HRT launch in Barcelona

Today HRT Team introduced his car, the F111, with its two pilots:
Narain Karthikeyan and Vitantonio Liuzzi .

Barcelona II : classification of the 4th testing day + Alonso's thoughts

Here is the classification of the 4th testing day in Barcelona :
Pos.
Driver
Team
Time
Laps
1
M. Schumacher
Mercedes GP
1:21.268
46
2
F. Alonso
Ferrari
1:21.614
61
3
N. Heidfeld
Lotus Renault GP
1:22.073
43
4
R. Barrichello
Williams
1:22.233
89
5
K. Kobayashi
Sauber
1:22.315
41
6
J. Alguersuari
Toro Rosso
1:22.675
32
7
S. Vettel
Red Bull Racing
1:23.012
33
8
H. Kovalainen
Team Lotus
1:23.437
71
9
A. Sutil
Force India
1:23.921
26
10
J. Button
McLaren Mercedes
1:25.837
38
11
J. d'Ambrosio
Marussia Virgin Racing
1:27.375
38
--------
After this day of testing Fernando Alonso held to support the families of victims of the tsunami that occurred in Japan: "
Apart from the problems we encounter in F1, such as difficulty coping in F1, the complexity of materials , we realize that there are more important things, such as natural disasters, and my thoughts are for the victims and families residents in Japan."
Then he went back on the agenda of the day:
"To know where we are located opposite the other, we should expect next March 26 in Melbourne in qualifying and racing. But we have no doubt the 150 ° Italia will be very competitive.
The car has once again proved its true potential. We're very happy. We've made some changes, which were really helpful during our race simulations, during which the lap times were quite reasonable."
Where are we compared to the others? As already stated, we will know in Melbourne, and not before. The use of tires, fuel costs, the program of the day [...] here is something completely distorting a piece of time. From the beginning of these tests, we have always focused on our own work, trying to improve the car and stay calm. In 15 days we will see the fruits of our efforts this offseason."

Barcelona II : classification of the second testing day

Here is the classification of the second testing day in Barcelona :
Pos.
Driver
Team
Time
Laps
1
S. Vettel
Red Bull Racing
1:21.865
112
2
S. Buemi
Toro Rosso
1:22.396
120
3
V. Petrov
Lotus Renault GP
1:22.670
116
4
L. Hamilton
McLaren
1:22.888
57
5
F. Massa
Ferrari
1:23.324
101
6
P. di Resta
Force India
1:24.334
118
7
K. Kobayashi
Sauber
1:24.436
107
8
N. Rosberg
Mercedes GP
1:25.807
100
9
J. Trulli
Team Lotus
1:26.090
98
10
P. Maldonado
Williams
1:26.989
29
11
J. d'Ambrosio
Marussia Virgin Racing
1:28.982
64

Barcelona II : classification of the first testing day

Here is the classification of the first testing day in Barcelona :
Pos.
Driver
team
time
laps
1
M. Webber
Red Bull Racing
1:22.544
97
2
J. Button
McLaren Mercedes
1:22.910
74
3
V. Petrov
Lotus Renault GP
1:22.937
27
4
S. Pérez
Sauber
1:24.117
90
5
N. Heidfeld
Lotus Renault GP
1:24.735
20
6
P. di Resta
Force India
1:25.039
38
7
D. Valsecchi
Team Lotus
1.25.406
50
8
S. Buemi
Toro Rosso
1:26.004
48
9
N. Hülkenberg
Force India
1:26.030
31
10
L. Razia
Team Lotus
1:26.723
29
11
J. d'Ambrosio
Marussia Virgin Racing
1:32.060
57

Fernando Alonso celebrates 10 years in Formula 1 !

Fernando Alonso last week celebrated its 10 year presence in Formula 1. On this occasion he answered some questions from Spanish newspaper Marca in which he stated to be very happy to have signed with Ferrari:
"I expected a team of legend and magic, and it was a pleasant surprise, even better than what I was waiting for . I'm in no hurry to leave. Here, I take pleasure in finishing second or even eighth or twenty-third,"
he is also back on the worst cars and also the best that had to drive during his career:
"The Renault in 2009 was the worst car i had to drive but managed to get a podium in Singapore. The cars of 2004 and 2005 were the most enjoyable. There was the war between Bridgestone and Michelin tires that allowed us to be a few seconds faster with 900 horses. Even with less aerodynamic than we had six years ago from today, we turned in 1:08 at Valencia, 1:14 cons now six seconds of difference. These cars are hard to beat."
Fernando has also revealed he almost signed with Prost GP early in his career:
"In addition to go with Minardi [in 2001], I also had an offer to go to Prost Then, maybe become a pilot essays Ferrari, or maybe not and I should return in F3000. There was no guarantee then that Renault gave me a better opportunity."
Finally when he was asked whether he planned to lead a team when deciding Formula 1, Fernando said: "Today I would say no, because what I want is to drive. But it will be difficult to leave F1 one day because I drove my entire life. I think I'd rather spend my weekends having fun in rather than a kart to another job"
Fernando also said he would rather help young drivers to integrate f1. But don't worry it's not for now !

The news of Thursday march 3rd

* After having suggested that the Bahrain GP could be held in August (an idea finally abandoned because of the heat too high at this time), Bernie Ecclestone thinks it could take place in November after the Brazilian GP if calm returns by then to Bahrain. A decision will be taken at the next World Council on March 8.
* Bernie Ecclestone, once again, thinks to spice up the races the track should be artificially wet at some point of the races to show the strongest increase in GP in the rain. An idea supported by Pirelli. And you, what do you think?
* According to his manager Daniele Morelli, Robert Kubica is recovering and his rehabilitation is going well but it is impossible for the moment to give a date for his return aboard a f1.

Fernando Alonso's thoughts

Fernando Alonso took part last week in a kart race organized by the main sponsor of Ferrari, the bank Santander. On this occasion he answered to some questions which he discussed of the reliability of the Ferrari for this season and the Pirelli tires he again criticized:
"We only really know where we stand compared to others when we will be in Melbourne. Today, I am happy because we have demonstrated a reliable car. If everything works as planned, we will be among the teams that can fight for the title, alongside defending champions Red Bull , McLaren, Mercedes and Renault also, who had already made great progress at the end of last season. Even Toro Rosso has made significant progress,"
and about the tires:
"From what we've seen so far, degradation is very important. That means we will have races with many stops. I'm not a fan because I think that this heightened uncertainty is not conducive to the top teams: it's like football, it was decided to award a penalty kick by team after each half-hour, Barcelona and Real Madrid not jump for joy. It will be important to be faster because I do not think we can make one less stop than our main opponents."