inpitlane.com » F1

DALLARA’S NEW F3 CHALLENGER

Brett Ramsey — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:14:01 +0000

Italian racing car manufacturer Dallara have unveiled their new Formula Three challenger for 2012. The new Dallara F312, currently on display at the Autosport Show in Birmingham, is the result of a fundamental rethinking of the aerodynamics and the key mechanical components. According to Dallara the F312 is a hugely important car charged with upholding the winning tradition of decades of world-wide Formula 3 competition. The Main New Features of the Car are:

MAD MARKO MAULS ALGUERSURI

Brett Ramsey — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:04:07 +0000

Is this the moment that cost Jamie Alguersuari his drive at Toro Roso? This footage from the 2011 Official F1 Season wrap up shows the irascible Dr Helmut Marko in heated discussion with the young Spaniard at the Korean GP. Marko was furious with Mr Alguersuari for holding up Sebastian Vettel during Qualifying and had no hesitation in telling him so, What may have made it worse for Jamie is daring to argue his case, Marko has shown several times in the past with Mark Webber that he does not have time for impertinent F1 drivers.

WEBBER WINS BRAZIL, BRONZE! BRONZE! BRONZE! FOR AUSTRALIA

Michael Lamonato — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 22:43:18 +0000

Mark Webber has taken his first win of the season at Interlagos overnight, winning his second Brazilian Grand Prix. Webber started second on the grid for the final race of the season, but was gifted the lead on lap 30 after gearbox issues forced Sebastian Vettel to let his team-mate pass. The win secured the Australian third [...]

VETTEL HOT IN INDIAN TAKE AWAY

Michael Lamonato — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 12:48:24 +0000

Sebastian Vettel has written his name in the Formula One history books once again, winning the first ever Indian Grand Prix at Greater Noida.

Vettel led from pole to flag, never at any point under pressure from his racing peers, eventually building a gap of over six seconds between himself and the rest of the field.

The German also set a new record for number of laps led in a Grand Prix, taking the title from previous record holder Nigel Mansell from the 1992 season.

And, as if his dominance was being at all questioned, he set the race's fastest lap on his final circulation of the circuit: at 1 minute, 27.249 seconds.

'Obviously it was a very good race for us,' said Vettel, stating the obvious. 'I enjoyed the time in the lead very much.'

'Overall obviously a fantastic performance. Thanks to the whole team.

'All in all it was fantastic. I'm very proud to be the first winner in India.'

Jenson Button finished best of the rest, and subsequently strengthened his claim for the same title in the year's Drivers' Championship.

BRITISH DRIVERS DOWN UNDER PAY TRIBUTE TO DAN

Brett Ramsey — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 06:42:05 +0000

British sportscar drivers Richard Westbrook and Oliver Gavin will pay tribute to countryman Dan Wheldon at this weekend’s Armor All Gold Coast 600. Wheldon tragically passed away following an IndyCar accident in Las Vegas last weekend. He was scheduled to race alongside James Courtney at the Surfers Paradise street circuit this weekend. Both Westbrook and Gavin are life long friends and rivals of their countryman Wheldon, with all three members of the exclusive British Racing Drivers Club. Westbrook and Gavin will unveil special visor stickers in memory of Wheldon in pit lane at the Surfers Paradise street circuit at 9.30am local Queensland time. All BRDC members present at this weekend’s event will carry the special visor stripe stickers as a tribute to Wheldon. They are Westbrook, Gavin, Andy Priaulx, Emanuele Pirro, Gil de Ferran, Marino Franchitti, Ryan Briscoe, Richard Lyons and Darren Turner. Westbrook will partner Todd Kelly in the #7 Jack Daniel’s Commodore at the Armor All Gold Coast 600, while Gavin will drive alongside Greg Murphy in the #11 Pepsi Max Commodore. Source: Kelly Racing Media Release

HAMILTON ENDS RED BULL POLE DOMINATION IN KOREA

Michael Lamonato — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 07:14:59 +0000

Lewis Hamilton has become the first non-Red Bull driver of the season to claim pole position after a scintillating lap around the Korea International Circuit.

The Englishman set an untouchable time of 1 minute 35.820 seconds, keeping newly-crowned World Champion Sebastian Vettel at bay by a little over two-tenths.

Hamilton's team mate Jenson Button qualified in third, lining up alongside Mark Webber on tomorrow's grid.

Felipe Massa again outqualified Fernando Alonso, the Ferrari pair securing P5 and P6 for the race.

Nico Rosberg decided that his first run was the most he could extract from his Mercedes, forgoing a second hot lap and winning him P7, with Vitaly Petrov in eighth place. The two Force India cars of di Resta and Sutil filled P9 and P10.

Rosberg was the first to set a quick lap in Q3, but it was the revitalised Lewis Hamilton who set the fastest time, beating Rosberg's lap by more than one and a half seconds.

A flurry of quick laps were soon posted, with Vettel falling desperately short, three-hundredths of a second slower than the McLaren driver. Webber was next fastest, but more than three-tenths adrift.

VIRTUAL ADVERTISING CREATES REAL PROBLEMS FOR GRASS ROOTS MOTORSPORT

Brett Ramsey — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:16:27 +0000

It not exactly new technology, in fact it's been around for years, but the Seven Network's use of "Virtual Signage" at Mount Panorama is a worrying situation for Australian Sport and one that the circuits and CAMS need to get a grip on quickly. Viewers of last weekends "Great Race" were treated to a number of CGI created virtual bridges and signs across the famous circuit, mostly for major V8 supercar sponsors Telstra and Norton, a company that has made billions protecting people from the inadequacies of Mr Gate's Windows operating system. The problem with virtual signage is that while these signs pump dollars into the host broadcaster and perhaps even V8 Supercars Australia, do the circuits see any of this money? You see real signage, of the old fashioned type, was a substantial earner for circuits and sporting venues, this money, could, in theory, be used by these circuits to improve facilities for spectators and competitors across the board, not just at the elite level.

VETTEL WINS THE TITLE AS BUTTON GRABS THE RACE

Michael Lamonato — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 13:09:53 +0000

VETTEL ON POLE FOR TITLE DEFENCE IN JAPAN

Brett Ramsey — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 08:28:40 +0000

Sebastian Vettel is just one day away from claiming his second World Championship after claiming pole position ahead of tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix. The German needs only one point to become the sport’s youngest ever World Champion. ‘What a qualifying,’ exclaimed Vettel. ‘It was a tough qualifying, but I enjoyed it a lot.’ ‘Yesterday I went off in [...]

VETTEL ON POLE AGAIN AT MONZA

Michael Lamonato — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 14:51:14 +0000

Speculation that Red Bull's dominance over pole position this season would come to an end in Italy proved wrong, with Sebastian Vettel taking his least-predictable P1 of the year at Monza. The German, who almost lost his car as he slid through the Ascari chicane, recovered to bank an unbeatable lap time of 1m 22.275 seconds. 'We thought it would be much closer than that,' said Vettel. 'We are quite quick throughout all three sectors, so we just had to put it together.' The German was stuck in traffic as all cars but Senna left the pitlane at once, but mistakes by Hamilton, Button's decision to abandon his fast lap, and teammate Mark Webber unable to extract the same pace from the Red Bull meant that he kept the RBR7's 100 per cent pole record for 2011 alive. 'We were not expecting, not thinking of being on pole by that margin,' he continued. 'This year, I have to say the car is very good here. The balance is perfect.' The pace promised by McLaren in the lead up to the Italian Grand Prix was only good enough P2, with Hamilton pipping teammate Button to the front from by half a tenth. 'Sebastian was mega quick today. It looked like we'd be quite competitive in the weekend, but that last lap was untouchable for me,' elaborated Hamilton. 'I didn't have another half a second in the bag. We perhaps could have got another couple of tenths out of the car.' Button noted that despite Red Bull running a seemingly lower downforce package than McLaren, they still managed to move faster in the high speed turns.