F1 & Sebastian Vettel

utorak, 29.06.2010.

Red Bullov RB6 bez značajnijih poboljšanja na Silverstoneu

Red Bull Racingov šef tehnologije, Adrian Newey je izjavio da momčad na Velikoj nagradi Velike Britanije za dva tjedna na svom bolidu neće imati značajnih poboljšanja.
Za razliku od njih, suparnički McLaren će utrku na Silverstoneu iskoristiti za uvođenje velikih promjena u specifikaciju MP4-25.
"Za Silverstone nećemo imati nikakve velike promjene, nego uglavnom malene evolucijske na prednjim i stražnjim krilima," rekao je Newey. "Napravili smo neke revizije u Valenciji, novi difuzor i dorađeni F-duct su jako dobro funkcionirali, momčad je radila nevjerojatno puno, a Sebastian je odvozio sjajnu utrku. Veselimo se novoj sekciji staze koju ćemo vidjeti prvi put. Kao i sve druge momčadi, mi smo također dobili mapu koju smo simulirali, ali kako tamo još nismo vozili nemamo pristup detaljima, poput neravnina ili promjena gripa."zaključio je.

Source: f1racng.com.hr

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ponedjeljak, 28.06.2010.

Sebastian Vettel Q&A: European victory a surprise

Q: Sebastian, tell us about your win today…
Sebastian Vettel: I was a bit surprised myself, but extremely happy that all went so well on our side right from the beginning. When the safety car was deployed, I was a bit afraid that it might get a bit tight, as everyone gets a pit stop for free, but everything went smoothly, and then Lewis (Hamilton) getting the drive-through penalty made our life much easier. So I was able to organize my race up until the chequered flag.

Q: How was your start, and the early fight against Lewis?
SV: It was a little unexpected, as I had a good start and was then surprised how the rest of the field caught up again. I was not braking too early, but then I realized that Lewis was pushing from the inside. His car was halfway beside me and I was trying to give him as much space as possible. So then his car must have possibly touched the kerbs and it must have touched my car. At the beginning I was afraid of getting a punctured tyre, as I did not know which part of his car had touched mine. But then after a couple of corners I realized that everything was alright, and then I concentrated on pushing forward. So my first stint was very good. After the safety-car phase was over I had a little moment, as I braked too late with the tyres not being on temperature yet and this caused a lock-up resulting in a small flat spot on the tyres. But overall the car was nearly perfect and I had a lot of fun.

Q: Your team mate Mark had a terrible accident. Have you already spoken to him?
SV: I saw the accident on the screens, and during the race I was in contact with the team over the radio. They informed me that everyone involved was okay. During the race I saw the damage on the car, and it did look scary. If you consider the speed, and then the height of his lift-off you suddenly realize how risky the job can be. But then you just concentrate on racing and being competitive, and to get the best out of every lap. You either try to defend your position, or try to overtake the one in front of you, and sometimes you see that it can go wrong and the result is this.

Q: Fernando Alonso has been pointing out his belief that Lewis Hamilton's penalty was not strong enough. What is your opinion on this?
SV: During the race I did not realize what exactly happened. I did not exactly know whether he had overtaken the safety car or not. I just got informed that he had received a drive-through penalty. For us this was quite good, as he was only two seconds behind me and that gave us some room to move. So I was not really sure when all this happened and how late race control has reacted to this. I think that there were a couple of things coming together, and that also race control had to double-check what was going on, as this seems to be a quite complicated situation. I have to watch it again myself to have a proper opinion on this.

Q: So now you are seeing your title chances growing bigger?
SV: We are still not at the very front, and there is still quite a bit ahead of us. It is definitely a step in the right direction, and if we are able to continue like this it will be looking even better. But the lesson that we have learned is that you have to finish the races constantly, even if you are only second, third or fourth.

Q: So for the team it was quite an eventful day with your win, Mark’s accident and Germany defeating England in the World Cup. How is the vibe internally on the football?
SV: On the track we are acting as one team, but when it comes to soccer the opinions definitely go far apart.

Source: formula1.com

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nedjelja, 27.06.2010.

European GP 2010 - Valencia: Race; Vettel takes victory

Danas mi je rođendan, i to jedan od boljih, zahvaljujući najviše Vettelu i još su malo pomogli suci.
Na startu utrke Vettel je uspjeo zadržati prvu poziciju iako ga je Hamilton pokušao pretjeći u drugome zavoju tada su se dotaknuli i Hamilton je oštetio prednje krilo. Start je prošao dosta mirno, samo je Webber dosta loše startao i i zgubio oko 7 pozicija.Dobar start su imali i dva Ferrarija.
Krivac za ovako uzbudljivu utrku je Mark Webber. Nakon što je izgubio nekoliko pozicija, Webber je otišao u boks da odmah promjeni gume u 7. krugu i vratio se iza Heikkija Kovalainena. Webber se mučio kako bi ga pretekao, da bi uzavoju broj 17., Finac u svome Lotusu prerano zakočio što je iznenadilo Webbera koji je poletio preko Lotusovog bolida, prevrnuo se i udario u zaštitnu ogradu. Iako je to izgledalo stravično Marku Webberu nije ništa bilo, iako je njegov Red Bull jako oštećen.
Tada je kontrola utrke aktivirala Sigurnosni automobil (SC) gdje je bilo još drame. Vettel je prošao ispred SC i on je mogao tek u sljedećem krugu ići u boks, dok se Lewis Hamilton u McLarenu našao pored SC-a, mislio se, no ipak se odlučio da će ga prestići. Svi vozači su tada išli u boks po novi set guma uključujući i Jasona Buttona u McLarenu koji je tada niti kriv niti dužan došao na 4. mjesto. Najlošije su prošli Ferrarijevi vozači koji su bili izad SC i Alonso je lako mogao vidjeti da je Hamilton pretekao SC i zsto što su njih dvojica tako dobri prijatelji Alonso je Hamiltona "cinkao" sucima.
Jedini koji nije išao u boks je bio opet izvanredni Kamui Kobayashi koji je veći dio utrke vozio na trećem mjestu.
Vettel je imao dosta mirnu utrku koju je dobro kontrolirao.
Nakon što je kontrola utrke primila poruku od Alonsa, Hamilton je dobio kaznu prolaska kroz bokseve, no njegova prednost ispred Kobayashija je bila velika, pa je i nakon te kazne zadržao 2. mjesto. Iskreno misim da to nije fer, da Hamilton nije pretekao SC bio bii među zadnjima, a ovako je dobio jednu jadnu kaznu koja nije ništa promjenila, a još kada se sjetim koliko Hamilton ima ukora iz prijašnjih utrka, očito pravila nisu ista za sve, kao što Ferrari može testirati usred sezone tako i McLaren, ili točnije Hamilton može kršiti pravila.
Kraj je isto bio dosta uzbudljiv jer je Kobayashi koji je u tome trenutku držao treće mjesto morao obavezno ići ui boks i tada je došao na deveto mjesto iza Buemija i Alonsa te je njih dvojicu sjajno pretekao u zadnjem krugu, donio važne bodove za Sauber na 7. poziciji.
Dobar nastup imao je i Williams, Rubens Barrichello prošlogodišnji pobjednik je završio na 4. poziciji, dok je Hulkenberg zbog problema sa motorom morao odustati dok je imao poziciju koja mu je osiguravala bodove, ta činjenica je razljutila mladog Njemca.
Jako loši vikend imao je Mercedes, pogotovo Schumacher koji je završio na 15. poziciji te je čak 3 puta išao u boks.
Zanimljivo je bilo kada se na stazi dva puta našao predmet koji tamo nije trebao biti, prvo je to bila jedna plastična kesa, a poslije staklena boca. Jedan od onih ljudi što stoje sastrane u narančastome je bio dovoljno hrabar da otrči i pokupi tu bocu.
Na kraju je kontrola utrke još malo zapaprila stvari tako da je devetoricu vozača : Buttona, Barrichella, Hulkenberga, Kubicu, Petrova, Sutila, Luizzija, Buemija i de la Rosu stavila pod istragu zbog spore vožnje
iza SC-a. Nakon utrke je odlučeno da će vozači biti kažnjeni s 5 sekundi. tako su Sauber i Pedro de la Rosa izgubili zadnji bod koji je pokupio Rosberg u Mercedesu, a nesretni Alonso je promoviran na 8.mjesto. Timo Glock u Virginu je dobio kaznu od 20 sekundi jer je ignorirao
Jako zanimljiva utrka, svaka čast Vettelu, zaslužio je, opet se vratio u formu i mislim da je sada vrijeme da se Red Bull vrati tamo gdje i pripada - na vrh.

Classified:
01. S. Vettel 1:40:29:571
02. L. Hamilton +0:05:042
03. J. Button +0:07:658*
04. R. Barrichello +0:20:627*
05. R. Kubica +0:22:122*
06. A. Sutil +0:25:168*
07. K. Kobayashi +0:30:965
08. S. Buemi +0:31:299*
09. F. Alonso +0:32:809
10. P. de la Rosa +0:42:414*
11. V. Petrov +0:43:287*
12. N. Rosberg +0:44:382
13. V. Liuzzi +0:45:890*
14. F. Massa +0:46:621
15. J. Alguersuari +0:48:239
16. M. Schumacher +0:48:826
17. L. di Grassi + 1 lap
18. T. Glock + 2 laps**
19. K. Chandhokv 2 laps
20. B. Senna +2 laps
21. J. Trulli + 2 laps

Not classified:
N. Hulkenberg 49 laps*
H. Kovalainen 8 laps
M. Webber 8 laps

Fastest lap: J. Button: 1:38:766 (54. lap)

* Kažnjen s 5 sekundi zbog prespore vožnje iza sigurnosnog automobila
** Kažnjen s 20 sekundi zbog ignoriranja plavih zastava

SV:“It’s good to be back winning and on a circuit where we didn’t expect to be that strong. But we were quick enough at all times in the race to pull away, find the gap and then guide the car home, but it wasn’t as easy as expected. It’s good to get a lot of championship points and the guys can be extremely proud, so a good weekend for them. Most important of all today is the fact that Mark had quite a big shunt but he’s fine - it shows that the cars get safer and safer but still there is a lot of risk so it’s good that he’s okay.”

Christian Horner: “The most important thing today is that Mark Webber is safe and okay. After a very nasty accident, he’s fine. Sebastian drove a very mature race and controlled his pace perfectly. After some bad luck recently, this result will be a boost for his confidence. Finally, congratulations to all members of the team for the relentless hard work that is getting performance to the car at each race. We now look forward to Silverstone in two weeks time.”

Press Conference:

Pres konferencija najboljima iz Valencije: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) i Jenson Button (McLaren). Kao i uvijek na blogu su objavljeni samo odgovri Vettela, ali ako želite pročitati cijelu možete OVDJE.

Q: Sebastian, fourth time of asking and you finally convert one of those poles into a race win.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, it is about time I would say. It wasn’t the easiest way so far but what happened, happened. We cannot change it but it is good to be back and on a circuit where we didn’t expect to be that strong, to be quick enough all the time in the race to slightly pull away, find the gap, and then carry the car home. It wasn’t as easy as expected. When I saw the safety car board it was just on the main straight and I thought this will be tough as the cars that follow might get a stop for free. But I was lucky the first couple of cars were in the same situation that I was and after the safety car I had a huge lock up into last corner trying to brake as late as I could. The tyres when you go around slowly and after the pit stop you never really have the chance to bring them up to temperature. They were colder than I expected and a big lock up but I could stay in front. After that I had a bit of a flat spot but it was alright. Obviously a lot of laps to do but I tried not to do push too hard. When I got the message that Lewis had to go to the pits to get his drive-through I backed off a bit and finally we are back here. It is good to get a lot of points. It is good for the championship and very pleased with today. I think the guys can be extremely proud. Another tough weekend for them. As I said already yesterday, very little sleep but it pays off, so we keep our head in and focus on the next one. It is our home grand prix. I think it is more or less everybody’s home grand prix but it is good for the team. We had a sensational race weekend last year and we try to repeat that. One more thing. Most important of today is the fact that Mark (Webber) had quite a big shunt but he is fine. It shows that the cars get safer and safer but still there is a lot of risk. I am happy. I asked on the radio, so I am happy to hear he is all good.

Q: Sebastian, we should mention the football as Jenson has brought that up as well. I think whatever happens in Bloemfontein there will be smiles when you go back to Milton Keynes and the factory on Monday morning.
SV: Yeah definitely, whatever we had today in our hands we were successful. We worked as a team. When it comes to racing we have the same opinion most of the time. When it comes to football, especially this afternoon I think we go two ways. Obviously I support Germany. The majority of the team backs up England, so we will see. It will be an exciting match. Of course I wish all the best to the German boys. I think if we manage at least a draw, then in penalties we should be fine.

Q: Sebastian, tell us about the start as it was pretty close with Lewis down into the first corner.
SV: Yes, I thought I had a very good initial launch and then I saw in the mirrors Mark and Lewis fighting. I think Lewis passed him right away and then braking for turn one I had no reason to try something stupid as I had nothing really to defend. I saw that Lewis was quite late on the brakes on the inside, so I tried to give as much room as I could. Once you set your braking point it is difficult to react and say okay I delay it. It was getting quite close. I think there wasn’t much I could have done to go further on the left. I think we touched. I was quite lucky. I felt the hit but a couple of corners later I felt there was nothing wrong with the car. I think he hit the inside kerb a little bit, so there is not much you can do. You get a bit of a jump from the cars. But it was closer than I expected, closer than I wanted. After that I was very happy with the car. I pulled away. Managed a very good gap at that time. I was a bit afraid when I saw the safety car boards when I entered the main straight as obviously 20 seconds earlier or 10 seconds earlier I would have been able to react right. I thought I don’t know where the guys are behind me, so depending on the gaps they might get a stop for free. But it worked out all pretty well. I think we managed the situation well. Restart was tight again. I had a big lock up. I was trying to defend and probably was a little bit too late plus underestimated the tyre temperature at that stage, so I had a bit of a front right flat spot after that. But when I knew that Lewis had to get the drive through I could adjust the pace and just try to bring the car home. I think as we said already before and seeing the pictures of the race, the most important fact is that Mark is fine. For some people they miss a little bit the attraction sometimes of the cars and they say at this time in Formula One compared to 30 years back it is boring, nothing happens and so on but I think on days like this you get reminded that still the speeds are extremely high and if something goes wrong it can go terribly wrong, so I think the most important is that he is fine and not much more to say.

Q: What about the tyres? Everyone said it was all about tyre management here.
SV: I think everyone was positively surprised. The options at the start worked really, really well. I did not try to push too hard. You don’t know the reaction after five or 10 laps. I tried to manage the tyres. I have to say they really worked well and I never got the feeling that they are dropping away, so towards the end I think the circuit got better and better and better, so it was improving, so therefore for the tyres it was an easier life today, this Sunday, than two weeks ago.

Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto, Motor und Sport) I missed the beginning and maybe Sebastian has answered this question but how much was your car affected after the little collision with Lewis in the second corner, and later on when you braked after the restart?
SV: Obviously I felt the hit in turn two. Obviously what I was most afraid of was that his front wing touched my rear tyre. I didn’t know what part of his car touched me and where exactly. I was a bit afraid that maybe I caught a puncture but after the first lap, and after a couple of corners I felt that everything was alright. When I came back now after the race and stopped the car here I saw that the right hand side floor was quite damaged a little bit. It didn’t seem to make that great a difference. We obviously need to see in the numbers if we have lost something. Balance-wise, I was extremely happy. I think the circuit ramped up a lot and it got quicker and quicker. Regarding the flat spot, it was obviously a bit easier when Lewis had to come in and was losing about fifteen seconds at this stage, so I could control my pace and carry the car home. Yeah, basically try to prevent any further front right locking up. With higher speed, I was taking care of the tyres. It’s difficult to say how much it really cost. Obviously at the end, I never really tried to push hard because I didn’t want to try anything stupid but I think looking at the first stint and then after the restart, when we were in the pushing mode, let’s say I was very happy and the pace seemed to be very strong and we were able to pull away a bit more initially at the beginning of the race and afterwards at two or three tenths a lap, something like that.

Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian, it seems that the circuits in the second part of the season will suit your car more. What do you think?
SV: We hope that the next couple of circuits are more in our direction but as Jenson said before, everyone is pushing hard, bringing updates, so we need to see what steps the other teams make. We know what we have in our hands, so I think naturally our car suits those kinds of tracks, but we still need to go out there and get the job done, working well at the weekend, managing the tyres, finding the pace and everything. Even though the car sometimes suits the track, you might not face the easiest type of weekend. There’s still a long, long way, it’s a tough job, you need to be there all the time. I think this is what we have learned so far. It’s quite easy for the next couple of races, knowing that what we have to do is just finish up high all the time.

Q: (Ivan Martin - La Gaceta) Sebastian, how was it to race and manage the F-duct at the same time?
SV: In terms of the F-duct, you can ask these two guys because they have more experience with it. It’s our first race with it. I think you get used to it quite quickly and not operating it seems harder than actually operating it, because it becomes automatic and you just put your hand down there and close the hole, close the hole. I think many drivers will have the same opinion about the system. It was a very smart idea, it’s a big benefit if you manage to set it up right but obviously you don’t have your hands on the steering wheel all the time; I was managing to drink, I used the right hand side to press a button on the left. It also depends on how many adjustments you make per lap, brake balance and so on… you get used to it but it’s not the most comfortable thing.

Q: (Ivan Martin - La Gaceta) For all three of you, you just saw Webber’s crash for the first time, how do you personally feel when you see something like that?
SV: As we said, motor sport is dangerous. It’s what is written on every ticket, even on yours. There’s always a bit of a risk. Obviously when we go out there we go hard, we go racing, so we try our best and try to overtake the car that we are racing in front, try to pass. Sometimes it’s close and if things go wrong, I think it shows how high the speeds are and what can happen, so you should never lose respect. From the public point of view, as I said, many times it’s been criticised that Formula One is boring compared to the past and so on. I think that as a racing driver today, you seem to need the same qualities as thirty or fifty years ago. You need to deliver, you need to be fast, you need to be brave and get everything together.

Q: (Marco Degli’Innocenti - La Gazzetta dello Sport) For you all: following up Livio’s question, do you think that at this stage of the championship the battle for the title is restricted to Red Bull and McLaren?
SV: Well, there’s a long way (to go). I can only repeat what I’ve said so far. Two races can change a lot. Obviously in terms of team ranking McLaren had a very good run in the last two races with two one-two finishes. Looking at how it looks now, if you look at the points only, I think it’s between us and McLaren, but still Ferrari have made a step forward this weekend. They were probably struggling a little bit yesterday, I don’t know what was going on. They seemed a bit stronger in the morning and on Friday. There’s no time to rest, they will come back, there’s no question about that. It will be tight. At the moment it probably looks as if Mercedes are losing out a little bit but even they can play a role, even if they don’t score points but if they have a very strong car at the end, you obviously fight I don’t know who. In the case that we fight against the McLaren drivers, if they are also around, they can obviously play a big part. We will see. It’s not even half time, so there’s a long way to go.

JB: A živio ti meni još sto godina :P

SV: Skupio ja lipo sve pokale hh :)

Najbolji trenuci Europskog GP vikenda u Valenciji:

Sjajan vikend, malo mi je žao Webbera no dobro je da mu se ništa nije dogodilo, da nema ozljeda. Vettel se sada prbližio McLarenu u poretku i u još boljoj poziciji da postane prvak. Za dva tjedna nas čeka prepravljeni Silverstone, još jedna lijepa destinacija Formule 1.

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

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subota, 26.06.2010.

European GP 2010 - Valencia: Saturday; Sebastian Vettel Q&A: It feels good to be back

Q: Tell us about qualifying?
Sebastian Vettel: It was quite okay I would say, even though on the first run in Q3 I was not happy at all, as I had a huge moment in the first sector. So I thought that I might come in and pit early, but then you never know what will happen on the second try. So I stayed out, and I was still in a decent position. On my second attempt I made no mistakes and got it right at the chequered flag. But I had to wait a long time, as there were many cars still out. Sitting in the car and waiting felt endless. It's good to be on pole especially here, as this circuit is not really one of our favourites. But when you’re on the front row, how could you complain?

Q: Were you surprised by the speed that you have here?
SV: We did a good job here, as it was quite tough as we were also introducing a couple of new parts to the car. One of these things is the F-duct. It didn't work quite correctly yesterday, but we made a step forward overnight. Both, Mark and I are using it. It is an advantage, yes, but at the moment not as big as other people find it, but we will get there. We are still miles away from McLaren, as they are able to gain around four tenths when using it. All in all, the team did not get a lot of sleep last night, at the maximum two hours. It is good to be able to say thank you to the team by putting the cars in first and second position for the race.

Q: Renault are now firm Q3 runners. Are you surprised about that?
SV: It always depends on the updates that are made to a car, but mostly how you as a driver like the track and how your car in general likes the track. We saw this trend last year, where some teams on specific tracks perform better than at other tracks. But in the end you never know in Formula One, and it’s always a surprise. Of course you have the top teams and they will be at front, but still there is always the possibility to do great even if you are not one of them. So far this season it has been very entertaining and I hope that we are able to continue that way.

Q: The team said ‘welcome back’ to you over your radio. What exactly did that mean?
SV: We were very happy, as during the last three races we were amongst the top three, but things have not gone as we expected. Sometimes we screwed up, and sometimes we had bad luck. So now we are on pole, it’s very satisfying.

Q: Looking ahead to the race, what will be crucial for you to win?
SV: For sure a very good start with a clean first lap, and then maybe some luck, which we might not have had at the last couple of races. Then we should be able to stay in this position possibly until the end of the race. We have not had any issues throughout the weekend so far, so I am very optimistic for tomorrow. Also the car’s pace with heavy fuel load on Friday and with lighter fuel load on Saturday was extremely good. We have always been able to be at the front.

Q: Will McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton be a threat in the race?
SV: We know that the McLaren has a good top speed, and that they are quicker on the straights, but we are faster through the corners. So what we need is to be able to create a gap, as we are faster if you look over a full lap. So this would be our plan, but in the end things turn out to be different anyway. At least this is what we have learned from the last few races.

Source: formula1.com

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European GP 2010 - Valencia: Qualifying; Seb on pole position

Welcome back! Tako je Red Bull svome vozaču Sebastianu Vettelu preko team radija čestitao na najboljoj startnoj poziciji jer zadnji put na pole positionu Vettel je bio na VN kine. I svaka čast, na ovakvoj stazi prvo startno mjesto je pola posla, još ga sutra treba zadržati 57 krugova.
Već po običaju u Q1 ispadaju HRT, Virgin i Lotus koji ovaj vikend vozi svoji 500 GP. Nesretni vozač koji je s njima ispao u je Kobayashi u BMW-Sauberu. Schumacher se mučio da prođe prvu kvalifikacijsku rundu, no u zadnjem krugu je uspio postaviti prolazno vrijeme. Jedino opravdanje za njega može biti da mu je ovo tek prvi put da vozi u Valenciji.
U Q2 su ispala dvaTorro Rossa, Sauber de la Rose te na veliko iznenađenje dva Mercedesa i dvi Force Indije. Mercedes je donio velike preinake na bolidu, i umjesto korak naprijed napravili su korak nazad i startaju s 15. (Schumacher) i 12. pozicije (Rosberg).
Bilo je lijepo vidjeti Williams u završnoj rundi. Hulkenberg i Barrichello su zauzeli 8. i 9. mjesto. Petrov u Renaultu je na 10. startnoj pozicji, a Robert Kubica koji je dosta obećavao tek 6.
Ferrari se popravio, no imao je problema u Q3 pa je Massa na 5., a Alonso na 4. startnome mjestu.
Hamilton u McLarenu napravio je grešku u zadnjem letećm krugu i nije uspio odvoziti brže vrijeme od Webbera koji je u tome trenutku imao najbolje vrijeme, ali je zato to uspijelo Vettelu koji je najbrži krug odvezao za 3 desetinke bolje od Webbera. Webber je pokušao popraviti svoje vrijeme, u jednome trenutku za Sebom je kasnio samo 0.001 sekunde, no nije uspio i mnogo mlađi Vettel je uzeo pole position. Aktualni svjetski prvak Jason Button je bio tek 7. za vodećim je kasnio 5 desetinki.
Stanje u Red Bullu će postati još napetije, Vettel treba dobar rezultat i ovo je kao upozorenje Webberu da se pazi.
Šef momčadi Red Bulla Horner je uvjeren da će se Vettel i Webber "pristojno" ponašati i da su naučili svoju lekciju iz Turske.

Rezultati kvalifikacija:
01. S. Vettel RBR-Renault 1:38.324 1:38.015 1:37.587
02. M. Webber RBR-Renault 1:38.549 1:38.041 1:37.662
03. L. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:38.697 1:38.158 1:37.969
04. F. Alonso Ferrari 1:38.472 1:38.179 1:38.075
05. F. Massa Ferrari 1:38.657 1:38.046 1:38.127
06. R. Robert Kubica Renault 1:38.132 1:38.062 1:38.137
07. J. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:38.360 1:38.399 1:38.210
08. N. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:38.843 1:38.523 1:38.428
09. R. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:38.449 1:38.326 1:38.428
10. V. Petrov Renault 1:39.004 1:38.552 1:38.523
11. S. Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:39.096 1:38.586
12. N. Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:38.752 1:38.627
13. A. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:39.021 1:38.851
14. V. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:38.969 1:38.884
15. M. Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:38.994 1:39.234
16. P. de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:39.003 1:39.264
17. J. Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:39.128 1:39.458
18. K. Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:39.343
21. J. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:40.658
20. H. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:40.882
21. L. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:42.086
22. T. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:42.140
23. K. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:42.600
24. B. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:42.851

SV: “Valencia isn’t usually - or shouldn’t be - our strongest circuit so it’s good that we are able to put the car on pole and I think our pace is looking very good. It was a tight qualifying session, and a tough one especially as we reintroduced the F-duct and I think some of the mechanics had maybe an hour or two’s sleep last night, so it’s good to say thank you by putting the cars on one and two. We’re now in a very strong position to start tomorrow’s race.”

Press Conference:

Pres konferencija s troje najbržih vozača: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Mark Webber (Red Bull) i Lewis Hamilton (McLaren). Na blogu sam stavila samo Vettelove odgovore, ali ako želite pročitati sve možete OVDJE.

Q: Sebastian, congratulations. Fastest man in final practice, quickest man in Q1, Q2 and when it counts, in Q3. And as the team said on the radio ‘Welcome Back’.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, it is good. The last couple of races we didn’t have a very smooth run. Saturdays usually we were quite okay but then Sundays sometimes was a bit rough but it is good. Those types of circuits, Canada the last time and then here again Valencia in Spain, usually shouldn’t be our strongest but it is good that we are able to put the car on pole and I think our pace is looking good. It was a tight qualifying session in the end. Not much between us all. I had two runs. In the first run I had a huge moment in the first sector and I knew I had to put everything in the second run and it worked and yeah, I am on pole and very happy for today. I think it was a very tough one here especially as we re-introduced the F-duct and a lot of other things to the car and I think some of the mechanics had maybe one hour or two hours this night to sleep, so it is good to say thank you that way and put the cars on one and two.

Q: On the subject of the F-duct, just how much difference did it make? Was that the difference between third or fourth and pole?
SV: I think it isn’t that big probably but we feel the difference. We can see how much you can gain with these guys. I think they are using it pretty much to the optimum but we are just learning every single lap, every run, and yesterday we were not quite happy but I think we did another step overnight, so everyone here at the track and people at the factory were basically all the time in front of the monitors trying to see how we can fine tune it and make it better and I think today it worked better, so also due to that we are in a very good position to start tomorrow’s race.

Q: Sebastian, a lot of people will be watching the start with interest. Not just turn one but the tight right hander at turn two. Your team-mate could be right alongside you. It could be absolutely imperative to get through that unscathed.
SV: Yeah, there is a good escape road at turn two but obviously you are not very keen on using that. Pole is the best place to start from. It is also on the clean side, so I think that was quite important but still I think all of the cars have been recently quite consistent with good starts, so it is probably easier to get it wrong rather than get it right. But so far our starts have been very good. I am looking forward and hopefully defend the first position, the first corner, the first lap, and many more, so we will see.

Q: Sebastian, I get the feeling from all three of you that you were really expecting to be here. It wasn’t really meant to be your circuit. It was damage limitation to some extend for McLaren. Was that the case? Were you expecting others to perhaps be more competitive here?
SV: Well, I think the most important is that we are here. People were talking a lot about the last race that this would probably be a difficult venue for us. I think we proved them wrong in Canada and here. I think our pace looks very good. Canada on Sunday was quite an entertaining race from the inside and outside, so it is good to be here. As I said I think we have proven yesterday and all day today that the car has got the pace. We were really a bit surprised that the McLarens were struggling yesterday but as we have seen things can change last minute and in the end they are not too far away and it will be a tough battle tomorrow. But I think we can win the race and score a lot of points for the team.

Q: Although you have been in the top three for every single race was it a little frustrating that you weren’t on pole position since China?
SV: No, I wouldn’t say frustrating. I would say it is more if you know you have got it in you and you know that you have got it in the car, then if you don’t get it right maybe last minute, maybe for this or that reason, then there is nothing you can do or I can do, but I think that’s life. It goes up and down as this championship. I think from the outside it is very entertaining. We have got a lot of cars on more or less the same points. Obviously it looks a bit more spread with the new points’ system but it is looking very interesting and very tight between the cars and the teams, so there is not a lot of room for errors, so you always need to be there. In the end also a fourth or fifth position can be very valuable on a Sunday. We have to keep pushing as we do and as I said, this is probably not the best circuit for us but nevertheless we are here in the front, so in the end we are, so it could not be much better.

Q: Is there a clean and a dirty side here? What’s the condition of the grid?
SV: Not really. There is a clean and a dirty side. Usually the pole on the right hand side is on the clean side but on the other some cars go wider before turn one and some enter a tighter line. I think it is not really a big difference. Also the way down to turn one is not that long, so we will see. But surely if you have got a McLaren behind you they are very quick on the straight as we know. Ferrari as well, so we need a good start and a good couple of corners where we ideally can pull away.

Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian and Mark, I don’t want to go into politics but you are maybe going to fight for victory into the first corner after the start. What’s your comment on it, considering what happened at the last races?
SV: Well, I think fighting for position is what racing drivers do. If you look at the job description that’s what we are. Obviously we’ve been through this many times but I’m not afraid that something similar will happen. You can never say never, but surely I think we’ve learned our bit and we’re looking forward. Yeah, not a lot of interest in the history.

Q: (Asen Stoyanov - Monitor Daily) Sebastian, can you tell us exactly how much you gain from the F-duct system per lap?
SV: It’s difficult to say. As I said earlier, we were not 100 percent happy yesterday. I think we made a step forward today but I don’t want to go into too much detail. We have it on the car, so we believe it gives us an advantage. Obviously we see from other teams how much it can be worth, probably around 0.4s - 0.5s per lap if you really manage to work well with it and you get the wing settings right and so on. For us, at this stage, I think it is less than this, but it’s an advantage.

Q: (Oleg Karpov - Klaxon) For all of you, are you surprised by Mercedes’s qualifying performance, 12th and 15th?
SV: Bit surprised, as you said, 12th and 15th. In first qualifying, it was Michael, I think, who right at the end managed to get into Q2. They looked very competitive yesterday. I don’t know what went wrong or what happened but they definitely looked stronger yesterday and this morning than they were this afternoon, so it looked a bit odd but obviously it’s the same for all of us, you’ve got a lot of things to do in qualifying and focus on your own, so apart from the result you don’t know much more.

Q: (Ivan Martin - La Gaceta) To Mark and Sebastian, with the introduction of the F-duct, have you found your car less competitive in the corners, have you lost some of the downforce because of the F-duct?
....
SV: As Mark said, it’s not a very easy system. If you get it right, then you can really get an advantage, but it’s not that easy to set it up and it very easily gets distracted. I think we’ve found a very good compromise for here. I think we still have to improve it for the future.

Sebastian Vettel Pole Position lap:

Sjajan startni poredak, ne toliko zanimljiva staza, ali mogla bi biti sjajna utrka.

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

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European GP 2010 - Valencia: Free Practice 3

U posljednjem letećem krugu na samom kraju trećih slobodnih treninga, najbrži krug postavio je Sebastian Vettel u Red Bull Racingu. Robert Kubica završio je na drugom mjestu uz samo jednu desetinku zaostatka, dok je Mark Webber postavio treće vrijeme.
Adrian Sutil završio je na impresivnom četvrtom mjestu ispred Fernanda Alonsa i Rubensa Barrichella, dok su Vitantonio Liuzzi, Felipe Massa i McLarenov dvojac, Jenson Button i Lewis Hamilton, zaključili poredak vodeće desetorice.

Rezultati 3. slobodnog treninga:
01. S. Vettel 1:38:052
02. R. Kubica +0:00:102
03. M. Webber +0:00:261
04. A. Sutil +0:00:448
05. F. Alonso +0:00:466
06. R. Barrichello +0:00:461
07. V. Liuzzi +0:00:571
08. F. Massa +0:00:624
09. J. Button +0:00:634
10. L. Hamilton +0:00:717
11. N. Rosberg +0:00:764
12. S. Buemi +0:00:770
13. N. Hulkenberg +0:00:998
14. V. Petrov +0:01:053
15. M. Schumacher +0:01:061
16. J. Alguersuari +0:01:170
17. K. Kobayashi +0:01:340
18. P. de la Rosa +0:01:475
19. H. Kovalainen +0:01:647
20. J. Trulli +0:03:376
21. T. Glock +0:03:903
22. L. di Grassi +0:04:302
23. B. Senna +0:04:559
24. K. Chandhok +0:04:570

Source: f1-hr.com

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petak, 25.06.2010.

European GP 2010 - Valencia: Free Practice 2

Najbržim vremenom na drugom slobodnom treningu, Ferrarijev vozač Fernando Alonso je podigao nade svojih navijača za Veliku nagradu Europe koja se ovog vikenda vozi u Valenciji.
Španjolac je u posljednjih šezdeset minuta ušao s uvjerljivo najbržim vremenom od 1:39.283., no trening je na kraju završio s prednošću od svega 0.056 sek. ispred Red Bullovog vozača Sebastiana Vettela.
Austrijska momčad je solidno započela europski GP vikend od kojeg nema posebno velika očekivanja. Njihov drugi vozač, Mark Webber je imao treće najbrže vrijeme, sa zaostatkom od 0.144 u odnosu na Alonsa.
Nico Rosberg, koji je imao najbrže vrijeme na prvom slobodnom treningu, je dan završio na četvrtom mjestu, a slijedi ga brži McLarenov vozač Lewis Hamilton.
Robert Kubica je šesti za Renault, dok je Felipe Massa na kraju uzeo sedmo mjesto, premda je na drugom treningu propustio gotovo pola sata.
Brazilac se, naime, okrenuo na 4. zavoju, no čini s da anti-stall sustav na njegovom Ferrariju nije radio kako treba pa mu se bolid ugasio. Stjuardi su F10 potom optremili u Ferrarijevu garažu, ipak dovoljno brzo da se Massa opet vrati na stazu.
Massu slijede Adrian Sutil, sporiji McLarenov vozač Jenson Button i Rubens Barrichello. Michael Schumacher, koji je danas prvi put vozio u Valenciji, je imao 11. najbrže vrijeme.
Update: Red Bull je donio odluku da će u nastavku GP vikenda i dalje koristiti F-duct.

Rezultati 2. slobodnog treninga:
01. F. Alonso 1:39:283
02. S. Vettel +0:00:056
03. M. Webber +0:00:144
04. N. Rosberg +0:00:376
05. L. Hamilton +0:00:466
06. R. Kubica +0:00:597
07. F. Massa +0:00:664
08. A. Sutil +0:00:737
09. J. Button +0:00:746
10. R. Barrichello +0:00:891
11. M. Schumacher +0:01:104
12. V. Liuzzi +0:01:104
13. V. Petrov +0:01:335
14. K. Kobayashi +0:01:623
15. P. de la Rosa +0:01:662
16. S. Buemi +0:01:832
17. N. Hulkenberg +0:02:088
18. J. Alguersuari +0:02:174
19. H. Kovalainen +0:03:184
20. J. Trulli +0:03:710
21. T. Glock +0:04:528
22. L. di Grassi +0:04:571
23. B. Senna +0:04:812
24. K. Chandhok +0:05:283

SV: “Overall a good day, we did a lot of laps, we didn’t have any problem with the car so we could follow our programme like it should be on a Friday. We need to see if we keep the F-duct in the car, we need to confirm that, but all in all I think the pace was promising today considering this shouldn’t be our strongest track. We did a step forward with the whole car - it was a good day for us.”

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

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European GP 2010 - Valencia: Free Practice 1

Nico Rosberg postavio je najbolje vrijeme na prvim slobodnim treninzima za V.N. Europe u Valenciji. Nijemac je završio ispred McLarenovog dvojca, Lewisa Hamiltona i Jensona Buttona.
Robert Kubica plasirao se na četvrto mjesto ispred Felipea Masse, kojeg prate Sebastian Vettel i Mark Webber u Red Bullovima. Sunarodnjak i momčadski kolega vodećeg Nijemca, Michael Schumacher, završio je na osmom mjestu ispred Fernanda Alonsa i Rubensa Barrichella.
Tijekom treninga nije bilo nikakvih incidenata, izuzev kraćeg prekida kojeg je izazvao Bruno Senna, s čijeg je bolida otpao retrovizor, na kojeg je potom naletio Sebastien Buemi. Crvene zastave vijorile su se nekoliko minuta, dok su suci sa staze uklanjali ostatke uništenog retrovizora.

Rezultati 1. slobodnog treninga:
01. N. Rosberg 1:41:175
02. L. Hamilton +0:00:164
03. J. Button +0:00:208
04. R. Kubica +0:00:540
05. F. Massa + 0:01:007
06. S. Vettel +0:01:041
07. M. Webber +0:01:100
08. M. Schumacher +0:01:137
09. F. Alonso +0:01:246
10. R. Barrichello +0:01:288
11. N. Hulkenberg +0:01:532
12. V. Petrov +0:01:787
13. S. Buemi +0:02:135
14. V. Liuzzi +0:02:205
15. P. de la Rosa +0:02:222
16. P. di Resta +0:02:262
17. K. Kobayashi +0:02:554
18. J. Alguersuari +0:03:008
19. H. Kovalainen +0:03:316
20. T. Glock +0:04:478
21. B. Senna +0:05:948
22. J. Trulli +0:06:110
23. K. Chandhok +0:06:168
24. L. di Grassi +:06:181

Source: f1-hr.com

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četvrtak, 24.06.2010.

European GP 2010: Thursday at Valencia

Seb je stigao u Valenciju uoči Europskog GP vikenda, ima zanimljvih slika i izjava o F-ductu:

Sebastian Vettel, vozač Red Bulla se nada da će voziti bolid s F-usisnikom na VN Europe. Red Bull je već isprobao svoj verziju F-ducta, ali nisu dobili željene rezultate te će ga ponovno testirati u petak, a odluku o tome hoće li ga koristiti na kvalifikacijama i na utrci će donijeti u petak navečer. Vettel se nada da će napokon voziti s F-ductom:
"It is not a secret it didn't work as expected in Turkey. So we had to do Turkey and Montreal without it. It should have worked in Turkey but it didn't. It should work here, I am confident it will, and once it works properly it is a big help. The difficulty with this system is to get it to work properly," he said. "It was working in Turkey but not as good as we were hoping for. McLaren did not just come up with the idea and it was working: it took them a lot of time to develop the system and fine tune it. Once you understand it, that is the biggest step. It is difficult to introduce it in season because there is not a lot of testing, but it's something you have to have. It is worth around half a second, and I don't know any other part in the past, apart from the double diffuser, which was worth a similar amount of lap time." zaključio je Sebastian.

Pa ipak je svjetsko prvenstvo ;)

Kao malo dijete...

E baš me zanima o čemu su pričali...hm...

Source: autosport.com / motorsport.com

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Potvrđena nova pravila za 2011.

Na današnjem zasjedanju FIA-inog svjetskog motor sport vijeća, potvrđeno je nekoliko novih pravila za predstojeću sezonu koja se tiču sportskog i tehničkog pravilnika, a također je potvrđen i novi dobavljač guma.
Od 2011., korištenje F-duct usisnika bit će zabranjeno. Umjesto ovog kontroverznog mehanizma za postizanje veće krajnje brzine i lakše pretjecanje, FIA je odlučila uvesti pomična stražnja krila. Vozači će tako od iduće godine moći sami kontrolirati nagib stražnjeg krila, ali uz određena ograničenja.
Tijekom prva dva kruga utrke, pomicanje stražnjeg krila bit će onemogućeno, dok će tijekom ostatka utrke vozač moći mijenjati postavke samo ako je njegov zaostatak za bolidom ispred manji od jedne sekunde. Izračunavanje zaostatka obavljat će elektronika, koja će potom vozaču omogućiti, odnosno onemogućiti mijenjanje nagiba. Nagib stražnjeg krila vratit će se u prvobitni položaj čim vozač upotrijebi kočnicu.
Drugu novost predstavlja ponovno uvođenje pravila od 107%, koje se od 1996. do kraja 2002. koristilo na kvalifikacijama. Prema ovom pravilu, vozači koji su prespori na kvalifikacijama ne ostvaruju pravo nastupa na utrci.
Dakle, od iduće godine, svi vozači čije vrijeme premašuje 107% najboljeg vremena u posljednjoj kvalifikacijskoj rundi, neće imati mogućnost nastupa na utrci.
Na primjer, ukoliko je vozač na pole poziciji postavio vrijeme od 1 minute i 30 sekundi, svaki vozač sa zaostatkom većim od 6.3 sekunde, neće ostvariti pravo nastupa na utrci.
U iznimnim slučajevima, vozaču koji se nije uspio kvalificirati bit će omogućen nastup na utrci ukoliko je na slobodnim treninzima uspio postaviti odgovarajuće vrijeme. U slučaju da nastup na utrci bude odobren dvojici ili više vozača, njihove će startne pozicije odrediti suci.
Treća velika novost je potvrda nasljednika Bridgestonea. Od 2011. do kraja 2013. godine, ulogu ekskluzivnog dobavljača guma preuzet će talijanski Pirelli.

Source: f1-hr.com

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srijeda, 23.06.2010.

Vettel najvjerojatnije neće trebati novi mjenjač

Usprkos problemima koje je imao u završnici Velike nagrade Kanade prije dva tjedna, čini se da Sebastian Vettel ipak neće morati promijeniti mjenjač za VN Europe ovog vikenda.
Vettel je u Montrealu započeo novi mjenjački ciklus, no inženjeri su u drugom dijelu utrke ustanovili probleme koji su ga usporili. Dodajmo tome da je i njegov momčadski kolega Mark Webber uoči utrke u Kanadi zbog kvara dobio potpuno novi mjenjač.
No, prve istrage koje je Red Bull napravio su ohrabrujuće i momčad se nada da Vettel neće morati voziti s novim mjenjačem.
"Provodimo finalne analize, ali čini se da nećemo morati ugrađivati novi mjenjač," izjavio je direktor momčadi Christian Horner.

Source: f1racing.com.hr

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utorak, 22.06.2010.

European GP 2010: Valencia 25.-27. lipnja

Prva utrka: 24. kolovoza 2008.
Dužina kruga: 5 440 metara
Ukupno krugova: 57
Najbrži krug: F. Massa - 1:38:708 (2008, Ferrari)
Postolje 2009.: L. Hamilton - 2. H. Kovalainen - 3. R. Barrichello

Povijest:
Valencija, egzotično turističko odredište na istoku Španjolske, uvrštena je u kalendar utrka Formule 1 sezone 2008. Prva utrka na ulicama ovoga grada zakazana je za 24. kolovoza ove godine.
Unatoč tome što Valencija nije jedina ulična utrka u Formuli 1, prolazak preko Valencijskog kanala, te dijelovi staze gdje će bolidi juriti brzinom od čak 300 km/h ovu će utrku zasigurno učiniti zanimljivom, kako za vozače, tako i za gledatelje.
Nakon 9 godina održavanja na njemačkom Nürburgringu, V.N. Europe se preselila na ulice Valencije. Pobjedu na premijernoj utrci odnio je Ferrarijev vozač Felipe Massa, drugi je bio Lewis Hamilton u McLaren-Mercedesu, dok je treći bio Robert Kubica u BMW Sauberu.
Na drugoj velikoj nagradi Europe u Valenciji, dvostruku je pobjedu slavio McLaren-Mercedes sa svojim vozačima, Lewisom Hamiltonom i Heikkijem Kovalainenom. Na trećem mjestu završio je Rubens Barrichello u Brawn GP-u.

Prijašnji pobjednici:
2009: R. Barrichello (Brawn GP)
2008: F. Massa (Ferrari)

Source: f1-hr.com / youtube.com

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ponedjeljak, 14.06.2010.

Q&A with Sebastian Vettel

Q: Sebastian, when you start from P2 and finish the race in P4 something must have gone wrong. What happened?
Sebastian Vettel: I wish I knew. It’s a question mark for me as well. I think at the beginning we were in a good way. Then we pitted first and went out on the track again in fourth. That was hard to swallow. From then on the race was decided. From that moment on I tried to save my tyres to eventually be able to attack towards the end of the race, as I assumed that with lower fuel the car would be quicker. But within one lap I was running in heavy traffic which made me lose six seconds, so the podium was history from that moment on.

Q: It sounds like a strategy issue. You started on hard tyres, did a short stint, but then on the softs you were unable to close the gap…
SV: Well, the first stint was so short because we were surprised at how close the others were able to stay near us. So the impression was that if we had stayed out longer the gap would have been even smaller. With the early stop we lost the position but probably saved P4 and valuable points. In the end, we will have to sit down and analyze when everybody was pitting and in what position they were afterwards.

Q: You were told via team radio to go a little slower as there was a problem with the car. What kind of problem?
SV: This I cannot answer at the moment. I just received the order to go slower and then tried to ‘carry’ the car over the finish line.

Q: This race saw many pit stops. For the TV audience it’s great, but how was it for you?
SV: I would not mind stopping more often - if I always stayed ahead of the rest!

Q: Your Montreal race weekend in general seemed a bit mixed …
SV: Well yes, something of that sort. It’s somewhat difficult to accept if you pit in the lead and go back on the track again in P4. This is something that will keep me occupied for a while. I have to find out what happened with the two McLarens and Fernando (Alonso) after they went back on the track again. Obviously they’ve been able to avoid traffic. At that moment I didn’t know what the challenge was as I was not sure whether they would pit again. But after three laps it was clear and from then on I had two options - either pass them all or just accept it as an unlucky day.

Q: Was it a race that was lost because of strategy?
SV: We will have to analyze that. I still believe that our strategy was good. But obviously the others found a slightly better one.

Q: You obviously had a minor issue with Force India’s Adrian Sutil. Can you say what it was?
SV: I asked him if he had lost his back mirrors. If they show you the blue flag for two laps, it should be obvious enough. Of course he was in a fight with Nico Hulkenberg but I was at that time still in the position to fight for the podium.

Q: Next stop on the calendar is Valencia. Do you think that you will be stronger there?
SV: I don’t think that we haven’t been strong here. I think that we’ve been faster here than we all thought. It simply was not our Sunday afternoon!

Source: formula1.com

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nedjelja, 13.06.2010.

Canadian GP 2010: Race; Hamilton win, Seb 4th

Jako uzbudljiva utrka, uz loš prijenos i još gori poredak na kraju...
Sebastian Vettel je imao jako dobar start gdje se odmah probio na 2. mjesto iza Hamiltona u McLarenu. Dobar start je još imao Robert Kubica u Renaultu, dok se njegov momčadski kolega Petrov izvrtio i završio na dnu poretka. Massa isto nije imao puno sreće jer se sudario s Liuzzijem u Force Indiji pri čemu se Liuzzi izvrtio, ali vratio se u utrku. Mark Webber je startao 7. prilikom starta je završio na 5. mjestu iza Jasona Buttona, ali ga je uspio prijeći u 6. krugu.
Kobayashi u BMW-Sauberu je uspio odvoziti samo jedan krug utrke jer se sudario s Williamsom te izletio.
Tijekom ovog dijela sezone nije bilo strategije sa gumama, svi su skoro bili na istoj strategiji u svakoj utrci, ali pošto se gume u Kanadi mnogo više troše, bilo je više ulazaka u boks i to je na kraju i odlučilo kakav će biti konačni poredak.
Tako su dva McLarena i Ferrari Alonsa odmah u 8. krugu ušli u boks te je tako Vettel postao vodeći u utrci. Alonso i Hamilton su u isto vrijeme izašli iz boks pa je bio mali dvoboj koji je ovaj put dobio Ferrari. Isto tako kad je Schumacher u svome Mercedesu izlazio iz boksa naletio je na Kubicu, niti jedan nije želio dati drugome poziciju pa je u jednome zavoju Schumacher bio prisiljen izići na travu i na kraju prestigao Kubicu.
Nakon što su svi obavili prvi ulazak u boks poredak je bio Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Vettel, Webber, Kubica.
Alonso je zapravo držao prvu poziciju, no brži McLaren Hamiltona ga je uspio prestići. Zanimljivo je da je Švicarac Buemi u Torro Rossu u jednome dijelu utrke bio vodeći, a Lotus Kovalainena je čak nekoliko krugova proveo na poziciji koja mu je osiguravala bodove.
Vettel je nakon odlaska u boks bio na mekim gumama na kojima ne bi mogao završiti cijelu utrku te je bio prisiljen još jednom ući u boks, nakon drugog odlaska u boks bio je na tvrđim gumama i na 5. poziciji. ispred njega se nalazio Button. Smiješno je bilo kada je Vettel preko tim radija pitao "Jel' stvarno trebam prijeći ovog ispred sebe (Button) ili je ovo dio strategije", a njegov inženjer mu odgovori da ga treba prijeći i to što prije!
U srednjem dijelu utrke vodeći je bio Webber, a iza njega su bili Hamilton i Alonso, Hamilton je uspio prijeći Webbera, koji je krug poslije otišao u boksi vratio se na peto mjesto iza Vettela. U 50. krugu vodeći je bio Hamilton, a iza njega su bili Alonso i Button, no u 60. krugu Button je uspio prijeći Alonsa, te je samo 10. krugova dijelilo McLaren od druge uzastopne dvostruke pobjede.
Dok je jedan Ferrari bio među to 3, drugi Ferrari Felipea Masse je 5 krugova prije kraja morao još jednom u boks po novo prednje krilo zbog dvoboja s Schumaherom gdje je očito bilo sporne situacije jer će suci to istražiti poslije utrke.
Zadnji krugovi su bili mirni, nije bilo pretjecanja i izletanja, na kraju dvostruka pobjeda za McLaren zbog bolje strategije.jer su startalni na mekšim gumama, pa nakon prvog ulaska u boks opet mekše gume i na kraju tvrde gume.
U bodovima su završili još Rosberg, Kubica, Buemi, Liuzzi i Sutil.
Utrku nisu završili Senna (kvar na mjenjaču), de la Rosa ( problemi s motorom), Trulli ( kvar kočnica) i Glock.
Vettel mi je malo popravio raspoloženje sa svojim izjavama preko tim radija. Vettel je u jednome trenutku radio dobra vremena i mogao je pratiti Buttona ispred sebe, ali onda je počeo imati sve veće zaostatke i pitao preko radija "Mislim stvarno kako vi mislite da ga prijeđem kada bolid ne radi dobro?!" što je zvučilo dosta smiješno. Poslije se ispostavilo da bolid nije potpuno ispravan, a Vettel pita Koliko iznosi najbrži krug?, inženjer u panici mu odgovara da mu nije niti palo na pamet postaviti najbrže vrijeme da nešto nije u redu s bolidom. Hahaha.. U svakom slučaju jako smiješno.
Baš kao Hamilton jučer tako niti Vettel danas nije imao dovoljno goriva da se vrati u boks:

Classified:
01. L. Hamilton 1:33:53:456
02. J. Button +0:02:254
03. F. Alonso +0:09:214
04. S. Vettel +0:37:817
05. M. Webber +0:39:291
06. N. Rosberg +0:56:084
07. R. Kubica +0:57:300
08. S. Buemi + 1 krug
09. V. Liuzzi + 1 krug
10. A. Sutil + 1 krug
11. M. Schumacher +1 lap
12. J. Alguersuari +1 lap
13. N. Hulkenberg +1 lap
14. R. Barrichello +1 lap
15. F. Massa +1 lap*
16. H. Kovalainen +2 laps
17. V. Petrov +2 laps
18. K. Chandhok +4 laps
19. L. di Grassi +5 laps

Not classified:
T. Glock 50 laps
J. Trulli 42 laps
P. de la Rosa 30 laps
B. Senna 13 laps
K. Kobayashi 1 lap

Fastest lap: R. Kubica: 1:16:972 (67. lap)

*Kažnjen s 20 sekundi zbog prebrze vožnje u boks

SV: “I was surprised that I came in for my first pit-stop as the leader, but came out in fourth. I think everything we predicted to happen from our side was the case. The others came in early for new tyres, as we expected. Usually though, their race would then be over because they should come out in traffic, but that wasn’t what happened. When we came out from our pit stop, they were ahead of us, so we need to understand what happened there. Otherwise, I had a gearbox problem from around halfway through the race, which meant I had to slow down. Also, due to lapped cars, I lost six seconds to Jenson in two laps, so I was unable to fight for the podium. But, it’s good that we got these final positions. Coming into the weekend we were not the favourites, but actually we had very good pace and we surprised some people with that. We couldn’t really show our real pace during the race, due to the way it unfolded, but it’s promising. It’s a close battle at the top of the table and, as we have seen, things can change very quickly. There is no reason to panic from our side, we have a very good car and we’re looking ahead to Valencia.”

Christian Horner: “It was an interesting race this afternoon. We tried
something different strategically with the hard tyre, but despite managing to get our cars into a one-two position, we didn’t have the pace to pull away on the hard tyre. We adopted different strategies for the two cars in the middle part of the race, putting Sebastian onto the soft tyre while putting Mark onto the hard. Unfortunately, halfway through the race, Sebastian had a gear box related issue, which we had to manage to ensure the car got to the finish. Mark finished just behind him after starting seventh on the grid. We shouldn’t be disappointed with fourth and fifth, they are still valuable points in both Championships and they have been gained at a circuit that we always knew we would be exposed at.”

Najbolji trenuci GP vikenda u Kanadi:

Zanimljiv vikend, bilo bi bolje da je Vettel osvojio više bodova, ali 4. mjesto nije loše. Sada slijedi "dosadna" Valencija, možda nas iznenadi i bude malo bolja nego do sada.

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

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subota, 12.06.2010.

Canadian GP 2010: Qualifying; Hamilton pole position, Vettel 3rd

Pobijedivši Marka Webbera u završnici kvalifikacija za Veliku nagradu Kanade, McLarenov vozač Lewis Hamilton je prekinuo Red Bullov niz pole positiona koji traje još od bahreinskog GP vikenda.
Hamilton se na početku posljednjeg kvalifikacijskog segmenta s vremenom od 1:15.500 činio nedodirljivim, no Webber i Alonso su ga uspjeli preskočiti u svojim drugim letećim krugovima. Baš kao i Hamilton, Alonso je finalni kvalifikacijski segment također vozio na mekšim gumama, dok je se Webber odlučio za tvrđe gume koje bi trebale biti izdržljivije na utrci.
No, Hamilton im je uskoro uzvratio udarac i posljednji leteći krug je odvozio za više od dvije desetinke brže. Nakon toga je se parkirao na stazi jer je ostao bez goriva.
Webber je zadržao drugo mjesto, no njegov momčadski kolega Sebastian Vettel je uspio preskočiti Alonsa i pomaknuti ga na četvrtu startnu poziciju.
Sporiji McLarenov vozač, Jenson Button će u sutrašnju utrku krenuti s petog mjesta, dok je iznenađujuće šesto najbrže vrijeme odvozio Force Indijin vozač Vitantonio Liuzzi.
Felipe Massa i Robert Kubica dijele četvrti red, a slijede ih Adrian Sutil i Nico Rosberg.
Iznenađenje kvalifikacija je bio Michael Schumacher, koji se prvi put ove sezone nije uspio kvalificirati u Q3. Schumacher je eliminiran u posljednjim sekundama drugog kvalifikacijskog segmenta, nakon čega je napravio i pogrešku u posljednjoj šikani u pokušaju da unaprijedi svoje vrijeme.
Nakon što su Williamsovi vozači popravili svoja vremena i zauzeli šesti startni red, Schumacher je deplasiran na 13. mjesto te će u utrku krenuti uz Vitalija Petrova, a ispred Toro Rossovih vozača.

Rezultati kvalifikacija:
01. L. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.889 1:15.528 1:15.105
02. M. Webber RBR-Renault 1:16.423 1:15.692 1:15.373*
03. S. Vettel RBR-Renault 1:16.129 1:15.556 1:15.420
04. F. Alonso Ferrari 1:16.171 1:15.597 1:15.435
05. J. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.371 1:15.742 1:15.520
06. V. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:17.086 1:16.171 1:15.648
07. F. Massa Ferrari 1:16.673 1:16.314 1:15.688
08. R. Kubica Renault 1:16.370 1:15.682 1:15.715
09. A. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:16.495 1:16.295 1:15.881
10. N. Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:16.350 1:16.001 1:16.071
11. R. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:16.880 1:16.434
12. N. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:16.770 1:16.438
13. M. Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:16.598 1:16.492
14. V. Petrov Renault 1:16.569 1:16.844
15. S. Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:17.356 1:16.928
16. J. Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:17.027 1:17.029
17. P. de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:17.611 1:17.384
18. K. Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:18.019
19. H. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:18.237
20. J. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:18.698
21. T. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:18.941
22. B. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:19.484
23. L. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:19.675
24. K. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:27.757

*Kažnjen s 5. mjesta nižeg starta zbog promjenje mijenjača

SV: “It was a pretty entertaining session, especially Q3. We went out on the hard tyres, which take a while to come in. We knew that and to be honest I didn’t get a good lap in until the very last lap, so it wasn’t perfect timing, but it worked. My final lap wasn’t that clean, so I’m happy I made it to third today; it’s good. Looking to tomorrow, I think I should have a good start as I’m on the inside. I’m happy that both Mark and I made it to these positions with what is, from my point of view, the right tyre. Yesterday’s practice showed that the soft tyre is quite difficult to last for more than a couple of laps.”

Press Conference:

Pres Conferencija s troje najbržih vozača: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Mark Webber (Red Bull) i Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull). Ovdje su samo Vettelovi odgovori, ali ako želite pročitati cijelu možete OVDJE.

Q: Sebastian, another cracking battle with Mark. This time the margin five-one-hundredths-of-a-second but once again in his favour.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, I mean it was a pretty entertaining last session. Q3 especially. Obviously we went out on the hard tyres and they take a while to come in. We knew that. To be honest I didn’t get a lap in until the very last lap, so it was not the perfect timing, but it worked. The lap was not very clean, so I am still happy that I even made it third, so it is good. Tomorrow I think I should have a good start. I am starting on the... well, both sides are really even, but I am starting on the inside, so let’s see what we can do and I am very happy that both of us made it with, from my point of view, the right tyre. After yesterday’s practice we have seen the soft tyre is quite difficult to last for more than a couple of laps.

Q: Sebastian, we saw you lose one of your laps with a little trip across the kerb at the final chicane. Might it have all been different if you hadn’t gone off?
SV: It was a similar lap to the last one but surely it was the first time I had to cut the chicane this weekend and obviously it was bad timing. I don’t know, I probably had too much time in the third qualifying session with five laps. You don’t have the feeling that ‘this is the lap’ and you have to deliver, so you drive around and you warm up your tyres. So in the end, I had only one lap. I think I could have been quite a bit quicker but that’s life sometimes. It wasn’t my best qualifying session but still it’s obviously very crucial here to qualifying at the front. Looking at the strategy, I think that McLaren are hoping for a safety car. We don’t know, there’s no guarantee but we will see tomorrow. It’s a long race, I think we are in a good position. I’m starting on the inside, so yeah, I’m looking forward to the race.

Q: Did you make many changes since yesterday?
SV: A bit, not too many to be honest. I think we had quite a good balance. I was very happy after yesterday. Generally, I think we are looking very competitive, probably more competitive than people would have thought. We’re much closer to McLaren and I think in race speed we should be able to really fight them, so let’s see tomorrow.

Hamilton ostao bez goriva (most see):

Sutra će važnu ulogu imati gume. Hamilton je na mekanim, koje mogu trajati nekoliko krugova, dok su Red Bullovi vozači na tvrđim te bi im to trebala biti prednost. Ne očekujem sutra neku dobru utrku za Vettela, ali mu naravno želim pobjedu koju nije osvojio još od Malezije.

Source: formula1.com / f1racing.com.hr / youtube.com

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Canadian GP 2010: Free Practice 3

Lewis Hamilton je na posljednjem slobodnom treningu u Montralu odvozio najbrže vrijeme, a sve četiri top momčadi imaju svog vozača na prve četiri pozicije. Spomenimo i da je prvih šest pozicija u poretku zauzelo šest različitih momčadi.
McLareni su bili najbrži većinu treninga, no brži je, očekivano, bio Hamilton koji je konstantno popravljao svoja vremena, sve dok letvicu na tvrđim gumama nije spustio na 1:16.259.
To vrijeme nitko nije uspio srušiti čak ni na mekšim gumama, osim Hamiltona koji ga je kasnije unaprijedio za dvije desetinke, nakon što se prebacio na mekše gume i lagano dodirnuo zid u letećem krugu.
Nakon toga je se na stazi pojavila žuta zastava koju je okretanjem izazvao Virginov vozač Lucas di Grassi, što je spriječilo druge vozače da odrade leteći krug u posljednjoj minuti.
Mark Webber je bio drugi najbrži u Red Bullu, s 0.282 sek. zaostatka za Hamiltonom i s minimalnom prednošću u odnosu na Alonsa. Michael Schumacher je bio četvrti, Vettel peti, čime je Red Bull postao jedina momčad koja je imala obojicu vozača među prvom petoricom.
Njih slijede Robert Kubica i Adrian Sutil, dok je sporiji McLarenov vozač Jenson Button imao tek osmo najbrže vrijeme.
Krug prve desetorice zatvaraju Vitantonio Liuzzi i Vitalij Petrov.
Felipe Massa je bio 12. najbrži, no Brazilac je prilično zabrinut stanjem svog bolida jer je u završnici treninga dodirnuo zid.
Zbog problema s kvačilom, Mercedesov vozač Nico Rosberg je propustio većinu treninga; vozio je tek kratko u završnici, a imao je 18. najbrže vrijeme.

Rezultati 3. slobodnog treninga:
01. L. Hamilton +1:16:058
02. M. Webber +0:00:282
03. F. Alonso +0:00:437
04. M. Schumacher +0:00:478
05. S. Vettel +0:00:524
06. R. Kubica +0:00:595
07. A. Sutil +0:00:615
08. J. Button +0:00:641
09. V. Liuzzi +0:00:756
10. V. Petrov +0:00:924
11. N. Hulkenberg +0:01:063
12. F. Massa +0:01:173
13. J. Alguersuari +:01:273
14. K. Kobayashi +0:01:490
15. P. de la Rosa +0:01:551
16. S. Buemi +0:01:575
17. R. Barrichello +0:01:731
18. N. Rosberg +0:01:921
19. J. Trulli +0:02:955
20. H. Kovalainen +0:03:389
21. T. Glock +0:03:478
22. L. di Grassi +0:03:786
23. B. Senna +0:04:267
24. K. Chandhok - no time

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

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petak, 11.06.2010.

Canadian GP 2010: Free Practice 2

Red Bull Racingov vozač Sebastian Vettel je postavio najbrže vrijeme na drugom slobodnom treningu u Montrealu, a slijede ga Fernando Alonso u Ferrariju i Nico Rosberg u Mercedesu.
Drugi slobodni trening, baš kao ni prvi, nije bio pretjerano uzbudljiv i bez dramatičnih događaja. Jedino je bio zanimljiv razvoj situacije oko guma budući da je veliki broj vozača preko radija svojim momčadima prijavljivao ekstremnu granulaciju.
Vremena po krugovima na mekšim gumama su bila od šest do osam desetinki sporija budući da ta specifikacija guma propada već nakon samo nekoliko odvoženih krugova.
Vettel je najbrže vrijeme od 1:16.877 odvozio tik prije isteka jednog sata, deplasiravši tako Rosberga, koji je ranije držao prvo mjesto, na drugu poziciju. Uskoro je i Alonso odvozio svoj najbrži krug, čime je Rosberg pao za još jedno mjesto u poretku.
Mark Webber je bio četvrti najbrži u drugom Red Bullu, a slijede ga Felipe Massa i Adrian Sutil u Force Indiji, koji je dao naslutiti da bi VJM03 ovog vikenda trebao biti u dobroj formi.
McLarenovi vozači, koji su na prvom treningu imali najbrža vremena, su u poslijepodnevnoj sesiji imali tek sedmo (Hamilton) odnosno jedanaesto vrijeme (Button). Između njih su se ugurali Kubica, Schumacher i Vitantonio Liuzzi.
Većina vozača je tijekom 90 minuta treninga odvozila između 30 i 40 krugova, što ne vrijedi za Jarna Trullija kojega je spriječila elektronika. Na kraju je uspio odvoziti 11 krugova.
Na FIA Pres Konferenciji u petak šef Re Bulla Christian Horner je rekao da događaji iz Turske neće utjecati na način kako se odnose prema njihovim vozačima te da i dalje imaju pravp pretjecati jedan drugoga, pres konferenciju možete pročitati OVDJE.

Rezultati 2. slobodnog treninga:
01. S. Vettel 1:16:877
02. F. Alonso +0:00:086
03. N. Rosberg +0:00:274
04. M. Webber +0:00:396
05. F. Massa +0:00:524
06. A. Sutil +0:00:538
07. L. Hamilton +0:00:645
08. R. Kubica +0:00:652
09. M. Schumacher +0:00:811
10. V. Liuzzi +0:01:026
11. J. Button +0:01:084
12. R. Barrichello +0:01:508
13. N. Hulkenberg +0:01:570
14. V. Petrov +0:01:705
15. P. de la Rosa +0:02:781
16. K. Kobayashi +0:02:265
17. S. Buemi +0:02:291
18. J. Alguersuari +0:02:397
19. H. Kovalainen +0:03:092
20. K. Chandhok +0:04:002
21. B. Senna +0:04:220
22. J. Trulli +0:04:469
23. T. Glock +0:04:611
24. L. di Grassi +0:04:700

SV: “It’s looking okay for us, we’re quite competitive. The secret here is the tyres; everyone was sliding around a bit at the end - it was a bit more like rally cross than Formula One! The track started very green this morning, but that’s normal and it will improve as the weekend goes on. The secret with these circuits is not to panic, as they tend to come towards you. We only made some small adjustments between the two sessions.”

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

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Canadian GP 2010: Free Practice 1

Jenson Button završio je ispred Michaela Schumachera i momčadskog kolege, Lewisa Hamiltona, na prvim slobodnim treninzima u Montrealu, na stazi Gilles Villeneuve.
Nico Rosberg bio je četvrti najbrži ispred Sebastiana Vettela, kojega prate Robert Kubica, Fernando Alonso i Vitantonio Liuzzi. Nico Hulkenberg postavio je deveto najbrže vrijeme, tri stotinke bolje u odnosu na iskusnijeg momčadskog kolegu, Rubensa Barrichella.
Izuzev uobičajenih proklizavanja i manjih pogreški, tijekom 90-minutnih treninga nije bilo značajnijih incidenata.

Rezultati 1. slobodnog treninga:
01. J. Button 1:18:127
02. M. Schumacher +0:00:158
03. L. Hamilton +0:00:225
04. N. Rosberg +0:00:229
05. S. Vettel +0:00:422
06. R. Kubica +0:00:535
07. F. Alonso +0:00:599
08. V. Liuzzi +0:00:970
09. N. Hulkenberg +0:01:155
10. R. Barrichello +0:01:186
11. A. Sutil +0:01:246
12. F. Massa +0:01:384
13. V. Petrov +0:01:422
14. M. Webber +0:01:482
15. K. Kobayashi +0:02:059
16. S. Buemi +0:02:193
17. P. de la Rosa +0:02:457
18. J. Alguersuari +0:02:696
19. H. Kovalainen +0:03:742
20. K. Chandhok +:03:850
21. J. Trulli +0:04:416
22. B. Senna +0:04:576
23. T. Glock +0:04:586
24. L. di Grassi - no time

Source: formula1.com / f1-hr.com

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četvrtak, 10.06.2010.

Canadian GP 2010: Thursday at Montreal; Q&A with Vettel

Intervju s Sebastianom iz Montreala. Seb je odgovorio na pitanja o Svjetskom nogometnom prvenstvu, o prednosti McLarena u Kanadi te o izgleda još ne riješenoj situaciji u Red Bullu između njega i Webbera:

Q: Sebastian, as a passionate soccer fan what is your prediction for the match between Germany and Australia this coming Sunday? Especially as the pairing is a bit juicy from a Red Bull Racing point of view…
Sebastian Vettel: Germany will clearly win the match as Australia is the weakest team in our group, so winning should be imperative, even though Mark (Webber) has a different opinion on that. But as we know, the both of us have lately had some different opinions on things anyway.

Q: Did Mark and you have had the chance to clear up certain different opinions in the meantime?
SV: Yes, we did. Everything is cleared now and for this race we will start from zero. I personally think that McLaren will be very strong here in Montreal.

Q: After the Istanbul accident the coverage regarding you personally was rather bad. Is this getting to you?
SV: Not really. For me it is more important what is being discussed internally, and there everything is cleared up. So there are no open questions left. What is being written in the press is something that I cannot influence anyway, and most of the time it’s just a snapshot of what really has happened. Sometimes comments are against oneself and sometimes in favour. That is life I guess. Whatever has happened in Istanbul has happened and it’s passed now. We will not get these points back. On that we have been very generous and have given out quite some presents, and now we have 12 races ahead and we have to use them.

Q: How would you describe this peace summit?
SV: Well, it was not really spectacular. We were sitting around the table and after five minutes the topic was basically through. The essence of it was that we have to look forward and to be motivated for the next race, to be at the front again.
Whatever has been discussed to prevent such things, it is then down to this very moment on the track. Of course it should never happen again, and I strongly believe that it won’t.

Q: How long did it take you to handle this situation?
SV: It was quite quick for me. I think everybody could see my reaction after getting out of the car. And when I looked at the car from the outside I was quite sure that I would not make any points, nor be on the podium.

Q: Do you have any comments on the extension of Mark’s contract until the end of 2011? And what about the rumours that you will extend your contract until 2015?
SV: I’ve known this piece of information a little longer than the public. I will be there until the end of 2011 myself, so the line-up will remain the same for the team and that brings us a certain stability. In regards to the rumours, I can say that we have not spoken as of yet about this topic, as 2015 is quite some time into the future.

Q: How surprised are you by Mark’s form this year, compared to last year when you have easily outperformed him? This year it’s the other way round…
SV: If you look at the past races, then you will most probably see that I have not had the best fortune. But still with the amount of trouble that I had, we are still in very good shape. Of course we are not where we’d like to be in the championship, but still the gap to the leaders is not too big. Mark did a good job last year, and he is doing one this year. It’s just me that should be closer.

Q: For the first time this year we come to a race where opinion suggests Red Bull are not favourites. What is your feeling on how it will work for you here in Montreal?
SV: Maybe it looks like that, but I believe that we are very strong also here. If we have learned something out of the last seven races, it is that regardless of which type of track it was, our car was very strong on all of them. The next two tracks, Montreal and Valencia, have a lot of corners, but also a couple of big straights, so they are both medium downforce level tracks. As to whether we are able to be in front, we will see, but for me I think that we can be.

Slike Sebastiana iz Montreala:

Source: formula1.com / motorsport.com

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srijeda, 09.06.2010.

No silly season

Ove sezone smo oslobođeni silly seasona tj. razdoblja kada se nagađa tko će voziti za koju momčad! Sve vodeće momčadi imaju sigurno vozačku postavu za sljedeću sezonu:
Nakon mnogo nagađanja Mark Webber je ipak produžio ugovor s Red Bullom na još jednu sezonu, do kraja 2011. Red Bull želi Sebastiana Vettela zadržati sve do 2015. tj. produžiti njegov ugovor za još 3 sezone, pregovori su u tijeku.
Ferrari je ipak odlučio zadržati Felipea Massu (iskreno ne znam zašto) i produžili su mu ugovor za još 2 sezone, do kraja 2012.
McLaren i Mercedes imaju sigurnu vozačku postavu, tako da Robert Kubica nema gdje nego da ostane u Renaultu.
Možda se dogode neke promjene u "manjim" momčadima.

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utorak, 08.06.2010.

Canadian GP 2010: Gilles Villeneuve 11.-13. lipnja

Prva utrka: 8. listopada 1978.
Dužina kruga: 4 361 metara
Ukupno krugova: 70 (305.270 km)
Najbrži krug: R. Barrichello - 1:13:622 (2004, Ferrari)
Postolje 2008.: 1. R. Kubica - 2. N. Heidfeld - 3. D. Coulthard

Povijest:
Velika nagrada Kanade je premještena u Montreal 1978. godine pošto je staza Mosport Park smatrana starom i previše opasnom. Stara staza izgrađena je 1967. godine oko mjesta gdje se održavala izložba Expo '67 i predstavljala je kombinaciju staze izgrađene za utrke i jednog dijela koji se je vozio po ulicama. Downtown Montreal, nova staza, izgrađena je nedaleko od te stare staze.
Dovoljan je samo jedan pogled na samu stazu da bi se o njoj stekao dojam. Ovo je iznimno teška staza i zahtjeva potpunu pripremljenost kako bolida tako i vozača. Prva šikana zna iznenaditi i najbolje vozače svojom težinom, a tu je i zavojiti dio koji vodi do vrlo oštrog Senninog zavoja iza kojeg dolazi lijevo-desni "S" zavoj.
Prva utrka na ovoj stazi donijela je lokalnom junaku Gillesu Villeneuveu prvu pobjedu. 1982. godine staza je preimenovana po njemu da bi se očuvalo sjećanje na njega. Iste godine dogodio se jedan tragični događaj u kojemu je smrtno nastradao jedan vozač. Bilo je to u prvom krugu kada je Riccardo Paletti naletio na zaustavljen i ugašen Ferrarijev bolid koji je vozio Didier Pironi. Sudar je bio stravičan te je u njemu život izgubio Paletti.
Međutim najčudniji završetak utrke koji se još pamti u Montrealu je bio kada je Nigel Mansell počeo prerano slaviti svoju pobjedu te mu se ugasio i stao Williamsov bolid. Iznenađeni Nelson Piquet koji je do tog trenutka bio drugi sa lakoćom je ostvario pobjedu i to svoju posljednju vozeći Benettonov bolid.
Michael Schumacher je vozio do pobjede u sezoni 1997. na toj stazi nakon skraćenja utrke zbog toga jer je Olivier Panis u izlijetanju u potpunosti uništio svoj bolid te je u nesreći slomio nogu. Godinu dana poslije 1998. održana je utrka koju su mnogi poslije nazvali derbi uništenja, a koji je počeo odmah u prvom krugu. Crvena zastava je odmah istaknuta nakon što je Jordanov bolid koji je vozio Ralf Schumacher stao odmah u startu te je tako izazvao pomutnju među vozačima.
Kada su vozači došli do prve šikane Benettonov bolid Alexandra Wurza je prešao preko travnate površine, udario u bolid Jeana Alesia preletio ga te se dva puta okrenuo. Ta je nezgoda izbacila u startu četiri bolida, Trullijev, Alesijev, Herbertov i naravno Wurzov.
1999. godine tri su svjetska prvaka izgubila kontrolu nad svojim bolidima u zadnjem zavoju. Damon Hill u svojoj zadnjoj utrci u Kanadi prije napuštanja Formule 1, Jacques Villeneuve vozeći BAR-ov bolid i Ferrarijev vozač Michael Schumacher.
Mika Hakkinen je pobijedio u toj utrci.
Međutim u sezoni 2000. Michael Schumacher vrlo sigurno odvodi oba Ferrarija do dvostruke pobijede. Giancarlo Fisichella se morao zadovoljiti sa najnižom stepenicom na pobjedničkom postolju.
2001. je u drugoj polovici utrke započela padati kiša. I dok su svi vozači bili prisiljeni otići dva puta u boks, Giancarlo Fisichella je sa prvim ali ujedno i zadnjim ulaskom stavio kišne gume. Upravo ova briljantna strategija mu je osigurala mjesto na podiju. No unatoč tome, pobjednik utrke je bio Ralf Schumacher dok je pobjeda u iduće dvije godine pripadala njegovom bratu, Michaelu.
2004. pobjednik je ponovo bio Michael Schumacher koji je postavio novi rekord postavši jedini vozač u povijesti Formule 1 koji je pobijedio na jednoj Velikoj Nagradi čak sedam puta. Drugi je završio njegov mlađi brat, Ralf Schumacher, dok je najniža stepenica postolja pripala Rubensu Barrichellu. Nakon utrke vozači Williamsa i Toyote bili su diskvalificirani zbog prevelikih hladnjaka za kočnice.
Zbog ove tehničke pogreške, Ferrarijevi vozači proslavili su petu dvostruku pobjedu sezone, a Jenson Button je zabilježio još jedno treće mjesto u nizu.
Iduće godine pobjedu je slavio Kimi Raikkonen ispred Ferrarijevih vozača, Michaela Schumachera i Rubensa Barrichella koji je stigao do trećeg mjesta nakon što je utrku startao iz boksa zbog problema s mjenjačem.
Pobjednik utrke mogao je biti Juan-Pablo Montoya u McLarenu, no bilo kakve šanse za slavlje propale su nakon što je dobio crnu zastavu zbog izlaska iz boksa u trenutku kada je na semaforu bilo upaljeno crveno svijetlo. U trenutku kada je primio kaznu, Kolumbijac se nalazio na drugoj poziciji.
Nakon što je 2005. odustao zbog vlastite pogreške, Fernando Alonso se 2006. vratio po pobjedu u Kanadu. Uz Španjolca, na podij su se plasirali Michael Schumacher i Kimi Raikkonen. Finac je imao gotovo zajamčeno drugo mjesto, no zbog prljave staze, Kimi je napravio pogrešku u predzadnjem krugu utrke dopustivši tako Schumacheru da zauzme srednju stepenicu na pobjedničkom postolju.
2007. godine, Lewis Hamilton je na kanadskoj stazi stigao do svoje prve pobjede u F1 karijeri. Britancu su se na pobjedničkom postolju pridružili Nick Heidfeld i Alex Wurz. Osim po Hamiltonovoj prvoj pobjedi, ova V.N. Kanade ostat će zapamčena i po teškoj nesreći Roberta Kubice u BMW Sauberu koji se izvukao tek s lakšim potresom mozga i uganutim gležnjem.
2008. je dvostruku pobjedu odnio BMW Sauber s Robertom Kubicom i Nick Heidfeldom. Ovo je ujedno bila prva pobjeda za njemačku momčad i prva pobjeda za Poljaka. Kubica je nakon te pobjede preuzeo vodstvo u poretku vozača. Treći je bio vozač Red Bulla, David Coulthard.
Iduće godine, Formula 1 je zaobišla Kanadu. Zbog financijskih poteškoća, utrka na stazi Gilles Villeneuve nije uspjela zadržati svoje mjesto u kalendaru.

Prijašnji pobjednici:
2008: R. Kubica (BMW Sauber)
2007: L. Hamilton (McLaren)
2006: F. Alonso (Renault)
2005: K. Raikkonen (McLaren)
2004: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
2003: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
2002: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
2001: R. Schumacher (Williams)
2000: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
1999: M. Hakkinen (McLaren)
1998: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
1997: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
1996: D. Hill (Williams)
1995: J. Alesi (Ferrari)
1994: M. Schumacher (Benetton)
1993: A. Prost (Williams)
1992: G. Berger (McLaren)
1991: N. Piquet (Benetton)
1990: A. Senna (McLaren)
1989: T. Boutsen (Williams)
1988: A. Senna (McLaren)

Source: f1-hr.com / youtube.com

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Vettel: Nisam favorit u Red Bullu

Dvadesetdvogodišnji Sebastian Vettel tvrdi da ga Red Bull Racing ne favorizira u odnosu na Marka Webbera, unatoč prvim reakcijama austrijske momčadi nakon Velike nagrade Turske.
Na zamolbu BBC-jevih novinara da komentira svoj status u momčadi, Vettel je rekao: "Ne mislim da je to slučaj. O problemu smo raspravljali interno i niti jedan vozač momčadi, što se odnosi na Marka i mene samog, nije favoriziran ni na koji način. Vozimo utrke i tu pokušavamo ustanoviti tko je bolji, uostalom tako i treba biti. Znamo da imamo potpuno jednake šanse. Puno je utrka do kraja sezone i svašta se može dogoditi, no najvažnije je da gledamo ispred sebe."
Vettel je rekao da je jedva čekao da prebrode krizu uzrokovanu sudarom na Velikoj nagradi Turske, no zbog toga neće osjećati potrebu za posebnim dokazivanjem na sljedećoj utrci u Montrealu.
"Mogli ste vidjeti da nisam bio zadovoljan onim što se dogodilo, ali moramo prijeći preko toga. Veselim se Kanadi i nema razloga zbog kojeg bih trebao biti očajan ili nešto dokazivati. Na kvalifikacijama radimo jako dobar posao, dok na utrkama moramo još malo više raditi kako bismo postigli adekvatne rezultate. Imamo snažan bolid i moramo pokušati postići svoj maksimum."
Vettel je prvi put priznao i da je uistinu prešao u Webberovu putanju, za što vjeruje da je imao pravo jer je bio ispred.
"Puno je toga što trebamo objasniti, a sve se dogodilo jako brzo. Imao sam dobar izlazak iz zavoja i uhvatio sam priključak u njegovoj zavjetrini. Nakon toga sam išao na unutrašnju stranu. Već sam prestigao Marka i očito sam se lagano pokušao prebaciti na desnu stranu. U tom sam trenutku ja bio ispred i obično lideri diktiraju smjer. No, iznenadno smo se dodirnuli i to je bio kraj utrke za mene."
Na pitanje novinara hoće li isto postupiti i u budućnosti, u slučaju da se okolnosti ponove, Vettel je odgovorio: "To je uvijek pitanje, no ne možete znati što će se dogoditi. U tom trenutku radite ono za što mislite da je ispravno i opet biste isto napravili ako vjerujete da radite pravu stvar. Bez obzira na ishod, uvijek nešto naučite."

Source: f1racing.com.hr

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subota, 05.06.2010.

Red Bull Racing traži izjednačavanje motora

Red Bull Racingov direktor, Christian Horner je izjavio da će izjednačavanje performansi motora najvjerojatnije biti krucijalni faktor koji će odlučiti hoće li njegova momčad i u budućnosti nastaviti suradnju s Renaultom ili ne.
Prema Hornerovim riječima, Renaultov motor je trenutno za oko 30 konja slabiji od najsnažnijih motora trenutno na gridu. Stoga se on i Red Bull nadaju da momčadi i FIA mogu pronaći soluciju i otključati razvoj motora, što bi Renaultu omogućilo da se izjednači s drugim proizvođačima.
"Renault je kao partner odličan i apsolutno smo izjednačeni s njihovom momčadi iz Enstonea," nadovezao s Horner. "Međutim, problem je, kao i uvijek do sada, što pod trenutnim pravilima uz prednosti koje imate zamrzavate i hendikepe. Možda je ironično što ja ovdje sjedim i govorim o hendikepu našeg motora, a do sada smo osvojili šest pole pozicija i tri pobjede. Mislim da to samo demonstrira kvalitetu posla kojeg radimo sa šasijom. Naš odjel trenutno radi fenomenalan posao jer smo vjerojatno 20 ili 30 konja kraći od nekih. Premda u ovom trenutku imamo prednost šasije, to možda neće biti slučaj za dvije ili tri utrke i onda će motor postati odlučujući faktor. A kako ste ga zamrznuli, zamrznuli ste i sve njegove prednosti i nedostatke kroz sljedeće tri ili četiri godine, što nije fer. Proizvođači se međusobno moraju dogovoriti oko toga."
U slučaju da Renault dobije dozvolu unaprijediti svoj motor, Red Bull Racing će sa zadovoljstvom produžiti ugovor s njima.
"Zadovoljni smo podrškom koju imamo iz Renaulta. Problem jednakosti se može riješiti i ako to uspije, onda ne postoji niti jedan razlog za promjenu." zaključio je Horner.

Source: f1racing.com.hr

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četvrtak, 03.06.2010.

No more Turkey...The End!!!

Kao da su poslušali moj post od jučer i Red Bull afera je napokon gotova.
Red Bull Racing je u četvrtak konačno objavio da će povući crtu ispod sudara koji je se na Velikoj nagradi Turske dogodio između njihovih vozača - Sebastiana Vettela i Marka Webbera.
U priopćenju kojeg je momčad objavila stoji da su se Webber i Vettel susreli s direktorom momčadi Christianom Hornerom, dizajnerom Adrianom Neweyem i savjetnikom Helmutom Markom, prilikom čega su raspravljali o situaciji.
"Sastanak je bio pozitivan i epilog je to incidentu koji se dogodio u 40. krugu Velike nagrade Turske. Momčad je sada potpuno fokusirana na Veliku nagradu Kande," objavila je momčad.
Sebastian Vettel je izjavio: "Momčad nas je dovela u sjajnu poziciju i za njih nije dobro ono što je se dogodilo. Žao mi je jer smo tako izgubili vodstvo na toj utrci. Mark i ja smo natjecatelji i utrkivali smo se. Ali, mi smo i profesionalci, tako da sudar neće promijeniti način buduće suradnje. Sjajna smo momčad s vrlo jakim duhom i veselim se Kanadi."
Webber je dodao: "Šteta zbog momčadi jer smo izgubili priliku da pobijedimo na utrci. Ovo je sport i ovakve stvari se mogu dogoditi, premda nisu trebale. Suosjećam sa svima u Red Bullu, sa svima u tvornici i sa svima koji su uključeni i ovo. Seb i ja ćemo se pobrinuti da se ovo ne ponovi i nastavit ćemo raditi zajedno i otvoreno, oko toga neće biti problema. No, dosta smo pričali o ovome. Sad je dosta, okrećemo se Kanadi i ja sam na to fokusiran."

Source: f1racing.com.hr

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utorak, 01.06.2010.

Q&A with Christian Horner

Nakon katastrofe koja se dogodila Red Bullu na VN Turske, šef momčadi kaže da su Vettel i Webber jednako krivi:

Q: What happened on Lap 40 of the Turkish Grand Prix?
Christian Horner: We had a unique situation during the Turkish Grand Prix where the first four cars were separated by two seconds, with Mark having led every lap until Lap 40. The race was the fastest of the season to date with all four drivers pushing each other extremely hard. On Lap 38, Mark changed his mixture setting based on his fuel consumption to a slightly leaner mode, which had an average lap time loss of about 0.18 seconds, whilst maintaining the same revs. Sebastian had conserved more fuel than Mark during the race and therefore was able to run in a slightly better mode for an additional couple of laps. On Lap 38 and 39, Sebastian’s pace picked up and he closed right up to the back of Mark while under considerable pressure from Hamilton behind. After a very strong run through Turn Nine, Sebastian got a run and strong tow and moved to the left to pass Mark. Mark held the inside line and adopted a defensive position, which he is entitled to do. When Sebastian was three quarters of the way past, he moved to the right. As Sebastian moved to the right, Mark held his position and the ensuing result was contact that resulted in Sebastian retiring, Mark damaging the front-end of his car and the team losing a one-two finish. Ultimately both drivers should have given each other more room.

Q: Was either driver to blame for the incident?
CH: What we expect from our drivers, as team mates, is that they show respect for each other and allow one another enough room on the race track. Unfortunately neither driver did this on Sunday, and the net result was an incident between the two. During the previous six one-two finishes we have achieved, there have been many incidences of close racing between our drivers and they have previously always abided by this understanding.

Q: What do you think about Vettel’s actions when he got out of the car?
CH: The adrenaline was flowing and obviously there’s a great deal of frustration when you’ve just crashed out of a race. It will be discussed and I am certain that the air will be cleared before Canada.

Q: Some people commented after the race that Webber was to blame - why was that?
CH: Ultimately we win as a team and we lose as a team and on Sunday we lost as a team, as a result of our two drivers having an incident. Having looked at all the information it’s clear that it was a racing accident that shouldn’t have happened between two team mates. After looking at all the facts that weren’t available immediately after the race, (Red Bull’s motorsport consultant) Dr Marko also fully shares this view.

Q: What do you think would have happened if Webber and Vettel hadn’t collided?
CH: Our priority as a team is to finish first and second, irrelevant of the order. The Turkish Grand Prix was the closest race of probably the last twelve months with significant pressure coming from both of the McLarens. Sebastian’s pace improved from Lap 37 onwards and he appeared to be the faster of the two Red Bull drivers. Had the incident not have happened, I believe we would have achieved a one-two finish and a maximum score for the second race in succession.

Q: Were you happy that Vettel challenged Webber for the lead at that point in the race? You had a one-two, so why not stick with that?
CH: With the pace of the McLarens and with it looking like Sebastian was the quicker of the two Red Bull cars, the priority was to win the race. With intense pressure from Hamilton behind, who was in a McLaren that had a significant straight-line speed advantage, it would have been impossible to back Sebastian off. Therefore it was acceptable to us for him to attempt an overtaking manoeuvre.

Q: Were there any team orders given for Vettel to pass Webber?
CH: Neither driver was given any instruction to change position. There are no team orders within Red Bull Racing, other than that the drivers should race each other with respect.

Q: How will you resolve the situation?
CH: We’re a very strong team and we will sit down and discuss this openly with the drivers in order to learn from what has happened and avoid a situation like this arising again. One of the strengths of Red Bull Racing is the team spirit here, which has contributed to the performance that we have achieved so far this season. The drivers are both intelligent individuals and this issue will be resolved prior to the Canadian Grand Prix.

Source: formula1.com

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