2011 F1 Thread

[ctjet]

Mclaren's 'b' design team has done it again

dog car again!! the cycle continues

... go vettel

[N1GTR]

[N1GTR]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5g4bzr6p0D_YRxsO0Lt_-rNkCg5kA?docId=6194105

BARCELONA, Spain — Lewis Hamilton has warned that McLaren's car isn't quite championship calibre just yet after world champion Sebastian Vettel led testing Wednesday for Red Bull to strengthen its status as early season Formula One favourite.

Vettel set the fastest lap yet of preseason running at the Catalunya Circuit with a quickest time of 1 minute, 21.865 seconds.

Despite teammate Mark Webber being fastest to open the five-day session on Tuesday, Vettel cautioned against putting too much stock into the Austrian team's early results.

"It was a good day and a good time, although to be honest it's difficult to say where we are, as the lap times of the teams are all over the place," Vettel said. "We have had no major problems with reliability throughout testing and the speed looks good as far as we can judge. But I think we have to wait until after Melbourne — maybe in Malaysia or China — to really see where we are."

Hamilton was fourth, just over one second behind Vettel, after his session was cut short by an exhaust problem.

"Do I believe I have a car to win the world championship at the moment? I don't, no," said Hamilton, the 2008 champion. "But that doesn't mean it won't become a world championship-winning car.

"As long as we keep pushing in the right direction with the development and the new things we have coming several races down the line, hopefully they will enable us to close the gap and compete for wins. As long as we pick up a good few points in the first few races, then we won't be miles behind."

Hamilton isn't panicking, as McLaren has been known to be one of the best teams at developing a car through a season.

"This is testing. This is what it's all about, finding where your weaknesses are so you can build on them and fix them," said the Briton. "It was a bit on and off today, it wasn't a great day for us. But in terms of how the car felt, there was an improvement with some of the upgrades we have. So that is at least a positive, it's not all negative."

McLaren welcomed Pedro De la Rosa back into the team as reserve driver after the Spaniard left the British team to drive for Sauber last season. Sauber replaced De la Rosa with current Renault driver Nick Heidfeld after 14 races.

Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Buemi was nearly half-a-second behind Vettel ahead of Renault's Vitaly Petrov, while Ferrari driver Felipe Massa was fifth in 1:23.324 as the Italian team tested a new exhaust system.

Spanish outfit HRT named Tonio Liuzzi its second driver behind Narain Karthikeyan on Wednesday, with the Italian expected to take the wheel later this week.

Testing continues through Saturday with the season opening at the Australian Grand Prix on March 27.

Copyright © 2011 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

[N1GTR]

[Nee-san]

LOL

[Beer Baron]

god what a surprise. hamilton is already whinging about his car performance and he hasn't even started a race yet. I bet that feels great for the guys who have worked their arses off over the off season to deliver him a new car. he really is a crybaby. webber was more upbeat than that when he was in a farken minardi!

[Marlin]

Just received an email..... would be cool to attend I reckon.

Hi Ben you farkin stunner,

Please find attached an invitation to 'An Audience with Mark Webber' proudly presented by Swisse.

This exclusive event is being held on Thursday 24th March at Tonic Bar, Crown Promenade Hotel.

Tickets are on sale now by clicking here, 100% of proceeds are being donated to the Flood Relief efforts in both Queensland and Victoria.

This will be Mark's last public appearance before the Qantas Australian Grand Prix and we would love to have you attend.

Entertainment for the night will include live music, memorabilia auction and a panel discussion with Mark and some special guests...

An Audience with Mark Webber Invitation

Edit: $250 a head.

Edited March 11, 2011 by Marlin

[Marlin]

god what a surprise. hamilton is already whinging about his car performance and he hasn't even started a race yet. I bet that feels great for the guys who have worked their arses off over the off season to deliver him a new car. he really is a crybaby. webber was more upbeat than that when he was in a farken minardi!

Surely they'd hardly talk it up would they? If you came out an said "The car is wicked, we're going to lap everyone and nevah lose...." you'd look like a bit of a arse hat?

[sav man]

Pretty sure Hamelton has the looking like a arsehat covered pretty well already

[Marlin]

At least he's taken those top bloke earings out!

(with all due respect Savman)

Edited March 11, 2011 by Marlin

[Beer Baron]

Surely they'd hardly talk it up would they? If you came out an said "The car is wicked, we're going to lap everyone and nevah lose...." you'd look like a bit of a arse hat?

well yeah but he is just obviously setting up his excuse book for later in the season when it all falls apart. he could at least be a bit positive saying he's "happy with the progress and car looks to be competitive and besides we've got lots more development to come over the year". something like that would be a bit more suitable. he's just a massive whinger. always has been.

[ctjet]

100km/h speed limit over the bolte bridge?

What a buch of fags

seriously

[Nee-san]

It's australia, what do you expect ?

[wolverine]

100km/h speed limit over the bolte bridge?

What a buch of fags

seriously

Well you never know, Webber might bin it anyway.

[ctjet]

think about it, thats how fast they go down pit line with mechanics and photographers running infront of them all year long

is four lanes of nothing with concrete barriers either side really posing a risk to anybody?

what pathetic state this is turning out to be

[wolverine]

It is a stupid nanny state like decision but hopefully MW does a little circle work .

[Roy]

Was it DC or MW that did Harbour Bridge a few years ago. They were meant to do 100km/hmax but they covered it on 6 seconds or something with plenty of noise...so werent in 1st gear

The difference now is that since Lewis and his incident last year, the FIA now have the power to pull a Super Licence if an F1 driver gets in trouble with local law enforcement on the road

[JAS-25T]

yeah Webche was the one

[boiracer]

like the aussie top gear(yes i watched it) where they run the V8 supercar over the sydney harbour bridge...was expecting something cool, but it was quite dull, speed limit all the way.....and the lead up to it was even more boring. i think it took em 3 or more hrs to do 15 km's....

[scarface_au]

Just read this article about Bernie and the AGP. It sounds like he's sympathetic, but you know Bernie, he's a hard bastard. Would YOU cancel Spa? Not me.

I don't understand Mr. Mayor. Can't he see that the wider economic benefits far outweigh the outlay for the race? Can you imagine the outcry from the hotels, shops and businesses that are flat-out during GP week? The race has its costs but surely, surely it's worth it.

I like the bit where Bernie says, "Melbourne is as important as Monaco", though. He'd hardly drop Monaco.