F1 & Sebastian Vettel

subota, 31.07.2010.

Hungarian GP 2010: Qualifying; Pole Position for Seb!

Ferrari možda je bio brži u Njemačkoj, ali mislim da je Red Bull, ili točnije Vettel neuhvatljiv u Mađarskoj.
Vettel je osvojio jedanaesti pole position sezone, i svoj četvrti za redom, što pokazuje u kakvoj je sjajnoj formi.
U Q1 najbolje vrijeme postavio je Vettel, a standarno su ispali Lotus, Virgin i HRT i još im se pridružio Kobayashi u BMW-sauberu, što je mnoge razočaralo.
U Q2 smo imali još dva razočaranja, Jason Button u McLarenu tek je 11. dok je Schumacher u svome Mercedesu tek 14. U završnu rundu se nisu kvalificirali vozači Force Indije koji su 13. Sutil, a Luizzi je 16. Alguersuari je osvojio 17. startno mjesto za Torro Rosso, a njegov momčadski kolega Buemi je 15, isto tako u zadnju rundu nije ušao Barrichello koji je 12.
Za razliku od Barrichella, Hulkenberg je uspio ući u Q3 te završio na 10. mjestu. Ispred njega je Pedro de la Rosa u BMW-Sauberu. Osmo i sedmo startno mjesto pripala su Kubici i Petrovu u Renaultu, Petrov je po prvi put bio brži od Kubice što je sjajno za mladog Rusa koji će nadam se napokon početi osvajati bodove. Nico Rosberg je 6. a ispred njega je Hamilton u jako sporome McLarenu.
Ferrari je zauzeo drugi startni red, ali Alonso je opet bio brži od Masse. Prava borba odvijala se za pole position. Webber je prvi izašao na stazu i postavio dosta dobro vrijeme, no Vettel u svome prvome pokušaju postavlja 1:18.773, što je najbolje vrijeme vikenda. Vettel je zatim izašao još jednom da popravi vrijeme no nije bilo potrebe jer Webber nije mogao bolje. Možda je u ovome trenutku zanimljivo ono što se događa u Ferrariju, ali pravi obračun je u Red Bullu, mislim da je napetost između Vettela i Webbera jakooo visoka, te da će sutra biti svega na startu. Vettelu je za ovaj tip staze važno da dobro starta i prvi krug, jer je na Hungaroringu teško pretjeca.

Rezultati kvalifikacija:
01. S. Vettel RBR-Renault 1:20.41 1:19.573 1:18.773
02. M. Webber RBR-Renault 1:21.132 1:19.531 1:19.184
03. F. Alonso Ferrari 1:21.278 1:20.237 1:19.987
04. F. Massa Ferrari 1:21.299 1:20.857 1:20.331
05. L. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.455 1:20.877 1:20.499
06. N. Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:21.212 1:20.811 1:21.082
07. V. Petrov Renault 1:21.558 1:20.797 1:21.229
08. R. Kubica Renault 1:21.159 1:20.867 1:21.328
09. P. de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:21.891 1:21.273 1:21.411
10. N. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:21.598 1:21.275 1:21.710
11. J. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.422 1:21.292
12. R. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:21.478 1:21.331
13. A. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:22.080 1:21.517
14. M. Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:21.840 1:21.630
15. S. Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:21.982 1:21.897
16. V. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:21.789 1:21.927
17. J. Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:21.978 1:21.998
18. K. Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:22.222*
19. T. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:24.050
20. H. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:24.120
21. J. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:24.199
22. L. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:25.118
23. B. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:26.391
24. S. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1:26.453

* Kažnjen s 5 mjesta nižeg starta zbog propuštanja vaganja bolida na kvalifikacijama

SV: “It was a very good day for us. We have felt comfortable all weekend and I think we were able to improve overnight also. I said on the radio to the team on my in-lap, Mark and I were pushing hard to finish first and second, but this is your moment, enjoy it - you built this wonderful car’. It’s a pleasure to drive and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. It was quite a difficult session today. I didn’t have a good run in Q2 on the option tyre and didn’t feel 100 percent. There’s not really much you can do to the car between Q2 and Q3, just little trims, but it worked quite well and I had a lot of confidence in Q3. I was able to go quite a bit quicker, so it was a good step. I’m happy to be on pole; hopefully we have a good start tomorrow and a good race.”

Press Conference:

Pres konferencija s troje najbržih vozača: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Mark Webber (Red Bull) i Fernando Alonso (Ferrari). Na blogu su objavljeni samo Vettelovi odgovori, ali ako želite pročitati cijelu možete OVDJE.

Q: Sebastian, 100th Grand Prix for Red Bull Racing. A front row lock-out and a commanding performance from yourself in qualifying.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, it was a very good day for us. All weekend here we felt very comfortable, from the first practice session onwards with the car. I think we were able to improve it again another bit overnight. I said on the radio to the boys ‘this is your moment.’ Mark and myself were pushing hard to finish first and second but I said ‘it is your moment, enjoy, you built this wonderful car.’ It was a pleasure to drive yesterday and even more so today, so looking forward to tomorrow. Quite a difficult session. I didn’t have a very smooth run in Q2 with the options. I didn’t feel 100 percent, but there is not much you can do with the car. Little trims, but it worked quite well. I had a lot of confidence in Q3 and I was able to go quite a bit quicker, so overall a very good step and I am happy again to be on pole. I think every Saturday and Sunday is special, so being on pole also means a lot for us, for the team, for myself and hopefully we will have a good start tomorrow and then we should have a great race.

Q: What is the performance advantage this Red Bull car is giving you? Where is the secret? Where are you finding the time on this track?
SV: Well, I think it is probably as well hidden as we were all asking ourselves where Ferrari found the time last week in Hockenheim. I think this circuit suits us. Traditionally it is a very difficult circuit for the car as the car is very nervous, the track is very bumpy and it is not easy to get it right. You need to know the track but also you need to have the car and I think this weekend so far has been very good for us. The track suits us, suits our car, therefore we are a little bit quicker than the rest. It is a difficult day tomorrow, the main challenge. No points on Saturday as usual but for now it is the best we could do on Saturday, so we can be proud of ourselves and can go to sleep well tonight.

Q: Sebastian, you have got Fernando just behind you. You have Mark alongside you on the front row. How do you play the start? Which way are you going to go?
SV: Ideally, I just go straight. You can make up all scenarios but in the end it comes differently but I think we found the problem from last weekend where we had a bad start and therefore I had to decide which side to go to. I am confident I will have a normal start and a normal start for us so far meant that we had a good start and we were at least able to defend the position. Usually in Hungary it is quite important to be on the clean side. I was second last year, Fernando was on pole and I think if I had been on the clean side it would have been a different race. But that’s Hungary. It is very difficult to pass here, so for sure the start is important as well as turn one. But there are a couple of laps following, 70 laps is quite a difficult track for the car, for the drivers, so it will be an exciting race tomorrow.

Q: Sebastian, an extraordinary margin over your team-mate and the rest of the field. What’s the secret?
SV: I don’t think there is any secret. If you look at yesterday I think we were in good shape. We didn’t know how good but we knew that we definitely can put the cars in the first row. If you look one week back all the cars haven’t changed a lot. If you look one week back I think we were probably racing on a track that suited the Ferrari car quite well, so over a period of two weeks they did a massive step. Everyone was wondering how and why. Somehow this week it seems that the track suits us very, very well this year. Maybe now you have the same people wondering what has happened to us. I can assure you there is no secret. We have been working hard since Hockenheim, trying to clean up the table and approach the weekend trying to be on top of our game. I think we were and in the end it converted to a very, very smooth Friday and a good Saturday. Happy to be on pole. I think it has been close all weekend between us, Mark and myself, so it is good to be on pole on Saturday. I think we have been there a couple of times this year. But I am confident for tomorrow that we have a very good chance to win, so I am happy.

Q: It hasn’t been a particularly good circuit for you in the past though.
SV: Yeah, the circuit is quite a tricky one. It’s probably like a woman alongside you who doesn’t behave well. It’s not always easy to get around here. The bumps are quite harsh and the car is very nervous. It tends to move a lot. I think the main thing if I look back, the races I had here, is to have the confidence. Of course you need the car but you need to have the confidence as well, because then you just brake five metres later and you’re five to ten kph quicker at the apex and it just works. I think last year we had a good race here, a good car, unfortunately not – sorry, not a very good race, but we had a good car. Mark did the fastest lap and this year again we seem to like this track. Traditionally you need a lot of downforce and I think we have got some, so it’s good for us.

Q: What did you learn from this morning’s session to this afternoon because Mark was substantially quicker this morning and yet you seem to have turned it around this afternoon?
SV: I didn’t have a clean lap this morning, I had lots of traffic, so it was difficult to get a lap together and Mark was a bit quicker. That’s it. I was happy with the car but I think the fine adjustment was not yet there. Also, at the beginning of qualifying the car was moving a bit too much and as I said, around here you need the confidence over the bumps, over the kerbs. And then I think we made the right step from this morning to this afternoon. There are no secrets, but it’s playing around a little bit with the front wing, with the diff and with tyre pressures. As I’ve said before, sometimes the effect is very, very big. Sometimes you find two or three tenths by tuning the tyre pressures. To find something that improves the car by three tenths is very difficult. The tyres are black gold, or one of the most important factors and I think we did a good job this afternoon, as simple as that.

Q: Mark, do you feel you could have done a 1m 18.7s?
SV: It was a good lap from Seb but, as he touched on, it’s all about getting the tyres ready and getting everything in shape for that one lap. I wasn’t quick enough today, I didn’t get it together for those two laps. I don’t know how Seb’s second lap went but obviously his first lap was very good. Yeah, we could have done better of course but we didn’t, so we deserve to be second and not first.

Q: (Peter Farkas - Auto Motor) Lap times have been amazingly quick here this year, much quicker than last year. Do you have an explanation for that?
SV: I think first of all, if you compare the cars and the lap times we did last year, if you compare this year’s cars to last year’s cars, they are built around the double diffuser. Last year, some cars had the double diffuser and other cars then adapted it, so it was different. For this year, I think everyone knew what the regulations would be. Yeah, then like Fernando said, especially if you look at Q3 times, we don’t do it with fuel anymore, so of course they will be quite a bit faster. In the end, you need the conditions, you need the right weather. I think the circuit was exceptionally clean from Friday onwards. Usually, in Hungary, you see the track improvement is massive, so I think these are the main reasons.

Sebastian Vettel pole position lap:

Četiri pole positiona zaredom, samo jedan pretvoren u pobjedu, hoće li napokon biti 2 od 4?!

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

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Hungarian GP 2010: Free Practice 3

Red Bull Racing nastavio je dominaciju na mađarskom Hungaroringu. Na posljednjim slobodnim treninzima, Mark Webber i Sebastian Vettel ponovno su postavili najbolja vremena, te se od ostatka poretka odvojili za punu sekundu.
Fernando Alonso postavio je treće najbolje vrijeme i završio ispred Roberta Kubice, koji se plasirao ispred Felipea Masse u drugom Ferrariju. Usprkos solidnoj šestoj poziciji, Lewis Hamilton je za vodećim Australcem zaostajao značajnih 1.8 sekundi, kao i Vitalij Petrov, Nico Rosberg i Jenson Button koji slijede u nastavku poretka.

Rezultati 3. slobodnog treninga:
01. M. Webber 1:19:574
02. S. Vettel +0:00:484
03. F. Alonso +0:01:150
04. R. Kubica +0:01:492
05. F. Massa +:01:690
06. L. Hamilton +0:01:802
07. V. Petrov +0:01:825
08. N. Rosberg + 0:01:848
09. J. Button +0:01:899
10. N. Hulkenberg +0:01:939
11. R. Barrichello +0:02:131
12. M. Schumacher +0:02:365
13. P. de la Rosa +0:02:577
14. K. Kobayashi +0:02:763
15. J. Alguersuari +0:02:853
16. S. Buemi +0:02:934
17. A. Sutil +0:03:334
18. V. Liuzzi +0:04:134
19. L. di Grassi +0:04:973
20. J. Trulli +0:05:002
21. H. Kovalainen +0:05:049
22. T. Glock +0:06:231
23. B. Senna +0:06:905
24. S. Yamamoto +0:07:602

Source: f1-hr.com

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petak, 30.07.2010.

Hungarian GP 2010: Friday; Sebastian Vettel Q&A: A very solid Friday

Sebastian Vettel je u svome Red Bullu postavi najbrže vrijema na 1. i 2. slobodnom treningu u petak te odgovorio na nekoliko pitanja:

Q: How was the day developing for you?
Sebastian Vettel: I think today was actually quite a good day, even though the timings are not really important. Of course it is good if you are somewhere at the front, but still the gaps today do not reflect the actual situation, as for example we have not been loaded with too much fuel. Also we did not have any problems with the car, so I would call today a very solid Friday.

Q: Would you also say that there is now a very strong competitor joining the fight for the championship?
SV: Ferrari has again also shown a very strong day, especially in the afternoon session. It looked as if they were very quick on both the short and the longer run. As I said, it is not really possible to say anything for the rest of the weekend taking a look at the Friday timings. It is just important that you run the car with a heavy, but also with a light, fuel load and be able to be in the front.

Q: Also your team mate has again shown that he is amongst the competitors for the championship. Will there be a showdown before the end of the season?
SV: In general it is very good if both drivers in a team are on the same level, as long as I am a little bit in the front! In general I think we have a normal relationship as team mates, and the both of us try our best. So for tomorrow it will not only be tight between Mark (Webber) and myself, but also the rest of the field will show its competitiveness. For example McLaren has shown not only once that they are capable of making a step forward overnight.

Q: Of course both drivers are also gaining points for the team and the constructors’ championship, but from when will you be thinking in terms of yourself becoming the drivers’ world champion?
SV: In general I think that being a sportsman you have to have a certain amount of egoism. Also I do think primarily of the drivers’ championship title, but still you always have to keep in mind that you are working with and on behalf of the whole team. Basically it comes down to a good mixture of both, as of course due to recent happenings this is a very current topic. One also should not over-dramatize the whole topic.

Q: How did you perform on the super soft tyres and did you encounter any problems with them today?
SV: I have not really been able to get a proper long run, but if you take a look at the others that have been able to, I would say that there are no problems and the super soft lasted quite long, even against expectations.

Q: What are your feelings on the track itself?
SV: The track here in Hungary is quite tough, as it is very bumpy and tricky at various places. So let’s see what we can do in qualifying and then in the race.

Source: formula1.com

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Hungarian GP 2010 : Free Practice 2

Sebastian Vettel ostao je na vrhu poretka na drugim slobodnim treninzima na Hungaroringu. Ovoga puta, drugi najbrži vozač bio je Fernando Alonso, nakon kojeg slijedi Mark Webber u drugom Red Bullu.
Felipe Massa postavio je četvrto najbrže vrijeme i plasirao se ispred Vitalija Petrova i Lewisa Hamiltona, a sedmo vrijeme Roberta Kubice potvrda je prilično dobre forme Renaulta na zavojitom Hungaroringu.
Nico Hulkenberg je završio na osmom mjestu ispred Jensona Buttona i sedmerostrukog svjetskog prvaka, Michaela Schumachera.

Rezultati 2. slobodnog treninga:
01. S. Vettel 1:20.087
02. F. Alonso +0:00:497
03. M. Webber +0:00:510
04. F. Massa +0:00:899
05. V. Petrov +0:01:108
06. L. Hamilton +0:01:221
07. R. Kubica +0:01:288
08. N. Hulkenberg +0:01:536
09. J. Button +0:01:643
10. M. Schumacher +0:01:686
11. P. de la Rosa +0:01:722
12. R. Barrichello +0:01:757
13. N. Rosberg +0:01:952
14. K. Kobayashi +0:02:125
15. J. Alguersuari +0:02:382
16. A. Sutil +0:02:420
17. S. Buemi +0:02:515
18. V. Liuzzi +0:03:051
19. J. Trulli +0:04:466
20. T. Glock +0:05:289
21. L. di Grassi +0:05:582
22. B. Senna +0:06:658
23. S. Yamamoto +0:06:711
24. H. Kovalainen +0:07:618

SV: “I think this morning didn’t really give a clear picture of each team’s pace, but this afternoon it was tighter. The Ferraris seem very quick again here, on both the long and short runs. They will be quick again tomorrow and we also shouldn’t forget the McLarens; they have proven many times this year that they can make a step forward from Friday to Saturday. It’s a difficult track here, quite bumpy and rough, but the car feels good.”

Source: formula1.com / f1-hr.com

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Hungarian GP 2010: Free Practice 1

Red Bullovi vozači dominirali su na prvim slobodnim treninzima na mađarskom Hungaroringu. Sebastian Vettel i Mark Webber postavili su uvjerljivo najbolja vremena, te se od ostatka poretka odvojili za punu sekundu.
Treće najbolje vrijeme postavio je Robert Kubica, nakon kojega slijede Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello i Pedro de la Rosa. Fernando Alonso završio je na sedmom mjestu ispred Mercedesovog dvojca, Nice Rosberga i Michaela Schumachera, te Nice Hulkenberga na 10. mjestu.
Tijekom sesije nije bilo nikakvog značajnijeg incidenta.

Rezultati 1. slobodnog treninga:
01. S. Vettel 1:20:976
02. M. Webber +0:00:130
03. R. Kubica +0:01:096
04. J. Button +0:01:468
05. R. Barrichello +0:01:625
06. P. de la Rosa +0:01:788
07. F. Alonso +0:01:796
08. N. Rosberg +0:01:801
09. M. Schumacher +0:01:816
10. N. Hulkenberg +0:01:990
11. A. Sutil +0:02:027
12. F. Massa +0:02:031
13. V. Petrov +0:02:273
14. K. Kobayashi +0:02:351
15. P. di Resta +0:02:554
16. S. Buemi +0:02:804
17. J. Alguersuari + 0:02:892
18. L. Hamilton +0:03:099
19. J. Trulli +0:04:056
20. H. Kovalainen +0:04:234
21. T. Glock +0:05:014
22. L. di Grassi +0:05:710
23. B. Senna +0:06:014
24. S. Yamamoto +0:07:181

Source: f1-hr.com

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četvrtak, 29.07.2010.

Hungarian GP 2010: Thursday at Hungaroring

Seb je stigao na Hungaroring, stazu udaljenu od Budimpešte 20 km, i kao uvijek ima zanimljivih slika:

Source: redbullracing.com / motorsport.com

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utorak, 27.07.2010.

Hungarian GP 2010: Hungaroring 30. srpnja - 1. kolovoza

Prva utrka: 10. kolovoza 1986.
Dužina kruga: 4 381 metara
ukupno krugova: 70 (306.663 km)
Najbrži krug: M. Schumacher - 1:19:071 (2004, Ferrari)
Postolje 2009.: 1. L. Hamilton - 2. K. Raikkonen - 3. M. Webber

Povijest:
Staza Hungaroring smještena je dvadesetak kilometara sjeveroistočno od Budimpešte.
Sama staza izgrađena je u prirodnom amfiteatru jer se nakon same startno-ciljne ravnine spušta u dolinu u kojoj se prostire i gdje zavija da bi zatvorila krug idući suprotnom stranom tog zamišljenog amfiteatra.Prestizanje je praktički nemoguće izvesti jer je staza uska sa mnogo sporih zavoja.
Nelson Piquet je bio pobjednik prve utrke održane na stazi 1986. godine. Bila je to teško osvojena pobjeda jer je vodio blisku borbu sa svojim glavnim rivalom Ayrtonom Sennom. Također je bio pobjednikom slijedeće godine jer je tadašnji glavni protivnik Nigel Mansell morao odustati samo šest krugova prije kraja utrke jer mu je otpala matica sa vijka jednog kotača. Damon Hilll bio je pobjednikom 1993. godine dok je 1994. godine pobjednik bio Michael Schumacher koji je tada vozio Benettonov bolid. Bila je to prva Benettonova pobjeda na stazi Hungaroring.
Damon Hill ponovno pobjeđuje 1995. godine dok 1996. godine prolazi drugi kroz cilj iza svoga timskog kolege Jacquesa Villeneuvea. 1997. godine Damon Hill je skoro postigao nemoguće. Vozeći svoj slabi ali pripremljeni Arrowsov bolid bio je u vodstvu do zadnjeg kruga kada je morao usporiti zbog problema sa rasplinjačem te prepustiti pobjedu svome bivšem timskom kolegi Jacquesu Villenuevu koji je tada vozio Willimasov bolid.
1998. godine pobjednik je bio Ferrarijev vozač Michael Schumacher dok je slijedeće dvije sezone 1999. i 2000. pobjedu dva puta za redom ostvario McLarenov vozač Mika Hakkinen. Sama staza nije omiljena među vozačima, neki kažu da je dosadna, no ona se ipak uspjela održati u kalendaru natjecanja Formule 1.
2001. pobjednik je bio Michael Schumacher kojem je to pošlo prvi put za rukom nakon 1998. godine.
Godinu dana kasnije Ferrari ponovo slavi pobjedi u Mađarskoj, no ovoga puta sa Rubensom Barrichellom.
2003. Fernando Alonso je svima priredio ugodno iznenađenje. Temperamentni Španjolac je ostvario svoju prvu pobjedu u karijeri kojoj je upisan u povijest kao najmlađi vozač Formule 1 koji je ikada osvojio V.N. u tom sportu.
2004. Schumacher i Barrichello osvajaju još jednu dvostruku pobjedu u nizu i tako već na 13. utrci osiguravaju Ferrarijev 14. naslov konstruktora. Prošlogodišnji pobjednik ove utrke, Fernando Alonso, utrku završava na trećem mjestu.
Godinu dana kasnije pobjedu na prašnjavom Hungaroringu slavi Kimi Raikkonen. Finac je kroz cilj prošlao 35.5 sekundi prije drugoplasiranog Michaela Schumachera kojeg je do zadnjeg zavoja pritiskao brat Ralf.
2006. godine na Hungaroringu je Jenson Button stigao do svoje prve F1 pobjede nakon 113 nastupa. Drugo mjesto pripalo je Pedru de la Rosi, dok je treći završio Nick Heidfeld, koji je za momčad BMW Sauber osvojio prvi plasman na podiju u njihovoj prvoj sezoni.
Iduće godine, pobjeda je pripala Lewisu Hamiltonu koji je ciljem prošao ispred Kimija Raikkonena, te Nicka Heidfelda koji je, kao i godinu dana ranije, završio na trećem mjestu.
2008. je pobjedu odnio Finac Heikki Kovalainen za McLaren Mercedes, kojemu je to bila i prva pobjeda u karijeri. Pobijedio je zahvaljujući nepouzdanosti Ferrarijevog motora. Felipeu Massi, motor je otkazao samo tri kruga prije cilja. Drugi je završio vozač Toyote, Timo Glock, a treći Kimi Raikkonen u Ferrariju.
McLaren-Mercedes je i iduće godine slavio pobjedu na mađarskoj stazi. Ovoga puta, na najvišu stepenicu podija zakoračio je Lewis Hamilton, nakon kojeg slijede Kimi Raikkonen i Mark Webber.

Prijašnji pobjednici:
2009: L. Hamilton (McLaren)
2008: H. Kovalainen (McLaren)
2007: L. Hamilton (McLaren)
2006: J. Button (Honda)
2005: K. Raikkonen (McLaren)
2004: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
2003: F. Alonso (Renault)
2002: R. Barrichello (Ferrari)
2001: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
2000: M. Hakkinen (McLaren)
1999: M. Hakkinen (McLaren)
1998: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
1997: J. Villeneuve (Williams)
1996: J. Villeneuve (Williams)
1995: D. Hill (Williams)
1994: M. Schumacher (Benetton)
1993: D. Hill (Williams)
1992: A. Senna (McLaren)
1991: A. Senna (McLaren)
1990: T. Boutsen (Williams)
1989: N. Mansell (Ferrari)
1988: A. Senna (McLaren)

Source: f1-hr.com / youtube.com

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ponedjeljak, 26.07.2010.

Hroner: Najjasnija naredba momčadi, i žao mu zbog izmanipulirane utrk

Red Bull Racingov direktor Christian Horner smatra da je Alonsovo pretjecanje Masse na pravcu "najjasnija momčadska naredba" koju je vidio.
Podsjetimo, Massa je u 48. krugu utrke propustio Fernanda Alonsa na pravcu, nakon što ga je u prethodnom krugu njegov trkaći inženjer Rob Smedley instruirao suptilnom porukom.
Smedley mu je kasnije još dodao: "Dobar dečko" i "oprosti."
"Moram reći da je to vjerojatno bila najjasnija momčadska naredba koju sam ja ikad vidio, a još i više kada imate momčad koja se ispričava svom vozaču. Pravila su vrlo jasna i kažu da ne smije biti momčadskih naredbi, a ovo je izgledalo kao momčadska naredba." izjavio je Horner za BBC.
Horner tvrdi i da Red Bull Racing nikad neće preuzeti takvu politiku.
"Ne, mi svojim vozačima dozvoljavamo da voze utrku. Massa je još uvijek u prvenstvu, a možda je i potpisao ugovor u kojem piše da će biti drugi vozač. No, sve je to loše za sport. Vozačima bi trebalo biti dopušteno da voze utrke. Massa je napravio bolji posao, bio je u vodstvu," zaključio je.

Christian Horner je još izjavio da je "velika šteta" što je Formula 1 navijačima u Njemačkoj ponudila tek "namještenu" utrku.
Hornerova retorika nije nova ili neobična, budući da je isto izjavio i Fernando Alonso prije nekoliko tjedana u Valenciji, kada su se on i Ekscelencija, koja se tada propinjala na zadnje noge, obrušili na lidere velike urote protiv Ferrarija.
"Šteta za Formulu 1 što su izmanipulirali utrku kako bi jedan vozač pobijedio drugoga," rekao je Horner. "Nas su u Istanbulu kritizirali što vozačima dopuštamo da voze jedan protiv drugoga, ali mislim da je na kraju to poštenije i sportskije. Jedini gubitnik u cijeloj priči je Formula 1. Ferrari je dovoljno velika momčad da to ne treba raditi, a Fernando je također dovoljno dobar vozač. Osim toga, u dijelu smo sezone kada do kraja imamo još na stotine bodova koji se mogu osvojiti."
Horner je rekao i da mu je žao navijača koji nisu dobili mogućnost vidjeti borbu između Ferrarijevih vozača.
"Šteta. Ferrari je sjajna momčad. Šteta ua Formulu 1 što nisu dozvolili Felipeu i Fernandu da voze utrku. Između njih nije bilo velike razlike u bodovima i bilo je vrlo očito kako su zamijenili pozicije. Najveći gubitnici su navijači i gledatelji jer je pobjeda usmjerena na Fernanda. Ispravno ili ne, mi smo našim vozačima dozvolili da voze utrke zato što vjerujemo da je to sportski i da je to po pravilima."

Source: f1racing.com.hr

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Sebastian Vettel Q&A: It's good to be out of the spotlight

Seb je dobro raspoložen nakon njemačkog GP-a, pogotovo jer Red Bull nije u centru pažnje zbog kontroverzi:

Q: Sebastian, what was it like to race in front of such a massive home audience? Your hometown Heppenheim is just around the corner…
Sebastian Vettel: It was fantastic. It’s the first time that I’ve raced here with Red Bull Racing because last year the race was on the Nurburgring. But by now the people have understood that Red Bull is not only a drink but also a successful Formula One team, so it is great to be here. It was a fantastic atmosphere, but I obviously had to share that with the other German drivers. We all wanted to put on a good show and deliver the best possible results.

Q: Would you call this track a ‘Vettel track’ after all?
SV: I always liked it here and of course I know this track pretty well. It is no secret that I grew up not far from here and this was probably the first real track that I ever raced on.

Q: It seemed that the race was decided in the first corner. Did you concentrate too much on Alonso?
SV: No, not at all. I would say it was not the best of starts. When I let the coupler in the engine speed went south and I lost a lot of speed. I then concentrated on Fernando, trying to close the door, but he was already at my side so this was fruitless. And then came the big surprise that Felipe (Massa) came from the other side and passed the both of us. After that we probably were a little too slow with our race pace - probably a crucial two-tenths a lap - and that was the end of it. Overall I would say that it was a good race from our side and unfortunately nothing more then P3 was possible. In hindsight I would say that it would have been almost impossible to control the race even with a perfect start. At the end it was satisfying to be on the podium at my home Grand Prix and it was some sort of consolation to see all my fans from up there.

Q: There was a very surprising result in the end with Alonso overtaking Massa. How did you see this situation?
SV: I didn’t see it at all because I was always something like five or six seconds behind the Ferraris. I just realized that the position change must have happened in the hairpin, but of course I have heard what and how it happened.

Q: But if the race engineer apologises - and Felipe’s face spoke volumes - and we all know that such manoeuvres are forbidden, how would you expect the FIA to react?
SV: I cannot - and don’t want to - make any comment. We have concentrated on ourselves and in the end P3 was a quite satisfying result. And those who were in front of us today are still behind us in the championship. It would have been great to leave Hockenheim with a couple more points but today it simply didn’t work as well as it did on Friday and Saturday, so P3 is okay and obviously was our maximum today. We are heading for the next race next week in Budapest with a good feeling and a high spirit.

Q: Jenson Button complained that you pushed him aside at the start. Is there a new ‘friendship’ in the making?
SV: Jenson Button? Where was he? I didn’t see him at all. But if you take the size of our mirrors then you can understand that things can happen. But he was not in my immediate vicinity, so I have no idea what he means. Should it be a fact then it was sure not intentional.

Q: Are the Ferraris so much faster?
SV: Overall I don’t see this. But of course Ferrari has shown good pace all weekend long - probably they’ve made a step forward this weekend - and maybe this track suits them very well. I still think that we have the best car by far until now but we have to execute it in racing. If the best thing that you can achieve is P3, then you better end up in P3 because in the end every point counts.

Q: But obviously there is a potential danger coming from behind - given the fact that there obviously are team orders in place…
SV: What matters is that the guys who are in front of us in the standings finished behind us today. What is important is not the wins that you can achieve but the results that make up the points for the standings in the end.

Q: From a driver’s point of view how do you see it if a team openly favours one driver over the other?
SV: Normally as a team you would always try to get both cars as far up as possible. Fact is that there are two titles that make up the F1 championship: the one for the driver and the one for the constructor - and the constructors’ is at least as important as the drivers’ title. So, as I just said, it must be in the interest of the team to look after both their drivers in the same way.

Q: As one of the contenders for the title, how do you feel that today Fernando was given the opportunity to collect an awful lot more points?
SV: At the end of the championship we will see how much these points were worth. The most important thing for me was to finish ahead of the McLarens, even though I think that as a team they took more points than us. In the end I don’t really care about other teams - this will be taken care of by others. We have to focus on us as we already had our share of troubles for various reasons this year. It’s good not to be in the spotlight this time.

Q: But what is your reaction to those saying that you have an advantage over Mark Webber?
SV: You have to look at the results. So any talk about advantage here and there is complete bull. We are even in the standings right here right now.

Q: With the number of unhappy situations you’ve experienced so far this season, are you not worried that these will add up and ultimately cost you the championship?
SV: Well, in the end that’s racing - sometimes it’s up, sometimes it’s down. In general there are always two different perceptions: how the public sees the situation and how you see it. In the end what matters right now is to grab as many points as possible - today and next weekend in Budapest.

Source: formula1.com

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One more in a row...scandal, of course!

Evo još jedan skandal u F1, kao da ih nema dovoljno.
Nakon što je cijeli svijet čuo poruku Roba Smedleya preko tim radija u kojoj Massi govori da je Alonso brži od njega i da mu potvrdi jer je razumio poruku, pa Massa iznenada usporioa na pravcu, a Alonso samo prođe pokraj njega Ferrari je pozvan pred suce utrke.
Oni su se i dalje pravili budale tvrdeći da to nije bila naredba tima, u što naravno suci nisu povjerovali. Ferrari je ako se mene pita preblago kažnjen, s 100 000 dolara kazne, te je pozvan pred WMSC (World Motor Sport Counci), koje se sastaje 10.rujna u gradu Como, u Italiji zbog kršenja pravila o naredbama tima i zbog ugrožavanja ugleda sporta gdje bi trebali dobiti strožu kaznu, ali mi pričamo o Ferrariju, pa ipak mislim da neće biti neke veće kazne za najdražu momčad Bernija i bivšu momčad Jeana Todta.
Svi fanovi opravdavaju Ferrari, najčešće se čuje onaj izgovor da je Alonso bio brži od Masse, te u boljoj poziciji da se približi vrhu prvenstva. Ako je bilo toliko očito da je Alonso brz, zašto ga nije prošao? Mislim mi ipak pričamo o dvostrukom prvaku, pa mislim da bi on trebao biti sposoban da prođe "sporijeg" vozača, još ako su u pitanju tako važni bodovi da ostanu u utrci za naslov. Mnogi bi na to odgovorili da nisu željeli scenarij iz Turske, ali Ferrari kao najuspješnija momčad mora biti sigurna da se njihovi vozači znaju ponašati, te da neće izgurati jedan drugoga sa staze, kao što su to učinili McLarenovi vozači u Turskoj, jer ono što se dogodilo Red Bullu u Turskoj je zbog toga što su oni nova momčad, nemaju iskustva koje ima Ferrari i McLaren.
Ali to da se dva Ferrarijeva vozača bore za prvu poziciju nikad nije bilo moguće jer Ferrari otkad postoji ima vozač broj 1. i vozač broj 2. To definitivno nije u redu. Mislim što bi Massa sada trebao raditi do kraja sezone, biti točno iza Alonsa i pazi da ga nitko ne pretekne, ili ako je slučajno ispred njega dati mu svoje bodove?
Drugi izgovor je da pravilo o momčadskim naredbama je smiješno, ali zamislimo da nema tog pravila, momčadi bi namještale rezultat kako njima odgovara, i mene zanima onda gdje je tu sport? Gdje je tu natjecanje?
A Alonso, dvostruki prvak je sretan jer je pobjedio. Svaki pravi vozač zabio bi glavu u pjesak jer je tim morao reći drugome vozaču da uspori, kako bi on pobjedio, dok je Alonso sretan i ponosan.
Sigurno najveća žrtva ovoga je Felipe Massa. SIgurno mu nije lako, još mora govoriti da je on bio sporiji, da nije drugi vozač. Sigurno mu je sjajno voziti za najuspješniju momčad, alli ako si ti tu drugo vozač, i oni ti ne daju da pobjeđuješ nego tu pobjedu moraš pokloniti drugome nije lako.
Mislim da bi trebao postupiti kao Barrichello, koji je otišao iz Ferrarija, jer on je sve ovo isto radio za Schumachera. i mislim da je Barrichello sada puno sretniji u slabijoj momčadi Williamsu, nego što je bio u Ferrariju.
I dok se sada misli trebali li ukinuti zabranu o momčadskim naredbama, kad su se Vettel i Webber, te Massa i Alonso borili za najboolju poziciju, koja je momčad bolje postupila? Možda Red Bull izgubi naslov ove godine zbog toga te bi si sugrno čupali kosu, ali kako biste vi gledali na Alonsa ako on pobjedi u prvenstvu za samo nekoliko bodova prednosti koje mu je Massa poklonio? Sigurno ne biste mislili da je najbolji vozač svih vremena.

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nedjelja, 25.07.2010.

German GP 2010: Race; Massa gave win to Alonso, Seb 3rd

Nije bitno što nisam gledala Austriju 2002. (Rubens Barrichello po momčadskoj naredbi je morao pustiti Michael Schumachera da prođe) jer nam je Ferrari bio toliko ljubazan pa pružio reprizu tog događaja. Biti će poseban post o ovome događaju, ali amo se za sada koncentrirati na utrku.
Ja jesam fan Sebastiana Vettela, ali mislim da je pogriješio prilikom starta. Seb je mislio da mu je Alonso velika opasnost i da bi mu mogao oduzeti prvu poziciju, jer Red Bull možda je brz na kvalifikacijama, ali Ferrari, baš kao i McLaren imaju prednost u utrci. Vettel je zatvorio Alonsa, skroz ga je gurnio uz zid, no Alonso se uspjeo izvući i prijeći Vettela, no dok su oni vodili svoju bitku iza njih se provukao Massa i poveo poredak. Hamilton u McLarenu je opet dokazao da je brži i bolji od Jasona Buttona jer ga je prošao u prvome krugu te je svoju 4. poziciju zadržao do kraja utrke. Webber je isto tako loše startao, nigdje ga nije bilo cijelu utrku, završio je na 6. mjestu.
Žao mi je Williamsa, koji je startao kao 8. i 10. ali ipak završio izvan bodova, jer je svoje pozicije izgubio odmah u prvome krugu.
Renault, ili bolje reći Kubica radi čadi, uvijek je tu prvi vrhu, i da on sjedi u bolidu Red Bulla ili Ferrarija mislim da bi bio nedodirljiv. Petrov je ista dosta dobar rokkie, danas je uspio čak osvojiti bodove.
Svi su otprilike otišli u boks oko 13. kruga, i svi su zadržali svoje pozicije, nije bilo uopće akcije na stazi jedino nas je zabavio Ferrari. Nakon prvog odlaska u boks Alonso je bio iza Masse te ga je na sve načine pokušao prestići, no Massa je znao braniti svoju poziciju, i onda očito zbog statusa koji ima u momčadi Alonso preko tim radija javlja "Guys, this is ridiculous", Alonso je očito time htio reći da je smiješno to što ga on uopće pokušava prestići, da bi se Massa trebao maknuti u stranu i pustiti ga ga da prođe. Tada se Alonso udaljio od Massa i vozio iza njega oko 3 sekunde, no onda u 47. krugu Rob Smedley (inženjer Felipea Masse) javlja Felipeu Massi preko tim radija "Ok, So....Alonso..is faster than you...tell me if you understand the message". Žalosno je jer je ovo toliko očito šta znači. I onda u sljedećm, 48. krugu na pravcu Massa čudesno usporava, a Alonso ga prelazi. I krug poslije toga Rob Smedley kaže Massi "Good boy, I'm sorry". Toliko me cijela ova situacija razljutila.
Zbog situacije koja se dogodila na Silverstonu (između Kubice i zamisli...Alonsa) sve tim radije priče su javne, tj. svaka snimka se može pustiti u javnost, dok se prije moglo staviti veto na određenu snimku i nitko je ne bi smio čuti. I momčadi su tada odlučile da će preko tim radija govoriti u šiframa, ali mislim da su ovu šifru svi shvatili. Ferrari je prekršio pravilo o tome da se ne smije dogovarati vezano o rezultatu utrke, tj. momčad ne smije dati naredbu vozaču da pusti drugog vozača. Sigurna sam da će se priča o ovome nastaviti.
Utrka nije bila uopće zanimljiva, razmazile su nas prijašnje utrke. Ako je niste gledali niste mnogo propustili osim Ferrarijevog showa. Zanimljivo je da je samo 6 vozača završilo u istome krugu svi su zaostali jedan krug ili više, a Hamilton je za Vettelom kasnio čak 25 sekundi. Ferrari i Red Bull su danas bili klasa za sebe, iako moram priznati Ferrari je ipak bio brži od Red Bulla.

Classified:
01. F. Alonso 1:28:38:866
02. F. Massa +0:04:196
03. S. Vettel +0:05:121
04. L. Hamilton +0:26:896
05. J. Button +0:29:482
06. M. Webber +0:43:606
07. R. Kubica + 1 lap
08. N. Rosberg + 1 lap
09. M. Schumacher + 1 lap
10. V. Petrov + 1 lap
11. K. Kobayashi + 1 lap
12. R. Barrichello + 1 lap
13. N. Hulkenberg + 1 lap
14. P. de la Rosa + 1 lap
15. J. Alguersuari + 1 lap
16. V. Liuzzi + 2 laps
17. A. Sutil + 2 laps
18. T. Glock + 3 laps
19. B. Senna + 4 laps

Not classified:
H. Kovalainen 56 laps
L. di Grassi 50 laps
S. Yamamoto 19. laps
J. Trulli 3 laps
S. Buemi 1 lap

Fastest lap: S. Vettel: 1:15:824 (67. lap)

SV: “Normally we have very good starts, so I’m not really sure what happened today. I had quite a lot of grip, I dumped the clutch, but got bogged down, so the first five to ten metres of the acceleration were poor. I was lucky I didn't stall the engine, but I lost the momentum so I knew that it would be very tight with Fernando who I was already side by side with. There was no way I could stay ahead of him and then I was surprised to see Felipe coming from the left. But, after that we still had a good race. The closer I got to the car in front, I began to feel tyres losing grip and starting to grain, but I think for most of the race the Ferraris were probably a tenth or two quicker than us. It was difficult to keep up the pace. Towards the end we were able to push again a little bit. We finished third and I think we can be proud of that. We achieved our maximum today and I was very pleased to be on the podium. It’s very special for me at my home Grand Prix, it’s great to see the people here and to be on the podium – to see everyone cheering is very nice and emotional.”

Christian Horner: “Today’s race was dictated by the start. Unfortunately Sebastian didn’t get away cleanly and ended up on the right-hand side of the track. Massa got a good run on the left and we emerged from Turn one in P3 – that’s what shaped the race as far as Sebastian was concerned. With Mark, we took a calculated risk with the pit-stop. After that, he got caught up behind Rosberg, which cost him a bit of time and allowed Jenson to jump him. From there he did an excellent job in nursing an oil system issue that he managed well to the end of the race to score some important points. It was surprising what happened with the Ferraris, it looked to be a team order with the cars switching position. If so, it’s a shame for Formula One and the fans that they were deprived of a race between the two Ferrari drivers today.”

Press Conference:

Zbog svih zanimljivosti koje su se dogodile na VN Njemačke stavila sam cijelu pres conferenciju s najboljima na Hockenheimu: Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Felipe Massa (Ferrari) i Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull):

Q: Fernando, as the team told you at the end you have indeed been very quick this weekend. Frustration though for much of the race and you said on the team radio at one stage 'this is ridiculous' but in the end it ended very well for you.
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, I think it was a good weekend overall. We did improve the car a lot and immediately from Friday we felt very competitive. The car behaved very well and all the set-up adjustments worked really well here in Hockenheim. We know that some circuits will be better, some circuits will be worse. In the race as well we were competitive. We performed really well. Some parts of the race we were fighting very close for first position and it was a little bit dangerous but in the end I think it was a little bit more space between all the cars and we finished the laps with no more risky manoeuvres.

Q: It certainly wasn't a risky manoeuvre when you managed to get past Felipe. It looked rather easy from where we were watching.
FA: Well, I think I don't know what happened, but at the exit of turn six I saw Felipe a little bit slow and tried to overtake. You have to take every opportunity you have as it is a very difficult circuit to overtake and you only have one chance into turn six. I was never close enough to do an attempt, so at that point I overtook the other car and then it was 15 or 20 laps to the end. Some more cars to lap. That was some risk at some times as it is a very narrow circuit, especially the last sector, so it was not an easy race but very interesting.

Q: We heard in Australia this year you saying to the team 'look I am faster than Felipe, let me pass him'. At any stage were you saying that this afternoon?
FA: Well, I think sometimes you are quick, sometime you are slow depending on what stage the tyres are. Sometimes you have a little bit of graining and sometimes you have some other problems. In some parts of the race maybe I was quicker than him. Some other parts of the race Felipe was very quick and pulling away from Sebastian and me, so it is very difficult to judge but it is a very strong result for the team. Top three in qualifying and top two in the race and the best thing as well is that the car keeps improving. It is not a result down to the weather conditions or to anything like that. It is a good performance from the team and hopefully next week in Hungary we can do a good weekend as well and score some strong points for the team.

Q: Felipe, a year to the day since your accident in Hungary. A win would have been the perfect way to mark that anniversary. Did you feel you deserved a win this afternoon?
Felipe Massa: Well, I think so. The start was just fantastic and also the pace on the soft tyres was really great. Then I was struggling a little bit on the hard, but anyway it was a very good race for us.

Q: You were told by Rob Smedley, your race engineer, that Fernando was the faster car than yourself. A couple of laps later, turn six at the hairpin, talk us through what happened?
FM: Well, I don't think I need to say anything about that.

Q: Fernando managed to get past you. Did you make a mistake? Was it under braking?
FM: He passed me.

Q: Then Rob Smedley said 'Good lad, sorry'.
FM: Yeah.

Q: Did you feel that you weren't allowed to win that race?
FM: No, the only thing I feel is that we are working for the team and we are doing a very good job for the team and that is the most important thing.

Q: How pleasing is it for you that Ferrari are back up there competing with Red Bull?
FM: Well, I think it was a great job for the team during the last month I would say. We were pushing hard. This was a very good track for us but anyway I think we did a good job, good working inside the car, so the car became faster and faster race by race and I think that is very important for sure when you get to the track that you see your car is very, very competitive, so the best you can do is to do first and second on the track. This is what's happened today, so I think as a team we achieved the maximum that is possible for this race.

Q: Sebastian, another pole that sadly for you, you could not covert into victory. It was the start once again?
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, usually we have very good starts. Yesterday I was told Ferrari have good starts but I think up to today we had better ones. Not really sure what happened. I had quite a lot of grip, dumped the first clutch, so I had a big of a bog, so the first five to 10 metres of the acceleration were very poor. I was lucky I didn't stall the engine. I could get going again but lost the momentum, so I knew that it would be very tight with Fernando who was already side-by-side, so there was no way I could stay ahead of him. Then I was a little bit surprised when I saw Felipe come from the left. But still after that I think we had a good race. We knew it would be very tight. The closer you get you start to feel the tyres losing a bit of grip, starting to have a bit of graining but I think the majority of the race the Ferraris were probably just that tenth or two quicker than us, so it was difficult for us to keep up the pace. Towards the end we were able to push again a little bit but it is very tricky. You cannot really do your own rhythm as then you get so many lapped cars and depending on where you find them on the circuit, especially the last sector where it is very narrow, you can drop a lot of time and lose a lot of time but the race is done, so we finished third. I think we can be proud of that. We achieved our maximum today, so congratulations to Ferrari and I am pleased to be on the podium. Very special for me for my home grand prix to see the people here, be on that podium and see everyone cheering. It is very nice and emotional.

Q: Fernando, you needed a win before the summer break to re-ignite your championship challenge. Do you feel you have done that this weekend? You are back in business?
FA: I think apart from the win the most important thing is to feel confident with the car again, to feel that we are going in the right direction in terms of developing the car. The new parts on the car we introduced in the last couple of races seemed to work really well, so despite the win the better news for us in the last two or three races is that we are competitive. There were some grands prix that we were not quick enough to fight for pole positions, for wins, for podiums and we had to be conservative and now I think we can push a bit more, be more aggressive and try to score points. There is one race in one week. We did nothing today. I think we cannot go too low when the things were not very good for us and we need to be very calm after this strong result. We are happy, but we did nothing. This is the first step.

Q: Fernando, your feelings of a Ferrari one-two. I think it is a certain amount of frustration over the last few races but now you have finally done it.
FA: Yeah, I think we deserved this result for the team. No points for Felipe and me in Valencia and Silverstone with a competitive car for different reasons and very bad luck. We came back here with some upgrades in the car and with some new parts and they seemed to work really well. From Friday morning we felt competitive. We felt happy with the car, so we just were concentrating on finishing and doing a good Sunday with no mistakes and no problems and everything went fine. To win a race is always special, but to win a race for Ferrari is even more special. Two races we did well this year we were first and second, so this is a very strong result for the team. We just need to continue like this. I think we are going to go down when we have some disappointing races and we cannot be too excited after a strong result. This is a very long championship and we need to remain very focused for 10 months. Today is very important for the team, for the motivation of all the guys and especially for the technical people that keep working day and night to improve the car and this result is thanks to them. This is a good motivation for everybody in Maranello as well but as I said in four days we are in Hungary, so there is no time to really be too excited.

Q: How important is this win here but do you feel the car will be similarly suited to the Hungaroring?
FA: I think so. I don't see any reason to be pessimistic for Hungary. The car was competitive in Valencia and Silverstone, more competitive here, so in eight days hopefully the picture doesn't change so much, very strong competition with Red Bull and McLaren, but at least we are in the fight. There were some races this year when we were very close to Renault, to Mercedes and very far away from Red Bull and McLaren. Now I think we feel strong enough to fight with them for important points, so hopefully we can do a good weekend again in Hungary.

Q: Tell us about the start as you were a bit worried about being on the dirty side. There was a certain amount of pressure from Sebastian.
FA: The start was very good. We felt good grip already in the formation lap and then in the start itself it was okay. I felt I had a better start than Sebastian who lost a little bit of ground in the first metres. Then I was very close to the wall. Unfortunately I think this battle we lost a couple of metres close to the wall and we lost one position both to Felipe who started very good in third, so we arrived at the first corner quite close but enough to overtake Sebastian, so it was a super start, I think.

Q: Your view of the start. You must have been interested watching what was going off to your right.
FM: Well, I think the car first of all did a fantastic start. I think I prepared the tyres very well and then I just had a good grip, Sebastian not pulling away like I expected. He was a bit slower than I expected in terms of wheel spin or whatever. Then I just saw him coming to the right, so the only possibility was to go to the left, so I went to the left and then were fighting each other, so I took the chance to pass both, so it was a great start.

Q: After that how was the pace of the car? Did you feel it was pretty perfect?
FM: Yeah, I think it was very good on the soft tyres. It was really good, so I could manage to put a good pace lap by lap. The tyres behaved even better than I expected, the soft in terms of degradation, especially rear degradation. Then I arrived at the time to change to the hard and I was struggling a little bit more on the hard tyres, so it was no news about that. Anyway the car was behaving after but I think I lost a little bit of pace on the hard tyres.

Q: Then Fernando got past you. Was that your decision to let him past?
FM: Yeah, definitely.

Q: Yes, definitely?
FM: (No verbal answer)

Q: Sebastian, what was your feeling about the pace of the Ferraris today?
SV: Not a nice one. I lost two positions at the start. I think the formation lap start was fine, then coming to the race start the lights came off I released the first clutch lever and the revs dropped a lot. The first five to 10 metres the acceleration was very poor, so I lost a lot of momentum. Then it was difficult to recover. You lose that most crucial phase. I knew it would be tight with Fernando. I think he didn't have a great start either. Obviously he had to start from the dirty side, so I was trying to defend my position. But then he was side-by-side and as soon as I saw that there was no reason to go any further. The guy I am focused on is the guy closest to me at that stage and it was Fernando. Then Felipe came around the outside. It was tight then going with more or less three cars into the first corner but not a big deal. I lost two positions after turn one and that was it. After that I think our pace was fine. I felt comfortable in the car. But we were just this tenth or two slower today than the Ferraris. Both of them were pulling away at the first sting a little bit and then the gaps were consistent around I would say three to five seconds. Very difficult then to say as you never really get into a rhythm with the lapped cars. You lose out more than the others, sometimes less. It is tricky. In the end we were never close enough. In the end I think we were a bit quicker again but they had no reason to keep pushing that hard. I was getting closer to Felipe, but he didn't do any mistakes. None the less I am happy to be on the podium. It is special for myself, my home grand prix. Nice to be on the podium even if not the top step and see all the people. Very nice. Lots of energy and big boost for next week. I think we have a very competitive car and today our maximum was finishing third which we did. I would have loved to take a bit more points, but 15 points is still a lot looking at the championship. A lot of race left, so I am happy today.

Q: (Ian Parkes - The Press Association) Fernando and Felipe, via a coded message it appears that we've just witnessed a clear case of team orders being handed out. To Fernando, do you feel embarrassed about taking such a win, and to Felipe do you feel angry about having to give up such a win?
FM: For sure, you always want to win. That's always what we're working for. For sure we don't have team orders, so we just need to do the race that we can and if you see that you cannot do the race that you can, you need to think about the team. I think that's the most important thing.
FA: Yeah, same. What's important is the team result, so I'm happy.

Q: (Fredrik Af Petersens) Felipe, you said earlier that you lost out to Fernando on the hard tyres. How come that after you were passed, that you were doing more or less exactly the same lap times, a couple of times even faster?
FM: I was pushing hard as well but maybe I think he slowed down, I don't know. He was controlling the pace.

Q: (Alan Baldwin - Reuters) Felipe, after this afternoon, do you now think you're the number two driver at Ferrari?
FM: Well, I cannot say that I'm there fighting for first position in the championship. I've lost many points, important points, and the only thing I can say is that I know what I can do, I can win races, that's what counts and everybody saw today that I can win races and I can be competitive. For sure, what happened today is something that has happened in many races this year: when I put on the hard tyres I struggle. This is exactly what happened in the race. On the soft tyres, I was very strong and then when we went onto the hard, I was struggling again, so there's no news about that. So I know why sometimes I'm a little bit penalised, it's just because of the very hard tyres that we have this year. I don't think it's a good thing, to be honest, because you don't have strategies any more. Then also the grip level on hard tyres for me was always a little bit of an issue this year, and most of the races that we used these tyres I was struggling. And this is another one where I was very good on the soft tyres in the first part of the race, and then we put on the hard tyres and I was struggling again. It's a similar issue that we have had in some races.

Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo) Alonso, in a normal race, do you think you could have overtaken Massa, and Massa, in a normal race do you think Alonso could overtake you?
FM: Well, I think I was holding in a good way anyway, but the race is long and you always have many laps, so you never know what can happen in 20 laps. So maybe yes.
FA: Yeah, I think there was one moment also on (I don't know) which lap it was but we were side-by-side into turn six, especially with the people we were lapping - always there is a better chance to overtake and even though we didn't see too many overtakings here today we've seen a lot in the past on this circuit but this year maybe with the new cars etc we didn't see too many.

Q: (Ian Gordon - News of the World) Fernando, you said after Valencia that the race had been manipulated in favour of Lewis. Those words seem a bit hollow now. Where will this victory rank in your career, is it up there with Singapore 2008?
FA: I think you have a very strong result from Ferrari today, one and two, a very strong performance all weekend and if the final thought of the weekend is your question it's because maybe you didn't see the whole practice, qualifying and the race, so maybe it's too early for you that Ferrari came back so strong.

Q: (Ian Gordon - News of the World) Team orders are banned in Formula One. They were banned in 2002, that was blatant team orders.
FA: Sure.

Q: (Ian Gordon - News of the World) Eddie Jordan just said that you two should be kicked out of the race.
FA: Again, if this is the final thought of the weekend for you, I think it is because you didn't see the performance of the team and the performance from our car this weekend.

Q: (Juha Päätalo - Financial Times Germany) Fernando, I think we all know what happened on lap 48 and we don't need any fairy tales about tyres or anything to be clear of that. I just want to ask you, because in 2006 in Monza you said that Formula One is not a sport any more for you but was that which we saw today a sport?
FA: I think we tried to do our race, we tried to do as good as we can. We are professional drivers, we try to work in a team and we try to do the best we can every day, not only here on the track but also between the races, at the factory etc, preparing the races. Again, I think we've been doing a good job over the last couple of races and finally we got a strong Sunday with a strong result. I think we are happy with this, although there are things which are more for you if you want to write all these things.

Q: (Carlos Miquel - Diario AS) Fernando, do you feel that some people are worrying because you are back in the championship?
FA: Maybe it seems like this, yes.

Q: (Byron Young - The Daily Mirror) Fernando, what have you got to say to the people who would call this a dirty win and if you win the championship, a dirty champion?
FA: I have 19 races to... look at the overall races, there are a lot of points that we win sometimes and a lot of points that we lose sometimes. As I said, today was a good day, some other races were bad days for us, disappointing but as I said before, we need to remain focused, keep working, keep developing the car, not to be too excited when we win, not to be too down when we lose. In November, (we need to) try to be in the fight for the championship, not forgetting that Red Bull has so far been very dominant, not scoring many points on Sunday, or the points that they should have scored on Sunday, but remain very strong and McLaren as well, leading both championships, so there is still a long way to go for us.

Q: (Byron Young - The Daily Mirror) The reality is, though, that you couldn't beat him on the track, so you had to get the team to do it for you.
FA: If that's your opinion.

Q: (Byron Young - The Daily Mirror) I'm asking you, is that not your opinion?
FA: No.

Q: (Byron Young - The Daily Mirror) He had to give you this win, didn't he, Fernando?
FA: No.

Q: (Ian Parkes - The Press Association) Fernando, you've said that you're happy with this win but to be honest, I've never seen a driver look less happy in the middle of a podium there today, and in the middle of this press conference here. Why can't you just be honest with us for once, and just admit that this win was handed to you on a plate today?
SV: Can I go?

Q: (Ian Parkes - The Press Association) Go Sebastian! Sebastian, give us your thoughts?
FA: Hopefully the next question is for Sebastian. No, stay, stay. As I said, I think we were competitive on Friday, I was very competitive on Friday, first position. Finishing second in qualifying by 12 centimeters, I heard yesterday and today I think we scored the fastest lap of the race, so overall I don't think I was very slow this weekend.

Q: (Miran Alisic - Korpmedia) I have a question for Sebastian. I think you had some not similar but close situations with Mark as well. Do you feel proud that what has happened at Ferrari today hasn't happened in your team?
SV: Don't you have another question maybe? Yeah, maybe they should have crashed. I don't know, I haven't seen the incident. I was too far back. I always saw them going into the hairpin when I was coming out of turn five, so I don't know what you're all talking about. I can guess but I don't know. For sure my advice would not be it's better to crash because also then you get a lot of questions that you have to answer so... Yeah, for me I was focusing on my own race and trying to do my thing, trying to stay close enough, trying to get closer, trying to put them under pressure. It didn't work, so I'm not pleased with that. No matter who you race, it's always difficult in Formula One to pass people and sometimes you have to take a lot of risk. When you don't have to race your team-mate, you're racing for the team, both of you, both drivers and on the other hand everyone looks for his own advantage. We had a couple of situations this year in our team, so it's quite a comedy that we are not in focus at this stage but life changes quickly, so… It's never wise to say anything that you might regret. Maybe in a week's time. I'm happy where we are now, as a team. Again, I can only repeat that from the outside there was more of a fuss made than there was inside. I can assure you that Mark and myself are always looking to do our best but on top of that, I think we understood many times this year that the team is the main priority and we are racing for the team, in the end. We don't get our cheque from you guys, we get it from the team. I think that's something we always have to respect.

Q: (Ralf Bach - R & B) Felipe, you said it was your decision to let Fernando past, so my first question is why did you take this decision, as a racing driver in Formula One, and my second question is do you have any idea why Rob Smedley said sorry to you? FM: No. (Regarding your first question) As I said, because I was not so strong on the hard, so we need to think about the team.

Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo) Felipe, Rubens damaged his image a lot in Brazil when he did what you did today. Until now you had the support of the country; aren't you worried that now after you did what Rubens did you have deeply damaged your image in Brazil?
FM: For sure not, for sure not. I'm very professional and I've showed in my career how professional I am. You are professional as well, you work for a company. I believe you are doing what you have to do, so I'm professional and today I showed how professional I am. That's it.

Q: (Tony Dodgins - Tony Dodgins Associates) Fernando you're getting quite a bit of flak but as you say, you've been the quicker Ferrari driver for most of the weekend. We see it so often that the guy who is second on the grid gets beaten away by the guy who is third. Is there ever a case for actually asking to reverse the positions on the grid?
FA: I think there are some circuits where the clean side is an advantage. There are some circuits where it is not an advantage, for example in Hungary next weekend, it will be crucial to be on the clean side. There are other circuits like that. There's nothing we can do. We have a fifty percent chance of being on the clean or dirty side of the grid, unless you are the quickest which secures the clean side. The only thing we can do is to fight for pole position which allows you to be on the clean side. If not, I don't see any other possibility. Maybe there should be more distance. Instead of eight meters, maybe 12 or whatever.

Q: (Tony Dodgins - Tony Dodgins Associates) Take today, if you'd been able to opt to start third instead of second and actually swap places, would you have done it?
FA: Maybe I would have done a bad start, you never know. I think it was a good start today, overtaking Sebastian and that was our target today. You never know.

Q: (Anne Giuntini - L'Equipe) To both Fernando and Felipe, we always talk about the show, the necessity of the show in Formula One. Can you conceive that race lovers and show lovers might be a bit frustrated today?
FA: Well, I think we try to put on a good show always for people, for spectators but as Felipe or Sebastian said, we work for companies, we work for teams. Sometimes, as we saw this year, there are crashes between team-mates and the loss of 42 points for the team. Today Ferrari has 42 in their pocket, so I think it's what we are here for.

Q: (Ted Kravitz - BBC Sport) Fernando, after the pit stop, when you were behind Felipe, we heard a radio message, it wasn't very clear, but it sounded like you were telling the team guys 'think of the victory.' Did you say that?
FA: No.

Najbolji trenuci GP vikenda u Njemačkoj:

Zanimljiv vikend, no već sljedeći tjedan nas čeka Mađarska, koja je tako blizu, a opet tako daleko!

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

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subota, 24.07.2010.

German GP 2010: Qualifying; Seb wins pole by only 0.002 sec

Red Bull Racingov vozač Sebastian Vettel je postavio najbrže vrijeme na kvalifikacijama za VN Njemačke, odvozivši završnici fantastičan leteći krug koji je od Alonsovog bio brži za samo 0.002 sek.
Ferrarijev napredak je trećim mjestom naglasio Felipe Massa, dok je četvrto vrijeme imao pobjednik zadnje utrke - Mark Webber. Australca slijede dva McLarena, dok se domaći junak Michael Schumacher nije kvalificirao u posljednji segment.
S obzirom da je imao najbrža vremena u Q1 i Q2, Alonso je djelovao i kao favorit za najbolju startnu poziciju. Poveo je poredak i u posljednjem kvalifikacijskom segmentu, a Vettel ga je slijedio s 0.034 sek. zaostatka.
No, dvadeset trogodišnji Nijemac je u svom posljednjem letećem krugu izvukao nekoliko stotinki i spustio se na 1:13.791, deplasiravši Alonsa na drugo mjesto. Činilo se da Španjolac ima odgovor i na to vrijeme, no prednost je izgubio u posljednjem sektoru.
Massin zaostatak za prvom dvojicom je pola sekunde, dok se Webber na kraju morao zadovoljiti tek četvrtim mjestom, nakon što je u posljednjem krugu napravio vozačku pogrešku.
Današnje kvalifikacije je obilježio i jedan neobični događaj. Naime, općenito sporiji McLarenov vozač Jenson Button danas je porazio svog momčadskog kolegu Lewisa Hamiltona s kojim dijeli treći startni red, ispred Roberta Kubice.
Zadovoljavajuće kvalifikacije je imao i Williams, čiji su se vozači plasirali u Q3. Barrichello je u završnici imao osmo najbrže vrijeme, dvije pozicije ispred svog momčadskog kolege Hulkenberga. Između njih se ubacio Nico Rosberg u Williamsu.
S druge strane, Michael Schumacher je tijekom Q2 proživljavao agoniju pred domaćim navijačima jer je prolazak u Q3 izgubio u samoj završnici, gdje ga je na jedanaesto mjesto izgurao Nico Hulkenberg u Williamsu s kojim, inače, dijeli menadžera - Willija Webera.
Do prolaska u Q3 malo je dijelilo i Sauberovog vozača Kamuija Kobayashija koji je zbog vozačke pogreške u završnici pao na 12. mjesto, ali samo ga je 0.066 sek. dijelilo do prve desetorice.
Force India je imala problematične kvalifikacije; Adrian Sutil je najprije dobio kaznu od + pet pozicija zbog promjene mjenjača uoči kvalifikacija, a kasnije je odvozio tek 14. najbrže vrijeme. Liuzzi je, pak, na početku kvalifikacija izazvao crvenu zastavu, nakon što je izletio na posljednjem zavoju i udario u zid.
Kod novih momčadi je ponovno najbrži bio Lotus. Od njihovih vozača je Trulli bio brži od Kovalainena, no naglasimo da je ispred obojice jedno vrijeme bio i Glock, dok se na njegovom Virginu nisu pojavili mehanički problemi. Glockov momčadski kolega, Lucas di Grassi nije ni nastupio na kvalifikacijama zbog problema s mjenjačem.

Rezultati kvalifikacija:
01. S. Vettel RBR-Renault 1:15.152 1:14.249 1:13.791
02. F. Alonso Ferrari 1:14.808 1:14.081 1:13.793
03. F. Massa Ferrari 1:15.216 1:14.478 1:14.290
04. M. Webber RBR-Renault 1:15.334 1:14.340 1:14.347
05. J. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.823 1:14.716 1:14.427
06. L. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.505 1:14.488 1:14.566
07. R. Kubica Renault 1:15.736 1:14.835 1:15.079
08. R. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:16.398 1:14.698 1:15.109
09. N. Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:16.178 1:15.018 1:15.179
10. N. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:16.387 1:14.943 1:15.339
11. M. Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:16.084 1:15.026
12. K. Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:15.951 1:15.084
13. V. Petrov Renault 1:16.521 1:15.307
14. A. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:16.220 1:15.467*
15. P. de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:16.450 1:15.550
16. J. Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:16.664 1:15.588
17. S. Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:16.029 1:15.974
18. J. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:17.583
19. H. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:18.300
20. T. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:18.343**
21. B. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:18.592
22. V. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:18.952
23. S. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1:19.844
24. L. di Grassi - no time

* Kažnjen s 5 mjesta nižeg starta zbog promjene mjenjača

** Kažnjen zbog promjene mjenjača i 7. stupnja prijenosa (-10 mjesta)

SV: “That was extremely exciting, especially in Q3. I knew that both times I went out I only had one timed lap, so I had to get it right. It’s difficult here, there are some places that can easily lead you into a mistake on this track. If you push too much then you can lose the edge of the tyres and some time. My final lap wasn’t 100 percent perfect and there were a couple of places where I went over the limit, which cost me some time. But, in the end, it was enough - although only just - to stay ahead and get the pole. I am extremely happy - thanks to the team. It is the first time I am on pole at home, but the main challenge will come tomorrow.”

Press Conference:

Pres konferencija s troje najbržih vozača na VN Njemačke: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) i Felipe Massa (Ferrari). Stavila sam samo odgovore Sebastiana Vettela, ali ako želite pročitati cijelu možete OVDJE.

Q: Sebastian, congratulations. Your third pole in a row. Your first in your home event and by such a small margin as well.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, it would be interesting to calculate how much it is, two thousands of a second. It was very, very close. All session Fernando was really strong and in general the Ferraris are very competitive here. We knew it would be a difficult session but two thousands of a second is not really the margin you are looking for, so we had to push very hard. It was extremely exciting especially Q3. I knew that both times I had only one lap to get it right here. There are some places that lead you easily into a mistake, so it was close. You push a little too much and you lose the edge of the tyres and then you start to feel you are losing the time, so my last run wasn’t 100 per cent perfect. I had a little bit here and there where I went a little bit above the limit and it cost a little bit of time but in the end it was enough by nearly nothing to stay ahead and get on pole. So extremely happy. First time on pole at home, but the main challenge will come tomorrow. I think we do have a very strong car here and it will be a tough fight against the red cars I guess.

Q: You were the first of the leading competitors to go out for the final run, so it was a nervy wait. Do you think that might have been a mistake as the track does get quicker?
SV: Yeah, the track does get a little quicker towards the end but it is not much. You could possibly argue it is not two thousands of a second or something like that. It is very small. We wanted to go out and wanted to make sure we got a clean run and especially a clean preparation with the out-lap without any traffic, so I could time myself and bring the tyres in the way I wanted to. It worked well, so in the end we put the car on pole. So we did everything right but it is not a nice feeling when you cross the line and you see the screen on the dash and you see the screen passing and you know that you are on top, currently P1 is being said on the radio, and then you just go down the straight line praying ‘please, please, please let it be enough’. Then obviously I got the call from the team that we did it. But when I got the call that I did it by two thousands of a second I was even more relieved. It was very close but I didn’t guess that close. It was an exciting session for the people and it is good to be here. A lot of people for yesterday and today, so hopefully there will be more cheering for all of us tomorrow.

Q: Sebastian, looking ahead to tomorrow’s race. It is not your team-mate alongside you. I don’t know if that makes you smile or not but Fernando will give you a tough race I am sure.
SV: Surely, but unlike Silverstone here the clean side is really worth quite a bit. Fernando and myself in the last race were quite surprised by the bad grip that we had on the clean side, so here it should be good for us and we have a very strong car. It is very close to the Ferraris but usually we have a decent pace in the race. It is a long race, anything is possible. We start from the best position, so we could not have done any better today but now we are looking forward to tomorrow, that is the main target. It is nice to be here in the middle on Saturday but in the end there is no real reward except going to sleep with a good feeling but we need to confirm it tomorrow. That is the objective.

Q: Sebastian, how important is it for you this race to be on pole position at home, especially in front of the team owner Dietrich Mateschitz who is here this weekend.
SV: It is as important to be on pole as in every race. It is nice as there are a lot of people supporting us, supporting Red Bull, supporting myself. It is a bit of an extra on top, I don’t mind. It was a good day today. A very close session, very close battle with the other cars and good to be on pole. It is the best you can achieve on a Saturday but the main challenge will come tomorrow.

Q: You said yesterday how good the car was in the final sector. What was it like in the other two sectors? Did you have to improve it today?
SV: To be honest yesterday I didn’t say it was good in the last sector. I can’t remember. It was good yesterday. I was struggling a little bit with the car under braking. I didn’t feel 100 per cent comfortable and I didn’t have the control yet that I usually have, so struggling to find the right brake balance and putting the car in the right place at the entrance of the corner. It was much better this morning, so I felt much better, much more confident and all in all I had a very good, kind qualifying. We were able to improve, improve, improve. The last qualifying we know that both times we had one lap and it worked in the end with a very little margin but it was very easy to go a little bit above the limit of the tyres and then you find the tyres sliding rather than just being on the edge and it is very easy then to lose some lap times. The last lap was good but could have been a fraction better to have a bit more margin to Fernando. I don’t think we can rely in the future on having these two thousands of a second in our hand but it was a good challenge, very tough session mentally, so I am happy that we made it and it is good to be on pole for tomorrow.

Q: How obvious is the tyre strategy tomorrow given these conditions which were not perhaps expected?
SV: Well, I don’t know what the weather forecast is. I heard dry. I think the majority of the top 10 cars are on the option. People compare this race because of the tyres choice to Montreal, Canada, but I think the circuit is different and we have seen yesterday and today even in changeable conditions with a very green track which is usually not good for tyres that the option tyre holds up well and is actually not a big problem to make it last for something like 10 laps or more. So it should be fine and no matter when you change to the hard tyre you know that you can drive this one to Hungary without any problems. It should be clear. You never know what happens in terms of weather, safety cars, so we will have to see and adapt but if you go into the race looking for the best strategy I think we are on the right page.

Q: (Marco Degli’Innocenti - La Gazzeta dello Sport) Sebastian, looking at the qualifying, you are on pole and there are two more young German drivers in the first ten and Michael Schumacher is eleventh. Do you think there has been a sort of symbolic changing of the guard here in Hockenheim?
SV: I sat here on Thursday with Michael. I think great champions know what they’re doing. Obviously at the moment he’s probably not having the easiest time with the car. You need to ask him why that is. It’s good to have young drivers in general coming up. It’s very close at the top, so it’s good that as a German from Germany there are lots of drivers, we have quite a lot this season. So it’s good for our country but I think it’s how it goes sometimes. I don’t think that today is a symbolic day which you will always remember and look back to. I think it’s good to have so many Germans, it’s good for our country, but there will be a time when you have four French drivers or five. At the moment you have zero, so it changes. Sometimes you call it good work in the lower categories, sometimes it’s probably just luck. I don’t think there’s really a real reason. If I look back, when I started karting, Michael was already in Formula One and was a World Champion, so a lot of kids were inspired by his success and entered karting and for sure, if you have one thousand talents the chance that there’s probably one is higher than if you only have ten or one hundred. There will be one and this one will make it. It always helps the more popular the sport is… I don’t want to talk forever but if you look at tennis, we had Boris Becker but that’s already a long time ago. Since then there have been good tennis players from Germany, don’t get me wrong, but not a hero, so obviously it’s difficult to push the sport if you don’t have one person you can look up to and I still think that Michael is this person in Formula One and motor sport for Germany, so it’s good that he came back.

Q: (Heikki Kulta - Turun Sanomat) Sebastian, was this the tightest ever pole position that you’ve won?
SV: Yes, I think so. I don’t think you can be much tighter than two thousandths. There’s only one thousandth, so I guess it was. I don’t know but I’m quite sure yes. In the end it doesn’t matter. If you win pole position or the race by one thousandth of a second or ten seconds or the World Championship by one point or a hundred points, there will always be the guy who is first and the guy who is second and in the end it doesn’t matter. For sure now, I said on the team radio as well, probably all the bad stuff we had this season already, it was good now to be a bit lucky and have this two thousandths of a second on our side. I think we did a very good job. It was a tough session, it was close between us, so we find ourselves in a very good position and I think we deserved it, so it’s good to be here again but there are no points on Saturday, so the challenge will come tomorrow.

Q: (Byron Young - The Daily Mirror) Seb, there was a lot of controversy at the last race regarding the difference between your car and Mark’s car. Can we just be clear about the difference here today?
SV: It’s all different. He’s Australian, I’m German. He has car number six, I have car number five, so I think there’s lots of stuff for you to write again. Yeah, it’s always different, you know. No part is the same, no car is the same. I don’t know which road car you have but even if it says 160 horsepower, I guess that if you buy exactly the same car again, it’s probably not 160.0 again. There will always be a bit of a margin but we do have the same cars and the same possibilities as usual. I think he was very close in Q2, I don’t know about Q3. Maybe he had a problem, I haven’t had the chance… obviously you’re so focused on your own car, so I don’t know what happened to him but when I looked at the lap time after the first run I was a little bit surprised. As I said, not many differences but for sure, if you want to find something, you will find something.

Q: (Frederic Ferret - L’Equipe) Sebastian, Michael has always been very important to German fans. Do you think you can take his place in the heart of Germany one day? And does it matter to you?
SV: I don’t think anyone can take Michael’s place. Michael is Michael and he always will be. To the sport he’s a legend, like other legends, like other great champions – Prost, Senna – you know, he’s in the same league and there’s no way you can replace someone. Felipe races for Brazil. Obviously the hero of the past was Ayrton Senna but Felipe has his own style and his own way. In Spain the hero is Fernando and no one will replace him. For sure Michael is the one that everyone is looking up to in Germany and that won’t change for quite a long time. I think the records he has set are quite unique, so even though at the moment he gets a lot of shit, he probably knows what he’s doing. I think if you look at his face, he seems relaxed, so he knows what’s going on and I think that’s also a quality a champion has to have.

Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto, Motor und Sport) Sebastian, you made up your time in comparison to Ferrari in the last sector, Ferrari are faster in the second one. Which one is the more important in the race?
SV: It’s quite different, because obviously in qualifying you are on low fuel whereas at the start of the race or for the majority of the race you are on quite high fuel. Yeah, it’s true we are quicker… we are similar in sector one. There are not too many corners, we are quick in the last sector, so it’s good, the corners that we have there, we can use them to maybe build a cushion. There are not too many corners in the second sector, it’s obviously stopping the car and it seems that the Ferrari is very strong there, also in straight-line speed. We have seen in the last couple of races that they are quite quick on the straights which is usually not one of our strengths. It’s good to be ahead of them, rather than behind, because overtaking would be a bit a more difficult and I think that generally here overtaking is difficult even though you have a nice place into turn six but you have to be close enough first, so it’s good to be up front. The target is to defend the position in the beginning and then once you are in race trim it should be a bit easier.

Sebastian Vettel pole position lap:

Sjajne kvalifikacije! Svaka čast Vettelu! Sigurno je super osvojiti 6. pole position sezone, ali jo bolje kada je to za samo 0.002 sekunde i još to pred domaćom publikom. Sigurna sam da će Vettel osvojiti sutrašnju utrku na svome domaćem GP vikendu.

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

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German GP 2010: Free Practice 3

Sebastian Vettel završio je na vrhu poretka na posljednjim slobodnim treninzima na Hockenheimu. Nijemac je bio oko 3 desetinke brži od Fernanda Alonsa u Ferrariju, te 6 desetinki brži u odnosu na momčadskog kolegu, Marka Webbera.
Felipe Massa postavio je četvrto najbolje vrijeme i plasirao se ispred Nice Rosberga i Lewisa Hamiltona, nakon kojega slijede Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Robert Kubica i Nico Hulkenberg.
Tijekom početnog dijela treninga padala je lagana kiša, no vrijeme se popravilo nakon prvih pola sata, te su vozači mogli nastaviti s pripremama za kvalifikacije na više-manje suhoj stazi.

Rezultati 3. slobodnog treninga:
01. S. Vettel 1:15:103
02. F. Alonso +0:00:284
03. M. Webber +0:00:605
04. F. Massa +0:00:751
05. N. Rosberg +0:00:943
06. L. Hamilton +0:01:104
07. M. Schumacher +0:01:370
08. R. Barrichello +0:01:378
09. R. Kubica +0:01:543
10. N. Hulkenberg +0:01:640
11. K. Kobayashi +0:01:779
12. S. Buemi +0:01:887
13. J. Button +0:01:934
14. V. Petrov +0:02:045
15. P. de la Rosa +0:02:117
16. J. Alguersuari +0:02:238
17. V. Liuzzi + 0:02:435
18. H. Kovalainen +0:04:090
19. J. Trulli +0:04:504
20. B. Senna +0:05:430
21. L. di Grassi +0:06:435
22. S. Yamamoto +0:08:341
23. T. Glock +0:08:770
24. A. Sutil - no time

Seb je na 3. slobodni trening stigao na zanimljiv način. :)

Source: f1-hr.com / motorsport.com

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petak, 23.07.2010.

German GP 2010: Free Practice 2

Ferrarijev vozač Fernando Alonso je postavio najbrže vrijeme na drugom slobodnom treningu u Hockenheimu, sugerirajući time da bi talijanska momčad konačno mogla imati dobar vikend.
Alonso se tijekom drugog slobodnog treninga za prvo mjesto borio s momčadskim kolegom Felipeom Massom i Markom Webberom iz Red Bulla, a u prednost nad njima je došao nakon što se mokra staza osušila.
Sva trojica su najbrža vremena postavila na super mekanim, opcijskim gumama i imali su prvo, treće i četvrto najbrže vrijeme.
Iza Alonsa se ubacio Sebastian Vettel, koji je ranije imao kritični trenutak u stadionskom dijelu staze, gdje je izletio na šljunčanu klopku.
Vettel je nakon toga u nekoliko navrata pokušao voziti brže od Alonsa, no na kraju se ipak morao zadovoljiti drugim vremenom, ali sa samo 0.029 sek. zaostatka u odnosu na Alonsa.
Ferrarijeve i Red Bullove vozače, koji su okupirali prva četiri mjesta, slijede dvojica Mercedesovih - Nico Rosberg i Michael Schumacher. Obojica su oštetila svoje bolide tijekom treninga; Rosberg je na rubniku slomio prednje krilo, dok je Schumacher u nekoliko navrata izlazio van staze, zbog čega je ranije završio s programom.
Sedmo najbrže vrijeme je imao McLarenov vozač Lewis Hamilton, koji se treningu priključio tek u 74. minuti, budući da je na prethodnoj sesiji izletio i teško oštetio bolid.
S druge strane, Jenson Button je i danas bio očekivano sporiji od svog momčadskog kolege te je imao tek 15. najbrže vrijeme.
Osmi najbrži, ispred Barrichella, je bio Robert Kubica u Renaultu, dok Adrian Sutil nije mogao ponoviti rezultat s prvog treninga. U poslijepodnevnoj sesiji je bio tek 14. najbrži.

Rezultati 2. slobodnog treninga:
01. F. Alonso 1:16:265
02. S. Vettel +0:00:029
03. F. Massa +0:00:173
04. M. Webber +0:00:320
05. N. Rosberg +0:00:562
06. M. Schumacher +0:00:706
07. L. Hamilton +0:00:739
08. R. Kubica +0:00:744
09. R. Barrichello +0:00:791
10. N. Hulkenberg +0:00:939
11. K. Kobayashi +0:01:071
12. V. Petrov +0:01:282
13. P. de la Rosa +0:01:308
14. A. Sutil +0:01:436
15. J. Button +0:01:474
16. V. Liuzzi +0:01:606
17. S. Buemi +:01:882
18. J. Alguersuari +0:03:062
19. T. Glock +0:03:288
20. J. Trulli +0:03:743
21. L. di Grassi +0:03:841
22. H. Kovalainen +0:04:112
23. B. Senna +0:05:723
24. S. Yamamoto +0:06:801

SV: “The conditions were not easy today, they were quite changeable, which made judging lap times difficult, but we got some dry running in the afternoon which was important. I think it’s looking quite good and the car feels good, especially in the last section. Ferrari looked extremely competitive; McLaren had a difficult day with only one car for the majority of running, but they will come back and be up there. I did a bit of rallying in P2 when I lost the rear going into the Stadium section and had to find my way through the gravel, but fortunately I could save the car and there was no problem.”

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

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German GP 2010: Free Practice 1

Na kišovitim prvim slobodnim treninzima na Hockenheimu, najbolje vrijeme postavio je impresivno brz Adrian Sutil, koji je za više od sekunde nadmašio Felipea Massu i Jensona Buttona.
Rubens Barrichello završio je na četvrtom mjestu ispred Vitalija Petrova i Nice Rosberga, kojega prate Sebastien Buemi, Nico Hulkenberg, te Vitantonio Liuzzi i Pedro de la Rosa.
Sebastian Vettel u Red Bullu je tek 11. s 3 sekunde zaostatka.
Najgori rezultat je sigurno Schumacher u Mercedesu koji je tek 23. s čak 6 sekundi zaostatka.
Tijekom 90 minutnih treninga, mokra je staza neprestano iznenađivala vozače, stoga je proklizavanja i izlijetanja sa staze bilo napretek. Najgore je prošao Lewis Hamilton, koji je u zavoju broj 4 izletio sa staze te lakše oštetio prednji i nešto ozbiljnije stražnji kraj svojeg McLarena.
Fairuz Fauzy je vozio za Lotus umjesto Heikkija Kovalainena, a Sakon Yamamoto će cijelu Njemački GP vikend voziti umjesto Chandoka za HRT.

Rezultati 1. slobodnog treninga:
01. A. Sutil 1:25:701
02. F. Massa +0:01:149
03. J. Button +0:01:235
04. R. Barrichello +0:01:246
05. V. Petrov +0:01:247
06. N. Rosberg +0:01:747
07. S. Buemi +0:02:413
08. N. Hulkenberg +0:02:492
09. V. Liuzzi +0:02:599
10. P. de la Rosa +0:02:785
11. S. Vettel +0:03:034
12. T. Glock +0:03:034
13. R. Kubica +0:03:202
14. M. Webber +0:03:347
15. J. Trulli +0:03:579
16. J. Alguersuari +0:03:665
17. L. Hamilton +00:03:728
18. L. di Grassi +00:03:799
19. F. Alonso +0:03:983
20. K. Kobayashi +0:03:989
21. F. Fauzy +0:05:237
22. B. Senna +0:06:019
23. M. Schumache +0:06:749
24. S. Yamamoto +0:07:090

Source: f1-hr.com / formula1.com

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četvrtak, 22.07.2010.

German GP 2010: Thursday at Hockenheim; FIA Thursday Press Conference & Pics

Nakon što je održan Red Bull Show u Vettelove rodnome gradu Heppenheimu prošli tjedan, Seb je stigao u Hockenheim (pola sata udaljen od Heppenheima) uoči VN Njemačke:

FIA Thursday press conference:

Pres konferencija na kojoj su bili imo Glock (Virgin), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), Adrian Sutil (Force India), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) i Mark Webber (Red Bull). Na blogu su objavljeni samo Vettelovi odgovori, ali ako želite pročitati cijelu možete OVDJE.

Q: For four of you it’s your home race. Just a quick word on what it means to you. Your hopes and expectations. How much you enjoy it or maybe you don’t enjoy it. Timo, your comments.
Sebastian Vettel: I think it is always nice to be back home. For me and Timo we are very close from this area, so sorry for the weather first of all but it is nice to be here. We all know the circuit very well and driving in front of your home crowd is always something special. We saw it the last race at Silverstone. The people were cheering a lot for Jenson (Button) and Lewis (Hamilton), so it is a bit of the same for us here. We are enjoying it and we all want to do well. I think apart from Michael none of us has won his home race yet, so that is the target for this weekend.

Q: Sebastian, you ran the Red Bull car in your home town last weekend. I was going to say is that the fastest you’ve ever been through the streets, but I won’t ask that question. What was it like?
SV: It was great. It was in a 50kph zone in the city, so of course we didn’t exceed the speed limit. It was crazy. The night before I was actually a bit nervous about how many people will come and watch us and then the day after it was sunny. It was a fantastic day and we had more than 120,000 people coming, so they had to block the motorway and it was absolutely crazy. I didn’t see much of my old roads I used to go to school or the swimming pool or whatsoever as it was full of people. But it was very nice and I think we put on a good show. We also had a DTM car there and a guy with a motorbike, so all in all I think it was a great package and a lot of people came, so I hope they will make it as well this weekend. On Sunday I think it should be dry, so it will be nice.

Q: A lot has happened at Red Bull since the last grand prix. Have you now set the re-set button between you and Mark? Are you now back to normal?
SV: Well, I think as far as I understood if you said to Red Bull I think we are still selling cans, so not much has happened in that regard. A lot of talk and a lot of press but the most important thing you need to understand is that it doesn’t matter who wins the race. In the end we are a team and Red Bull Racing won the race on the Sunday. Mark did, so it was a great result. For some reason, or unfortunately, we didn’t get a lot of positive feedback. We know where the focus is. It is surely on this race and nowhere else. The team is motivated as ever, so the most important is the atmosphere within the team and for us it doesn’t get affected by what is being said or written.

Q: (Udo Doring - Darmstadter Echo) Sebastian, during the days after Heppenheim, has it kind of been like being on cloud number nine with this great support in your home town? And yesterday, you couldn’t play soccer; was it a serious injury?
SV: It’s nothing. I can still walk but to play soccer or to play football would probably have been a bit too risky, so that’s why I had to cancel. I had a bit of an incident at the beginning of the week, nothing big, but it didn’t allow me to play football yesterday. Yeah, I was back home and obviously it settles down. First of all you need to understand what happened. It was a very special day, the Sunday, and as I said, a lot of people - I’ve never seen it that busy there. All in all, it was just a fantastic day. We started off very early in the morning in the old town, the old party of the city. It takes a while to settle, as I said. It might still be difficult to understand that so many people came to see us but it was a very, very nice day.

Q: (Alan Baldwin - Reuters) Sebastian, sorry if I’ve missed something but perhaps you could just clarify this incident with your leg that you had at the beginning of the week?
SV: I fell down when I was running. Nothing special but I had a bit of a hyper-extension of the muscle on the leg, nothing big. I can walk, it’s not a disaster.

Q: (Byron Young - The Daily Mirror) Seb, I’m sure you’re not too young to have watched Michael win some of his World Championships. What did you learn from what you saw when you watched when he was competing and when he won World Championships?
SV: Many things. I think from great champions there are always a lot of things you can learn, and also if you look outside the table of Formula One, if you look at others sports - tennis, golf – there are great players, great individuals. They’re probably all talented but then there are one or two popping out, like probably at the moment Roger Federer and Nadal in tennis. What did I learn from Michael? I think you just need to listen to what he says. Obviously in the past I was watching mainly, like he said even now. Obviously he himself knows best which situation he is in at the moment. Obviously there are a lot of expectations from the outside but it’s part of being a great champion, being wise enough to know what you have to focus on. As he said, there are always two worlds: one is the entertainment and one is the sporting side. I think we clearly understood that he is focussing more on the sporting side and trying to come back and win races again. I could give you many examples but I think that was the lesson of the last ten minutes, I guess.

Q: (Byron Young - The Daily Mirror) I just wanted to ask Mark what the reception has been like here from the fans? Is there any sense that you’re the rival to their local hero?
SV: No, I think it’s been a very good reception so far. I think motor sport here in Germany has a huge following. I think there’s a lot of guys who obviously followed Michael in his day, and now there’s fresh blood, fresh talent, more people on the grid because of what Michael achieved, so they have a better knowledge of the sport, I suppose. They know there’s a bit of bullshit here and there which comes with the sport, and I suppose they like to watch the racing unfold. I drove for Mercedes Benz here, I did a lot of testing here with the sports car, so I have a little bit of a feeling for the guys. Obviously I’m not German but in terms of I have a feeling for how they follow their motor sport, so it’s a good time for me to drive here, at that part of my career as well.

I još malo zanimljivih slika: :)

Source: formula1.com / motorsport.com

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Red Bull: Jednakost vozača je najbolja solucija

Interne kontroverze Red Bull Racinga se nastavljaju i dva tjedna nakon Silverstonea, pa je njihov direktor Christian Horner izjavio da im je prioritet ne naći se opet u istoj situaciji, a otkrio je i koliko ih je dijelilo od odluke da u Silverstoneu uopće ne koriste novo prednje krilo. Novo prednje krilo je ponovno u akciji ovog vikenda. Plan nam je voziti s njim ovog vikenda i obojica će ga imati od petka. Nadam se da ćemo od njih imati dovoljno podrške tijekom cijelog vikenda."
Na pitanje novinara s koliko su novih prednjih krila došli u Njemačku, Horner je odgovorio: "Imamo malo više od dva primjerka."
Horner je rekao i da bi momčad, u slučaju da nema dovoljno novih dijelova za obojicu, prioritet ovog vikenda, a da se nađe u takvoj situaciji, dala Marku Webberu, budući da ima više bodova od Vettela u prvenstvu.
"Ako komponenta zakaže bez krivnje vozača, a ne zaboravimo da ni Sebastian na Silverstoneu nije sam razbio svoje krilo, onda će vrijediti isto pravilo. Ali, trudit ćemo se i nadamo se da se više nećemo naći u takvoj situaciji."
U nastavku intervjua, Horner je prokomentirao događaje sa Silverstonea, demantiravši spekulacije da su u Red Bullu odmah znali što im je bilo za činiti, čim je prednje krilo s Vettelovog bolida otpalo.
Otkrio je i da je momčad sumnjala da je Webberovo krilo također oštećeno te da su ga s njegovog bolida uklonili zbog mjera predstrožnosti.
Nakon toga su odradili i testove koji su otkrili da su oštećenja nastala samo na površinskom sloju boje, dok je konstrukcija ostala netaknuta.
"Nakon trećeg treninga smo sumnjali da oba krila imaju oštećenja. Sebastianovo krilo je definitivno bilo uništeno, a sumnjali smo i da je Mark imao problema sa svojim. Oba bolida smo pripremili za stariju specifikaciju krila uoči kvalifikacija. No, pola sata prije kvalifikacija je postalo jasno da u Markovom slučaju oštećenje nije materijalno te da je komponenta bila apsolutno sigurna. Adrianu je bilo drago što ćemo moći voziti s novim krilom. Dakle, imali smo jednu komponentu i prilično brzo smo morali odlučiti na koju stranu garaže ćemo ga alocirati." zaključio je.

Source: f1racing.com.hr

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srijeda, 21.07.2010.

German GP 2010: Hockenheim 23.-25. srpnja

Prva utrka: 2. kolovoza 1970.
Dužina kruga: 4 574 metara
Ukupno krugova: 67 (306.458 km)
Najbrži krug: K. Raikkonen - 1:13:780 (2004, McLaren)
Postolje 2008.: 1. L. Hamilton - 2. N. Piquet - 3. K F. Massa

Povijest:
Ova staza bila je test staza za njemačkog proizvođača automobila Mercedes, ali na kalendar natjecanja Formule 1 biva stavljena 1970. godine tijekom prerađivanja staze Nurburgring. Nažalost ovo je staza koja je upamćena po tragedijama jer na njoj je 1968. godine poginuo veliki Jim Clark vozeći Formulu 2000. Također na njoj je život izgubio i Patrick Depaillar testirajući bolid 1980. godine.
Prva utrka održana na ovoj stazi 1970. godine, bila je utrka sa dramatičnom završnicom u kojoj su sudjelovali Lotusov vozač Jochen Rindt i Jacky Ickx kao vozač Ferrarija. Prvi je pobjedio u utrci dok je Ferrari zaostao za samo, moglo bi se reći dužinu nosa bolida.
Ipak ova staza je znana u svijetu Formule 1 kao staza bez karaktera, brza staza kroz šumu na kojoj dugačke ravne dijelove presjecaju tri šikane. Ali upravo zbog te činjenice staza je jako zahtjevna kako za vozače zbog velikih brzina, tako i za motore bolida. Nakon pauze od nekoliko godina staza se ponovno vraća u kalendar natjecanja 1977. godine jer su vozači odbijali nastupati na stazi Nurburgring zbog teške nesreće iz koje se je jedva živ izvukao Niki Lauda 1976. godine. 1977. godine pobjednik je bio upravo Niki Lauda.
Na ovoj stazi održano je nekoliko utrka koje ni danas nisu ostale zaboravljene. Takva je bila i utrka 1982. godine nakon koje su novine pisale o incidentu koji se zamalo desio tijekom utrke kada je Nelson Piquet pokušao udariti Elisea Salazara poslije njihovog međusobnog sudara. Također tijekom treninga po kišnim uvjetima teško se ozlijedio vozač Pironi dok je na kraju utrke kao pobjednik izašao njegov timski kolega Patrick Tambay.
Najluđa održana utrka na ovoj stazi zasigurno je utrka iz 1994. godine kada je već nakon prvog kruga samo polovica vozača ostalo na stazi. Michael Schumacher je odustao dok je Gerhard Berger odnio pobjedu za Ferrari, njihovu prvu u periodu od četiri godine.
Iako je utrka iz 1982. godine bila za pamćenje kako za vozače tako i za navijače, utrka iz 2000. godine je bila jako dojmljiva posebno za brazilskog vozača Rubensa Barrichella. Ferrarijev vozač pobjedio je u utrci u koju je startao sa 18-te startne pozicije. Bila je to utrka koju je diktirala izmjena vremenskih uvjeta na pojedinim djelovima staze. Tijekom utrke dogodio se je i jedan incidend koji je izazvao ogorčenje od strane organizatora, kada se Mercedesov zaposlenik (navijač!?!) odlučio prošetati malo po stazi. Ipak to nije omelo Rubensa Barrichella da osvoji svoju prvu pobjedu u F1 karijeri, koja mu je natjerala suze na lice prilikom proglašenja pobjednika.
Posljednja utrka na dužoj inačici staze se vozila 2001. godine, a pobjednik je bio Michael Schumacher.
2002. predstavljena je nova, skraćena inačica staze. Pobjednik na toj utrci bio je kao i protekle godine, domaćin Michael Schumacher.
Juan-Pablo Montoya je 2003. ostvario veličenstvenu pobjedu na Hockenheimu sa prednošću od čak 65.4 sekundi. Bila je to druga pobjeda u sezoni za mladog Kolumbijca.
Iduće godine u početku utrke vodila se borba za vodstvo između Michael Schumachera i Kimija Raikkonena, no Finac je u 13. krugu morao odustati zbog teške nesreće koju je uzrokovalo otpadanje stražnjeg spoilera. Nakon što je Kimi odustao, Michael nije imao nikakvih prijetnji te je ostvario pobjedu sa osam sekundi predsnoti u odnosu na drugoplasiranog Jensona Buttona. Posljednja stepenica postolja je pripala Fernandu Alonsu.
Godinu dana kasnije Raikkonen je vodio početni dio utrke, no njegova loša sreća ga je po peti put zaredom natjerala da odustane od utrke. Nakon Kimijevog odustajanja vodstvo je pripalo Fernandu Alonsu koji je do samoga kraja ostao na vodećoj poziciji.
Na podiju su mu se pridružili Juan-Pablo Montoya, koji je do pobjedničkog postolja stigao iz posljednjeg startnog reda, i Jenson Button, koji je dobar dio utrke proveo u borbi s Michaelom Schumacherom čiji se Ferrari doslovno vukao po stazi.
2006. godine Ferrari je na Hockenheimu ponovio dvostruku pobjedu nakon V.N. SAD-a sa fantastičnom vožnjom Michaela Schumachera i Felipea Masse. Kimi Raikkonen je s pole pozicije, nakon prvog problematičnog ulaska u boks, svoj McLaren uspio dovesti do solidne treće pozicije.
2007. godine Hockenheim je ostao bez mjesta u F1 kalendaru zbog dogovora o naizmjeničnom održavanju V.N. Njemačke na Nürburgringu i Hockenheimu.
Godinu dana kasnije, F1 se prema planu vratila na Hockenheim. Pobjedu je odnio Lewis Hamilton u McLaren-Mercedesu ispred mladog Brazilca Nelsona Piqueta jr. u Renaultu i Ferrarijevog vozača Felipe Masse.
2009. se, kao što je planirano, njemački Grand Prix održao na Nürburgringu.

Prijašnji pobjednici:
2008: L. Hamilton (McLaren)
2006: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
2005: F. Alonso (Renault)
2004: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
2003: J-P. Montoya (Williams)
2002: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
2001: R. Schumacher (Williams)
2000: R. Barrichello (Ferrari)
1999: E. Irvine (Ferrari)
1998: M. Hakkinen (McLaren)
1997: G. Berger (Benetton)
1996: D. Hill (Williams)
1995: M. Schumacher (Benetton)
1994: G. Berger (Ferrari)
1993: A. Prost (Williams)
1992: N. Mansell (Williams)
1991: N. Mansell (Williams)
1990: A. Senna (McLaren)
1989: A. Senna (McLaren)
1988: A. Senna (McLaren)

Source: f1-hr.com / youtube.com

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Vettel: Nisam pod pritiskom zbog Hockenheima

Red Bull Racingov vozač Sebastian Vettel tvrdi da vožnja pred domaćom publikom u Hockenheimu ovog vikenda za njega neće značiti i dodatni pritisak.
Dvadesettrogodišnjak u dosadašnjem tijeku karijere nije slavio na domaćoj utrci, no zato se nada da će mu podrška navijača pomoći u nedjelju.
"Činjenica je da mi domaća utrka ne stvara dodatni pritisak," rekao je. "Ako ništa, može me jedino dodatno motivirati kako bih izvukao još koju desetinku ili dvije iz seve i bolida.Imamo jak bolid i trebali bismo napraviti dobar show. Ako vozite na domaćem terenu i imate puno navijača, onda želite napraviti nešto čega ćete se uvijek sjećati."
Vettel je dodao da u Hockenheimu očekuje sličnu atmosferu kao u Silverstoneu, gdje je prije dva tjedna oko 115 000 navijača podržavalo Hamiltona i Buttona.
"Nadam se da možemo imati barem jednako dobru atmosferu kao na Silverstoneu. Veselite se domaćoj utrci i volite vidjeti kada ljudi uživaju i kada su strastveni." rekao je Seb.

Source: f1racing.com.hr

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nedjelja, 18.07.2010.

Red Bull Heppenheim Show - Seb's Home Run

Njemački vozač Red Bulla, Sebastian Vettel je ovaj vikend vozio bolid Red Bulla u svome rodnome gradu Heppenheimu pred 120 000 gledatelja po uličnoj stazi koja je napravljena posebno za ovaj događaj.
Seb se prvo provozao na KTM motoru, zaustavljajući se kako bi dao autogram i slikao se s fanovima. Poslije to ga je uzeo f1 bolid i provozao se pred domaćom publikom.
Popodne Vettelu su se pridružili dvostruki DTM prvak Mattias Ekström u svome Audi A4, DTM te Chris Pfeiffer, koji je 4 puta osvojio Red Bull Hare pokazali su sjajne trikove i skokove sa svojim motorom. Da bi show bio bolji pobrinuo se sjajn njemački bend Die Fantastischen Vier (Fantastic Four).
Mnogi stanovnici Heppenheima poznaju, vole i ponose se na Seba:
"We are really proud of Sebastian. He is the most famous son of our town and has always stayed loyal to his fans. We really want to celebrate this day".
Seb je bio jako sretan i uzbuđen. "I want to thank all the fans for this truly unique and amazing day."

Source: redbullracing.com / youtube.com / motorsport.com

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utorak, 13.07.2010.

Političke kontroverze frustrirajuće za Vettela

Dvadesetdvogodišnji Sebastian Vettel je otkrio da je i on okružen političkim kontroverzama koje se vežu uz njegovu momčad Red Bull Racing nakon utrke u Silverstoneu, koju je obilježila neobična odluka o alokaciji jedinog primjerka novog prednjeg krila.
Kontroverze u Silverstoneu su uslijedile svega nekoliko tjedana nakon što su se njih dvojica sudarila na stazi Istanbul Park tijekom VN Turske. Vettel kaže da je svjestan kako odnosi s Webberom nisu idealni, ali se nada da su pred njima bolja vremena.
"Trudim se fokusirati samo na sebe, jedino je to bitno," naglasio je. "Situacija unutar momčadi? Ako pogledate prvenstvo sada, i ako pogledate prvenstvo prije dvije utrke, vjerojatno nećete znati što dolazi. Vidjet ćemo."
Vettel je kratko prokomentirao i svoj omjer rezultata i nastupa u odnosu na Webbera, reagiravši tako na neke od sugestija da ga je Australac ove godine pobijedio na nekoliko utrka.
"Ne želim govoriti loše stvari o drugim ljudima. Najvažnije mi je da imamo respekt jedan prema drugome. Znam da je bilo utrka na kojima sam bio iza njega ili sam bio sporiji od njega, ali znam i razloge za to. Mirno spavam zbog toga, ne brinite." kaže Seb.

Source: f1racing.com.hr

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ponedjeljak, 12.07.2010.

Sebastian Vettel Q&A: At least I scored points

Nakon Silverstona, koji je počeo dobro za Vettela, sjajna vremena na slobodnim treninzima, pole position, a završio loše Seb je ipak odgovorio na nekoliko pitanja:

Q: Sebastian, obviously the only good news that you take home from this weekend is that Silverstone is a track where overtaking is possible...
Sebastian Vettel: Well, yes, you could put it this way. But naturally the cars in the back of the grid are so much slower that overtaking almost comes naturally. What else can I say? We could have won today with both cars - not only with one - and it didn’t work out. When I had that puncture on lap one I had to crawl back to the pits endlessly slowly which catapulted me to last place. Only the safety-car phase in the middle of the race helped me to gain ground, but at that time the car was already a bit damaged so there was a performance loss and in the end more was simply not possible. The only good thing was that after the safety car the race got more fun for me as I started to fight for points and positions.

Q: How did that puncture happen? Nobody seems to have a sound answer to that question…
SV: No idea. I didn’t have the best start - probably we miscalculated a bit our starting performance and overdid it with the clutch. Fact is that my start was not that fantastic and when I tried to defend my position I realized that there was a puncture - and that was it at that moment.

Q: There are opinions that suggest that Lewis Hamilton touched you…
SV: I have not felt anything so I cannot say. Should that be the case then he achieved what he had tried in Valencia, but surely - if that was the case - he didn’t want to give me a puncture.

Q: Putting the result aside, you were engaged in some good fights that must have pleased the fans to watch. Cold comfort for you?
SV: Yes, that was the fun part of the race. My fight with Adrian Sutil was very tough as I think that the Force India is the fastest car on the straight - something in the range of 10km/h faster - so it was not possible for me to overtake him on the straight and unfortunately we touched. Sure, that was in no way intentional and there is nothing more to say about it.

Q: When Mark Webber crossed the finish line he was heard saying, ‘Not a bad job for a number two driver!’ Did you notice that? And is the team spirit still good?
SV: I have my own opinion about that matter that I rather prefer to keep to myself and to focus on myself. I have made my experiences and, sometimes good or bad, you get to know people a little bit better and see their true faces. I think I have learned my lesson.

Q: Before the start you jokingly asked for a boring race - you didn’t get one. Was there a thought of ‘oh no, not again’ when you were crawling back to the pits on lap one?
SV: You don’t think an awful lot in such a situation. The only thing that you immediately realize is that this race will not be the race you wanted. When I pitted on lap one we immediately changed to hard tyres and it was obvious that we were competitive, but again you cannot expect with tyres in use for a whole race to pierce through the field. The most important thing is that I bagged at least some points - points that might make all the difference at the end of the season.

Q: What does this race mean for the championship?
SV: We are just in midseason so there are still so many points left for allocation that it would be ridiculous to have sleepless nights over it.

Source: formula1.com

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nedjelja, 11.07.2010.

Birtish GP 2010: Race; Webber wins, Seb dramaticlly 7th

Pa ne može sve biti tako sjajno kao što je bilo u Valenciji, ali zašto sve uvijek mora ispasti krivo za Vettela?
Webber je bolje startao od Vettela, ali to nije razlog zašto je njegova utrka bila upropaštena.Odmah u prvome krugu Vettel je morao ići u boks jer mu je pukla guma - najvjerovatnije zbog dodira s Hamiltonom i tada je Seb završio na dnu poretka s čak 83 sekunde zaostatka. Felipe Massa je isto tako morao u boks zbog puknuća gume jer je imao okršaj s momčadskim kolegom Alonsom te se i on pridružio Vettelu na dnu poretka.
Nakon starta vodeći je bio Mark Webber, a iza njega su bili Hamilton u McLarenu i uvijek sjajni Kubica u Renaultu, a iza vodeće trojice su bili Rosberg, Alonso, Barrichello, Schumacher, Button, Kobayashi, Sutil....
Massa i Vettel su se probijali u poretku.
U 13. krugu su počeli prvi ulasci u boks, no nije bilo nikakvih značajnih promjena.
U 17. krugu dogodila se još jedna kontroverza u koju je opet bio uvućen Ferrarijevm vozač Fernando Alonso. Naime Alonso je Kubicu pretekao izvan staze tako da je sjekao šikanu i dok se čekala odluka sudaca Kubica je odustao, no Alonso je svejedno bio kažnjen prolaskom broz bokseve te je i njegova utrka bila upropaštena. Suci su nakon utrke rekli da su od Ferrarija i Alonsa 3 puta tražili da vrate poziciju, no Ferrari je to demantirao pa eto još jedna kontrverza koja će nas zabavljati.
U 29. krugu taman kad su suci izrekli kaznu Alonsu, izašao je sigurnosni automobil na stazu zbog djelova koji su otpali s de la Rossinog i Sutilovog bolida pa je Alonso prolazak kroz boks napravio nakon što se sigurnosni automobil povukao.
S druge strane SC je savršeno došao Vettelu koji se uspio približiti vozačima ispred sebe te je započea njegova serija pretjecanja. Tako je Vettel sjajnim pretjecanjima s 15. došao na 7. mjesto. Sigurno je najbolji trenutak bio kada je je napravio sjajni manevar i pretekao Schumachera. Poslije toga mu je trebalo nekoliko krugova, ali je uspio prestići Sutila i to u zadnjem krugu. Da je bilo još krugova sigurno bi Vettel došao do postolja.
Na kraju je pobjedio Webber koji je cijelu utrku kontrolirao, a na postolju su mu se pridružili Hamilton i Rosberg koji je tijekom sudara s Alguersuarijem izgubio lijevi bočni deflektor. Button u McLarenu je tijekom utrke bio nevidljiv no uspio je doći do 4. mjesta.
Uz Seba heroj utrke je bio i sjajni Kobayashi koji je završio na 6. mjestu, što je najbolji rezultat za Sauber ove sezone.
Da je bilo još krugova sigurno bi vidili sjajan dvoboj između Vettela i Kobayshija.
I kako bi zaključili ovu utrku s još jednom kontroverzom, Webber je nakon osvojenog GP vikenda rekao "Not bad for noumber 2. driver"! Pa ako mene pitaš i nije loša za vozača br. 2

Classified:
01. M. Webber 1:24:38.200
02. L. Hamilton +0:01.360
03. N. Rosberg +0:21.307
04. J. Button +0:21.986
05. R. Barrichello +0:31.456
06. K. Kobayashi +0:32.171
07. S. Vettel +0:36.734
08. A. Sutil +0:40.932
09. M. Schumacher +0:41.599
10. N. Hulkenberg +0:42.012
11. V. Liuzzi +0:42.459
12. S. Buemi +0:47.627
13. V. Petrov +0:59.374
14. F. Alonso 1:02.385
15. F. Massa +1:07.489
16. J. Trulli +1 lap
17. H. Kovalainen +1 lap
18. T. Glock +2 laps
19. K. Chandhok +2 laps
20. S. Yamamoto +2 laps

Not classified:
J. Alguersuari 44 laps
P. de la Rosa 29 laps
R. Kubica 19 laps
L. di Grassi 9 laps

Fastest lap: F. Alonso: 1:30:874 (52. lap)

SV: “I had a bad start, we went too aggressive with the clutch and I had quite a lot of wheel-spin. Then I had the puncture, I didn’t feel anything, so I wasn’t sure what happened. After the first turn, something was strange and I saw the rear-right puncture. Unfortunately after I got it, I got a bit of damage to the car which lost me some performance, but I was able to recover and score some points, which was important. For the first 30 laps, I didn’t have much to do except going around trying to catch up, but after the safety car I had some people to fight and that was good fun, I was racing people like Felipe (Massa) and Michael (Schumacher) - it’s great as whenever you try something and you see a gap you know that they are smart enough to see it, so it was good fun for the last 20 laps. It’s always a good race here with a great atmosphere.”

Utjeha tima :)

Najbolji trenuci GP vikenda u V.Britaniji:

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

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Horner: Ne favoriziramo Vettela

Red Bull Racingov direktor Christian Horner tvrdi da kontroverznom odlukom o prednjim krilima nisu oštetili Marka Webbera, premda je Australac bio vidno nezadovoljan nakon kvalifikacija.
Problem je nastao nakon što je jedno od ukupno dva primjerka novog prednjeg krila za RB6 otpalo s bolida Sebastiana Vettela na trećem slobodnom treningu. Uprava momčadi je se zatim odlučila za neobičnu odluku o alokaciji posljednjeg primjerka novog krila koje je ponovno montirano na bolid Sebastiana Vettela.
Vettel je s novim krilom nastupio na kvalifikacijama, a s njim će voziti i današnju utrku.
Na pitanje novinara jesu li ovim potezom sada i službeno potvrdili da je Vettel njihov prvi vozač, Christian Horner je odgovorio: "Mislim da ne. Iz performansi na kvalifikacijama ste mogli zaključiti da su dečki bili vrlo, vrlo izjednačeni i da je sve bilo jako tijesno."
"Mi smo se, nažalost, našli u situaciji sa samo jednim prednjim krilom određene specifikacije koja ima blago drugačije karakteristike. Obojica su ga isprobala jučer i novo krilo je bila preferencija samo jednog od njih dvojice. Na trećem slobodnom treningu su ga opet testirali."
"Nažalost, ja ponekad moram donositi teške odluke. S obzirom na činjenicu da je to jedino preostalo takvo krilo i s obzirom na situaciju u prvenstvu, što je bio kriterij pri donošenju odluke, krilo je na kraju otišlo Sebastianu."
Horner tvrdi da Webber uopće ne bi imao priliku voziti s novim prednjim krilom, a da momčad ima uspostavljenu vozačku hijerarhiju. "I dalje ćemo obojicu podržavati na najbolji i apsolutno najpošteniji način na koji možemo. No, u nekim situacijama morate donositi teške odluke."
Optužbe da Red Bull Racing favorizira Vettela dolaze samo nekoliko tjedana nakon VN Turske na kojoj su se njihova dvojica sudarila.
"Naš posao je da kao momčad napravimo najbolji posao kojeg možemo. Ponekad morate donositi teške odluke. Ovo je prvi put da smo u situaciji u kojoj imamo samo jednu komponentu, a siguran sam da se takve stvari događaju i u drugim garažama."
"Kada imate dvojicu vozača na vrhu poretka, onda je u sve to vjerojatno uključeno i više emocija. Ali, ako odvojite emocije od priče i sagledate činjenice, vidjet ćete da je naša odluka potpuno logična."

Source: f1racing.com.hr

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subota, 10.07.2010.

British GP 2010: Qualifying; Seb fastest on Silverstone

Red Bull Racing je i u Engleskoj nastavio svoju kvalifikacijsku dominaciju i prvi startni red su opet zauzela dvojica njihovih vozača - Sebastian Vettel i Mark Webber.
Za razliku od Red Bulla koji je danas bio nedodirljiv, McLaren je imao puno teži dan. Očekivano je brži bio Lewis Hamilton sa četvrtim vremenom, dok je njegov sporiji momčadski kolega Jenson Button imao tek 14. vrijeme.
Button je se kasnije pravdao da mu je bolid bio "neupravljiv" te da je navodno u drugom kvalifikacijskom segmentu iznenadno izgubio grip, zbog čega će u sutrašnju utrku krenuti iz tek sedmog startnog reda.
Red Bullovi vozači su se mijenjali na vodećim pozicijama u prvom i drugom kvalifikacijskom segmentu, a prednost koju su u Q3 imali u odnosu na suparnike je veća od sedam desetinki.
Fernando Alonso je bio treći najbrži u Ferrariju, ali je se Španjolac žalio na Rubensa Barrichella iza kojeg je zapao u trećem segmentu. Na kraju je ipak uspio obraniti poziciju od Hamiltona.
Među prvu desetoricu su se plasirala i obojica Mercedesovih vozača - Rosberg je peti, dok je Schumacher deseti, sa osam desetinki zaostatka.
Rosberg treći startni red dijeli s Kubicom, a slijede ih Massa u drugom Ferrariju, Barrichello i Pedro de la Rosa, kojemu je to najbolji kvalifikacijski rezultat ove godine.
Osim Buttona, neugodno iznenađenje kvalifikacija su bili i Force Indijini vozači koji nisu prošli Q2. Sutilu je malo nedostajalo i 11. je, dok je njegov momčadski kolega Vitantonio Liuzzi na 15. mjestu.
Kod novih momčadi, Lotusov Heikki Kovalainen i Virginov vozač Timo Glock su imali izjednačenu borbu koju je dobio Finac, no i jedan i drugi za sredinom poretka zaostaju 2 sekunde.

Rezultati kvalifikacija:
01. S. Vettel RBR-Renault 1:30.841 1:30.480 1:29.615
02. M. Webber RBR-Renault 1:30.858 1:30.114 1:29.758
03. F. Alonso Ferrari 1:30.997 1:30.700 1:30.426
04. L. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.297 1:31.118 1:30.556
05. N. Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:31.626 1:31.085 1:30.625
06. R. Kubica Renault 1:31.680 1:31.344 1:31.040
07. F. Massa Ferrari 1:31.313 1:31.010 1:31.172
08. R. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:31.424 1:31.126 1:31.175
09. P. de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:31.533 1:31.327 1:31.27
10. M. Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:32.058 1:31.022 1:31.430
11. A. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:31.109 1:31.399
12. K. Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:31.851 1:31.421
13. N. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:32.144 1:31.635
14. J. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.435 1:31.699
15. V. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:32.226 1:31.708
16. V. Petrov Renault 1:31.638 1:31.796
17. S. Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:31.901 1:32.012
18. J. Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:32.430
19. H. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:34.405
20. T. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:34.775
21. J. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:34.864
22. L. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:35.212
23. K. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:36.576
24. S. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1:36.968

SV: “Silverstone is unbelievable. The corner combinations, I can only say it again and again, they’re so much fun - especially in qualifying. Our car obviously works very well in these sorts of corners, it’s so great, the speeds we reach here - I think we’re all a bit crazy, but it’s so much fun. The new section is also good, especially Turns 11 and 12 where you come into the new section with a big bump. I really like this track and fortunately our car always works very well here. It was a tight session today. In Q2 I wasn’t perfectly happy - I think I was pushing too hard and tried a bit too much, so for Q3, I went a bit more conservative. I still had to push and I had two strong laps; in the end we got the pole, which is the key for tomorrow.”

Press Conference:

Pres konferencija s troje najbržih vozača na VN V.Britanije: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Mark Webber (Red Bull) i Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), tu su objavljeni samo odgovori Sebastian Vettela, ali ako želite pročitati cijelu možete OVDJE.

Q: Sebastian, congratulations. What is it with you and this track?
Sebastian Vettel: I don’t know what it is here. On Friday morning we do the first couple of laps and it’s unbelievable, the corner combinations. I can only say it again and again, it is so much fun, especially in qualifying. Our car obviously works very well in those sorts of corners and then it is just unbelievable. The speed we reach. I think we are all a bit crazy but it is so much fun and the combinations are unbelievable. The new section is also great, especially 11, 12, so coming onto the new section with a big bump. I really like this track and fortunately our car always works very well here. As you said it was a tight session today. In Q2 I wasn’t perfectly happy. I think I was pushing a bit too hard and tried a bit too much, so for Q3 I went a bit more conservative. Of course I had to push. I had two very, very strong laps and in the end got the pole which obviously is the key for tomorrow.

Q: Tell us about the front wing problem you had this morning in free practice and how it affected your preparations for qualifying?
SV: Well, obviously it wasn’t ideal. It happened very sudden. I was going down the straight from turn 10, so out of Club approaching Abbey. From the inside you don’t see your own front wing, so I didn’t know what happened first of all. I only felt that something is wrong, so I had to cut the corner. The wing was broken but fortunately we could continue with the same kind of wing. It was the key for this afternoon and as I said, very pleased. Also for the team again. I hope we can repeat last year’s story with a very good result here. It is not my home grand prix but I feel home here as the team’s home is here, only 20 minutes away in Milton Keynes. It is great for them again to have both cars that high up and show we are able to build very quick race cars.

Q: Sebastian, some thoughts on the race tomorrow and this rocket ship of a car you seem to have around this track.
SV: I hope I will enjoy the day. You don’t get to drive these sorts of cars on these types of tracks too often, so hopefully I enjoy the day. Starting from pole on the clean side is the key for the race. I think we do have a quick car in qualifying but also in race conditions, so we should be able to have a good race but you never know. The weather forecast is sunny which I think is quite unusual for Silverstone. But I think England becomes more and more tropical now. It is probably the country to go to and invest. We will see. I think we will have a great day tomorrow and fingers crossed everything will work.

Q: Sebastian, two very, very quick laps. Were you surprised to be able to get two quick laps like that?
SV: No, not surprised, that was the target. It wasn’t easy. Q1 was alright. In Q2 I was a bit too slow, no particular corner, I was just a bit all around. I think I was probably trying a bit too much, so for the third qualifying we didn’t really touch the car. I think I had a bit too much oversteer in the second part, so I tried to help it a little bit with the things you can change on-board and it seemed to work very well. I tried to be a bit more conservative. Of course you have to push but I tried to be a bit smoother and it seemed to work very well. I had two very good laps. Around here it is incredible. The corners we have here if you compare them to other tracks, it is just amazing. The combinations, the first sector, Copse, Maggotts, Becketts, Stowe Corner. There are so many corners here that you really enjoy so much. In particular our cars works quite well I would say, so you enjoy even more. All in all a fantastic day. A very good qualifying session with a good end, so happy to be on pole and I think it is the key for tomorrow’s race.

Q: The car seems to be ideally suited here. What are the qualities of the car that make it so ideally suited?
SV: It is just quick everywhere. I think we have proven this year apart from that we have a quick car that we have a very quick car no matter the circuit characteristics. If you compare this track to Valencia two weeks ago it is completely different, so still we see that we were very competitive in Valencia and also here. Our car likes corners where you need the downforce as we have some of it, so it will also help us. But also compared to last year we have made a step forward all around, so also in low speed and medium speed corners usually it is very tough and it takes a lot of effort to really gain lap time in fast corners whereas in low speed corners it is so easy to lose it. I think that is where we have made a step forward and that is why we have made a step forward everywhere and in particular as we expected as fortunately we can confirm on places like here.

Q: The weekend so far has not been entirely trouble free. Is that a worry for tomorrow?
SV: No, it shouldn’t be. I agree it hasn’t been, but all the cars are built on the limit and you always try to improve. You always know what is happening on your own car, so yesterday afternoon I wasn’t happy. We had some issues with the brakes but we were able to fix it. This morning I think we were back in the rhythm. We had the front wing coming loose but I think we are alright and as I said the cars are built on the limit. You always try to improve. It is difficult from my point of view to judge but we have seen the McLarens yesterday bringing new parts. For some reason they don’t use them today or they reverted back. It is tough to improve. Everyone tries but it is not easy. There is a bit of room here and there for every car but it is not easy to do it at the right time and to do the right step.

Q: (Alvaro Faes - La Nueva Espana) Sebastian, who represents the biggest threat to your victory tomorrow: Mark or Fernando?
SV: Lewis (Hamilton)! No, I think that if we have learned anything so far in this championship, it’s that we are racing to find out who is the best on a particular day, so we will see tomorrow. Obviously, it’s not only about the three of us, as I said. Lewis is behind, there are others, and you never know how the race is going to unfold. For sure, I think, one thing is clear: we are the favourites. We have a very strong car here, so we should be able to win but there are 52 laps between us (and the chequered flag). Today, it was all about getting in the best position and we have done that. Now we focus on tomorrow. It will be a long race, but as usual, no points on Saturday.
Q: (Byron Young - The Daily Mirror) Seb, did you have some favouritism today?
SV: I think that as I tried to explain earlier, if you look at us (drivers), we are different. One probably likes tea, the other likes coffee. In the end, if you look back at the qualifying session, it was extremely tight and I think there wasn’t much (between us). In Q1 we were pretty much the same. In Q2 Mark was a bit ahead, I was struggling a bit and in Q3 I was ahead. I don’t think there’s a black and white answer on the wing. As I said earlier, I was very happy that I could continue with the same kind of wing, because obviously after this morning, we didn’t expect that to happen after the failure. We were able to continue.

Q: (Byron Young - The Daily Mirror) And you get both of them. They’re faster and better front wings and you get both of them. Mark doesn’t get one and you get the other.
SV: You are pretty smart if you know that they are faster and better. We try to keep this kind of thing to ourselves as much as we can, with the new parts, if they work or if they don’t but it looks like we have a leakage!

Vettel pole position lap:

Sjajne kvalifikacije, još jedan pole position, sutra će biti utrka pobjeda, nadam se zanimljiva i Vettel na najvišoj stepenici!

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

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British GP 2010: Free Practice 3

Red Bull Racing nastavio je jučer započetu dominaciju na slobodnim treninzima na britanskom Silverstoneu. Ovoga puta vrh poretka zauzeli su Sebastian Vettel i Mark Webber, odvojeni s tek 34 tisućinke sekunde.
Fernando Alonso završio je na trećem mjestu, oko jedne desetinke ispred Nice Rosberga i momčadskog kolege, Felipea Masse. Robert Kubica postavio je šesto najbolje vrijeme, te se pokazao tri stotinke bržim u odnosu na Lewisa Hamiltona, koji je na domaćem terenu zaostajao gotovo šest desetinki za vodećim Vettelom.
Tijekom jednosatnih treninga nije bilo značajnijih incidenata. Jedinu neugodnu situaciju imao je Vettel, kojemu je pri dolasku u zavoj Stowe otpalo prednje krilo. Na sreću, Nijemac se uspio vratiti do boksa.
Update: Red Bull je u Silverstone donio novo prednje krilo i zato što je Vettelovo prednje krilo unšteno, vodeći u Red Bullu su skinuli novo krilo s bolida Marka Webbera i dali ga Sebastianu Vettelu, a Webber je dobio staro. Iako sam fan Vettela, mislim da ovakva odluka nije u redu.

Rezultati 3. slobodnog treninga:
01. S. Vettel 1:30:958
02. M. Webber +0:00:034
03. F. Alonso +0:00:143
04. N. Rosberg +0:00:230
05. F. Massa +0:00:282
06. R. Kubica +0:00:561
07. L. Hamilton +0:00:591
08. M. Schumacher +0:00:597
09. P. de la Rosa +0:00:601
10. R. Barrichello +0:00:623
11. V. Petrov +0:00:740
12. J. Button +0:00:745
13. N. Hulkenberg +0:00:909
14. K. Kobayashi +0:00:989
15. A. Sutil +0:01:036
16. S. Buemi +0:01:277
17. J. Alguersuari +0:01:373
18. V. Liuzzi +0:01:765
19. H. Kovalainen +0:03:381
20. L. di Grassi + 0:04:521
21. J. Trulli +:05:140
22. K. Chandhok +0:05:328
23. T. Glock +0:05:628
24. S. Yamamoto +0:06:220

Source: f1-hr.com / formula1.com

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petak, 09.07.2010.

British GP 2010: Free Practice 2

Red Bull Racingov vozač Mark Webber je postavio najbrže vrijeme na drugom slobodnom treningu na Silverstoneu, kojeg su obilježili vidljivo bolji vremenski uvjeti.
Temperatura staze je porasla na 43 stupnja, a treningom su dominirali Red Bullovi vozači koji su se prabacili na mekšu smjesu Bridgestoneovih guma.
Webberov prvi najbrži krug je bio za čak sekundu brži od vozača iz suparničkih momčadi, a najbliže mu se približio momčadski kolega Sebastian Vettel, čiji je zaostatak iznosio sedam desetinki. Ipak, Webber je drugi trening završio 15 minuta prije kraja, zbog problema s elektronikom, no najbrže vrijeme od 1:31.234 je bilo dovoljno da ostane na prvom mjestu.
Ferrarijevi vozači su danas testirali F-duct te su se ultimativno odlučili u korist sistema. Najbrža vremena su postavili na mekšim gumama, a Fernando Alonso se ubacio između dvojicu iz Red Bulla, sa četiri desetinke zaostatka za Webberom.
Felipe Massa je trening završio sa četvrtim najbržim vremenom, premda je izletio u zavojima Becketts i Village. Dva Mercedesova vozača, Nico Rosberg i Michael Schumacher, su bili peti i šesti najbrži, jedini izvan 1.5 sekunde iza vodećih.
Među prvih deset su se ugurali Adrian Sutil i Rubens Barrichello, dok je Jenson Button bio tek 13. najbrži. Njegov momčadski kolega Hamilton je imao 8. vrijeme.
Seb ima dobra vremena i velike šanse u nastavku vikenda iako se na drugome slobodnome zavrtio Vettel kaže da je staza odlična.

Rezultati 2. slobodnog treninga:
01. M. Webber 1:31:234
02. F. Alonso + 0:00:392
03. S. Vettel +0:00:641
04. F. Massa +0:00:865
05. N. Rosberg +0:00:932
06. M. Schumacher +0:01:426
07. V. Petrov +0:01:511
08. L. Hamilton +0:01:523
09. A. Sutil +0:01:553
10. R. Barrichello +0:01:733
11. R. Kubica +0:01:785
12. N. Hulkenberg +0:01:930
13. J. Button +0:01:966
14. K. Kobayashi +0:02:168
15. V. Liuzzi +0:02:494
16. S. Buemi +0:02:602
17. P. de la Rosa +0:02:817
18. J. Alguersuari +0:03:406
19. H. Kovalainen +0:04:231
20. L. di Grassi +0:05:003
21. T. Glock +0:05:319
22. K. Chandhok +0:05:785
23. S. Yamamoto +0:07:069
24. J. Trulli +0:11:667

SV: “The sessions were okay today - in the afternoon I had a bit of a spin and flat-spotted a set of hard tyres. We also had a problem with the brake pedal, but nothing big. The pace of the car was good. The new section of the track is quite low speed, but it’s not as slow as we expected and doesn’t kill the rhythm. It adds something new and makes if more of a challenge. The track here is magnificent; it’s good fun, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

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

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British GP 2010: Free Practice 1

Sebastian Vettel završio je na vodećoj poziciji na prvim slobodnim treninzima koji su održani na redizajniranom Silverstoneu. Nijemac je završio tri, odnosno četiri desetinke ispred Lewisa Hamiltona i Roberta Kubice.
Mark Webber završio je na četvrtom mjestu ispred njemačkog trojca, Adriana Sutila, Nice Rosberga i Nice Hulkenberga. Jenson Button, Michael Schumacher i Rubens Barrichello zatvorili su poredak vodeće desetorice.
Ozbiljnih incidenata na prvim slobodnim treninzima nije bilo. Vozači su većinu vremena prilagođavali setupove bolida novom dijelu staze. Najviše problema stvarali su neravnina u zavoju Abbey i skliski asfalt u zavoju Village, gdje se dogodio najveći broj proklizavanja.
Ovaj vikend Brunu Sennu u HRT je zamjenio "bivši" F1 vozač Yamamoto, razlozi ove odluke nisu poznati, ali HRT je izjavio da je Senna i dalje njihov vozač i da će voziti ove sezone.
Isto tako Fauzy je vozio za Lotus umjesto Trullija, a di Resta za Force Indiju umjesto Luzzija.

Rezultati 1. slobodnog treninga:
01. S. Vettel 1:32:280
02. L. Hamilton +0:00:334
03. R. Kubica +0:00:445
04. M. Webber +0:00:467
05. A. Sutil +0:00:688
06. N. Rosberg +0:01:038
07. N. Hulkenberg +0:01:097
08. J. Button +0:01:239
09. M. Schumacher +0:01:675
10. R. Barrichello +0:01:736
11. S. Buemi +0:01:852
12. V. Petrov +0:02:085
13. F. Alonso +0:02:210
14. P. di Resta +0:02:300
15. K. Kobayashi +0:02:430
16. P. de la Rosa +0:02:621
17. F. Massa + 0:02:757
18. J. Alguersuari +0:03:038
19. H. Kovalainen +0:04:467
20. T. Glock +0:05:050
21. L. di Grassi +0:05:238
22. K. Chandhok +0:06:455
23. F. Fauzy +0:07:230
24. S. Yamamoto +0:07:393

Source: f1-hr.com

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četvrtak, 08.07.2010.

British GP 2010: Thursday at Silverstone; Vettel says Britain crucial for title hopes

Sebastian Vettel, vozač Red Bulla uoči britanskog GP-a je rekao da je vrlo važno da ovdje pobjede i da će to utjecati na daljni rasplet prvenstva:
"McLaren is quite confident that they make a very big step so it will be crucial for them, having that many expectations going into this race, it is important for us to see how big their step is going to be. Probably then we can make out how the rest of the season or the next five races will look like. It will be an important one definitely, also because I think here you are able to read the changes you make to the car quite well. You have the types of corners that show you quite well who has made a step or not, so I am confident we can win it. It will be an important one, surely."
Seb je prošle godine pobjedio na Silverstonu i Red Bull je dominirao cijelim vikendom, ipak mladi Njemac misli da još nisu favoriti:
"We need to see. As I said, it is still a bit unknown because parts of the circuit are unknown, some part traditionally our car was working very well here, especially last year, plus we do have some new bits other teams there are some rumours that there are a couple of tenths coming - or even seconds - so we need to see where we are. But I think by the end of tomorrow we know already much better. Surely our target is to win races or win the championship. Of course we have to be in a position to fight for race wins and big points." zaključio je Sebastian.

Source: autosport.com

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utorak, 06.07.2010.

British GP 2010: Silverstone 9.-11. srpnja

Prva utrka: 13. svibnja 1950.
Dužina kruga: 5 141 metara
Ukupno krugova: 60 (308.355 km)
Najbrži krug: M. Schumacher - 1:18:739 (2004, Ferrari)
Postolje 2009.: 1. S. Vettel - 2. M. Webber - 3. R. Barrichello

Povijest:
Prva V.N. Velike Britanije održana je na ovoj stazi 1948. godine i trebala je to biti samo jedna utrka pošto je staza bila improvizirana tj. u originalu ona je bila aerodrom. Giuseppe Farina pobijedio je u prvoj utrci za Svjetsko prvenstvo 1950. godine vozeći Alfa Romeo.
1973. godine Jody Scheckter se je okrenuo u zavoju Woodcote izazivajući višestruki sudar. Woodcote zavoj je desni zavoj prije startno-ciljne ravnine. Nakon te nesreće Woodcote zavoj je doživio jednu izmjenu 1975. godine kada mu je dodana šikana. Bila je to i prva izmjena nakon dvadeset i pet godina korištenja staze. Silverstone je staza na kojoj je 1979. godine Clay Regazzoni po prvi put pobijedio za Williams.
1987. godine kompleks mijenja šikanu u Woodcote zavoju i te godine Nigel Mansell pobjeđuje svog timskog kolegu Nelsona Piqueta u jednoj od najboljih utrka koje su vožene na toj stazi. Staza je ponovno modificirana 1991. godine ali to nije bilo dugog vijeka jer staza nove izmjene ponovno doživljava već 1994. godine.
Britanski navijači su bili van sebe od veselja kada je Damon Hill pobijedio na stazi 1994. godine. Johnny Herbert je pobijedio godinu dana poslije vozeći Benetton. Jacques Villeneuve je bio dva puta za redom uspješan na stazi Silverstone i to 1996. i 1997. godine kada je obje pobjede osvojio vozeći domaći Williamsov bolid. 1998. godine ostvarena je jedna od najkontroverznijih pobjeda uopće, kada je Michael Schumacher osvojio pobjedu za Ferrari praktički u boksu u pod prilično neobičnim okolnostima.
1999. godine Michael Schumacher doživljava udes na stazi već u prvom krugu, u kojemu na nesreću lomi nogu ali ga ta ozljeda ostavlja van natjecanja sve do posljednje utrke u toj sezoni. Naravno mnogi su od njegovih obožavatelja i navijača rekli da ga je ta nesreća koštala naslova svjetskog prvaka za 1999. godinu. Iako se u sezoni 2000.-toj vratio na stazu odlučan da zaboravi prošlost i nezgodu koju je doživio na stazi, ne uspijeva pobijediti. Pobjedu odnosi David Coulthard ispred svog timskog kolege Mike Hakkinena dok se Michael morao zadovoljiti plasmanom na treću najnižu stepenicu pobjedničkog postolja.
Unatoč strahovima da će se izbaciti sa kalendara Formule 1, Silverstone je opstao i u 2001. godini. Te sezone je pobjednik bio Mika Hakkinen, no Michael Schumacher se pobjede ponovo domogao 2002
Iduće je godine za vrijeme utrke na stazu izletio jedan prosvjednik u kiltu, noseći brojne poruke na sebi. Prosvjednik se zvao Cornelius Horan a upadanje na sportske priredbe mu nije bilo strano jer je u prošlosti mnogo puta bio remetio kriket i ragbi utakmice. Zbog upada na jedan od najbržih dijelova staze, gdje bolidi idu preko 200 km/h, Britanac je dobio kaznu od dva mjeseca zatvora.
Utrka je nakratko bila prekinuta te je izlazak sigurnosnog automobila omogućio Rubensu Barrichellu da se sa začelja probije do najviše stepenice postolja. Preostala dva mjesta na postolju su zauzeli Juan-Pablo Montoya i Kimi Raikkonen.
2004. se za pobjedu vodila velika borba između Kimija Raikkonena i Michaela Schumachera. Bitku je izgubio Raikkonen nakon što je mnogo vremena izgubio na pretjecanju zaostalih bolida. Na kraju je Schuamcher pobijedio sa 2 sekunde prednosti u odnosu na Kimija i 3 sekunde prednosti u odnosu na trećeplasiranog Rubensa.
U 2005. pobjedu na engleskoj stazi slavio je Juan-Pablo Montoya ispred Fernanda Alonsa u Renaultu i momčadskog kolege Kimija Raikkonena. Kolumbijac je na ovoj stazi ostvario svoju prvu pobjedu za McLaren otkako se pridružio momčadi početkom sezone.
Pobjedu na britanskoj stazi 2006. godine slavio je Fernando Alonso. Španjolac od samog početka pa do kraja utrke nije izgubio vodstvo, da bi na kraju kroz cilj prošao sa 14 sekundi prednosti u odnosu na drugoplasiranog Michaela Schumachera, odnosno 18.6 sekundi prednosti u odnosu na trećeplasiranog Kimija Raikkonena.
Iduće godine, Ferrari je s Kimijem Raikkonenom odnio pobjedu McLarenovim vozačima - Fernandu Alonso i Lewisu Hamiltonu.
U devetoj utrci sezone 2008., kišnu pobjedu je odnio domaći vozač Lewis Hamilton, te se izjednačio u poretku vozača s Felipeom Massom i Kimijem Raikkonenom. Drugi je završio Nijemac Nick Heidfeld u BMW Sauberu, a treći Brazilac Rubens Barrichello u Hondi.
Iduće je godine Red Bull, zajedno sa Sebastianom Vettelom i Markom Webberom, slavio dvostruku pobjedu. Rubens Barrichello je ponovio prošlogodišnji uspjeh i završio na trećoj stepenici pobjedničkog postolja.

Prijašnji pobjednici:
2008: S. Vettel (Red Bull)
2008: L. Hamilton (McLaren)
2007: K. Raikkonen (Ferrari)
2006: F. Alonso (Renault)
2005: J.P. Montoya (McLaren)
2004: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
2003: R. Barrichello (Ferrari)
2002: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
2001: M. Hakkinen (McLaren)
2000: D. Coulthard (McLaren)
1999: D. Coulthard (McLaren)
1998: M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
1997: J. Villeneuve (Williams)
1996: J. Villeneuve (Williams)
1995: J. Herbert (Benetton)
1994: D. Hill (Williams)
1993: A. Prost (Williams)
1992: N. Mansell (Williams)
1991: N. Mansell (Williams)
1990: A. Prost (Ferrari)
1989: A. Prost (McLaren)
1988: A. Senna (McLaren)

Source: f1-hr.com / youtube.com

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subota, 03.07.2010.

Happy Birthday Seb!!!

Jako poseban dan, Sebastian Vettel je danas napunio 23. godine! Sretan Rođendan!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

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subota, 31.07.2010.

Hungarian GP 2010: Qualifying; Pole Position for Seb!

Hungarian GP 2010: Free Practice 3

petak, 30.07.2010.

Hungarian GP 2010: Friday; Sebastian Vettel Q&A: A very solid Friday

Hungarian GP 2010 : Free Practice 2

Hungarian GP 2010: Free Practice 1

četvrtak, 29.07.2010.

Hungarian GP 2010: Thursday at Hungaroring

utorak, 27.07.2010.

Hungarian GP 2010: Hungaroring 30. srpnja - 1. kolovoza

ponedjeljak, 26.07.2010.

Hroner: Najjasnija naredba momčadi, i žao mu zbog izmanipulirane utrk

Sebastian Vettel Q&A: It's good to be out of the spotlight

One more in a row...scandal, of course!

nedjelja, 25.07.2010.

German GP 2010: Race; Massa gave win to Alonso, Seb 3rd

subota, 24.07.2010.

German GP 2010: Qualifying; Seb wins pole by only 0.002 sec

German GP 2010: Free Practice 3

petak, 23.07.2010.

German GP 2010: Free Practice 2

German GP 2010: Free Practice 1

četvrtak, 22.07.2010.

German GP 2010: Thursday at Hockenheim; FIA Thursday Press Conference & Pics

Red Bull: Jednakost vozača je najbolja solucija

srijeda, 21.07.2010.

German GP 2010: Hockenheim 23.-25. srpnja

Vettel: Nisam pod pritiskom zbog Hockenheima

nedjelja, 18.07.2010.

Red Bull Heppenheim Show - Seb's Home Run

utorak, 13.07.2010.

Političke kontroverze frustrirajuće za Vettela

ponedjeljak, 12.07.2010.

Sebastian Vettel Q&A: At least I scored points

nedjelja, 11.07.2010.

Birtish GP 2010: Race; Webber wins, Seb dramaticlly 7th

Horner: Ne favoriziramo Vettela

subota, 10.07.2010.

British GP 2010: Qualifying; Seb fastest on Silverstone

British GP 2010: Free Practice 3

petak, 09.07.2010.

British GP 2010: Free Practice 2

British GP 2010: Free Practice 1

četvrtak, 08.07.2010.

British GP 2010: Thursday at Silverstone; Vettel says Britain crucial for title hopes

utorak, 06.07.2010.

British GP 2010: Silverstone 9.-11. srpnja

subota, 03.07.2010.

Happy Birthday Seb!!!