[F1] Nieuwtjes topic deel #78

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Op dinsdag 16 november 2010 18:36 schreef ElmarO het volgende:
Dag 1 van de rookie test:

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Op dinsdag 16 november 2010 18:43 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:

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thanks ... toch wel veelzeggend ondanks dat het niet veel zegt

Ben echt benieuwd naar Pirelli volgend jaar!

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Op dinsdag 16 november 2010 18:47 schreef ElmarO het volgende:

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De Pirelli-banden worden vrijdag getest. Dus misschien krijgen we dan al een lichte indicatie.

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Op dinsdag 16 november 2010 20:18 schreef M.Melandri het volgende:

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Ik hoop dat de banden volgend jaar een stuk minder duurzaam zijn, de harde band ging vaak een hele raceafstand mee en dat heeft een hoop races vermoord.

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Op dinsdag 16 november 2010 20:18 schreef M.Melandri het volgende:

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Ik hoop dat de banden volgend jaar een stuk minder duurzaam zijn, de harde band ging vaak een hele raceafstand mee en dat heeft een hoop races vermoord.

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Op dinsdag 16 november 2010 22:49 schreef sasquatsch het volgende:

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Ik vind dat maar kunstmatige spanning. Ik heb liever dat coureurs keuze hebben tussen harde of zachte banden (waarbij de harde banden best een race mee mogen gaan) en geen verplichte pitsstops. Dan kunnen ze kiezen of ze zachte banden willen met een pitsstop, of harde banden zonder pitsstop.

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Op dinsdag 16 november 2010 22:49 schreef sasquatsch het volgende:

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Ik vind dat maar kunstmatige spanning. Ik heb liever dat coureurs keuze hebben tussen harde of zachte banden (waarbij de harde banden best een race mee mogen gaan) en geen verplichte pitsstops. Dan kunnen ze kiezen of ze zachte banden willen met een pitsstop, of harde banden zonder pitsstop.

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Op dinsdag 16 november 2010 23:22 schreef M.Melandri het volgende:

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Dan kun je alles wel onder het kopje kunstmatige spanning scharen, uiteindelijk blijft het toch een sport voor de kijker. Meestal is de 1e stint van de race nog wel leuk, maar daarna gaan de races vaak als een nachtkaars uit.

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Italian rumors hint at Massa departure

Nov.17 (GMM) According to a rumour in the Italian media, Nico Hulkenberg is a candidate to replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari in 2011.

La Stampa newspaper said the rumour came from "a voice" within the famous Maranello based team, where Brazilian Massa - who already has an ongoing contract with Ferrari - struggled alongside Fernando Alonso this season.

German Hulkenberg, 23, has not been retained by Williams for 2011, and his manager Willi Weber has strong links within Ferrari due to his former charge Michael Schumacher's decade-long tenure there.

But another voice at Ferrari insisted: "Felipe is untouchable."

La Stampa acknowledged that the rumour might have been generated by Weber to keep Hulkenberg's name circulating while he is on the market.

Italy's Autosprint reported the same rumour linking Hulkenberg with Ferrari.

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Ferrari set for changes after 'big mistake'

There will be changes at Ferrari next year, but Fernando Alonso, Luca di Montezemolo and team boss Stefano Domenicali are "safe", according to a report.

The Ferrari bosses are under pressure after their decision to pit Fernando Alonso early in Abu Dhabi backfired spectacularly and ultimately cost the Spaniard the Drivers' Championship.

Italian politicians were criticial of the team's "demented strategy" in the UAE and have called on Ferrari president di Montezemolo to step down.

Di Montezemolo has rejected calls for his resignation while Domenicali has apologised to Alonso and said "a mistake was made, which may yet result in changes within the Ferrari hierarchy and which may yet take a while to forget".

The Guardian reports that a source close to Ferrari said: "There will be changes at Ferrari for sure. What happened on Sunday was a big, heavy mistake.

"But they won't be changing the car, Alonso, the president or Domenicali. Instead there will be changes to the inefficient pit area. It may not even be a sacking. But next season some important people will no longer hold the positions they do today."

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Op woensdag 17 november 2010 11:28 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:

"But they won't be changing the car,

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'Tragic ex-hero' Schumacher should retire again - Hakkinen

Michael Schumacher is a "tragic ex-hero" who should return immediately to retirement.

That is the view of Mika Hakkinen, who was once named as the only rival the seven time world champion truly feared.

The Finn has issued a harsh critique of Schumacher in a column for the Munich newspaper TZ, despite the pair always referring to each other with the greatest of respect.

"Michael is for me now a tragic ex-hero," 42-year-old Hakkinen wrote after the final race of Schumacher's comeback year; the only full season in the German's entire career that did not net even a single podium.

"I ask myself why on earth he got back into the cockpit. There is the most successful man in motor sport driving down in the pack and making a ridiculous mistake in Abu Dhabi that almost cost him his life," he added.

Hakkinen is referring to his spin on the first lap that resulted in Tonio Liuzzi's Force India riding over Schumacher's Mercedes and almost striking his head.

Afterwards, Schumacher admitted the incident gave him a fright and a trip to the medical centre, but has pledged to return in 2011.

But "What a tragedy this would have been for the Germans -- and on the day of Vettel's triumph," said Hakkinen.

"What has the man who has won more than anyone else still to prove?" Hakkinen wondered. "In my view, he is dismantling his own legacy bit by bit.

"And I see it making no difference whether it is for technical reasons or because he can no longer keep up with the boys."

Hakkinen said he can understand Schumacher's urge to return to action after three years of retirement.

"After three years I returned to the cockpit myself -- for Mercedes in the DTM," he recalled. "And I also had to recognise that even as a Formula One world champion, there are no gifts for the older ones.

"I won only three times more," said Hakkinen.

"You can neither stop the wheel of time, nor turn it back," he insisted.

"Personally, we were never close friends because he always came across, to me anyway, a little bit too arrogant."

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Op woensdag 17 november 2010 09:40 schreef sasquatsch het volgende:

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Maak er dan maar meteen een merkenklasse van waarin elke auto, motor en band gelijk is. Meer spanning is er dan niet te krijgen. Ideaal voor de kijker, maar geen Formule 1.

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Alonsos role in Ferrari strategy revealed in pit messages

The discussions on the Ferrari pit wall that led to crucial decision that cost Fernando Alonso the world championship have been revealed.

The exchange of messages between Alonso and his race engineer Andrea Stella, which was not broadcast during the race, shows the teams preoccupation with Alonsos position compared to Webber.

It also shows how Alonso urged the team to use Felipe Massa to hold Webber up.

The radio transcript, published by Corriere della Sera, shows how Ferrari made the mistake of reacting to Webbers pit stop instead of keeping Alonso out.

Lap 9

Alonso is 1.7 seconds behind Jenson Button and 1.4s ahead of Webber, who is 0.8s ahead of Massa.

Andrea Stella: You gained three tenths on Webber. Felipe is closing in too.

Lap 12

Webber pits.

AS: Webber has stopped and Vettel is also losing ground on Hamilton.
Fernando Alonso: If you see that Felipe can overtake him in a lap call him in.
AS: We are thinking about it, concentrate on Button.

Lap 14

Massa pits.

FA: How did it work with Felipe?
AS: He came out behind Webber

Lap 15

Ferrari tell Alonso to pit on lap 16.

AS: OK, come in [to the pits] now.
FA: OK
AS: You will come out close to Webber. You are in front.

Lap 17

Alonso is 1.1s ahead of Webber and 1.5s behind Vitaly Petrov.

FA: Whats the situation?
AS: We have to overtake the Renault in front, he wont stop any more. After that its Rosberg.

Lap 22

Alonso is 0.5s behind Petrov. None of the cars that were in front of him before he pitted have come in yet.

AS: I know you are giving everything but its critical to overtake Petrov.

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Op woensdag 17 november 2010 18:31 schreef kepler het volgende:
Huh, waar zegt Alonso dan dat Massa Webber moet ophouden?

Weinig speciaals aan die conversaties verder

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Op woensdag 17 november 2010 18:36 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:

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AS: Webber has stopped and Vettel is also losing ground on Hamilton.
Fernando Alonso: If you see that Felipe can overtake him in a lap call him in.

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Op woensdag 17 november 2010 18:41 schreef kepler het volgende:

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Hij bedoelt toch gewoon dat ze Felipe voor Webber willen krijgen? Wat me logisch lijkt, want dat was positief voor Alonso

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Op woensdag 17 november 2010 18:41 schreef kepler het volgende:

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Hij bedoelt toch gewoon dat ze Felipe voor Webber willen krijgen? Wat me logisch lijkt, want dat was positief voor Alonso

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Op woensdag 17 november 2010 18:50 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:

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Zeker als ze Massa kunnen gebruiken om de grootste concurrent in het kampioenschap op te houden. Ik zie de Ferrari-logica en Alonso-mindset wel, hoor.

Ik denk alleen dat Alonso zich meer bezig had moeten houden met de race. Vettel werd juist niets verteld zodat hij zich 100% kon richten op zo snel mogelijk rijden. Alonso was dit hele seizoen al bezig met strategie ... iets waar andere mensen voor betaald worden.

Wellicht is Ferrari nog teveel gewend aan Schumacher die zijn status en het voorrecht om zich te bemoeien met beslissingen in de loop der jaren verdiend had.

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Op woensdag 17 november 2010 19:11 schreef kepler het volgende:

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Ophouden of niet, Massa voor Webber was altijd beter. Dat ze beter op Vettel hadden moeten mikken is achteraf logisch

Zover ik weet bemoeit Alonso zich vaak met de strategie, hij weet iig altijd wat er op de baan gebeurt, of hij wil dat graag horen via de radio. Altijd zo geweescht

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Op woensdag 17 november 2010 19:31 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:
1.3 sec van Vettel's pole tijd af (er onder dus (toch?)) toch wel respectabel!

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Op woensdag 17 november 2010 19:31 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:
1.3 sec van Vettel's pole tijd af (er onder dus (toch?)) toch wel respectabel!

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Op woensdag 17 november 2010 19:31 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:
1.3 sec van Vettel's pole tijd af (er onder dus (toch?)) toch wel respectabel!

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In the last 48 hours there have been some interesting moves in Formula 1, in addition to the Young Drivers test at the Yas Island circuit. I will probably have a wrap-up of the testing at the end of the week. In basic terms it looks pretty much as it should do with a Red Bull fastest.

The Williams team announced that Rubens Barrichello will stay on for 2011, which was not a surprise. The team has a contract with Pastor Maldonado for the second seat and an option on Nico Hulkenberg and while keeping the German is the logical thing to do, the team must be certain that it has the money to do the job properly. Signing Maldonado guaranteed that. If the contract was 100% solid then it would have been announced by now so it is logical to suggest that there are clauses in the deal that would allow Hulkenberg to stay if the team finds the funding from somewhere else. Maldonado would not perhaps have signed the deal if there were no guarantees and one can imagine a situation in which he would be farmed out to HRT (or whatever it is called by the start of next season) with his funding if Williams finds the money to keep Hulkenberg. HRT could use the cash and would benefit from Williams technology, which would make the team much more competitive so Maldonado would have a better place to learn about F1 than in the frontline, under the spotlight.

Two questions come to mind, therefore: can Williams find the money? And can HRT keep itself alive?

Williams has been working hard at raising money in a couple of places for some time and it has played a very clever hand. The team has made an investment in Qatar with the opening of the Williams Technology Centre in the Qatar Science & Technology Park. This has led to a number of deals with Qatar-linked companies, the most recent of which is a deal with the J Sainsburys supermarket chain. If Qatar is going to get involved in Formula 1 and the signs are that this will probably happen then the Williams team is an obvious route in. The team has heritage and while not able to compete with the big teams because of its lack of manufacturer support (or a billionaire backer, such as Red Bull Racing) it is still in the hunt. There are also rumours from Germany that the team is also close to doing a deal with the Volkswagen-Porsche company. This merger is coming together slowly and the signs are that the company will be wanting to get involved in F1 with one brand or another. Ultimately it is hard to see the firm being anything more than an engine supplier, as running teams has proved to be rather expensive and not a very good return on investment for the likes of BMW, Honda and Toyota. Renault, Mercedes and Ferrari have fared rather better. It helps that the government of Qatar is an important shareholder in VW-Porsche and obviously having a German like Hulkenberg would be a good idea. The question is really whether or not the German firm will commit to F1 and build an engine for the 2013 rules; and whether if that decision is taken whether it will decide to get up to speed by doing an engine-badging deal with Cosworth for the next couple of years, so that its engineers can get up to speed.

The question of the survival of HRT is another issue. Yesterday Toyota announced that all dealings with HRT had been terminated and would not be restarted. This was a most bizarre press release. Normally these things are designed to tell the world something positive, but an announcement that something is NOT happening is therefore rather suspicious. My feeling is that Toyota has had enough with the Spaniards who currently own the team and are trying to force the situation. The Carabantes have been singularly unsuccessful at raising money and their decision to take on Juan Villalonga to help came too late to make a difference. If the team is to survive next year, it needs to be building a car NOW. The culture of mañana may work in Spain, but it does not work in Formula 1 and the feeling is that the Carabantes have now blown their chance and must be convinced to sell and recoup some money, or watch as the team goes to the wall. In fact, they own very little beyond the entry as the team seems to be rented (complete with all people and equipment) from Colin Kolles. He may not have the money to buy the entry from the Spanish, but he will be happy to work with others if they show up with more idea of what F1 is all about.

In fact, it could be that a smart investor will pump money into Kolless operation now so that he has the ability to build a 2011 car and then negotiate with the Carabantes over the question of ownership. It would be a risk, but the outcome would likely be a capitulation by the Spanish because they would get something from a sale, but nothing if the team shuts down.

One way or the other, the Carabantes now face the choice of failure or complete failure. The only hope was Villalonga, but they did not give him enough to find money.

The other fascinating point in recent days has been the announcement that Mubadala Development Company, Abu Dhabis state-backed investment fund, has sold its five percent stake in Ferrari back to Fiat, five years after taking a share in the luxury carmaker. The deal was valued at $167 million. This was decided not by the Emiratis but because Fiat had an option to buy back the shares, that were acquired in 2005. Mubadala has lost a lot of money in recent months because many of its investments that suffered in the economic downturn although share prices will in most cases come up again as confidence returns. It reported a loss (announced in September) of about $1 billion, but some of this is simply accounting for the loss of share value rather than actual cash. The Government of Abu Dhabi is not in any trouble. According to The Economist the sovereign wealth fund ADIA is currently estimated to have US$ 875 billion in terms of total asset value. And the economy has not been much affected by the global financial crisis. Oil keeps coming out of the ground and there is no reason to suggest that is going to stop. Mubadala still has over $20 billion in assets under management. This move is interesting in the light of rumours that Bernie Ecclestone is working on a deal to have Abu Dhabi take over the Formula One group from CVC Capital Partners

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Op woensdag 17 november 2010 19:17 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:

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Imo is het je kunnen bemoeien met de strategie als coureur een voorrecht dat Alonso onmogelijk in z'n eerste jaar bij de Scuderia verdiend heeft. En imo heeft 't 'm dit jaar het kampioenschap gekost.

Het kan een voordeel zijn maar het kan de mensen aan de muur ook mindfucken. Zijn taak was om zo snel mogelijk rondjes te rijden... niet om mee te denken met mensen die ervoor betaald worden om de strategie te bepalen.

Ach .. allemaal achteraf geleuter Ik hoop voor Stefano dat hij Alonso volgend jaar het zwijgen oplegt (wordt iedereen vrolijker van, lijkt me)

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Op donderdag 18 november 2010 00:56 schreef Waffle het volgende:

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Dit slaat echt werkelijk nergens op Hoezo moet je het eerst verdienen om over de strategie na te denken. Ik neem aan dat strategie altijd in overleg met de coureur gaat. Waar ben je anders mee bezig..Een coureur heeft invloed op alles binnen een team.

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Op donderdag 18 november 2010 00:56 schreef Waffle het volgende:

Dit slaat echt werkelijk nergens op Hoezo moet je het eerst verdienen om over de strategie na te denken. Ik neem aan dat strategie altijd in overleg met de coureur gaat. Waar ben je anders mee bezig..Een coureur heeft invloed op alles binnen een team.

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Op donderdag 18 november 2010 12:16 schreef Big-Ern het volgende:
Ferrari is en blijft een onsympathiek en onsportief team. Moet er niks van hebben.

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Op donderdag 18 november 2010 12:20 schreef Big-Ern het volgende:
Hispania Racing vraagt De la Rosa miljoenen voor zitje
Het team van Hispania Racing heeft een prijskaartje van acht tot tien miljoen euro aan een racestoeltje voor 2011 voor Pedro de la Rosa gehangen. Dat onthulde teameigenaar Jose Ramon Carabante op radiozender Cadena Ser.

Pedro wil voor ons rijden, maar het hangt af van hoeveel steun hij meebrengt. Zonder geld is er geen plek voor hem. Die luxe kunnen we ons niet veroorloven. Hij dient acht tot tien miljoen bij te dragen. We hebben met bedrijven gesproken in een poging om sponsors aan te trekken en twee Spaanse coureurs zou goed zijn voor onze identiteit. En met Pedro zouden we een rijder hebben die ons richting kan geven voor 2012.

Het zijn cruciale weken voor het team, doorslaggevend voor de toekomst. Het budget moet uiteindelijk groeien naar 120, 130 miljoen, daarmee kom je wel in de top tien. Dit jaar hadden we 45 miljoen euro te besteden, volgend jaar is dat 55 miljoen euro en we hopen op 65 miljoen euro. Ferrari besteedt op jaarbasis bijvoorbeeld 400 miljoen euro, aldus de Hispania Racing-eigenaar.

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Op donderdag 18 november 2010 09:46 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:

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Dit meen je serieus?

Dus jij zou een coureur 10 miljoen per jaar betalen en ook een team stratego-pionnen aan de muur een dik salaris geven?

De coureur is er om zo hard mogelijk te rijden met alle concentratie die daarbij hoort. De coureur is niets meer dan een essentieel onderdeel van de auto. Het zijn vaak niet de slimste mensen, uitzonderingen daargelaten.

Als de race begint heeft iedereen z'n eigen taak. De coureur kan feedback geven en suggesties geven maar op het moment dat hij dat doet is hij niet meer 100% met racen bezig. Het is niet voor niets dat Vettel niet wist wat zijn situatie was tot hij over de streep kwam.

Als je daaraan twijfelt, lees dan nog eens alle uitspraken van coureurs na van voor de finale-race.

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Op donderdag 18 november 2010 13:07 schreef Waffle het volgende:

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Dat vettel zich tijdens een race alleen maar bezig kan houden met het rijden dat is zijn probleem. Alonso zijn kracht is dat hij naast snel racen ook nog kan na denken over zijn strategie. Verder is een coureur niet alleen om zo snel mogelijk te rijden, hij heeft ook invloed op de ontwikkeling van de auto, etc.

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Op donderdag 18 november 2010 13:46 schreef Waffle het volgende:
Wie heeft het over tijdens een race? Jij zegt dat een coureur alleen een onderdeel van een auto is en er alleen maar is om hard te rijden.

Tijdens een race bedoel ik alleen dat Alonso ook nog in staat is om na te denken dat is zijn kracht.

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Buurman still aiming at F1 future
^{By Edd Straw and Matt Beer Thursday, November 18th 2010, 13:38 GMT}

Yelmer Buurman hopes that his Force India test this week will help bring him back on course for a Formula 1 future after spending the 2010 season in Superleague Formula.

The former GP2 driver has been one of the stars of the football-themed single-seater series, having won six times during Superleague's first three seasons. In 2008 and '09 he was able to dovetail his Superleague campaigns with GP2 programmes, but this year he did not race in any of the traditional F1 feeder series.

"It was a bit difficult this year and I struggled for budget to do GP2, so I did Superleague - which is quite a good alternative," Buurman told AUTOSPORT. "They're good cars with a lot of power.

"We've got to see [about 2011]. So far we've just been focusing on this test. Obviously it's my first test and we have to see what happens after this, but I think this is going to be a real positive for whatever I do after this."

The 23-year-old Dutchman felt that a mechanical problem had stopped him showing what he could really do during his Force India run.

"I think the team was pretty pleased. We had a problem where I stopped on-track, and it was the run before my last run, which was a shame because obviously the last run is when the track's at its best, you put new tyres on and you really push for a time," said Buurman, who ended up 10th on the timesheets.

"I think it would have been easily top six, even if I only did a lap like I had in the afternoon - considering that the temperature dropped, the tyres and a couple of other factors. But that's racing."

He said his first taste of F1 performance had been everything that he hoped it would be.

"I always knew that I wanted to be a racing driver and once you know what F1 means that you always want to be in F1," said Buurman. "So to finally drive the car is awesome, of course. It was a really awesome day.

"It didn't go completely to plan, which was a shame. But still the first day in the car was amazing.

"Everyone tells you it's so much better than GP2 and everything else, but you don't know it until you've done it and it's really a lot better than anything else and a lot more than you expect."

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Hakkinen did not call Schumacher 'tragic ex-hero'

Mika Hakkinen has denied calling Michael Schumacher a 'tragic ex-hero' after the newspaper attributing the comments to him apologised.

This week, the Finn was quoted by Munich newspaper TZ as saying Michael Schumacher had made "a ridiculous mistake" at the start of the recent Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and should retire immediately.

TZ has now issued an apology and correction, admitting that the column had not been authorised by double world champion Hakkinen.

"The statements attributed to Mr Hakkinen, particularly in relation to Michael Schumacher, were not true and were not authorised. We regret this and apologise to our readers, to Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher, and as a consequence we are no longer working with the staff member concerned."

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F1: Team Orders To Be Regulated Not Banned - Todt
The FIA will not completely abolish the rule prohibiting team orders in Formula One...
^{SPEED Staff / GMM | Posted November 19, 2010 GMM Newswire}

Team orders will be "regulated" rather than allowed in Formula One, FIA president Jean Todt has revealed.

The issue came back onto the agenda in 2010, when Felipe Massa was ordered aside for Fernando Alonso at Hockenheim by a Ferrari engineer telling the Brazilian: "Fernando is faster than you."

"Personally, I'm not against team orders, but I am against lying," the Frenchman is quoted as saying in interviews this week.

He said covert team orders "deceive the audience and the media" and subsequently require teams and drivers to lie afterwards.

"Team orders have been banned since 2002, but I ask myself how many have been issued in a 'soft' way. The difference with that and what Ferrari did (at Hockenheim) is that it was anything but soft.

"It was a provocation against the regulations," Todt told Italy's La Stampa.

But when asked if the FIA will react to the latest affair by simply abolishing the rule, he answered: "It will be regulated.

"F1 is a team sport and each team will have responsibility for their behavior. We will not tolerate lies or coded messages like 'Save fuel.'"

Fascinatingly, former Ferrari team boss Todt blamed Rubens Barrichello for the original team orders controversy of 2002, when the Brazilian was explicitly ordered on the radio to 'Let Michael (Schumacher) pass for the championship.'

"I shouldn't have had to say anything," Todt said this week.

"We had agreed beforehand that if he (Barrichello) is in front after the pit stop, he was to let Schumacher pass without making a fuss.

"It was agreed, and drivers are paid to accept certain decisions.

"But he made me call him 50 times and he moved at the last corner - the audience booed, Schumacher gave him first place on the podium and Ferrari was fined $500,000 for violating protocol," he explained.

Asked if he regrets the affair, he admitted: "Yes, because with hindsight it could have been avoided. Schumacher would have won the championship anyway.

"But I would have regretted even more if we had lost the title by a couple of points," added Todt.

And in an interview with France's L'Equipe, Todt said he thought the works Renault drivers "helped" Renault-powered Red Bull to win the 2010 championship by holding up key rivals in Abu Dhabi.

"They (Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov) helped Red Bull, even though this team often complain about the lack of competitiveness of the Renault engine," he said.

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Porsche Ready To Return To F1 In 2013?

The new chairman of Porsche, Matthias Mueller, made the shock announcement at the 2010 Paris Motor show that Porsche were considering re-entering F1. He stated that it was no longer desirable for Porsche to be competing with sister company Audi at Le Mans. However, many people were still sceptical with memories still fresh of the recent withdrawals of Honda, BMW, Toyota and Ford. Indeed, Toyota became famous for failing to win a single race on an annual budget of $400 million. This was a statistic that literally reduced the Toyota chairman to tears when announcing the car manufacturers withdrawal from the sport. BMW meanwhile, now focus their attention on the German Touring car championship, citing a closer link to road car developments as the reason. However, in F1s favour is the fact that it is hugely popular, and manages to pull in 600 million viewers worldwide every year. It has even managed to make Nigel Mansell attractive to companies looking for advertising opportunities, with the 1992 world champion appearing in the latest Moneysupermarket car insurance advertisements 15 years after his retirement. So how likely is it that Porsche will return?

The new formula

New FIA president Jean Todt has realised the need to improve the sports image, which has been damaged by repeated scandals over the past ten years. On top of this, critics claim the sport is out of touch with the real world, as it is simply wasting valuable fossil fuels. Todt has aimed to rectifying this problem by improving the sports green credentials with the following 3 steps:

Banning on in race refuelling- For 2010, the teams are no longer allowed to refuel their cars during the races and must start with enough fuel to get them to the end. This has made it more important for the teams to be fuel efficient in order to benefit from reduced weight at the start (through having to carry less fuel) and reduced tyre wear (through having a lighter car).
The return of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS)- Todt has persuaded the teams to bring KERS back for 2011. This was previously withdrawn for cost reasons, but the relevance of the technology to road car developments of the future was reason enough for Todt and the teams to agree to re-introduce it for the start of 2011.
Smaller engines- The sport will reduced engine sizes from 2.4 litre V8s to 1.6 litre turbos for 2013.
The aim of this is to make sure that the sport is more relevant to road car developments, as car manufacturers strive to improve their fuel efficiencies. Although the sport is only at step one of Todts process, it has still increased the importance of fuel efficiency with the championship winning Red Bull Renault thought to be the most fuel efficient car on the grid in 2010. The KERS system is perhaps the most important element of this plan, with Ferrari having already implemented a KERS device on their 599 hybrid road car model. Therefore, the reason why BMW left the sport appears to have been addressed.

Money

The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) has made huge strides in its attempts to reduce spending in the sport by drawing up a resource restriction agreement which all the teams have agreed to. This reduces the amount all teams spend on their F1 programmes, thus allowing smaller teams to be competitive on a smaller budget. It was this agreement which led to Brawn GP being able to win the championship last year, and has allowed Virgin Racing to close the gap by over a second to the leading teams in six months despite operating on a $40 million budget, which is 10% of what Toyota were spending as they failed to win a race.

It is therefore now possible to be competitive in F1 with a very small budget. Richard Branson actually believes that it is possible for a team to be profitable and competitive in the sport, which would make his F1 team one of the most cost effective marketing platforms available. F1 has therefore changed significantly, and the reason why Honda, Toyota and Ford left appears to no longer be a problem.

Will Porsche enter F1?

All the problems that the car manufacturers previously had with the sport have now disappeared. Even the domineering Max Mosley no long has any involvement in the teams affairs. It therefore makes perfect sense for Porsche to take the opportunity presented by the new 1.6 litre turbo engine formula in 2013 and enter the sport. The fashion at the moment is to create your own team and aim for a profit, as Virgin, Air Asia (Lotus), Kingfisher (Force India) and Mercedes have done. However, dont forget that Porsche have collaborated with Williams in the past, with Williams supplying Porsches GT programme with KERS technology. Williams shareholder Toto Wolff has also driven for Porsche in the same GT series. This would help the team avoid a painful building process as they at first struggle to get all the ingredients in place for success, as Toyota did. Buying a former championship winning team would surely allow them to hit the ground running in 2013.

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Van der Garde wins $1.9m in Force India ruling

Giedo van der Garde has won a long legal battle with Force India.

The Dutch driver had pressed for a $2 million refund because, when the team was known as Spyker in 2007, he did only 2270 of the 6000 kilometres of testing that he was contractually promised.

Media reports reveal that a court has agreed that Force India must pay van der Garde $1.865 million.

Fascinatingly, van der Garde's manager Jeroen Schothorst said the ruling could help in his talks with Force India about a race seat in 2011.

"A few years ago this topic was a disadvantage, now it could be beneficial to us," he said.

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Op vrijdag 19 november 2010 19:18 schreef kepler het volgende:
En nu besluit Massa snel te rijden

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Op vrijdag 19 november 2010 19:18 schreef kepler het volgende:
En nu besluit Massa snel te rijden

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Pirelli exceeds drivers' expectations

[...]

Pacesetter Felipe Massa also complained of the degradation, and suspects that changes will be made to the compound before Pirelli finalises its tyres for next year.

He added that the performance of the soft tyre possibly surpassed that of the Bridgestone super soft, which was allocated as the option tyre for last weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

"The harder compound has a lot of degradation and it's not as quick as I expected," Massa said.

"As for the softer tyre, I was very happy with it. It's quick, degradation is very good. I did long runs with both and the one I did with the softer tyre was very good, possibly better than what I had last Sunday in the race.

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Op vrijdag 19 november 2010 19:22 schreef nils7 het volgende:

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wellicht passen de banden beter bij de ferrari

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Op vrijdag 19 november 2010 19:23 schreef ElmarO het volgende:

Italianen onder elkaar hé.

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The Red Bull driver (Vettel) completed 28 laps this morning, and caused a brief red flag when he suffered a second tyre failure. This followed a similar failure yesterday that Pirelli confirmed was caused by the tyre being cut.

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Rosberg also described the degradation rate as "quite heavy", but added that despite his comments about tyre wear and pace, he felt the Pirellis could still be very good for the racing.

"If that's what they want and it's the same for everybody, then okay," he said. "Tyres like that always give more exciting racing as well. So it's not necessarily a bad thing."

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Op zaterdag 20 november 2010 11:54 schreef SjaakVilleneuve het volgende:
BBC, 14:00.. seizoens overzicht!

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Op zaterdag 20 november 2010 17:09 schreef LWD-Godius het volgende:
Had Kubica trouwens nog een penalty gekregen voor die actie van hem bij het uitkomen van de pit-straat (4 wielen over de witte lijn - abu dhabi)?

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Op zondag 21 november 2010 12:58 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:
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Op zondag 21 november 2010 12:58 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:
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Op zondag 21 november 2010 12:58 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:
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Op zondag 21 november 2010 12:58 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:
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Op zaterdag 20 november 2010 22:29 schreef Peterselieman het volgende:
Het zal mij benieuwen wanneer de namenkwestie van de Lotus-teams opgelost wordt.

Ikzelf denk dat dit pas het geval is wanneer het 1Malaysia Team afgekocht is, want door de naamsverandering lopen ze waarschijnlijk ook geld van het Formula One Management mis. Pas bij een bod van dit bedrag plus nog wat extra voor bijkomende kosten zal Tony Fernandes er over na gaan denken, lijkt me.

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Gascoyne and Tony Fernandes' team could well have to run under a different name in 2011 as the Lotus car company withdrew the squad's licence to use the Lotus Racing name and is disputing its right to use Team Lotus instead. Group Lotus also looks set to start its own F1 partnership with the Renault team.

With the situation still unresolved, Gascoyne argued that his Lotus team had proved that it could successfully represent the brand in F1.

"At the end of the day, we brought the Lotus name back into Formula 1, we've done a great job," Gascoyne told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"We don't really understand why Group Lotus don't want to support us in doing that job for them. We've brought great value to the brand and the shareholders invested something like £80 million into the brand and the development of the team, and we're a little bit failing to understand why Group Lotus seem to want to try to kick us out.

"That's not in my hands - my job doesn't change with the name and it's the same for all the engineering staff. But I think it's a great shame that there is this thing for everyone in Norfolk, because we're a Norfolk-based team, we brought the Lotus name back into Formula 1 and did it proud and we don't quite understand why we don't have the support of Group Lotus in that."

Gascoyne also declared himself 'perplexed' by Group Lotus' wider motorsport strategy, which will see it join IndyCar from 2012, partner with ART in GP2 and GP3, and plan a substantial expansion of its sportscar racing programme including creating an LMP2 car.

"They seem to have announced that they're going to join every racing series around the world, and the only question is who's going to pay for it?" said Gascoyne.

"Because they seem to want to do every racing series that there is, and for a loss-making car company, that seems to be slightly perplexing. But if that's what they want to do, good luck to them."

He added that despite the naming row, the current Lotus F1 team was very much on schedule with its 2011 preparations.

"We'll be firing the car up on 25 January in readiness for the first test in February," said Gascoyne.

"We've had lots of exciting announcements with Renault supplying us with engines, Red Bull Technologies supplying us with gearboxes and our own windtunnel developing, so it wasn't just about 10th in the championship this year, it was about building the team up so that we move solidly into the midfield next year. Those announcements are all very much part of that and we're bang on schedule."

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Op zondag 21 november 2010 23:47 schreef Tarado het volgende:
Gascoyne perplexed by Group Lotus

By Matt Beer Sunday, November 21st 2010, 17:06 GMT

Lotus Racing technical boss Mike Gascoyne says he remains confused by Group Lotus' unwillingness to work with his team in Formula 1.

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autosport.com

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The purpose of this site? Team Lotus's future, perhaps its very survival, is under serious threat. Not due to financial woes or lack of public support or any 'legitimate' reason. No, it's apparently down to the jealousy, greed and egos of certain individuals, no better reason than that.

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Op zaterdag 20 november 2010 15:20 schreef ElmarO het volgende:
Dag 2 van de Pirelli-test:

[ code verwijderd ]

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Organisers of the European Grand Prix at Valencia are desperately trying to offload the race contract to an alternate host.

That is the claim of the Spanish newspaper El Periodico, reporting that regional president Francisco Camps has determined that the port city cannot afford the annual fee and organisation costs.

On the sidelines of the city race in June, he reportedly asked Bernie Ecclestone if Valencia's contract - with two years left to run - can be broken, to which the F1 chief executive "flatly refused".

The report said the organisers are spending EUR 30 million on the race annually, including an 18m fee to Ecclestone's group and the cost of building and de-constructing the street circuit.

Only 10m is covered by the sale of tickets, having diminished from a race-day crowd of 112,000 in 2008 to just 75,000 this year.

Ecclestone reportedly told Camps that an alternative promoter and venue would have to be found, with the newspaper claiming negotiations with the circuit in Alcaniz as well as Portimao in Portugal have been held.

At the same time, it has been reported that Camps and Valencia mayoress Rita Barbera have held meetings with Ferrari about hosting the site of an Abu Dhabi-style theme park in the city.

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Francisco Camps, the President of the Generalitat Valenciana, the government of the autonomous community of Valencia, has denied that the region is trying to get rid of the European Grand Prix, because it is costing them too much money. The claims were published at the end of last week. The opposition has claimed that the Grand Prix has cost the region $200 million since it began in 2008. This is possible when one considers that the costs include not only the race fees, which could be as high as $40 million a year, but also the necessary preparation work, the annual construction costs for the temporary facilities and the losses that may have been made in the three events to date.

The opposition has not, however, taken into account the benefits that the race has generated. This is also interesting given that rumours in F1 circles have long suggested that Valencia has not been paying its fees on time. The race has been slow to take off, but there seemed to be a decent crowd this year.

The government has dismissed the claims, saying that they are not true and simply designed to damage the reputation of the ruling Partido Popular.

The claims are odd in that a couple of weeks ago Camps and Valencia Mayor Rita Barberá travelled to Italy to discuss the possibility of the construction of a second Ferrari theme park in the city. Without a Grand Prix this would be a fairly pointless exercise

Valencia has recently been named European capital of sport for the year 2011.

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Op dinsdag 23 november 2010 15:41 schreef sasquatsch het volgende:
Valencia wil van contract af
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Op dinsdag 23 november 2010 15:47 schreef Tarado het volgende:
Formula 1 and Valencia
November 23, 2010 by joesaward

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http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/formula-1-and-valencia/

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Monza concerned by Rome F1 rumours
^{Tue, 23 Nov 14:10:57 2010}

Italian Grand Prix organisers have expressed concern that a proposed F1 race on the streets of Rome could see the sport elect to leave Monza.
Bernie Ecclestone has made no secret of his wish to have a race on the streets of the Italian capital although no deal has yet been signed to allow an event to take place.
While both Ecclestone and Rome chiefs insist that there is room for two Italian races on the calendar, in much the same way as Spain holds events at both Catalunya and Valencia, Monza boss Enrico Ferrari has revealed he is worried that a street race could mark the end for a circuit that has been on the schedule since 1950 aside from the 1980 event which was held at Imola.
"Amid a globalisation of grands prix, each country will inevitably be allowed to stage only one," he told Bloomberg. "Since Rome is the capital, I'm afraid we'd lose the grand prix forever."
The Rome City Council is due to meet this month to consider how to move forwards with its bid to host an F1 race, despite mayor Gianni Alemanno insisting that the plans dont have the overwhelming support of local residents

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Petrov's Facebook page defaced

Vitaly Petrov has revealed that his Facebook page has been defaced by fans accusing him of "blocking" Fernando Alonso during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Ferrari's Alonso missed out on the 2010 World title by four points after he finished behind Petrov in seventh place in the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi.

In an interview with Germany's Bild, Petrov revealed nasty things have been written on his social networking page.

"On my Facebook page many fans insulted me, saying I blocked Alonso. That is nonsense as I didn't do anything wrong. Ferrari made a tactical error."

Petrov, who accused Alonso of having "bad manners" after the Ferrari driver made a gesture in his direction during the slow-down lap in Abu Dhabi, says he wasn't aware that by keeping the Spaniard behind him, he was helping Sebastian Vettel to win the World Championship.

"I kept Alonso behind me for 39 laps," he said. "Nobody told me on the radio that by doing so I would help Sebastian to become World Champion. Even if he overtook me, he would've had to pass [Nico] Rosberg. I drove my own race against Alonso."

Although new World Champion Vettel hasn't congratulated him personally, the Red Bull driver has said he is grateful on his website.

"He doesn't have my telephone number," Petrov said. "However, I saw that he wrote on his website telling his fans that it he is very grateful to me. That's very nice of him. Before the race he wished me good luck.

"He deserves the title. The newspapers talk about a miracle, but it was hard work."

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Op donderdag 25 november 2010 10:17 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:

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http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vitaly-Petrov/282572284893

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Did you always have confidence in the RB6? Did you think it had Championship potential from the first day it rolled out of the garage in Jerez?
Adrian Newey: Occasionally you can still spot a winning car from day one, but its getting increasingly difficult to judge. You will have a reasonable idea of whether or not the car is performing as its expected to but you have no idea whether thats going to be good enough. You simply dont know what the competition are doing with their fuel loads. Its difficult to know where you are pace-wise until you start doing race simulations.

"The other thing to consider is the development race. Having the fastest car at the beginning of the year doesnt guarantee you a championship by any means. If you get out-developed by your competitors, then you could be well down the grid by the end of the season."

The Red Bulls seemed to really pull away from the field once the season got back to Europe. Was that a case of gaining a development advantage, or were the circuits being better suited to the car?
AN: Its always a little bit difficult to judge. Actually the race in China was very disappointing to us and when we go to Barcelona for the first race of the European season we had a raft of new part on the car but so did everybody else. The power circuits with long straights Spa and Monza havent suited us and I was disappointed in Turkey; although we were leading the race when the drivers had their coming together, I didnt feel we were pulling away as we had hoped. I think, generally speaking, the pace of development if you dont take it race by race but every few races then the pace of development has been similar between the top three teams.

How do you react when a rival introduces something like the F-Duct. Is there a sense of remorse at not having thought of it yourself?
AN: Not really. Theres no point in beating yourself up about it. If you take the F-Duct, fine, hats off to the young lad at McLaren who spotted that loophole and applied it. But once you understand what theyve done, its just a matter of getting on and doing your own version.

Was it tough to shoehorn the ducting into a homologated chassis?
AN: Its not ideal because of course the chassis wasnt designed for it; you have to be opportunistic in the way its plumbed. If we were to have another go at an F-Duct with a brand-new chassis we could refine it a bit more. But we managed to get it in and get it done and have it working to a satisfactory level.

The speed of change in F1 at the moment is remarkable. Has the constant demand for new parts changed how you do your work?
AN: I like it; I enjoy that sort of challenge though the speed at which new parts need to be generated and put on the car very much depend upon the part because its all related to lead-time. Something like a monocoque or a gearbox maincase; realistically those have to wait until the start of the next season, whereas trim on a front wing is something that can be ready the next day and theres every level in between those two.

The commotion mid-season about the degree of flex in Red Bulls front wing must have been distracting how did the team deal with that?
AN: It wasnt a distraction, but it was an annoyance. Ive got to say Ive never known a season quite like this one for the petty finger pointing thats gone on in the paddock. Its a shame, but the bottom line is that what weve done with the front wing has been endlessly investigated by the press and the FIA. The FIA quite rightly have to look at it, as they have to take these things seriously and what weve done is completely legal.

The other potentially controversial issue with the RB6 has been its pace in Q3. Even now, at the end of the season, other teams still mutter about not understanding how it improves by around three-tenths in that session. Anything to say about that?
AN: Its a myth! Im not sure our Q3 performance has been particularly different to our Q1 and Q2 performance, to be honest. I havent bothered looking through statistics, but I think its one of these stories that starts when once on twice the drivers have improved in Q3 and suddenly everybody writes it and it becomes accepted without any real basis. Sometimes it might be the case that well only do one run on the harder tyres to get through the sessions, so it looks different in Q3 with the softer tyres but the basic idea is a myth.

Looking forward to next year, we know you like regulations changes, but isnt it the last thing a winning team wants to see?
AN: Not necessarily. The unfortunate thing about the changes coming in next year is that they are all restrictions. So, the double diffuser is banned, which once weve all got it, banning it removes an area of freedom. Then theres the change to Pirelli tyres we dont know anything about them yet. Its impossible to predict them so its impossible to design a car around them.

Will you learn a great deal from this weeks first Pirelli tyre test?
AN: I hope we learn things next week, but in terms of the fundamental architecture of the car, thats done. The lead times are such that you cant now change the layouts.

So, is everybody designing for 2011 with an element of caution? Will the fixed weight distribution of the cars compensate for the unknown characteristics of the tyres?
AN: The restriction in weight distribution, which I think is 45:55 ± one per cent is, I suppose, helpful in so much as it should be possible to design a car within that range and then if the Pirelli tyres demand one extreme or the other , we can got to that but not beyond it which was the point of the regulation. But we dont know which end of the spectrum that will be.

How motivated are you to very literally go back to the drawing board. Is there anything left to prove?
AN: The motivations are there because I enjoy my job. The ambition when I joined Red Bull was initially to get the team to a point where it could take race wins; the dream was winning the Constructors Championship. Achieving that goal is very special but it doesnt change my day-to-day outlook. I enjoy working for Red Bull, its a good team to work for, we have a good atmosphere and I enjoy the design aspect of being involved. So, so long as Im enjoying it, Ill keep doing it.

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Ecclestone robbed in London again

Bernie Ecclestone was mugged in London on Wednesday night and had to go to hospital after getting a bump on the head. However he was reportedly back at work the following day.

Bernie and his girlfriend Fabiana Flosi were returning to his apartment when they were attacked by four men. They were forced to hand over watches and jewellery that are said to be worth £200,000.

Bernie was involved in a similar attack four years ago, when thieves attempted to steal his Mercedes.

A police spokesman told the Daily Mail: We were called to reports of a man and woman who had been robbed in south west London at approximately 10.30pm on Wednesday night. The man, aged 80 years old, was taken to a west London hospital for treatment to a minor head injury. The woman was not injured.

At this early stage it is believed a quantity of jewellery was stolen but we cannot disclose details of what was stolen as yet. No arrests have been made at this time and inquiries are continuing.

Ironically Ecclestone was sceptical about reports of the seriousness of the attempted attack on Jenson Button in Brazil two weeks ago. Given that he has now twice been attacked on home ground he probably finds Sao Paulo relaxing

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Op vrijdag 26 november 2010 08:32 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:

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Op vrijdag 26 november 2010 08:22 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:
Ik denk dat we Korea wel van de 2011 kalender kunnen schrappen al.

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Op vrijdag 26 november 2010 08:22 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:
Ik denk dat we Korea wel van de 2011 kalender kunnen schrappen al.

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Op vrijdag 26 november 2010 09:36 schreef Pleasureman_Gunther het volgende:

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Waarom?

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Op vrijdag 26 november 2010 10:14 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:

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Omdat ik denk dat de FIA geen race wil houden in instabiel oorlogsgebied en de huidige situatie gaat zeker een staartje krijgen aldaar ... denk ik.

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Op vrijdag 26 november 2010 14:03 schreef Atreidez het volgende:
Die Ecclestone ook weer he.. "Only simple people get robbed" ... tuurlijk