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The Formula 1 2011 Season of Vettel Fingering the Competition |OT|

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mclaren777

mclaren777

Member
Source

- Only Mark Webber started the race on Prime tyres.
- The longest opening stint was completed by Narain Karthikeyan, on the Option compound (22 laps).
- Narain Karthikeyan completed the longest stint of the race, utilising the Prime rubber (34 laps).
- Fourteen drivers made three-stops, while nine drivers chose a two-stop strategy.
- Four out of the top five finishers decided to make three-stops.

odPAx.gif
 
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navanman

Crown Prince of Custom Firmware
Rumours on Autosport & Sky News saying there is some sort of deal between Team Lotus and sportscar maker Caterham.

The aviation tycoon Tony Fernandes is poised to swoop on Caterham, one of the most famous names in British motoring, I have learned.
Fernandes, who owns the Lotus Formula One team, is likely to announce the acquisition of Caterham next week, according to people close to the situation. The deal will reunite the ownership of Lotus F1 with one of the brand’s famous sports car operations.
Caterham’s heritage stems from the legendary Lotus Seven sports car (now known simply as ‘the 7’), which it acquired from Lotus Cars in 1973. The takeover of the sports car manufacturer will be seen as a vote of confidence in one of the country’s most iconic automotive names.
Fernandes, who is often referred to as Asia’s Sir Richard Branson, is buying Caterham from Corven Ventures, a private equity firm which backed a management buy-in of the business in 2005.
His takeover of Caterham may be interpreted as a dig at the rival Group Lotus-backed Renault F1 team, with which he has been embroiled in a legal battle over the use of the Lotus name.
Corven provided the capital to enable Ansar Ali and Gideon Wigger, two former Lotus executives, to buy the company from its founders, the Nearn family.
Caterham sells hundreds of cars a year and has a turnover running to tens of millions of pounds.
As I understand it, Fernandes is paying several million pounds for the business and is keen to expand its manufacturing operation outside the UK. The Caterham management team also owns a small stake in the business.
Fernandes has an impressive track record as an entrepreneur, having founded the Malaysia-based airline Air Asia. He also worked as a music industry executive and was linked with a deal to buy West Ham United FC, which failed to materialise.
Corven declined to comment today while Fernandes could not be reached for comment.
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Sky News

Team Lotus has been linked to a tie-up deal with sportscar manufacturer Caterham, with an announcement about a takeover possible as early as next week.

The Hingham-based outfit has announced that it is to hold a major press conference at Duxford Airfield next week - although it has not confirmed any further details.

In an invite sent to the press, the team stated that the media event would be "an incredibly exciting announcement about the future of the team".

Sources have revealed to AUTOSPORT that Team Lotus could be on the verge of a takeover of Caterham - which if it came off would provide obvious marketing and technical opportunities between the F1 operation and the road car business.

The link with Caterham could also in theory give the F1 team another option in terms of a future brand name for the outfit, if it opts to move away from the 'Team Lotus' moniker on the back of the dispute with Group Lotus.

Team Lotus declined to comment on the Caterham speculation when contacted by AUTOSPORT on Thursday.

Next week's press event will also likely come before there is any firm answer from the British courts about the ongoing Lotus naming dispute.

It had originally been hoped that the judge could issue his verdict as early as this week, but sources suggest that there will now be a delay for several weeks – meaning the issue will not be settled until next month.
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Autosport
 
A

Ark

Member
It could mean that Lotus lost the court case/came to an agreement with Proton/Bahar and will rename the team? Possibly.

I'd be sad to see Team Lotus rebranded as something else though. Shame I'm at college on Wednesday ffs.

EDIT: Ignoring what I just said, Autosport seems to think that TL have taken over Caterham. Which will allow them to sell road cars.
 
A

Ark

Member
Kubica set to leave hospital

Robert Kubica is set to leave hospital within the next 10 days to begin the next phase of the rehabilitation process that he hopes will get him back into Formula 1.

The Pole has been at the Santa Corona hospital in Italy since the rally crash in February that left him with serious arm and leg injuries.

Speaking to the official Renault F1 website on Thursday, Kubica said that he intends to return home to Monaco soon - before moving to the Formula Medicine clinic in Italy to continue his recovery.

"I am starting to feel a lot better now. My recovery is moving in the right direction: my strength and weight are increasing day on day and as a result I will leave the Santa Corona hospital very soon," he said. "I don't have a precise date as yet but I hope to be able to leave within the next 10 days.

"The mobility of my hand is limited but this is pretty normal in this kind of situation, because the connected arm muscles are still very weak due to the long period of immobility. Things are definitely improving day by day."

He added: "As soon as I leave hospital, I'll head to my home in Monaco for a short period of rest. Then I'll move to Dr. Ceccarelli's facilities in Italy where I will start a deep rehabilitation program and a preliminary soft training programme. The two programmes will gradually cross over based on the speed of my recovery."

Kubica has said that he has kept in touch with his Renault outfit throughout the opening weekends of the season – and he is hopeful that the team will continue to improve on its strong early form.

"They are sending me the race reports so I can remain up to date and fully informed, as if I were there at the tracks. Eric Boullier is also in constant contact, keeping up to date with my general condition.

"There is no doubt that it's been a strong start to the season. The potential of the car, which I already noticed in the February Valencia test, seems to be confirmed. As usual, it's now important that the development done in Enstone continues to produce consistent updates for maintaining this level of performance. The guys did a great job with this car and I'm sure they'll continue to improve."

When asked if he had a message for fans, Kubica said: "Well, just continue to enjoy the F1 show even though I'm not there at the moment. From my side, I'll try to use my difficult experience to come back as strong as I possibly can."
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Autosport source.

Great news to hear!

Hopefully we get to see Kubica in the car at least once this year.
 
L

Leunam

Member
I honestly don't see Kubica in a car this season. I just imagine that's who they would ask to step down. I bet such a clause is in Heidfelds contract.
 
A

Ark

Member
Leunam said:
I honestly don't see Kubica in a car this season. I just imagine that's who they would ask to step down. I bet such a clause is in Heidfelds contract.
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Without question.

Even if it's just for a practice session, it would be great to see the guy back in the car.
 
N

navanman

Crown Prince of Custom Firmware
Ark said:
FIA considering banning DRS for Monaco GP weekend.

The DRS is far too dangerous to use at Monaco, and KERS will more than make up for it imo.

Btw, does anyone know if Team Lotus are running KERS? IIRC I don't think they are.
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Interesting. James Allen had an article on Red Bull & McLaren and said RBR DRS rear wing is the best in the field when deployed at will (qualifying) but that McLarens is the best in race conditions, when its closed most of the time.

I'd imagine most teams bring special wings anyway for such a low speed track as Monaco.
 
A

Ark

Member
Edmond Dantès said:
No, and according to Mike Gascoyne they might forgo KERS for the whole season.

http://www.dailygp.com/f1-news/246/use-of-kers-unlikely-for-team-lotus---mike-gascoyne.html
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It's quite something that Lotus are just on the back of the established teams without KERS, I'm really hoping to see them make it into Q2 again this year.

navanman said:
Interesting. James Allen had an article on Red Bull & McLaren and said RBR DRS rear wing is the best in the field when deployed at will (qualifying) but that McLarens is the best in race conditions, when its closed most of the time.

I'd imagine most teams bring special wings anyway for such a low speed track as Monaco.
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Apparently Renault are bringing their 'special wing' back in Turkey, not sure what that is though, I must have missed that during testing.
 
R

RomanticHeroX

Member
Banning DRS around Monaco is a completely reasonable thing to do. The only places it could be useful are around the straight and through the tunnel, both of which are very fast and quite blind. If someone's rear broke free from a lack of grip it could very easily lead to an awful situation.
 
F

Foliorum Viridum

Banned
Changing Monaco would be the worst idea ever. One of the best tracks on the calendar and wonderful because of how it is now.

The races are exciting enough there without the need for DRS.
 
A

Ark

Member
Psychotext said:
Just my personal opinion... but I think Monaco is awful. Glamour is great, yeah, spectacle is fantastic... but the racing? Ugh.
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It's true, it's probably the most boring race on the calendar, save for the crashes. The only part of Monaco that really is interesting, is qualy.

But we still love Monaco to bits <3
 
R

RomanticHeroX

Member
It doesn't matter how you modify the chicane, the dangerous part about trying DRS through the tunnel is that it's a blind sweep that's fully enclosed by walls. If someone loses grip through there they just bounce wall to wall, and anybody who's following behind will most likely be caught up in it.
 
Z

Zeona

Neo Member
Ark said:
It's true, it's probably the most boring race on the calendar, save for the crashes.
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It has the excitement of even small mistakes leading to DNFs. You know, like it was on every track before they started their war on gravel traps. The racing is awful though safe for 3 or 4 passing attempts after the tunnel.

If we see different pit stop windows we might see some very interesting stuff down the stretch this year though.
 
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navanman

Crown Prince of Custom Firmware
RomanticHeroX said:
It doesn't matter how you modify the chicane, the dangerous part about trying DRS through the tunnel is that it's a blind sweep that's fully enclosed by walls. If someone loses grip through there they just bounce wall to wall, and anybody who's following behind will most likely be caught up in it.
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Far too dangerous to use DRS in the tunnel.
Look at all the big crashes there over the last few years. Hulkenberg had a huge crash there last year I think.
 
D

DrM

Redmond's Baby
Jinjo said:
You don't modify Monaco. You just don't.
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Eh, nobody would miss that chichanes after the tunnel. Just make it straight to Tabac and rename it into Balls of steel corner.
 
F

Foliorum Viridum

Banned
I think Monaco is one of the most exciting races you get in F1. Despite overtaking being hard and uncommon, I find it amazing to watch the cars drive so fast through such a narrow track and there are always a dozen or so incidents that provide entertainment.

I think this year will be even better with the pitting, cars are going to be scrapping it out for position exiting the pitlane and it will lead to some great battles.

The only thing I hate about Monaco is the focus on celebrities etc. I don't care if David Beckham is there.
 
D

DieH@rd

Banned
Foliorum Viridum said:
The only thing I hate about Monaco is the focus on celebrities etc. I don't care if David Beckham is there.
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Celebrity focus is there furing buildup and post race. It doesent bothers me much.
 
moojito

moojito

Member
Istanbul will not host a Formula 1 Grand Prix in 2012 because of a disagreement between Turkish officials and F1 commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone over payments to stage the race, Turkish media reported on Friday.
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source

Shame, that. I think Istanbul is a pretty decent track.
 
L

Leunam

Member
For a Tilke track, yeah Istanbul is actually pretty good.

Banning the DRS at Monaco is entirely sensible. Besides, it should prove an interesting race without it since it's the first race on the calendar to use Pirelli soft and super-soft tires.
 
D

Dead Man

Member
moojito said:
source

Shame, that. I think Istanbul is a pretty decent track.
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Lost one of the only two good Tilkedromes there. Greedy little bugger wanted to double the charge for the race. Fucking hell I am sick of that bastard.
 
D

DD

Member
DrM said:
Eh, nobody would miss that chichanes after the tunnel. Just make it straight to Tabac and rename it into Balls of steel corner.
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ROFL.

I love when a slower car apears in front. Monaco is where the miracles happen. xD

moojito said:
source

Shame, that. I think Istanbul is a pretty decent track.
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This was pretty obvious. Some track had to be kicked out of the calendar to open space for the USA GP, and it was clear that it would be Turkey. I would like to see just one race in Spain and keep Turkey on the calendar... =/
 
L

Leunam

Member
Daniel Dantas said:
This was pretty obvious. Some track had to be kicked out of the calendar to open space for the USA GP, and it was clear that it would be Turkey. I would like to see just one race in Spain and keep Turkey on the calendar... =/
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Was hoping it would be Bohrain.
 
A

Ark

Member
moojito said:
source

Shame, that. I think Istanbul is a pretty decent track.
Click to expand...

I don't really like it tbh, I wouldn't be sad to see it go. Not sure what it would be replaced with, if anything.

Foliorum Viridum said:
I think this year will be even better with the pitting, cars are going to be scrapping it out for position exiting the pitlane and it will lead to some great battles.
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It'll more likely end up being people with new tyres stuck behind people with old tyres until they can eventually get past. Look at how long it took Alonso to take the Virgin's last year at Monaco.
 
D

dalin80

Banned
Leunam said:
Yep, he's still got rehab and strength training to go through but the important thing is he's getting better.
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This.

After such massive damage there is always the chance that he will never drive in F1 again. A friend broke his hand and damaged a couple of tendons, 3 years later and he still only has partial movement in 3 of his fingers on his left hand.
 
A

Ark

Member
The F1.com China race edit is up, but the Malaysia one is nowhere to be seen.

EDIT: Jesus shit that was the worst F1.com race edit I've seen I think. They barely covered any of the overtakes and there was little to no radio chatter >_>
 
A

avaya

Member
brotkasten said:
People would seriously miss Monaco? If one track needs to be erased from the calendar, then it's Monaco.
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Equally insane post.

You are not allowed to touch Monaco, Monza, Silverstone, Suzuka and Spa. Those are the races every driver wants to win and are part of the fabric of the modern era.

Montreal is also a contender on that list, the other races have no storied history. Hockenheim would be there too were it not for the fact they totally destroyed the character of the old engine breaker.
 
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