Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Fernando's blog : let's go to Spa !


Holiday over, it’s time to get back to the race track. This two week break has been very useful for me in terms of recharging my batteries after a really busy July. It was nice to spend some time at home, with family and friends. I didn’t do anything special, although I did tackle a little tour of Asturias by bicycle: it’s now become something of a tradition among my group of friends and this year we were joined by some of the guys from the team, including our sporting director, Massimo Rivola. It was good fun as well as being a useful way to do some training in preparation for the final part of the season. You know how much I love cycling and so it was great to share it with friends and I was pleased to discover people within Ferrari who share this interest. Who won? I did, but only because I’m fitter!

I arrived in Belgium this afternoon as I had an event to attend for my personal sponsor, Silestone and this evening I will get to Spa. I can’t wait to be back on track to continue with this run of positive results which goes back to Valencia. We will have some new parts on the 150º Italia which we hope will allow us to improve our performance a bit more. I am well aware that the championship situation is what it is, but that does not mean we have thrown in the towel. We always set out trying to win every race and, as I’ve been saying for a while now, we will do the maths at the end. These past weeks, I have spoken a few times to Stefano [Domenicali] and I could tell he is very motivated: I like that sort of spirit as it’s mine too.

It will be important to bring home some good results because the team has put in so much effort to get back on terms after a difficult start: all our guys and the fans deserve it.

Tomorrow is the start of what is a very special weekend for one driver who has played his part in the history of Formula 1 and Ferrari in particular: Michael Schumacher. It’s not for me to say he is the greatest of all time as usually, it is the numbers that do the talking: seven world titles, 91 wins, these are incredible records. I hold Michael in very high esteem and I feel honoured to have raced alongside him. When I came to Maranello, I realised even more how close are the ties that bind him to Ferrari and that is why I was particularly pleased with what Stefano had to say at the Wrooom Summer event, immediately before this break. I don’t know if in 2021 I will still be in Formula 1, it’s hard to say and this is a further confirmation of what an extraordinary career Michael has had. For my part, I want to take this opportunity to send him my very best wishes for this incredible landmark: twenty years is really an amazing achievement!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

The paddock news of Spa !

* Lotus-Renault has announced that from this weekend Bruno Senna will replace as a race driver Nick Heidfeld! The German driver does not stop there as he began a legal action but the High Court in London would prefer that both parties reach an agreement probably financial. for now it is the status quo. To be continued ...
* Michael Schumacher at Spa celebrates his 20 year career! He would have preferred a better grid position but Michael will be the last on the grid tomorrow.
* Mark Webber celebrated his 35th birthday today! and as good news never comes alone, Red Bull announced today the renewal of his contract for 2012.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

The drivers holidays !


Hi all dear readers of CFB!
I send you this little card to tell you about the holidays of our beloved drivers. On the agenda: walks in Japan, Hawaii, France, Italy ... along with Fernando, Mark, Sebastian, Jaime ... Let's go! * Ferrari
- Fernando Alonso has split his vacation into two parts. He was first invited to the
Ferrari meetings "wroom" summer version and was able to hike on foot or bicycle in the Italian Dolomites in the company of Stefano Domenicali, and some members of the Scuderia. Then he returned to Oviedo, where he now resides, to spend quality time with family.
- Felipe Massa, as usual, returned to Sao Paulo in Brazil to spend a well deserved holiday with family. He also participated in two free practice sessions at a race of the Super Touring Championship in Sao Paulo at the wheel of a Fiat. This interlude he liked it so much he plans to convert to this sport after the F1.
* Red Bull
- Vettel went to Mallorca shortly after the Hungarian GP in the company of his girlfriend Hannah. He subsequently was invited on the yacht of Bernie Ecclestone who was anchored off the coast of Croatia.
- Mark Webber has made a living in the south of France (see photo from his twitter) and then returned home to Oxford. He also told us via twitter that he had made a bike ride with Alain Prost! just that:)
* Mercedes GP :
-Nico Rosberg took his vacation to attend a round of DTM at the Nurburgring and then went to Ibiza as you can see from this video : http://youtu.be/VEjdMi6RZPU.
* Mclaren :
-Lewis Hamilton did not mention the place of his vacation but he said he had a great time in the company of Nicole Scherzinger. One can also think that our two lovers took advantage to look for a nice home as Lewis had expressed his desire to move to Europe with Nicole to see each other more often .

- Jenson Button is probably the driver that took the holidays the most complete since he primarily left to join his beautiful Jessica in Tokyo before flying with her to Hawaii for a stay that lasted 15 days. The time to recharge the batteries.
* Toro Rosso:
- Sébastien Buemi preferred a stay in the United States and visited the city of Orlando, specifically Disneyworld before heading to Miami.
- Alguersuari, as every year, went to Ibiza to play DJ at various parties. He has also sent a beautiful photo of the royal beach in Ibiza from his twitter.
* Virgin:
- Timo Glock took a vacation on Lake Constance (see photo from his twitter), the German side to do a lot of bike as usual. He then returned home to Switzerland to finish his vacation.
- The Belgian pilot of Virgin, Jerome d'Ambrosio, preferred to join the sunny south of France and laze on the beach (see photo from his twitter). He then went home to see his family in Belgium before returning to his home in Oxford to better prepare his home GP. * Lotus :
- Heikki Kovalainen is certainly one of the most active drivers on twitter to such an extent that almost all its detailed holiday program on a daily basis and that's good for us ! lol then the program for the Finn : parts of badminton and golf as well relax with his girlfriend Catherine Hyde all in the magnificent setting of northern Finland(see the photo from his twitter)
I does not forget the other drivers who have not unveiled their resort areas but have certainly had a great holiday with their families.
A big kiss to them:)

Thursday, August 4, 2011

The news of the week

* Pirelli has announced types of tires for the next 3 races: medium and soft for Spa and Monza, super-soft and soft for Singapore.
* Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean could replace Nick Heidfeld on Friday morning in free practices .
* Fia will approve the circuit for the India GP on September 1st . Charlie Whiting had to reach the end of July but decided to postpone his visit in late August. The circuit will host the Grand Prix of India is ready, it only needs the installation of the final layer of asphalt mid September. * According to Helmut Marko, Mark Webber could retire at the end of 2012 and be replaced by his compatriot Daniel Ricciardo.

Hungary GP : Alonso & Massa Sunday quotes

Fernando Alonso :
"This is a podium again, the fourth in a row, we have been competitive in four runs with different characteristics and it looks like it is today did not suit our car. This gives me more confidence for the rest championship but now we are on vacation, I look forward to continuing the season. This July was stressful and full, I think everybody, especially the team deserves this break to unwind. I hope to recovery, SPA, we will take a good race. As for my race, I was in trouble on the adherence to and Schumacher passed me after that, various incidents in the first turns made me lose precious time, I lost a lot of time behind the Mercedes and Mark [Webber]. At this point, we decided to anticipate my stop to go to a four-stop strategy, we were allowed to finish on the podium. I was not alone in having trouble with my car, the main thing was to stay on track until it is dry. When we found that we were losing time We did not panic and adapted our strategy, it was a very interesting and exciting race, I want to congratulate Jenson [Button], which is celebrating 200 GP in F1 for a good win. "
Felipe Massa :
"It was a tough race with the rain made track conditions difficult. My race was ruined when I got out of the track, I hit the tire wall my car was damaged, but the engineers me said I could go on. I lost a lot of time because of this, I am upset for not being able to fight for the podium because I could finish in the top three. The conditions were difficult at the outset, as lap 40 when the rain was there, you should avoid the white lines because they were very slippery, it was like driving on ice. Now we have a little vacation, I will go to Brazil to be with my family because I enjoy spending time with them and in my country, I'm sure the second part of the championship will be better than the first. "

Hungary GP : the race

Pilote
Time
1 BUTTON Jenson
1h46'42"337
2 VETTEL Sebastian
3"588
3 ALONSO Fernando
19"819
4 HAMILTON Lewis
48"338
5 WEBBER Mark
49"742
6 MASSA Felipe
1'23"176
7 DI RESTA Paul
1 tour
8 BUEMI Sébastien
1 tour
9 ROSBERG Nico
1 tour
10 ALGUERSUARI Jaime
1 tour
11 KOBAYASHI Kamui
1 tour
12 PETROV Vitaly
1 tour
13 BARRICHELLO Rubens
2 tours
14 SUTIL Adrian
2 tours
15 PEREZ Sergio
2 tours
16 MALDONADO Pastor
2 tours
17 GLOCK Timo
4 tours
18 RICCIARDO Daniel
4 tours
19 D'AMBROSIO Jérôme
5 tours
20 LIUZZI Vitantonio
5 tours
21 KOVALAINEN Heikki
ret
22 SCHUMACHER Michael
ret
23 TRULLI Jarno
ret
24 HEIDFELD Nick
ret

Hungary GP : Alonso & Massa Saturday quotes

Fernando Alonso :
"This is the same as last week, so we are neither surprised nor disappointed. I did not do a perfect lap in Q3, which cost me a better grid position, but I do not think I was able to pull myself up the front line. The third place was within our reach, and it would have been an excellent position to start the race. Our direct rivals did better than us, including Felipe [Massa] that n has no error and go ahead of me tomorrow. It is important to have a car that will allow us to fight for the podium, that's what we will win big points in the Championship. A fifth place is better a fourth, because at least I started on the right side of the runway, and I have a better start. Red Bull has once again hit hard. It seems difficult in Q1 and Q2, then Q3, they released an anthology of round I do not know where ... It was always difficult to overtake here, but with the Srec and DRS that are available to us, things should change. The pit stops are essential to complete a position, we have seen the importance of the latter on the outcome of a race, and that's where everything could be played. "
Felipe Massa :
"Usually our opponents that we are faster in qualifying and our race pace can make up the difference in performance, so we'll see if tomorrow it will be the case. I hope to have a car that will be competitive as it was during my last laps. This morning I had oversteer and then we made some changes before the oversteer take place. After further adjustments, the balance was better. As for the strategy, it is difficult to predict the number of stops we have, for a four-stop strategy is not impossible, probably three ... It will depend on the length of the first relay is where we will have a clear picture. It the first time that I stand before Fernando [Alonso] this year and I'm very happy, but what counts is being in front of our opponents, which is not the case."

Hungary GP : the qualifying session

Pilote
Time
1 VETTEL Sebastian
1'19"815
2 HAMILTON Lewis
1'19"978
3 BUTTON Jenson
1'20"024
4 MASSA Felipe
1'20"350
5 ALONSO Fernando
1'20"365
6 WEBBER Mark
1'20"474
7 ROSBERG Nico
1'21"098
8 SUTIL Adrian
1'21"445
9 SCHUMACHER Michael
1'21"907
10 PEREZ Sergio
1'22"157
11 DI RESTA Paul
1'22"256
12 PETROV Vitaly
1'22"284
13 KOBAYASHI Kamui
1'22"435
14 HEIDFELD Nick
1'22"470
15 BARRICHELLO Rubens
1'22"684
16 ALGUERSUARI Jaime
1'22"979
17 MALDONADO Pastor
1'23"847
18 KOVALAINEN Heikki
1'24"362
19 TRULLI Jarno
1'24"534
20 GLOCK Timo
1'26"294
21 LIUZZI Vitantonio
1'26"323
22 RICCIARDO Daniel
1'26"479
23 BUEMI Sébastien
1'24"070
24 D'AMBROSIO Jérôme
1'26"510

Hungary GP : Alonso & Massa Friday quotes

Fernando Alonso :
"First of all thank you all for wishing me my thirtieth birthday and especially to Bernie Ecclestone, who came to wish me along with all the journalists at the press conference. It's nice to celebrate it here with a team like Ferrari, because I will be with them until I was probably 35 years. As for F1, we completed the planned program and I must say we had a positive start for the rest of the weekend. We will now analyze the data and make the best choices for qualifying and the race. I am happy because I've done a lot of laps, which is important to study the degradation of tires, which is an important factor. The track is very dirty and the same as the Nürburgring last Friday. However, we know it will get better day after day until Sunday afternoon and there will be more important to manage his tires. We saw McLaren look very strong, as they were last weekend. Now we need to analyze data to improve the car especially in the third area where we seem slower than our rivals."
Felipe Massa :
"We worked hard today, especially on the comparison of Pirelli tires and we can say that the degradation appears to be important, both on the soft tires that super soft, this will be an important factor in the strategy. I think we'll have very strong competitors such as Red Bull and McLaren. This will not be easy to qualify well but it will do, because I think overtaking will be difficult here. I was not able to do a fast time my first round with the super soft tires because I cut the turn 9, so my lap times of the day is not the best I could do. Tires degrade easily if you attack strongly. I Of course, wished a happy birthday this morning Alonso, because it is an important day for him, so I resouhaite him a happy birthday. "