Schumi denies blocking Hamilton in Spain

Michael Schumacher has denied blocking Lewis Hamilton during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend to help his friend, countryman and championship leader Sebastian Vettel win the Barcelona race.

British media have reported that McLaren’s Hamilton alleged the seven time world champion blocked him after letting Vettel, his regular teammate for the end-of-season Race of Champions event, easily pass while being lapped.

“I won’t speak to him [Schumacher] about it,” said Hamilton. “I don’t want to waste my time or my breath.”

Responded Schumacher, “That certainly must have been a misunderstanding. I try to get out of the way for anybody.

“It’s true that Sebastian and I are friends,” he told the German news agency SID, “but on the track, I’m not for or against anybody.”

A McLaren spokesman confirmed: “There is no conspiracy.”

Source: YallaF1

Fernando Alonso returns to live in Spain

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

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

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

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

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

Source: The Mirror

Vettel: Not a big disappointment

Although Sebastian Vettel's run of pole positions came to an end in Barcelona, the reigning World Champion insists it's not a "big disappointment."

Arriving in Spain, Vettel had a four-nothing record in qualifying for the season, however, his impressive run came to an end when his team-mate Mark Webber pipped him to the coveted grid slot by 0.200s.

The German insists that being dethroned is not a massive loss as he is still on the front row, and has an extra set of soft tyres available to him for Sunday's 66-lap race.

"I don't think we can speak of big disappointment," said Vettel.

"At the end of the day we made a good step forward and Barcelona is usually a place where you bring lots of parts, and find out they work.

"In Q1 I didn't get into the rhythm immediately but made it on prime tyres, in Q2 I felt happier on the soft compound and in last qualifying I lost a little bit too much, wasn't happy with my lap.

"We had some problems and Mark did a good job. It was between us, he did a better job today. Tomorrow is a long race, we saved a set of tyres - as did the top three and Jenson (Button) - we will see what we can do tomorrow."

But while Vettel may have qualified in second place, Red Bull's Achilles Heel was once again present in Spain as the German lacked KERS for the better part of qualifying.

However, he says that's not the reason he lost to his team-mate and expects Red Bull will have the issue resolved before the race gets underway.

"I didn't use KERS in Q2 and Q3, but it's not right to say I didn't have KERS and Mark got pole - he deserved pole.

"I am not afraid in the race, in the race I think we will be on top of it again. In the end it seems to be an endless story.

"The guys are pushing very hard, we did an exceptional job. Today we have proved our car has become quicker, we had a quick base but we made it even quicker - so big compliments to the aero guys."

Source: Planet-F1

Vettel says DRS will be effective in Spain

Sebastian Vettel believes that DRS will spice up racing on the Circuit de Catalunya which has traditionally delivered processional and boring races.

Speaking on the eve of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, the reigning World Champion said, “We know the Barcelona circuit well from winter testing, it should be suitable for our car and our plan is to get the best team result possible. Historically Barcelona is a circuit that is poor for overtaking, but with the DRS this will now be quite different.”

In the past three years, normal overtaking manoeuvres have been measured in single figures; on average, there have been 2.3 ‘normal’ passes for position per Spanish Grand Prix since 2008.

So if a circuit is going to provide a yardstick for the success of the 2011 regulations – which have so far seen an average of 24.5 ‘normal’ overtaking moves per race – then Barcelona is it.

Nevertheless, the Spanish race is popular with just about every driver. Vettel explains, “I like Spain and know Barcelona well from racing there, it’s a great modern city with lots of life and interesting architecture. I like the Spanish people and their culture, it’s always a fantastic atmosphere at Spanish sporting events, such as the grand prix and football matches.”

Vettel has won three of the four races so far this year in the pace setting Red Bull RB7 and arrives in Barcelona with 93 points to his name, 34 points up on his closest rival Lewis Hamilton.

Source: YallaF1

Video: Kimi Räikkönen visit ICE1RACING

Source: ICE1RACING

Visit from Kimi

ICE1RACING ready for Spanish Championship the next weekend – Kimi Räikkönen speeding up the training in Fuengirola

The motocross team ICE1RACING prepares for the first race of the Spanish Championship, which will be raced in Talavera near Madrid this weekend February 27th. Kimi Räikkönen took part of the training of the team in Fuengirola early this week.

The motocross team of Kimi Räikkönen, ICE1RACING opened the season ten days ago with a practise race in Alicante and is now already preparing for a new event. ”The season in Spain starts very early, since the teams are eager to test their conditions”, clarifies the team manager Kari Tiainen and continues ”here we have summer in the middle of the winter , so we need to take all the advantage out of that.”

The training center in Fuengirola, started by Kari Tiainen, has served as the training facility for many Finnish riders during the past years. ”Juniors spend their school breaks within the sport and stock good riding days before the snow melts from Finland”, says the ICE1RACING junior team leader Vesa Kytönen. Kytönen, who is also himself the world champion in enduro, works with the junior team of six young riders. ”The goal of the ICE1RACING team is to bring the sport back to the level it used to be in Finland. Training camps like this are the steps we need”, agrees Kytönen.

The owner of the team Kimi Räikkönen visited the junior team spring camp in Fuengirola early this week. ”Him being here is naturalyy a bog thing for our young riders and gives them boost”, smiles Kari Tiainen. ”Kimi enjoys riding and spends a lot of time with the riders. I’m sure he leaves something for the riders to think about on his visits.”

Source: ICE1RACING

F1 tests confirmed for March 8 to 11

Circuit de Catalunya will host a second series of Formula One Test from 8 to 11 March, following the cancellation of the Bahrain tests and Grand Prix due to the civil disturbances in the country.

The Formula 1 Teams have decided to return to the Circuit de Catalunya facilities for their final tests, the only racetrack included in the World Championship that has hosted Formula 1 tests this preseason, and will be hosting the Spanish Grand Prix on 22 May.

The teams will be staying 4 days at the facilities in order to carry out their final tests of the preseason. The single-seaters that will be lapping from 8 to 11 March on the Circuit de Catalunya racetrack, will already include a large part of the novelties prepared for the 2011 season, which will be starting in Melbourne, Australia with the first F1 Grand Prix of the season on March 27.

Source: Nextgen

KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN - PREVIEW SPAIN 2010

This weekend, Red Bull driver Kimi Räikkönen will travel from Mexico to Polynesia to China to the Wild West. And he's not even going to leave Spain once

This geographic miracle is made possible by the fact that the Rally de Espana, also known to fans as the Catalunya Rally, is based in the Port Aventura theme park: Europe's answer to the famous Universal Studios in America. All these exotic regions of the world are represented in the park, thanks to stomach-churning rides such as the Grand Canyon Rapids, Furius Baco (the fastest rollercoaster in Europe with a top speed of 135kph) and the Dragon Khan (another rollercoaster, this time featuring eight inversions). Hold onto your paella...

Kimi's rally diet will be equally mixed, because the Rally de Espana takes in both asphalt and gravel surfaces this year. On Friday, the drivers will compete on gravel roads, whereas on Saturday and Sunday the surface will be the more typical fast and flowing asphalt that Spain's round of the World Rally Championship is famous for.

It is often said that the Catalunya Rally is the closest that world rallying comes to circuit racing. Kimi, knows a few things about racing thanks to his 18 Grand Prix wins, does not entirely agree. But like most of the events this year, it will be a brand new experience for the 'ice man'. So what does he think?

"I don't know the rally at all, but the route doesn't look like any race circuit I've ever seen, although I've heard some people say it's similar!" he joked before starting the recce. "This year it's going to be completely different too as the first day is gravel. But I think it's quite nice to have the variety on this event, even though gravel is not our strongest surface. In the end we'll just do our best and try not to make any mistakes, which has been our goal since the start of the year. It should be a very interesting rally that teaches us a lot, but I don't think we should have expectations that are too high. If we can be near the top six then that would be great, but the main is just to get to the end. If you go like crazy on the first day and go off, then you don't learn anything. And that's why I'm here: to learn."

Kaj Lindstrom, the man who reads Kimi his notes, has plenty of experience to pass on in Spain. But as Kaj points out, Kimi has been pretty good at teaching himself too. "Kimi's obviously been used to winning in Formula One all the time, and now in rallying he starts from scratch,'" said the Finn. "It can't be easy, having to go back to basics when you're a World Champion. But I've been really impressed by his attitude. He takes in absolutely everything and if you consider what he's achieved despite his lack of experience, it's pretty impressive. Hopefully Spain will be good for us: Kimi should be more comfortable on the asphalt roads of Saturday and Sunday."

The Rally de Espana is based in the popular tourist resort of Salou, an hour's drive south of Barcelona on the Costa Daurada. While the town is normally famous for buckets, spades and beaches, the coming weekend is going to be a long way from being a holiday for Kimi, Kaj and all the other intrepid Red Bull-backed World Rally Championship crews...

Source: RedBullRallye

European GP timetable

All times are local. (Spain is GMT+2)

Thursday 24 June
15:00: FIA press conference

Friday 25 June
10:00 - 11:30: First free practice
14:00 - 15:30: Second free practice
16:00: FIA press conference

Saturday 26 June
11:00 - 12:00: Third free practice
14:00 - 15:00: Qualifying
15h00: FIA post qualifying press conference

Sunday 27 June
14:00 - 16:00: European GP
16:00: FIA post race press conference

European GP Info
No of Laps: 57
Race Distance: 308.883 km
Lap Record: 1:38.683 - T Glock (Toyota)
2009 Winner: R Barrichello (Brawn)

Source: Planet F1

FIA press conference schedule - Europe

The grid’s three Spanish drivers will join two of their rivals to answer question in Valencia on Thursday, while Ferrari’s Aldo Costa will face the media alongside other senior team personnel on Friday. The line-up in full…

Thursday, June 24, 1500 hours local time (1300 GMT):
Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Pedro de la Rosa (BMW Sauber), Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India) and Vitaly Petrov (Renault).

Friday, June 25, 1600 hours local time (1400 GMT):
Aldo Costa (Ferrari), Colin Kolles (HRT), Vijay Mallya (Force India) and Peter Sauber (BMW Sauber).

The qualifying and post-race conferences with the top three drivers will take place immediately after the respective sessions.

Volcanic ash cloud to again affect F1 world

The chaos caused by an erupting volcano in Iceland has followed the world of Formula One from China to Spain.

After the sport's personnel suffered travel nightmares as European airports were closed three weeks ago, it is now being reported that flights across Spain have been grounded due to the returning ash cloud.

The latest reports say 19 Spanish airports - including Barcelona - have been closed on Saturday.

European air control officials now expect more flights across the continent to be cancelled, with the Monaco Grand Prix to be held in just one week.

The good news for F1 is that Barcelona and Monaco are separated by just 700 kilometres of road.

Source: Motorsport

Massa and Alonso test rollercoaster cars in Spain

The theme park is in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The cars are reproduction of Ferrari's F1 cars and have estimated maximum speed of 240 kph over a course of 2070 metre

s.

Source: Globoesporte
Translation from Portuguese: Fran

Renault admits Mercedes may move ahead in Spain

Barcelona could be a turning point in Renault's 2010 season

Despite the tumult of the crashgate scandal and the pre-season period, the Enstone based team - and particularly Robert Kubica - has had a surprisingly strong start, trailing Mercedes by just 14 points after four races.

But some teams - notably Mercedes - will use vastly upgraded cars at the Circuit de Catalunya this weekend.

Pole Kubica admits Spain could be a "big test for us" because the R30 will not be fundamentally different to the car raced in China two weeks ago.

"We are not planning to bring any huge updates, but we will keep gradually improving the car, just like we did during the first four races," he said.

"We have to wait and see how we compare with the others; maybe the order of the teams will be quite different compared to the start of the year," added Kubica.

Moreover, the last winter test at Barcelona was not a good one for the yellow and red car, and chief engineer Alan Permane admits that Mercedes might make a step away from Renault this weekend.

"Mercedes may move away from us a little bit but we've got a new front wing and some other new aerodynamic parts that should help us make another step forward," he said.

"It's not the biggest update we've had this year, but it continues our approach of adding new parts at each race," added Permane.

Force India's Adrian Sutil on Tuesday told spox.com that Renault "are within striking distance".
But the German is not expecting the pecking-order to change radically in Spain, despite some reports predicting a huge step forward for Mercedes.

"If that happened, then I would cease to understand a few things about Formula One," said Sutil.

Source: Motorsport

Lotus aim for a second in Spain

Lotus are confident their Spanish upgrades will be worth a full second a lap around the Barcelona circuit.

Although one of the better of this year's newcomers, Lotus are still roughly four to five seconds a lap slower than the established frontrunners.

The team, though, is heading to Spain armed with several upgrades for their T127, which Heikki Kovalainen reckons could give them a significant improvement in pace.

"We hope to get a time gain of more than a second," he told Auto Moto und Sport. "But then perhaps we have more space in which to improve."

Kovalainen's belief in that second is echoed by tech boss Mike Gascoyne.

"The Barcelona package has been in the wind tunnel for six months," he said. "The rear will be narrower, the sidepod entries more extreme, the wheel base long.

"Our car will be faster by at least one second."

Source: Planet-F1