F1 News
Date: 6/September/2012
F1 World Championship leader Fernando Alonso is ready to return to the cockpit of his Ferrari at Monza this weekend, following last Sunday’s Spa-Francorchamps scare.
Alonso suffered his first non-score of the year, and whiplash, when he was caught up in a five car pile-up at turn one of the Belgian round.
The incident was triggered by contact between Romain Grosjean and Lewis Hamilton, whose cars then careered into Alonso, plus the Saubers of Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez.
Grosjean’s Lotus passed just inches from Alonso’s helmet, re-opening the debate over increasing driver protection. Fortunately the Spaniard was relatively uninjured.
“Two hours after the Spa race there was still some pain in the back, but then on Monday morning I woke up absolutely fine, feeling 100%,” said Alonso on Thursday.
“It was good news, because you never know how you will feel the day after a crash - anything can happen.”
The accident has seen Alonso’s Championship lead cut from 40 to 24 points over new nearest rival Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull’s reigning Champion having finished second to Jenson Button at Spa.
But the home Monza round has always meant more than just 25-points for Ferrari. Alonso delighted the tifosi with victory in 2010 and was third last year.
Alonso, a double world champion for Renault, said: “Monza is a special win, because for any Ferrari driver it’s a lot of support that you feel from the tifosi from today until Sunday and you want to give something back to them and the best thing is obviously a race win.
“Even if you’re not fighting for the championship, winning in Monza will be special anyway, because the podium celebration with all the people on the main straight etc is nice for anyone, not only fighting for the championship.
“So we will try to do a good race and see how many points we can make and have clear in our minds what is the priority this weekend.”
While triple 2012 race winner Alonso is contracted to Ferrari until 2016, his team-mate Felipe Massa faces an uncertain future. The Brazilian is just eleventh in the championship with a best race finish of fourth.
Massa said: “For sure, I expected to be in a different position in the championship but I'm just concentrated on my job which is driving the quickest that I can. I am frustrated with my qualifying. I'm sure that if I can improve in qualifying, I can be very strong in the races.
“I didn't sign anything for next year yet, but I think we have the possibility to sign and let's wait and see. I hope it will not take very long but let’s concentrate on the races and try to get good results. That’s the most important thing for my future as well.”
Also centre-stage in the F1 rumour mill is McLaren driver Hamilton, with recent stories claiming that he could replace Michael Schumacher at Mercedes next year.
Despite repeated efforts by the press, Hamilton refused to be drawn into the discussion.
“I’ve not really thought about it,” he replied, when asked about what Mercedes could offer.
“I don't have a deadline [to decide my future] - obviously before next season would be useful,” he joked.
“I drive for McLaren, we’ve won the last two races, we’ve got another great weekend, hopefully, ahead of us and that’s what we’ve got to focus on.”
Asked for his priorities in terms of contract negotiations, Hamilton stated that he simply “wants to win”.
“I always want to win, every year you compete,” he added. “That’s why us drivers exist and that's why the teams exist. It's just making sure you're in the right place to do so.”
Hamilton blotted his McLaren copybook at Spa by posting a picture of his and team-mate Button’s telemetry data on Twitter. The Englishman claimed he has already ‘moved on’ from the incident.
“I had the head of the PR department ask me to take the picture off [Twitter] and I did,” he said.
“I haven't spoken to [Button about it]. Don't plan to, moved on from it. Obviously it wasn't the best thing to do and it won't happen again.”
Button dominated at Spa for his second victory of the season, but remains one place and 16 points behind single 2012 winner Hamilton in the Championship. Hamilton is 47 points from Alonso.
Grosjean has been banned from this weekend’s event for causing the Spa incident. Lotus test driver Jerome d'Ambrosio, who raced in F1 for Marussia last season, will take Grosjean’s place alongside Kimi Raikkonen.
Button soars to Spa win, Grosjean banned
F1 News
Date: 2/September/2012
Jenson Button claimed a perfect lights-to-flag victory in Sunday’s eventful Belgian F1 Grand Prix, marking his 14th career win and first ever at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
Button used his pole position to safely negotiate the turn one hairpin, escaping the carnage that saw five drivers eliminated after a collision between Button’s McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Romain Grosjean.
Grosjean, who began the race in eighth, had turned diagonally across seventh-place starter Hamilton as the field shuffled towards turn one.
Hamilton became pinched between the Lotus and the inside of the track, with his front-left wheel hitting Grosjean’s rear. The pair then slammed into the Saubers of Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez, plus World Championship leader Fernando Alonso.
Alonso was lucky to escape injury when Grosjean’s car bounced across the nose of his Ferrari. Hamilton made his feelings clear as he climbed out of the cockpit and remonstrated with Grosjean, pointing to his helmet in a ‘What were you thinking?’ type-gesture.
Grosjean, 26, is competing in his first full F1 season. He has taken three podiums, but also been involved in several early-race incidents. The FIA appears to have lost patience, banning the Frenchman from next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza and fining him 50,000 Euros.
An FIA statement declared: “The [race] stewards regard this incident as an extremely serious breach of the regulations which had the potential to cause injury to others. It eliminated leading championship contenders from the race.
"The stewards note the team conceded the action of the driver was an extremely serious mistake and an error of judgement. Neither the team nor the driver made any submission in mitigation of penalty.”
A bitterly disappointed Grosjean responded: “When your life is all about racing, not being allowed to attend an event is probably one of the worst experiences you can go through. That said, I do respect the verdict of the Stewards.”
Reflecting on the incident, Grosjean said that he believed he was clear of Hamilton.
“I honestly thought I was ahead of him and there was enough room for both cars; I didn’t deliberately try to squeeze him or anything like that.
“I wish to apologise to the drivers who were involved and to their fans. I can only say that today is part of a process that will make me a better driver."
Lotus plans to field a reserve driver in place of Grosjean at Monza.
By the time Grosjean’s punishment was announced, Button had won the race by almost 14-seconds. The Englishman was never headed, even during his pit stop at half-distance.
Button said: “Turn One looked pretty crazy - in my mirrors, I could see cars all over the place.
“For me, it was all pretty straightforward though. We got to lap 12 and the team asked me how the car was feeling; I told them that the balance was getting better and better, so we were able to get to lap 20 before pitting.
“We need to score big points in both world championships - and today was exactly what we required. Until I can’t mathematically fight for the drivers’ world championship, I won’t give up on it. I think I showed that today.”
Button, who previously took victory in the Australia season opener, joins Alonso and Mark Webber (Red Bull) as the only multiple winners of the season so far. The result also moves Button up to sixth in the World Championship, 63 points from Alonso.
Red Bull’s reigning world champion Vettel finished runner-up to Button at Spa, despite starting just tenth on the grid, with the surviving Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen completing the podium in third.
Alonso’s first non-score of the year has cut his title advantage from 40 to 24 points over new nearest rival Vettel.
The Spaniard praised the safety of modern F1 cars and, although he didn’t attribute blame directly on Grosjean, felt that young drivers are picking up some bad habits in the lower classes.
Alonso said: “I’m fine, except my left shoulder hurts a bit: I went to the medical centre immediately after the accident but everything is alright, the pain only comes from the whiplash.
“I had no idea what happened: I had overtaken the two Saubers when I felt as though I had been run into by a train! I am lucky to be able to get back in the car in just a few days. The level of safety of these cars is very high and today we saw further proof of that.
“I am not angry with Grosjean, he definitely didn’t do it on purpose: it was a case of me being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Rather, I think that certain drivers should try and take fewer risks at the start: it’s a bit of a tendency currently in the junior formulae, but it would be better, if right from the start of their career, they got used to respecting more strictly the rules relating to behaviour on track.”
Monza, Ferrari’s home event, will form round 13 of 20.
Date: 2/September/2012
Jenson Button claimed a perfect lights-to-flag victory in Sunday’s eventful Belgian F1 Grand Prix, marking his 14th career win and first ever at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
Button used his pole position to safely negotiate the turn one hairpin, escaping the carnage that saw five drivers eliminated after a collision between Button’s McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Romain Grosjean.
Grosjean, who began the race in eighth, had turned diagonally across seventh-place starter Hamilton as the field shuffled towards turn one.
Hamilton became pinched between the Lotus and the inside of the track, with his front-left wheel hitting Grosjean’s rear. The pair then slammed into the Saubers of Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez, plus World Championship leader Fernando Alonso.
Alonso was lucky to escape injury when Grosjean’s car bounced across the nose of his Ferrari. Hamilton made his feelings clear as he climbed out of the cockpit and remonstrated with Grosjean, pointing to his helmet in a ‘What were you thinking?’ type-gesture.
Grosjean, 26, is competing in his first full F1 season. He has taken three podiums, but also been involved in several early-race incidents. The FIA appears to have lost patience, banning the Frenchman from next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza and fining him 50,000 Euros.
An FIA statement declared: “The [race] stewards regard this incident as an extremely serious breach of the regulations which had the potential to cause injury to others. It eliminated leading championship contenders from the race.
"The stewards note the team conceded the action of the driver was an extremely serious mistake and an error of judgement. Neither the team nor the driver made any submission in mitigation of penalty.”
A bitterly disappointed Grosjean responded: “When your life is all about racing, not being allowed to attend an event is probably one of the worst experiences you can go through. That said, I do respect the verdict of the Stewards.”
Reflecting on the incident, Grosjean said that he believed he was clear of Hamilton.
“I honestly thought I was ahead of him and there was enough room for both cars; I didn’t deliberately try to squeeze him or anything like that.
“I wish to apologise to the drivers who were involved and to their fans. I can only say that today is part of a process that will make me a better driver."
Lotus plans to field a reserve driver in place of Grosjean at Monza.
By the time Grosjean’s punishment was announced, Button had won the race by almost 14-seconds. The Englishman was never headed, even during his pit stop at half-distance.
Button said: “Turn One looked pretty crazy - in my mirrors, I could see cars all over the place.
“For me, it was all pretty straightforward though. We got to lap 12 and the team asked me how the car was feeling; I told them that the balance was getting better and better, so we were able to get to lap 20 before pitting.
“We need to score big points in both world championships - and today was exactly what we required. Until I can’t mathematically fight for the drivers’ world championship, I won’t give up on it. I think I showed that today.”
Button, who previously took victory in the Australia season opener, joins Alonso and Mark Webber (Red Bull) as the only multiple winners of the season so far. The result also moves Button up to sixth in the World Championship, 63 points from Alonso.
Red Bull’s reigning world champion Vettel finished runner-up to Button at Spa, despite starting just tenth on the grid, with the surviving Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen completing the podium in third.
Alonso’s first non-score of the year has cut his title advantage from 40 to 24 points over new nearest rival Vettel.
The Spaniard praised the safety of modern F1 cars and, although he didn’t attribute blame directly on Grosjean, felt that young drivers are picking up some bad habits in the lower classes.
Alonso said: “I’m fine, except my left shoulder hurts a bit: I went to the medical centre immediately after the accident but everything is alright, the pain only comes from the whiplash.
“I had no idea what happened: I had overtaken the two Saubers when I felt as though I had been run into by a train! I am lucky to be able to get back in the car in just a few days. The level of safety of these cars is very high and today we saw further proof of that.
“I am not angry with Grosjean, he definitely didn’t do it on purpose: it was a case of me being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Rather, I think that certain drivers should try and take fewer risks at the start: it’s a bit of a tendency currently in the junior formulae, but it would be better, if right from the start of their career, they got used to respecting more strictly the rules relating to behaviour on track.”
Monza, Ferrari’s home event, will form round 13 of 20.
‘Like a win’ - Button blasts to first McLaren pole
F1 News
Date: 1/September/2012
Jenson Button took his first ever pole as a McLaren driver after a dominant qualifying performance for the Belgian F1 Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
Having safely cleared Q1, Button signalled his speed by becoming the only driver to break the 1m 48s mark on his way to the top in Q2, then improved further during the pole-deciding Q3 shootout.
Button, who joined McLaren in 2010, said: “It’s a very special circuit for all of us and to get a pole position here does mean a lot, especially because it’s been quite a long time for me. Monaco 2009, I think.
“I know the race is tomorrow, but this feels close to winning a race for me because it’s been so long.”
Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) and Pastor Maldonado (Williams) surprised by joining Button in setting a 1m 47s lap, but Button remained almost 0.3s out of reach.
No less than three of Button’s lap would have been quick enough for pole, but the 13-time grand prix winner was at a loss to explain why:
“If I knew, it would make everything great! We just got the balance right this morning. The car’s been working really well all day. I obviously have a style where it’s often quite difficult to find a car that works for me in qualifying, but when it does we can get pole position.”
Button, winner of the opening round in Australia, is now looking to revive his season after slipping back to seventh in the championship.
“A lot of people have asked me if I can still fight for the championship. It is a long shot; I'm 80 points behind Fernando,” said Button.
“I need to be on the podium and finishing in front of Fernando at every race for the rest of the season, which is not easy, given his consistency but this is a good start.
“Yeah, a win is very important tomorrow, to fight for the championship.”
Victory on Sunday would also ease mounting speculation that Button will soon be asked to support team-mate Lewis Hamilton’s title challenge.
Hamilton is fourth in the championship - and 41 points ahead of Button - but will start only seventh on the grid.
“It's only the halfway point and maybe we haven't had enough to talk about over the five-week break so you get asked unusual questions,” Button said of the speculation.
“I'm sure Lewis is disappointed to be where he is [on the grid]. But for me, a great day and hopefully this makes our life a little bit easier tomorrow.”
Like Button, World Championship leader Fernando Alonso is yet to win at Spa, a circuit considered by many to offer the purest driving challenge.
After Friday’s practice washout, Alonso had been fastest in Saturday morning practice but was never in serious pole contention and qualified sixth for Ferrari.
The good news for Alonso was that nearest title rival Mark Webber could only manage seventh - and will be demoted to twelfth due to a gearbox-change penalty.
Red Bull team-mate and 2011 winner Sebastian Vettel will line-up in tenth, while fellow German Michael Schumacher will start his 300th grand prix from 13th on the grid for Mercedes.
Schumacher is the most successful driver at Spa, with six wins between 1992 and 2002.
Date: 1/September/2012
Jenson Button took his first ever pole as a McLaren driver after a dominant qualifying performance for the Belgian F1 Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
Having safely cleared Q1, Button signalled his speed by becoming the only driver to break the 1m 48s mark on his way to the top in Q2, then improved further during the pole-deciding Q3 shootout.
Button, who joined McLaren in 2010, said: “It’s a very special circuit for all of us and to get a pole position here does mean a lot, especially because it’s been quite a long time for me. Monaco 2009, I think.
“I know the race is tomorrow, but this feels close to winning a race for me because it’s been so long.”
Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) and Pastor Maldonado (Williams) surprised by joining Button in setting a 1m 47s lap, but Button remained almost 0.3s out of reach.
No less than three of Button’s lap would have been quick enough for pole, but the 13-time grand prix winner was at a loss to explain why:
“If I knew, it would make everything great! We just got the balance right this morning. The car’s been working really well all day. I obviously have a style where it’s often quite difficult to find a car that works for me in qualifying, but when it does we can get pole position.”
Button, winner of the opening round in Australia, is now looking to revive his season after slipping back to seventh in the championship.
“A lot of people have asked me if I can still fight for the championship. It is a long shot; I'm 80 points behind Fernando,” said Button.
“I need to be on the podium and finishing in front of Fernando at every race for the rest of the season, which is not easy, given his consistency but this is a good start.
“Yeah, a win is very important tomorrow, to fight for the championship.”
Victory on Sunday would also ease mounting speculation that Button will soon be asked to support team-mate Lewis Hamilton’s title challenge.
Hamilton is fourth in the championship - and 41 points ahead of Button - but will start only seventh on the grid.
“It's only the halfway point and maybe we haven't had enough to talk about over the five-week break so you get asked unusual questions,” Button said of the speculation.
“I'm sure Lewis is disappointed to be where he is [on the grid]. But for me, a great day and hopefully this makes our life a little bit easier tomorrow.”
Like Button, World Championship leader Fernando Alonso is yet to win at Spa, a circuit considered by many to offer the purest driving challenge.
After Friday’s practice washout, Alonso had been fastest in Saturday morning practice but was never in serious pole contention and qualified sixth for Ferrari.
The good news for Alonso was that nearest title rival Mark Webber could only manage seventh - and will be demoted to twelfth due to a gearbox-change penalty.
Red Bull team-mate and 2011 winner Sebastian Vettel will line-up in tenth, while fellow German Michael Schumacher will start his 300th grand prix from 13th on the grid for Mercedes.
Schumacher is the most successful driver at Spa, with six wins between 1992 and 2002.
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