fernando alonso

Sebastian Vettel Takes Dominant Win in Oz

Thumbnail image for Sebastian Vettel Takes Dominant Win in Oz March 29, 2011

The 2011 Formula 1 season has begun much the way last season ended, with Sebastian Vettel leading the pack.  Sour grape specialists will argue that it was a case of Vettel’s being in the right car at the right time, but this is a familiar refrain, and one that has been leveled at most dominant [...]

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Late Upgrades Pay Off: McLarens Top Timesheets in Practice 2 in Oz

Thumbnail image for Late Upgrades Pay Off: McLarens Top Timesheets in Practice 2 in Oz March 25, 2011

Although, to paraphrase Gertrude Stein, practice is practice is practice, and one must be careful about drawing conclusions prematurely, I think it’s safe to say that one surprise that’s come from Friday’s opening practice sessions in Australia is the pace shown by McLaren. Of course, McLaren has long had a reputation for sandbagging in pre-season [...]

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Is Jenson Button a Natural Number Two?

Thumbnail image for Is Jenson Button a Natural Number Two? March 20, 2011

Clearly, one of the most valuable assests in McLaren’s treasury at the moment is one Lewis Hamilton.  Not to say that Jenson Button isn’t quite the coin of the realm, but it’s obvious, not withstandng the many stout denials coming from Woking, that Button is the marquee driver there.  He’s generally the quicker of the [...]

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Pirelli Defends Tire Degradation, Supports Bernie’s Fake Rain Idea

Thumbnail image for Pirelli Defends Tire Degradation, Supports Bernie’s Fake Rain Idea March 4, 2011

A number of drivers, following early pre-season testing, have been critical of the new Pirelli F1 tires.  Last year, it was seen that when Bridgestone brought to a number of race venues super-soft tire compounds that degraded quickly it made for some interesting racing. When tires degraded quickly, drivers were forced to make more frequent [...]

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Bernie Says Let It Rain

Thumbnail image for Bernie Says Let It Rain March 2, 2011

El Supremo Bernie Ecclestone is at it again.  For the past couple of years he’s been touting his Olympic medals system as replacement of the current points system that has been the mainstay of Formula 1, albeit with periodic revisions, since its inception.  Uncle Bernie seems to think that the drivers will race more competitively [...]

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Is Fernando Alonso a Saboteur?

Thumbnail image for Is Fernando Alonso a Saboteur? February 27, 2011

During his career, uber-driver Michael Schumacher has often been accused of being ruthless and ethically suspect.  Witness his deliberate nudge into Damon Hill in 1994, causing the retirement of both, but handing Schumi the world title; his duplication of that maneuver against Jacques Villeneuve in 1997, causing only Schumi’s retirement, and ceding the title to [...]

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Alonso Tops Timesheets at Valencia Day Two

Thumbnail image for Alonso Tops Timesheets at Valencia Day Two February 2, 2011

Testing continued today at Valencia, with Fernando Alonso taking honors today as quickest driver.  Alonso has been coy about Ferrari’s progress, however, implying that it’s difficult for the team, under current testing conditions, to get a realistic reference point on performance. “It’s difficult to feel the competitiveness of the car,” Alonso told reporters,  “because in [...]

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Vettel Quickest on Day One at Valencia

Thumbnail image for Vettel Quickest on Day One at Valencia February 2, 2011

The 2011 Formula 1 season got underway today – or rather the pre-season did – with the first day of testing at Valencia.  Two things may be said about the season’s first day of testing: (a) early test times count for little, and (b) Sebastian Vettel was the quickest. Of course, most of the teams [...]

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Ferrari Launches F150 at Maranello

Thumbnail image for Ferrari Launches F150 at Maranello January 29, 2011

Ferrari got the jump on their rivals this week by being the first F1 team to launch their car for the coming season.  The F150 (so named in honor of the 150th anniversary of Italian unification) was unveiled at the team’s headquarters in Maranello on Friday.  From the outside, the car doesn’t look radically different [...]

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Mr. 20 Percent Wants to Manage Sebastian Vettel

Thumbnail image for Mr. 20 Percent Wants to Manage Sebastian Vettel January 23, 2011

Willi Weber (a.k.a. “Mr. 20 Percent,” in reference to the slice he skimmed from Herr Michael Schumacher’s annual income), is offering a bit of advice to reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel: get a manager.  And the best manager for the job?  Why, Willi Weber, of course. Vettel, most unusually for a modern F1 driver, has [...]

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