Formula 1 News

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Alonso & Ferrari are really stupid!

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MARKO TAUNTS RIVALS

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has taunted McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh by telling him to resolve his own team's problems before commenting on those of others.

Marko, right-hand man to owner Dietrich Mateschitz, was naturally in an ebullient mood after witnessing Sebastian Vettel become the youngest world champion in Formula One history on Sunday.

Marko has made no secret of his favouritism towards Vettel over the course of the season, notably siding with the 23-year-old following his collision with team-mate Mark Webber in Turkey.

So after Vettel's moment of glory in Abu Dhabi, Marko was able to gloat, in particular when asked about Whitmarsh's comments after the Belgian Grand Prix in August when Vettel crashed into Jenson Button.

Whitmarsh remarked that Vettel's driving was more reminiscent of junior formulae than Formula One.

Standing on firm ground on which to strike back, especially given Lewis Hamilton's accidents that followed in Italy and Singapore, Marko said: "Whitmarsh was trying to put a lot of pressure on us.

"But he should look to try and keep Hamilton on the road instead.

"I think it would have been better for his team instead of looking at others and making comments which were not justified."

Marko did not stop at Whitmarsh with his comments as he also claimed Fernando Alonso was fortunate to still be in the hunt for the title come the last race.

The Austrian was referring to the fact Alonso inherited two of his five wins from Vettel, initially in Bahrain when a spark plug issue dropped the young German from first to fourth.

Most significantly there was Korea when Vettel's engine blew nine laps from home, and not forgetting in Germany where Felipe Massa pulled over to allow by Ferrari team-mate Alonso.

"The way we have gone with Red Bull is straightforward," added Marko.

"We won won in a very sporting way, never with any tactics. Both drivers had the same chances.

"Of course, this was a risky strategy because we could have lost the title to Alonso, who was always lucky.

"Whenever we had problems he was the one benefiting, so now we are very happy. These two titles (Red Bull also winning the constructors') are more than I could have hoped for."

Marko is convinced the team and Vettel will now go from strength to strength, with the aim to repeat the feat next year and further put the noses out of joint of established marques McLaren and Ferrari.

"Sebastian will become more mature, more relaxed, and as for the team, everyone is so committed," said Marko.

"When the boss (Mateschitz) said in 2004 he was going to buy an F1 team, but that we had to win, I knew it would be difficult but possible.

"But to win both championships in a relatively short period of time means the whole team, the whole approach of everyone was right, and there is a lot of satisfaction.

"Everyone is now focused on repeating this next year, that is what we are going for - but hopefully not in the last race!"

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MASSA TOPS TESTING

Felipe Massa finished fastest on the first day of the Pirelli tyre test at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.

The Ferrari driver topped the timesheets after 94 laps on tyres provided by the Italian manufacturer, who will replace Bridgestone as F1 sole tyre supplier from the start of next season.

All 12 F1 teams were in attendance at the circuit for the start of the two-day test session, and the top of the order soon took on a familiar look with Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren setting the pace.

Massa finished the day with a best time of one minute 40.170 seconds, over three-tenths faster than new world champion Sebastian Vettel, who completed 77 laps on the new Pirelli rubber for Red Bull.

The German suffered a right-rear tyre failure with two minutes remaining in the session, forcing a red flag. It was the first failure of the new Pirelli rubber since the company's testing programme began.

McLaren test driver Gary Paffett was third, seven-tenths down on Vettel, while Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi was fourth from Renault's Robert Kubica and the Williams of sixth-placed Rubens Barrichello.

Britain's Paul Di Resta was seventh for Force India after setting a time over a second quicker than team-mate Adrian Sutil, who lost time with an exhaust problem this morning and finished 10th.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was eighth with Jaime Alguersuari's Toro Rosso ninth.

Last season's new teams took their customary place at the back of the grid, with Virgin's Timo Glock ahead of Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus) and Pastor Maldonado (Hispania).

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ALONSO ENDS PIRELLI TEST ON TOP

Fernando Alonso was the man to beat as the second and final day of the Pirelli test reached its conclusion in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

The Spaniard ventured to the top of the timesheets during the morning session with a 1:40.529, which proved to unbeatable.

Alonso also amassed the most laps, 105, which is the equivalant of two race distances at the Yas Marina circuit.

Michael Schumacher put in a late charge to take second place with just 15 minutes remaining in the session. The Mercedes GP driver finished 0.156s adrift of Alonso.

Schumacher's rise saw Sebastian Vettel drop to third place, as like Alonso he failed to better his time from the morning. Vettel, the new Formula One world champion, completed just 66 laps.

Red Bull's head of race engineering Ian Morgan said: "It's been interesting to work with different tyres here and it was good to have the opportunity to get information using a car we know well - the RB6 - before starting to work with the new car next year.

"Overall we have done everything we planned to and we're looking forward to working with Pirelli in the future.

"It's sad that this is the last day of running for the RB6 - it's a car that we have enjoyed a great deal of success with this year - but we're looking forward to 2011."

Rubens Barrichello finished in fourth place ahead of Robert Kubica, Gary Paffett and Oliver Turvey.

Paul di Resta, who was responsible for the first red flag when he broke down an hour before lunch, completed the top eight.

The only other stoppage on Saturday belonged to Pastor Maldonado, who was in action for Hispania Racing. He spun and stalled during the final hour of running.

Times
01. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:40.529 105 laps
02. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:40.685 74 laps
03. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:40.825 66 laps
04. Rubens Barrichello Williams 1:41.294 100 laps
05. Robert Kubica Renault 1:41.614 91 laps
06. Gary Paffett McLaren 1:41.622 46 laps
07. Oliver Turvey McLaren 1:41.740 30 laps
08. Paul di Resta Force India 1:41.869 35 laps
09. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:42.110 43 laps
10. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 1:42.145 97 laps
11. Tonio Liuzzi Force India 1:42.416 46 laps
12. Sergio Perez Sauber 1:42.777 46 laps
13. Jarno Trulli Lotus 1:44.521 83 laps
14. Pastor Maldonado Hispania 1:44.768 65 laps
15. Timo Glock Virgin 1:44.783 82 laps

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VETTEL GETS HUGE WELCOME HOME

Sebastian Vettel was 'knocked out' as an estimated 15,000 fans braved the cold on Sunday to welcome him home to Heppenheim.

Fans arrived in droves, waiting for hours, to catch a glimpse of Vettel a week after he became the youngest F1 Champion at the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

The Red Bull racer, who was greeted by cries of 'Sebastian, Sebastian!' as he came onto the stage, was honoured in his home town by Heppenheim's mayor Gerhard Herbert, who handed him the golden book of the town, which has a population of just 25,000.

"When I was standing up there and saw all these people and they were all screaming and chanting, that knocks you out," the 23-year-old said.

"I didn't expect to see so many people, this makes me really proud as a Heppenheim boy.

"I have got goose pimples, this is better than Abu Dhabi, because there weren't so many people there."

The Red Bull driver became World Champion at the age of 23 and 135 days. The previous youngest was McLaren's Lewis Hamilton in 2008, aged 23 and 301 days.

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DE LA ROSA STILL HOPEFUL OF SEAT

Pedro de la Rosa is still chasing a 2011 Formula One race-seat - although admits a lack of finances is hampering his efforts.

De la Rosa returned to F1 racing with Sauber this season, swapping his McLaren test driver role for a full-time race-seat.

But his stay was short-lived as Sauber dropped after the Italian GP in favour of signing Nick Heidfeld.

The Spaniard, though, is determined to find a place on next year's grid.

"At the moment, to be honest, I have no idea what I will do next year," he told Autosport.

"Obviously I'm talking to everyone that might have a seat available. But the question really is that it will always be my decision where I can go.

"I'm not sure at this point what will be best for my future. It very much depends on what is the project behind each team."

Asked whether he had spoken with Hispania Racing, he said: "I have, yes. For me, everything will depend on what their sporting project is. If it's interesting, I will go for it. Or if it's not, or I perceive it as not being, I will not waste my time.

"Whatever I do, I always do 100 percent. I put a lot of passion into things. Whatever I do, I will do it with passion. And if I go to Hispania, I would want to feel the same."

However, the 38-year-old revealed that a lack of financial backing is hampering his efforts.

"What I know for sure is that if I had money I would 100 per cent be able to be racing. It's always been like that, but I would say next year is one of the worst I've ever seen in terms of how the teams are selling their race drives.

"But we will see, it's still early days and I'm not in a rush. Whatever I do, I want to do it properly. I don't want to be rushed into anything."

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SUTIL SET TO STAY WITH FORCE INDIA

Adrian Sutil has agreed a new deal in "principle" with Force India, according to the German's manager.

Sutil entered Formula One with Force India back in 2007 when the team was still racing under the Spyker name and remained through the change ownership to Vijay Mallya.

The German, though, has been linked to several rival teams in recent months with reports claiming he could replace Michael Schumacher should the German opt to quit Mercedes GP while others suggested that he is on his way to Renault.

However, it now appears Sutil isn't going anywhere as his manager, Manfred Zimmerman. has told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport that he has agreed a new contract in "principle" with Force India.

"Once a contract is signed we will communicate this," Zimmerman added. "This should happen within the next two to three weeks."

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BARRICHELLO LIKES WILLIAMS' STYLE

Rubens Barrichello says Williams are adopting an "aggressive style" of design for their 2011 Formula One car.

The 38-year-old Brazilian, who was recently retained by the team for next season, says he's feeling positive about Williams' prospects and thinks they can do better than this year.

Barrichello finished 10th in the 2010 drivers' championship with 47 points.

"I feel good. I feel that the team is doing a good job on what they're doing for next year," the Brazilian told Autosport's website.

"It's an aggressive style - the approach for next year's car seems to be quite aggressive, which is good. I'm up for it, I like it."

Even so, Barrichello warned against expecting too much and insisted it is still much too early to tell whether Williams will make a marked improvement.

"We can never say that, because if you talked to every team right now they would sell you a winning car for next year," he said.

"It's a bit on the fantasy side right now. Some (new cars) are going better, some are going even better.

"But ours in the tunnel seems to be going okay. We just need to keep our feet on the ground and work with it."

Barrichello, who is about to embark on his 19th season - making him the most experienced driver in F1 history - also believes the improvement Williams showed during the latter stages of this season shows they are on the right track.

"I think the turnaround was after Istanbul, where we sort of got to the bottom of the problem," he added.

"There was a change in the characteristic of the downforce coming onto the car, so we had to change the wind tunnel for that, and it made it better.

"After that it was an improvement all the way through - bang, bang, bang. Even though it has been very down in terms of results the whole year long, the team conquered a lot and progressed.

"We over-performed in qualifying a little bit on new tyres, but we still had pretty decent races."

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HORNER: WEBBER WILL FIGHT AGAIN IN 2011

Christian Horner is adamant Mark Webber will be up for the fight next season despite losing out to his Red Bull team-mate in this year's Championship.

Webber had his best Formula One season to date in 2010, finishing third in the Drivers' Championship after challenging for the title all the way to the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

However, in the end, despite claiming four victories and an additional six podium results, he lost out by 14 points to his team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

And although some have raised doubts as to whether the 34-year-old has another title fight in him, Horner insists he does.

"Absolutely, I don't see any reason why not," Horner told Autosport when asked whether Webber has another title push in him.

"He is driving tremendously well. This year he has performed in an exceptionally hard year and I think there are lessons that he will take out of 2010 that he will build on in 2011.

"I think he'll take a little bit of time to reflect, but when he looks back in the cold light of day at this year, he can be very proud of what he has achieved.

"He has won four grands prix, he has won the jewel in the crown at Monaco, where he was absolutely supreme, he was in the Championship battle right until the last race."

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People power - McLaren reveal MP4-26 with Berlin’s help 04 Feb 2011
Bit by bit, part by part, McLaren unveiled their 2011 car on the streets of Berlin on Friday. Aided by title sponsors Vodafone, and members of the public carrying components through the streets, the British team assembled the brand-new MP4-26 in the famous Potsdamer Platz in the heart of the German capital.

Drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button joined proceedings as the car gradually took shape before an ever-growing crowd of enthusiastic onlookers. For both men it was their first sight of the finished machine.

"We've seen it in the wind tunnel quite a lot, but it looks even better full-size," said Hamilton. “It’s great to see how many fans braved the Berlin weather to come to the event. I hope it’s been an exciting day for everyone. I think people saw a unique way of revealing our 2010 car, something that’s never been done before. I hope the car proves just as innovative once we take to the track.

“I head into 2011 in a relaxed but determined frame of mind. I’ve spared nothing during my winter fitness preparations and, in many ways, I feel as fit, focused and refreshed as I did ahead of my first season in Formula One in 2007. So my aim for this year is to ensure that everything comes together in the best possible way and that, like last year, I’m able to fight for the title right down to the final race.”

Team mate Button wass equally excited after his first glimpse of his new charge: “Today really marks the beginning of our 2011 season after what seems a very long time away from the track,” he said. “It’s been a really exciting event for all the fans who attended, and now I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of MP4-26 for the first time next week.

“It’s strange to think that this is only the start of my second season at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, because I’ve felt so comfortable since joining the team last January. Even so, I’d still consider 2010 something of a building year, albeit, with two victories, a pretty solid one! For the new season, I’ve not only got a year’s Vodafone McLaren Mercedes experience under my belt, but I’ve also been able to offer input into the design and development of the new car - something that I was naturally unable to do last year. Now I really feel I know how Vodafone McLaren Mercedes goes racing, and I’ll be driving a car that’s been fully developed around Lewis and myself - that’s a very empowering feeling.”

The new car boasts a range of aerodynamic features designed to take advantage of new rules that significantly limit the amount of downforce that can be derived from the car’s underbody. It features distinctive U-shaped sidepods - to feed air more efficiently to the car’s rear end - and an electronically adjustable rear-wing system, introduced for 2011 to increase the potential for overtaking.

Beneath its skin, the car houses an all-new electric hybrid KERS system. McLaren, with engine partners Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines, were the first Formula One team to win a Grand Prix using a hybrid device in 2009, and this new system is expected to further refine that race-winning package.

“I think today’s innovative launch demonstrates the enthusiasm within Vodafone McLaren Mercedes to engage the general public; to show them that our sport is intense and exciting, and that we’re very keen to showcase Formula One to the wider world,” said team principal Martin Whitmarsh. “The MP4-26 is the result of an incredible amount of hard work, innovative thinking and dynamic teamwork.

“Under the leadership of (technical director) Paddy Lowe, (engineering director) Tim Goss and (director of design and development programmes) Neil Oatley, our design department is more integrated than ever: in fact, I’m particularly proud of the contributions made by our project engineers, many of whom have taken on leadership roles for the very first time and who had worked so well together to create this very striking and individual-looking car.”

After their near miss in 2010, McLaren hope the Mercedes-powered car will see the team take their first constructors’ championship since 1998 and first drivers’ title since Hamilton’s success in 2008.The team finished last season second overall, behind rivals Red Bull, with 454 points and five victories to Red Bull’s 498 points and nine wins.

Following Friday’s launch, McLaren tester Gary Paffett will shakedown the car during a private session at Spain's Idiada Proving Ground on February 8 before the team begin track testing at the Spanish circuit of Jerez on February 10.