General F1 news

[Exar Kun]

Red Bull are paying each and every member of staff - roughly 550 people - £10,000 after winning the constructors' championship. "I had a load of texts after Brazil saying: 'Thanks for the new kitchen'," joked team principal Christian Horner.

That really is awesome. And they were all already given a week long holiday at a resort between Singapore and Japan I think it was. Not a bad company to work for. To think my mate's brother was offered a job there when it was still Jag - I wish he'd taken it!

[w00dsy]

morning session of the Pirelli test


1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1m40.861s 34
2. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m40.913s 29
3. Robert Kubica Renault 1m41.032s 25
4. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1m41.466s 33
5. Gary Paffett McLaren 1m41.588s 49
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m41.978s 40
7. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1m42.642s 33
8. Rubens Barrichello Williams 1m42.655s 44
9. Adrian Sutil Force India 1m42.859s 20
10. Timo Glock Virgin 1m45.057s 41
11. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus 1m46.201s 42
12. Pastor Maldonado Hispania 1m46.534s 46

[NeilPearson]

HAHA now massa is up front. How useless do you want to be

[Big Kev]

Jean Todt has vowed to push hard to improve the excitement in Formula 1. "We need to encourage more overtaking," he said. "In Abu Dhabi it was impossible. From now on, before a new circuit is approved, we will evaluate the potential for the spectacle as well as the safety."

Good.
At last Tilke won't be allowed to just draw something and build it. Maybe some driver input as to whether the track will 'work' is needed.

[Big Kev]

BMW Sauber are now apparently just Sauber.
And Lotus are rumoured to be taking the name Proton 1 Malaysia (bit rubbish that).

[Exar Kun]

If they are taking the Proton name then it almost certainly means that Fernandes has done a deal to sit somewhere high up in the Proton car company (who, of course, own Lotus Cars and are the people that Fernandes has been fighting with about use of the name this whole time). That would mean he has probably done pretty well out of the whole deal and we should expect to see Lotus Renault up the other end of the grid next year.

[Big Kev]

There is a God!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[GT VIRUS]

Argentina could use a GP guys, give it to them.

[durbster]

Hooray! Just Barcelona to get rid of and we might have a good selection of races (I think Bahrain is salvageable)

[matticooper]

Don't forget Hungary.

[Big Kev]

lol

What is your secret for overtaking?

Kamui Kobayashi: “Because I am Japanese I have small eyes – so I can’t see the others guys.”

[Big Kev]

Fancy designing the new Lotus black and gold paint scheme and winning a trip to see it racing?

http://www.lotusracing.my/spark/competi ... ition.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[DarrenM]

Should we leave a blank space where the team name should go, just in case they aren't called Lotus next year?

[w00dsy]

Kamui Kobayashi,for many, was F1's rookie of the year in 2010. The exciting 24-year-old Japanese looked back on his first full season in the top flight.

Q: How would you summarise your season?

Kobayashi: We had a lot of ups and downs but overall we had a good season. In the beginning we were struggling a lot. This was a pretty bad time. It was hard, and it was very difficult to recover during the season, because nowadays there is no testing. Despite this, towards the end of the season we were much stronger. The team did a great job to recover and I want to thank them for all their work.

Q: In which area did you improve the most?

Kobayashi: In every area. This is how it has to be, especially if you are a rookie.

Q: What was the best moment of 2010 for you?

Kobayashi: I think I had an interesting race in Japan. It was a very nice moment for me and for the Japanese fans.

Q: Which was the worst experience?

Kobayashi: That was when I crashed on the first lap of the Canadian GP.

Q: What is your secret for overtaking?

Kobayashi: Because I am Japanese I have small eyes - so I can't see the others guys.

Q: ...and seriously?

Kobayashi: If I feel I can overtake, I just do it. That's all, no secret.

Q: What do you want to achieve in 2011?

Kobayashi: My aim is to make zero mistakes. For the team I hope we will have a good car, and be able to fight for points on a regular basis to improve our position in the championship.

Q: What will you do in the winter break?

Kobayashi: I have some appointments in Japan and I will be returning to Abu Dhabi soon for the opening ceremony of the Ferrari World. I will also spend two weeks on holiday in Bali and, of course, I will be training. But in terms of fitness training, it helps that nowadays we have more time during the season to exercise because it is also very important to be able to do this consistently.

Q: If you had a free wish - what would it be?

Kobayashi: This is an easy one to answer. In Japanese Mangas there is a kind of 'where-do-you-want-to-go-to' door. You decide where you would want to go, step through this special door and you are there. This would be a great thing to have - I could have a beautiful house anywhere in the world, maybe on a nice island, and sleep there every night!

[durbster]

Jeez keep up Mr Woods

[w00dsy]

missed it

[bengatta]

Did you hear the one where Kobayashi thinks he is a good overtaker because he has small eyes???

[AstrO]

Did you hear the one where Kobayashi thinks he is a good overtaker because he has small eyes???

Nope, any chance you could post it...

[w00dsy]

Did you hear the one where Kobayashi thinks he is a good overtaker because he has small eyes???

Miserable mother fucker

[wild]

just heard on the local radio that Ricciardo has a drive in F1 next year, but can't find anything online to confirm it. Fucking awesome if it's true!

[w00dsy]

There's been some talk about Buemi having a 6 month contract and Speedy Dan possibly taking over if he isn't up to the job. I was hoping the tie in with Lotus or Renault might get him a 2nd seat in one of those teams.

[Exar Kun]

Ricciardo will definitely be a reserve driver next year and I've heard the same as woodsy with the Toro Rosso drivers only being on 6 month contracts at this stage.

[nutty]

He was the red bull reserve driver last year

[Big Kev]

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has been mugged outside his central London business headquarters.

The 80-year-old suffered a head injury when he was attacked by four men at the Formula One Holdings building in Knightsbridge.

He was repeatedly punched and kicked by the men who were lying in wait for him as he arrived at the HQ with his Brazilian girlfriend Fabiana Flosi.

Jewellery valued at £200,000 was stolen in the robbery on Wednesday.

Police said Mr Ecclestone was taken to hospital where he was treated for a minor head injury before being allowed home soon after.

[ReppohC]

[youtube] [/youtube]

I'm one of the silly people wearing an orange vest ... They weren't allowed to publise the event (promotes speeding apparently) (Although the burnouts he left probably promote hooning?). Got an invite to be a marshell and talk to the crew so took a half day off work Its only a shitty 2005 RB1 with RB5 kit (Cosworth V10), detuned to 14k rpm (still making 700 hp apparently). Steel wishbones, beef'd up drive shafts, pretty much a street burnout show pony display car. Still should be quick enough to break the outright lap record(s) at Barbagello on the weekend though! Crew was pretty laid back, you could literally look over their shoulder at the laptops, etc. Managed to even see what flight Webber is on (he only just flew out from London).

Just happen to have our (my baby!) 2008 Formula SAE car on after the F1 car finishes on Barbagello on the weekend for a few demo laps. Going to look like a static display after an F1 car!