Sebastian Vettel beats Fernando Alonso in European GP

Sebastian Vettel ran a controlled race to collect his sixth win of the season for Red Bull at the European Grand Prix and stretch his championship lead.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso won a tight battle with Red Bull's Mark Webber for second which earned the Spaniard his first podium in Valencia.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton fought high tyre wear to hold off Felipe Massa's fast-finishing Ferrari to take fourth.

Jenson Button of McLaren was sixth with Force India's Paul di Resta in 14th.

Vettel's victory gives him a 77-point lead in the championship - an advantage of more than three clear wins after just eight races.

His closest challengers are now Button and Webber, who are tied on points, though the Englishman is classified ahead because he has won a race.

The Formula 1 paddock had buzzed with speculation that maybe Vettel's dominant run of form was beginning to crack when he lost the lead in the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks' ago on the last lap.

But the 23-year-old German answered his doubters in emphatic fashion in Valencia and crossed the line saying: "This is the better than you can imagine."

BBC F1 commentator Martin Brundle said: "This has again been a study in dominance by Sebastian Vettel.

"He was using his head, using his tyres better than anyone else and we haven't seen him put a foot wrong."

Vettel led from lights to flag and always appeared in control, though his advantage over a battling Alonso and Webber was never that great until he stretched his legs as he approached the final pit stops to retain his lead.

"Maybe from the outside it looked like a boring race, but I enjoyed it so much," Vettel said.

"Of course I had some pressure from Fernando [Alonso] and Mark [Webber] behind and even though I had a gap before the stop, they were still very close.

"I was pushing hard, judging the tyres, trying to imagine what the end of the stint would be like.

"For some reason I enjoy this track. Last year I had a smooth race and again this year, I had a good race.

"This track is not made for us [Red Bull] with no real fast corners, but we still managed to put everything together."

Webber spent much of the race engaged in a see-saw cat-and-mouse battle with Alonso, as well as battling traffic.

Alonso hustled the Australian for second from the first lap but the Spaniard had to wait until after the first round of stops for his patience to be rewarded when he pounced on Webber on the inside of Turn 12 on lap 21.

"Alonso got a massive tow down into the corner," said BBC co-commentator David Coulthard. "That was the area where Webber went flying [into the air] last year and Alonso got into the slipstream at maximum power."

Webber got back ahead of Alonso at the second pit stops but gambled on stopping early for the final time to fit the harder of the two tyre options, which all the leaders saved until the end of the race. Alonso stayed out for a few more laps on the softer tyres and regained second.

The Australian's chances of fighting back in the closing laps were dashed by a gearbox problem.

It was a strong performance by Alonso, who is optimistic that Ferrari can close down Red Bull.

"It was an interesting race for the fans to see the fight with Webber all the way through," Alonso said.

"At the beginning I was behind him trying not to be too far behind ahead of the first pit-stop. The opportunity came later when I overtook him, under-braking into Turn 12.

"In the pits, they did a good job to overtake us and then my team did a good strategy to get us back in front.

"In the end, I think second place was the maximum we could hope for. We're definitely moving in the right direction but need to keep working."

Alonso remains fifth in the championship, but has closed to within 10 points of fourth-placed Hamilton, who is 12 behind Button and Webber.

The McLaren drivers had complained all weekend that they could not 'switch on' their tyres at Valencia's stop-start street circuit and the problem went on to define their race.

Hamilton was warned several times on the pit-to-car radio to look after his tyres and suggested in his responses that, at times, dictating the pace was out of his control.

A hesitant start from Hamilton saw him drop to fifth on the first lap as both Ferraris surged past him in the first two corners of the race.

The McLaren driver tried to put pressure on the Red Bulls and Ferraris ahead of him by making his first stop with 12 laps gone.

The car responded to a set of new soft tyres and immediately found enough pace to help Hamilton pass Massa for fourth.

However, Hamilton was unable to move any further forwards in the race.

"We just got a bad start and lost out to the Ferraris but in all honesty we weren't as quick as them," Hamilton said.

"The team was asking me to stay out longer but I was saying 'I'm trying to look after my tyres as much as I can'.

"I was struggling with over-steer the whole time."

In the other McLaren, Button also found himself struggling for balance before reporting problems with his Kers energy boost halfway into the grand prix.

The 2009 world champion lost a place off the line, sliding to seventh as Nico Rosberg jumped to sixth for Mercedes.

However, Button breezed past Rosberg with a stylish move on the inside of Turn Two to regain sixth place and he crossed the line in the same position.

Rosberg finished seventh with his Mercedes team-mate Michael Schumacher, who fell back when he lost his front wing in a clash with Vitaly Petrov's Renault, in 17th.

The European Grand Prix saw all 24 cars take the chequered flag for the first time this season.

Those fighting at the front are waiting to find out whether a new directive by F1's governing body, the FIA, will do anything to change the pecking order.

At the next race at Silverstone on 10 July, the use of so-called off-throttle blowing of diffusers, which help to increase downforce by blowing hot gasses over the rear of the car's floor while the driver is not pressing the accelerate, will be banned.

from bbc sport

Explicacion sobre las reglas de mapeo y los difusores soplados

Tal vez esta sea la historia más importante que ha dejado el fin de semana pasado de Carrera. Los equipos potenciados por Mercedes (McLaren, Mercedes GP, Force India) utilizaron un tipo de “apertura de acelerador” acordada con la FIA de manera previa, debido a planteamientos de confiabilidad.

Sin embargo Renault pidió que se le permita usar una apertura “larga” de acelerador cuando el fin de semana ya estaba comenzando. Por lo tanto Charlie Whiting decidió que como las regulaciones técnicas para el gran premio necesitaban ser tratadas de manera previa al gp, el pedido de Renault era inadmisible. Debían cumplir con la directiva técnica sobre la apertura del acelerador original, y no la cual querían imponer al 50%. Esto obligo a Renault a utilizar un mapeo de motor con poca confiabilidad, así lo declararon.

Luego de muchas interrogantes sobre la limitación del 10%, lo que se vivió durante las prácticas del viernes y sábado trajo más confusión sobre el tema. A medida que las practicas se fueron desarrollando, se empezó a hacer público que no todos los equipos estaban cumpliendo con la nueva norma, así como tampoco estaba claro que los proveedores de motores estuvieran regularizando el mapeo de motores.

Esto trajo mucha controversia entre los medios presentes y los fanáticos de la categoría. El debate principal tuvo lugar en la conferencia de prensa del día viernes, siendo Martin Whitmarsh y Christian Horner los principales protagonistas. Se declaró que los motores de Renault estaban corriendo con el 50% cuando se levanta el acelerador a diferencia de los motores Mercedes.
Para prevenir que los equipos utilicen un mapeo de motor que permita el flujo de aire se canalice por el difusor al levantar el acelerador (para obtener beneficios aerodinámicos), la FIA propuso un par de cambios sobre las reglas técnicas para cuando el piloto levanta el pie del acelerador. En primer lugar el conocido límite del 10% en la apertura del acelerador, y en segundo lugar la prohibición de inyectar combustible al motor cuando no se está acelerando. La intención de estos dos cambios de norma era prohibir los mapeos de motor “caliente” y “frio”. Anteriormente en el GP de España, los equipos hicieron lobby ante la FIA, dando sus razones del porque no eran viables estas nuevas normas dado los tiempos y restricciones en los desarrollos.

Lo más importante:

Ahora necesitamos entender que es lo que sucede cuando el piloto levanta el pie del acelerador y el efecto secundario que tiene esto sobre las demás partes del auto. A diferencia de los autos de calles, en un auto de Fórmula 1 el piloto no levanta “suavemente” el pedal del acelerador y espera gentilmente la etapa de frenado.
En cambio, en esa situación en la que se está girando a revoluciones máximas, cuando simultáneamente levanta el pie del acelerador con un pie, con el otro está frenando completamente de manera agresiva obteniendo carga aerodinámica inmediatamente.
Durante el frenado hasta los engranajes de la caja están perfectamente secuenciados y seleccionados, mejorando el pico de revoluciones mientras el auto está frenando. Este repentino cierre del acelerador bloquea la entrada de la cámara de combustión, pero el cilindro continua moviéndose a una frecuencia bastante alta. Esto genera un inmenso estrés en el material de la cámara de combustión y el vacío creado succiona el aire a través de los aros del pistón. Inmediatamente esto frenara el motor, creando un efecto de freno motor más grande que lo deseado, aplicando también un estrés gigante en la transmisión. Es decir, el motor frena más de lo deseado.
Este excesivo efecto de freno motor, generara que el auto sea “nervioso” al levantar el acelerador, a pesar de cualquier compensación aerodinámica que se disponga.
Por lo tanto los proveedores de motores encontraron diferentes soluciones para “aliviar” los daños producidos por el estrés producido al dejar de acelerar el motor. En las temporadas en las que no se contaba con seteos de mapeos de motor, los pilotos tenían la posibilidad de configurar los parámetros de aceleración con el objetivo de ajustar el comportamiento o las reacciones del móvil.

En Renault han declarado abiertamente que ya estaban utilizando un acelerador “abierto” en las frenadas. Esto les mejora el flujo y les evita tanto estrés en los materiales. Además utilizan el exceso de combustible para enfriar la válvula que cierra la cámara de combustión. Se cree que en esta temporada Renault utiliza un acelerador abierto al 90% en la frenada. Esto se conoce como mapeo de soplado frio, o mapeo frio. Durante los anteriores GP y en especial en las prácticas del viernes en Silverstone, los equipos que montan motores Renault podían diferenciarse por un tono audible en particular debido a que se escuchaban con más decibeles que los demás. También se notó cuando el sonido continuaba brevemente en los momentos que los pilotos levantaban el pie del acelerador en alguna curva lenta.

En Mercedes también tenían una solución para esto: Cuando el piloto levanta el pie del acelerador, el combustible continúa siendo inyectado en el motor al mismo tiempo que es encendido dentro de la cámara de combustión. Esto reduce el efecto del freno motor, dando como resultado una transición más suave entre la aceleración y la “desaceleración”. Además esto le da a Mercedes la libertad de definir los rangos de frenado y las cargas de KERS, sin tener que considerar el freno motor al momento del frenado. Efectivamente desacopla el efecto motor del sistema total de frenado. Así como la solución de Renault, la solución de Mercedes recibe un nombre análogo: mapeo de soplado caliente o mapeo caliente. En Silverstone los equipos que montan motores Mercedes, tenían un sonido limpio al momento de la desaceleración, a diferencia de los motores Ferrari de los cuales se podía escuchar ruidos naturales de las explosiones de desaceleración.


Teniendo a dos equipos que tienen estrategias establecidas para la desaceleración, (comprendidas en el diseño de los motores e inclusive en el diseño del sistema general de freno), es muy difícil que acepten cambiar a un mapeo de motor según lo dicta la regla del 10%.
Ambos proveedores hicieron lobby para que se les permita mantener sus diseños y estrategias. La FIA analiza los mapeos de motor desde el 2009 desde que se implementó el uso de la ECU diseñada y vendida por McLaren. Han observado que los proveedores siempre utilizan mapeos de motor en particular (repiten para los mismos circuitos), pero también han notado que los mapeos cada vez son más agresivos en términos de revoluciones.

Por lo tanto la FIA decidió volver atrás estas normas, y aunque a esta regla le llamemos “limitacion al 10%”, la realidad es que han permito una limitación del 50% y la inyección de una pequeña cantidad de combustible para ser “quemado” en la cámara de combustión.
Esto suena como un retroceso a favor de ciertos proveedores, pero la realidad es que todo fue una exageración mediática. Es verdad que a Renault se le posibilito una apertura de acelerador más grande, pero también es verdad que a Mercedes se le permitió la inyección de combustible, así como también es verdad que estas “habilitaciones” estaban disponibles para los demás proveedores de motores. Por lo tanto Ferrari podría haber utilizado una apertura de acelerador mayor así como también Cosworth podría haber inyectado combustible en la desaceleración.

No caben dudas que esto beneficia secundariamente un mejor flujo de aire a través del difusor en la desaceleración. Por lo tanto buscaran reglas para reducir este efecto aerodinámico. Luego de que el furor de este fin de semana termine, quedara el compromiso de reducir el efecto de los motores en la aerodinámica antes que llegue la próxima temporada, donde se aplicaran restricciones al tipo de escapes.

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Mercedes optimista con nuevos desarrollos

El director deportivo de Mercedes Gp, Ross Brawn, es optimista con respecto al Nuevo desarrollo de los escapes que utilizaron durante el Gran Premio de Inglaterra. Asegura que debería mejorar notablemente su performance para la segunda mitad de la temporada.
El W02 corrio en Silverstone el ultimo fin de semana, con Nuevo y mas largo diseño de escape, similar al concepto que utiliza RedBull, Mclaren y Ferrari, esto con el motivo de mejorar la eficiencia del diffusor.
A pesar de que los resultados de este desarrollo parecen no haber sido relevantes para su resultado logrado en Silverstone, con Nico Rosberg y Michael Schumacher sufriendo en clasificación y en las primeras etapas de la carrera, las actuaciones del equipo en la segunda mitad de la carrera fueron esperanzadoras.
Ross Brown confia en que el nuevo diseño de escapes tiene un potencial futuro ya que se lo puede desarrollar y maximizar para las carreras que esperan.
“Estamos en un camino totalmente nuevo con respecto al sistema de escapes” explico. “Con el anterior sistema alcanzamos todo el desarrollo que podíamos tener, y llegamos a un punto en el cual no podíamos progresar mas en el diseño”
“El nuevo sistema de escape nos da aliento porque estamos observando mejoras que con el anterior sistema no lográbamos obtener”
“Nuestro desafio – que todavia no hemos logrado – es superar nuestros problemas de confiabilidad. Esto no se vio beneficiado para nada con las regulaciones de mapeo de motor”
Brawn siente que ademas de haber logrado la mejora de los escapes, van a lograr otros desarrollos que contribuyan a mejorar el tiempo de vuelta de sus autos.
“Podemos ver el potencial que tiene el sistema, pero lo mas importante es que tenemos mas mejoras para aprovechar las ventajas de esta tecnología”
“Estamos siendo optimistas. Yo soy optimista!, vamos a lograr avanzar con este sistema.
El equipo Mercedes GP, logro subir a la cuarta posición en el campeonato de constructores durante el Gran Premio de Inglaterra, gracias a al sexto puesto de Rosberg y al noveno y puntuado puesto de Schumacher.

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Kimi Raikkonen reemplazara a Mark Webber?

Luego de que Mark Webber ignorara las ordenes del equipo en la final del Gran Premio de Inglaterra, el diario aleman Bild-Zeitung publico una noticia que especula la posible vuelta del campeon del mundo Kimi Raikkonen en remplazo del australiano en el equipo Red Bull Racing.

El lunes luego de la carrera en Silverstone, el jefe del equipo Red Bull fue interrogado sobre las chances de la vuelta de Raikkonen a la Formula 1, y dijo:“Yo creo que ha dejado la etapa de la Formula 1 a sus espaldas.”

En este informe, el periodico Bild, asegura que el plan para reemplazar a Raikkonen con Webber es "secreto clasificado" y la informacion se habria filtrado de una fuente del mas alto status dentro de Red Bull.

Raikkonen ha estado comptiendo en el campeonato mundial de rally (WRC)durante las ultimas temporadas, asi como tambien hace poco a debutado en las series de camionetas de NASCAR.

Webber corre para Red Bull desde el año 2007, adjudicando seis victorias. Fue muy critico con las decisiones que tomo Red Bull en el gran premio de inglaterra, se le pidio que mantenga la posicion cuando podia "atacar" a su coequiper Sebastian Vettel cuando terminaba la carrera. Webber se posiciona segundo en el campeonato de pilotos, a 80 puntos de Vettel.

Refiriendose al futuro de Webber en el equipo, el manager del programa de pilotos de RedBull Helmut Marko le dijo al diario Bild recientemente “Tenemos otras opciones pero no quiero hablar sobre ello ahora mismo."

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Kimi Raikkonen to replace Mark Webber?

Just two days after Mark Webber ignored team orders at the end of the British Grand Prix, German newspaper Bild-Zeitung has published a speculative story about former world champion Kimi Raikkonen replacing the Australian at Red Bull Racing.

On Monday after the race at Silverstone, Red Bull team boss was asked about the chances of Raikkonen returning to the sport, and he said “I believe he has put F1 behind him.”

In its report, Bild says the plan to replace Webber with Raikkonen is “top secret” and the information of a source comes from “the highest level.”

Raikkonen has been competing in World Rally for the past seasons, and has also recently taken to NASCAR.

Webber has driven for Red Bull since 2007, scoring six wins. He was critical of Red Bull Racing’s management after the British Grad Prix when he was asked to hold position when challenging Sebastian Vettel in the latter stages of the race. Webber currently sits in second position in the world titles, 80 points behind Vettel.

Referring to Webber’s future at the team, driver manager Helmut Marko told Bild recently “We have other options but I don’t want to talk about them now.”

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Engine mapping and blown diffuser explained

For the the British GP, Mercedes engined cars (McLaren, Mercedes GP, Force India) were able to use their fired-overrun. As this was pre-agreed with the FIA for reliability reasons. However Renault Sports request for their larger overrun throttle opening was requested after the event had started. Thus Chalrie Whiting decided that, as the technical regulations for the event need to be agreed before the event, Renaults request was inadmissible for this event. Thus they have to meet the original technical directive on throttle opening and not the 50% they had lobbied for. This leaves Renault having to run a mapping which is not optimal for reliability and Mercedes can run their mapping.
After much expectation on the effect of the 10% off-throttle limit, what transpired over the opening practice sessions brought more confusion than clarification. As practice got under way it transpires that the expected 10% limit was in fact not applied to all teams, nor was the dispensation to the different engine manufacturers communicated clearly to all the others. This brought much confusion to fans and media alike, as well as bringing a heated debate between Martin Whitmarsh and Christian Horner in the Friday press conference. Its been reported that Renault engines have been dispensation to run at up to 50% throttle when the driver is off the throttle pedal, and slightly less well reported that Mercedes engined teams are able to run a fired overrun.
The communication and political issues notwithstanding, the status is at least technically clear.

In order to prevent teams using off-throttle engine maps to continue to drive airflow over the diffuser for aerodynamic benefit, the FIA proposed a pair of changes to what’s allowed when the driver comes off the throttle pedal. Firstly the well known 10% limit on the throttle opening, but secondly a ban on injecting fuel into the engine when off the throttle. The intention of this pair of changes was to ban both hot and cold blown engine maps.
Of course this was the FIA proposal; the original date of the Spanish GP was delayed while the teams lobbied their cases to the FIA, giving their reasons why such changes were unworkable given the timescales and restrictions on development.

Now we need to understand what goes on within the engine when a driver lifts off the throttle and the subsequent effect that has on other aspects of the car. Unlike in road cars the driver in an F1 car doesn’t leisurely lift off the throttle and delay the braking phase. Instead the driver may be at near maximum revs, when he will simultaneously lift off the throttle pedal completely and hit the brake pedal hard for the initial downforce aided braking event. During the braking event the gears will be sequentially selected, further peaking revs as the car slows. This sudden closing of the throttles blocks off the inlet to the combustion chamber, but the cylinder will continue to pump up and down at a great rate. This creates huge stresses inside the combustion chamber and the vacuum created will suck air past the piston rings. This will rapidly slow the engine, creating too much engine braking effect, which in turns creates downstream stresses in the drive train and over-brakes the engine. The excessive engine braking effect will make the car nervous on throttle lift off, regardless of any subsequent aerodynamic effect.
So engine manufacturers find different solutions to ease the stresses and braking effect of the driver lifting off the throttle. In the seasons before EBDs there were several different strategies in place, the driver was able to alter overrun setting to tunes the cars handling, and driver switching between teams found the change in overrun settings needed some adjustment to both their driving style and sometimes with the engines settings. So overrun settings were already an issue before EBDs, and many strategies were already outside the intentions f the 10% rule.
Renault have been open and said their engine already runs open throttles on the overrun, this both eases the blow-by and stress issues, it also usefully cooled the exhaust valve, an alternative to using excess fuel to cool the back of the valve. This year the Renault sport are believed to be running as much as 90% open throttle on the overrun. This is what’s best known as cold-blown mapping. Earlier this season and through out free practice at Silverstone, the three Renault engined teams, had a distinctive loud overrun note, which continues briefly as the drivers picked up the throttle out of slow turns. As the throttles are open more than other teams, the induction noise is far greater.
Mercedes HPE, equally have their solution, this is the so called fired-overrun. When the driver lifts off, fuel continues to be injected into the engine and sparked within the combustion chamber. This offsets the engine braking effect created by the engine, giving a smoother transition from on throttle to the overrun when off it. As a result this means there is less engine braking effect. This gives Mercedes the freedom to define braking bias and KERS charging, without having to account for engine braking. Effectively decoupling the engine braking effect from the actual action of the braking system. As with Renault’s pre-EBD mapping Mercedes solution is analogous to the hot blowing mapping. At Silverstone the Mercedes engined teams had a particularly clean overrun sound. Where as Ferrari had far more cracks and pops as the engine slowed.
With both engine manufacturers having long established overrun strategies that have critical impacts on the basic engine design or the braking system, it will be hard to rapidly switch to a very strict overrun mapping as demanded by the 10% rule. Both manufacturers lobbied the FIA to be allowed to retain elements of these old overrun strategies, while still emasculating their current strategies. The FIA have been able to see the mappings used in 2009 through to the current day, as the code is held by the FIA since the advent of the single ECU (SECU). They’ve been able to see the engines have had these long established mappings, but also how they have become more aggressive since the EBD has been developed.
So the FIA relented and although we will commonly call this the 10% rule, the actual throttle will allowed up to 50% and some fuel can still be injected and burnt in the engine. This sounds like a climb down by the FIA and unfair to different engine manufacturers. But the unreported events at Silverstone this afternoon are fairer than the picture being painted by the teams and the media. Its true that Renault were given their greater throttle opening, but also Mercedes were given their fired-overrun, but these dispensations have been given to every engine manufacturer, so Ferrari could have more throttle opening or Cosworth could develop a fired overrun. As I understand you can one but not both of these options, so no 50%-open with a fired-overrun.

Although the communication and timing of these clarifications appears to be wanting, the final rules clarification meets the basic needs of individual engine suppliers, but still maintains parity between the four parties involved. There is no doubt this allows some secondary benefit of greater flow through the diffuser on the overrun, but this is still greatly reduced over what’s been raced already this year. So there will be reduced aero effect and no further arms race in developing these aggressive strategies. After the furore dies we have been left with w reasonable compromise on reducing engine effect on aerodynamics, before the fuller bans comes into effect with periscope exhausts next year.

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Vettel has urged Red Bull Racing to respond

Sebastian Vettel has urged his Red Bull Racing team to respond as quick as it can to Fernando Alonso's victory in the British Grand Prix, ahead of what he thinks will be a crucial stage of the championship.
A major update on the Ferrari car, allied to the changes in the blown diffuser regulations for Silverstone, ended the Maranello-based team's victory drought and delivered fresh hope that it could yet stop Red Bull Racing romping away to the world title.
Vettel thinks that his chiefs should not just brush aside Alonso's success as the result of weather and circumstance, and instead he thinks it needs to work hard to bring improvements over the next few races in a bid to kill off Ferrari's title hopes fully.
"It was a tough race and Ferrari was very quick, Fernando in particular, and they beat us," said Vettel in a post race video interview with Red Bull. "We need to accept it, and to understand when you get beaten you have to accept it.
"It was a lesson to learn, and it is up to us now to refocus and make sure that we come back with stronger performance for the next couple of races. It is a very important time now for the championship.
"We are in a good position still, but we need to keep working on ourselves because the otherwise the others come too close for our liking."
Alonso is still 92 points behind Vettel in the standings, but it would only take a short run of bad luck for Red Bull Racing to start feeling threatened by the Spaniard.
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner says there was no doubt at Silverstone that there were times during the race when Alonso was the fastest car on the track.
"It was a race of two halves," he said. "On inters we seemed to be very strong and through the middle phase of the grand prix we seemed to be okay.
"But then the balance seemed to shift during the second half of the race. Potentially, as the fuel loads got lighter or as the circuit rubbered in, Ferrari's pace picked up and Fernando's pace was obviously very strong.
"As we see with these tyres there is obviously a sweet spot, but we were running in a [blown diffuser] configuration this weekend that we have not previously been in."

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Vettel pide a RedBull mejorar el rendimiento

Sebastian Vettel insto a su equipo, Red Bull Racing, a responder con resultados de manera rápida a la victoria de Fernando Alonso en el pasado Gran Premio de Inglaterra, asegurando que esto es crucial para el campeonato
Una gran mejora en los autos de Ferrari, sumado a las nuevas reglas de difusor, ayudaron a que el equipo con base en Marranello lograra tener esperanzas nuevamente de batir a RedBull.
Vettel cree que sus ingenieros y jefes de RedBull no tienen que atribuir la victoria de Alonso únicamente a las circunstancias ocasionales y al clima de carrera, en cambio cree que deben continuar trabajando para obtener desarrollos nuevos y “terminar” con las esperanzas de Ferrari.
"Fue una carrera muy dura y las Ferrari fueron muy rapidas, Fernando en especial, y nos batieron" dijo Vettel. "Necesitamos aceptarlo, y entender que cuando te ganan hay que superarlo.
"Fue una leccion de la cual tenemos que aprender, y solo depende de nosotros reenfocarnos y asegurarnos que volveremos a tener actuaciones con buena perfomance en las próximas carreras. Estamos en una parte crucial del campeonato
"Todavia estamos en una buena posicion, pero necesitamos seguir trabajando ya que de no hacerlo estaremos a la merced de los equipos que se están acercando”
A pesar de esto Alonso se encuentra a 92 puntos por debajo de Vettel, pero basta con unas pocas carreras con mala suerte para que RedBull sienta la presencia de Ferrari y Alonso en sus espaldas.
El director de Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner dijo que no quedan dudas de que en Silverstone hubo momentos de la carrera en los cuales Alonso fue el mejor en el circuito.
“Fue una Carrera de dos partes”, el dijo. “Cuando usamos intermedios parecíamos muy fuertes, y durante la parte del medio del Gran Prix parecíamos estar bien encaminados
“Pero después parece haber cambiado el balance durante la segunda mitad de la carrera. Especificamente a medida que el combustible se fue gastando, y el engomado de la pista se hizo presente, Ferrari levanto su ritmo y Fernando se puso extremadamente rapido
"A pesar de que estabamos comodos con nuestros neumaticos, no lo estabamos con las nuevas regulaciones de difusor”

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Mercedes upbeat over new exhaust development

Mercedes GP team principal Ross Brawn is optimistic that a new exhaust development that was raced for the first time at the British Grand Prix should help lift form over the second half of the season.
The W02s ran at Silverstone last weekend with a new longer exhaust design - similar to the concepts that Red Bull Racing, McLaren and Ferrari have been using – aimed to helping improve the efficiency of its blown diffuser.
Although the results of that development appeared to be inconclusive at the British Grand Prix, with Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher struggling in qualifying and the early stages of the race, their form in the second half of the race was encouraging.
But as well as the promise delivered by the race pace of the cars, Brawn feels that the new exhaust configuration offers much more development potential in the forthcoming races.
"We are on a new path with the exhaust system," he explained. "With the system we had before we had explored most of the potential of it, and we were finding it very difficult to make progress.
"The new exhaust system is quite encouraging because we are seeing greater levels of potential with the new system than we saw with the old system.
"Our challenge – and we haven't proven it yet – is to get over the reliability issues, and the installation issues. It wasn't helped with the changes in engine mapping which have come along right in the middle of our project, but if is generally positive."
Brawn feels that as well as the straight benefit from the improved diffuser performance, there will be other upgrades that can further benefit lap time.
"We can see potential in the system, but more important we have things coming which will take more and more advantage of this technology and this approach.
"We are reasonably optimistic. I am optimistic we will find some good advances with the system."
Mercedes GP moved up to fourth place in the Constructors' Championship at the British Grand Prix thanks to Rosberg's sixth and Schumacher's ninth-place finishes.

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TheFastCastor

Jenson Button expected to stay at McLaren in 2012

Jenson Button is poised to stay with McLaren next year, despite interest from rivals including Ferrari.

The 31-year-old Englishman is in the second year of a contract that includes an option on McLaren's side to extend it into a third season in 2012.

BBC Sport understands that McLaren want to keep Button and that the 2009 world champion's preference is to stay, so an extension is effectively inevitable.

But the two parties may renegotiate his deal to improve some of its terms.

Button is understood to have had initial, exploratory talks with Ferrari, where Felipe Massa's place alongside Fernando Alonso is in some doubt, despite the Brazilian being under contract for next season.

However, the reality of Button's contractual situation is that even if another team made him a big offer, McLaren could take up his option and force him to stay.

In that situation, his only way of leaving would be to negotiate an early end to his contract that would require a big pay-off to the team.

But as both Button and McLaren want to continue their relationship, that will not be necessary and they will almost certainly come to a mutually satisfactory agreement that would result in him continuing with the team in 2012.

McLaren could simply exercise their option and have Button stay on his current terms.

However, they were more than happy with Button's performance, even before his brilliant victory in the Canadian Grand Prix last Sunday, so are likely to discuss areas of his contract he would like to improve and make some concessions.

Button's manager Richard Goddard was unavailable and McLaren refused to comment.

BUTTON'S McLAREN RECORD

• Races: 26
• Wins: 3 (career wins: 10)
• Podiums: 8
• Points: 315

McLaren do have other options - BBC Sport understands Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg is letting it be known that he would be open to an approach.

But McLaren would prefer to keep their current line-up of Button and Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton's future remains unclear - following the revelation that he spent 15 minutes talking in private with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Hamilton went to see Horner after he was left frustrated by qualifying in fifth, while Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel took his sixth pole position in seven races at a track on which the Englishman had been expected to challenge him.

Hamilton's visit was unplanned and is believed to have taken Horner by surprise.

The 26-year-old is under contract with McLaren until the end of 2012 so if he wanted to leave the team he would have to buy his way out of his deal.

Hamilton has been frustrated by Vettel's success in building a massive championship lead following five wins and two second places in seven races.

But it remains to be seen whether Hamilton feels strongly enough about it to force his departure from McLaren this season or move teams for 2013.

In the wake of the Canadian race, he said he wanted to stay at McLaren as long as the car was competitive.

And if he looks at the current situation dispassionately, he will see that although Vettel is dominating qualifying, McLaren have had the fastest car in the last three races.

Hamilton narrowly failed to beat Vettel in Spain and Button missed out on a win at Monaco because of a badly timed safety car before his stunning drive through the field from last to pass Vettel for victory on the final lap in Canada.

Hamilton lost his hopes of victory in Canada when he collided with Button early in the race.

Equally, a major rule change is coming into force at the British Grand Prix next month that will ban so-called off-throttle blowing of diffusers.

This is expected to reshuffle the competitive order a little, with some teams believed to be exploiting the technology more effectively than others.

from bbc sport

Drifting Record

.

It's not a Sunrise thing this post, but it's not often you get to witness a world record in the making, well not an automotive one anyway, so I thought it worth a note.The last world record I saw was 'Anthony from the seniors' in our swimming club going for the treading water world record. This was when I was about ten. We left at the end of the day and returned the next morning to see Anthony, still 'treading', but quite a bit more wrinkled. He'd been there all night, I saw him eat lunch whilst treading, I wondered if he'd been for a poo. He got the record, but I'm not sure for which.

Today I saw Mauro Calo 'driving instructor and racing driver' complete 1.9 miles in a circular power slide in a big saloon AMG Mercedes at 'benz World, just up the road at Brooklands. It was father's day, so we went to look at cars....and there was Mauro making a lot of smoke! He did it though, and the official record invigilators gave the Guiness entry he sought for himself and Mercedes. No doubt the column inches we'll all see next month in the mags will meet with head office approval. Looked like fun, especially with someone else's car and tyre set...which were the limiting factor, the offside rear let go after nearly two miles of roasting.

World record holder : melting a Pirelli

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Red Hot Chili Peppers - Adventures of raindance maggie

TheFastCastor

Jenson Button wins stunning Canadian Grand Prix As Safety Car Is Deployed 5 Times!

Jenson Button took a stunning victory in a dramatic Canadian Grand Prix by passing Sebastian Vettel on the last lap.

Vettel spun his Red Bull under pressure to gift the win to Button, who recovered after a collision with McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Red Bull's Mark Webber was third to deprive Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher of a podium place.

Vettel now leads the championship by 60 points from Button.

An incident-packed race saw the safety car used five times and included a two-hour stoppage for heavy rain. Button himself made five pit stops on his way to victory as well as an enforced visit to the pits for a drive-through penalty for speeding under the safety car.

An emotional Button described the win as possibly the best of his career.

"I don't know what to say - if I hadn't won I would still have enjoyed the race immensely, but it was a fantastic win," he said.

"If you have it in your hands and give it away it is not the sweetest feeling," said Vettel.

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said Button deserved the victory.

"Coming through six times from 21st is incredible," said Whitmarsh.

"He just attacked and attacked and delivered a fantastic race."

BBC F1 commentator Martin Brundle said: "At one point we were wondering if Button would catch the Hispanias before the race restarted under the safety car and now he's won the race! That is one of the races of his life and the best grand prix of a spectacular career."

Co-commentator David Coulthard said: "What a fantastic drive from Jenson Button - it looked like it was all lost and he's well aware you count the winners at the chequered flag."

While Button celebrated, Hamilton left the track after an ignominious race that saw him drop from second to fourth in the championship.

Persistent rain through the morning left the track drenched and the race was started under the safety car.

The drama in one of the most sensational races for years began almost as soon as the drivers were released on lap five, and Hamilton was at the centre of it.

First he collided with Webber, who gave him room at the first corner only for the McLaren to slip off the kerb and into the Australian.

Webber spun, and Hamilton had to go around the outside of the Red Bull, rejoining behind Button.

Determined to make up ground, Hamilton pressed his team-mate hard. Button made a mistake at the final chicane at the end of lap eight and Hamilton saw his chance.

He dodged out from behind Button to his team-mate's left, but Button continued on the racing line, edging towards the pit wall, apparently looking in his mirror.

Hamilton kept coming and became pincered between Button and the pit wall. The two cars collided, spraying debris over the track.

"What is he doing?" screamed Button on his radio. After the race he said he had not seen Hamilton, but that they had spoken in the two-hour stoppage and agreed it was "just one of those things".

Hamilton said: "While I fell back behind Jenson he made a mistake into the last corner, so I got the run on him.

"I was on the outside, it felt like I was half way up alongside him - although I haven't seen the video - and whether he saw me or not he kept moving across, and I was in the wall. It was only the tyre that was busted. I put the 'diff lock' on and the team told me to retire."

Hamilton initially believed the car was undamaged, but it turned out the driveshaft had been damaged and the team had been correct to tell him to stop.

The decision to start the race under the safety car was made as the drivers had virtually no experience of the Pirelli wet tyres.

When they were released on lap six, Vettel fended off a brief challenge from Alonso and then streaked away into the distance.

Button was the first leading driver to change to intermediate tyres, after he came into the pits following his collision with Hamilton on lap eight, which brought out the safety car while the debris from the McLarens was cleared from the track.

The race was restarted on lap 13, and the Englishman was soon lapping quicker than anyone else, prompting other drivers to follow his lead in changing tyres.

About half the field came in, including Alonso on lap 17. But within two laps the rain returned, heavier than ever. The safety car came out again on lap 20 before the race was suspended on lap 25.

After a stoppage of two hours and five minutes, they resumed, again under the safety car, before being set loose on lap 34.

Almost immediately the drivers started to stream into the pits for intermediate tyres, so much had the track dried while they were following the safety car.

But four laps after the re-start, the safety car was deployed yet again when Button and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso collided on lap 37, leading to the Spaniard's retirement.

Button was last when the race was restarted on lap 40 but he fought his way through the field thanks to choosing the right time to change to intermediate tyres and then dry-weather slick tyres.

By the time a collision between Nick Heidfeld's Renault and Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber brought out the safety car again with 12 laps to go, Button had climbed to fourth place behind Vettel, Schumacher and Webber.

The race restarted two laps later and Vettel immediately built a lead while the three men behind him battled for position.

Webber, who had brought himself back into contention by becoming the first leading driver to stop for slick tyres, slipped back to fourth when he misjudged the final chicane on lap 64.

Button passed Schumacher on the next lap and set about closing the three-second lead to Vettel with five laps remaining.

They entered the last lap less than a second apart and Vettel made his first serious mistake in a race this season, putting a wheel off line on to the wet part of the track at Turn Six and half-spinning, handing the lead to Button.

Vettel said: "Of course I'm disappointed. It was a very difficult race from start to finish. We led every single lap apart from the last one.

"I was probably a bit conservative and when I saw Jenson coming through I was pushing.

"I think it would have been enough but I made a mistake. I ended up in the wet and it was quite easy for him to pass."

from bbc sport