Tag: Fernando Alonso

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Ferrari Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing

2013 Brazilian GP: Qualifying report

2013 Brazilian Grand Prix

Even in the face of heavy rain Sebastian Vettel cannot be stopped. He claimed his 45th career pole position and ninth for the year at the Brazilian Grand Prix this morning with a blistering lap (1:26.479), almost 0.7 seconds faster than Nico Rosberg (1:27.102) in P2.

The final Q3 session was delayed for around 40 minutes to allow heavy rain to pass and track conditions to improve. Once underway drivers first took to the track in full wets but it soon became clear that intermediates were the best option.

Fernando Alonso (1:27.539) qualified third and said he was no hope of catching Vettel but felt with a better lap he could have eclipsed Rosberg. Amazingly, for a man of Alonso’s talent, P3 equals his best grid position for the year, meaning he has not started on the front row all season.

Mark Webber (1:27.572) was fastest in a compromised FP3, but could only manage P4 in qualifying.”We are where we deserved to be I think, as I didn’t feel that quick in qualifying,” he said. “The car felt slow and I was struggling for grip. It was tricky for all of us, but we’re on the second row and we can still do something from there.”

Lewis Hamilton (1:27.677) will start from P5, ahead of Romain Grosjean (1:27.737) and Daniel Ricciardo (1:28.052). Indeed, Toro Rosso will be well pleased to see Jean-Eric Vergne (1:28.081) starting alongside Daniel after both drivers only just scraped through Q1 in 15th and 16th place.

“It’s the best qualifying the team has had in a long time and I am very happy that both cars are in the top eight,” Daniel explained. “I don’t think there was much between me and JEV today. Tomorrow? The weather will probably decide the story, but anyway, seventh is a great place from which to start. I will be very motivated to convert today’s work into points tomorrow on what will be my last race with Toro Rosso after two very happy seasons with them.”

Felipe Massa (1:28.109) and Nico Hulkenberg (1:29.582) round out the top 10.

[Pics: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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Ferrari Formula 1

Fernando Alonso, F1 points record holder

Fernando Alonso helmet design for 2013 Indian Grand Prix

The 12 points Fernando Alonso collected with his fourth place finish at the Japanese Grand Prix a couple of weeks back etched his name into Formula 1’s history books. It took his career points tally to 1571, five more than Michael Schumacher, and he now stands alone as the man with the most career points in F1.

Yes, we know such records are skewed horribly since the switch to the current scoring system in 2010 where a win nets a driver 25 points instead of the nine or 10 under previous systems.

Still, if you had more points than anyone else in the history of F1 you’d probably want to tell the world all about it too. Which is exactly what Fernando will be doing with this special helmet design, to be worn during this weekend’s Indian Grand Prix.

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Ferrari Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Mark Webber talks taxi rides

Mark Webber aboard the Alonso Taxi

Mark Webber has taken to twitter to share his views on being reprimanded for his post-race taxi ride at the Singapore Grand Prix. It’s fair to say he doesn’t agree with the ruling.

Earlier today Autosport reported: “Not only did Webber not have permission from the marshals to enter the track at Turn 7, but he was in fact explicitly told by track officials not to do so.”

However, Webber refutes that allegation in his tweets, which you can read after the break. Mark also shared a photo of Derek Warwick, one of the stewards for the Singapore race, hitching a ride aboard Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari.

According to the official report Mark was reprimanded for failing to have permission to enter the track. Alonso was reprimanded for stopping in an unsafe place. And it’d be hard to argue the middle of Turn 7, partially obscured on entry, was not an unsafe place to stop.

That’s to say the taxi ride itself was not subject of the stewards’ inquiry. Anyway, in true F1 fashion a mountain is being made out of a molehill. While having sympathy for Mark—it did make great television—it’s his accumulation of three reprimands that has unfortunately dictated the penalty he has been handed down.

It’s probably best for everyone if they just move on.

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Ferrari Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Webber’s free ride costs him 10 places

2013 Singapore Grand Prix

Following his frustrating final lap retirement from the Singapore Grand Prix, Mark Webber hitched a ride back to pitlane on Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari. At times he looked a little precarious on the F138’s sidepod and it was a sight race stewards were not too happy with.

Officially both Webber and Alonso were reprimanded for the incident, but as this was Mark’s third official talking to for the year he will have a 10-place grid penalty kicks for the next race, the Korean Grand Prix.

Mark was actually charged with entering the track on foot without permission from marshals. Pedantic, or a good reminder in track safety for Mark? Video of the incident, available here, shows it was probably the latter.

[Source: Formula1.com | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

UPDATE: Video and a few relevant tweets from F1 journos added below.

UPDATE #2: CCTV from the Marina Bay circuit showing Mark running onto the track can be viewed after the break.

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Ferrari Formula 1 Lotus Red Bull Racing

2013 Singapore GP: Post-race press conference

2013 Singapore Grand Prix

After winning the Singapore Grand Prix with ease Sebastian Vettel faced many questions about his lead in the championship and was once again asked if he dislikes being booed.

Fernando Alonso was praised for his never say die attitude and Kimi Raikkonen’s sore back became a pain in the neck, such was the amount of questioning he suffered.

As we know the two Australian drivers had races they’d rather forget. Daniel Ricciardo crashed out before half-way and Mark Webber’s engine failed on the final lap.

“I think I did pretty much everything I could today,” Mark said. “We had pace in the car when we needed, we managed the tyres and made a very good undercut on Nico, I was really happy with that lap. Then six laps from the end, the guys were getting worried about the car.

“So, yeah, it’s annoying but someone’s had a tougher day than me somewhere and that’s the way it goes. I was having to short shift, but then, unlike Monza, we started to lose a lot of power. We were just trying to get home at that point but then on the last lap we caught fire.”

Daniel wasn’t looking for excuses to his early race exit. “The crash was my error, trying to make up for lost ground,” he said. “At the start, my car just seemed to sit there without moving off the line. It was very frustrating to lose so many places right away. I think I went down five places from ninth on the grid to fourteenth.

“In the second stint, my engineer came on the radio and said ‘the pace is good, keep pushing.’ I was aware that for the pace we had, we were not doing too badly and maybe at the end I was just trying to get too much out of it and made that mistake. It’s a delicate corner with not much run-off and I went too deep into the apex. I then braked a bit harder, locked a wheel and went into the wall. It’s not a mistake I’m used to making. I will learn from this.“

The full transcript of the post-race press conference featuring the first three drivers can be read after the break.

[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Singapore GP

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing

Sebastian Vettel toyed with his peers on the way to a 32 second victory in tonight’s Singapore Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver was challenged off the line by Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) and lost the lead for a few seconds. After that, though, Vettel totally outclassed the rest of the field.

The demanding streets of Marina Bay often serve up a Safety Car or two and such intervention was desperately needed to brig Sebastian back to the pack. Inevitably the Safety Car was out but it was of no consequence to Vettel. From the restart he quickly re-established his lead and cruised to victory.

Perhaps the stories of the day were found in the minor podium positions. As is customary and indeed expected Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) shot off the line from P7 and found himself in P3 once the field settled down. Quickly in to take advantage of the Safety Car on Lap 25 Alonso was able to make his tyres last until the end of the race and with that he earned a secure second place.

Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) followed Alonso’s strategy and overcame his troublesome back to fight his way to P3 from all the way down in P13. A great drive from the 33-year-old Finn.

The Aussies had a forgettable day. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) was the man responsible for the Safety Car after he locked up and sent himself into the wall.

The lengthy Safety Car period did throw pit stop strategies all over the place and while many drivers came in for new tyres, Webber, Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) all stayed out on track. When the trio inevitably came in for fresh tyres they had some work to do, but fresh rubber on which to do it.

Webber had his eyes set on P3 and managed to work his way from eighth into fourth and he looked to have the speed to challenge Raikkonen. Alas, as soon as Mark found his way to P4 he was getting messages from his team to short shift. It wasn’t long before he saw the two Mercedes AMGs sail past, and then Felipe Massa (Ferrari) as well. Webber crossed the line to start the final lap, his car sounding terribly off note and it was no surprise to see his engine let go before he could complete the lap.

Once again Webber had to suffer the frustration of a mechanical failure while his teammate racked up yet another grand prix win, the 32nd of Vettel’s career. The young German’s dominance since the mid-season break has made a fourth world title look increasingly likely.

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Ferrari Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

2013 Italian GP: Post-race press conference

2013 Italian Grand Prix

Last night’s podium interviews were a bit of a farce. Jean Alesi, so admirable as a gritty underdog racer during his time in Formula 1, was little more than a Ferrari mouthpiece after Sebastian Vettel’s win at Monza. But it’s Italy and the tifosi needs to be catered to, so fair enough perhaps.

For Mark Webber, the weekend delivered his best qualifying result and best finishing result in 12 visits to the temple of speed. And while he says he likes Monza he’s done little to placate the rabid fans, telling Channel Ten in an interview he’d rather have a Porsche in the driveway than a Ferrari. He was also outspoken in his defence of teammate Sebastian Vettel who was roundly booed for not being a Ferrari driver.

“[I’m] very happy to be on the podium here at Monza,” said Mark. “It’s one of the most famous ones in the world, up there with Monte Carlo and a few other signature events but yeah, brilliant to experience that, even though the atmosphere I was not completely a fan of, to be honest. Sebastian won the race and the atmosphere is not completely correct but anyway… that’s their choice.”

Daniel Ricciardo, in his first race after being confirmed as Webber’s replacement at Red Bull next year still has his mind on the job of achieving better results for his current employer Toro Rosso.

“In recent races where we have managed to qualify in the top ten, we didn’t have the pace to stay there in the race, but today we did,” said Daniel. “I think I got the most out of the car, managing to keep the guys behind me and the low downforce set-up certainly helped us down the straights. We must keep pushing hard on the car development for the next few races, because hopefully, a top five finish is not too far away.”

The full transcript of the post-race press conference featuring the first three drivers can be read after the break.

[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Italian GP

Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Italian GP

Sebastian Vettel took an easy win for Red Bull in tonight’s Italian Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso couldn’t bring a home win for Ferrari but did the next best thing by finishing second. While Mark Webber departs his final European-based F1 race from the third step on the podium.

Both Red Bull drivers got off the front row of the grid well and for a moment it looked like Webber might challenge Vettel for the lead into the first corner. But while the Red Bulls ahead scrapped the Ferraris pounced and Felipe Massa took third place while Alonso was on Webber’s tail.

Alonso eventually got past Webber with a typically courageous move and Massa was soon brushed aside. The race then settled into an otherwise lifeless rhythm.

Webber got past Massa in the pit stop sequence and with the preferred strategy being a one stopper that was pretty much it as far as seeing any excitement at the head of the field.

There were some concerns from the Red Bull pit wall with both drivers asked to short shift to look after their gearboxes and the field did close up towards the end, but there were no serious threats to Vettel or the two men behind him.

Felipe Massa held on to fourth place and Nico Hulkenberg and Sauber will be overjoyed with his fifth place. Nico Rosberg salvaged some pride for Mercedes AMG in sixth and Daniel Ricciardo was seventh and the sole Toro Rosso finisher after Jean-Eric Vergne suffered engine problems.

So, another easy win for Vettel. He joins Alonso on 32 grand prix wins and looks to be on an unstoppable charge to his fourth world championship.

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Ferrari Formula 1

Is Fernando trolling Daniel?

2013 Belgian Grand Prix

Amid the speculation that Daniel Ricciardo will be driving a widebody RB10 for Red Bull Racing next year comes this obscure tweet from Fernando Alonso:

We wonder, is he trolling? His Ferrari contract ties him to Maranello until the end of the 2016 season, although we note contracts can be broken if both parties agree.

So, could Fernando really be heading to Red Bull or is he just announcing he’s got a new shampoo sponsor, or something?

[Pic: Ferrari]

UPDATE: Turns out Alonso has bought the licence of the failed pro cycling team Euskaltel. [Source | Thanks to Ryan for the tip]

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Ferrari Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing

2013 Belgian GP: Post-race press conference

2013 Belgian Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel explains the tale of Belgian Grand Prix victory lay in a good opening lap. “It helped the first lap to have the tow off Lewis through Eau Rouge and then I was flying,” he said. “Once I passed him we had incredible pace and really could control the race until the end.”

Finishing in fifth place wasn’t part of Mark Webber’s plans in his final F1 appearance at Spa. “The two practice starts before the race weren’t great and so we were a bit worried about the clutch going to the start, which put us on to the back foot,” Mark said. “We tried our best, but lost a couple of rows off the line which is not good. We then had to try and clear people on the track, which was difficult, as we had set up the top gear to race in clean air, rather than to pass. The bad start put us out of position and it snowballs from there, as you use up the tyres trying to getting to back into position.”

Meanwhile Daniel Ricciardo was happy to finish in the points after starting from P19. “It was nice to get that point! We ran a long first stint on the Hards and I think that helped us build a good base to have a strong pace in the final stints on the Medium,” Daniel explained. “I felt much more comfortable on the Option tyre and that’s when my race really started. With the last set of tyres I was knocking out maybe ten or so qualifying laps and managed to pick off some cars in front to bring home that crucial point.”

The full transcript of the post-race press conference featuring the first three drivers can be read after the break.

[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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Ferrari Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing

Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Belgian GP

Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Belgian Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel cruised to an easy victory at the 2013 Belgian Grand Prix. The Red Bull ace had to work hard on the first lap to overtake pole sitter Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes AMG) but once that was done he remained unchallenged.

Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) was the big improver the head of the field, finishing second after starting from P9. Lewis Hamilton had to content himself with P3.

Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG) finished where he started in P4, while Mark Webber (Red Bull) dropped two places to finish fifth. Although, there was word just before the race began that Webber had clutch issues which may explain his slow getaway off the line and why he dropped three places after the first lap.

Toro Rosso will be pleased that their drivers made good ground after their qualifying woes. Starting from P19 Daniel Ricciardo managed to fight his way to P10 to claim a championship point, while Jean-Eric Vergne improved from P18 to P12.

Aside from a bit of a kerfuffle with Pastor Maldonado (Williams) and the two Force India drivers which sent Paul di Resta in for an early shower not much else happened.

Tonight’s win is Vettel’s 31st career victory which places him equal fifth on the all-time tally alongside Nigel Mansell. What odds he’ll join Fernando Alonso on 32 wins at Monza in a couple of weeks?

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Ferrari Formula 1

Okay, so, Ferrari is bigger than you

2013 German Grand Prix

After only managing fifth place in the Hungarian Grand Prix Fernando Alonso was a little frustrated. When asked what he would like for his birthday, which was on Monday, he replied: “Someone else’s car.”

As you can imagine this didn’t go down too well with Ferrari’s top brass. Moreover, Alonso isn’t the only one upset with the Scuderia’s current form and Ferrari President, Luca di Montezemolo, signed off on an official press release urging his F1 team to lift its game and firmly putting Fernando in his place.

“All the great champions who have driven for Ferrari have always been asked to put the interests of the team above their own. This is the moment to stay calm, avoid polemics and show humility and determination in making one’s own contribution, standing alongside the team and its people both at the track and outside it,” di Montezemolo said.

In other words: “Okay, so, Ferrari is bigger than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?”

Alonso is contracted to Ferrari until the end of the 2016 season, however, there are further signs there may be trouble at Maranello.

Luis Garcia Abad, Alonso’s manager, was seen with Christian Horner in the Red Bull motorhome at the Hungaraoring on the weekend. Innocently, we’re told the meeting was in regards to Carlos Sainz Jr. That’s a very plausible explanation, but perhaps there was more to the meeting than first meets the eye.

Ferrari insist their contract with Alonso is water tight and cannot be broken. Chances are it won’t, but throwing Alonso’s name into the who will replace Webber at Red Bull discussion certainly spices up the rumour mill heading into the mid-season break.

And what does Sebastian Vettel think about all this? “I’d prefer Kimi,” said the Red Bull number one. “I have to be careful now, nothing against Fernando. I really respect him a lot as a driver.

“I respect Kimi on track and off track because he has always been really straight with me. From that point of view, it might be a bit easier.”

Perhaps the biggest competition between a team consisting of Vettel and Alonso, should it ever eventuate, would be not who is the fastest, but who can throw his toys of the cot the furthest.

[Source: BBC | Pic: Ferrari]