Ferrari and Marlboro Accused Of Subliminal Advertising By British Doctors
Scuderia Ferrari and their title sponsor the Marlboro cigarette company have been accused by some British doctors of creating a subliminal advertising message through the use of the bar-code Marlboro block out on the rear of their Formula One cars.
Since 2002 there have been heavy restrictions in place regarding tobacco sponsorship, which were pushed into Formula One in 2005 when majority of the cigarette advertisers who had been in the sport for years left. Marlboro remained with Ferrari, but the last time their logo was used was in 2007 with instead the use of a bar-code insignia on the cars to state where their advert should be.
This contravenes no rules or regulations, however doctors who helped outlaw tobacco advertising in an attempt to reduce smoking take up and use say that the bar code makes a subliminal message encouraging people to start.
“The bar code looks like the bottom half of a packet of Marlboro cigarettes. I was stunned when I saw it,” John Britton, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and director of its tobacco advisory group told The Times.
“This is pushing at the limits. If you look at how the bar code has evolved over the last four years, it looks like a creeping branding.”
However Ferrari have hit back and released this statement
“Today and in recent weeks, articles have been published relating to the partnership contract between Scuderia Ferrari and Philip Morris International, questioning its legality. These reports are based on two suppositions: that part of the graphics featured on the Formula 1 cars are reminiscent of the Marlboro logo and even that the red colour which is a traditional feature of our cars is a form of tobacco publicity.
Neither of these arguments have any scientific basis, as they rely on some alleged studies which have never been published in academic journals. But more importantly, they do not correspond to the truth. The so called barcode is an integral part of the livery of the car and of all images coordinated by the Scuderia, as can be seen from the fact it is modified every year and, occasionally even during the season. Furthermore, if it was a case of advertising branding, Philip Morris would have to own a legal copyright on it.
The partnership between Ferrari and Philip Morris is now only exploited in certain initiatives, such as factory visits, meetings with the drivers, merchandising products, all carried out fully within the laws of the various countries where these activities take place. There has been no logo or branding on the race cars since 2007, even in countries where local laws would still have permitted it.
The premise that simply looking at a red Ferrari can be a more effective means of publicity than a cigarette advertisement seems incredible: how should one assess the choice made by other Formula 1 teams to race a car with a predominantly red livery or to link the image of a driver to a sports car of the same colour? Maybe these companies also want to advertise smoking! It should be pointed out that red has been the recognised colour for Italian racing cars since the very beginning of motor sport, at the start of the twentieth century: if there is an immediate association to be made, it is with our company rather than with our partner.”
It is an interesting point, however there has been no previous discussion that the bar code was used for an effect to make smokers start. I reckon a fair few people know that the brand is Marlboro, such has been the partnership. It brings up a question in my mind then, to why Rizla the maker of cigarette papers and filters are allowed to openly sponsor the Suzuki MotoGp team? I mean if a bar code can resemble a cigarette packet and make a subliminal advertising case, then surely advertising everything but the tobacco itself is encouraging people towards it? Its tough ground, and very complicated but there is one certainty, Ferrari do NOT colour the cars red because of Marlboro!
Silverstone Launch The Arena Circuit
Silverstone have officially launched their new addition to the circuit known as the Arena layout.
The race track, located in Northamptonshire in England was not expected to be hosting a Formula One race this year with the spoils of the top motorsport event in Britain going to Donington Park. Silverstone had the rights to the MotoGP championship which prompted the idea to adjust the circuit to a faster and free flowing design. However when Donington Park ran out of money, Silverstone stepped in and secured rights to the Formula One and the cars will use the new circuit upon their visit.
The new part of the track sweeps off from Abbey and goes right through to the National circuit straight. It has already been hailed a success by some.
“This is a new circuit for a new generation of people to enjoy motorsport and we believe it will offer a big challenge to drivers as well,” Damon Hill, the head of the BRDC who run Silverstone said this morning.
His Royal higness the Duke of York attended the opening and was beaming about the success of motorsport in Britain.
“The real reason I am here to support Silverstone and the BRDC is because high performance engineering is vitally important for the British economy.
“Motorsport is right at the pinnacle of this industry, so it is through events like F1 and Superbikes that we can demonstrate our expertise.
“And I can say I hope the future will continue to be rosy not just for motorsport in the UK but also high performance engineering as a whole.”
Former Grand Prix winner and Red Bull Racing driver David Coulthard sampled the circuit in a Red Bull car, completing 6 laps and he seemed very impressed giving us his breakdown of the new circuit.
“It might take us a step closer to good racing,” he said. “It’s always difficult to tell until you really drive a proper line at speed. But the corner out of Club, the Abbey kink, and the kink out of Aintree might be the areas, where if they are not flat, drivers can make a mistake and someone can get in their slipstream.
“Otherwise it’s the same, the start finish straight is the same, Copse is the usual mighty corner – a real opener that you drive right on the edge.”
Speaking about the track, he said: “Club is now a very defined double apex. Before it just had one apex but now there is one apex, and then another one. So in the damp you can imagine someone having a bit of a wobble there.
“When you come out of The Loop there is another little kink [at Aintree Corner] and I’m hoping that won’t be flat. If it is flat then it does nothing, but if it isn’t then maybe someone can get a run down in to the braking area at Brooklands.
“It is a very wide entry there and F1 car’s take a narrower line than a touring car or whatever, just because of the nature of the cars. But if you did make a mistake there then that could also lead to overtaking.
“Otherwise it’s the same. There has been a small realignment at Maggots, but nothing major. Abbey is now a very fast corner. I think Village is more likely to be a spectator area than a spectator zone.”
Pirelli To Make Offer Of Tyre Supply From 2011 – Tyre War Reignition Possible
Pirelli, the Italian tyre manufacturer has told a leading motorsport magazine that it intends to draw up an offer to apply to become a tyre supplier from the 2011 season, reigniting the possibility of a competitive tyre war within Formula One not seen since 2006.
The rubber company bosses held a meeting this week in Italy to discuss possible financing of such a deal, and with their figures drawn up and adding up to a viable level, they have admitted they hold interest in rejoining Formula One for the first time in over 20 years.
Their motorsport boss, Paul Hembury says that the possibility of using 18″ wheeled cars, and the possibility of a greater share of revenues has pushed it toward rejoining.
“Nothing is concrete yet, but we understand that with the possibility of 18-inch tyres, and the fact that the commercial reality has changed compared to the previous environment, then F1 is something that we are now looking into,” Hembery told Autosport Magazine.
“We are always in contact, and remain in contact, with the FIA and the F1 promoter – and that is something that continues year on year. We’ve been aware of the ongoing situation in F1 and that is really what has led to our latest situation.”
Michelin aare very interested in a tyre war, and Pirelli are not ruling the possibility out although they would prefer to be a sole supplier in the market.
“We wouldn’t rule out a tyre war at this moment, but at this current time I don’t think there is a huge appetite to spend large sums of money developing tyres to go faster,” he said.
“Of course these things go in waves and at some point that may be the correct approach, but at the moment teams are more interested in bringing costs down.”
Pirelli have most recently been supplying tyres to the World Rally Championship, as well as focusing on a very successful road car tyre department.
A Pirelli tyre'd World Rally Championship Subaru Impreza
Ferrari Want New Rules To Push Tech, Haug Warns Over Green Image
Scuderia Ferrari CEO Amedo Felisa has told Autocar that he believes any new adoption of rules and engines for the 2013 season, the next major change point for regulations in Formula One should aim to push technology as far as possible in order to make the sport more efficient.
The boss of Ferrari believes that the adoption of smaller turbo charged engines would be a step in the right direction for the sport, which downscaled from V10 engines to V8 ones in 2006 to much furor.
The engines to be adopted are rumoured to be 1.5litre turbo charged engines with an output of around 670-700 bhp. Felisa wants the use of Gasoline Direct Injection technology to be used, pushing the boundaries of the new technology to the forefront of the leading world motorsport event.
“If F1 has to develop something helpful for real driving conditions, then the best solution is for an engine that is turbocharged and GDI,” said Felisa. “That is what we would support.
“It is the best solution for driving efficiency and utilisation of the engine in a positive way.”
However Mercedes Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug says that Formula 1 can never be totally “green”.
“The fascinating thing about Formula 1 is it’s fast, it’s loud, it’s on the limit,” he told this week’s Autosport Magazine.
“We can discuss green initiatives, but Formula 1 needs to be technically driven. If you fly from Europe to Japan on a 747, you would use more fuel than an entire F1 season. We need to see the whole picture.
“We need to be mindful that we are building the cleanest cars we can. The engine will be downsized in 2013 because the fuel consumption has to go down, and we need to cut carbon emissions. But we must not think that a 700bhp engine is going to be the greenest car ever, because that’s not great.”
Schumacher ‘Not Good Enough’ Says Former Team Mate
A former team mate of Michael Schumacher who wished to remain anonymous has made the audacious claim that Schumacher is no longer good enough to drive in Formula One.
Schumacher, 41, rejoined Formula One in a shock move just before Christmas to race for the all German Mercedes Benz team alongside Nico Rosberg. However, any fears that his neck would not be able to cope with the pressures following a motorbike accident in Germany were muted because of the performance of the former world champion. He has yet to beat his team mate in a race, and despite scoring regular points thanks to the new 10 place scoring system he has been relatively poor with his racing.
One would have thought he would excel in the damp conditions seen in China, the sort of races where he would dominate back when driving for Ferrari, however he did not, with fumbled tyre changes and a genuine air of nervousness over his car-pit radio system.
“I can tell you, he was always very vulnerable when he lost, whenever I beat him; it was as if he needed a cuddle afterwards.” One of his former team mates told The Independent newspaper.
“You can see his head has dropped after four races in which Rosberg has been quicker; he just isn’t used to that. He is the kind of guy who even when we were at the Madonna di Campiglia pre-season skiing publicity event with Ferrari in the old days, he had to be the fastest. And if he wasn’t, he would keep demanding another go until he was. That’s how driven he used to be.
“After the beating he got on Sunday, in conditions in which the old Michael Schumacher excelled, I don’t think he’ll ever come back to his old level.”
Speculation is now rife to the source, which has been touted as former team mate Eddie Irvine who moved to Jaguar in 2000 after a few seasons with Ferrari, or perhaps Rubens Barrichello who now races with Williams and spent much of his time with Ferrari in the shade of the former master.
Toro’s Rule Out Using F-Duct System
Scuderia Toro Rosso have ruled out using an F-Duct system on their car, stating that it is too expensive for the potential gain.
The small junior Red Bull team is going it alone from their parent team this season with their own car design and development programme based at their headquarters in Faenza Italy. They say that they have other aerodynamic developments to add to the car which will provide a greater benefit for the same cost.
“That’s because if I have ten euros in my pocket and I’m hungry, I buy two sandwiches with it instead of three grams of caviar,” Ascanelli told Autosprint
“Maybe we’d be able to find some advantages after five months of development, but in that same time span we can improve even more by developing other parts of the car.
“That kind of system is no good for those who, like us, began to get the wind tunnel to work properly only in November.”
Boullier Very Happy With Petrov’s Performance In China
Eric Boullier, the new team principal of Renault has told reporters that he is very impressed with Vitaly Petrov’s early pace in a Formula One car, citing his only finish of the season last weekend in China as evidence for his improvement as a driver.
The GP2 runner up has had a tough start in Formula One, but following a great drive in tricky conditions to 7th place at the Chinese Grand Prix, the Russian driver seems to be making some headway in the difficult world of Grand Prix racing.
“Vitaly put in a great drive,” said Boullier. “At the beginning of the race, the conditions were very tricky. Some parts of the track were wet, some weren’t, and it’s never easy for a rookie when the conditions are changing all the time.
“But once everybody got onto the same tyres in the second half of the race, he just got faster and faster – in the final laps, he was the quickest car on track.”
He added: “We know that he has some very strong qualities: his speed and his calmness under pressure. You always have to give young drivers time. Kobayashi and Hulkenberg, the other rookies in established teams, have struggled to finish races and score points this year, and they both have more experience in an F1 car.
“Yesterday, Vitaly was finally able to show his true talent. It demonstrated that once he has confidence in the car, he can be very quick indeed.”
Renault themselves have had a good season, amassing 46 points already with team mate Robert Kubica getting a podium finish in Australia. The team’s fortunes seem to be on the turn fom the dark days of 2009.
VW To Continue In Dakar Rendering F1 Move Unlikely Yet
Volkswagen, one of the world’s largest autmobile producers has announced it will be continuing to put all of its efforts into producing another rally winning vehicle for the 2011 Dakar Rally.
VW, who own major car manufacturers like Audi, Bugatti and Bentley have previously suggested they would be considering an entry into Formula One. They want costs to reduce, and they said they would monitor the progress of the new teams admitted for this season.
However a Formula One entry under the name of Bugatti is now looking unlikely as the bosses of Volkswagen motorsport have said they are pushing all of their effort back into the Dakar in attempts to win it for the third time in a row, a new record for a diesel powered machine.
“We now have the opportunity to achieve the diesel hat-trick and to thereby make motorsport history again,” said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen.
“We will again invest all our passion, heart and soul in this project at the next ‘Dakar’.”
China GP 2010: Button Wins Chaotic Race
Jenson Button won a chaotic Chinese Grand Prix today, as he battled through variable rain and dry conditions steering his McLaren to a second win of the season.
His team mate Lewis Hamilton battled on into 2nd place, and they were joined on the podium by Nico Rosberg who led for part of the Grand Prix.
Race Review
Fernando Alonso appeared to get the best start, jumping the two Red Bull racing cars of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. However jump was appropriate as the Spaniard had been judged to have jumped the start, and was handed a drive through penalty.
The cars spent the early few laps snaking around the circuit as light rain spots fell making it difficult for some.
Tonio Liuzzi got it all wrong on the first lap and slammed into Kamui Kobayashi and Sebastien Buemi, nearly knocking Rubens Barrichello out of the race too.
Some of the teams decided to pit for intermediate tyres, and some stayed out. Those that remained on track seemed to have played a brilliant hand, as Nico Rosberg on the slicks set far and away better lap times than many others, including his own team mate Michael Schumacher who admitted he jumped onto the wet tyres too quickly.
As their intermediate tyres wore down they were forced to pit again, and those at the front, including Rosberg and Robert Kubica pulled well clear of the ailing field. By this point, Fernando Alonso had been into the pits an astonishing 3 times, but the final time he had managed to slip passed his team mate on the pit entrance to get a better position and not be held up at the stop.
Speaking of dangerous pitstops, it is of great surprise Sebastian Vettel nor Lewis Hamilton were penalised for their pitstop incident where Hamilton was released into the path of Vettel, yielding slightly he raced neck and neck down the pitlane with the German forcing him towards air guns and mechanics before drag racing down to the first corner. Hamilton once again not penalised, nor was he for forcing Mark Webber off track when the safety car came in following Jaime Alguersuari’s accident with Bruno Senna.
That safety car restart was a congested one as new leader Button forced everyone to standstill at the hairpin before the main straight causing a big back up and nearly some huge accidents. Uncalled for, and in contravention of rules once again.
Drivers battled through from the back and Lewis Hamilton managed to squeeze into 2nd place, with a great battle with the ailing former hero Michael Schumacher who seemed to go backwards all afternoon in the Mercedes eventually clinging on to one point.
Fernando Alonso had a stellar drive into 4th, unlucky to miss out on a podium. Kubica ended 5th with team mate Petrov 7th.
Red Bull really threw this race away and only ended up in 6th and 8th. A poor afternoon by all accounts.
Race Results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | J. Button | McLaren | 1.44.42.163 |
| 2 | L.Hamilton | McLaren | +1.530 |
| 3 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes GP | +9.484 |
| 4 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +11.869 |
| 5 | R. Kubica | Renault | +22.213 |
| 6 | S. Vettel | Red Bull Renault | +33.310 |
| 7 | V. Petrov | Renault | +47.600 |
| 8 | M. Webber | Red Bull Renault | +52.172 |
| 9 | F. Massa | Ferrari | +57.796 |
| 10 | M. Schumacher | Mercedes GP | +1.01.749 |
| 11 | A Sutil | Force India Mercedes | +1.02.874 |
| 12 | R. Barrichello | Williams Cosworth | +1.03.655 |
| 13 | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso Ferrari | +1.11.416 |
| 14 | H. Kovalainen | Lotus Cosworth | +1 lap |
| 15 | N. Hulkenberg | Williams Cosworth | +1 lap |
| 16 | B. Senna | HRT Cosworth | +2 laps |
| 17 | K. Chandhok | HRT Cosworth | +4 laps |
Retirements:
| Driver | Team | Lap | Reason |
| J. Trulli | Lotus Cosworth | 27 | Hydraulic |
| L. di Grassi | Virgin Cosworth | 9 | Unknown |
| P. de La Rosa | Sauber Ferrari | 8 | Engine |
| S. Buemi | Toro Rosso Ferrari | 1 | Accident |
| K. Kobayashi | Sauber Ferrari | 1 | Accident |
| V. Liuzzi | Force India Mercedes | 1 | Accident |
| T. Glock | Virgin Cosworth | 1 | Unknown |
Post Race Interviews
Jenson Button (McLaren) – 1st: “For me, it is my best victory – every one you win becomes your best victory but this was was pretty tough conditions. The good thing is our pace was very good today. It wasn’t just the call of weather, it was good pace. At the end we were two seconds a lap quicker than other people. We will don’t know where we are in the dry, but we will forget about it at the moment.”
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) – 2nd: “I had quite an eventful race. Congratulations to Jenson, he did an incredible job and made a better choice on tyres. It was tough at the beginning, the weather was not easy for making the call to change tyres. I chose very late when I was halfway around the corner and clearly it was not the right choice. We both did a tremendous job, and it’s down to the awesome job the team are doing. We are working very well and it’s great for the team.”
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) – 3rd: “I think it was good call [To stay out on the slick tyres]. I took the advice from the team and my engineer and eventually decided to give it a go and stay out and it turned out to be really good. Out there you want it to stop raining, it was so on edge. That went really well and it was nice to be leading the race for a long time from there. I got a little more tyre degradation than Jenson. I made a mistake so he came by, but in general I am really, really happy it is a good step in the right direction.”
Robert Kubica (Renault) – 5th: “It was an exciting race today and it’s good to have scored some more points. At the start of the race I made a bad start and lost a lot of positions, but we made the right decision to stay out on slicks when it started to rain and I was able to move up through the field into third place. However, the critical moment of my race was when the safety car came out, which ended my hopes of a podium because I lost the big lead I had to the cars behind me. So although I’m happy to finish fifth, I still feel a bit frustrated to have missed a podium.”
Mark Webber (Red Bull) – 8th: “We got blown away so it was a very difficult grand prix for us. We weren’t quick enough, simple as that. They were changeable conditions but it’s the same for everyone, and the car is very sensitive in these conditions if it is not going one way or the other for you. Interesting grand prix. We know (where we lose out in these conditions) and we have got to improve it.”
Pedro de La Rosa (Sauber) – Ret: ”Of course I am deeply disappointed. We made all the right tyre decisions. I started on slicks and managed to stay out in the drizzle. I enjoyed overtaking and then I was in fourth. When you are in a situation like this you really have to finish. We missed a great chance today. I don’t know what exactly happened. I felt there was something wrong with the engine and then stopped in Turn 9.”
Tony Fernandes – Team boss of Lotus: “I’m really happy today as we’ve accomplished what we said we’d do,” said Fernandes after Heikki Kovalainen finished in 14th position, one place head of Nico Hulkenberg. We wanted to see at least one car cross the line for the first four races, and we’ve done that, but it’s kind of bitter sweet today. It’s obviously a great result for Heikki but a real shame for Jarno as he seems to take the brunt of the issues – it’s a bit odd as it does seem to be just his car. The conditions today made it very tense out there and it’s very satisfying, and shows how we’re progressing, that today we were racing Williams, who we beat on track.”
Yamamoto Signs Up With HRT As Test Driver
Sakon Yamamoto has rejoined Formula One, this time as the test and dvelopment driver to the Hispania HRT racing team.
He joins the Spanish minnow and teams up with Colin Kolles, his former boss at Spyker where he enjoyed his last foray into competitive F1 racing back in 2007. Prior to that, he had raced for Super Aguri in F1, and also raced in the popular Japanese Super GT and Formula Nippon series’. When he left Spyker at the end of 2007, he joined Renault as a test driver and spent some time in GP2 and GP2 Asia last year.
Kolles is hoping that Yamamoto can provide some technical support as the team attempts to get off the bottom of the timesheets with their drivers, Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok.
Sakon Yamamoto said on this announcement: “I am very pleased to be joining the HRT F1 Team. It is fantastic to be part of a new team and I hope I will be able to gather useful data whenever possible on Friday for the race drivers. I have seen how committed everyone at the team is and I feel the same.
“I will be doing my very best to support Karun and Bruno this year. I’m proud to work with this Spanish team, because Spain is like my second home as I also live in Barcelona.”
Red Bull Want F-Duct But Hamilton Plays Down Advantage
Red Bull Racing’s highly ratie young driver Sebastian Vettel claims that to maintain their dominance, his team need an f-duct as seen on other top cars including the McLaren’s.
The system which affects the air flow across the car on straights activated by the driver placing his hand over a hole in the car is said to give a 5-10mph advantage. Red Bull use Renault engines which suffer with a lower top speed already, so any system to provide more speed would be advantageous.
“If you compare to the other teams and compare the sector times where you lose times and so on, it is clear on the sectors where you have more straights that you tend to lose more to a McLaren than another car,” said the German.
“It (the f-duct) is something you have to have, no matter if you have a midfield car or probably one of the best cars. It is worth quite a bit, and is quite a big advantage in terms of lap time. It probably depends on the circuit, but it is up to five tenths (of a second.)
“I think you would need to find a lot of parts that work well to give you half a second advantage for one lap – no matter in which conditions and which state of the car – heavy fuel loads and so on.
“So everyone is under pressure to copy and come up with something similar, which is very difficult because McLaren has been planning this for a long time. And, it is not that easy even if you have it to make it work, to operate with it.”
However McLaren star Lewis Hamilton claims that this weekend in China, the F-Duct is of little advantage.
“The car does feel good, but our pace looks pretty similar to some of the other cars on long runs. Everyone talks about us having a straight-line advantage, but that’s not true – other cars have the same speed as us at the end of the straight.
“We’re a little bit quicker than some teams, but, equally, they’re able to run more downforce. It’s about getting a good balance – and we feel we’ve got that. We’re continuing with the good feeling we felt in Malaysia, but we’ve made some further subtle changes and they were encouraging. I come out of today with a positive feeling – we’ll now keep our heads down and concentrate on gaining a strong qualifying position tomorrow.”
Vettel checks out the McLaren duct following qualifying
Avon To Submit 2011 Tyre Supply Application As Bernie His Wall With Michelin
Cooper Avon Tyres, a firm who have supplied rubber to Formula 3 and sports car racing have told Autosport Magazine that they are drawing up an application to be considered as the 2011 tyre supplier.
The British based firm are looking to poach some of Bridgestone’s engineers and keep a more continuous change from the Japanese manufacturer, with similar regulations with tyres, the green stripes and the compounds of rubber that we have got used to since slick tyres made their come back last season.
The firm are speaking to Bernie Ecclestone this weekend in China, as the ring-master of Formula One is said to be hitting brick wall with Michelin over their tender. The French firm want to change the tyre regulations, calling for fatter tyres and 18 inch wheels on the cars which is popular with the teams, but has angered Ecclestone.
This could lead to Bernie picking Cooper Avon. There is little or no chance of a tyre war re-emerging, as Michelin clearly want a regulation change, so would be unlikely to consider supplying rubber if the regs stay as they are now with the thinner tyres and smaller wheels.
“We want to know by the Spanish Grand Prix what tyres we are running in 2011. That is why we plan to meet with Ecclestone on Sunday to see what his idea is.” The source from Avon told Autosport
Only time will tell. Avon have minor previous F1 experience, producing tyres for the 1954-1958 and 1981-1982 seasons, and more recently producing a set of tyres for a Minardi test back in 2003 when neither Michelin nor Bridgestone would provide them at a cheaper rate for the minnow team, now known as Toro Rosso. A deal was eventually struck and Avon have not attempted to gain entry.
China GP 2010: Vettel Storms To Pole
Red Bull Racing once again dominated qualifying for the Grand Prix, as they took 1st and 2nd places on the grid for tomorrow’s Chinese round.
Sebastian Vettel pipped team mate Mark Webber to the top spot ahead of the fourth round of the season.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso will start 3rd, following a tough weekend. His team mate Felipe Massa only managed 7th. Their rivals McLaren got 5th and 6th with Jenson Button making a marginally quicker time than Lewis Hamilton.
Michael Schumacher had a tough day and will start 9th despite good pace in practice, the German was clearly disappointed.
“We’re struggling a little bit on that all weekend, and due to the fact that we can’t change set-ups between now and the race, it’s going to be difficult and I’m just going to have to live with it,” said Schumacher.
“Next race is a different story, so we have to analyse why this is the case and see what are the steps needed.
“Basically it’s mostly at the exit of slow corners. I just can’t get out of those all weekend long. We’re looking at all the data to try to understand that.”
Tonio Liuzzi was the big casualty going out in Q1, it looked like he would scrape through but Vitaly Petrov picked up his pace as he looks consistently more confident in the Renault.
The new teams occupy the bottom slots, Hispania performing the worst of the 3 new teams once again.
Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:36.317 1:35.280 1:34.558 2. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:35.978 1:35.100 1:34.806 3. Alonso Ferrari 1:35.987 1:35.235 1:34.913 4. Rosberg Mercedes 1:35.952 1:35.134 1:34.923 5. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.122 1:35.443 1:34.979 6. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.641 1:34.928 1:35.034 7. Massa Ferrari 1:36.076 1:35.290 1:35.180 8. Kubica Renault 1:36.348 1:35.550 1:35.364 9. Schumacher Mercedes 1:36.484 1:35.715 1:35.646 10. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:36.671 1:35.665 1:35.963 11. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:36.664 1:35.748 12. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.618 1:36.047 13. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.793 1:36.149 14. Petrov Renault 1:37.031 1:36.311 15. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.044 1:36.422 16. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:37.049 1:36.647 17. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.050 1:37.020 18. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:37.161 19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:39.278 20. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:39.399 21. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:39.520 22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:39.783 23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:40.469 24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:40.578
In-Depth: Buemi’s Horror Smash In Chinese Grand Prix Free Practice
Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi was lucky to get out of his car unharmed this morning in Free Practice 1 in China after a massive accident at the end of the back straight.
Buemi, who drivers for the Scuderia Toro Rosso team, was doing approximately 195mph on the straight which is fed from a high speed banked turn not long before the end of the lap on the Shanghai Circuit, when disaster struck. A failure of the upright structure caused the front right tyre to detatch from the vehicle, but the failsafe mechanism caused the front left tyre to part company with the STR4 chassis as well.
As a result of losing both front wheels, Buemi was a helpless passenger as his Red Bull branded car went toboganning down the straight and into the gravel trap before catching a concrete wall and sliding to a halt in the sand.
The driver was shaken and alarmed, and ran back to his team garage to argue with his mechanics about what had just happened. He was incenced at the dangerous situation he was in.
A Toro Rosso spokesperson told us that an upright on the front right hand side of the car, which had been re-designed for the weekend had suffered a “complete and total failure”. The subsequent pressure load forced onto the opposing component on the left hand side “was far too much for it to cope with” and that failed too. It was a new design brought in for this weekend. Alarmingly, the wheel tethers failed and the two front Bridgestone tyres were flung across spectator fences. It is unknown is Toro Rosso will recieve a fine and reprimand for this, as safety with tyres is paramount following the death of Henry Surtees in F2 last season, the young 19 year old was struck a fatal blow to the skull from a loose tyre via a failed wheel tether.
Buemi said this evening, once calmed, that he is prepared to drive again tomorrow.
“The track was really wide there, with a lot of run off. It looked quite spectacular but from inside the car, it was not so big. Afterwards [once the car stopped], it took a bit of time to understand what happened, but it was not too bad. Something broke, and it happens. We’ve changed the [parts on the] car, and it will be fine to go out again. As a driver we don’t think about it any more.”
“It is a bit difficult because we don’t really know how the car is going. We have [Jaime] Alguersuari’s data so we have to study that for tomorrow, as going into FP3 means we will have a lot of work to do, to be ready for qualifying.”
China 2010 FP2: Hamilton Maintains McLaren Dominances
Lewis Hamilton maintained the McLaren dominance into FP2 in China, with the Mercedes and his team mate Jenson Button once again locking out the front 4 places.
Ferrari had a better afternoon, with Alonso making up for lost time into 10th place, one ahead of Felipe Massa.
Red Bull diced up to 5th and 6th to maintain their dominant force in recent races, while junior team driver Jaime Alguersuari dropped his Toro Rosso into 8th.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.217 26 2. Rosberg Mercedes 1:35.465 + 0.248 22 3. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.593 + 0.376 26 4. Schumacher Mercedes 1:35.602 + 0.385 28 5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:35.791 + 0.574 30 6. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:35.995 + 0.778 29 7. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:36.254 + 1.037 31 8. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.377 + 1.160 43 9. Kubica Renault 1:36.389 + 1.172 29 10. Alonso Ferrari 1:36.604 + 1.387 33 11. Massa Ferrari 1:36.944 + 1.727 36 12. Petrov Renault 1:36.986 + 1.769 27 13. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.421 + 2.204 32 14. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.431 + 2.214 33 15. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:37.657 + 2.440 30 16. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:37.804 + 2.587 31 17. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:37.867 + 2.650 29 18. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:39.624 + 4.407 35 19. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:39.947 + 4.730 30 20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:40.233 + 5.016 27 21. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:41.008 + 5.791 32 22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:41.107 + 5.890 28 23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:41.345 + 6.128 32 24. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari
China 2010 FP1: Button Fastest As Alonso’s Ferrari Sets On Fire
Jenson Button got his Chinese Grand Prix weekend underway with a fastest time in free practice one. The current world champion set a time that was just hundreths of a second faster than Nico Rosberg in 2nd and his team mate Lewis Hamilton in 3rd.
Heavily criticised former champion Michael Schumacher was 4th, with the Red Bull’s in 5th and 8th respectively as they diced with the factory Renault’s.
Ferrari had a disappointing session with Fernando Alonso managing half a lap before his engine imploded and coughed out flames, while Felipe Massa only managed 10th place.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m36.677s 15 2. Rosberg Mercedes 1m36.748s +0.071 17 3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m36.775s +0.098 19 4. Schumacher Mercedes 1m37.509s +0.832 14 5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m37.601s +0.924 20 6. Kubica Renault 1m37.716s +1.039 17 7. Petrov Renault 1m37.745s +1.068 25 8. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m37.980s +1.303 17 9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m38.008s +1.331 13 10. Massa Ferrari 1m38.098s +1.421 19 11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m38.161s +1.484 19 12. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.375s +1.698 21 13. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.421s +1.744 19 14. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1m38.569s +1.892 20 15. di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m38.618s +1.941 26 16. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m38.678s +2.001 17 17. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m39.939s +3.262 5 18. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1m41.531s +4.854 22 19. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1m41.779s +5.102 23 20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m41.830s +5.153 20 21. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1m42.181s +5.504 27 22. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1m43.875s +7.198 23 23. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1m43.949s +7.272 20 24. Alonso Ferrari no time 6
Lola Not To Pursue 2011 F1 Entry
Lola will not be tendering an entry to the 2011 F1 committee charged with finding a replacement team for the USF1 team that did not make the start of the 2010 season.
The sports car manufacturer, who have had various forays into Formula One, including a disastrous attempt in 1997, did attempt to gain entry for the 2010 season but were unsuccessful and have decided against spending time and effort on trying again.
Instead Lola are hoping to focus on their supply chains into F1, and also their Le Mans prototype racing teams, the company send cars out to Aston Martin and Mazdaspeed Race teams amongst other entrants to high profile races such as the 24h Le Mans, Nurburgring 24h and the 8h Paul Ricard.
Executive Chairman and owner, Martin Birrane said: “A 2010 entry under the cost capped and performance balanced criteria would have been perfect for Lola. We already have F1 standard facilities at our headquarters in Huntingdon. Sadly our well-developed 2010 F1 project, which included a significant wind tunnel programme, had to be frozen in June 2009. The recently announced applications for 2011 has left us with insufficient time to prepare for what would be a quite different programme.”
Lola Managing Director, Robin Brundle, added: “Lola looks forward to strengthening its working partnerships with existing F1 Teams and the rich variety of customers throughout the Lola portfolio”.
Prodrive pulled out of the running this morning, leaving Duragno the former GP2 team as the only currently confirmed team to have tendered an entry application. Stefan GP and Superfund may attempt to gain entry and Epsilon Euskadi have stated their potential interest in a spot for the forthcoming season, but it will be no easy task once they are in as HRT, Lotus and Virgin have found.
Prodrive Will Not Attempt To Gain 2011 F1 Entry
David Richards, the boss of the Prodrive performance company has said he will not attempt to enter Formula One again in 2011.
The former boss of British American Racing and the Subaru World Rally Team has tried twice before t gain entry, being successful for 2008 but failing to make the grid, and being unsuccessful for an entry for this season when Manor, Campos and USF1 were allowed entry.
He says there is little point in attempting to gain entry again, with the difficulties surrounding starting a fresh team, under new regulations and trying to find sponsors while the economy is still struggling financially. Richards added he wanted to focus on his companies re-entry into WRC, which could be with the new Mini car, and also their large Le Mans project under the Gulf Aston Martin banner.
“Our current focus is on Prodrive’s return to the World Rally Championship in 2011 and that alone takes significant resource to design and develop a totally new car,” said Richards.
“Taking on the challenge of starting a brand new Formula 1 team, finding the necessary funding and developing the car from scratch is a massive undertaking and not to be under estimated.
“As expected, we’ve witnessed the financial and technical challenges that the new teams have faced this year in just getting to the grid, let alone being competitive and whilst I have enormous admiration for their efforts I don’t believe this is an appropriate strategy for Prodrive or Aston Martin to adopt.”
He added: “We’ve enjoyed a successful involvement in F1 in the past and respect the value it can create; we will therefore keep a close eye on developments in the championship.
“However, I have always made it very clear that the timing for a Prodrive entry would be judged on two criteria: that we could be competitive and that the business case would make it a financially viable proposition. Today, if we were to adopt the strategy of starting a new team, I don’t believe it is possible to meet these two conditions.”
Barrichello and Kubica Critical of Hamilton’s Weaving
Rubens Barrichello and Robert Kubica have both been fairly vocal in their criticisms of Lewis Hamilton after the British driver weaved across the track 3 times to block Vitaly Petrov at the Malaysian Grand Prix 2 weeks ago.
The Russian driver attempted to get a tow, or slipstream, off the McLaren down the straight at Sepang, but was blocked by Hamilton when he attempted to overtake, but Hamilton swerved across the track multiple times which is in breach of the rules which state you can only move across once to block.
Hamilton was only hit with a warning, the other drivers think he should have been punished.
“I don’t think this is the right thing to do,” said Barrichello in China on Thursday. “When I saw it I was by myself watching the TV and I was quite critical of it. It he was beside me I would have given him some bollocking because it wasn’t right.
“There are arguments to cover that, to say that he was under acceleration, not in the braking area. There are so many things that they could come up with, but the drivers have an agreement, sort of an agreement, obviously a verbal agreement, nothing that has been signed, that you should move only once during the protection of your line.
“So that for me was a Formula Ford thing. It shouldn’t have been done, to be honest.”
Kubica added he feels the rules are now not clear on blocking.
“Reading the regulations, I’m clear. Watching Malaysia, I’m not so clear,” said Kubica.
Briatore and Symonds See Bans Reduced To 3 Years As Crash-Gate Scandal Closed
Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds, the two synonymous names of the Renault Formula One Team, best known for their starring roles in the crash-gate scandal have seen their lifetime Formula One bans reduced to 3 years this evening.
Briatore and Symonds were involved in a plot with Nelson Piquet Jnr, asking him to crash his Renault F1 car at the 2008 Singaporean Grand Prix to allow team mate Fernando Alonso the best opportunity to win. In exchange he would win a contract for the 2009 season. He crashed, and Alonso won the race. It was not until mid way through 2009 when Piquet was fired from Renault that he made the accusations, and the truth of the victory came to light.
Briatore and Symonds were immediately fired and handed life time bans, Piquet left F1 and has been branded as totally unemployable within the sport.
An official statement read:
“After discussions between their lawyers and those of the FIA, Mr Flavio Briatore and Mr Pat Symonds have each made a settlement offer to the FIA President with a view to putting an immediate end to the legal proceedings. Each of them recognising his share of responsibility for the deliberate crash involving the driver Nelson Piquet Junior at the 2008 Grand Prix of Singapore, as “Team Principal” of Renault F1 where Mr Flavio Briatore is concerned, they have expressed their regrets and presented their apologies to the FIA.
They have undertaken to abstain from having any operational role in Formula One until 31 December 2012, as well as in all the other competitions registered on the FIA calendars until the end of the 2011 sporting season. They have also abandoned all publicity and financial measures resulting from the judgment of 5 January 2010, as well as any further action against the FIA on the subject of this affair.
In return, they have asked the FIA to abandon the ongoing appeal procedure, but without the FIA recognising the validity of the criticisms levelled against the WMSC’s decision of 21 September 2009, as well as to waive the right to bring any new proceedings against them on the subject of this affair.
Considering that the judgment of 5 January 2010 concerned only the form and not the substance of the WMSC’s decision of 21 September 2009, and that the undertakings and renunciation of all claims expressed by Mr Flavio Briatore and Mr Pat Symonds are in line with what the WMSC is seeking, the FIA President has considered that it is in the best interests of the FIA not to allow the perpetuation of these legal disputes, which have received a great deal of media coverage and which, regardless of the outcome, are very prejudicial to the image of the FIA and of motor sport, and thus to accept this settlement solution, thereby putting an end to this affair.”
Schumacher Joins GPDA
Michael Schumacher, the former 7 time F1 world champion has joined the Grand Prix Drivers Association once again.
He decided to rejoin the group, which represents the drivers interests, back tracking on an early decision not to rejoin. He was once a director of the grouping, and called for better safety in the cars along with the late Ayrton Senna in the early 1990′s when he first joined the sport. Deaths were a commonplace, but the last fatal accident was that of Senna, some 16 years ago.
“I’m not intending [to join],” Schumacher said 2 months ago.
However a spokesperson says that he is now a member.
“Michael always supported the work of the GPDA, for many years as a director,” said a spokesperson for the German driver.
“After he retired the work had been successfully taken over by the younger drivers, and at first Michael was hesitant to join as he did not want to be involved again.
“But after some thoughts and discussions, mainly with Felipe Massa, he reconsidered this initial decision and will now be a silent member.”
USF1 Teams Trucks For Sale After Their Liquidation
Some of the early assets of the failed USF1 team project have been put up for sale on the popular internet auction house Ebay.
The early sale lot is for two team trucks, which were purchased from the 2009 World Championship winning team Brawn GP. The large rigs were bought after the team was bought out by Mercedes Benz.
The US team never used them as their car was never even launched, let alone make it onto the grid for the first round of the Formula One season last month in Bahrain.
“As a keen motorsport fan, it is certainly one of the more interesting seizures we’ve made,” said David Carter, Director of The Sheriffs Office, responsible for enforcing the High Court writ.
“The trailers were recently bought from Brawn GP by the judgment debtor and really are something special. We’ve already has a lot of interest and are now selling them via eBay.”
If you fancy a bid they are available on Ebay ( http://bit.ly/by7W3t ) and at the current time one of the trucks is selling for £16,000. It would be a special gift for a team or competitor to have such a high quality piece of equipment and indeed history.
Maldonado Says He Will Not Replace De La Rosa At First European GP
Pastor Maldonado, the talented Gp2 driver has doused the flames of rumours that he will be replacing veteran Spanish F1 driver Pedro de La Rosa for the first European race of the F1 season at the struggling Sauber team.
The Venezuelan, who attempted to get into F1 with both Stefan GP and Hispania says he has not spoken with Peter Sauber, the boss of the Swiss team and has had no approach thus far. He says he wants to concentrate on his GP2 season.
“Last year we had a possibility to go into Formula 1 but then there was a problem with Stefan GP,” he told GPUpdate.net. “We were working very closely with Campos, now Hispania Racing, but in the end our sponsors weren’t able to come up with a positive result. We’ll see.
“We are trying to move into Formula 1, for sure; it’s not easy, I think nowadays it’s difficult for every driver. You need a lot of money with the small teams. We will try to go into a middle or big team – that’s better at the moment because finding the money for a larger team is nearly impossible.”
When asked whether he is involved in talks with Sauber, Maldonado rejected the claims. “For the moment, no,” the Maracay-born driver concluded.
Durango Submit 2011 F1 Entry Bid
Duragno, the former GP2 Series team have announced their intentions to submit an entry bid for the single available slot on the Formula One grid for the 2011 season.
The new slot has been made available for next season by the announcement that the USF1 team based in Charlotte, USA has closed down and their grid slot is available. So that the right team would be gievn the slot the FIA have said that a new bidding process is being opened and all offers are being tendered for a slot and a reserve slot. Applicants have another 6 days to get their information to the FIA (Expect a blog on the offers then).
Durango left the GP2 series at the end of 2009 due to financial difficulties, but their boss, Ivone Pinton says that the team have new backers with deep pockets who want more than just a team in a feeder series.
“After all the wrong things happened last season we tried our best to look for new partners in our racing activity,” said Pinton.
“It did not take too long to understand that the interest could be aroused just about Formula 1 and nothing else. So we pushed towards this direction and I can say that, to enter F1, we can now enjoy the backing of two very big international groups.
“So even keeping the feet on the ground as we say in Italy, because up till now this is just a serious attempt, I like to consider that after so many years spent pushing young drivers to become future champions now the time has come to strongly push Durango as a team towards the motorsport pinnacle.”
The Durango name has been around in motorsports for some time, as their main GP2 series team and the GP2 Series Asia teams have existed. They also previously ran a Formula 3000 team and F3 team.
