Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Kimi Raikkonen to return to Formula 1 with Lotus Renault GP



Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen will return to Formula 1 next season after signing a two-year deal with Lotus Renault GP.
The 32-year-old Finn left Formula 1 at the end of 2009 to pursue a career in rallying.
"My hunger for F1 has recently become overwhelming," said Raikkonen. "It was an easy choice to return with Lotus Renault GP."
Raikkonen's new team will be known as Lotus F1 Team from 2012.
My time in the World Rally Championship has been a useful stage in my career as a driver
Kimi Raikkonen
The Finn, who won the title with Ferrari in 2007, added: "I have been impressed by the scope of the team's ambition. Now I'm looking forward to playing an important role in pushing the team to the very front of the grid.
"My time in the World Rally Championship has been a useful stage in my career as a driver."

There was confusion last week after Lotus Renault GP announced that Robert Kubica, who raced for the team before he was injured in a rallying accident in February, would not return to the sport next season.
Meanwhile, Raikkonen was strongly linked with a move to Williams in place of veteran racer Rubens Barrichello.

RAIKKONEN F1 FACT FILE

  • Born: 17 October 1979
  • F1 debut: 2001 Australian GP
  • Teams: Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari and Lotus Renault
  • Titles: 1
  • Wins: 18
  • Podiums: 62
  • Career points: 579
  • Poles: 16
  • Fastest laps: 35
But on Tuesday, Lotus Renault GP confirmed Raikkonen, who has 18 wins and 62 podiums in F1, in the seat.
"Kimi's decision to come back to Formula 1 with us is the first step of several announcements which should turn us into an even more serious contender in the future," said Gerard Lopez, Lotus GP chairman.
"Of course, we are all looking forward to working with a world champion."
Raikkonen entered F1 in 2001 with Sauber, raising eyebrows when he scored a point on his debut at the Australian Grand Prix.
In 2002, he moved to McLaren, where he spent five seasons before Ferrari signed him for 2007.

DID YOU KNOW?

Entering the final race of 2007 trailing championship leader Lewis Hamilton by seven points, when only 10 were available for a win, Raikkonen won the title by a single point after Hamilton suffered a gearbox problem on his way to seventh
The Finn struggled to recapture that form in the next two seasons, where he was frequently outperformed by team-mate Felipe Massa, and left the team at the end of 2009 after the Italian squad paid off his contract to make room for double world champion Fernando Alonso.
Raikkonen has spent the last two seasons racing a Citroen in the World Rally Championship, where he had a career-best rally finish of fifth, and also competed in one-off races in the Nascar Truck Series and Nationwide Series.
Posted by at 2:10 AM 0 comments

Monday, November 28, 2011

Lewis Hamilton confident of signing new McLaren contract



Lewis Hamilton has said he is confident he will sign a new contract to keep him at McLaren beyond 2012.
The 2008 world champion has been with McLaren since he was 13 but his current deal expires at the end of next year.
"I don't think there's any question of my commitment to the team," the 26-year-old said. "I just want to continue on this path."
Asked whether he thought it was likely he would stay, Hamilton replied: "I do. I'm confident about that."
Hamilton was heavily linked with a move to Red Bull earlier in the season after he met team boss Christian Horner in the paddock at the Canadian Grand Prix.
With Mark Webber and Felipe Massa out of contract at the end of 2012, seats are expected to be available at Red Bull and Ferrari respectively.

There is a deep affection between him and the team and I'm sure that love affair will carry on for many years to come
Martin WhitmarshMcLaren team principal
But the British driver revealed he has begun talks over a new contract with McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh.
"Martin has already spoken to me about re-signing, so I know it's there at some point, and I guess at some stage when we have time we'll sit down.
"There's no real rush to have to do anything. The most important thing is to focus on the season ahead."
Whitmarsh also believes Hamilton will continue his lengthy association with the team.
"By his extraordinarily high standards he has had a difficult year, but he's in a positive place right now," Whitmarsh said.
"There is a deep affection between him and the team and I'm sure that love affair will carry on for many years to come.
"I've known him since he was 11 but he is still a young man. I'm fairly confident we'll find a good way forward."
Hamilton, whose team-mate Jenson Button signed a 'multi-year' dealwith McLaren in October, insisted he is in "a positive place within myself" despite a gearbox failure ending his participation in theseason-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, won by Mark Webber.
"Things are getting better," said Hamilton, who split with his girlfriend, the pop star Nicole Scherzinger, and dealt with the death of two close friends during what he described as his worst season in F1.
"What is most important for me next year is getting back to where I should be - to the good performances, to winning, to enjoying life, enjoying the year."
Posted by at 3:10 PM 0 comments

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Virgin sign Charles Pic for 2012 in place of Jerome D'Ambrosio

Pic finished fourth in this season's GP2 Series with two wins and three poles


Virgin Racing have signed Frenchman Charles Pic for 2012 in place of Belgian Jerome D'Ambrosio.
Pic, 21, impressed the team in his first time at the wheel of an F1 car when he tried out the MVR-02 at the young driver test in Abu Dhabi.
"He has an extremely mature head on young shoulders, so he will be working very hard to prepare for his debut season," said Virgin boss John Booth.
Pic added: "I'm very happy but this is just the beginning."
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jerome D'Ambrosio for his hard work and important contribution to our team over the past 12 months or more
John BoothVirgin team principal
D'Ambrosio has lost his seat after a single season in Formula 1 where he partnered German driver Timo Glock, who signed a "long-term" contract to continue with the team back in July.
The Belgian ran Glock close in his debut season, finishing above his more experienced team-mate in the drivers' standings courtesy of a better highest race finish of 14th.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jerome D'Ambrosio for his hard work and important contribution to our team over the past 12 months or more," added Booth.
"He has an exciting future to look forward to I'm sure and we wish him every success."

Pic has spent the last two seasons competing in the GP2 Series, the feeder championship to F1, and finished this season in fourth position with two wins and three pole positions for the Barwa Addax Team.
"We naturally keep a close eye on the junior formulae and Charles is certainly someone we have been watching over the past few years," added Booth.

CHARLES PIC FACT FILE

  • Born: 15 February 1990
  • Birthplace: Montelimar, France
  • Racing career
  • 2006: French Formula Campus Championship
  • 2007: French Formula Renault
  • 2007: Eurocup Formula Renault
  • 2008-09: Formula Renault 3.5 Series
  • 2010-2011: GP2 Series
  • 2011: First F1 test
"The real barometer however was our young driver test in Abu Dhabi last week, where we put him through a series of tough tests to thoroughly evaluate his potential.
"This was his first time in a Formula 1 car so it should have been quite daunting, however Charles was extremely focused on what needed to be done and absolutely rose to the challenge.
"He continued to improve in every area but his race simulation work particularly caught our eye."
Pic added: "As a driver you always feel you are ready for the next opportunity but in Abu Dhabi last week it was a tough test.
"The team gave me some fantastic opportunities to learn new things but I also knew that I had to impress them and show them I was ready to do a good job.
"I was pleased with my performance, and obviously the team were too.
"I know that a lot of hard work is ahead of me to reward this chance."
Posted by at 2:57 PM 0 comments

Mark Webber beats Sebastian Vettel to win season-ending Brazilian GP



Red Bull's Mark Webber won the Brazilian Grand Prix to take his first victory of the season in the final race after Sebastian Vettel hit trouble.
Vettel led from the start but ran into gearbox problems. He let Webber past and concentrated on ensuring he got to the finish in second place.
McLaren's Jenson Button and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso battled for third, with Button getting past with 10 laps left.
Button's team-mate Lewis Hamilton retired with a gearbox failure.
Button's third place sealed second spot in the championship, while Webber moved ahead of Alonso into third by just one point.
It would have been nice to have a race with Seb all the way through. He's had a bit of a gearbox problem, that's bad luck, but that's how motorsport goes sometimes 
Red Bull driver Mark Webber
Webber's victory will be a relief for the Australian, who had faced the prospect of finishing without a win in a season which Vettel has dominated throughout, taking 11 wins and a record 15 pole positions from 19 grands prix.
"Very good," Webber said. "Felt good all weekend, Sebastian did a great lap for pole, had a little bit of the rub of the green.
"It would have been nice to have a race with Seb all the way through. He's had a bit of a gearbox problem, that's bad luck, but that's how motorsport goes sometimes.
"Very important win for the team and me to end the year on a high."
Vettel appeared comfortable in the lead until his engineer Guillaume Rocquelin issued the first of several warnings to his driver that he had a "serious gearbox problem" and that he needed to "short-shift" to ensure he finished the race.

Webber closed in and Vettel eventually waved him past at the start of lap 30.
Despite the problem, and at least three further warnings from Rocquelin, Vettel continued to lap close to Webber's pace, appearing to not be quite ready to accept he had to lose out to Webber.
We had an amazing season and it would be over the top to be upset now 
Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel
But when the two men set fastest laps as the race approached quarter-distance, Rocquelin warned him again: "Sebastian, we have a serious gearbox problem, you need to do everything you can to save the car. The objective is to stay ahead of Alonso."
At that point, Vettel did finally ease off and start asking about the gap back to Alonso.
Vettel went on the radio to say he felt like Ayrton Senna in 1991, when the Brazilian legend took one of his greatest wins here, battling a damaged gearbox, and stuck in sixth gear for the final laps.
"The difference is he won," Vettel said. "I had a good start and was able to pull a gap, but very early I got the call to manage the problem.
"It was getting worse through the race and I ended up using higher gears everywhere, that's where the comparison came into my head.
"I tried to do my best. I tried to keep the gap to Fernando for most of the race and then to Jenson close to the end. We had an amazing season and it would be over the top to be upset now."
Alonso soon had to forget any hopes of catching the Red Bull and focus on trying to fend off Button.
The Spaniard qualified in his typical fifth place, but he passed Hamilton around the outside of the second corner on the first lap and set about trying to take third place from Button.
I'm just happy the season's done. It's been an interesting year. I gave it my all today. It's unfortunate we were unable to get the extra points 
McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton
After tracking the McLaren closely for 10 laps, he passed Button around the outside of the 135mph Turn Five on lap 11.
BBC F1 co-commentator David Coulthard said: "That was an incredible pass - you would never dream of going around the outside there. That is the mark of a great driver."
Button said he had backed out of his defence because of debris on the track.
"It is normally an easy place to defend," he said. "I took the inside line but as I got there I saw there was quite a lot of debris, perhaps from Michael's (Schumacher) damaged tyre and I didn't want to drive through it, so I had to back off. That was disappointing"
Alonso appeared secure in third place, but Ferrari's season-long problems with the harder Pirelli tyres returned to haunt them, and after their final stops Alonso found himself short of grip and helpless in holding off Button.
The Englishman passed him into Turn Four on lap 62, after forcing Alonso to compromise his approach to the back straight by making him go defensive into Turn One.
McLaren asked Button to have a go at trying to take second from Vettel, telling him that the German was nursing his gearbox, but the Red Bull had more than enough pace to stay ahead.
Button and Hamilton had been closely matched throughout the race until Hamilton became stuck behind Ferrari's Felipe Massa after his second pit stop.
Before he could try to get past the Brazilian, Hamilton was warned he had a gearbox problem, and the unit failed on lap 46.
"I'm just happy the season's done," Hamilton said. "It's been an interesting year. I gave it my all today. It's unfortunate we were unable to get the extra points."
Massa took fifth place, with Force India's Adrian Sutil, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, Force India's Paul di Resta, Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi and Renault's Vitaly Petrov taking the remaining points positions.
Posted by at 10:41 AM 0 comments

Saturday, November 26, 2011

BBC reveals F1 coverage schedule for 2012



The BBC has revealed its coverage plans for all Formula 1 races in 2012.
Ten races will be shown live on BBC One, including the British, Monaco and season-ending Brazilian Grands Prix.
Of the other 10, there will be extended highlights programmes on BBC One, of either 90-minute or two-hour duration depending on race location.
Races in the Far Eastern time zone will have highlights broadcast on BBC One at 1400, with those in the European time zone getting 90 minutes at 1730.
The BBC's coverage of all the live races will be as extensive as ever, with all the action on and off the track across TV, radio, online, red button and mobile.

LIVE RACES ON THE BBC

  • 15 April: China
  • 13 May: Spain
  • 27 May: Monaco
  • 24 June: Europe
  • 8 July: Britain
  • 2 September: Belgium
  • 23 September: Singapore
  • 14 October: Korea
  • 4 November: Abu Dhabi
  • 25 November: Brazil
There will be full live coverage of both qualifying and race on BBC One, BBC One HD and the BBC Sport website, plus a one-hour evening highlights programme on BBC Three and BBC HD.
For these races, all three practice sessions will be shown live on the red button and the website.
The F1 Forum will continue on the red button for about an hour of comment and analysis after the programme.
The presentation team will be at all the races, including those that are not being broadcast live on BBC television. Full details of the team will be revealed at a later date.

For those races in the Far East time zone which take place early in the morning in the UK, two hours of highlights will be shown at 1400.
For races which are run at a time that is early afternoon in the UK, 90 minutes of highlights will be shown at 1730. Schedules are subject to change.
The full narrative of the weekend, including live text and audio commentary, news, interviews, pictures and highlights of all sessions on track, will also be available on the BBC Sport website and there will be live coverage of both qualifying and the race on radio.
All 20 grands prix will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 5 Live or 5 Live Sports Extra.
The BBC Sport website and red button will broadcast live coverage of every second of on-track action for all the races that are live on BBC One and will have highlights of the others.
In detail, the coverage will be as follows:
Network television - Live grands prix
Qualifying sessions and races live on BBC One and BBC One HD
One-hour evening highlights programme on BBC Three and BBC HD
All races and qualifying sessions that start before 1000 to have full repeat on terrestrial TV later in the day
Network television - Other races
Extended highlights (90 mins) on BBC One and BBC One HD, 1700 for European time zone races and (120 mins) 1400 for early morning races
Qualifying: Extended highlights (75 mins) BBC One and BBC One HD, Saturdays at 1730 for European time zone races and 1300 for early morning races
(Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying and highlights will be on BBC Two and BBC HD)
Radio
Live commentary of every race plus coverage of practice and qualifying sessions
5 Live Formula 1 on 5 Live Sport every Friday night prior to a race, previewing all the action with expert analysis and the latest news from the track
Chequered Flag podcast available to download at BBC Radio 5 livewebsite with expert analysis and reaction from the circuit
Online/Red Button
Live BBC races - all live on-track sessions streamed live on Red Button and on the BBC Sport website
Interactive forum on Red Button for an hour after each live race
All races - live text and audio commentary, highlights, interviews, news, reaction
Posted by at 6:02 AM 0 comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...