Sebastian Vettel says he is not even thinking about trying to equal Michael Schumacher's record of 91 career wins, after taking his 42nd in Singapore last weekend, putting him third on the all-time list.
By winning at the Marina Bay Circuit on Sunday, Vettel surpassed Ayrton Senna's career win tally and now trails only Alain Prost on 51 and of course Schumacher – statistically the most successful driver Formula 1 has ever seen.
Asked if he can see himself beating both of those people in time, Vettel replied: “I think I could consider myself the luckiest racing driver in the world if there were as many race wins to come as there was with Michael.
“I think, to be honest, Prost's is in sight somehow. I'm 28 so I'm not the youngest any more especially if the kids start racing at 17 now.
"But Michael's is just ridiculous: number of wins, number of poles, number of fastest laps. I think all the statistics you can go for you compare yourself to him or anyone to him, so I think that's far away.
“So if you have 23 corners in Singapore, I consider myself being in turn one and Michael in turn 23. I'm not really looking at that. I'm having a great time. I think I can consider myself very lucky and blessed the way things have turned out.
"I've always had a more or less competitive car, competitive team, so if it keeps going that way then I can consider myself very lucky.”
Vettel's victory in Singapore, his third since moving to Ferrari this year, also saw him match what Schumacher achieved in terms of wins in his debut season with the Scuderia in 1996. However, Vettel said such a comparison is not really valid.
“I don't think you can really draw that comparison,” he confirmed, “and in all fairness, I think the car he had in 1996 was a lot worse than what we have this year which shows again what a great racing driver he was.”
Meanwhile, Vettel also warned that while Ferrari is getting better and better, the future is not something you can exactly foretell.
“It's impossible to predict the future. I think we are now on a good track with the team, Kimi [Raikkonen] and myself, so I think we've got some years ahead of us which we can enjoy. In a way you can forget the statistics, I think the most important thing is the sheer fun in life and get paid for it, that's a great thing,” concluded the four-time F1 world champion.
utorak, 22. rujna 2015.
Singapore track invader could face six months in prison
A 27-year-old British national has been charged with committing a 'rash act' that endangered safety after he invaded the Singapore Grand Prix circuit during Sunday's race.
Singapore's Strait Times reports that Yogvitam Pravin Dhokia appeared in court on Tuesday, charged with interrupting a national event, which resulted in the deployment of the Safety Car so Mr Dhokia could be safely removed.
It's reported that bail was set at S$15,000 (£6,800), which Mr Dhokia couldn't pay and was therefore remanded in custody whilst investigations continue. His passport has been impounded and a second hearing is set for October 6th.
He could be sentenced to six months in prison and face further fines of S$2,500 (£1,140).
Singapore race organisers could also face sanctions after photos showed marshal posts unattended, allowing easy access to the circuit.
Race winner Sebastian Vettel, who was the first driver to come across the track invader, said he had to look twice as he couldn't believe what he had seen.
"I had to look again because I wasn’t sure whether I had a problem with my eyesight or I saw somebody crossing the track," he joked.
"I went on the radio and said ‘some guy’s running across the track!’ I think I saw him taking a picture. I don’t know. I hope it was a good one at least. I hope it was in focus!"
Ferrari should give engines to Red Bull
| Cesare Fiorio, the former Ferrari team boss, says that if he was still running the Maranello marque, he would supply engines to Red Bull. As it is splitting with Renault, the former quadruple world champions have warned that unless Ferrari agrees to release a supply of power units for 2016, Red Bull and also Toro Rosso could be left without horse power for 2016. |
 |
|
"I would give them engines," Fiorio, who led Maranello in the Alain Prost era, told Rai Radio 1.
"Why? If for no other reason than to not have Red Bull-Mercedes as an opponent. With Red Bull on your side, at least Ferrari would benefit from their findings," he added.
Jenson Button: 'Joy' for Formula One has gone
Jenson Button has admitted the "joy" of competing in Formula One is no longer there amidst mounting speculation he is set to announce his retirement in Japan.
Several British media outlets are reporting that Button will call time on his 16-year career in F1 at Suzuka this weekend after McLaren's troublesome first season with Honda. McLaren has an option on Button's contract for next season which expires at the end of September but the decision may well be out of the team's hands.
Button and team-mate Fernando Alonso have endured a frustrating season with Honda's uncompetitive and unreliable power unit and there is little sign a quick step forward is on the horizon. After another retirement in Singapore Button's demeanour suggested he had lost motivation to carry on beyond the end of the current season.
"My head knows but my mouth and tongue doesn't know," Button said. "The joy of being in the car is only there if you're fighting at the front, because you feel like you're achieving something.
"If you're fighting near the back, you're driving an F1 car, but you can easily get joy driving something else. The joy you get is from competing. It's about fighting at the front. It's about the possibility of standing on top of the podium. That's the joy of F1."
Button considers the Japanese Grand Prix to be a second home race due to his marriage to Jessica Michibata. It is an especially important weekend for McLaren given its new partnership with Japanese manufacturer Honda, meaning there will be increased media attention on the team.
The 2009 world champion hinted that a decision has already been made, though discussions will continue through to Suzuka this weekend.
"I have made that decision, that's the important thing. It is always nice to make an announcement when you are at your home grand prix, but I don't know what's happening yet.
"There are a lot of meetings in Japan, Ron Dennis and Eric Boullier will be there. I'm sure there will be a lot of meetings at the headquarters."
srijeda, 8. srpnja 2015.
Alonso: Lack of development makes racing boring
Fernando Alonso feels the restrictions on testing and developments in Formula 1 is too tight and chokes the sport's rate of improvement to make it a better spectacle.
The two-time F1 world champion wants the rules to be relaxed to enable teams to run more testing so they can increase developments. The McLaren driver has singled out the strict regulations on engines and aerodynamics as an area where he thinks strong steps forward could be made if teams were given more freedom.
The Spaniard also feels the current pace of the F1 cars is too close to its main feeder series, GP2, and there needs to be more of a gap between the two.
At last weekend's British grand prix GP2 pole sitter Sergey Sirotkin's quickest lap was a 1m 39.949s which was just over half a second off the slowest F1 qualifying time – Manor-Marussia's Roberto Merhi who set a lap time of 1m 39.377s.
Discounting the back-marker Manors, Alonso's own qualifying time that put him 17th on the grid at Silverstone (1m 34.959s), was only 4.99s faster than the GP2 front runners and he feels the difference between to two needs widening.
"[We need] faster cars because now we are too close to GP2 times and more testing, free rules in terms of developing the car because now, as you put the car in the first test in the winter, more or less you keep the same position to the end of the year,” Alonso said.
"You make progress, everyone makes progress, but because the rules are very strict you cannot develop very much in terms of engine freeze and the aerodynamic being very restricted, and that is making the races very predictable and very boring.”
utorak, 7. srpnja 2015.
Button staying with McLaren for 2016 – Dennis
McLaren CEO Ron Dennis says he expects Jenson Button to remain with the team for 2016.
Button’s current drive was only confirmed late last year, as McLaren weighed up whether to partner he or team-mate Kevin Magnussen with the incoming Fernando Alonso.
McLaren has suffered a miserable season, with Button scoring just four points all year with the under-powered Honda package.
The Woking-based squad also has both Magnussen and current GP2 points leader Stoffel Vandoorne on its books, prompting calls that this might be Button’s lasts season in Formula 1.
But Dennis insists he has no intention of replacing the 2009 champion next year.
“Jenson Button has a two-year contract with McLaren,” Dennis told Sky Sports F1. “We are not even thinking about drivers at the moment. Both of them are doing an amazing job.”
“It would be very, very easy for both of them to be critical of McLaren – and they are not.”
Dennis is adamant that McLaren can still turn around its season and expects the team to be more competitive at the coming races.
“They are driving the car and they know that the car is extremely quick in corners,” he explained.
“It is not quite the match of the Mercedes at the moment but it is in many of the corners and it is certainly a match for most of the cars on the grid.
“Everyone in Formula 1 knows that. Everyone can look at data and establish where we are quick and where we are slow.
“But there is nothing more certain than that we will be back
“I believe step-by-step we will get there, we want to believe everything we are told by our partners, Honda, and if they deliver against their promises then there is no question that we will be far more competitive in the next few races.”
Manor 'over the moon' with Stevens and Merhi
Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi have done an "outstanding job" according to Manor team boss John Booth, who praised their attitude and skill.
The pair are both rookies, with Stevens having completed a single race before 2015 courtesy of Caterham's short-lived return in Abu Dhabi.
Merhi meanwhile, who scored the teams best finish of the year last weekend with 12th, had little experience other than a single practice outing for Caterham at the Italian GP last season.
Both have however impressed Booth despite the difficult circumstances surrounding their debuts.
"We threw two rookies in with no pre-season testing and missing the first race altogether, and just to expect them to perform - which they have done - they’ve done an outstanding job," he told the official Formula 1 website.
"We’re over the moon with both drivers. Up until now we’ve given them a car that’s not been easy to drive and the engine must be at least 1-1.5 seconds slower than the best engine on the grid. We haven’t made their lives easy.
"They started getting very competitive a few races ago, but they seem to have had conversations themselves about how they want to conduct themselves on track.
"They’re both very intelligent guys, and they know each other very well of course. I think they’re developing into a strong team now."
Nico Rosberg says Lewis Hamilton's F1 win at Silverstone was pure luck
HAMILTON'S CALCULATIONS ON LATE PIT STOP, HOWEVER, PROVED TO BE THE DIFFERENCE
Lewis Hamilton simply lucked into the perfect strategy call that propelled him to victory in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday. That is how teammate and top championship rival Nico Rosberg saw things after a late pit stop for a tire change in increasingly wet conditions proved to be the difference in the race.
Hamilton told British journalists that he had "100 percent confidence in my mind in terms of making the decision."
In the moments leading up to the final pit stop, the world champion was being rapidly chased down by his German teammate Rosberg.
"At that moment I thought 'Now I'm going to win'," Rosberg said in his latest column for the German publication, Bild. "As Lewis drove into the pits to get rain tires, I was totally surprised. I thought 'Now I've got him!' Actually it was too early (to pit), but then the downpour came at exactly that moment. Madness, because if the rain had come just half a lap later, I would have had him.
"Annoying."
Former boss says Ferrari should oust Raikkonen
"I would like to see another top driver there, even if it causes problems witThe pressure is continuing to pile on Kimi Raikkonen.
| Amid swirling speculation about the Finn's future, Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene departed Silverstone with the message: "What I want now is for Kimi to remain calm so he can do his job." |
But as far as the specialist Italian press is concerned, Arrivabene is only ramping up the pressure.
La Repubblica correspondent Marco Mensurati said: "Arrivabene made clear after the race that the strategic decisions in Britain had been made by the drivers.
"I understood it to mean 'Vettel is a genius and Raikkonen is stupid'."
Sport Mediaset's Giorgio Terruzzi agrees: "The intermediate tyre choice (made by Raikkonen) was wrong. Too bad, because until then everything was going well.
"The fact is, he (Raikkonen) already seems to be out of the house: unprotected and under constant fire."
Former Ferrari boss Cesare Fiorio thinks it is time for the 2007 world champion to go.
"Two years ago I raised question about his lifestyle and age," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "These doubts have been confirmed."
And former F1 team owner Gian Carlo Minardi agrees: "Kimi is no longer delivering what Ferrari needs. I would put a young driver in his place.
"Maranello's own academy has two promising youngsters: (Raffaele) Marciello and (Antonio) Fuoco," he added.
Raikkonen's manager, Steve Robertson, commented: "We would like to know Ferrari's decision before Monza."
Pino Allievi, La Gazzetta's veteran correspondent, said the obvious favourite is Valtteri Bottas, although many believe the Finn has been increasingly outperformed by Felipe Massa in 2015.
"If the Ferrari of the future must have a driver who has lost to the Ferrari of the past (Massa), it is better to wait and think before making a decision," he said.
Fiorio agrees: "He (Bottas) is the right age, but pretty inconsistent, and I think Felipe Massa really has the upper hand at Williams.h Vettel. Ferrari should try to get (Lewis) Hamilton, and if that fails, then (Nico) Rosberg," he added.
Merc boss sympathises with Williams
Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff believes Williams were in unfamiliar territory at the British GP and probably didn't want to risk a good team result.
Williams' strategy at Silverstone raised a few eyebrows on Sunday after they ordered Valtteri Bottas not to pass team-mate and race leader Felipe Massa early on before later changing their minds and telling him he can overtake if it's a "clean pass and he gets away quickly".
Lewis Hamilton went on to lead home another Merc 1-2 and Williams missed out on a podium altogether as Sebastian Vettel from Ferrari came from lower down the order to nick the final podium place after pitting earlier for intermediate tyres.
Wolff admits he has a bit of sympathy for those on the Grove squad's pit wall.
"Sometimes I had a bit of deja vu like us in 2013 when you find yourself in P1 and P2 and you're surprised," he said.
"You don't want to risk the team result because it's so amazing.
"It's so easy to say what someone should have done, but I'm not in there and I think they probably got caught on the wrong foot."
He added: "Probably Valtteri could have built a gap if they let him go."
Another contentious issue was Williams' decision not to pit one of their drivers before their Mercedes rivals, both on the first stop and the switch to intermediate tyres.
"We know Williams have more difficulty in making the tyres last," Wolff said.
"We knew that triggering an early stop would make them think we were able to [make the tyres last] and could have caused them problems at the end.
"But they knew they needed more time. For them it was too early, too marginal.
"It would have been too difficult on the prime tyre to finish the race [with an earlier stop]."
Lewis Hamilton reckons the best is yet to come this season
British GP winner riding a wave of confidence after Silverstone success
Riding a wave of confidence after his British GP win at the weekend, Lewis Hamilton reckons his best is yet to come this season.
The defending world champion opened up a 17-point gap over Nico Rosberg after his Silverstone success - and the bad news for his Mercedes team-mate and title rival is that Hamilton also thinks he’s performing better than last year.
“It is five out of nine [wins] and I have had eight out of nine poles,” The Timesquoted Hamilton as saying. “Last year was exceptional for me and to think that I am doing it just as much as that but a little bit better this year, I didn’t think I could do that.”
nedjelja, 24. svibnja 2015.
Mercedes “sorry” for Hamilton’s race-losing pit stop
Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff apologised to Lewis Hamilton after a pit strategy error cost him an almost-certain victory in the Monaco Grand Prix.
Hamilton was leading comfortably when Mercedes chose to bring him into the pits during a late Safety Car period. It proved a misjudgement which cost him the race, allowing Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel past.
“There is nothing else to do than apologise to Lewis,” said Wolff, “it was a misjudgement in the heat of the moment”.
“I’m sorry for Lewis that we made the mistake and I’m sorry for Lewis. It should have been a perfect one-two today. We made a decision and it was the wrong decision. We need to analyse it and to apologise to Lewis.”
“I’m sure we’ll sit down afterwards and try and think of ways we can improve,” said Hamilton after the podium ceremony.
“It was not the easiest of races,” he added. “The team has been amazing all year long. We win and lose together. I’m just grateful for the job they did. Congratulations to Nico and Sebastian.”
Verstappen penalised for Grosjean crash
Max Verstappen has been given a grid penalty and penalty points on his licences for his collision with Romain Grosjean.
Verstappen will lose five place on the grid at the next round in Canada and has been given two penalty points.
The Toro Rosso driver blamed Grosjean for the collision, saying his rival braked early for the corner. However the stewards ruled that “car 33 [Verstappen] caused the collision with car 8 [Grosjean] in turn one.”
Kvyat ‘massively relieved’ after last-lap pass for fourth
Kvyat had let Daniel Ricciardo by into fourth a few laps earlier as his team mate had switched to the softer tyres in an attempt to make a pass for a podium position. When he wasn’t able to the team told him to let Kvyat back through.
“It was a strategy gamble they tried with him,” Kvyat confirmed to reporters after the race. “He was meant to overtake the people in front, the Mercedes and Ferrari, but it didn’t happen.”
“So then we stick to the fair plan because they tried the strategy with him, not with me.”
Kvyat’s best finish until today had been a string of ninth place finishes. “It was a very positive day,” he said. “It was my highest, by far, career finish in F1.”
“So to be fair massive relief. Next step, you know where it is. I’m feeling actually quite happy at the moment.”
Kvyat had come under some criticism from Red Bull motorsport director Helmut Marko in the run-up to the race, who suggested his results weren’t good enough. “The bits were there for a good race but we were missing out a little bit first races,” said Kvyat.
“This race seemed to come in our favour a little bit more, this track more adapted to us. But hopefully now we can carry on this momentum on the next races. So all in all it was a very positive weekend.”
2015 Monaco Grand Prix result
Pos # Driver Car Laps Time/gap Difference Reason
1 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 78 1hr 49m 18.420s
2 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 78 4.486 4.486
3 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 78 6.053 1.567
4 26 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault 78 11.965 5.912
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 78 13.608 1.643
6 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 78 14.345 0.737
7 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 78 15.013 0.668
8 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 78 16.063 1.050
9 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 78 23.626 7.563
10 55 Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso-Renault 78 25.056 1.430
11 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 78 26.232 1.176
12 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Mercedes 78 28.415 2.183
13 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 78 31.159 2.744
14 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 78 45.789 14.630
15 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 77 1 lap 1 lap
16 98 Roberto Merhi Manor-Ferrari 76 2 laps 1 lap
17 28 Will Stevens Manor-Ferrari 76 2 laps 3.682
Not classified
33 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault 62 16 laps 14 laps Accident
14 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 41 37 laps 21 laps Transmission
13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Mercedes 5 73 laps 36 laps Brakes
Rosberg lucks into third Monaco win in a row
Nico Rosberg took a surprise third consecutive Monaco Grand Prix victory in a race which his team mate was dominating until a late Safety Car period.
Lewis Hamilton was leading comfortably until a collision between,Max Verstappen and Romain Grosjean caused the Safety Car deployment which changed the outcome of the race.
Mercedes took the opportunity to give Hamilton a fresh set of tyres, but he was unable to rejoin the track before the chasing Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel arrived. After the Safety Car came in Hamilton was unable to pass the Ferrari driver for second place, leaving Rosberg to win as he pleased.
Hamilton briefly came under pressure from Daniel Ricciardo, who had adopted the same strategy, overtaken Kimi Raikkonen and been waved through by team mate Daniil Kvyat. Having failed to pass Hamilton, Ricciardo let Kvyat back into fourth on the final tour.
Raikkonen took sixth ahead of Sergio Perez while Jenson Button claimed McLaren’s first points of the season with eighth place. Team mate Fernando Alonso retired with a technical problem.
Felipe Nasr and Carlos Sainz Jnr completed the points scorers, the latter having started from the pit lane.
Pretplati se na:
Postovi (Atom)