PARIS (AP) Formula One and cycling are sports poles apart but with a common problem. It has reached the point where fans watching on TV can go to the kitchen for a snack without fear of missing any action.
Predictability isn't good for a sport. F1 is aware of that and is adding bells and whistles to improve the show, including tires that, with luck, should deteriorate quickly.
Drivers sliding around on worn-out rubber should make for more riveting viewing and unforeseen race outcomes in the new season that starts Sunday with the Australian Grand Prix.
Both are most welcome in a sport which, given the hundreds of millions its teams spend on the cars and their drivers, should be delivering far more bang for all those bucks.
Cycling, on the other hand, should embrace the fact that there are always quiet moments in races, especially its most important ones, the three-week tours of France, Italy and Spain, when spectators will pour themselves a glass of wine and doze off.
And that's fine. Because in cycling, as with tennis, action often builds toward a crescendo. The first few hours of a race, the first games in a set, aren't so important in themselves, you can slip away to the kitchen for refreshments. But they lay the foundations for the denouement - the tiebreaker, the 5-4 game, the bunch sprint, the last mountain climb - that no fan wants to miss.
Cycling will never deliver adrenaline through a fire hose - thrills! Spills! All the time! - like F1. Its tantalizingly gradual delivery of excitement is one of its charms. International cycling boss Pat McQuaid should tell television executives to buzz off and defend the sport's idiosyncrasies instead of pandering to their demands for more spectacle.
To add spice, McQuaid is trying to strip riders of the two-way radios they use to communicate with their managers during races. The International Cycling Union president figures that will make riders think more for themselves and that left to their own devices, they'll race with more derring-do and be more exciting to watch.
But there's no compelling evidence that it will work. Because many riders and team bosses are opposed, McQuaid risks simply aligning the sport against him. Somewhat insultingly, his plan suggests that riders with radios are little more than remote-controlled robots.
Cycling puts on a fine show as it is. If anything, the best way to improve it would be to make it more believable. Redouble efforts to catch drug cheats, and more viewers will tune in.
As for F1, there were worrying indications from practice sessions Friday that the new Pirelli tires might not be quite as fragile on Melbourne's Albert Park circuit as was thought during offseason testing.
Damn. The idea that drivers might be forced to dip into the pits as much as four times in a race to replace tires worn to the canvas was exciting. The Bridgestones used until last season were so durable that cars looked at times to be riding round and round on rails, which was as boring as watching the hands of a clock.
Hopefully, the new Pirellis will wear much faster, as they are designed to do, and reward drivers who know how to take care of tires, like Jenson Button - which is only fair. Hopefully, those drivers who don't or who are saddled with poorly balanced cars will be punished with crumbling tires that will cause them to slow dramatically. That is only fair, too. It should make for a much better show.
So, too, should the go-fast rear wing that drivers will be able to activate when they're closing in on the car ahead, giving them an extra burst of speed to overtake. Overtaking shouldn't be too easy. But nor should it be as impossible as it was for Fernando Alonso at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November, the season-ending race that had the potential to be a thriller but instead was a crushing anticlimax because so little happened.
Lotus Renault driver Vitaly Petrov says fiddling with all the gizmos and dials on their steering wheels - gears, rear wing, KERS power-boost button, et cetera - while driving at top speed could prove to be like answering mobile phone text messages, frying eggs and tying one's shoes all at one time. But isn't this why these guys are paid fortunes, because they are the best and have reflexes as sharp as razors? If they're unhappy, they can drive a taxi.
F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone's whacky suggestion that "suspense would be guaranteed" if tracks were sprayed with water to make them slippery and treacherous is just silly. Race outcomes would be too random. F1 does not need to become a lottery to rediscover excitement.
But Ecclestone is right that F1 should be delivering the unexpected. If not, there is always a bacon sandwich and cup of tea calling our name.
Minggu, 08 Mei 2011
Jumat, 06 Mei 2011
Schumacher questions car after poor qualifying
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Michael Schumacher finds himself on the eve of the opening race of the 2011 Formula One season questioning the abilities of a race car he previously thought could challenge for the podium.
After a promising winter testing and competitive times in practice for the Australian Grand Prix, there were expectations that Schumacher might get back to challenging for wins after an anti-climactic comeback in 2010.
However the seven-time world champion will start Sunday's race from 11th on the grid after his Mercedes proved no match for Sebastian Vettel's pacesetting Red Bull or the fast improving McLarens.
"The fact of the matter is we're not exactly where we want to be, but we don't know the reasons for why that's the case.," the seven-time world champion said.
Schumacher said he was disappointed both because his car was not as fast as he thought, and because the top cars were faster than he expected.
"For Red Bull it's the first time they have shown their full potential ... On top of that, we are not exploring our maximum from the car," he said. "So it's both that are making the picture look very different to what it should be."
Teammate Nico Rosberg will start from seventh, behind the McLarens, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Lotus driver Vitaly Petrov.
Schumacher said the team would be spending a lot of time before the race investigating the car's shortfalls.
"We can have various theories, but we first want to analyze and understand, and obviously take the actions."
While Schumacher's starting spot is clearly a disappointment, it does mean he is the highest-ranked driver who can change his tires for the race - the top 10 must start on the tires they used to set their best time. This will allow the German to start on the firm prime tires and drive much longer before his first pit stop, perhaps offering him a chance to take the lead with clean air and track room.
"We don't know yet what will be the optimum strategy for how we'll start, but having cars in front of you with a lot of laps on their tires obviously is helpful for me maybe to get close and overtake.
"But nevertheless, the speed of the car is not cause to be too optimistic to take lots of positions in tomorrow's race."
While the car has disappointed, Schumacher is impressed with this season's Pirelli tires.
"The tires have performed much better than anticipated and whereas people have spoken of three-to-four pit stops, maybe now two-to-three pit stops is the most likely to happen."
Team principal Ross Brawn offered some qualified hope for the race.
"Without doubt, today was quite a disappointing qualifying session for the team," Brawn said. "We expected to be more competitive, however we haven't got the car working as well as we had hoped today.
"The fundamentals are good, but we've had rather too many challenges this weekend to be able to get the most out of it," he added. "We are in good shape for the race tomorrow in terms of tire availability and the car looked pretty reasonable on the longer runs, so let's wait and see what happens."
After a promising winter testing and competitive times in practice for the Australian Grand Prix, there were expectations that Schumacher might get back to challenging for wins after an anti-climactic comeback in 2010.
However the seven-time world champion will start Sunday's race from 11th on the grid after his Mercedes proved no match for Sebastian Vettel's pacesetting Red Bull or the fast improving McLarens.
"The fact of the matter is we're not exactly where we want to be, but we don't know the reasons for why that's the case.," the seven-time world champion said.
Schumacher said he was disappointed both because his car was not as fast as he thought, and because the top cars were faster than he expected.
"For Red Bull it's the first time they have shown their full potential ... On top of that, we are not exploring our maximum from the car," he said. "So it's both that are making the picture look very different to what it should be."
Teammate Nico Rosberg will start from seventh, behind the McLarens, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Lotus driver Vitaly Petrov.
Schumacher said the team would be spending a lot of time before the race investigating the car's shortfalls.
"We can have various theories, but we first want to analyze and understand, and obviously take the actions."
While Schumacher's starting spot is clearly a disappointment, it does mean he is the highest-ranked driver who can change his tires for the race - the top 10 must start on the tires they used to set their best time. This will allow the German to start on the firm prime tires and drive much longer before his first pit stop, perhaps offering him a chance to take the lead with clean air and track room.
"We don't know yet what will be the optimum strategy for how we'll start, but having cars in front of you with a lot of laps on their tires obviously is helpful for me maybe to get close and overtake.
"But nevertheless, the speed of the car is not cause to be too optimistic to take lots of positions in tomorrow's race."
While the car has disappointed, Schumacher is impressed with this season's Pirelli tires.
"The tires have performed much better than anticipated and whereas people have spoken of three-to-four pit stops, maybe now two-to-three pit stops is the most likely to happen."
Team principal Ross Brawn offered some qualified hope for the race.
"Without doubt, today was quite a disappointing qualifying session for the team," Brawn said. "We expected to be more competitive, however we haven't got the car working as well as we had hoped today.
"The fundamentals are good, but we've had rather too many challenges this weekend to be able to get the most out of it," he added. "We are in good shape for the race tomorrow in terms of tire availability and the car looked pretty reasonable on the longer runs, so let's wait and see what happens."
Rabu, 04 Mei 2011
Red Bull's Vettel takes pole for Australian GP
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) World champion Sebastian Vettel will start from pole Sunday in Formula One's season-opening Australian Grand Prix after a dominant performance in qualifying Saturday.
The Red Bull driver had a time of 1 minute, 23.529 seconds, more than three-quarters of a second quicker than nearest rival Lewis Hamilton of McLaren.
"It's a good position to be in. It's the best position, pole position, so I'm very happy with that," Vettel said. "But we need to keep our feet on the ground and see how we get on tomorrow."
Red Bull's Mark Webber will start third in front of his home crowd, with Jenson Button of McLaren fourth as he attempts to win the race for a third straight year.
Hamilton's performance to split the Red Bull cars was an impressive one, and McLaren reaped the reward for making some bold changes to the car after trouble offseason testing.
"It was a very brave and tough decision for us to pull back from what we'd been developing over the winter test," said Hamilton, the 2008 series champion. "And after the last test to come back and decide we were going to go in another direction. Since I've been here, we've never ever done that before."
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso qualified fifth and Mercedes' Michael Schumacher was 11th.
The Red Bull and McLaren cars were consistently fastest after the first Q1 session, switching between the firmer "prime" tires and the "options" to try and feel their way to faster lap combinations.
There may be more surprises for race day after the Red Bull drivers revealed they didn't use the added thrust of their KERS systems at all in qualifying. Neither Vettel or Webber would elaborate on the reason behind the decision.
Schumacher said a failure with his KERS partly explained his disappointing time.
"Clearly that was not an ideal start to the season, and I cannot deny that I am disappointed," he said. "It's not that the KERS only worked intermittently, or that I could probably have made it to Q3, but it is because our performance did not turn out as we expected."
Troubled constructor Hispania became the first team to miss out on the race under the reintroduced 107 percent rule, after both its drivers failed post a time under the cut off mark set at seven percent higher than the fastest time in Q1. With the cut-off time set at 1:31.266, Vitantonio Liuzzi could manage only 1:32.978 and Narain Karthikeyan had 1:34.293. Despite a request from the team pleading exceptional circumstances for the poor times, race stewards decided to enforce the rule and exclude the team from the race.
Renault's Nick Heidfeld, ninth-fastest in final practice earlier in the day, also was eliminated in Q1 and will start from a disappointing 18th.
In Q2, Renault's Rubens Barrichello ruined his chances of qualifying in the top 10 when he touched the grass coming into the third turn, losing control and spinning into the gravel.
Adrian Sutil of Force India also was eliminated, but had a lucky escape when he spun his car 360 degrees coming out of the final turn and narrowly missed a wall before regaining control and continuing his lap.
Renault's Vitaly Petrov put in a strong performance to qualify in sixth place, ahead of Mercedes' Nico Rosberg and Ferrari's Felipe Massa.
Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Buemi also impressed by making it into the Q3 session. Kobayashi will start ninth, and Buemi 10th.
The Red Bull driver had a time of 1 minute, 23.529 seconds, more than three-quarters of a second quicker than nearest rival Lewis Hamilton of McLaren.
"It's a good position to be in. It's the best position, pole position, so I'm very happy with that," Vettel said. "But we need to keep our feet on the ground and see how we get on tomorrow."
Red Bull's Mark Webber will start third in front of his home crowd, with Jenson Button of McLaren fourth as he attempts to win the race for a third straight year.
Hamilton's performance to split the Red Bull cars was an impressive one, and McLaren reaped the reward for making some bold changes to the car after trouble offseason testing.
"It was a very brave and tough decision for us to pull back from what we'd been developing over the winter test," said Hamilton, the 2008 series champion. "And after the last test to come back and decide we were going to go in another direction. Since I've been here, we've never ever done that before."
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso qualified fifth and Mercedes' Michael Schumacher was 11th.
The Red Bull and McLaren cars were consistently fastest after the first Q1 session, switching between the firmer "prime" tires and the "options" to try and feel their way to faster lap combinations.
There may be more surprises for race day after the Red Bull drivers revealed they didn't use the added thrust of their KERS systems at all in qualifying. Neither Vettel or Webber would elaborate on the reason behind the decision.
Schumacher said a failure with his KERS partly explained his disappointing time.
"Clearly that was not an ideal start to the season, and I cannot deny that I am disappointed," he said. "It's not that the KERS only worked intermittently, or that I could probably have made it to Q3, but it is because our performance did not turn out as we expected."
Troubled constructor Hispania became the first team to miss out on the race under the reintroduced 107 percent rule, after both its drivers failed post a time under the cut off mark set at seven percent higher than the fastest time in Q1. With the cut-off time set at 1:31.266, Vitantonio Liuzzi could manage only 1:32.978 and Narain Karthikeyan had 1:34.293. Despite a request from the team pleading exceptional circumstances for the poor times, race stewards decided to enforce the rule and exclude the team from the race.
Renault's Nick Heidfeld, ninth-fastest in final practice earlier in the day, also was eliminated in Q1 and will start from a disappointing 18th.
In Q2, Renault's Rubens Barrichello ruined his chances of qualifying in the top 10 when he touched the grass coming into the third turn, losing control and spinning into the gravel.
Adrian Sutil of Force India also was eliminated, but had a lucky escape when he spun his car 360 degrees coming out of the final turn and narrowly missed a wall before regaining control and continuing his lap.
Renault's Vitaly Petrov put in a strong performance to qualify in sixth place, ahead of Mercedes' Nico Rosberg and Ferrari's Felipe Massa.
Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Buemi also impressed by making it into the Q3 session. Kobayashi will start ninth, and Buemi 10th.
Senin, 02 Mei 2011
Webber to be spurred by Red Bull pay gap
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Alan Jones, the 1980 Formula One world champion, says his Australian compatriot Mark Webber will be spurred to outperform teammate Sebastian Vettel this season by reports that the German is getting paid twice as much.
Vettel recently signed a lucrative contract extension with Red Bull that lasts to the end of the 2014 season and which enhanced status since claiming the 2010 drivers' championship.
Webber is now a distinct No.2 in the team, and Jones said that should ignite the Australian's fighting spirit in Sunday's Australian Grand Prix and for the remainder of the season.
"I believe Mark's brutally realistic attitude to racing can put all that aside and that he will throw everything at Vettel and be a championship contender," Jones said in Melbourne newspaper The Age.
"If Mark needs any more incentive, what better than Vettel's new multiyear contract, which I'm told is about double what Mark is getting. If it was me, I'd take great delight in beating the driver who the team bosses thought was worth twice as much."
Jones said Webber must assert himself early in the season by outperforming Vettel, after the German got the upper hand toward the end of 2010 after a close tussle in the first half of the campaign.
"One of Mark's strengths is his ability to surround himself with a strong engineering support group focused totally on him," Jones said.
"He has had the best preseason preparation of his career and I reckon he has both the car and the self-belief to do it."
---=
ADIOS HISPANIA: Hispania became the first team to fall victim to Formula One's reintroduced '107 percent' rule and did not take its place in Sunday's race.
The rule dictates that in the first session of Saturday qualifying, any car that is not within seven percent of the best time will not be able to enter the race.
With the cut-off time set at 1:31.266, Vitantonio Liuzzi could manage only 1:32.978 and Narain Karthikeyan had 1:34.293. There was some expectation that Hispania would be allowed to race with the permission of rival teams, as it was the first race of the season, and appealed to stewards along those lines, but were turned down.
"If you're out, you're out," FIA chief technical delegate Charlie Whiting was quoted to say by Speed TV. "However, there is provision in the rule for the stewards to allow a car in under exceptional circumstances, which could include setting a good time in a previous session, or if there were changeable weather conditions that clearly disadvantaged some cars that couldn't get out at the beginning when it was dry.
"Those sorts of things, or generally speaking if a car's done a good time in (free practice) 3, for example, and has a mechanical problem and can't do a clear lap; we've seen it all before. Then the stewards are probably likely to allow the car to start. I personally don't believe that's the case with HRT (Hispania)."
Hispania team principal Colin Kolles was accepting of the decision, saying "in the end it just couldn't be, still I'm incredibly proud of my whole team."
"Our drivers produced the maximum in the least amount of time possible. We managed to get both cars ready in time for qualifying and proved that the car is capable of running a lot quicker than today.
"The circumstances in which we arrived were not as desired. We created a miracle again, but it wasn't enough. We'll be back stronger than ever in Malaysia. There we will have more time to test the car and show where the F111 really belongs."
Hispania came to Australia unprepared to compete, with neither car able to complete a lap in Friday's practice sessions as the crew worked long hours on Thursday night and through Friday to piece the cars together.
That eleventh-hour work raised the question of what state the team would have been in had the scheduled opening race of the season gone ahead in Bahrain two weeks' previously.
The team has received some sponsorship from Indian car manufacturer Tata this year, following the hiring of Karthikeyan, but the problems in Australia cast further questions upon its viability.
On the positive side, Kolles has widespread admiration among rival teams for his ability to keep the team going, technical director Geoff Willis too is also a respected name in F1 design, and the hiring of the experienced Liuzzi rather than a sponsor-laden rookie indicated a commitment to ontrack performance rather than purely money.
---=
NO KERS, NO WORRIES FOR RED BULL: The most surprising thing about Red Bull's speed advantage at the Australian Grand Prix is that it was achieved without the use of the KERS power-boost system.
Sebastian Vettel's pole position time was three-quarters of a second ahead of the best McLaren and 1.4 seconds better than the best Ferrari - huge margins in F1 terms - and to rub salt into their rivals' wounds, it was done without a KERS system that is estimated to cut about four tenths of a second per lap.
Neither Vettel, who careered away to an easy win in Sunday's race, or teammate Mark Webber used KERS in qualifying or race.
The KERS technology takes the energy from braking and stores it in batteries, which can then be used to provide a turbo-like power boost at the press of a button. The disadvantage is that the batteries are heavy; the entire device weighs about 25 kilograms.
The team experimented with KERS in Friday's practice sessions, but chose to do without the power burst, preferring a lighter and more nimble car.
"I'm afraid we haven't had KERS on our car all weekend," team principal Christian Horner said after the race. "It didn't look like we needed it. We ran it on Friday, but we felt it was a potential risk. We made a decision with KERS, it's quite a complicated technology and (chief designer) Adrian (Newey) being Adrian, he wouldn't compromise the aerodynamics of the car."
Vettel recently signed a lucrative contract extension with Red Bull that lasts to the end of the 2014 season and which enhanced status since claiming the 2010 drivers' championship.
Webber is now a distinct No.2 in the team, and Jones said that should ignite the Australian's fighting spirit in Sunday's Australian Grand Prix and for the remainder of the season.
"I believe Mark's brutally realistic attitude to racing can put all that aside and that he will throw everything at Vettel and be a championship contender," Jones said in Melbourne newspaper The Age.
"If Mark needs any more incentive, what better than Vettel's new multiyear contract, which I'm told is about double what Mark is getting. If it was me, I'd take great delight in beating the driver who the team bosses thought was worth twice as much."
Jones said Webber must assert himself early in the season by outperforming Vettel, after the German got the upper hand toward the end of 2010 after a close tussle in the first half of the campaign.
"One of Mark's strengths is his ability to surround himself with a strong engineering support group focused totally on him," Jones said.
"He has had the best preseason preparation of his career and I reckon he has both the car and the self-belief to do it."
---=
ADIOS HISPANIA: Hispania became the first team to fall victim to Formula One's reintroduced '107 percent' rule and did not take its place in Sunday's race.
The rule dictates that in the first session of Saturday qualifying, any car that is not within seven percent of the best time will not be able to enter the race.
With the cut-off time set at 1:31.266, Vitantonio Liuzzi could manage only 1:32.978 and Narain Karthikeyan had 1:34.293. There was some expectation that Hispania would be allowed to race with the permission of rival teams, as it was the first race of the season, and appealed to stewards along those lines, but were turned down.
"If you're out, you're out," FIA chief technical delegate Charlie Whiting was quoted to say by Speed TV. "However, there is provision in the rule for the stewards to allow a car in under exceptional circumstances, which could include setting a good time in a previous session, or if there were changeable weather conditions that clearly disadvantaged some cars that couldn't get out at the beginning when it was dry.
"Those sorts of things, or generally speaking if a car's done a good time in (free practice) 3, for example, and has a mechanical problem and can't do a clear lap; we've seen it all before. Then the stewards are probably likely to allow the car to start. I personally don't believe that's the case with HRT (Hispania)."
Hispania team principal Colin Kolles was accepting of the decision, saying "in the end it just couldn't be, still I'm incredibly proud of my whole team."
"Our drivers produced the maximum in the least amount of time possible. We managed to get both cars ready in time for qualifying and proved that the car is capable of running a lot quicker than today.
"The circumstances in which we arrived were not as desired. We created a miracle again, but it wasn't enough. We'll be back stronger than ever in Malaysia. There we will have more time to test the car and show where the F111 really belongs."
Hispania came to Australia unprepared to compete, with neither car able to complete a lap in Friday's practice sessions as the crew worked long hours on Thursday night and through Friday to piece the cars together.
That eleventh-hour work raised the question of what state the team would have been in had the scheduled opening race of the season gone ahead in Bahrain two weeks' previously.
The team has received some sponsorship from Indian car manufacturer Tata this year, following the hiring of Karthikeyan, but the problems in Australia cast further questions upon its viability.
On the positive side, Kolles has widespread admiration among rival teams for his ability to keep the team going, technical director Geoff Willis too is also a respected name in F1 design, and the hiring of the experienced Liuzzi rather than a sponsor-laden rookie indicated a commitment to ontrack performance rather than purely money.
---=
NO KERS, NO WORRIES FOR RED BULL: The most surprising thing about Red Bull's speed advantage at the Australian Grand Prix is that it was achieved without the use of the KERS power-boost system.
Sebastian Vettel's pole position time was three-quarters of a second ahead of the best McLaren and 1.4 seconds better than the best Ferrari - huge margins in F1 terms - and to rub salt into their rivals' wounds, it was done without a KERS system that is estimated to cut about four tenths of a second per lap.
Neither Vettel, who careered away to an easy win in Sunday's race, or teammate Mark Webber used KERS in qualifying or race.
The KERS technology takes the energy from braking and stores it in batteries, which can then be used to provide a turbo-like power boost at the press of a button. The disadvantage is that the batteries are heavy; the entire device weighs about 25 kilograms.
The team experimented with KERS in Friday's practice sessions, but chose to do without the power burst, preferring a lighter and more nimble car.
"I'm afraid we haven't had KERS on our car all weekend," team principal Christian Horner said after the race. "It didn't look like we needed it. We ran it on Friday, but we felt it was a potential risk. We made a decision with KERS, it's quite a complicated technology and (chief designer) Adrian (Newey) being Adrian, he wouldn't compromise the aerodynamics of the car."
Sabtu, 30 April 2011
Australian Formula One Grand Prix Results
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Results frolm Sunday's Formula One Australian Grand Prix at the 5.5-kilometer (3.3-mile) Albert Park circuit with driver, country, car, time and laps completed:
1. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Red Bull, I hour, 29 minutes, 30.259 seconds, 58 laps.
2. Lewis Hamilton, Britain, McLaren, 1:29:52.556, 58.
3. Vitaly Petrov, Russia, Renault, 1:30:00.819, 58.
4. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Ferrari, 1:30:02.031, 58.
5. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 1:30:08.430, 58.
6. Jenson Button, Britain, McLaren, 1:30:24.563, 58.
7. Sergio Perez, Mexico, Sauber, 1:30:36.104, 58.
8. Kamui Kobayashi, Japan, Sauber, 1:30:47.131, 58.
9. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 1:30:55.445, 58.
10. Sebastien Buemi, Switzerland, Toro Rosso, 1:29:28.705, 57.
11. Adrian Sutil, Germany, Force India, 1:29:54.794, 57.
12. Paul di Resta, Britain, Force India, 1:30:23.766, 57.
13. Jaime Alguersuari, Spain, Toro Rosso, 1:30:28.923, 57.
14. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, Renault, 1:30:43.901, 57.
15. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Lotus, 1:30:53.536, 56.
16. Jerome d'Ambrosio, Belgium, Virgin, 1:29:34.518, 54.
Not classified
Timo Glock, Germany, Virgin, 49 laps.
Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Williams, 48.
Nico Rosberg, Germany, Mercedes, 22.
Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, Lotus, 19.
Michael Schumacher, Germany, Mercedes, 19.
Pastor Maldonado, Venezuela, Williams, 9.
---=
Fastest Lap
Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 1:28.947 on lap 55.
---=
Drivers' Championship
1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 25
2. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren 18
3. Vitaly Petrov, Renault 15
4. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 12
5. Mark Webber, Red Bull 10
6. Jenson Button, McLaren 8
7. Sergio Perez, Sauber 6
8. Kamui Kobayashi, Japan 4
9. Felipe Massa, Ferrari 2
10. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso 1.
---=
Constructors' Championship
1. Red Bull, 35
2. McLaren, 24.
3. Renault, 15.
4. Ferrari, 14.
5. Sauber, 10.
6. Toro Rosso, 1.
1. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Red Bull, I hour, 29 minutes, 30.259 seconds, 58 laps.
2. Lewis Hamilton, Britain, McLaren, 1:29:52.556, 58.
3. Vitaly Petrov, Russia, Renault, 1:30:00.819, 58.
4. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Ferrari, 1:30:02.031, 58.
5. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 1:30:08.430, 58.
6. Jenson Button, Britain, McLaren, 1:30:24.563, 58.
7. Sergio Perez, Mexico, Sauber, 1:30:36.104, 58.
8. Kamui Kobayashi, Japan, Sauber, 1:30:47.131, 58.
9. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 1:30:55.445, 58.
10. Sebastien Buemi, Switzerland, Toro Rosso, 1:29:28.705, 57.
11. Adrian Sutil, Germany, Force India, 1:29:54.794, 57.
12. Paul di Resta, Britain, Force India, 1:30:23.766, 57.
13. Jaime Alguersuari, Spain, Toro Rosso, 1:30:28.923, 57.
14. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, Renault, 1:30:43.901, 57.
15. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Lotus, 1:30:53.536, 56.
16. Jerome d'Ambrosio, Belgium, Virgin, 1:29:34.518, 54.
Not classified
Timo Glock, Germany, Virgin, 49 laps.
Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Williams, 48.
Nico Rosberg, Germany, Mercedes, 22.
Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, Lotus, 19.
Michael Schumacher, Germany, Mercedes, 19.
Pastor Maldonado, Venezuela, Williams, 9.
---=
Fastest Lap
Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 1:28.947 on lap 55.
---=
Drivers' Championship
1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 25
2. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren 18
3. Vitaly Petrov, Renault 15
4. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 12
5. Mark Webber, Red Bull 10
6. Jenson Button, McLaren 8
7. Sergio Perez, Sauber 6
8. Kamui Kobayashi, Japan 4
9. Felipe Massa, Ferrari 2
10. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso 1.
---=
Constructors' Championship
1. Red Bull, 35
2. McLaren, 24.
3. Renault, 15.
4. Ferrari, 14.
5. Sauber, 10.
6. Toro Rosso, 1.
Jumat, 29 April 2011
Petrov ready to fill Kubica's shoes at Renault
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) The circumstances could have been better, but Russian Vitaly Petrov left little doubt Sunday he is ready to be top driver at Renault.
Petrov beat the likes of Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Jenson Button to finish a surprise third at Formula One's season-opening Australian Grand Prix, putting aside his error-strewn debut season last year and asserting himself as the man to step in for injured teammate Robert Kubica.
Kubica was badly injured while competing in the Ronde di Andora rally on Feb. 6. He collided with a roadside barrier, which penetrated the body of the car, almost severing his right hand and fracturing his right arm and leg.
Nick Heidfeld, a former teammate at BMW, was appointed on Feb. 16 to replace Kubica indefinitely. It is likely the Pole will miss the entire season, though that has not been confirmed.
When asked if he was now confident of filling Renault's No. 1 driver spot, Petrov's answer was short and to the point.
"I don't think I have to answer anything. I think you can see it."
Petrov, 26, made his F1 debut last season and soon developed a reputation for making careless mistakes. However he improved throughout the season and made headlines in the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi when he kept Alonso behind him throughout the race, quashing the Ferrari driver's title ambitions.
Petrov led home the Spaniard again on Sunday. Even though Alonso closed inside two seconds in the final laps he was never in a genuine position to challenge the Russian, who hung on for his first ever podium finish.
"I was almost touching Mark Webber in front and was pushing as hard as I can," Petrov said. "Then when he pitted, I just tried to push the maximum of what I have from thee tires, and then also tried to pull away from Fernando."
But he said he never felt threatened by Alonso.
"It was just the last lap maybe, and he was still quite far away from me," Petrov said. "And then he still he needed some time to attack, but my tires were still quite good so I could still pull away in the last corner."
Kubica outqualified Petrov at every race last season and posted a better finish in every race he completed. Those statistics showed why Renault - while celebrating Petrov's podium - would be left wondering if second or perhaps even first was attainable if the Pole had been in the car on Sunday.
It's certainly not a question Petrov will dwell on.
"In qualifying it's difficult to fight with these guys," he said, referring to the Red Bull and McLaren drivers. "But I always believe, because in a race anything can happen, like it happened today."
Petrov's career trajectory was unusual by modern standards. coming into motor racing only in his late teens rather than having the extensive childhood karting experience now common for most drivers.
He mixed Russian competition with an underwhelming open-wheeler career in Europe then Asia, but was vaulted into Formula One on the basis of raw talent and with an eye to attracting the untapped Russian sponsorship market.
Late last year he extended his contract with Renault until the end of the 2012 season.
"I'm very proud I'm in this team and on the podium now," Petrov said.
Petrov beat the likes of Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Jenson Button to finish a surprise third at Formula One's season-opening Australian Grand Prix, putting aside his error-strewn debut season last year and asserting himself as the man to step in for injured teammate Robert Kubica.
Kubica was badly injured while competing in the Ronde di Andora rally on Feb. 6. He collided with a roadside barrier, which penetrated the body of the car, almost severing his right hand and fracturing his right arm and leg.
Nick Heidfeld, a former teammate at BMW, was appointed on Feb. 16 to replace Kubica indefinitely. It is likely the Pole will miss the entire season, though that has not been confirmed.
When asked if he was now confident of filling Renault's No. 1 driver spot, Petrov's answer was short and to the point.
"I don't think I have to answer anything. I think you can see it."
Petrov, 26, made his F1 debut last season and soon developed a reputation for making careless mistakes. However he improved throughout the season and made headlines in the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi when he kept Alonso behind him throughout the race, quashing the Ferrari driver's title ambitions.
Petrov led home the Spaniard again on Sunday. Even though Alonso closed inside two seconds in the final laps he was never in a genuine position to challenge the Russian, who hung on for his first ever podium finish.
"I was almost touching Mark Webber in front and was pushing as hard as I can," Petrov said. "Then when he pitted, I just tried to push the maximum of what I have from thee tires, and then also tried to pull away from Fernando."
But he said he never felt threatened by Alonso.
"It was just the last lap maybe, and he was still quite far away from me," Petrov said. "And then he still he needed some time to attack, but my tires were still quite good so I could still pull away in the last corner."
Kubica outqualified Petrov at every race last season and posted a better finish in every race he completed. Those statistics showed why Renault - while celebrating Petrov's podium - would be left wondering if second or perhaps even first was attainable if the Pole had been in the car on Sunday.
It's certainly not a question Petrov will dwell on.
"In qualifying it's difficult to fight with these guys," he said, referring to the Red Bull and McLaren drivers. "But I always believe, because in a race anything can happen, like it happened today."
Petrov's career trajectory was unusual by modern standards. coming into motor racing only in his late teens rather than having the extensive childhood karting experience now common for most drivers.
He mixed Russian competition with an underwhelming open-wheeler career in Europe then Asia, but was vaulted into Formula One on the basis of raw talent and with an eye to attracting the untapped Russian sponsorship market.
Late last year he extended his contract with Renault until the end of the 2012 season.
"I'm very proud I'm in this team and on the podium now," Petrov said.
Rabu, 27 April 2011
Alonso says Ferrari off the pace in new season
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) While disappointed not to start the Formula One season with a podium finish, Fernando Alonso says his Ferrari never had the pace to win the Australian Grand Prix.
Alonso finished fourth Sunday, while teammate Felipe Massa could do no better than seventh.
Alonso lost out on the tight first corner, squeezed onto the grass and pushed downed to ninth in the running order. He managed to race his way back into contention, but admits his car was not quick enough to challenge the leaders.
The Spaniard said Ferrari now has its work cut out to catch up with the speed and reliability of pacesetters Red Bull and McLaren.
"We got off to a good start, although it was a bit chaotic," the two-time world champion said. "We could have come third but no higher."
Both Ferraris went for a three pit stop strategy, while the podium finishers only had two.
"I was eighth or ninth at one point, thanks to the stops we overtook two cars," Alonso said. "We did make an extra stop but we regained our positions."
Team assistant technical director Pat Fry said Ferrari employed the right pitting tactics for the circumstances Alonso found himself in.
"With Fernando we made the right choices given what happened on the opening lap, when he found himself back in ninth place," Fry said. "Thanks to the pit stops and some good passing moves ... he was fighting for a podium finish right up to the final lap."
He said the team had plenty of room for improvement heading to the next race in Malaysia on April 10.
"We are in the right zone for us to be able to win a title, but definitely not if we keep finishing third or fourth," Alonso said. "We have to improve, we know that, but it's still to early to make any predictions."
Massa, who had his official result improved from ninth to seventh after both Saubers were disqualified for a technical breach, dueled fiercely for fourth with McLaren's Jenson Button in the early stages. Button eventually using a slip road to pass the Brazilian, costing him a drive-through penalty.
"It was very tight. When he passed me, cutting the chicane, I expected him to be penalized," the Brazilian said.
Massa said Ferrari is a better team that it was able to show in Melbourne.
"We have to get down to work to understand fully what happened, because we have not shown our true potential."
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