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

Video: Lewis Hamilton says start was key to victory in China

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton hails his race strategy after claiming his first victory of the 2011 season in a thrilling Chinese Grand Prix



Source: FiftyBuckss

Alonso: “A good start for the F150”

To finish first, first you have to finish. It’s a rule of sport, in particular motor sport where mechanical reliability is behind every result. So if a new car takes its first steps on the track without encountering problems it’s already a good start. Certainly you need performance but before looking for that it’s important to begin to understand the car’s behaviour – all the more so if the new creation is wearing new boots. This was the main objective of the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro technicians who today began development work on the F150: to go through lots of miles and to begin to understand the behaviour of the new Pirelli tyres.

There was satisfaction both for the engineers and the driver: “After so many weeks of waiting I had a great desire to return to the car,” said Fernando Alonso at the end of the day. “It’s always a great feeling to be the first to drive a new car and I’m honoured that this was my job. I’m satisfied with how this first day has gone, in particular regarding reliability. We haven’t had any kind of problem – just as we haven’t had any in the factory before arriving here.”

As for the tyres, it’s clear that there is still a lot of work to do. “We don’t have a huge amount of sets of tyres available and there is significant tyre wear,” added the Spanish driver. “That probably also stems from the track conditions that were not at their best after the rain of recent days. But we are all in the same situation and we just have to work to adapt in the best way.”

Fernando continued: “It’s impossible to have an idea of how the different teams line up after just a few hundred kilometres and I don’t think that we will have a clear picture before the Bahrain Grand Prix. I remember that last year at the last test in Barcelona we were sixth fastest with Sauber and Force India ahead of us. At Sakhir we lapped them. I think that this question mark will remain right up to the first race.”

Source: Ferrari.com

Petrov penalised after taking out Hulkenberg

Vitaly Petrov will lose five-places on the grid at the next event in Korea.

Renault's Vitaly Petrov has been punished by the stewards following the F1 2010 Japanese Grand Prix today.

The stewards ruled post-race that he had breach the regulations by causing a collision with the Williams of Nico Hulkenberg at the start of the race. As a result he picks up a five-place grid penalty for the next event in Korea.

Speaking after the race, Petrov maintained that he had to move over because of Nick Heidfeld.

“I made a good start and managed to overtake [Felipe] Massa,” Petrov explained. “I was then going passed Hulkenberg with [Nick] Heidfeld on my right when he started to move left and so I also had to move left to avoid him. Unfortunately I hit the side of Hulkenberg's car and this is why I crashed.”

Hulkenberg, who was the innocent victim, added: “I had a bad start and I didn't get off the line at all. I then saw Petrov coming up behind me. He touched my front right wheel and that was it.

"You never want to finish a race that early, but today it happened and it was unfortunate for us both. The team are doing a really good job developing the car and that showed in our qualifying performance so it was a shame to finish that early.”

Source: Crash

[Video] Massa overshoots grid position at Belgian GP start

Source: YouTube @irmaoanderson1

Kimi Räikkönen Before the Start in Rally of Turkey 2010

Source: Citroën WRC - YouTube

A good start for Ogier and Räikkönen in Jordan

The Citroën Junior Team is second at the end of the opening day of the Jordan Rally, thanks to the C4 WRC of Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia. Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström also overcame the first day’s challenges to end up in the top 10 overall.

The opening day’s action was the shortest of the entire rally with 95.70 competitive kilometres, and it provided competitors on the Jordan Rally with a good taste of what was to follow. But no driver was aiming to open up a gap, and neither did anybody want to inherit first place overnight because of the ‘road sweeper’ role that it would entail for day two.

From the first few kilometres, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia adopted a careful pace. “Maybe I was a bit too careful on the second stage,” said Ogier, who is currently third overall in the World Rally Championship standings. “Nobody is going at their hardest. There’s nothing to win today; it’s just a question of avoiding all the various traps and finding a good position for the rest of the rally.”

Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström continued their learning curve on roads that were particularly challenging, aiming to accumulate more experience in the car. “The start of the day was quite interesting but we are still here,” said Kimi. “We hit a rock and had a half spin. On a rally that is so specialised, it’s really important to cover all the stages.”

During midday service, the Citroën Junior Team changed the settings on the C4 WRC driven by the Finnish crew to make it easier to drive on the rock-strewn surface. “We saw how important it was to have experience on these roads” added Kimi. “ It was better in the afternoon and our times improved. Now we have to carry on like this over the next couple of days.”

Sébastien Ogier was fourth after the opening special stage and he held onto the place right up to the start of the final stage. The Frenchman finished the test without slowing down – unlike several other drivers – and inherited second place overall. “Our aim was to stay in front of Sebastien Loeb this evening,” he said. “We didn’t take many risks and everybody was just watching everyone else. Tomorrow, we’re going to do everything we can to stay at the front.”

Citroën Junior Team manager Benoit Nogier concluded : “Our goal was to maintain the form we showed in Mexico. Sébastien is continuing at his pace while keeping a comfortable safety margin. Tonight he’s second, not so far behind Latvala and just in front of Loeb. We didn’t operate any particular strategy. Kimi’s objective is to finish the rally without making mistakes. It’s important for him to gain experience. The Jordan Rally is a tricky event and our feeling for it is just beginning to come now. We simply need time. At the end of the first day, I’m very happy.”

Souce: RallyBuzz

[Video] Kimi Raikkonen Arctic Rally Start Rovaniemi

Source: YouTube @mogyi61