can hardly imagine how the circuit will suit the car as I haven't driven it yet, but according to everything I saw and from what I have heard, the performance should be better in Singapore compared to Monza. Another positive thing is we found out I probably can use my seat from last year.

"This does not only save a lot of work, but it also gives me a good feeling because it was a very good seat and normally you have to do a lot of fine tuning until it fits that well. I'm also very much looking forward to really getting to know James Key and my team-mate, Kamui [Kobayashi], and working with both of them."

Source: ESPNF1

[Belgian GP] Thursday's FIA Press Conference

Drivers: Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull). Q: Gentlemen, first of all, what did you do during the break? Pedro, with the family I guess?
Pedro de la Rosa: Yes, it has been a very good break. I was always with the family. We went to Majorca, on holiday, where we normally go. Great time I must say, very good. I did a lot of cycling and realised how bad I am at that, but it was very good.
Sebastien Buemi: I think everybody is the same. I spent some days in Switzerland with my family and then in Monaco and I was one week in Salzburg for some fitness tests, just to check out where we are in the middle of the season. It has been a good break and it was good to relax a bit.
Lewis Hamilton: For me I went straight from Hungary to the States and spent time out there with some friends and with the girlfriend, so it was good training, good weather, lots of sun and good food.
Michael Schumacher: I have been home with the family. I just took it easy.

Q: Nothing more than that? Lots of riding?
MS: No, other stuff but all from home.

Q: Sebastian?
Sebastian Vettel: I think like the majority of the drivers, a bit of holiday in the beginning and then as soon as I was back I tried to get back into the rhythm. Lots of training. The weather wasn’t always fantastic in the centre of Europe, but the usual stuff I guess. Then I tried to prepare to come back here.

Q: Pedro, the improvements that Sauber have made, can you maintain those?
PdlR: Well, we hope so. We have introduced quite a lot of changes since Valencia, already for Valencia and since and I think that we have raised our game. We are a lot more competitive, not only in high speed tracks like Silverstone but also in low speed tracks, corners, which were our weakest point like Hungary. That was good for us as we realised that all the changes had worked and we were targeting the right places and we were suddenly a lot more.... We have increased or widened our window of competitivity which is very important.

Q: And yet it was suggested that here you might be hurting a little bit on the straights?
PdlR: Yeah, we still have to do a lot to improve. Don’t get me wrong. We have improved our competitivity but we are still lacking in other areas. One of them is top speed. There are two sectors here - sector one and three - where you will rely heavily on top speed. Pretty sure that sector two will be quite good for us though.

Q: Sebastien, one of the things that I believe you did during the break was a certain amount of self-analysis; having a look at how the season had gone so far. Any changes for the rest of the season?
SB: Obviously when you have two races in a row it is a bit difficult to analyse well what we did well and what we did wrong, so I spent one or two days in Faenza just trying to look at it carefully. We know a little bit more where we have got to improve ourselves, especially in qualifying. This is the place where we seem to be lacking pace, especially with new tyres. We will try some new things on Friday and Saturday just to see if we can improve it a bit. If we can just start a little bit closer to the Q3 then it might help a lot in the race.

Q: Is there much more development coming from the factory? There doesn’t seem to have been a huge amount in comparison to some of the other teams.
SB: Yeah, what I can say it is a big difference for us from last year to this year. Especially this year as we have got to do everything on our own, so it takes a bit of time to get things working well. We have got some good things coming for the future with the F-duct and the blown diffuser but it is still not really planned when but it will come. This is important. We just need to try our best with what we have got now and then when the new parts come we have got to get the maximum out of it. It takes a bit of time but I am pretty sure the team is giving everything to get better and this is important.

Q: Lewis, a similarly interesting comment from Martin Whitmarsh. He feels there is a lot of performance in the car which is still to be unlocked. Is that your feeling as well?
LH: I think for me every time I have gone to the track I have done the Friday and the Saturday and my comments are always ‘this is the best the car has ever felt over these years at this track, but it is still not quick enough compared to others.’ But we believe there is still some untapped downforce in the car which we have not been able to use at the moment or at least draw out, so we are working very hard. The team are working flat out as always to try and pull that out. I am trying to do everything I can to encourage and paying very close attention to what is going on and keeping a close eye on everything.

Q: Yet the feeling is that this circuit suits the car perhaps for exactly that reason, that you haven’t got a massive amount of downforce. It is not so important here.
LH: I think it is still important here. There are a lot of high-speed corners here, so you still need quite efficient downforce I think especially with the long straights. But I think we should be a little bit better here than we were in Hungary. Hopefully. I am looking forward to getting into the car tomorrow. I hope the weather does clear up for us as it doesn’t look so great out there at the moment.

Q: Michael, you have the penalty coming up but your feelings about this circuit as this is an important circuit I think in the history of Michael Schumacher?
MS: Yes, indeed. I have often called it my living room and there are lots of fantastic memories from the past and even good ones to look forward to. We have a mixed weather condition predicted for this weekend. We have the 10 places which makes it extra special and exciting to try and move forward. With mixed conditions that could help. We have worked on the car, so altogether we will try to make it as good as possible but I certainly look forward very much as this is one of my most loved tracks and special excitement.

Q: What are your expectations from the rest of the season given that the team has said that they are beginning to concentrate more on 2011?
MS: I guess that we sort of have to see where maybe we can use the strengths that the car has and where maybe it is a little bit more difficult. That is something to find out and maximise our opportunities. Naturally we want to still take as many points as possible to stay as high up in the Constructors’ position as possible. These are the targets and naturally we keep on working within limits to achieve this but then yes, the focus is on next year’s car.

Q: It is a bit of a balance?
MS: Yeah, exactly but in a way that is for everybody. Some decide this strategy slightly earlier than others.

Q: Sebastian, tell us about the technical challenge for Red Bull here as it has been quite interesting driving 24 seconds at full throttle with your engine balanced against the fast corners in the middle sector and then again very quick on the way back. What are your feelings about the technical balance there?
SV: Yeah, as you said a big part of full throttle here, so lots of straight lines where you cannot do much from the driving point of view. Looking back last year we were very strong in sector two. With all the corners in sector one and three we lost out. This year I think we have a better car in all kinds of conditions and also for all types of corners whereas last year I think in low speed we were probably a little bit behind. We have definitely made a step forward, so we should be strong here as well and for straight lines, yeah. Obviously it is not Hungary. There are lots of straight lines, so we will see how we will get on. But I think we will find the right balance. We don’t know the weather but generally we are positive and carefully optimistic I would say.

Q: When it comes to the rest of the season we heard from Michael how Mercedes perhaps are concentrating more on 2011. Other teams perhaps doing the same thing. How do you see the rivalry at the front of the championship for the rest of the year?
SV: If you are in a position to win the championship that is where your focus is on but I can assure you that we are also working for next year. The cars will change again quite a bit, so you have to focus early enough and start early enough to be there right from the beginning. But, as I said, it is obviously a different situation for us maybe in comparison to other teams. We are in a very good position for this year and obviously the target is for everyone to win races and ultimately the World Championship. We are in a very good position to do so, so that’s where our main focus is.

Q: And do you see the other two or three teams really continuing to push you?
SV: Of course. I think Virgin is obviously focusing on next year, teams like that, but the teams that still have a fair chance - Ferrari and McLaren - I think that of course they have to and they will push until the end, same as us. So they are in a very similar position. We are all very tight on points. Again, the points system this year is different, so even though it might look a big gap of ten, twenty, thirty points, it’s literally nothing. Fernando, for instance, had a couple of good races in the last two or three races and from nowhere, when people said he’s no longer in this championship, he’s back. It shows how quickly things can change. You have to keep pushing until the end.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Ian Parkes - The Press Association) Michael, we’ve just been speaking with Rubens Barrichello. He mentioned that you sent him a text message today, apologising for what had occurred during the Hungarian Grand Prix. Do you have any plans to speak to him personally this weekend regarding that?
MS: I have no problem speaking to Rubens, absolutely, but there were two reasons I sent him a text and one of the main reasons was that it’s his 300th grand prix. We have quite a history together, so I thought it was appropriate to congratulate him and clarify the point. He sort of felt that I wanted to push him against the wall and very clearly, this was not my ambition. I wanted to race very tightly but without any wall contact and to clarify this point, if he felt this was the case then I was sorry for that.

Q: (Dorothea Jantschke - Bild) Michael, the last third of the season starts with this race, there are a few drivers who have a chance to win the title. Sebastian is third right now, but do you think he has a good chance to be the one in the end, and if so, why?
MS: Why, I guess, is easy. His car seems to be very competitive and very strong. There have been some slightly unfortunate moments during the year, so now it’s up to him to see how consistently his performances can improve and he can take the points, but certainly he’s in a very good position to fight for the championship but as I said before, it’s tight. You depend on your development and so many things and a bit of luck but at the end of the day it’s down to you. He’s had some bits of bad luck already, so let’s hope for the rest of the season he can count on (good) luck.

Q: (Juha Päätalo - Financial Times Deutschland) Sebastian, if you look at the performance of your car, you actually should have a few more points. Is there anything in the rest of the season to which you personally and your team will take a different approach to avoid throwing away important points?
SV: I think, yes, we should probably have more points. We have a saying - I don’t know if it makes any sense in English - but where I come from we say ‘if the dog wouldn’t have gone for a shit, he would have got the cat’ which is basically would, could, should. It’s all fine, but at the end of the day what matters are the points you have on the scoreboard. I think we’re very close. Obviously Mark is leading the championship, I’m only ten points behind. We’re first in the Constructors. I think, yes, you could argue we should have scored more points but then again, also other teams and other drivers are in a similar position and they should have scored more than they did, so in the end we are who we are and this is where we are at, so basically the championship starts from more or less zero now and we have to focus on every single race, obviously. With 20 races to go, or 15 races, there’s obviously more chance or probably more room for mistakes and with only seven to go you know that every single one is probably more important.

Q: (Sven Haidinger - Sportwoche) A question for all of you: which corner on the Formula One calendar is your favourite corner and why - as we’re in Spa?
PdlR: I don’t have any favourite, actually. They’re all good. I must say that possibly the most difficult corner and challenging and also because of that, the nicest for me, is Pouhon, turn ten here in Spa. This is an absolutely fantastic feeling. It’s just very fast, very quick. You just don’t brake, you just let the car roll in. It should be like this, this year at least, and for me that is a very challenging corner, it’s very, very difficult. Fantastic.
SB: I think what Pedro said is a good one, Pouhon is a good one, but there’s also Eau Rouge, the Radillion is something special. You don’t have this kind of feeling (anywhere else) when you go up the hill so quickly, so this is my favourite one if I had to choose one.
LH: I think it’s very hard to… as Pedro said, I don’t particularly have a favourite. I think it’s very hard to pick and chose. I think if you looked at all the maps, I’m sure that you could pick out a few that you like perhaps more than others but Pouhon is definitely one that springs to mind, similarly to him.
MS: Obviously we always talk about Eau Rouge and indeed, starting here some years ago - a few - it was thrilling but in this generation of cars it’s certainly a lot easier because the cars are so improved, but what is still - and it’s a different track - a great excitement is Spa and it’s not a single corner, but it’s the first sector all together. That is the most loved place for me.
SV: I should say that I love all the bad corners that we have in Formula One because then obviously it gives you a positive or good feeling in all the nice corners. I think it’s difficult to name only one corner. People often speak about circuits like here, Spa or other tracks with fast corners. In general, I think that corners where cars are on the edge, the drivers are on the edge, are probably the places that you enjoy most. We all love speed, so fast corners like we have a lot of these fast floating corners around here are the ones that I think all of us like and I like best as well.

Q: (Frédéric Ferret - L’Equipe) To all of you: as Spa is a special track and something different always happens here, do you have a special memory from this track, good or bad?
PdlR: Yeah, I’m not a specialist of Spa really because I’ve raced here only four times, so I don’t really have extremely good or bad memories. It’s been a very nice track to drive but I remember in 2001 when I qualified P10 and there was an accident and I was on a one-stop strategy then. Everyone was on a two and then the safety car came out and then there was a red flag which basically threw my race. It was strategically a bad move, to do a one-stop strategy with the red flag, but it could have been very, very good. It wasn’t but I always like this track. Let’s hope that this year we have something to remember about it, but I’m not a specialist here.
SV: It is just the second time that I’ve raced F1 here, so obviously I don’t have so many memories but I won some races in small categories, so those were good ones, and last year, obviously, the first time you drive here in Formula One is always a bit special because you get some special feelings that you cannot even come close to with GP2 or whatever, so it has been a good one last year. Now we hope for some points which would make this year a pretty good race.
LH: For me I had some good races here in Formula Renault and especially Formula Three in 2005, I had a good race with Adrian Sutil who was my team-mate, passing through Eau Rouge which was quite good in the wet. But then in Formula One I would say 2008 was still quite a cool memory for me, regardless of the result. I think it was a great race and one that was definitely very interesting.
MS: Well, I like to remember ’95, and probably I’m in a similar position here this weekend. Me being here in Spa, having this situation, having the memory of that year it’s good, look forward.
SV: I broke my finger here in 2006. I had a crash in World Series and then for the first time I was in the medical centre here. They brought me in the ambulance to the hospital. It’s not a nice experience, I don’t want to do it again but it is an experience. I remember I was put into a wheelchair, even though there was nothing wrong with my legs and they gave me this funny dress like an old woman’s dress…
MS: Pictures?
SV: No pictures. Yeah, it’s an experience, something you obviously won’t forget. The driver of the ambulance was probably more crazy than all of us together. And then, I think only two years back in 2008 there was quite a chaotic finish with a bit of drizzle at the end of the race. I think I went from P4 to P8 to P4 within one lap. It was quite special. It’s a very long lap here and a lot of things can happen. You realise on occasions like this, it’s always a nice track where something extra happens.

Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo) Lewis, do you think the championship will restart here as we saw in the last few races - Hockenheim, Hungaroring - where Red Bull, Ferrari was on one level and then McLaren a good gap behind, considering the factories were closed?
LH: I don’t think anything’s going to change, not immediately. Obviously we’ve had the shutdown, so I expect our car to be very much the same as it was in the last race. Obviously this is a good point in time where we have to try and do some more tests whilst we’re here on Friday and Saturday, try to get even more information back to try and understand where the extra time is and where the extra downforce is. Only once we’ve done that can we really move forwards. I don’t think it’s restarting again, it’s just continuing. These guys are going to be incredibly quick, especially the Red Bulls and we have to do everything we can to not allow them to pull too far ahead.

Q: (Walter Koster - Saarbrücker Zeitung) Sebastian, what’s your gift for your team-mate tomorrow? The old man has a birthday, 34 years old.
SV: I didn’t know that this was his birthday. I have brought nothing with me. I don’t know. I need to find something. I think they have these free shampoos and this kind of stuff in the hotel, a last minute present. But don’t tell him, of course.

Source: Formula1.com

FIA Thursday press conference - Spain

Reproduced with kind permission of the FIA

Drivers: Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), Pedro de la Rosa (BMW Sauber), Bruno Senna (HRT), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull).

Q: A question to you all about the modifications you are getting here on your cars and what you are expecting they might do for the performance. Jaime, would you like to start.
Jaime Alguersuari: We have some upgrades for this race and hopefully we can see a big improvement for Barcelona. Hopefully we will have dry weather, so we can really see it and we need to see with the upgrades where the other teams are.

Q: Will it take you ahead of the next team ahead of you?
JA: If you analyse the last races and you see our qualifying we were two or three tenths off Q3, so I think with two or three tenths off Q3 it is quite nice to have a nice development. To arrive in Q3 would be a nice objective for us.

Q: Pedro, your modifications that you are expecting?
Pedro de la Rosa: Yes, as everyone really we have an aero package for Barcelona and we will just have to see how it goes Friday. We don’t have any testing, so we can only guess. It is a decent step forward and very much needed.

Q: Is there something for reliability as you have had a pretty difficult time so far?
PdlR: Yeah, sure. We have a reliability upgrade from Ferrari and this is not a concern at all from now on, I think.

Q: Bruno, what are the modifications for HRT?
Bruno Senna: We don’t have an aero update on the car. We are still a bit late on that side. We have a few chassis updates. We have managed finally to get the car on the rig and get some new dampers, new parts, that will make the car better to drive. I think the lap time gains won’t be as large as the guys who are getting aero updates but it is good for us that we can make the tyres last a bit longer and it is a bit easier to drive the car. We have to see to quantify the lap time, we will only see tomorrow, but I think we can expect an update maybe for Silverstone and then we can look at a big step forward and we hope we can see that.

Q: Fernando?
Fernando Alonso: I think as everybody we will introduce something here, but I don’t think it is huge or that we change the car completely, so very small modifications, mainly aero updates and some improvements also in the engine in terms of reliability and hopefully we can be sure, as Pedro says, from now on we don’t have any worries with the engine.

Q: Are you expecting it to change the hierarchy at all?
FA: No, I don’t think that anything will change dramatically here. Maybe it will depend from circuit by circuit and not depend on the modifications. We saw in winter testing, the last test here, was nothing special for us. We were not competitive enough maybe in the last test in winter, so we expect a lot of work to do tomorrow and Saturday and change that situation and be as competitive as we were in some other places.

Q: Sebastian, Red Bull always bring loads of modifications to every race.
Sebastian Vettel: We try our best. Similar for all the teams in the top. You try to at least stay where you are if not make a step forward, so we brought some new parts. I think we are in the same situations as the others as I said trying to make a step forward. I had a haircut. I saw Fernando had one to. I dropped more than he did, so I hope that our car will make a bigger step than his and we can stay ahead, so we have to see. Obviously it is a lot of work tomorrow. Not quite sure if we are in the right country. Usually it is always sunny. It is quite cold I think for Spain, but if any, it should help us coming from the north. We are used to this kind of weather but wouldn’t mind if it was a bit warmer, so what is wrong with your country?

FA: You have to go to my home town. It is hot.

Q: Another question to all of you. What is your target at this stage of the season? What are you looking to do to improve over the next few races? Jaime, would you like to start again.
JA: Well, for the moment I think the season has been quite good for us. We just need to keep on working like that and keep on being in the points. That is the aim for my team. That is my aim. I think we are capable of doing that and hopefully now we know the tracks more or less, we did the winter testing here, so it is a bit better than going to China or Malaysia or Australia where I have never been. Same job as we have done in the past and hopefully we are on the right path.
PdlR: The target is first to finish the race and regain the reliability we had in pre-season testing. After that we know if we finish the race we will be fighting for points, there or thereabouts, like we did in Australia. We have to do a good job, drive well, concentrated, have a good qualifying is so important these days with the current regulations and that is about it. Not make mistakes from my side and move forward.
BS: For us it is to gain big chunks of performance. I think we still have a lot to do in terms of development inside the team, even on the electronic control side, they need to be much more refined. But the focus is to continue finishing the races as it has been good for us the last two rounds. We finished with both cars and I think with more experience we can develop better but in terms of performance we need to look a bit further into the year.
FA: For us it is to maximise our potential in the coming races. I think in the first part of the championship we had a very strong car but maybe we did not take all the points we should, so no room for mistake in the next few races and recover the leadership of the championship as soon as possible.
SV: I think for us, like everyone, we had four races. One out of four was perfect. Two out of four we struggled for reliability, so we didn’t finish where we wanted to and then another one out of four was chaotic. In the end I think we saved a couple of points at least. It was not our strongest weekend in China but at least some points, so it is a bit up and down. For here and for the next couple of races just trying to execute a clean Sunday. On Saturdays we have always been very strong, so just trying to convert Saturday’s strength into a good Sunday result.

Q: Jaime, this is the first circuit you actually know. What sort of difference is that going to make?JA: Well, definitely the Friday philosophy will change. I will go with a different mind in FP1 as I do not have to familiarize with the track or to learn the track. I can push from the first minute onwards, so that is mainly the best reason.

Q: Pedro, again it is a circuit you know very well but it hasn’t always been lucky for you in F1. But tell us about it in other formulae.
PdlR: I think you don’t want to know... It hasn’t been a lucky track for me. I raced in 1991, it was my first ever race here in Formula Renault and I did not finish. My only race finish here is in 1999, my first ever race in Formula One. Since then for one reason or another I have not seen the chequered flag, so I am really looking forward to a change of luck here at home in front of my friends, my family. Don’t forget my parents live just 10 minutes away, so they can listen to the engines every day, so I am really looking forward to this one and that is about it. Let’s hope we revert the luck. We have been so lucky the first few races. I just want to change it a little bit.

Q: Change the luck.
PdlR: We need bad luck basically. We have had too much luck the first four.

Q: Bruno, do you feel this is a lucky circuit for you?
BS: Absolutely. Every time I have been here I have finished on the podium at least. I don’t think this time I will be on the podium. If we can finish the race, have a strong race, it is good for us. We have to be realistic about our performance targets and try not to get in the way of these quick guys too much. In China we had a decent performance in the race and if the weather is playing up then we can still have a more fun race. It seems like the weather is like it is in England, so we might get lucky.

Q: Fernando, I want to remind you of a little story. A few years ago when we were going around on the drivers’ parade and we had just come from Imola where Michael (Schumacher) had just turned Imola red, we came here and you looked around and said, ‘not so red this weekend’ and it was all blue and yellow. What’s it going to be on Sunday?
FA: I think it will be more blue.

Q: This is a good circuit for you. You have won here and had four podiums.
FA: Yes, it has been a great race for me in terms of emotions and in terms of results as well. I have been quite lucky always to be in a good position and I have been lucky always with Renault to have a competitive car here and with McLaren also one podium, so hopefully I can be on the podium again for another colour.

Q: Sebastian, you’ve had three poles, and actually won from the time that you didn’t have pole position. The last nine races here have been won by the pole-winner, you might like to hear. So, how important is pole going to be this weekend?
SV: Pole is always important. As Pedro said, where you put the car on Saturday will determine your race result by quite a bit on Sunday, but the race is there to find out and there are no points on Saturday. I think we have had good Saturdays. In the race that I won in Malaysia I started third which is still at the front, so not too bad, but obviously the target is the same again: start from pole and try to win the race. I had a similar comment, I remember, last year in Istanbul where someone came to me on the grid and said the last five winners at Istanbul all came from pole position but it turned out to be different on that day. Statistics are nice for you guys but for us it’s more the day that counts and the moment, so we try to do our best. First of all we need to focus on tomorrow, trying to get every part to work and then we will see where we can put the car on Saturday on the grid and on Sunday we will have a long race, so it will be tough.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Fernando, can you tell us your first memory of the Spanish Grand Prix and your best memory, and the evolution of the fans of motor racing in Spain?
FA: First memory was maybe ’98 when I was close to signing for a Formula Nissan team in Spain, so I was preparing the move from go-karts to real cars. I watched that race, the Spanish Grand Prix, and then the evolution has been quite big here. I remember that seventy percent of the grandstand was foreign people coming from the centre of Europe, mostly Germans, so it was not a completely Spanish Grand Prix, I would say. Now it’s very different. I think the country gets involved in this week, so you can watch any channel on TV and see how the preparations are coming on and the previews, every night, every afternoon on TV, in newspapers, so there are very few people in Spain now who don’t know that the Spanish Grand Prix is this weekend. So people are talking about Formula One, about tyres, about strategies, about all these things and this is very, very different, and I think it’s increasing every year. This is a very nice feeling. Best memory for me was 2006 when I won the race because it was the only win that I’ve had at home, so hopefully this year either here or in Valencia I will dream of victory again.

Q: (Carlos Miquel – Diario AS) Fernando, Pedro and Jaime; it’s the first time that there have been three Spanish Formula One drivers in the press conference. What’s the best quality of your compatriots, Pedro, Fernando, Jaime and do you think that Spain could win a championship of nations with the same car?
PdlR: OK, age first, yeah? Man, you’ve asked a lot of questions there, eh? I think that we could definitely win, for sure. We are the Spanish Armada. It’s renowned to be strong. It would be fun, it would be fun actually. I think Germany would be quite tough to beat, especially, but anyway, we would be there. On the other side of the question, don’t forget that Fernando and Jaime are rivals. They’re Spanish but it doesn’t mean that I (don’t) want badly to beat them as well. I am really very impressed by Jaime’s maturity for his age. I think he’s really handled coming into Formula One in a very well organised and very mature way, so I’m very impressed. What can I say about Fernando that you don’t know? We know how tough he is and how hard he is to beat in the same car, so he will be a little bit of ahead of me, so I hope that I can get close to him in the race but he’s a tough cookie, eh?
FA: More or less the same as Pedro’s answer. I think now that Spain could be favourite in this hypothetical championship, with Germany as well and Brazil may be.
BS: Thank you.
FA: As Pedro said, Jaime is very mature and I think approaching the races in a very good way, trying to learn as many things as possible with no mistakes. The time will come to him because he’s very young and has a lot of time to show more potential. And with Pedro, I think he’s a great driver. I had the pleasure to work with him at McLaren, so I know first-hand how good he is and all the experience that he had in his career and now he’s ready to use it. Unfortunately this year the car is not perfectly OK in terms of performance, but hopefully it can improve and Pedro will show how good a driver he is.
JA: Well, I think it would be great to drive with them, because I could obviously learn so many things with the same car, the same situation. I would say a Spanish team would be quite strong in this instance, and obviously it would be a pleasure to drive with them. I could see so many things that I can’t now. It’s also quite strange to think about this. I think they are both great drivers and they have experience which I am lacking. I have nothing to add about Pedro; he’s very mature and very experienced and he could show me so many things about Formula One. And Fernando has always been a reference for us, for me especially when I was go-karting in Spain and outside when I was watching him in Formula One, so it would be nice to do this, yes.

Q: (Alvaro Faes – La Nueva Espana) Fernando, can you tell us what your feelings are when you drive in this Spanish Grand Prix and you see the huge amount of fans that are filling the grandstand, and what do you expect in this first year of you wearing the Ferrari colours and the fact that there is a new T-shirt from Ferrari in blue? I don’t know if you have seen it.
FA: Yes. Emotions are always very unique and very different every year, even if you try to remember what emotion I had last year when I was going out in FP1. It’s difficult to maybe compare to this year, because every year there seem to be more and more emotional laps: the first laps on Friday and also quite intense laps on Sunday as well when either you start or you finish the race and you see all the people enjoying the show. So these are very, very important days for me and I try to enjoy them as much as I can, because I know that I’m in a privileged position, with all the supporters here that maybe I won’t experience any more in the rest of the championship when I go to some other races. Maybe Monza will also be special this year for me and for us and for the team. Regarding the colours, as I said before, I expect a lot of red in the grandstands but the majority will be blue because there is always a good percentage of the grandstand that comes from my region, from Asturias, and I’m sure they will come with their blue flags and blue colours, plus the new Ferrari T-shirt that is blue which will hopefully help all these new people buying blue Ferrari shirts.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, have you unwound in your mind the start in China and how to recover from that mistake? And how much can you gain with the F-duct on this long straight?
FA: Yeah, the start in China was quite good. I overtook two cars. I think I could have overtaken more cars if I had started a little bit earlier but I will not try, hopefully. I think it was a mistake on my part, a big mistake, so this is already in the past and I’m sure that I won’t do it again. Hopefully, I will try not to repeat the same mistake again or any other mistake, because it’s not the way you fight for the championship, but then thanks to the chaotic conditions in the race we were able to recover some positions and get some good results, so I was lucky at the end of the race to have that strange race. In terms of the F-duct, we will try some more parts tomorrow. It’s not decided yet if we will use it or not on Saturday and Sunday, so tomorrow is another important day of evaluation of the system and we will see how it works.

Q: (Joris Fioriti – AFP) Sebastian, you’ve had the best car, but you’ve only won one race out of four, so now the championship starts. Do you think you can make it in this new championship? SV: Well, that’s our target. I think I am in the wrong place if I don’t believe in us and in myself. Yes, the first four races were a bit up and down. We had only one win but in the end that’s history, we can’t change it any more. We have to look ahead and that’s all we try to focus on first of all tomorrow and then Saturday and Sunday and whatever comes after that is of zero importance now. All eyes are now on this weekend, so we try to go step by step and I think that’s the only way that you can be consistent and the only way that you can ultimately fight for a championship.

Source: Formula1.com

Jerez: Vettel takes over as the rain comes down

Sebastian Vettel set the pace at Jerez on Thursday morning as the rain came down and the red flag count came up.

With light rain falling and more forecast throughout the day, the second day of testing got underway in Portugal with Felipe Massa taking control of the timesheets with a 1:28.879.

Moments later, though, the Brazilian was forced back into the pits as Jerez experienced its first stoppage of the day. Virgin's Timo Glock, who had completed 15 laps in the opening 40 minutes, put his VR01 in the gravel, bringing out the red flags as the marshals went about returning his car to the pits.

Once underway again, Sebastian Vettel made a bid for Massa's P1 slot but had to settle for second place while Ferrari revealed that their driver would have an enforced rest in the pits.

"We have a technical issue: the stop will not be short... Nothing serious but it will take time to sort it out," the team reported.

With the rain coming down harder the drivers put in the laps but without making any impact on the timesheets. In fact, it was the rain that made the bigger impact, bringing out the second red flag due to standing water on the track.

The weather was so bad halfway through the morning that Williams reported that they were even having problems completing pit stop practices with Rubens Barrichello.

"The team are trying to do pit stop practice with RB but it's too wet - only two done so far. Keep your fingers crossed for some dry weather!" they announced.

Barrichello also suffered a minor off, which resulted in the third stoppage of the morning. However, the Brazilian was able to get his car back on track and return to the pits.

With the rain finally letting up, the drivers headed back out with Heikki Kovalainen completing his first timed lap as a Lotus driver.

The Finn had been out earlier in the day, putting in three installation laps before his rather smokey T127 forced him to park in the team's garage.

But after almost two hours in the pits, Kovalainen came out again to clock a 1:36.7, improving to a 1:34.932 before heading back into the pits.

Another late starter was Renault's Vitaly Petrov. He set his first time an hour before the midday break and it was a rather slow 1:42.527 for the Russian.

Meanwhile, back at the front, Vettel and Rosberg both launched attacks on the P1 slot with Vettel, who put in the morning's longest run of 25 laps, taking second place before Rosberg took the position from him. The German was just 0.085s off Massa's P1 time.

A few laps Vettel finally did it, taking the P1 slot with a 1:28.746.

But it was soon back to the pits as Kovalainen brought out the fourth red flag of the morning. The Finn lost control of his T12 and went off at Turn 3, putting his Lotus, minus its front wing, in the gravel.


Unofficial Times
1. S. Vettel Red Bull Racing RB6 1:28.746 36 laps
2. F. Massa Ferrari F10 1:28.879 +0.133 15 laps
3. N. Rosberg Mercedes GP W01 1:28.964 +0.218 36 laps
4. P. de la Rosa Sauber C29 1:29.691 +0.945 8 laps
5. P. di Resta Force India VJM-03 1:30.344 +1.598 33 laps
6. R. Barrichello Williams FW32 1:31.489 +2.743 47 laps
7. T. Glock Virgin Racing VR-01 1:31.557 +2.811 31 laps
8. S. Buemi Toro Rosso STR5 1:32.678 +3.932 43 laps
9. L. Hamilton McLaren MP4-25 1:32.934 +4.188 27 laps
10. H. Kovalainen Lotus F1 T127 1:33.554 +4.808 26 laps
11. V. Petrov Renault R30 1:35.297 +6.551 12 laps

Source: Planet F1

Jerez: A Brazilian battle as the track dries out

Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa tussled for top honours in the morning session at Jerez, where thankfully track conditions improved to allow for plenty of dry running.

A dull and dreary start to the final day of testing saw the Formula One drivers having to contend with the light drizzle at the start of Saturday's Jerez test.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel set the pace in the opening hour, clocking a 1:27.764, before running into problems. The German brought out the red flag when he car ground to a halt and had to be recovered to the pits on the back of a flatbed truck.

The twenty minute break, though, did provide some good news as the rain finally stopped.

With the track drying out just a bit Lewis Hamilton leapt from the bottom of the timesheets into the P1 slot, clocking a 1:26.833, before that was overhauled by Rubens Barrichello.

The Brazilian continued to pile on the pace, extending his advantage before Ferrari's Felipe Massa nipped ahead of him with a 1:27.645.

With conditions improving, Force India reported that it is "dry in Jerez for now. Adrian says it's on the verge of being dry enough to switch to slick tyres."

And that's exactly what he did a short while later. However, Sutil wasn't the only driver to swap to slicks.

Massa also parted ways with his disintegrating intermediate tyres and went quickest by some margin. The Brazilian brought his time down to a 1:23.976.

"Finally we can run on dry tyres..." Ferrari reported on Twitter. "Already 66 laps completed by Felipe who is currently doing a long run."

Massa's ever-improving pace, which eventually saw him drop to a 1:22.641, had the chasing pack swap over to the slicks with Barrichello the next to lead the way with his 1:22.319.

Robert Kubica moved up to third place behind the battling Brazilian's, however, finished the morning 2.054s off the pace while Vettel was fourth.

Pedro de la Rosa and Jaime Alguersuari were next in line, ahead of Hamilton, who completed just 19 laps during the morning session while Sutil was eighth, as Force India opted for an early lunch during which a "planned exhaust change" took place.

Meanwhile, after a brief run in the first hour, during which he set a 1:29.768 and completed seven laps, Schumacher retreated to his Mercedes GP garage where the German waited for conditions to improve.

There was little sign of the seven-time World Champion over the next three hours as he completed only four additional laps, dropping down the order to finish P9.

"Michael will be out again in the not too distant future with the track now looking much improved as thankfully it has stayed dry," his team said.

The final runner of the day, Lucas di Grassi, didn't complete even a single timed lap as he spent all but five minutes of the morning session in the Virgin garage while the team worked on the car.

And working on the car is something Ferrari will have to do as ten minutes before lunch, the Brazilian brought out the red flags when he stopped out on track.


Unofficial Times
1. R. Barrichello Williams FW32 1:22.319 39 laps
2. F. Massa Ferrari F10 1:22.641 +0.322 95 laps
3. R. Kubica Renault R30 1:24.373 +2.054 23 laps
4. S. Vettel Red Bull Racing RB6 1:24.588 +2.269 52 laps
5. P. de la Rosa Sauber C29 1:25.039 +2.720 52 laps
6. J. Alguersuari Toro Rosso STR5 1:25.756 +3.437 67 laps
7. L. Hamilton McLaren MP4-25 1:26.023 +3.704 21 laps
8. A. Sutil Force India VJM-03 1:27.606 +5.287 37 laps
9. M. Schumacher Mercedes GP W01 1:29.768 +7.449 11 laps

Source: Planet F1

Valencia day one - Massa leads the way for Ferrari

If Ferrari’s Felipe Massa wanted to prove he hasn’t changed since his life-threatening accident last July, he did a very good job on Monday in Valencia, topping the timesheets as this year’s opening test got underway at the Spanish track. Massa covered 102 laps in the new F10, clocking a best time of 1m 12.574s.

Second quickest was Pedro de la Rosa for BMW Sauber. De la Rosa, who has opted to forsake his long-held test role at McLaren for a chance to race at the Swiss team, will no doubt be pleased with the maiden showing of his C29, after he ended the day just over two-tenths down on Massa’s Ferrari.

The third slot on the timesheets was taken up by returning seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, who made his debut outing for new team Mercedes. Covering 40 laps during the course of the afternoon, Schumacher took over the W01 from team mate Nico Rosberg, who posted the day’s fourth-fastest time during the morning session.

Fifth quickest was McLaren tester Gary Paffett, who was charged with giving the MP4-25 its maiden run and completed 86 laps. Paffett was the last runner to make it under the 1m 13s mark, with Rubens Barrichello ending the day in sixth following his first day in the new Williams FW32. Barrichello covered 75 laps for his new team.

Despite only managing to complete 18 laps after his STR5 suffered a gearbox issue, Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi finished seventh. The final runner was Robert Kubica for Renault. Kubica finished eighth after clocking a best time of 1m 15.000 over his 69 laps in the R30.

Testing continues at Valencia until Wednesday.


Unofficial Monday test times from Valencia:
1. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:12.574, 102 Laps
2. Pedro de la Rosa, BMW Sauber, 1:12.784, 74 Laps
3. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP, 1:12.947, 40 Laps
4. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes GP, 1:13.543, 39 Laps
5. Gary Paffett, McLaren, 1:13.846, 86 Laps
6. Rubens Barrichello, Williams, 1:14.449, 75 Laps
7. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 1:14.762, 18 Laps
8. Robert Kubica, Renault, 1:15.000, 69 Laps

Source: Formula1.com

Photos from Valencia testing

Massa back on track as testing kicks off

Felipe Massa has returned to the cockpit of a competitive Formula One car for the first time in six months.

Massa was among the first of the drivers on track on the opening day of the first F1 test of the season at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia.

The Ferrari driver required life-saving surgery after an accident in qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix last July. The 28-year-old Brazilian, who now has a metal plate inside his skull to repair the fracture he sustained in the crash, has since made a superb recovery.

Although Massa has driven karts, and most recently a 2008-spec Ferrari in a private test in Barcelona, the moment he pulled out of the garage in the new F10 was his most significant since the smash.

Massa was joined on track by McLaren test driver Gary Paffett, Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa, Robert Kubica in his Renault, Rubens Barrichello for Williams, Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi and Nico Rosberg in the new Mercedes.

It is the first time a works Mercedes has been seen on a circuit since Juan Manuel Fangio won the Drivers' title for the team in 1955.

Mercedes now have a 75% stake in last year's Championship-winning team Brawn GP, with Michael Schumacher coaxed out of retirement to form an all-German line-up with Rosberg.

After a hiatus of more than three years, the seven-time World Champion is scheduled to make his return to action in the afternoon session.

Source: Planet F1