Formula 1 - 2013 Championship Season

[visran]

Money and driver trouble for Lotus

Lotus has recorded the biggest financial loss in motor racing history, according to F1 business journalist Christian Sylt.

A report in the Telegraph said the Enstone based team’s latest accounts show an almost $86 million loss for 2012, due to declining sponsorship.

“No other F1 team filing publicly-available accounts has ever lost as much money,” said Sylt.

There could be more bad news around the corner for Lotus, amid continuing rumours top driver Kimi Raikkonen could jump ship to Red Bull at the end of the year.

“That would be a shame for Lotus,” F1 legend Alain Prost told Welt am Sonntag newspaper, “because he has done a great job for them. But it’s his decision.”

At the same time, Raikkonen’s teammate Romain Grosjean is back in the wars, this time penalised ten places on the Montreal grid for crashing into Daniel Ricciardo on Sunday.

Double world champion Mika Hakkinen is not impressed.

“I think patting him on the head is not working anymore,” the Finn told MTV3 broadcaster. “Something is going to happen and I’m sure the team is thinking about what to do.”

Hakkinen’s former McLaren teammate David Coulthard agrees: “It just goes to show speed is not enough.

“He’s done a lot of damage and I don’t think Lotus are flush with money,” he said on BBC television. “They don’t expect four crashes (in one weekend).”

Lotus, however, was also complaining about an erratic driver, following Sergio Perez’s feisty race in the McLaren.

Raikkonen called the Mexican “stupid” and an “idiot” after their run-in at the chicane.

“Actually that (idiot) is a nice word compared with what he really said,” said team boss Eric Boullier.

Money and driver trouble for Lotus

 

[visran]

FIA not ruling out penalties after secret test

The FIA is not ruling out penalties, after stewards on Sunday investigated Mercedes’ secret Barcelona tyre test.

Before the Monaco grand prix, Red Bull and Ferrari filed an official protest, arguing the three-day test with a 2013-spec car was a breach of the sporting rules.

Having conducted an investigation after Sunday’s race, the FIA confirmed it knew Pirelli wanted to do the test, but only gave a conditional green light in the event “every team is offered the opportunity” to also test.

“The FIA received no confirmation that all teams had been given an opportunity to take part in this test,” the FIA statement added.

F1′s governing body is not ruling out the intervention now of the International Tribunal, which could “inflict penalties”.

Mercedes’ Niki Lauda, however, told Brazil’s O Estado de S.Paulo that the FIA “sent a delegate” to the test, and that Charlie Whiting and Bernie Ecclestone knew about it as well.

A Pirelli spokesman said Ferrari was invited to test and turned down the offer, while Dr Helmut Marko said a Red Bull engineer had also been “informally” asked.
It is rumoured that Red Bull and Ferrari both said no because they believed the test would have to be done with a two-year old car.

Indeed, between Bahrain and China, a Pirelli tyre test took place with a 2010 Ferrari.

But “Every team would like an exclusive test with a current car,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said on Sunday.

Sauber team boss Monisha Kaltenborn told Auto Motor und Sport: “We knew nothing about it (the Mercedes test).”

But Mercedes’ executive director Toto Wolff denies the team tried to hide the test, and dismissed suggestions the German squad used the opportunity to test car developments.

“There was only ten days between the request and the test,” he said, “which is not enough time to produce any development parts.”

And Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda insisted: “When we were asked to do this, our team boss Ross Brawn called Charlie Whiting and asked if a test is compatible with the sporting regulations.

“Charlie consulted with the FIA lawyers and gave us the green light.

“Moreover, Pirelli didn’t just ask us, but Red Bull as well.”

Christian Horner confirmed that Red Bull was asked by Pirelli. “We declined,” he said, “because we are of the opinion that such a test violates the regulations.”
Wolff, however, is livid, particularly as the storm coincided with Nico Rosberg’s convincing victory in Monaco.

“The term ‘sore losers’ comes to mind,” he is quoted by Speed Week.

But the question remains: did Mercedes unfairly benefit from the exclusive test?

“Impossible to say,” quadruple world champion Alain Prost told France’s RMC Sport, “but I don’t think we can say this win was because of the test. That wouldn’t be fair.

“What is certain is that unauthorised things are not allowed. Time will tell,” the great Frenchman added.

FIA not ruling out penalties after secret test

 

[Iron Rock]

A bit early to rant however looking at Rosberg and Hamilton performances recently, I dont think Schumacher was any behind Rosberg in terms of pace, he did pretty well even in qualifying against Rosberg - just didnt have any luck whatsoever + a few mistakes that did cost him - views ?

 

[type-r]

actually IR, you stole the words out of my thoughts. i was thinking the exact same. Schumi was just doing as well as Hamilton hence it surprises me more why he decided to call it quits...

 

[Iron Rock]

actually IR, you stole the words out of my thoughts. i was thinking the exact same. Schumi was just doing as well as Hamilton hence it surprises me more why he decided to call it quits...

You bet I do reckon Rosberg, Hamilton, Alonso, Vettel, Kimi(and Kubica - miss him!) very highly in the current crop - given Schumi's age I still think he was phenomenal in a sport which requires capability advantage in one thousandth of a second! One more damn year - he had already done his homework with the mercedes car and developed it to what it is today!

And to top my sorrow he actually was at pole position in Monaco last year! It takes a lot of courage to get pole at Monaco!

 

[type-r]

very true. for me its just three drivers... Schumi, Kimi, and Fernando. Schumi is gone still rooting for Alonso and Kimi. i was even secretly wishing Schumi making a comeback with the tifosis in place of Massa. But again, Massa has also seemed to come back finally from his crash.

 

[visran]

Canadian GP results

1. Sebastian Vettel- Red Bull-Renault
2. Fernando Alonso -Ferrari
3. Lewis Hamilton -Mercedes
4. Mark Webber -Red Bull-Renault
5. Nico Rosberg -Mercedes
6. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso-Ferrari
7. Paul di Resta -Force India-Mercedes
8. Felipe Massa -Ferrari
9. Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus-Renault
10. Adrian Sutil - Force India-Mercedes

 

[visran]

Track worker killed by crane following Canadian Grand Prix

The motorsports community lost a member over the weekend when a track worker was killed just after the checkered flag waved at Formula One's Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. When the race ended, track officials were working to remove the crashed racecar of Formula 1 driver Esteban Gutierrez (shown below) when a mobile crane lifting the car ran over the unidentified 38-year-old volunteer in a freak accident.

According to The Globe and Mail, the 10-year track veteran slipped and fell, and the crane operator was unable to see him in time to keep from running over his body. Emergency workers were quick to respond, and the unnamed worker, a volunteer, was soon taken to the hospital by helicopter after being stabilized by track medics. Sadly, he later died as a result of his injuries.

Track worker killed by crane following Canadian Grand Prix - Autoblog

 

[visran]

British GP

1. Rosberg - Mercedes
2. Webber - Red Bull-Renault
3. Alonso - Ferrari
4. Raikkonen - Lotus-Renault
5. Hamilton - Mercedes
6. Massa -Ferrari
7. Sutil - Force India-Mercedes
8. Ricciardo - Toro Rosso-Ferrari
9. Di Resta - Force India-Mercedes
10. Hulkenberg - Sauber-Ferrari

 

[SankarNarayanan]

Hi Folks,

Any idea what happened to Felipe Massa? As far as i know he drives the same car as Alonso and still he is finding it very difficult to extract performance from F2012.

Regards,
Sankar

 

[negativeCamber]

Ferrari has asked Massa to crash test their cars since Monaco therefore, he is obediently performing his role .
Anyway back to the discussion I don't think he was too bad in British GP finished 6th after suffering a tyre blowout, also he performed ok types in Canadian GP as well, now the whole point is comparing Felipe with Fernando I think we should realize that there a very few drivers in the current F1 field who can be compared with Fernando therefore, we should not compare Felipe with Fernando.

In all I think British GP was a farce I think all this tyre drama is getting too scripted and I must say it is getting bit too unpredictable. Lets see how the drama unfolds in Nurburgring in a weeks time.

 

[SankarNarayanan]

Ferrari has asked Massa to crash test their cars since Monaco therefore, he is obediently performing his role .
Anyway back to the discussion I don't think he was too bad in British GP finished 6th after suffering a tyre blowout, also he performed ok types in Canadian GP as well, now the whole point is comparing Felipe with Fernando I think we should realize that there a very few drivers in the current F1 field who can be compared with Fernando therefore, we should not compare Felipe with Fernando.

In all I think British GP was a farce I think all this tyre drama is getting too scripted and I must say it is getting bit too unpredictable. Lets see how the drama unfolds in Nurburgring in a weeks time.

I am a die hard Alonso fan but still don't know why Felipe is failing miserably in an almost identical car while Alonso consistently finished in podiums. Do you think it's physiological challenge that's hurting Felipe? Driving along side a champion?

Regards,
Sankar

 

[negativeCamber]

Kishore Kumar and Sonu Nigam both are playback singers but can you compare both of them? In a similar manner we can't compare the talent of Felipe and Fernando.

You are correct that Massa is probably fighting to justify his place in Ferrari and all that pressure of performing is getting the best off him but I will again reiterate that his performance in the last two GP's is not too bad on the other hand, I must say that in British GP Fernando flattered his car and got a podium. Ferrari was not quick enough to deserve a podium on pure pace but, that is Fernando for you, every time he delivers more that 100% in the race.

 

[SankarNarayanan]

Kishore Kumar and Sonu Nigam both are playback singers but can you compare both of them? In a similar manner we can't compare the talent of Felipe and Fernando.

You are correct that Massa is probably fighting to justify his place in Ferrari and all that pressure of performing is getting the best off him but I will again reiterate that his performance in the last two GP's is not too bad on the other hand, I must say that in British GP Fernando flattered his car and got a podium. Ferrari was not quick enough to deserve a podium on pure pace but, that is Fernando for you, every time he delivers more that 100% in the race.

That's Fernando

I am hoping he becomes champion again this year.

Regards,
Sankar

 

[Iron Rock]

I think quite frankly Alonso is a class apart - Massa when he is in his zone does well , we have seen plenty of those glimpses all through his career, he is good but not strong enough psychologically - in F1 its a matter of 1/10 th of second between good,better and exceptional drivers.
Alonso won his titles at the peak of Schumacher's career - to me he is up there among the bestest of the best!