F1 & Sebastian Vettel

srijeda, 31.03.2010.

Red Bull Racing pozvao FIA-u da se očituje o ovjesima

Red Bull Racing bi pozdravio FIA-ino očitovanje o dijelu ovogodišnjeg tehničkog pravilnika koji se odnosi na ovjes, nakon što su ih neki od suparnika otvoreno optužili da na svom RB6 imaju svojevrsni aktivni ovjes.
Premda nesigurni u detalje, neke od momčadi sumnjaju da Red Bull ima inteligentan ovjes koji tijekom kvalifikacija i cijele utrke odignutost bolida od podloge drži konstantnom.
"McLaren je nedavno puno toga ispričao o nama, bilo da se radilo o veličini našeg spremnika, budućnosti naših vozača ili, u najnovijem slučaju, postojanja navodnih sistema na našem bolidu," izjavio je Red Bull Racingov direktor Christian Horner.
"Kategorički tvrdim da ništa takvo ne postoji na našem bolidu. Na njima je da spekuliraju, ali FIA-ino očitovanje bi bilo dobro za sve."
Mercedesov direktor, Ross Brawn je prošlog vikenda rekaokako misli da bi bilo najbolje da FIA još jednom razjasni koje se promjene nakon kvalifikacija mogu napraviti na ovjesu.
"Mislim da moramo to malo suziti, baš zbog Red Bulla jer se o njima svašta priča sada. To je vrlo nepošteno prema njima," smatra Brawn. "Imaju vrlo dobar bolid, ali ne postoje dokazi koji upućuju na to da rade nešto što nije po pravilima."
"Možete se igrati s pritiskom guma između kvalifikacija i utrke, što je najjednostavniji način kojim pomažete situciju. Ali, neophodno je da FIA ustanovi gdje se točno nalazimo."
"Prema našim shvaćanjima, članak čijeg se broja ne mogu točno sjetiti kaže da ne smijete raditi promjene na ovjesu između kvalifikacija i utrke. Sve što utječe na ovjes, a može se raditi o pitisku plina ili namjernoj manipulaciji tempeature bi moglo imati takav efekt. Mislim da nam Charlie sve treba objasniti kako bismo izbjegli kontroverze."
Christian Horner je svoja razmišljanja zaključio interesantnom teorijom o tome zašto se momčad kojom upravlja našla među zubima pojedinih suparnika.
"Inače ignoriramo komentare iz drugih momčadi, ali ovo samo demonstrira da mi radimo nešto što i oni moraju," misleći pritom na formu cjelokupnog tehničkog paketa kojim raspolažu, a u kojem aktivnog ovjesa nema.

Source: f1racing.com.hr

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utorak, 30.03.2010.

Malaysian GP 2010: Sepang 2.-4. travnja

Prva utrka: 17. listopada 1999.
Dužina kruga: 5 543 metara
Ukupno krugova: 56 (310.408 km)
Najbrži krug: J.P. Montoya - 1:34:223 (2004, Williams)
Postolje 2009.: 1. J. Button - 2. N. Heidfeld - 3. T. Glock

Povijest:
Prva utrka održana na stazi Sepang bila je 1999. godine i bila je to utrka u kojoj se odlučivalo o naslovu svjetskog prvaka u poretku vozača ali i u natjecanju konstruktora. Uzbuđenje i velika napetost obilježili su tu utrku jer je bodovna razlika između prvog i četvrtog u poretku iznosila samo 14 bodova.
Pretposljednja utrka u sezoni vožena je u Sepangu 1999. godine i na njoj su vozači vozili po prvi put. Sama staza nije bila novost u svijetu motosporta, jer su na njoj održavane moto utrke od 1991. godine.
Staza duga 5542 metra izgrađena je blizu novog internacionalnog aerodroma u Kuala Lumpuru i slovi za jedan od najmlađih kompleksa za utrke. Ali za vozače i timove koji su po prvi put nastupili na njoj 1999. godine ona je predstavljala nesigurnost. Samo su tri vozača do tog trenutka imali prilike voziti na novoj stazi i to što su vozili bilo je jako kratkog vijeka.
Prva utrka obilježila je i povratak Michaela Schumachera nakon nesreće u Silverstoneu koju je doživio samo nekoliko mjeseci prije. Nijemac je bio u top formi a to je i pokazao svojom vožnjom na stazi. Cijelu utrku je vodio sa lakoćom ali je prvo mjesto prepustio Eddieu Irvineu da bi mu pomogao u prvenstvu tj. da dođe do naslova prvaka koji je njemu pobjegao zbog njegovog izostanka iz natjecanja zbog povrede.
Godinu dana poslije također je briljirao na toj stazi pruživši Ferrariju još jednu izvrsnu pobjedu. Upravo je ta pobjeda omogućila Ferrariju da dođe do svog drugog uzastopnog naslova u poretku natjecanja konstruktora. Sam Schumacher si je već utrku prije osigurao naslov prvaka svijeta.
V.N. Malezije je 2001. postavljena na početak sezone, odmah nakon prve utrke u Australiji. I ove je godine kao i prošle, Michael Schumacher ostvario pobjedu, no 2002. je na utrci pobijedio njegov mlađi brat, Ralf Schumacher. To mu je bila jedna jedina pobjeda u sezoni.
2003. je Kimi Raikkonen ostvario svoju prvu pobjedu u F1 karijeri. Na podiju su mu se pridružili Rubens Barrichello i Fernando Alonso, dok je Michael Schumacher dobio kaznu prolaska kroz boks zbog sudara sa Jarnom Trulliem u prvom krugu utrke. Zbog te je kazne Nijemac izgubio mnogo dragocjenog vremena i utrku je završio tek na šestome mjestu.
2004. se nakon dvije godine izostanka sa najviše stepenice pobjedničkog postolja vratio Michael Schumacher. Nijemac je ostvario svoju treću pobjedu u Maleziji ispred Juana Pabla Montoye i Jensona Buttona koji je na ovoj stazi ostvario svoji prvi podij u karijeri Formule 1.
Sljedeće godine, na malezijskoj je stazi pobjedu slavio Fernando Alonso u Renaultu. Jarno Trulli je ostvario prvi podij za Toyotinu momčad od kad ona nastupa u Formuli 1, dok je najnižu stepenicu pobjedničkog postolja popunio Nijemac Nick Heidfeld, koji je ove godine prešao u Williams-BMW tim.
2006. Renault se pokazao neuhvatljivim. Giancarlo Fisichella i njegov momčadski kolega Fernando Alonso su bez većih problema osigurali Renaultovu drugu dvostruku pobjedu u povijesti francuske momčadi. Renaultovom dvojcu na pobjedničkom postolju pridružio se Jenson Button u Hondi.
Iduće godine, dvostuku pobjedu odnio je McLaren s Fernandom Alonsom i Lewisom Hamiltonom. Spomenutom dvojcu na podiju se pridružio Kimi Raikkonen u Ferrariju.
Na drugoj utrci u prvenstvu sezone 2008., pobijedio je prošlogodišnji svjetski prvak, Kimi Raikkonen u Ferrariju. S njim su postolje dijelili Robert Kubica u BMW Sauberu i Heikki Kovalainen u McLaren-Mercedesu.
2009. godine utrki na Sepangu obilježio je monsunski pljusak. Zbog poplavljene staze i vrlo opasnih uvjeta na stazi, utrka je prekinuta u 33. krugu. S obzirom da je utrka prekinuta prije granice od od 75% utrke, timovima i vozačima dodijeljeni su polovični bodovi. Pobjedu je odnio Jenson Button.

Prijašnji pobjednici:
2009: J. Button (Brawn)
2008: K. Raikkonen (Ferrari)
2007: F. Alonso (McLaren)
2006: G. Fisichella (Renault)
2005: F. Alonso (Renault)
2004: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
2003: K. Raikkonen (McLaren)
2002: R. Schumacher (Williams)
2001: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
2000: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
1999: E. Irvine (Ferrari)

Source: f1-hr.com / youtube.com

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ponedjeljak, 29.03.2010.

Vettelovo odustajanje je uzrokovala slabo pričvršćena matica kotača

Red Bull Racingovi tehničari su identificirali problem koji je Sebastiana Vettela izbacio iz Velike nagrade Australije, u trenucima dok je vodio utrku.
Prema pisanju uglednog njemačkog magazina Auto Motor und Sport, Vettelovo odustajanje je uzrokovala slabo pričvršćena matica na prednjem lijevom kotaču, koja je ispala iz ležišta i oštetila dijelove oko sebe.
Auto Motor und Sporta piše da je inspekcija trajala svega 15 minuta, a uživo su je nadgledali Red Bullov šef inženjeringa Ian Morgan, dizajner Adrian Newey i direktor momčadi Christian Horner.
Komentirajući posljednji problem, Horner je rekao: "Ovako nešto nam se niti jednom nije dogodilo tijekom 6000 kilometara koliko smo ih napravili na testiranjima."
Ipak, to je slaba utjeha za Sebastiana Vettela koji u ukupnom poretku za Fernandom Alonsom već sada kasni 25 bodova.
"Naravno da me to ljuti. Još jedan defekt," rekao je. "U Maleziju sam mogao ići s 50 bodova."

Source: f1racing.com.hr

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nedjelja, 28.03.2010.

Sebastian Vettel Q&A: Car failure ‘massively infuriating’

Iako je dan bio katastrofa, Seb je ipak odgovorio na neka pitanja...

Q: Sebastian, somehow it’s a bit like deja vu: as in Bahrain you’ve dominated qualifying and the race only to be taken out by a mechanical failure…
Sebastian Vettel: Well, yes, we had a problem with the brakes of the left front tyre. As I understand it the tyre was not fixed properly and therefore had too much play and damaged the brake disc. It started two laps before - I wanted to pit but the next lap it was improving again so the decision was made to keep me out, and then it was too late…

Q: How did the problem show?
SV: I was sort of flying sparks on the left front wheel - probably this was visible on TV - then I tried to brake cautiously. At one point the tyre locked and that was the end of it.

Q: How frustrating is this when you’re in the lead in already difficult circumstances?
SV: It is massively infuriating and in my mind I’m using the ‘s’ word.

Q: Is it some sort of relief that the next race is already this coming weekend - that the next try for the podium is just around the corner?
SV: To be honest, at this very moment I would like nothing more but to go home - but life goes on. It gives a certain satisfaction to know that from my side I couldn’t have made anything different or better and I think until the moment when the trouble started we’d done a great job.

Q: Doesn’t being the dominant force on the grid make it easier to swallow another setback?
SV: That’s a cold comfort. I would have rather left Melbourne with 50 points on my side instead of 12.

Q: How confident are you heading to Malaysia that there all the bad luck will have disappeared?
SV: We have a very fast car - that is a fact. We just have to make sure that we see the chequered flag. But it is only the second race so there is no need to get nervous. We just have to see that we have a good car at hand for the second half of the season.

Source: formula1.com

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Australian GP 2010: Race; Button win, Seb DNF

Kao fan Sebastiana Vettela za mene je utrka bila prava katastrofa. Pole position, zadržao prvu poziciju nakon starta i u svim onim uvjetima i onda opet kvar, ovaj put su to bile kočnice. To je ono kao da si uklet i nema šanse da sve ispadne dobro. Tako sam frustrirana, da mi je cijeli dan obilježen s ovim.
A kao fan F1 mogu samo reći da je ovo ona prava utrka, ništa drugi i ne treba očekivati od Albert Parka, tako da stvarno mislim da će vratiti Australski GP kao prvi u sezoni. Bilo je stvarno puno pretjecanja, dvoboja, izletanja i drame. Svega što nam je falilo u Sakhiru. Pa idemo ispočetka:
Na samom startu utrke Seb je uspio zadržati svoju poziciju, ali drama je bila iza njegovih leđa. U 1. zavoju je Jenson Button udario u Fernanda Alonsa, a ovaj je pak pogodio Michaela Schumachera i oštetio mu prednje krilo te su obojica završili na kraju poretka probijali se naprijed. Lewis Hamilton je morao izići sa staze kako bi izbjegao Alonsa. Kamui Kobayashi je do 3. zavoja stigao sa oštećenim prednjim krilom, zbog čega je izletio sa staze i udario u zid, a onda na stazi još dramatično pokupio Hulkenbergov Williams i Buemijev Toro Rosso što je izgledalo stvarno dramatično i užasno.
Na startu je u svoj toj gužvi Massa prestigao Marka Webbera, no on mu je vratio u odmah u 6. zavoju. Massu su poslije toga napadali Rosberg i Kubica koji se probio skroz naprijed s 9. mjesta.
Nakon nereda u prvom zavoju, dva McLarena su se nalazila na šestom i sedmom mjestu, a onda se upustila u vlastiti obračun kojeg je na 3. zavoju u 6. krugu dobio Hamilton pretekavši Buttona.
No iako je kiša prestala, staza je još malo bila mokra (poznato je da se staza u Melbournu brzo suši) pa je Jason Button otišao u boks po slick gume, što se u početku činilo kao potez očajnika, jer je bolid malo klizao, no poslije se u sljedećem krugu dokazalo skroz nešto drugo kada je počeo nizati najbolje sektore. U sljedećem krugu su svi odjednom krenuli u boks po slick gume, to je doslovice krenulo negdje oko 15 bolida prema boksu što je stvarno izgledalo kao jedan ogromni nered i gužva. Na stazi su samo ostala dva Red Bulla koja su još očekivali kišu. No kiše nije bilo pa je Seb otišao u boks krug poslije i zadržao svoju poziciju ali izgubio svu prednost koju je imao. No Jenson Button samo zato što je otišao jedan krug ranije je završio na 2. mjestu odmah iza Vettela, za što čak i ja moram priznat da je bio potez genija.

Webber je na stazi ostao još jedan krug iza Seba (Vettel je bio vodeći pa je on otišao prvi u boks,a nije bilo smisla da Mark isto ode pa gubi vremena iza Seba dok on obavi boks) pa zbog toga poziciju gubi od Kubice i Rosberga. Onda ga na 1. zavoju prestiže i Felipe Massa u Ferrariju.
Sebastian se počeo odvajati od Buttona, imao je prednost od 4.5 sekunde. Tada sam bila mirna, uživala u utrci zabavljali me brojni dvoboji za koje ne vjerujem da ću tako uskoro opet vidjeti.
Felipea Massu je u 15. krugu na 1. zavoju pokušao prestići Mark Webber, no to je iskoristio Lewis Hamilton koji ga je napao na 3. zavoju. Webber kasno koči pri čemu izlazi sa staze, no uskoro se vraća i napada Fernanda Alonsa.
Nakon šest krugova, Hamilton uspješno prolazi Massu na ulasku u 1. zavoj, pri čemu je oštetio i prednje krilo na svom McLarenu. Massu napada i Fernando Alonso, ali pritom ponovno gubi mjesto od Marka Webbera.
Tada je krenula agresivna borba Hamiltona protiv sviju koji mu se nađu na putu. Uspio je preteći Rosberga, i Nico je pokušavao vratiti poziciju u 13. zavoju, ali ga je zaustavila žuta zastava.

Mislila sam da je izletio netko od novih momčadi, no kada sam vidjela bolid Red Bulla molila sam Boga da to bude Mark Webber, ali ne. To je bio bolid Sebastiana Vettela koji je izletio zbog kvara kočnica. Nisam mogla vjerovati da netko ima toliko nesreće.
Na polovici utrke većina vozača je imala problema s trošenjem mekših guma, a za boks su se odlučili Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg i Mark Webber.
U boks je prvi, u 31. krugu skrenuo Webber, koji je potom Rosberga prestigao kroz 2. i 3. zavoj, nakon što se Nijemac vratio iz boksa. Hamilton je na stazi proveo dva dodatna kruga. Nedugo zatim, Hamilton izljeće na 13. zavoju, nakon čega ga napada Webber, ali silovitim ubrzanjem ostaje ispred Red Bullovog vozača.
Jenson Button nije imao problema sa svojim gumama te je do kraja utrke bildao prednost ispred Kubice i Ferrarijevih vozača koji su ga pratili na razmaku nešto većem od 10 sekundi.
Ako ništa bar uzbudljiva završnica. Kroz posljednjih 8 krugova, Kubica, Massa, Alonso, Hamilton i Webber su se međusobno borili za pozicije od drugog do šestog mjesta, a kasnije im se priključio i Nico Rosberg. Gume Lewisa Hamiltona, koji se vozio u Alonsovoj zavjetrini, su prve popustile, ali Španjolca je svejedno napao 2 kruga prije kraja.
U tom ga je trenutku u stražnji kraj udario Mark Webber, nakon čega su obojica izletjela sa staze. Hamilton je se uspio vratiti u utrku i doći do 6. mjesta, dok je Webber pao u poretku jer je morao u boks po novi nos.
Unatoč ranom odustajanju Adriana Sutila, Force India ponovno ima razloga za veselje; njihov vozač Vitantonio Liuzzi je došao do 7. mjesta i osvojio je bodove.
Krug prve desetorice zatvaraju Rubens Barrichello, Mark Webber i Michael Schumacher, koji je se uspio oporaviti od incidenta u prvom zavoju. Dojmljivo je bilo i Schumacherovo pretjecanje Jaimea Alguersuarija u završnici utrke, kada je mladog Španjolca u Toro Rossu prešao s vanjske strane pretposljednjeg zavoja. Dobro je to Schumi možda i dođeš u "elitno" društvo.
Spomenimo da je do cilja došao i HRT-ov vozač Karun Chandhok, što je izazvalo oduševljenje u španjolskoj momčadi.

Classified:
01. J. Button 1:33:36:351
02. R. Kubica +0:12:034
03. F. Massa +0:14:488
04. F. Alonso +0:16:304
05. N. Rosberg +0:16:683
06. L. Hamilton +0:29:898
07. V. Liuzzi +0:59:847
08. R. Barrichello +1:00:536
09. M. Webber +1:07:319
10. M. Schumacher +1:09:391
11. J. Alguersuari +1:11:301
12. P. de la Rosa +1:14:084
13. H. Kovalainen +2 laps
14. K. Chandhok +5 laps

Not classified:
T. Glock 41 laps
S. Vettel 26 laps
L. Di Grassi 25 laps
A. Sutil 12 laps
V. Petrov 10 laps
B. Senna 5 laps
S. Buemi 1 lap
N. Hulkenberg 1 lap
K. Kobayashi 1 lap
J. Trulli 1 lap

Fastest Lap: M. Webber: 1:28.358 (47. lap)

SV: “I felt that something was wrong one lap earlier than I went off. I had some sparks coming up from the front left wheel; we didn’t know what it was and so wanted to pit. Then, a couple of corners before, I had huge vibrations building up and as soon as I touched the brakes, I had some sort of failure going in to Turn 13 and ended up in the gravel. There was nothing I could have done, I lost the car and that was it. It’s a shame as I think we had the race in total control at every stage, even though the conditions were difficult. But to win you have to finish. We’re working hard to get on top the reliability issues and we hope to have a solid race and see the chequered flag in Malaysia.”

Christian Horner: “Ultimately an extremely disappointing day. Having been in control of the race, the second in succession, Sebastian unfortunately retired with what looks like a wheel related issue (front left), which certainly cost him a comfortable race win today. It was cruel luck for him for the second year in a row here in Australia. With Mark, at his home GP, he dropped a place at the start, but then was making progress in the damp and tricky conditions. We had to leave him a lap longer than Sebastian to change to dry tyres, as he would have lost too much ground pitting immediately behind him. As the circuit went from intermediates to slicks, he made a couple of good passing moves on Massa, but then, unfortunately, he got tangled up with Hamilton for the first time in the race. After everything had settled down and with the position he was running in, we decided we had nothing to lose by putting another set of tyres on to let him have a go in the last ten laps, which Rosberg and Hamilton also elected to do. We got Rosberg at the stop but Lewis and Mark got tangled together which resulted in Mark having to pit again for a nose change. Ninth place after starting the race with two cars at the front of the grid is massively disappointing.”

Najbolji trenuci GP vikenda u Melbournu, Australiji:

Za samo tjedan dana je Uskrs, ali ono bitnije je da nas čeka Malezija koja je prošle godine donijela mnogo toga dobroga, nadajmo se tome ove godine.

Source: f1racing.com.hr / formula1.com / motorsport.com / vimeo.com

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subota, 27.03.2010.

Australian GP 2010: Qualifying; Red Bull rules in Melbourne, Seb Pole

Sebastian Vettel je danas u Melbourneu došao do svog sedmog pole positiona u karijeri, a to mu je ujedno i drugi uzastopni od početka ove sezone.
Red Bull Racingovi vozači, Sebastian Vettel i Mark Webber će sutrašnju Veliku nagradu Australije startati iz prvog reda, nakon što su dominirali kvalifikacijama koje su se danas vozile u tmurnom Albert Parku.
Red Bullov RB6 je bio uvjerljivo najbrži bolid tijekom sva tri kvalifikacijska segmenta, a Vettel je pole izborio sa samo desetinkom prednosti u odnosu na momčadskog kolegu. Njegovo najbrže vijeme od 1:23.919 je ujedno i najbrže od početka GP vikenda te je to jedini krug ispod granice od 1m24s.
Staza u Albert Parku je se značajno ohladila do posljednjeg kvalifikacijskog segmenta od čijeg se samog početka činilo da Red Bullove vozače nitko neće moći ugroziti.
Jedini koji je, osim Vettela, izravno pretendirao na prvu poziciju je bio njegov momčadski kolega Mark Webber, no Australac je izgubio vijeme u središnjem sektoru staze te se na kraju morao zadovoljiti drugim mjestom.
Dvojici u Red Bullu je se najviše približio Ferrarijev vozač Fernando Alonso, koji za poleom kasni dvije desetinke. Španjolac će u sutrašnju utrku krenuti iz drugog statnog reda kojeg dijeli s Jensonom Buttonom.
Šest desetinki za pole positionom kasni McLarenov vozač Jenson Button koji je na četvrtom mjestu, a dodatne dvije desetinke kasni Felipe Massa u drugom Ferrariju.
Mercedesovi vozači su danas imali problema s mekšim gumama te su na kraju uzeli tek šesto i sedmo startno mjesto. Nico Rosberg je ponovno bio brži od svojeg momčadskog kolege Michaela Schumachera.
Krug prve desetorice zatvaraju Rubens Barrichello, Robert Kubica i Adrian Sutil, dok je na 11. mjestu ujedno i najveće iznenađenje današnjih kvalifikacija - Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton je odustao od svog prvog letećeg kruga, nakon čega je se vratio u garažu, da bi se u završnici sesije na istom setu guma vratio na stazu i odvozio sedmo najbrže vrijeme. No, kako su drugi vozači napredovali, Hamilton je padao u poretku, a pala je performansa i njegovih guma, kao i količina goriva u MP4-25.
Sutil, Barrichello i Kubica su se tako uspjeli pridružiti vozačima vodeće četiri momčadi u finalnom kvalifikacijskom segmentu, dok su prethodno eliminirani Toro Rossovi i Sauberovi vozači, te Nico Hulkenberg i Vitantonio Liuzzi.
Vitalij Petrov u Renaultu je bio jedini vozač etabliranih momčadi koji je ispao već u Q1, dok je Sebastien Buemi većinu vremena proveo na samom rubu, da bi posljednjim pokušajem letećeg kruga izgurao Petrova.
Rus je pokušao uzvratiti udarac i činilo se da će uspjeti proći dalje, no izletio je u 12. zavoju, nakon što se stražnji kraj njegovog R30 zanio.
Kao što se i očekivalo, šestorica vozača novih momčadi su eliminirana već u Q1.

Rezultati kvalifikacija:
01. S. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:24.774 1:24.096 1:23.919
02. M. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:25.286 1:24.276 1:24.035
03. F. Alonso Ferrari 1:25.082 1:24.335 1:24.111
04. J. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:24.897 1:24.531 1:24.675
05. F. Massa Ferrari 1:25.548 1:25.010 1:24.837
06. N. Rosberg Mercedes 1:24.788 1:24.788 1:24.884
07. M. Schumacher Mercedes 1:25.351 1:24.871 1:24.927
08. R. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:25.702 1:25.085 1:25.217
09. R. Kubica Renault 1:25.588 1:25.122 1:25.372
10. A. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:25.504 1:25.046 1:26.036
11. L. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.046 1:25.184
12. S. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.061 1:25.638
13. V. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:26.170 1:25.743
14. P. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:26.089 1:25.747
15. N. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:25.866 1:25.748
16. K. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:26.251 1:25.777
17. J. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.095 1:26.089
18. V. Petrov Renault 1:26.471
19. H. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:28.797
20. J. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:29.111
21. T. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:29.592
22. L. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:30.185
23. B. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:30.526
24. K. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:30.613

SV: “A great result for the team. It’s obviously Mark’s home race here - but he got pole in Germany, so it’s kind of revenge (laughs)! But, it’s a long race tomorrow. I think we made a good step with the car ahead of today’s qualifying. The final session was all about if it would rain or not, so we waited a little bit at the start. My first lap in Q3 was the quickest and it was spot on until the last three corners. I was on the edge through Turn 14, but then I lost a little bit in last corner going on to the main straight. It was a very good lap up until that point though and the result says it all. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Press Conference:

Pres konferencija troje najbrže kvalificiranih vozača na VN Australije: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Mark Webber (Red Bull) i Fernando Alonso (Ferrari). Tu su samo Vettelovi odgovori, ali ako želite pročitati cijelu možete OVDJE.

Q: Sebastian, what a lap. The final sector of it you were hanging it off the edge of the kerbs, you were all over the place. You certainly spoiled the day for the Webber fans here in Melbourne.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, I think obviously first of all it is a great result for both of us and for the team. Mark’s home race, so it is a little bit funny remembering last year from Germany, so kind of revenge but it is a long race tomorrow. But coming back to qualifying, I think we did a good step into qualifying with the car, improving it, and the final session was all about ‘does it start to rain or not.’ Everyone went out. We waited a little bit and the first lap was the quickest and just spot on everywhere until I reached the last three corners. I would say turn 14, the fast right hander, I was still on the edge and okay but after that I think I lost a little bit, especially the last corner onto the main straight. It was a very good lap up to that point. I was very happy. I think the result says it all, so looking forward to tomorrow. It is quite good to start at the front. We don’t know how messy it might get tomorrow, safety car, no safety car. There is always a lot happening in Albert Park but it is good to be on pole. The clean side as well, so I am very happy.

Q: Sebastian, you said on the radio at the end that ‘we will show them’. Do you feel you have something to prove and , if so, who is them?
SV: Everyone else. I got the call P1 and Mark P2, so at the end of the day you are a team and the result in Bahrain for both of us, myself and Mark, was probably not as the car is. We have got another chance here. There are lots of races this year but it is quickly said on the radio, things like that. We are all motivated and I am looking forward to tomorrow.

Q: Sebastian, we spoke about the final sector. That was also where both the two Red Bull cars were particularly strong. What was the trick to that?
SV: Nail it! I think that the car has been working well yesterday. I think I was a bit behind Mark in the first two practice sessions and overnight we did a step forward. I think to qualifying again it was another step and then it was pretty much head to head. You were talking about the first run in Q3. We were all the teams in the same situation. We didn’t know if it would start to rain or not. We had the forecast of some drizzle, but you never know how strong that is going to be. It can easily spoil your lap. I think that the first run I had in Q3, the first two sectors were spot on. The third sector was getting a bit messy towards the end, so I lost it a little bit into 15, braking a bit late and I had not so clean an exit onto the main straight, so it wasn’t ideal but still it was enough. For all of us we are trying to push so hard and trying to get every single bit out of the car. Especially here in Melbourne it is very easy to overshoot on entry and therefore have a bad exit or be too patient on entry and therefore having a good exit but having lost the time on the entrance of the corner. It is always a compromise to find. I like the circuit. It is very bumpy, very rough, but you really need to concentrate hard. Being on pole positions is a great achievement from all of us. Mark second, so it is the best possible result for the team, so looking forward to the race.

Q: You have never finished here, but you have only been here twice. What are the major factors in the race going to be? How difficult is the car to drive on the bumps under braking?
SV: Well, I think the main thing is to finish. See the chequered flag this time. Last year we were close, only a couple of laps. But today was qualifying. Similar to Bahrain, Saturday is completely different to Sunday. Now we have a rough idea what is happening on Sunday, meaning that everyone of us will jump into the car with a lot of fuel in the car and it will be totally different. I think it will be even more bumpy and more difficult to control. It is a very long race. You need to focus on your own race, keeping the car on the track and at the same time managing your tyres plus trying to keep the car always on the limit. On top of that Albert Park is well known for any kind of happenings. I remember two years back only seven cars finished, so safety car, accidents, could be quite messy, so the main thing is to have a tidy race and bring the car home. Starting first that‘s where you want to finish as well.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri - La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, in Bahrain you were surrounded by the two Ferraris. Here you have Mark on your side. Which is the better situation?
SV: I think clearly to have Mark here. As Mark said before we were pushing each other hard in qualifying and now we sit here first and second. That is a great achievement. It is better than having two Ferraris up here and only one Red Bull.

Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo) Vettel, in the last race on softer tyres, it looks like you had a little bit better performance than Ferrari and when you used hard tyres, it looked Alonso was maybe a little bit better. Considering what you saw in free practice, what can you expect from the race?
SV: Well, I think this is a different circuit here, different tyres as well, soft and hard, but they are both different to Bahrain, so I think, as Fernando has already mentioned, the lap times on Friday weren’t really representative. Everyone is doing whatever he thinks is best for his kind of preparation, either qualifying, something in between, or race. I think we will have a good car in the race. To be honest, I don’t think you have to be a genius if you look at yesterday, we didn’t really focus on qualifying too much. I think it makes us confident for the race and we should have a good car, so Fernando was saying that they have a new front wing on the car, only a couple of hundredths or as Mark said it could be two hundred hundredths. Obviously it’s not that much but everyone is trying to push, trying to improve. I think tomorrow it will be much more about having a tidy race as it is likely that a lot of things happen here: safety cars, as we said already. There’s usually a lot of action at Albert Park. I hope for a boring race and we finish as we start. I’m sorry for you but we didn’t really get the job done in Bahrain, so we will try to do it here.

Q: (Heikki Kulta - Turun Sanomat) I was about to ask how boring it could be; can you promise a more colourful race for the TV spectators?
SV: Well, I think yes, because this circuit has an edge that there is simply more action than probably in Bahrain, so more things happening. The circuit’s not that long, so you might also have more situations lapping cars, lapping groups which can always be a dangerous situation for yourself and for them as well. There’s not a lot of run-off whereas in Bahrain, if you maybe do a mistake you just run wide and you come back. Here it always looks nice on TV but it feels horrible in the car, as I felt yesterday. It’s immediately gravel or something that isn’t that smooth. Yeah, I think we will have more excitement tomorrow just because of the circuit, first of all. Secondly, I think it’s a bit closer here than it was in Bahrain. It’s also a shorter track, so it’s natural, and lastly, as Fernando said, we don’t know the weather yet. There’s usually always sunshine in Australia, so I don’t know what’s wrong this year. You never know what happens. Just a couple of drops on the circuit can make a difference. So you keep the car on the track and try to bring it home. For us, I think the target is clear.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri - La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, we have seen that the Red Bull is a fast car, but the reliability is probably not at its best. What do you have to do with the team, how have you spoken to them to try to avoid the problems that you had in Bahrain? Are you worried about it?
SV: Well, it’s not fair to say that we are struggling with reliability. In Bahrain, we were obviously a bit unlucky with the failure that we had. A spark plug failure doesn’t really happen too often but it happened in that case. The main thing is that we carried on and we still finished fourth. I think Mark had a solid race in Bahrain. If you look at reliability, I think it was quite boring for him to follow another car for the whole race and not be able to pass, even though he was probably quicker. To come back, I think we have nothing to fear. We have good and strong people on board. If there’s any indication that we might have a weakness here or there, which, to be frank with you, in testing it’s natural, I think, because the car is new because you always have some problems here and there to solve. We solved them and so far we’ve had no issues. In that regard I’m quite confident.

Poslastica za kraj je Vettelov krug kojim je napravio rekord staze i naravno osvojio pole position:

Sebastian Vettel Melbourne Pole lap from f1onboardchannel on Vimeo.

Kvalifikacije su bile apsolutno predobre, i stvarno sam uživala, sutra očekujem sve najbolje u utrci.

Source: f1racing.com.hr / formula1.com / motorsport.com / f1-hr.com / vimeo.com

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Australian GP 2010: Free Practice 3

Mark Webber je "vladao" Albert Parkom danas na zadnjem slobodnom treningu ispred Fernanda Alonsa u Ferrariju i Mihael Schumachera u Mercedesu.
Trening je bio suh, a njih trojica su uglavnm postavljala tempo treninga.
Sebastian Vettel je bio četvrti u drugome Red Bullu, među prvih deset još su bili N.Rosberg, J.Button, L.Hamilton, A.Sutil i Liuzzi.
Trening je protekao bez incidenata.

Rezultati 3. slobodnog treninga:
01. M. Webber 1:24:719
02. F. Alonso +0:00:210
03. M. Schumacher +0:00:244
04. S. Vettel +0:00:403
05. N. Rosberg +0:00:647
06. J. Button +0:00:680
07. L. Hamilton +0:00:786
08. A. Sutil +0:00:806
09. F. Massa + :00:830
10. V. Liuzzi +0:01:063
11. R. Barrichello +0:01:133
12. S. Buemi +0:01:385
13. R. Kubica +0:01:465
14. K. Kobayashi +0:01:556
15. J. Alguersuari +0:01:649
16. V. Petrov +0:01:942
17. N. Hulkenberg +0:02:085
18. P. de la Rosa +0:02:099
19. H. Kovalainen +0:04:820
20. J. Trulli +0:05:081
21. L. di Grassi +0:06:081
22. T. Glock +0:06:395
23. K. Chandhok +0:09:615
24. B. Senna +0:11:930

Source: f1racing.com.hr / f1-hr.com

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petak, 26.03.2010.

Australian GP 2010: Free Practice 2 / Q&A with Seb

Lewis Hamilton i njegov momčadski kolega Jenson Button su maksimalno iskoristili kratki suhi period drugog slobodnog treninga voženog danas u Albert Parku, pa McLaren u ukupnom poretku čvrsto drži vodeću poziciju u odnosu na druge momčadi.
Lagana kiša koja je počela padati pet minuta prije početka sesije se do prvih instalacijskih krugova pretvorila u pravu kišu koja je nakon toga slabjela, što je vozačima otvorilo prozor od 15-ak minuta sa suhom stazom.
Prvi u konkurentnom modu je bio Mercedesov vozač Nico Rosberg, no prvo mjesto mu ubrzo uzimaju McLarenovi vozači, najprije Button, a onda i Hamilton.
Button je svoj najbrži krug odvozio samo nekoliko sekundi nakon što je Rosberg prošao startno-ciljnom ravnonom, nakon čega je vrijeme još jdnom poboljšao. No, Hamilton je s 1:25.8 ultimativno bio još brži.
Kiša nakon toga ponovno počinje jačati, a bolidi koji su se našli na stazi se vraćaju u boks. Jaime Alguersuari je bio jedini vozač koji je ostao na stazi, no i on se predao nakon što je izletio na posljednjem zavoju.
10 minuta prije kraja sesije uvjeti na stazi su ponovno postali dovoljno dobri za konkurentne krugove, a Mark Webber i Michael Schumacher su u posljednjim pokušajima skočili na treće odnosno četvrto mjesto.
Vrijeme je u posljednjem pokušaju popravljao i Sebastian Vettel, ali je se izvrtio u 6. zavoju, nakon što mu se prilikom kočenja jedan od kotača našao na travi. Vettel je drugi slobodni trening završio na 16. poziciji.
Krug prve desetorice zatvaraju Petrov, Buemi, Sutil, Liuzzi, Barrichello i Rosberg.
Ferrarijevi vozači su preskočili suhi period tijekom kojeg nisu izlazili na stazu, što objašnjava Massino tek 15. i Alonsovo 17. mjesto.
Nove momčadi su imale još jednu tešku sesiju. Timo Glock je nekako uspio odvoziti 9 krugova zbog problema s mjenjačem iz kojeg istječu lubrikanti, dok se njegov momčadski kolega Lucas di Grassi na stazi nije pojavio nakon nekoliko instalacijskih krugova koje je odvozio.
Situacija u HRT-u je bila još gora; Karun Chandhok je odustao nakon svega nekoliko stotina metara odvoženih u instalacijskom krugu zbog, pretpostavlja se, kvara na mjenjaču. Bruno Senna je izgubio cijeli drugi trening zbog problema s pritiskom goriva.
Zato je situacija u Lotusu bila nešto bolja, a Kovalainen i Trulli su kompletirali ukupno 32 kruga. Trulli je imao 20. najbrže vrijeme, dok je Kovalainen nešto bolje pozicioniran, na 18. mjestu.

Rezultati 2. slobodng treninga:
01. L. Hamilton 1:25:801
02. J. Button +0:00:275
03. M. Webber +0:00:447
04. M. Schumacher +0:00:710
05. V. Petrov +:00:931
06. S. Buemi +0:01:031
07. A. Sutil +0:01:033
08. V. Liuzzi +0:01:034
09. R. Barrichello +0:01:103
10. N. Rosberg +0:01:155
11. R. Kubica +0:01:307
12. P. de la Rosa +0:01:307
13. K. Kobayashi +0:01:654
14. N. Hulkenberg +0:01:744
15. F. Alonso +0:03:224
16. S. Vettel +0:03:333
17. F. Massa +0:03:790
18. H. Kovalainen +0:04:059
19. J. Alguersuari +0:04:709
20. J. Trulli +0:04:894
21. T. Glock +0:06:316
22. L. di Grassi - no time
23. K. Chandhok - no time
24. B. Senna - no time

SV: “I had a drift off track at the end of the second session; obviously it wasn’t ideal, but it happens - that’s what practice is for. It was my mistake; I was a bit too far to the left when hitting the brakes. It meant I missed the most important time on the track at the end of P2, but the car feels good and Mark showed that we are right there. It looks very close between the top cars.”

Q&A with Sebastian Vettel:

Q: Sebastian, how would you sum up your Bahrain weekend?
Sebastian Vettel: Well, I would say that Friday and Saturday were almost perfect. In hindsight, I think we were happy to keep P4 on the Sunday, with the problems that we had. Of course it would have been so much better to win the race, but to leave Bahrain with the knowledge that we had done everything correctly - aside from the spark plug lapse - it felt very, very good!

Q: You must have analysed the problem - what did you discover?
SV: Ah, it was quite easy. You take out the faulty plug and put a new one in. That’s it. As for what caused the plug failure, we are still working on it. From my experience what happened was a very rare incident, so it should not haunt us again.

Q: How does the Melbourne track suit the RB6?
SV: Last year our car worked well on any kind of circuit, and the RB6 is in exactly the same mould. On tracks that weren’t so well suited to the RB5, we were still able to finish among the top five, and there is no indication why it shouldn’t be the same here.

Q: How do you like this track?
SV: I definitely like it. It’s one of my favourites on the calendar. It’s a street circuit, which means that on day one it’s always very slippery. But that improves over the weekend and on Sunday there have always been excellent conditions. I also like the city. It’s a very laidback place and the fans here are fantastic. The only downside is that it’s a long journey to get here.

Q: What driver qualities does the track demand?
SV: Patience! As I said it is very slippery, so you have to be careful and not start panicking. You just have to wait. The other important thing is to find your rhythm. As it is a street circuit it is quite bumpy and you have to find a rhythm with which you can ‘ride’ these bumps best.

Q: In Practice Two you had a look at Melbourne from a 360 degree perspective…
SV: It wasn’t completely 360 degrees! I was able to interrupt it shortly before that. It’s true it was far from ideal today - the word chaotic springs to my mind - but everything is still working, even though we are not where we would like to be. Overnight we have to see what we can come up with.

Q: How useful is a rainy practice session anyway?
SV: It’s kind of strange when everybody is sitting in the pits waiting for the track to dry. And because nobody is out on track it takes even longer to dry up.

Q: Judging from Mark Webber’s time, the RB6 seems pretty competitive here…
SV: Yes, but I hope it doesn’t start to smoke again. But seriously, yes it feels quite good.

Q: Do you always want to beat you team mate?
SV: For sure, as your team mate is your first challenger. And for sure Mark will try anything to beat me on Sunday. But I have always expressed that we have a very good relationship - on and off track. But it is the nature of racing that you always want to finish first. Otherwise we all wouldn’t be here. Nobody, who has the right materials at his disposal, starts the race thinking they want to finish fifth or sixth. P1 is what you’re focusing on!

Q: You were a hot contender to win on Sunday. Is it still realistic?
SV: Friday’s times are never the ultimate indication, particularly here, where the track is very different and the conditions have been quite unusual. My guess is that Saturday’s times will be quite different from those of today. Ask me tomorrow after qualifying. But even that is not the final say, as we saw in Bahrain. To finish first, you first have to finish! That is an eternal truth in our sport.

Q: How did you enjoy playing with the boomerang a few days ago…
SV: It was pretty funny. Although it is not as easy as it looks. You have to be careful when you throw it, as you have to take the wind into account. I managed to make it come back two times, but the rest of the time it landed everywhere else but near me.

Source: f1racing.com.hr / formula1.com / f1-hr.com

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Heidfeld od danas u predsjedničkoj, a Massa i Vettel u direktorskim foteljama

Udruga GP vozača (GPDA) je na današnjem sastanku u Melbourneu Nicka Heidfelda imenovala svojim novim predsjednikom.
Mercedesov rezervni vozač će tu dužnost preuzeti od Pedra de la Rose, koji ove godine ima manje vremena zbog vozačkih obaveza u Sauberu.
Vozači su na sastanku odlučili i da će Fernando Alonso i Mark Webber biti smijenjeni s direktorskih funkcija, a zamijenit će ih momčadski kolege Felipe Massa i Sebastian Vettel.
Još uvijek nije poznato ima li Heidfeldovo imenovanje veze s odlukom njegovog momčadskog kolege Michaela Schumachera da se ne pridruži GPDA. Nijemac je ranije ovog tjedna izjavio kako smatra da je najbolje vođenje organizacije prepustiti drugim vozačima.

Source: f1racing.com.hr

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Australian GP 2010: Free Practice 1

Najbrže vrijeme na prvom slobodnom treningu u Albert Parku je odvozio Renaultov vozač Robert Kubica, a slijede ga Nico Rosberg i Jenson Button.
Renaultov vozač Robert Kubica je postavio najbrže vrijeme na prvom slobodnom treningu voženom rano jutros po našem vremenu u Albert Parku, u Melbourneu.
Vozači su leteće krugove počeli voziti tek u drugom dijelu sesije, nakon čega su se na vodećoj poziciji mijenjali Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg i Robert Kubica, koji je ultimativno uzeo prvo mjesto.
Najprije je najbrži bio Hamilton, nakon čega je Rosberg letvicu spustio na minutu i 27 sekundi. 15 minuta prije kraja sesije, Robert Kubica je odvozio najbrža vremena u svim sektorima te je bio jedini vozač koji se spustio na 1min26sek.
Ferrarijevi vozači, Felipe Massa i Fernando Alonso su prvi slobodni trening završili na četvrtom odnosno šestom mjestu, a između njih se ugurao Sebastian Vettel u Red Bullu.
Lewis Hamilton je na kraju završio na sedmom mjestu, bez da je u drugom dijelu sesije unaprijedio svoje vrijeme. Sebastien Buemi, Vitalij Petrov i Vitantonio Liuzzi zatvaraju krug prve desetorice.
Michael Schumacher je bio 12. najbrži, s 1.4 sek zaostatka u odnosu na momčadskog kolegu Nicu Rosberga, dok je Mark Webber, koji je u Albert Parku među domaćom publikom, imao tek 14. najbrže vrijeme, sa sekundu zaostatka za Vettelom.
Najdramatičniji nastup na prvom treningu je imao Kamui Kobayashi, koji je izazvao dvije crvene zastave. Japanac je najprije udario u ogradu u 11. zavoju, prilikom čega je izgubio dio prednjeg krila, a s njim i esencijalni downforce, zbog čega je izletio već na sljedećem zavoju.
Nakon 20 minuta se vratio s novim prednjim krilom, no prekasno je kočio za 3. zavoj te izletio sa staze. Premda je izbjegao zid, sa sobom je na stazu povukao i krhotine i zemlju.
Njegov momčadski kolega Pedro de la Rosa se na stazi zaustavio na izlazu iz 4. zavoja, 10 minuta prije kraja treninga.
Umjesto Adriana Sutila, za Force Indiju je na prvom treningu vozio Paul di Resta, prilikom čega je imao i impresivno 11. najbrže vrijeme. Njegov rezultat je još dojmljiviji ako se u obzir uzme i pozicija njegovog momčadskog kolege Liuzzija, koji je samo jedno mjesto i četiri desetinke ispred. Tijekom 90 minuta, simpatični Škot je kompletirao 25 krugova.
Za razliku od Bahreina, nove momčadi su se danas odmah bacile na posao, a sva 24 bolida su instalacijske krugove kompletirala već kroz prvih 10 minuta sesije.
Jarno Trulli je imao probleme s hidraulikom, nakon čega je izletio u predzadnjem zavoju. Incident je imao i njegov momčadski kolega Heikki Kovalainen, koji se izvrtio u 9. zavoju. Na istom mjestu se okrenuo i Renaultov vozač Vitalij Petrov, koji je agresivno napao rub staze, prilikom čega je izgubio i neke aerodinamičke dijelove.
Najbrža nova momčad je bio Lotus, s Trullijem i Kovalainenom na 19. i 20. mjestu, a s + 4.7 sek zaostatka u odnosu na najbrže vrijeme. Dvojicu slijedi Lucas di Grassi, dok Bruno Senna i Krun Chandhok za Kubicom kasne 6.4 odnosno 7.3 sekunde.
Drugi Virginov vozač Timo Glock je propustio većinu prvog treninga zbog curenja fluida izbolida. Kompletirao je svega 8 krugova i imao je najsporije vrijeme.

Rezultati 1. slobodnog treninga:
01. R. Kubica 1:26:927
02. N. Rosberg +0:00:199
03. J. Button +0:00:555
04. F. Massa +0:00:584
05. S. Vettel +0:00:759
06. F. Alonso +0:00:820
07. L. Hamilton +0:00:866
08. S. Buemi + 0:01:087
09. V. Petrov +0:01:187
10. V. Liuzzi +0:01:265
11. P. di Resta +0:01:610
12. M. Schumacher +0:01:623
13. J. Alguersuari +0:01:645
14. M. Webber +0:01:756
15. P. de la Rosa +0:02:538
16. R. Barrichello +0:02:785
17. N. Hulkenberg +0:03:322
18. K. Kobayashi +0:04:664
19. J. Trulli +0:04:725
20. H. Kovalainen +0:04:727
21. L. di Grassi +0:05:904
22. K. Chandhok +0:06:474
23. B. Senna +0:07:324
24. T. Glock +0:07:99

Source: f1racing.com.hr / f1-hr.com

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četvrtak, 25.03.2010.

Why Vettel is ready to be champion

Sebastian Vettel has learnt from the mistakes he made last year, and is determined to overshadow the likes of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in 2010. Tom Clarkson explains how he can do it

"If we had known at the start of 2009 what we know now," says Christian Horner, "I think we'd have won the world championship with the RB5. It was the best chassis in Formula 1."
These are strong words from the Red Bull Racing boss, and they illustrate the extent to which he thinks the team matured over the course of last year. At the start of '09 they had just three podiums to their name; by season's end they'd won a further 22 trophies and claimed the runner-up spots in the constructors' and drivers' world championships.
Sebastian Vettel's chances of beating Jenson Button ended in Brazil at the penultimate race of the season, but he'd been playing catch-up ever since the RB5 had been forced into battle without a double diffuser for the opening three months of the year. But Vettel's failure to win the title can't be blamed exclusively on a grey area in the regulations. He made mistakes too.
Eight points went begging in Melbourne when he made an ill-fated lunge down the inside of Robert Kubica; he spun off in Malaysia and Monaco and he ran wide on the opening lap in Turkey, handing the win to Button and second place to team-mate Mark Webber. The points lost through these errors amounted to significantly more than the 11-point deficit separating Sebastian and Jenson at the season's end.
Frustrating though they were, these errors were the making of Vettel. He took disappointment on the chin and didn't make the same mistake twice. He dominated the second half of the season, scoring 55 points to Jenson's 34 in the final 10 races. But by then it was too late; Jenson had an unassailable lead. All Vettel could do was use his domination at circuits like Silverstone and Suzuka to act as a message of intent for 2010.
"Sebastian has learnt from his mistakes," says Horner, "and he'll be stronger this year. All he lacks is experience, and there's no shortcut to that. But he improved so much last year that I'm convinced he's now ready. He's the complete racing driver."
His jeans aren't quite falling down, but they're low enough to be a bit too revealing. He's wearing a Red Bull T-shirt and a beanie, and he's unshaven – two days' growth, maybe three. He looks totally relaxed in the cosseting environment of the Red Bull Racing motorhome. The catering staff joke with him; engineers drop by to ask him questions and guests queue politely to get his autograph. He's the centre of attention and he seems quite comfortable with it.
The magnetic effect that Vettel has on the people around him helps explain his importance to Red Bull. He might only be 22 years old, but he's already a vital cog within the team's machinery. It's part of his nature that he likes to know everything that's going on; hence the constant flow of information, even in an informal setting such as this.
Red Bull have pinned their long-term hopes on Vettel. Last summer they extended his contract until the end of 2012 and there's a desire to keep him at the team for the rest of his career not only because he is super quick, but because he oozes all of the off-track attributes that Red Bull want in their drivers. He's amusing, with a very infectious laugh; he's cool, if that's how you define someone whose jeans are perilously close to falling off; and he's multi-lingual. Sebastian doesn't need to nick his team-mate's number in order to assert himself and he doesn't need to pump himself up through the media; he has this team at his feet, and he knows it.
"I'm very happy here," he says. "We have a great atmosphere in the team and I'm very happy with the support I get from everyone. If the car's competitive this year, I have everything I need to win the world championship."
If you're wondering where Mark Webber fits into Team Vettel, it's as an extremely able wingman. Webber is very quick and technically strong, but he'll never have the same hold over his paymasters as Vettel because he's not a product of Red Bull's driver development programme. But any favouritism towards Vettel shouldn't manifest itself in a technical advantage over Webber (at least it didn't in '09) because Horner and chief technical officer Adrian Newey just want to win. Period.

"The drivers will get an equal chance to perform and the only team orders will be not to take each other off," says Horner. "I think we have the strongest driver pairing in F1; Mark and Sebastian communicate well and they drive with similar set-ups, which helps with car development."
As was the case last year, Newey prolonged the new car's development for as long as possible, which forced the team to miss the first test session of the winter. It wouldn't have mattered if they'd had a clean run when they hit the track in the middle of February, but heavy rain at both of the Jerez tests left them slightly behind schedule going into the season-opener in Bahrain, even though Vettel is adamant that the team is in good shape for the year ahead.
"We won't get a clear idea of the pecking order until we get to the third or fourth race," he says. "Our objective is to be up there at every race and I think the RB6 is enough of a step forward to allow us to do that. Going into 2009, we knew that we had a good car – but we didn't expect to fight for the world championship. This year we expect to fight for the championship, so our expectations are very different."
The relative pace of the front-runners was hard to judge during testing, due to the wide range of fuel loads being tried. Ferrari's F10 seemed fast and consistent, but so did the RB6. McLaren's MP4-25 showed good endurance, while the Mercedes W01 seemed more competitive on short runs because it was quite hard on its rear tyres on heavy fuel.
But Vettel will only need the RB6 to be in the right ballpark for him to be able to fight for the world title. He proved during the second half of last year that he's ironed out the impetuousness that blighted the start of his '09 campaign, and his natural speed has never been in doubt.
"What stood out about Sebastian was his ability under braking," says Toro Rosso technical director Giorgio Ascanelli. "He does something special that I've only seen in a couple of other drivers – and we're talking about the real masters. Sebastian's not bothered by wheel locking, front or rear, and that means he's able to brake for a shorter time than anyone else. It's fantastic to see."
Ascanelli was Ayrton Senna's race engineer at McLaren and although he's unwilling to make the inevitable comparison, he admits that there are similarities between Senna and Vettel.
"I can't compare them fairly because Ayrton was already a three-time world champion when I started working with him, whereas Sebastian was in his first season of F1. But let me tell you this: Vettel has the same capacity as Ayrton to keep a very high level of concentration. He has a very good memory and the same attention to detail. The only driver better than Sebastian on the 2010 grid is Alonso, and the difference between them can be put down to experience."

Vettel's ability to drive a car like this helps to explain his brilliance in the wet, when wheels are constantly locking. His first grand prix win, in the rain at Monza in '08, was achieved with a dry set-up; he was punching above his weight in the wet at Fuji in '07, until he crashed into Webber while behind the safety car, and he was brilliant through the deluge in China last year to give Red Bull Racing its first grand prix win.
There is no obvious weakness in Vettel's game. He has the speed to get the job done in qualifying; he has the consistency to win races in the dry; and he has something verging on a supernatural feel for grip in the wet. But he's not counting his chickens.
"It's going to be extremely close this year," he says, "and the world champion will be the person who does the best job over 19 races, not over half of the races. The new points system gives you more reward for winning, but the drivers always want to win so I don't think it changes anything. I'll do the best possible job and if that's not good enough to win, I'll score as many points as possible."
In keeping with the confidence that comes from being a title favourite, Vettel isn't afraid to air his feelings about the new regulations, particularly with regard to the 2cm reduction in front-tyre width and the ban on refuelling.
"The new regulations have given us plenty to think about," says Sebastian, "because they've made Formula 1 quite different for the drivers. We like to be able to drive flat-out the whole time and this year we will have to start the races with a lot of fuel and on scrubbed tyres, so we won't be able to do that. I don't think it's going to be more exciting to go slower, do you?
"And I also don't think the racing's going to be any better than it was before just because we've reduced the contact patch at the front. You need mechanical grip when you're following another car, but we have less now than we did last year."
We'll have to hope that the ban on refuelling will spice things up sufficiently to negate the loss of the contact patch that Sebastian points out. But there's another reason why Vettel is frustrated by the rule changes and that's down to his incredible superhuman levels of fitness. But while he has impressive cardiovascular strength, it may not be such an advantage to be one of the fittest drivers on the grid when the drivers will actually have fewer opportunities to drive on the limit.

"I've made a massive step forward physically," he says. "You learn from experience what matters in F1, and I've improved in all the right areas. Fitness in F1 isn't only about cardio and it isn't only about strength; you need your whole body to be in good shape and I'm very happy with the progress I've made."
He's made changes to other areas of his life as well, which he thinks will add up to make him a better driver. For example, he's reduced the number of media commitments that he participates in away from the racetrack to enable him to maintain a consistent training programme, and he's moved house. He's now living in a farmhouse about half an hour from Zurich airport, from which he's able to do the vast majority of his training outside.
"I like to be in the middle of nowhere," he says. "You guys should know that I like the outdoors because I climbed up Mount Fuji with you for an F1 Racing feature last year!"
At the Bahrain Grand Prix he started his climb towards the Formula 1 world championship. He didn't make it to the summit last year, but Bernie Ecclestone – among others – thinks he's the favourite to do so this year. There is some formidable opposition out there, but you'd be a brave man
to bet against him.
"I don't underestimate any of my rivals," says Sebastian, "but I'm not afraid of anyone either. I'm here to win."

Source: Autosport.com

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srijeda, 24.03.2010.

Australian GP 2010: Wednesday at Melbourne; Vettel: Prerano je za reći tko je u prednosti + Pics

Red Bull Racingov vozač Sebastian Vettel ne strahuje da bi mu se i ovog vikenda mogao ponoviti kvar svjećice koji ga je u Bahreinu stajao pobjedničkog postolja. Takav se kvar, tvrdi on, dogodi samo jednom u 10 godina.

Sebastian Vettel je izjavio kako je prerano tvrditi ima li neka od velikih momčadi u ovom trenutku prednost u odnosu na svoje suparnike, premda je Red Bull Racing to mogao sugerirati formom koju je pokazao na prvoj ovosezonskoj utrci u Bahreinu.
Premda smatra da će Red Bull i ovog vikenda biti jak kao i prije dva tjedna, Vettel je rekao da Ferrari možda neće biti jedini koji će im puhati za vratom.
"Ako pogledate utrku u Bahreinu, Ferrari je tamo bio ekstremno konkurentan," izjavio je Vettel tijekom susreta s predstavnicima medija u Albert Parku. "Oni su, sasvim sigurno, brži od svih drugih, a takvi su bili i tijekom cijelih zimskih testiranja. Bili su vrlo, vrlo snažni."
"No, to će ovisiti i o stazama. Neke vam staze više odgovaraju i više ih volite. Ponekad je to samo do vozača, no ponekad se bolid jednostavno bolje ponaša na jednoj nego na drugoj stazi. Stoga je teško reći je li favorit baš taj bolid ili možda neki drugi."
"Četiri momčadi su vrlo jake, ali sredina poretka je također snažna, poput Force Indije. U Bahreinu smo odradili samo jednu utrku i to je jedino iskustvo koje imamo osim testiranja. Stoga moramo još malo pričekati."
Vettel je rekao i da je jedan od najohrabrujućih aspekata situacije za njega demonstracija performansi Red Bullovog RB6 iz Bahreina.
"Kao što sam već rekao, najvažnija stvar s kojom sam otišao iz Bahreina, premda nismo pobijedili, je bila spoznaja da imamo vrlo brz bolid. U petak smo imali problema, nismo bili brzi, ali u subotu i u nedjelju smo bili u prilično dobroj formi. Ovdje bismo također trebali biti jaki, ali pričekajmo."
U zaključku intervjua, Vettel je rekao da je ponavljanje problema sa svjećicom vrlo nevjerojatno.
"Kvar kojeg sam imao u nedjelju se događa jako rijetko, možda jednom u svakih 10 godina. Ne bi se više trebao ponoviti. Prilično je rijetko da vam otkaže svježica."

Seb je već stigao u Australiju, i zabavlja se...učeći bacati bumerang. To je taj glamurozni F1 svijet.....

Source:f1racing.com.hr / motorsport.com

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utorak, 23.03.2010.

Australian GP 2010: Albert Park 26.-28. ožujka

Prva utrka: 10. ožujka 1996.
Dužina kruga: 5 303 metara
Ukupno krugova: 58 (307.574 km)
Najbrži krug: M. Schumacher - 1:24:125 (2004, Ferrari)
Postolje 2009.: 1. J. Button - 2. R. Barrichello - 3. J. Trulli

Povijest:
Prva utrka vožena u Melbourneu bila je 1996. godine kada je utrka za VN Australije premještena iz Adelaidea. Sa prvom utrkom u Melbourneu također je došlo i do promjena u kalendaru natjecanja Formule 1, gdje je utrka za VN Australije postavljena na prvo mjesto u kalendaru. Ta promjena u kalendaru nije prošla glatko zbog mnogih prosvjeda, koji se znaju čuti još i dandanas iako se broj istih uvelike smanjio.
Staza u Melbourneu smještena je u parku i jako je glatka bez zavoja pod 90 stupnjeva da bi drastično smanjivali brzinu. Smjer vožnje na stazi kreće se u smjeru kazaljke na satu oko jezera, tako da sam pogled na stazu oduzima dah. Zbog tih činjenica svi vozači vole voziti na toj stazi.
Damon Hill, još u pobjedničkom zanosu nakon završne utrke 1995. godine, osvaja pobjedu u prvoj utrci na toj stazi 1996. godine, nakon što je njegov novi timski kolega u Williamsu Jacques Villeneuve morao usporiti pred kraj utrke zbog problema sa motorom.
U drugoj utrci na stazi u Melbourneu najspremniji je izgledao Jacques Villeneuve u Williamsovom bolidu. Međutim nakon velike dominacije na kvalifikacijama nije uspio proći ni prvi zavoj u utrci jer je došao u kontakt sa bolidom Eddiea Irvinea tj. isti ga je praktično "pomeo" sa staze.
To je otvorilo priliku Davidu Coulthardu da osvoji prvu pobjedu za McLaren tim nakon Adelaidea 1993. godine. Također ta utrka iz 1997. godine nije donijela mnogo dobra pobjedniku iz 1996. godine Damonu Hillu koji nije uspio završiti utrku vozeći Arrowsov bolid.
Utrka iz 1998. godine bila je utrka dominacije McLarena i bila je utrka koja je odvožena pod velikim upitnikom. David Coulthard čvrsto je držao prvu poziciju ispred svog timskog kolege Mike Hakkinena koji je dosta vremena izgubio kroz boksove. Međutim David je usporio i propustio Miku naprijed zbog njihovog međusobnog džentlmenskog dogovora, koji su njih dvojica dogovorili prije utrke. Navijači i ljubitelji Formule 1 jednostavno su poludjeli zbog takvog ponašanja te dvojice vozača.
Prva Ferrarijeva pobjeda na toj stazi dogodila se 1999. godine kada je pobjednik bio Eddie Irvine. Pa iako je Irac prešao u Jaguar, u sezoni 2000. pobjednik je još jednom bio Ferrarijev vozač ali ovoga puta bio je to Michael Schumacher kojemu je to bila prva osvojena VN Australije. Drugo mjesto tada je osvojio njegov novi timski kolega Rubens Barrichello.
U iduće dvije godine pobjednik V.N. Australije se nije mijenjao. Michael Schumacher je čak tri puta uzastopno osvajao prva mjesta.
David Coulthard je u 2003. osvojio samo jednu utrku i to baš na Albert Parku, nakon što je u samoj završnici utrke Juan-Pablo Montoya prebrzo ušao u zavoj te izgubio kontrolu nad bolidom. Na njegovu sreću, uspio je nastaviti utrku plasiravši se na drugo mjesto ispred Finca Kimia Raikkonena.
Michael Schumacher i Rubens Barrichello ostvarili su prvu dvostruku pobjedu za Ferrari već na prvoj utrci sezone 2004. Oba su vozača bila neuhvatljiva tokom cijele utrke, a najviše im se približio trećeplasirani Fernando Alonso u Renaultu sa 34 sekunde zaostatka.
Kao i svih prijašnjih godina, Albert Park ponovno je bio domaćin otvorenja još jedne sezone svjetskog prvenstva Formule 1. 6. ožujka datum je kojeg Giancarlo Fisichella zasigurno neće zaboraviti. Talijan je s pole pozicije stigao do svoje druge pobjede u karijeri i tako osvojio 10 dragocjenih bodova za momčad Renaulta. Drugo mjesto na pobjedničkom postolju pripalo je Rubensu Barrichellu koji je zamalo izgubio poziciju od Fernanda Alonsa koji je bio brz tokom cijele utrke.
Nakon punih deset godina, 2006. Australija nije ugostila prvu utrku nove F1 sezone. U uzbudljivoj utrci, prepunoj sudara i čak četiri izlaska sigurnosnog automobila, pobjedu je odnio Fernando Alonso ispred Kimija Raikkonena i Ralfa Schumachera.
2007. pobjedu je odnio Kimi Raikkonen u svojoj prvoj utrci s novim timom - Ferrarijem. Finac je završio ispred McLarenovog dvojca - Fernanda Alonsa i Lewisa Hamiltona.
2008. godine na stazi u Melbourneu, Lewis Hamilton je ostvario svoju petu pobjedu za McLaren-Mercedes, a iza njega, na drugom i trećem mjestu, završili su Nick Heidfeld u BMW Sauberu i Nico Rosberg u Williamsu.
Na veliko iznenađenje mnogih, Brawn GP je 2009. godine, na svojoj debitantskoj utrci, ostvario dvostruku pobjedu s Jensonom Buttonom na prvom i Rubensom Barrichellom na drugom mjestu.

Prijašnji pobjednici:
2009: J. Button (Brawn)
2008: L. Hamilton (McLaren)
2007: K. Raikkonen (Ferrari)
2006: F. Alonso (Renault)
2005: G. Fisichella (Renault)
2004: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
2003: D. Coulthard (McLaren)
2002: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
2001: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
2000: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
1999: E. Irvine (Ferrari)
1998: M. Hakkinen (McLaren)
1997: D. Coulthard (McLaren)
1996: D. Hill (Williams)
1995: D. Hill (Williams)
1994: N. Mansell (Williams)
1993: A. Senna (McLaren)
1992: G. Berger (McLaren)

Source: f1-hr.com / youtube.com

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ponedjeljak, 22.03.2010.

Hamilton: Red Bull daleko ispred svih

Bivši svjetski prvak Lewis Hamilton smatra da Ferrarijev F10 ne može pratiti Red Bullov bolid u smislu čiste brzine, budući da je austrijska momčad daleko ispred svih.
McLarenov vozač Lewis Hamilton tvrdi da Red Bull Racing ima veliku prednost u odnosu na svoje suparnike, sudeći prema formi demonstriranoj u Bahreinu.
Red Bullov bolid je i prošle godine, tvrdi Hamilton, imao najviše downforcea, a taj su trend prenijeli i u aktualnu sezonu.
"Jednostavno je smiješno koliko je Red Bull brži od svih drugih," rekao je Hamilton. "Posve ludo. Downforce kojeg su oni imali prošle godine na svom bolidu u nekim je trenucima bio dvostruko veći od onog što smo mi imali."
"Premda su imali više downforcea od nas, krajem godine smo ipak uspjeli pobijediti na nekoliko utrka," prisjetio se.
"Imaju najbrži bolid i za veliki korak su ispred drugih. Općenito mislim da bi trebali biti još dalje od drugih," dodao je.
Premda je Ferrarijev vozač Fernando Alonso na VN Bahreina uspijevao pratiti Sebastiana Vettela, Hamilton misli da Ferrarijev F10 ne može držati korak s RB6 u smislu čiste brzine.
"Mislim da je Fernando bio jako brz na utrci i oni su im definitvno bliže od nas, ali i dalje se radi o deficitu od cijele jedne sekunde," objasnio je.
A McLaren je, prema Hamiltonovim riječima, involviran u borbu s Mercedesom koja se vodi odmah iza leđa vodećih momčadi.
"Mislim da smo mi na istoj razini kao i Mercedes," rekao je. "Možda smo prošlog vikenda napravili dobar posao, ali radi se o tome da se između nas i Mercedesa vodi borba za to tko će brže unaprijediti bolid i napraviti bolji posao," zaključio je.

Source: f1racing.com.hr

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nedjelja, 21.03.2010.

Ron Dennis sugerira da je Vettel ostao bez goriva

U intervjuu kojeg je dao njemačkim novinama Express, Ron Dennis je sugerirao da je dvadesetdvogodišnji Sebastian Vettel na prošlotjednoj Velikoj nagradi Bahreina naglo usporio kako bi sačuvao gorivo s kojim je morao doći do cilja.
Spomenimo da istu teoriju imaju i španjolske novine AS, koje su prošlog tjedna objavile da Vettel ne bi došao do kraja utrke, a da je zadržao tempom kojeg je imao dok se nalazio na vodećoj poziciji.
"Njegova su vremena tako rapidno pala da se može pretpostaviti kako je elektronska kontrola (ECU) motor prebacila u konzervativni program za štednju goriva," rekao je Dennis.
Dennisove su izjave još relevantnije s obzirom da sve momčadi Formule 1 koriste McLarenov ECU, sa čijim bi karakteristikama trebao biti dobro upoznat.
Njegova interpretacija događaja može objasniti i samu završnicu utrke, u kojem je Vettel digao tempo te se uspio obraniti od napada Mercedesovog vozača Nice Rosberga.
"Red Bullov problem bi mogao biti dizajn," nastavlja Dennis, koji je bio dugogodišnji poslodavac Adrianu Neweyu, aktualnom Red Bullovom šefu dizajna.
"Možda im je spremnik premalen ili je potrošnja goriva bila viša nego što su očekivali," dodao je.
Prema službenoj verziji događaja, Vettel je na VN Bahreina usporio zbog problema s jednom od svjećica.
U istragu se uključio i francuski proizvođač Renault, na čijim motorima Red Bull Racing vozi.
"Istraga koja mora idenfiticirati uzroke Vettelovih problema s motorom je u tijeku," izjavio je Rob White, direktor Renaultovog motorskog odjela.

Source: f1racing.com.hr

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srijeda, 17.03.2010.

The Secret Life of Sebastian Vettel

Par pitanja Sebastianu Vettelu o njegovom privatnome životu i nekoliko smiješnih odgovora....

Q: Are you the kind of guy to have a ‘Plan-B’?
Sebastian Vettel: No, not at all.

Q: What is your favourite high?
SV: Red Bull. What else?

Q: Who is your dream date?
SV: My girlfriend.

Q: Which film makes you cry?
SV: ‘La Vita e Bella’ (Life is Beautiful). If you know the film you understand.

Q: What are you afraid of?
SV: Mice! I don’t like them. Don’t ask me why.

Q: What was the last book you read?
SV: I can’t remember. I don’t really read books. I like movies more.

Q: What was your biggest (non-Formula One) speeding fine?
SV: It was in Switzerland, and was something around 250 Swiss Francs. I guess it was 21 km/h over the speed limit. That’s a lot in Switzerland as you don’t have much margin there.

Q: Name five things that you hate?
SV: Squeaky shoes, traffic jams, rotten food, smoking areas at airports and you know those clubs where the air is so full of smoke that you could cut it with a knife, and having to wake up super early.

Q: Have you ever dyed your hair?
SV: Yes, I have done it already. It was when I was younger, around 14 years-old. I went to a drugstore, bought a ‘do it yourself’ hair colour in black, went home and did it. It was an experiment, and oh boy, it didn’t look too good!

Q: What was the first CD you bought?
SV: I remember it very well. It was ‘Informer’ by Reggae artist Snow. I must still have it somewhere.

Q: Do you have any tattoos or piercings?
SV: Not that I know of!

Q: What did teachers say about you in your school report?
SV: Probably that I wasn’t behaving, fussing all the time, and stirring things up. It would be in that range I assume.

Q: Who were your childhood heroes?
SV: The three Michaels - Michael Schumacher, Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson. I wanted to become Michael Jackson when I was young. It was painful to realise that I didn’t have the voice…

Q: Do you have any guilty pleasures?
SV: Not really. I like deserts but I don’t have any problems with that.

Q: Do you collect anything?
SV: No, not really.

Q: What would you die for?
SV: Homemade food. My mum’s kitchen.

Q: What was your worst buy?
SV: It was in grammar school and I was in love with a girl. There were these chewing gum vending machines from which you could buy all sorts of stuff. I wanted a ring and wasted money on five chewing gums to finally get it out, but I never found the right moment to use it. It was a real waste of my pocket money.

Q: How do you take your coffee?
SV: I don’t drink coffee. I think am too young to understand coffee. I mainly drink water.

Q: What is your ideal non-race Sunday morning?
SV: To sleep in, have a big breakfast, and hopefully if it is a sunny day, do some sport in the outside air. Badminton or whatever. Mostly to be relaxed.

Q: What was your first car?
SV: It was a moped. A Kreidler Flory that ran at about 25 km/h. Naturally, I didn’t tamper with it to make it go faster! We all know that this is not allowed…

Q: What’s the most embarrassing mistake you’ve ever made?
SV: One day I was hiding in the closet in the classroom and the teacher found out after half an hour - I had to come out and looked like an idiot.

Q: What is the best thing that you can cook?
SV: Pasta and tomato sauce.

Q: When was the last time you were really furious?
SV: In winter testing but I cannot tell you why. And on a lesser scale, I lost against my trainer in badminton last week. It was very close: he won 16:14. That rankled.

Source: formula1.com

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ponedjeljak, 15.03.2010.

Sebastian Vettel Q&A: It should have been Red Bull’s day

Kratki intervju s Sebastianom Vettelom nakon jučerašnje utrke koju je izgubio na najgori mogući način....

Q: Sebastian, most people watching the race were convinced you were going to win. Then came lap 33. When you were driving had you any idea of what had failed?
Sebastian Vettel: No, in the car I had no idea. I just realized that there was a dramatic lack of speed. In some moments it came back again, but on the straights there was a fundamental difference to the car before and after lap 33. The fourth place is somewhat of a damage limitation but until that hapless lap it was really our race. We were better at dealing with the tyres than everybody else. Fernando (Alonso) tried to attack but realized shortly after that he would destroy his tyres in doing so, so it would have been our day.

Q: Did you get a sense of deja vu from last season - fastest car, fastest driver, but still not at the top?
SV: A bit, yes. Until lap 33 it looked as if we could bring it home easily. But then I don’t want to put too much philosophy into it. It was a failure on the car and that’s it.

Q: Fernando passed you, Felipe passed you and Lewis passed you. How hard did you have to fight to retain P4? At times it looked as if the two Mercedes were also set to pass you...
SV: Very hard. On the straights there was nothing coming back with ‘pedal to the metal’ and only in the corners could I think of defending my position. But that was not enough to come nearer to the podium. There were moments when I was jerking a bit that the power came back, but not enough to make a significant difference. I then had to go into defence rather than attack mode.

Q: Amid all that misfortune do you take anything positive away from the first race?
SV: Absolutely. We know that we have a great car, that we are very competitive, in qualifying and in the race. Until 16 laps before the chequered flag the race was one hundred percent coming our way, so we have to avoid issues - then we are in a very good shape. That bolsters the self confidence for the next rounds.

Source: formula1.com

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Red Bull objavio da je Vettel usporio zbog kvara svjećice, a ne ispuha

Austrijska momčad je već analizirala Vettelov motor s kojim je nastupio na VN Bahreina te su ustanovili da je gubitak snage izazvalo zatajenje jedne od svjećica.
Red Bull Racing je objavio da je Sebastian Vettel tijekom jučerašnje Velike nagrade Bahreina imao problema s motorom, a ne sa ispušnim sustavom kako se prvotno vjerovalo.
Direktor momčadi Christian Horner je nakon utrke izjavio kako je moguće da su u pitanju ispuh ili elektronika, no da je za preciznu identifikaciju problema potrebna temeljita tehnička analiza.
Dan nakon, Red Bullovi mehaničari i inženjeri su ustanovili da je gubitak snage kod Vettela izazvalo otkazivanje jedne od svjećica.
Renaultov motor na kojem Vettel vozi zbog toga ipak nije oštećen.

Source: f1racing.com.hr / vimeo.com

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nedjelja, 14.03.2010.

Bahrain GP 2010: Race; Ferrari 1st & 2nd, Seb 4th

Iako vikend nije počeo sjajno za Red Bull, nisu se iskazali na slobodnim treninzima, Seb je uspio osvojiti svoj šesti i prvi ovogodišnji pole position.
Start utrke za Seba je prošao super, bez problema je pobijegao ispred Alonsa koji je odmah na startu prešao Massu jer očito je htio pokazati tko je "glavni" u Ferrariju nakon što ga je Massa jučer pobijedio u kvalifikacijama. Na startu su se sudarili Robert Kubica i Adrian Sutil te završili na začelju poretka pa su se ostatak utrke probijali naprijed i završili na 11. odnosno na 12. mjestu. Lewis Hamilton je u startnoj gužvi izgubio mjesto od Rosberga, ali ga je uspio vratiti kroz prolazak kroz boks.
Prolazak kroz boks sada traje otprilike 25 sekundi, a promjena guma oko 3 sekunde. Drugih većih promjena kroz bokseve nije bilo.
Kako se Vettel nadao utrka je bila amo reći mirna i u prednjem dijelu poretka dosadna (prvih tri, jer su pozadi bili međusobni obračuni). No presudni krug, kada utrka po staje malo življa je bio 34. kada Alonso počne sustižati Seba, a Red Bullov boks Vettelu samo kaže neka drži tempo jer će Alonso samo pregrijati i zapaliti gume. No tako nije bilo, Sebastian je otprilike minutu kasnio za Alonsom , a uzrok tome je bio mehanički i Vettel nije mogao ništa nego probati zadržati poziciju što nije uspio te su ga na kraju prešli i Massa i Hmilton.
Bila je nekakva nada da Seb završi na postelju kada je Massa počeo imati probleme jer je pregriao bolid te je trošio previše goriva pa nije bilo nade da sustigne Alonsa (ili sreće da odustane). Na kraju utrke se vodio mali njemački troboj između Vettela, Rosberga i Schumachera, gdje su Rosberg i Schumacher trebali sustići i prestići Vettela no nisu uspjeli i Vettel je ipak bar osvojio 12 bodova.
Rosberg je dobio Mercedesov međumomčadni dvoboj tako da je jučer pobijedio Schumachera u kvalifikacijama, a danas je bio brži od njega.
Aktualni svjetski prvak Jason Button nije nikoga impresionirao na današnjoj utrci te je završio na sedmom mjestu. Iza njega je završio Mark Webber.
Oba Lotusova vozača su došla do kraja utrke, a Kovalainen i Trulli su kasnili 3 sekunde po krugu u odnosu na ritam vodećih vozača.
Druge dvije nove momčadi nisu dugo trajale. Karun Chandhok se sudario već u drugom krugu, a 16 krugova nakon njega je odustao i Bruno Senna, zbog problema s hidraulikom. Iz utrke su rano odustali i Virginovi vozači; Lucas di Grassi je zbog problema s mjenjačem stao u drugom krugu, a isti kvar je imao i Timo Glock, koji se u njegovom slučaju pojavio nakon što je prestigao Heikkija Kovalainena.
U Bahreinu su odustali i vozači Saubera - Pedro de la Rosa i Kamui Kobayashi. U njihovom se slučaju radilo o problemima s hidraulikom.
Iako je teško povjerovati svi fanovi Red Bulla i Seba iako to sada zvuči nevjerovatno bi trebali bi biti sretni jer da nije bilo mehaničkog kvara Sebastian bi pobijedio i ovo bi bio Red Bullov dan.

Classified:
01. F. Alonso 1h39:20.396
02. F. Massa +16.099
03. L. Hamilton +23.182
04. S. Vettel +38.713
05. N. Rosberg +40.263
06. M. Schumacher +44.180
07. J. Button +45.260
08. M. Webber +46.308
09. V. Liuzzi +53.089
10. R. Barrichello +1:02.400
11. R. Kubica +1:09.093
12. A. Sutil +1:22.958
13. J. Alguersuari +1:32.656
14. N. Hulkenberg +1 lap
15. H. Kovalainen +1 lap
16. S. Buemi +3 laps
17. J. Trulli +3 laps

Not classified:
P. De la Rosa 30 laps
B. Senna 18 laps
T. Glock 17 laps
V. Petrov 14 laps
K. Kobayashi 12 laps
L. Di Grassi 3 laps
K. Chandhok 2 laps

Fastest Lap: F.Alonso: 1:58.287 (45. lap)

SV: “It’s a pity today. It was positive all weekend, except for the exhaust failure [subsequently identified as spark plug, not exhaust, failure]. From Saturday morning onwards, we were one of the quickest cars on track in all conditions. We had control of the race today and we were on top of the strategy - everything was running smoothly. I think at every point I knew how my tyres were, so we kept good control of the tyres and brakes. At some stage, I think about 15 to 20 laps from the end, you could see my lap times were getting slower. It seems something mechanical broke, luckily we could continue and finished fourth, but we should have won today. It cost us a lot, but we’ve got 12 important points.”

Christian Horner: “It was cruel luck with Sebastian today. He drove a great race and was pulling away at the front. We had a very good pit stop with him and he was controlling the lead comfortably until lap 33, when he had a sudden loss of power. He was then powerless to defend to the Ferraris and Hamilton, but he drove extremely well to retain fourth position. It gives us valuable points, but ultimately it’s very disappointing to lose such a great opportunity for a victory. Mark lost ground in the first turn and a little more with a slight sticking front tyre at his pit stop, losing him a place to Jenson (Button). After that, despite being a lot faster than the cars in front, he was unable to overtake."

Najbolji trenuci GP vikenda u Sakhiru:

Source: formula1.com / f1racing.com.hr / motorsport.com / vimeo.com

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Exclusive Vettel Q&A: Pole a surprise, but not down to luck

Nakon što je osvojio prvi pole position sezone, Sebastianu sezona nije mogla početi bolje, pa evo odgovora na par pitanja...

Q: Sebastian, after a mixed Friday you have clocked the first pole position of 2010. How does it feel?
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, it was really cool. Everybody was running as light as possible and to be the fastest under such conditions really means that you’re the fastest. So this evening I will go to bed light as a feather, with a load off my mind about any strategies that have not worked out in qualifying.

Q: How much of a surprise was it for you?
SV: I was surprised, as it really didn’t run so smoothly for us on Friday even though we had the impression that much more would have been possible and that the car would go faster. The task after yesterday was to find the areas where gains were possible - and I think we managed that. It had nothing to do with luck.

Q: When did you know that you could challenge for pole?
SV: I already had the impression in Practice Three that we were really competitive, even though it wasn’t clear how much fuel everybody was running. Then in Q1 it became obvious that the front row would be within reach.

Q: Adrian Sutil was the only one in the top ten to run on the harder tyres in Q3. How long did the super-softs last?
SV: If I only knew that! I think that is the question everybody is looking to find an answer for. In the end it’s hard to tell what will happen tomorrow in the race. One thing is for sure - there is nobody in a better situation than we are.

Q: During testing the Ferrari was always impressive over long distances…
SV: Well, the Ferrari is strong with a lot of fuel and when it is running very low. We have seen that today with two Ferraris amongst the top three and only me in front as the pacemaker. It promises to be an exciting race, although I think that we also have to consider some teams have not been so lucky in qualifying but who are still potential podium candidates and can bounce back over a long race.

Q: You always look so relaxed…
SV: Achieving a satisfying result probably has that effect, although if you go into Q3, you are anything but relaxed.

Q: Michael Schumacher ended in seventh. Are you surprised?
SV: No. But from what I have seen in the last few days it doesn’t make so much difference whether you start the race from P1 or from P6 or P7. A lot can happen in the race and the tyres will play a crucial part.

Q: But are you satisfied to have outperformed all four world champions?
SV: No, not really. Our goal was to keep the pack behind us. That was achieved. How many champions are behind me will probably matter in the race tomorrow, but for now it is irrelevant.

Source: formula1.com

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subota, 13.03.2010.

Bahrain GP 2010: Qualifying; Sebastian on Pole positon!!!

Red Bull Racingov vozač Sebastian Vettel je danas u Bahreinu došao do svog šestog pole positiona u karijeri. Prvi startni red dijeli s Felipeom Massom.
Dvadesetdvogodišnji Sebastian Vettel je osvojio prvi ovosezonski pole position za Red Bull Racing, pobijedivši dva Ferrarijeva vozača.
Felipe Massa je na kraju imao bolje vrijeme od momčadskog kolege Fernanda Alonsa te s Vettelom dijeli prvi startni red, dok će Michael Schumacher svoju prvu utrku nakon trogodišnje stanke startati sa sedmog mjesta, odmah ispred Jensona Buttona u McLarenu.
Provizorni pole u Q3 najprije je držao Fernando Alonso, a Ferrari je bio jedna od rijetkih momčadi koja se u posljednjem kvalifikacijskom segmentu odlučila za dva leteća kruga.
No, Vettelovih 1:54.101 je u samom startu za čak devet desetinki bilo brže od Alonsovog vremena, a do kraja kvalifikacija ga nitko nije uspio ozbiljno ugroziti.
Oba Ferrarija su unaprijedila svja vremena u drugom pokušaju, no ovog je puta bio brži Massa i to za 0.366 sek prednosti u odnosu na Alonsa.
Prvi krug u Q3 Lewisa Hamiltona je bio za 1.8 sek sporiji od Ferrarijevih vozača. Englez je bio bolji u drugom pokušaju, no i dalje je bio sporiji od Vettela.
Najbrži Mercedesov vozač je bio Nico Rosberg s petim najbržim vremenom, a slijedi ga Mark Webber u Red Bull Racingu i momčadski kolega Michael Schumacher.
Jenson Button je u Q2 imao kritični trenutak budući da je u jednom trenutku bio tek 11. najbrži. U sljedećem pokušaju je bio lagano bolji. Taj mu je pokušaj osigurao osmo mjesto, pomaknuvši Rubensa Barrichella na 11.
Deveto startno mjesto ima Robert Kubica, a Sutilovo 10. demonstrira Force Indijinu brzinu koju su pokazali tijekom predsezonskih priprema.
Najbrži rookie danas na kvalifikacijama je bio Williamsov vozač Nico Hulkenberg koji je imao 13. najbrže vrijeme. Renaultov vozač Vitalij Petrov je bio 17. najbrži.
S obzirom da nitko nije očekivao da će nove momčadi proći Q1, upravo je prvi kvalifikacijski segment odlučio njihov poredak. Jednako tako, u prvom segmentu su ispali i Sauberovi vozači, a isto vrijedi i za Toro Rossovog vozača Jaime Alguersuarija, kojeg je pomalo divlje zanošenje stražnjeg kraja u posljednjem krugu stajalo prolaska dalje.
Virgin Racing je bila najbolja nova momčad, a njihovog vozača Tima Glocka slijedi Lotusov - Jarno Trulli.
Karun Chandhok je napokon uspio doći na stazu. Indijac je za vodećim vremenom kasnio 10 sekundi, što je bilo i očekivano, no ohrabrujući za njega jezaostatak od 1.7 sekunde u odnosu na momčadskog kolegu Bruna Sennu.

Rezultati kvalifikacija:
01. S. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:55.029 1:53.883 1:54.101
02. F. Massa Ferrari 1:55.313 1:54.331 1:54.242
03. F. Alonso Ferrari 1:54.612 1:54.172 1:54.608
04. L. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.341 1:54.707 1:55.217
05. N. Rosberg Mercedes 1:55.463 1:54.682 1:55.241
06. M. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:55.298 1:54.318 1:55.284
07. M. Schumacher Mercedes 1:55.593 1:55.105 1:55.524
08. J. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.715 1:55.168 1:55.672
09. R. Kubica Renault 1:55.511 1:54.963 1:55.885
10. A. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:55.213 1:54.996 1:56.309
11. R. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:55.969 1:55.330
12. V. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:55.628 1:55.653
13. N. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:56.375 1:55.857
14. P. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:56.428 1:56.237
15. S. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:56.189 1:56.265
16. K. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:56.541 1:56.270
17. V. Petrov Renault 1:56.167 1:56.619
18. J. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:57.071
19. T. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:59.728
20. J. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:59.852
21. H. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 2:00.313
22. L. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 2:00.587
23. B. Senna HRT-Cosworth 2:03.240
24. K. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 2:04.904

SV: “It’s a big surprise to get pole; we didn’t know where we were with performance during the winter testing. Yesterday was a tough day for us, as we didn’t do as much running as we would have liked. It was a long night for the mechanics and there were some tired faces this morning, but everyone was still so keen. I knew we had a good car, qualifying went smoothly and I’m very happy to be on pole. Thanks to the team, they have been so busy during the last month with a lot of testing - to be on top now is a nice feeling.”

Press Conference:

Pres konferneciju s trojcom najbržih vozača: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Felipe Massa (Ferrari) i Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) s kvalifikacija. tu sam stavila samo Vettelove odgovore, ali ako želite pročitati cijelu možete OVDJE.

Q: Sebastian, the testing did not tell us very much. You have picked up where you left off but how big a surprise is pole position to you?
Sebastian Vettel: A big surprise. I mean in winter testing no-one really knew where we were. Of course it was clear that there were four teams pretty strong, but close to each other. To be honest yesterday it was a very tough day for us and we had not as much running as we were hoping for. Another long night especially for the mechanics, not a lot of sleep, some tired faces, but everyone was still keen this morning to push. I knew we had a great car but first of all you have to get it together. I have to say practice this morning and qualifying went pretty smoothly. Obviously I am very, very happy to be on pole, so thanks to the team. As I said the boys didn’t get much sleep in the last month with a lot of testing in a short amount of time. To come here first time everyone really shows how strong they are and to be on top is definitely a very, very nice feeling.

Q: Sebastian, you start the race on the same tyres you qualified on. Just give us a bit of inkling into your thinking on that?
SV: I think we all don‘t know really what will happen tomorrow. It could be exciting. It could be very boring. That is what I hope for. That is what all of us like to be more or less where we start. I think it is a very difficult situation to be in. The first part of the race will be crucial but on the other hand it is not a big secret that you need to take care of your tyres and the question mark is what you do with your strategy. A lot of things unknown I have to say, so all of us we don’t know what to expect tomorrow.

Q: Sebastian, how exciting was that for you?
SV: Very exciting. Yesterday I have to admit we were not very happy, especially myself. We knew there was potential in the car but we were just not putting it together. On top of that we had some problems, so we did not do a lot of running. But this morning straight away it has been quite a lot better. In qualifying a very smooth session as per plan but it is never easy especially as I saw in the last lap where I saw myself going around one-and-a-half or two-tenths slower around the lap. I was already thinking I have to push push push and it was really close. At the end of qualifying the circuit got a bit more difficult with the conditions changing all the time. The heat here is different to what we had in testing, so you could see people having quite big jumps in lap time either up or down. But concerning ourselves I think it was a good result and a good position to start from, but tomorrow is going to be a long, long race. It is the first race out of 19. It is not going to be a sprint, it is going to be an endurance event, so you have to take care of your car, tyres and so on. But for sure there is no better position to start from than pole position and finally, and I think I am speaking more or less on behalf of all the drivers, give some great respect to Felipe.
FM: Oh, no.
SV: It is very, very difficult, well, I don’t know, you can ask him, but from the outside big respect for what he has achieved. First race he is back and he is bang, bang bang. It is good to have him back.

Q: Did you do a lot of changes to the car overnight or did the track to some extent come to you?
SV: Well, I think the track was not very good to start with yesterday morning but then rubbered in quickly. There was a lot of rubber. I think it was more transforming your car and making it work in the conditions. We did change a lot overnight. Yesterday we could not show our full performance, we would have wished to do more runs, but I had a braking failure and Mark had a problem with the drive-shaft, so overall we did not do a lot of laps, but nevertheless we could feel the potential. We changed some things, I won’t tell you what, but nothing special, small things, but they had a big effect in the end. We were trying to read the conditions and what will happen throughout qualifying and it seemed to work quite well. I think we were one of the most consistent.

Q: (Frederic Ferret - L’Equipe) To all of you: what will be the main difficulty in the race tomorrow: saving the tyres, saving fuel in the engine?
SV: Well, in Formula One I think people like to talk about packages; I think it will be the package. As I said, in the past it was probably more a sprint event. You started the race on whatever fuel load – 50, 60, 70, 40 kilos. Of course you had to take care at the beginning and then you could push, more or less which I think everyone of us enjoyed a lot. This year, the challenge is not attacking every lap and pushing and trying to go as fast as you can. It has changed. The challenge is now obviously controlling the package, as I said, trying to listen to your car, listen to your tyres, listen to your brakes, everything. Try to read and understand the race inside the car. There will be a lot of things to learn and also for the pit wall. No one really knows what to expect, I think that’s exciting so far. Hopefully we will have a good race tomorrow. As Felipe and Fernando said already, it will be a long season, so the most important thing is to finish, for sure, but I think everyone is looking forward to tomorrow’s race, so we will see. I think it is a good mix of everything; you have to keep in control to be the best.

Q: (Juha Paatalo - Financial Times Deutschland) For everybody: I think nine out of ten cars in Q3 had the soft tyres on. Was it a clear solution to take them or was there any thinking that you should take the hard ones and have a longer first stint?
SV: Well, I think we saw yesterday – I can’t speak on my behalf really, I did one longish run – but especially these two, they did quite a few laps yesterday and if we are speaking about tyre degradation on the super soft it’s not given that the medium tyre or the harder compound around here has zero degradation. It’s also dropping. I think reading the lap times yesterday and assuming what people ran in terms of fuel load we could see that and I think in the end what made the difference is the fact that - I think you saw that throughout qualifying that the soft tyre was quite a bit stronger for initial performance which you need in qualifying. You need only one lap. Whatever happens after usually doesn’t matter; in this case it does. We will see tomorrow. As Fernando said, there are so many things to learn.
It’s quite funny, I think last year the top three drivers sat here on Saturday afternoon and they didn’t want to say when they were going to stop. Now they can’t tell you because we don’t know, so nobody knows. You can work out an optimum for the race, but an optimum is when you’re racing on your own which, as it looks now, is very unlikely to happen. Of course there’s a chance that 23 cars will not reach the grid but I think this chance is quite small.

Za kraj Vettelov krug s kojim je osvojio pole position:

Source: f1racing.com.hr / formula1.com / f1-hr.com / vimeo.com / motorsport.com

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Bahrain GP 2010: Free Practice 3

Fernando Alonso završio je na vrhu poretka na posljednjim slobodnim treninzima uoči kvalifikacija za V.N. Bahreina.
Španjolac je najbrži krug odvezao za 1 minutu i 54.099 sekundi, što je 270 tisućinki bolje u odnosu na drugoplasiranog Nicu Rosberga. Na trećem mjestu završio je Mark Webber, nakon kojega slijede Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel i Felipe Massa.
Jenson Button bio je sedmi najbrži ispred Roberta Kubice, Vitantonija Liuzzija i Nice Hulkenberga koji je zatvorio poredak prve desetorice.
Karun Chandhok, usprkos planu da danas odveze prve krugove u HRT-ovom bolidu, je ponovno bio primoran propustiti slobodne treninge. Ovoga puta problem je bio u mjenjaču.

Rezultati 3. slobodnog treninga:
01. F. Alonso 1:54:099
02. N. Rosberg +0:00:269
03. M. Webber +0:00:401
04. M. Schumacher +0:00:434
05. S. Vettel + 0:00:547
06. F. Massa +0:00:640
07. J. Button + 0:00:901
08. R. Kubica +0:01:232
09. V. Liuzzi + 0:01:333
10. N. Hulkenberg +0:01:362
11. A. Sutil +0:01:422
12. L. Hamilton +0:01:761
13. P. de la Rosa +0:01:964
14. R. Barrichello +0:02:160
15. S. Buemi +0:02:196
16. J. Alguersuari +0:04:405
17. K. Kobayashi +0:04:431
18. V. Petrov +0:04:712
19. T. Glock +:05:074
20. H. Kovalainen +0:05:690
21. J. Trulli +0:07:160
22. B. Senna +0:09:902
23. L. di Grassi - no time
24. K. Chandhok - no time

Source: f1-hr.com

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petak, 12.03.2010.

Bahrain GP 2010: FIA Friday press conference

Vozači: Lucas Di Grassi (Virgin), Nico Hulkenberg (Williams), Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus), Robert Kubica (Renault) i Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
Izdvojila sam samo Sebastianove odgovore, ali ako hoćete pročitati cijelu, možete OVDJE.

Q: Sebastian, how do you feel about today?
Sebastian Vettel: I would have loved to run more. I think this morning the circuit was not in very good shape with not a lot of rubber down, especially on the new part of the circuit. But in the afternoon I think we had quite a lot of rubber, but I did not run very much. I had a problem with the brakes, brake failure, and Mark had a problem as well, so I would have loved to do more laps.

Q: Is it a worry to have that failure? Brakes is a big thing this year.
SV: It is not a nice feeling, but it depends where it happens. I think it happens if you go up in Monaco up to the casino it is the worst place. Here there is quite a lot of run-off, so it was no problem, but it is not something you like to happen.

Q: Fifth fastest with that brake failure. Do you feel that is where you are or do you think it should be better?
SV: I think today is still very difficult to read. Sometimes it is easy, sometimes it is a bit more difficult, but if you really want to say precisely where everyone is I think at this stage it is still a bit too early. From what I have seen in the session it is no secret that this afternoon Ferrari seemed to run a bit heavier whereas Mercedes tried with a little bit less fuel in the beginning and then put some fuel back into the car for the rest of it. I think at this stage we are in decent shape. I would have loved to run a lot more and get more laps and more data, but at this stage I think Ferrari and McLaren look extremely competitive.

Q: Last year the team did a fantastic job with the development. It is almost certainly going to be a development battle this year. Are you confident in the programme that Red Bull have?
SV: Yeah, as you said it will be the same kind of battle as last year. Obviously that is not very cheap. But for everyone it is the same thing, so where we are now and I am sure the cars will improve a lot as they are still quite young. I think this year there is a lot to discover with the new regulations, no refuelling, the tyres are different, so I think everyone is in a steep learning curve and we will see. The cars we will have at the end of the year they might be better but you get 25 points for a win here as you do at the last race, so we will see.

Q: (Mikolaj Sokol – Rzeczpospolita) Sebastian and Robert, with 23 cars on the track, some of them significantly slower than you, how can you deal with traffic? Is it a big issue?
SV: Yes, I think it is a big issue, especially practice and at least the first qualifying session. Of course, speaking to Lucas or Timo or the other guys, Heikki, it’s not the easiest time that they have to face. Obviously they are just about to start, so I think it’s fair to give them time. For sure, if you arrive and you have that big delta between the cars and at least six cars are quite a bit slower than the rest and for sure it could be a problem and one or the other will suffer. It will happen in qualifying that you probably don’t get your lap time. These guys are trying their best as well, so you have to respect that, but if you’re five seconds quicker then it’s very difficult to estimate at the start of the lap if you will be fine or not. Here, I think it’s quite OK because you can see quite a lot, but if you go to Singapore or Monaco where half of the circuit is blind anyway then it’s very difficult. We’ve had problems in the past with traffic, it will be quite a mess but that’s life, I guess.

Q: (Tomasz Richter – TV Nova) To you all, do you enjoy the new section of the track or would you prefer to go straight after turn three?
SV: I think that the biggest difficulty is that you have a different level of grip as well, which makes the delta quite high. If you look at the asphalt of the new circuit compared to the new track it’s quite different. That doesn’t make life easy, it’s actually very slow, very bumpy, so I also prefer the old track.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat ) Sebastian, how difficult is it to decide which compound to use for Q3 at this circuit?
SV: Well, I think the biggest unknown is how the racing will look on Sunday. Obviously the temperature should help all of us but I think it will nevertheless be something new. Either it will be total excitement for the spectators, a mess for us in the car, because some drivers will struggle more with tyres, some less, or it will be boring and the cars will just follow each other because they’re stuck behind each other and they can’t do much, so I think we have to see. In qualifying, first of all we need to see what we have done today compared to the others. Then tomorrow morning – the latest at lunchtime, more or less, you have to decide what you want to do in qualifying. I think first of all you have to manage to get into Q3. It looks tight, so it won’t be easy. There is a strong midfield as well, so if you are talking of the top teams, you have a very, very strong midfield and they could easily ruin your day. I don’t know yet. If you ask me now, I have no clue. I also think it makes it more difficult, as I said, because we don’t know how the race will unfold. We will see.

Q: (Cezary Gutowski – Przeglad Sportowy) For the Renault-engined guys: there is some noise about getting engines up to parity. Do you think your engines are that under-performing? Do you think you really need more horsepower?
SV: I think an engine here, an engine there. Obviously engine regulations are frozen and yes, last year we didn’t have the easiest time, especially myself. We had some engine failures. Nevertheless, I think we did a very good job recovering. Reliability was fine after we fixed the problem and we did not have to change an engine, so we did not have to take a penalty. I think, last year, everyone had more or less the same opinion that the Mercedes engine was probably a bit ahead of the rest and as I said, the regulations are frozen, so what can you do? I think we don’t have anything to fear, no weakness from that side, so for sure, as I said, a little bit maybe, but it’s very difficult to measure as well. The cars are different. If you look at our top speed compared to the Renault top speed, it’s totally different because the car is a different car, different concept, different amount of drag on the straight, so you can’t really compare just from the speeds.

Q: (Oliver Knaack – Berliner Zeitung) Sebastian, you missed more than 30 minutes of this last practice, can you describe the exact failure of the brakes, what happened at the front or rear and what was the problem?
SV: Maybe some of you, between the practice and the press conference were able to have a coffee. I was not. I just got out of my suit and had a short de-brief and came here so I don’t know the reason yet for the failure we had, so we need to see. It’s always difficult. You don’t really analyse within the session because you just make sure you change (the damaged part) as quickly as possible and use the amount of time you have left. It was on the front, the front left. I think you could see that from the TV.

Source: formula1.com

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Bahrain GP 2010: Free Practice 2

Najbrže vrijeme na drugom slobodnom treningu u Bahreinu je postavio Mercedesov vozač Nico Rosberg, a zanimljivo je da su četiri najbrža bolida pogonjena Mercedesovim motorom.
Na drugom je mjestu Lewis Hamilton u McLarenu, kojeg slijedi Rosbergov momčadski kolega Michael Schumacher. Krug prve Mercedesove četvorice zatvara Jenson Button.
Rosberg je na vodeću poziciju došao u 20. minuti sesije, a jedina veća promjena se dogodila petnaest minuta kasnije, kada je letvicu spustio za dodatne četiri desetinke i odvozio krug od 1:55.409. U tom je periodu većina vozača bila fokusirana na duže stintove, tako da je Rosbergovo prvo mjesto bilo prilično stailno.
Hamiltonovo najbrže vrijeme je za četiri desetinke sporije od Rosbergovog, a bivši svjetski prvak je prijavio nekoliko problema koji se tiču tvrđe smjese Bridgestneovih guma. Schumacherov zaostatak iznosi pola sekunde, a Buttonov sedam desetinki.
Dvije Red Bullove momčadi su imale težak drugi slobodni trening, a najbolji od njihovih vozača je bio Sebastian Vettel na petom mjestu, premda je i on imao dva kraća izlaska sa staze na posljednjem zavoju. Njegov momčadski kolega Mark Webber je imao problem s pogonskom osovinom te se u boks vratio nakon samo pet odvoženih krugova.
Sebastien Buemi je cijelo posljepodne proveo u Toro Rossovoj garaži zbog tehničkih problema koji su se pojavili na stražnjem kraju njegovog bolida. Drugi Toro Rossov vozač, Jaime Alguersuari je imao i jedan dramatični trenutak, kada je izletio sa staze i izvrtio se, zamalo ne udarivši u ogradu.
Među prvu šestoricu se ugurao i Williamsov vozač Nico Rosberg, dok je Felipe Massa na sedmom mjestu bio najbrži Ferrari. Njegov momčadski kolega Fernando Alonso je na devetom mjestu, iza Vitalija Petrova koji pokazuje ohrabrujuće znakove napretka.
Deseto najbrže vrijeme je imao Pedro de la Rosa u Sauberu, a slijede ga momčadski kolega Kamui Kobayashi i Adrian Sutil, Force Indijin vozač koji je jutros imao najbrže vrijeme na prvom treningu.
Lotus je bila najbrža nova momčad, a Kovalainen i Trulli su većinu drugog treninga odradili s većom količinom goriva, dok su u samoj završnisi vozili s laganim bolidom i vodećem se približili na 5.5 sekundi. Od Virgina su bili brži za cijelu sekundu.
U Bahreinu je na drugom treningu vozio i Bruno Senna koji je kompletirao svega 17 krugova s kolosalnim zaostatkom od 12.5 sekundi za vodećim. Senna je također imao jedan kritični trenutak, kada mu je na kočenju za prvi zavoj ispala matica kotača, zbog čega se bolid zanio.
Njegov momčadski kolega Karun Chandhok je drugi trening proveo u garaži budući da njegov HRT još nije osposobljen za vožnju. Indijac će voziti tek na sutrašnjem trećem slobodnom treningu.

Rezultati 2. slobodnog treninga:
01. N. Rosberg 1:55:409
02. L. Hamilton +0:00:445
03. M. Schumacher +0:00:494
04. J. Button +0:00:667
05. S. Vettel +0:01:050
06. N. Hulkenberg +0:01:092
07. F. Massa +0:01:146
08. V. Petrov +0:01:341
09. F. Alonso +0:01:731
10. P. de la Rosa +0:01:846
11. K. Kobayashi +0:01:943
12. A. Sutil +0:01:952
13. R. Barrichello +0:02:043
14. V. Liuzzi +0:02:424
15. R. Kubica +0:02:746
16. J. Alguersuari +0:04:390
17. M. Webber +0:05:035
18. H. Kovalainen +0:05:464
19. J. Trulli +0:05:581
20. T. Glock +0:06:628
21. L. di Grassi +0:06:779
22. B. Senna +0:11:559
23. S. Buemi - no time
24. K. Chandhok - no time

SV: “So, the first day of the first race. Unfortunately we didn’t get a lot of running today. The track was still green this morning, so everyone was just checking their cars. In the second practice I had to have the brakes changed and Mark couldn’t do the whole session, so it wasn’t ideal. I would have liked more track time, but it’s not Christmas and we’re not given things for free. We have a lot of work to do, but we know where we need to improve, so we will work on that.”

Source: f1racing.com.hr / f1-hr.com

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Bahrain GP 2010: Free Practice 1

Najbrže vrijeme na prvom ovosezonskom slobodnom treningu, voženom jutros u Bahreinu je postavio Force Indijin vozač Adrian Sutil.
Force Indijin vozač Adrian Sutil je postavio najbrže vrijeme na prvom slobodnom treningu voženom u petak u Bahreinu, što je ujedno i prvi ovosezonski slobodni trening.
Nijemac je bio brži za nešto manje od dvije desetinke od Fernanda Alonsa u Ferrariju, inače jednog od favorita za pobjedu na prvoj ovosezonskoj utrci.
Iznenađenje je trećim najbržim vremenom priredio i Robert Kubica u Renaultu, koji je za Sutilom kasnio +0.458, dok je u odnosu na Felipea Massu imao prednost od tri desetinke.
Kubicu i Massu slijede dvojica McLareovih vozača, Jenson Button i Lewis Hamilton.
Dobar potencijal Force Indije je potvrdio i Vitantonio Liuzzi sedmim najbržim vremenom, dok je osmi bio Nico Rosberg u McLarenu. Slijede ga Mark Webber i Michael Schumacher, potonji sa zaostatkom većim od četiri desetinke.
Prvi na stazu je izišao Jarno Trulli u Lotusu, čije se ime tako ponovno pojavilo u Formuli 1 prvi put nakon Velike nagrade Australije 1994.
Talijan je odmah započeo s poslom te je odvozio nekoliko instalacijskih krugova, nakon čega mu se na stazi pridružio i momčadski kolega Heikki Kovalainen, koji je imao prilično respektabilno prvo vrijeme kruga od 2:04225.
Nakon 30 minuta na stazu izlazi i Lewis Hamilton te vozi značajno brži krug od 1:57.759. Međutim, momčadski kolega Jenson Button vozi još brže i postavlja svoje najbrže vrijeme od 1:57.068.
Na prvo mjesto uskoro dolazi Ferrarijev vozač Fernando Alonso, a 25 minuta prije kraja najbrži krug vozi Sutil, čije će osobno najbrže vrijeme ostati vodeće sve do kraja sesije.
Sutil, koji je bio najbrži na prvom treningu, je imao prednost od 7.3 sekunde ispred najsporijeg Trullija. Najbrži vozač novih momčadi je bio Timo Glock koji je trkalište Sakhir okružio za 2:03.680, što je za dvije desetinke brže od Lotusa.
Španjolska momčad HRT je tek jutros obavila tehnički pregled, a Senna i Chandhok su odvozili samo nekoliko instalacijskih krugova.

Rezultati 1. slobodnog treninga:
01. A. Sutil 1:53:583
02. F. Alonso +0:00:183
03. R. Kubica +0:00:458
04. F. Massa +0:00:472
05. J. Button +0:00:485
06. L. Hamilton +0:00:580
07. V. Liuzzi +0:00:611
08. N. Rosberg +0:00:616
09. M. Webber + 0:00:672
10. M. Schumacher +0:01:079
11. J. Alguersuari +0:01:139
12. N. Hulkenberg +0:01:311
13. S. Vettel +0:01:360
14. S. Buemi +0:01:816
15. R. Barrichello +0:02:199
16. V. Petrov +0:02:297
17. P. de la Rosa +0:03:667
18. K. Kobayashi +0:04:805
19. T. Glock +0:07:097
20. H. Kovalainen +0:07:265
21. J. Trulli +0:07:387
22. L. di Grassi - no time
23. B. Senna - no time
24. K. Chandhok - no time

Source: f1racing.com.hr / f1-hr.com

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četvrtak, 11.03.2010.

Vettel: "Visoke temperature mogle bi ispremiješati poredak"

Omjeri koji su među četiri vodeće momčadi vrijedili u prohladnoj Barceloni ne moraju vrijediti i u vrelom Bahreinu, upozorio je Sebastian Vettel.
Temperature u Bahreinu potpuno drugačije od onih s testiranja
Prema riječima Sebastiana Vettela, četiri vodeće momčadi dijeli tek nekoliko desetinki, no stvari bi se, upozorio je u četvrtak, mogle značajno promijeniti s visokim temperaturama u Bahreinu.
"Nikad ne znate gdje ste točno, pa tako niti mi ne znamo gdje smo," rekao je. "Ali, mislim da smo među vodećima. Ferrari izgleda ekstremno jak. Dakle, imate Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes i nas, a svi smo unutar nekoliko desetinki."
Barem su takvi omjeri snaga vrijedili na predsezonskim tetsiranjima koja su se vozila u prohladnoj Španjolskoj.
"Ovdje bi sve moglo biti totalno drugačije jer su temperature puno više od onih koje smo imali u Barceloni," argumentira Vettel.
Nitko ne zna kako će se utrka razvijati
"Vidjet ćemo. Možda ćemo u subotu saznati tko je jak, a tko ne. Ne mislim da ćemo sutra vidjeti pravo stanje stvari. A nedjelja je velika nepoznanica."
"Svi će startati s puno goriva. Još ne znamo kako će se utrka razvijati. Moglo bi biti ludo i uzbudljivo u čemu bismo svi uživali."
"Ali, moglo bi biti i dosadno i dogoditi se da utrku završite na poziciji na kojoj ste se našli nakon prvih pet krugova."
"Nitko ne zna što će se točno dogoditi. No nije velika tajna da biste se trebali kladiti na te četiri velike momčadi. No, četiri velike momčadi znači i osam vozača od kojih je svaki u poziciji za pobjedu. Vidjet ćemo."
Vettel ne sumnja u pouzdanost tehničkog paketa
Unatoč problemima koji su ga pratili tijekom predsezonskog pripremnog programa, Sebastian Vettel je rekao da ne sumnja u pouzdanost Red Bullovog tehničkog paketa.
"Nije tajna da se ne želite zaustaviti na stazi zbog kvara. To prije svega znači da imate problem, a onda suparnici time dobiju i priliku da vam fotkaju bolid."
"Istina, morali smo se zaustaviti nekoliko puta, ali nismo imali puno popravaka. Na testiranjima ne želite riskirati ako osjetite pad pritiska ili neki drugi problemčić. Samo ugasite bolid i vratite ga u garažu na dodatne provjere. No, mislim da nismo imali problema s preživljavanjem."

Source: f1racing.com.hr

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Exclusive Interview with Sebastian Vettel

Q: Sebastian, you are heading into your third season and the saying goes ‘third time lucky’. Do you believe in proverbs?
Sebastian Vettel: If it turns out to be a positive season then I believe in it. If not, then it’s BS! It’s a long way to go, a lot of things have changed and so the racing will change. But we don’t know yet how much, so everything will look different to last year. Nineteen races seems an endless marathon, so we will see.

Q: Compared to 2009 with Brawn as the only real challenger, this year’s race to the title looks set to be more crowded. The fact is you want to win, the team wants to win - but does the car know that?
SV: Well, I’ve given it a name - Luscious Liz - so I will tell her. But yes, it’s true: it looks very close and we have to see who makes the most of the completely different conditions that we will be faced with at the first four races. Here we will have around 35 degrees air temperature and 50 degrees track temperature and we tested at conditions not even half as warm. The indication that we’ve got from testing is not bad, but there are three other teams out there that will heavily challenge us. It all looks very exciting, especially for the fans at the track and at home in front of the telly - and on Saturday we all will be a little wiser about the pecking order. I see four teams at the top - that makes eight eligible drivers for the title - but I don’t think that three races before Abu Dhabi we still will see all eight drivers interlocked in the fight for the crown. Instead over the course of the season we will see who is top and who is not.

Q: You have a tradition of giving your cars female names. Do females tend to do what you want?
SV: Well, I don’t have a magic hand or magic stick or anything of that kind but the experience of the past has shown that it somehow worked out for me. And to be honest, I would find it rather strange to give the car a male name, or to see the car as something masculine.

Q: When did the name ‘Luscious Liz’ for this year’s car pop into your mind?
SV: At the first test I really started to go through a couple of names and I like the name Liz and Luscious Liz fits quite well, I think. It’s an attractive car, it’s quick and successful. But the main attribute naturally should be that she’s bl**dy quick.

Q: So is Liz so much better than Kate (the RB5) was last year?
SV: We will see. Kate and ‘Kate’s dirty little sister’ did a very good job so Liz has to prove herself.

Q: What kind of taste did finishing as 2009 runner-up leave in your mouth?
SV: A bitter taste. The worst moment was the race in Brazil. It was a good race - considering where we started and where we ended up - but what it meant was not very sweet. Anyway, we had to swallow it and did a great job in Abu Dhabi two weeks later. Second place is surely not what I want to achieve. Sure there is only one place better than second, but that is exactly where I want to be at the end of this year. Of course I cannot promise anything, but be sure that I will work my socks off to get there.

Q: Your team principal Christian Horner said that you are a complete driver and that you have all the makings of a champion. Does that sooth the soul, especially given the missed chances last year?
SV: It’s good to hear - but on the other hand it doesn’t make me quicker. It is good to know that the team - Christian and the engineers - are behind me. That is key. But nevertheless you have to fight hard and try to improve yourself and be open for criticism.

Q: How much time and effort did you put into analyzing last season?
SV: Some things happened during the season, and we knew exactly what it was so you don’t need much time to analyze. But of course we sat down and went through race by race and tried to identify the things that had an impact. We have been studying a lot last year and we understood a couple of things. It’s no secret that if we hadn’t had five retirements then the final counting would have been completely different. I was missing 11 points, so the chance to score 12 points in five races wasn’t an impossible thing.

Q: Did all the analysis conclude you should have won the title last year?
SV: Well, everything happens for a reason, and obviously we didn’t win for a reason. Brawn started the season with a dominating car - from seven races Jenson (Button) won six - so the championship was kind of decided already back then and when we had the chance to score more points than Jenson we sometimes didn’t grab it, for various reasons. Now you can start to say that if we had been better here or there we would have… but that is crying over spilled milk and that’s not our philosophy.

Q: You went through a steep learning process last year. What was it in particular that you learned?
SV: We never mucked-up a race - we always got the maximum out of it but in the end it wasn’t enough and it was up to us to understand. Surely we were lacking consistency - either from mistakes from my side or the team’s side - but it is not about blaming anybody, it’s about finding out and fixing it. For the first time we were in a situation to fight for the title and sometimes mistakes creep in. We had some issues with the engine - and this can happen - but if you want to win the title it should not happen to you. You can go next door and ask Michael (Schumacher) what happened to him in 2006. He was leading in Japan - two races to go - and he had an engine blow-up which potentially cost him the championship. So it’s not always the fastest who wins the championship but it is the package: cleverness, a good strong car, reliability and sometimes - when you have no chance to win - bringing the car home in fourth or fifth and collecting the points. You are not proud of being second - that’s nothing to be proud of. When I am around 50 or 60-years-old and not racing anymore probably I might look back thinking that it was a good season - you’ve collected quite an amount of points and won some races - but all matters in the end are championship wins. So far I have zero championships, and we are here to change that.

Q: You talk about being 50 or 60 - but what will you be doing when you are 41, like Michael?
SV: Ah, that’s why I said 50 or 60! I have no idea. You can ask any 21-year-old and he would not have an idea what will happen when he’s almost twice as old. It’s so far away. I only can say that I am extremely happy now: I enjoy what I am doing, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else - not this year, not next year, not in the foreseeable future

Q: How is it for you to race against somebody who is almost double your age?
SV: When I look in my mirror and see whatever kind of car or colour or helmet, I don’t see if the guy’s old or not - it does not make any difference. What he is bringing to the table is a huge amount of experience - and experience comes with age. He’s not 20 anymore but I don’t think that’s a problem. Life is not over when you are 40!

Q: Does he have a chance against you?
SV: Hopefully not, but we definitely have him on the list. But not only him
- also Nico(Rosberg). But let’s be real - right now we are at race one and it does not make too much sense to always talk about the championship. We have to go step by step and race by race and if after five races we realize that we are not in a position to fight for the championship anymore, then you set yourself new targets. The target for now is to win this race, so let’s see.

Source: formula1.com

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srijeda, 10.03.2010.

This year I call her..Luscious Liz

Dvadesetdvogodišnji Sebastian Vettel je novom Red Bullu RB6 dao nadimak Sočna Liz, što bi trebalo sugerirati velike potencijale.
Sebastian Vettel je novi Red Bullov RB6 nazvao "Luscious Liz," što bi se doslovno moglo prevesti kao Sočna Liz.
Dvadesetdvogodišnji Nijemac bolidima koje vozi već godinama daje neobične nadimke, pa je tako prošlogodišnji RB5 nosio nadimak "Kate's Dirty Sister" budući da je bio brži i snažniji od svog prethodnika RB5 kojeg je nazvao, jednostavno Kate.
Toro Rossov bolid iz 2008., s kojim je došao i do pobjede na kišnoj Velikoj nagradi Italije u Monzi, Vettel je nazvao Julie.
"Da mogu dizajnirati super zvijezdu, onda bi Sebastian bio rezultat," izjavio je izvršni direktor Formule 1 Bernie Ecclestone za najnovije izdanje Auto Bild Motorsporta.
"On je upravo ono što je Formuli 1 potrebno: mlad je, super talentiran i inteligentan vozač koji nije arogantan i koji je popularan kod publike i medija, a istodobno i vrlo profesionalan," dodao je sedamdesetogodišnji Ecclestone koji već duže vrijeme ne krije simpatije koje ima prema Vettelu.

Source: f1racing.com.hr

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utorak, 09.03.2010.

Bahrain GP 2010: Sakhir 12.-14. ožujka

Prva utrka: 4. travnja 2004.
Dužina kruga: 5 417 metara
Ukupno krugova: 57 (308.769 km)
Postolje 2008.: 1. J. Button - 2. S. Vettel - 3. J. Trulli

Povijest:
Zbog zakona o zabrani reklamiranja duhana na utrkama šef Formule 1, Bernie Ecclestone je bio prisiljen potražiti "utočište" za svoji sport na Bliskom Istoku.
Utrka na stazi Bahrain se prvi put vozila 2004. nakon što je izgrađena u veoma brzom roku. Ova se staza može pohvaliti visokom kvalitetom izgradnje te najmodernijim sigurnosnim rješenjima.
Iako ovu stazu nije niti jedan vozač uspio upoznati prije održavanja prve utrke, izgleda kako su se vozači Ferrarija najbrže prilagodili novim zahtjevima. Prvi pobjednik ove povijesne utrke u Bahreinu bio je Michael Schumacher. Uz Nijemca su se na podij plasirali njegov timski kolega Rubens Barrichello i Jenson Button kojemu je ovo bio drugi plasman na pobjedničkom postolju u F1 karijeri.
U 2005. Renault je s Fernandom Alonsom ostvario treću uzastopnu pobjedu sezone. Španjolcu se na podiju pridružili Jarno Trulli u Toyoti i Kimi Raikkonen u McLaren-Mercedesu.
Ferrari je iste godine na ovu stazu stigao s novim bolidom naziva F2005. Problemi s hidraulikom su izbacili Michaela Schumachera iz utrke, dok je Rubens Barrichello završio utrku na tek devetom mjestu.
Godinu dana kasnije Bahrein je dobio čast održati prvu utrku sezone. Tijekom većeg dijela utrke, Fernando Alonso i Michael Schumacher vodili su borbu za prvu poziciju. Naposljetku, pobjedu je osvojio Španjolac, uz samo 1.2 sekunde prednosti. Treće mjesto pripalo je Fincu Kimiju Raikkonenu, koji je do pobjedničkog postolja stigao sa samog začelja.
2007. godine Felipe Massa osvojio je pobjedu s dvije sekunde prednosti ispred novaka Lewisa Hamiltona, nakon kojega slijedi Kimi Raikkonen.
Treća utrka u sezoni 2008. nam je donijela i trećeg različitog pobjednika u sezoni, Felipea Massu koji je vozio za Ferrari. Na drugom mjestu je završio njegov timski kolega, Kimi Raikkonen, dok je na trećem završio Robert Kubica u BMW Sauberu, koji se za tu utrku kvalificirao kao prvi na startu.
2009. godine postolje su popunili Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel i Jarno Trulli.

Prijašnji pobjednici:
2009: J. Button (Brawn)
2008: F. Massa (Ferrari)
2007: F. Massa (Ferrari)
2006: F. Alonso (Renault)
2005: F. Alonso (Renault)
2004: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)

Source: f1-hr.com / youtube.com

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nedjelja, 07.03.2010.

Red Bull predviđa zaustavljanja u boksu kraća od 2 sekunde

Red Bull Racingov direktor Christian Horner predviđa da će zaustavljanja u boksu kraća od 2 sekunde ove godine biti normalna pojava u Formuli 1.
Momčadi Formule 1 su tijekom predsezonskih priprema intenzivno trenirale i pokušavale unaprijediti brzinu promjene guma, a neslužbeni rekord drži momčad Red Bull Racing, čijih je 18 mehaničara gume uspjelo promijeniti za svega 1.8 sekundi.
U intervjuu kojeg je dao Mirroru, direktor austrijske momčadi Christian Horner je rekao da će ove godine zaustavljanja kraća od 2 sekunde biti normalna.
"Odradili smo nekoliko zaustavljanja kraćih od dvije sekunde. Dečki su bili poput munje," rekao je Horner, dodavši da je Red Bull Racing intenzivno trenirao svoju momčad za što bržu promjenu guma.
"Dečki su tijekom zime trenirali kao ludi. Izgubili su težinu i sada su okretniji u procesu. Od studenog svakodnevno rade u teretani u 12 i 16 sati."
"Uvijek smo bili brzi, ali sada cijelom problemu pristupamo na znanstveniji način," zaključio je.

Red Bull Racing treninra zaustavljanja:

Source: f1racing.com.hr / youtube.com

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utorak, 02.03.2010.

Sebastian Vettel on Mount Vesuvio

Njemački vozač Red Bulla Sebastian Vettel prije početka F1 sezone trenira i vjerovatno uživa na planini Vesuvio koja se nalazi na jugu Italije:

Source: sebastian-vettel.org / youtube.com

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~2010 Formula 1 World Championship~

Opis bloga

~2009 Formula 1 World Championship~

srijeda, 31.03.2010.

Red Bull Racing pozvao FIA-u da se očituje o ovjesima

utorak, 30.03.2010.

Malaysian GP 2010: Sepang 2.-4. travnja

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Vettelovo odustajanje je uzrokovala slabo pričvršćena matica kotača

nedjelja, 28.03.2010.

Sebastian Vettel Q&A: Car failure ‘massively infuriating’

Australian GP 2010: Race; Button win, Seb DNF

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Australian GP 2010: Qualifying; Red Bull rules in Melbourne, Seb Pole

Australian GP 2010: Free Practice 3

petak, 26.03.2010.

Australian GP 2010: Free Practice 2 / Q&A with Seb

Heidfeld od danas u predsjedničkoj, a Massa i Vettel u direktorskim foteljama

Australian GP 2010: Free Practice 1

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Why Vettel is ready to be champion

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Australian GP 2010: Wednesday at Melbourne; Vettel: Prerano je za reći tko je u prednosti + Pics

utorak, 23.03.2010.

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nedjelja, 21.03.2010.

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srijeda, 17.03.2010.

The Secret Life of Sebastian Vettel

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Sebastian Vettel Q&A: It should have been Red Bull’s day

Red Bull objavio da je Vettel usporio zbog kvara svjećice, a ne ispuha

nedjelja, 14.03.2010.

Bahrain GP 2010: Race; Ferrari 1st & 2nd, Seb 4th

Exclusive Vettel Q&A: Pole a surprise, but not down to luck

subota, 13.03.2010.

Bahrain GP 2010: Qualifying; Sebastian on Pole positon!!!

Bahrain GP 2010: Free Practice 3

petak, 12.03.2010.

Bahrain GP 2010: FIA Friday press conference

Bahrain GP 2010: Free Practice 2

Bahrain GP 2010: Free Practice 1

četvrtak, 11.03.2010.

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Exclusive Interview with Sebastian Vettel

srijeda, 10.03.2010.

This year I call her..Luscious Liz

utorak, 09.03.2010.

Bahrain GP 2010: Sakhir 12.-14. ožujka

nedjelja, 07.03.2010.

Red Bull predviđa zaustavljanja u boksu kraća od 2 sekunde

utorak, 02.03.2010.

Sebastian Vettel on Mount Vesuvio