If Ferrari can supply Alonso with a good car from the first two or three races then he should win it; having had previous experience with what does and doesn't work with KERS, they should also have an advantage.
The F1 Thread 2011 Season
- Thread starter Rado_N
- Start date
The same can be said of McLaren, the only question mark about them is the design team for the MP4-26. They lost Pat Fry to Ferrari and they don't have standout big name designers much like a Newey so they are very much a design team.
We won't know anything until the end of Qualifying Round 1 2011.
Surprised that Williams have let Hulkenberg go, thought he'd done fairly well, guess they want more money from a pay driver
Yep. Its sad seeing a great team like Williams having to go this route. 6 whole years since their last win.
I hope the BBC get their act together and roll out some HD F1, must look sensational
I'm not sure how much of that is them, I think it's something they are keen for, but so far as yet, Bernie has resisted
Why on earth would he resist that?
Set in his old ways and bitter his F1 channel failed years ago.
BBC can only provide the FOM feed.
Yeah. Its not BBC. They have said time and again that they would bring HD if it was available. FOM don't provide HD feeds yet.
I reckon the title will be between Hamilton and Schumacher. Mercedes engines/Kers are just so much better then anybody else. If Michael gets a car that is designed around him, he'll give it a red hot go.
Re the HD debate, Jake did put something on twitter a while ago that he was hearing positive vibes in that regard.
Fingers crossed, but it was Bernie that was holding it back, the fecking gnome.
Fingers crossed, but it was Bernie that was holding it back, the fecking gnome.
Eddie Jordan asked Bernie in an interview with the BBC (I think it was at Beligum or Monza can't quite remember) and he asked if they were getting HD next year. Bernie said that its on the cards for 2011.
Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel have buried the hatchet after a season long duel for supremacy in the Red Bull team.
The duo, who looked at times as though they were shaping up to reprise the bitter Senna/Prost team rivalry of the 1990s, have revealed that they spoke at length during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend and put their differences behind them.
Webber also revealed that once the competition was over, and Vettel emerged victorious, it was important for him to drop his competitive guard and bow down to the younger man’s achievement.
Vettel backed up Webber’s sentiments, “It was important to clear things up, it did us both good.”
Webber pushed Vettel harder this season than either of them or the management, imagined he would. Vettel was unlucky not to have 75 points on the board after three races due to reliability issues and Webber capitalised on his frustration winning Spain and Monaco. Vettel needed to bounce back and in Turkey went for a pass on his team mate for the lead, which led to them colliding as Webber didn’t give him room and Vettel lost control of the car.
That incident wasn’t handled well by the management, who sent out mixed messages, blaming Webber for the accident, but then rowing back on their position after a public outcry. A month later at Silverstone Vettel had a front wing failure in practice and a decision was taken to give Webber’s wing to the German, who went out and took pole. In the race the next day Webber forced his way past his team mate at the start and in trying to fight back, Vettel cut his tyre on Hamilton’s wing and lost ground. Webber cast himself as “a number two driver” that weekend and restated his sentiments near the end of the season, in Brazil, that the team favoured Vettel.
“It’s normal, when we have such an important thing at stake, that there are going to be times when it will be on the edge,” explained Webber this week.
“And that’s part of the journey – that’s sport, that’s what happens. You have these micro-battles which happen. Of course the media can make it a lot bigger on Monday or Tuesday compared to what it was, and that’s something which we can’t control.”
Many paddock observers felt he went too far by stirring it up again in Brazil and his magnanimous words here appear to be a peacemaking gesture to Vettel and the team, aimed at ensuring that a curtain is drawn over the problem side of 2010 and that next year goes ahead as planned with Webber and Vettel team mates again.
There have been suggestions that his position in the team might be untenable, but Red Bull need him to defend the Constructors’ Championship next year and there is no other obvious strong candidate for his seat.
Webber said he will be aiming to take Vettel’s title next year.
Webber and Vettel make peace after epic championship battle : James Allen on F1 – The official website
The duo, who looked at times as though they were shaping up to reprise the bitter Senna/Prost team rivalry of the 1990s, have revealed that they spoke at length during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend and put their differences behind them.
Webber also revealed that once the competition was over, and Vettel emerged victorious, it was important for him to drop his competitive guard and bow down to the younger man’s achievement.
Vettel backed up Webber’s sentiments, “It was important to clear things up, it did us both good.”
Webber pushed Vettel harder this season than either of them or the management, imagined he would. Vettel was unlucky not to have 75 points on the board after three races due to reliability issues and Webber capitalised on his frustration winning Spain and Monaco. Vettel needed to bounce back and in Turkey went for a pass on his team mate for the lead, which led to them colliding as Webber didn’t give him room and Vettel lost control of the car.
That incident wasn’t handled well by the management, who sent out mixed messages, blaming Webber for the accident, but then rowing back on their position after a public outcry. A month later at Silverstone Vettel had a front wing failure in practice and a decision was taken to give Webber’s wing to the German, who went out and took pole. In the race the next day Webber forced his way past his team mate at the start and in trying to fight back, Vettel cut his tyre on Hamilton’s wing and lost ground. Webber cast himself as “a number two driver” that weekend and restated his sentiments near the end of the season, in Brazil, that the team favoured Vettel.
“It’s normal, when we have such an important thing at stake, that there are going to be times when it will be on the edge,” explained Webber this week.
“And that’s part of the journey – that’s sport, that’s what happens. You have these micro-battles which happen. Of course the media can make it a lot bigger on Monday or Tuesday compared to what it was, and that’s something which we can’t control.”
Many paddock observers felt he went too far by stirring it up again in Brazil and his magnanimous words here appear to be a peacemaking gesture to Vettel and the team, aimed at ensuring that a curtain is drawn over the problem side of 2010 and that next year goes ahead as planned with Webber and Vettel team mates again.
There have been suggestions that his position in the team might be untenable, but Red Bull need him to defend the Constructors’ Championship next year and there is no other obvious strong candidate for his seat.
Webber said he will be aiming to take Vettel’s title next year.
Webber and Vettel make peace after epic championship battle : James Allen on F1 – The official website
Webber will be at Red Bull next season but if the car is good enough it will just end up like the one thats just gone, they will inevitably fall out over something.
In other news Daniel Ricciardo looks pretty good in the young drivers test, he set a time 1.2 seconds faster than Vettel's pole in Abu Dhabi but ofcourse the track is now very rubbered in.
In other news Daniel Ricciardo looks pretty good in the young drivers test, he set a time 1.2 seconds faster than Vettel's pole in Abu Dhabi but ofcourse the track is now very rubbered in.
well lads the first sets of fresh pirellis have landed for testing
I see they went for the subtle branding option!
just 113 days left to P1 Bahrain....
BBC Sport - F1 - Felipe Massa and Sebastian Vettel pleased with PirelliFelipe Massa and Sebastian Vettel pleased with Pirelli
The new world champion Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari's Felipe Massa were encouraged by their first drives on Formula 1's new Pirelli tyres.
The Italian company is replacing Japan's Bridgestone as F1's sole tyre supplier next season and tested the new rubber in Abu Dhabi on Friday.
Red Bull's Vettel, who was second fastest behind Massa, said: "The tyres behaved well, better than expected."
Ferrari's Massa added: "I felt at ease right from the start."
All the teams are in Abu Dhabi, scene of 2010's final grand prix on Sunday, for two days of running with the tyres.
The focus of the test is for teams to understand how the tyres work and what that will mean for their 2011 cars.
Massa, 29, was 0.330 seconds quicker than Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, the new world champion.
Massa's fastest lap of one minute 40.170 seconds was 0.032secs quicker than his qualifying time, which was good enough for sixth on the grid last weekend.
Vettel's best time was a 1:40.500 - 1.106secs slower than his pole position lap.
The German was 0.7secs quicker than McLaren test driver Gary Paffett, who is standing in for race drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button on both days of the test.
Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi was fourth, ahead of Renault's Robert Kubica, whose running was curtailed by reliability problems.
Massa echoed the views of most of the drivers at the test, when he said his first impression of the new tyres was "positive".
The Brazilian added: "There were no unpleasant surprises.
"We tried two different types and acquired a lot of data which will be useful for the Italian company to develop the tyres still further for the start of the 2011 season.
"On the hards, there were some difficulties over a long run while the softs worked well both on the very first lap and also after they had done a larger number of laps."
Vettel, who has spent most of the week since winning his title doing PR and media work, said: "It was all about the tyres today, as this was the first chance we have had to try them out and work with them to develop the car's set-up for next year.
"I think the tyres behaved well, better than expected given the short amount of time Pirelli have had and they've done a good job.
"Pirelli are obviously in the middle of their development and what we used today is not what we will race with, but it was a good start.
"It was great to be back in the car after an incredible week - I went to Salzburg on Monday morning for a TV show and press conference and then to the UK to say thanks to the team in Milton Keynes - that was quite emotional.
"It's nice for me and the team to be able to enjoy our success, but 2011 started today and I was focusing on the tyres and getting to know them - I think we have learned quite a lot."
Kobayashi added: "The tyres from Pirelli are well made. We tested how to work with these new tyres and how we need to further develop our car for them, learning in which way they are different to what we were used to running.
"The tyres were quite consistent. Only in the morning I struggled with tyre wear, but after we made some set-up changes this wasn't an issue any longer. It was a very interesting test for us."
Pirelli has given each of the teams eight sets of tyres for the test divided between two different compounds, soft and medium.
Renault chief engineer Alan Permane said: "Robert was reasonably happy with the car balance, although we made a few changes during the day to improve it.
"Our initial impression of the tyres has been positive: they were working well with good grip and no warm-up issues."
Pirelli is planning to use information provided by drivers and engineers to modify the tyres before official F1 pre-season testing starts in February next year.
There will be four tests before the 2011 season starts in Bahrain on 13 March.
The first three tests are in Spain, on 1-3 February at the Ricardo Tormo circuit near Valencia, 10-13 February at Jerez and 18-21 February at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.
The final test will be in Bahrain a week before the first race, from 3-6 March.
Pirelli was last involved in F1 in 1991, but has been preparing for its return by running a 2009 Toyota chassis in Europe this summer, with Nick Heidfeld, Romain Grosjean and Pedro de la Rosa at the wheel.
Glock is on Twitter. Really feel like giving him a piece of my mind for that last lap in Brazil 2 years back 
Always liked Glock
It would make sense for this to happen , seeing has BBC have a BBC1HD channel now.
Would be daft for what is maybe there flagship sports event not to be on HD
BBC, like every other countries F1 broadcaster, rely on the FOM feed for their coverage. If it was up to them they'd have had full HD coverage from the start but FOM wouldn't do it. The upscaled version on sky's BBC 1 HD is better than normal though.
GP2 champ Maldonado replaces Hulkenberg at Williams
Santander are to stop sponsoring McLaren in 2011 to concentrate on Ferrari, no big suprise considering Alonso's involvement. Vodafone have reportedly upped their stake in investment therefore its no big loss.
Shame about Hulkenberg but I'm sure he will land elsewhere. Not convinced about Maldonado, seems like he is purely there for a paydrive despite being the GP2 champ, perhaps he will suprise but I expect a Petrov type season from him.
Shame about Hulkenberg but I'm sure he will land elsewhere. Not convinced about Maldonado, seems like he is purely there for a paydrive despite being the GP2 champ, perhaps he will suprise but I expect a Petrov type season from him.
Iam shocked at the , I think Hulkenberg is a very decent driver.
His pole last season was excellent , in a decent car he would be a top 6 driver IMHO.
BBC have put the counddown clock on there website only 97days and 14 hours till P1 at Bahrain
Disgusting...
Just seen the engine changes coming; 1.6 litre, 4 pots? Do feck off!! I don't care if they've got a turbo the side of a house, 1600 fecking cc?!?! Pinnacle of motorsport my arse
That does look nice
Obviously terrible what happened to him, but is there anything this man won't exploit for money?!?!
"See what people will do for a Hublot" !! I mean, seriously, come on!!
I don't quite know how to react to that...
Obviously terrible what happened to him, but is there anything this man won't exploit for money?!?!
"See what people will do for a Hublot" !! I mean, seriously, come on!!
I may be living up to my username here, but that cannot be real, can it?
As for Renault/Lotus, I don't really care, I just want them to give Kubica a decent car next year.
jensen having his seat fitting in the new MP4 - 26 today
No it's real, it was in the paper this morning so I found it online to post in here.
I may be living up to my username here, but that cannot be real, can it?
As for Renault/Lotus, I don't really care, I just want them to give Kubica a decent car next year.
Sorry but that does not look nice, take off the red logos and its just about passable but its a laughable attempt compated to the original.
I can't believe Hublot have gone with that! Not a great image to sell you product with
Have I missed something, Lotus are still on the grid, and Renault have their own team too?
I disagree Leg-end, I quite like that livery
Have I missed something, Lotus are still on the grid, and Renault have their own team too?
I disagree Leg-end, I quite like that livery
Lotus of last year are now "team lotus" and not officially affiliated with Lotus anymore, who have actually took over Renault (I think)