Bootstrap Framework 3.3.6

[darwin dali]

Check out http://en.espnf1.com/

on the right hand side.

[sagi58]

Thanks, DD!! Will add that to my list of favourites!!

[sagi58]

 wrote:">Australian Grand Prix - Full of energy



Melbourne, 12 March – There was a truly exceptional setting for this morning’s special event, put on by Shell for the first Grand Prix of the season and featuring special guests, the Scuderia Ferrari drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. Kimi and Sebastian took on the unaccustomed role of assistant chefs at a well known Melbourne restaurant. There, they helped chef Guy Grossi create a special dish, intended to reflect similarities with the ingredients used in the Shell V-Power fuel.

[sagi58]

 wrote:">The challenges of Malaysia

Scuderia Ferrari goes into the second race of the season aware that the Malaysian track is extremely demanding in terms of the climatic conditions. “Normally, we assess the tracks based on two parameters; the level of aerodynamic downforce required and the power needed from the power unit,” James Allison, Scuderia Ferrari’s Technical Director, told ferrari.com. “And if one looks at just these two parameters, Sepang is very similar to Melbourne. Therefore, the car’s competitiveness ought to be similar. However, in Malaysia, its much hotter and more humid and this is a factor that stresses both the car and the tyres. Furthermore, usually a sudden storm can require an immediate change of strategy: everyone is constantly monitoring the weather, but reaction time is always vitally important.”

Even the car’s cooling system is seriously tested at Sepang, as confirmed by Simone Resta, Scuderia Ferrari’s Chief Designer. “We have various demands to manage: reliability and performance, the latter both in terms of the power unit and the aerodynamics. We are still in the early stages of the season, therefore we need to establish an accurate understanding of our true level: in Melbourne, we managed a good top speed, which could be very useful on the two long straights of the Malaysian track. At the moment, our pace is pretty good too and, at a circuit like this, where tyre degradation is very high, it could prove to be an advantage for us.”

[sagi58]

A blast from the past:

 wrote:">
When Michael Schumacher broke his leg in a nasty crash at the 1999 British Grand Prix, few expected to see him racing again that season. In the end, not only did he return, he did so at the very top of his game, much to team mate Eddie Irvine’s delight…

0.947 seconds. On the face of it that may seem like a small amount of time, but in the context of a Grand Prix qualifying session it’s a relative lifetime. It’s also the margin by which Michael Schumacher eclipsed Ferrari team mate Eddie Irvine - his closest challenger - to clinch pole position at the inaugural Malaysian Grand Prix in October 1999.

That Schumacher was so far in front of Irvine, let alone the rest of the field, was nothing short of remarkable: prior to the weekend he hadn’t driven an F1 car in anger since fracturing his leg in a brake failure-induced first lap crash at Silverstone some three months earlier. What’s more, when he had driven, in a private test at Mugello two weeks prior to the Malaysia round, he seemed reluctant to return to the cockpit, saying that his physical condition prevented him from running at his usual pace.

And yet there he was in hot and sticky Sepang, thrust back into action in the thick of a furious title fight between Irvine and McLaren’s Mika Hakkinen and comfortably showing the rest of the field the best way around the brand-new, state-of-the-art circuit. It was as if he’d never been away.

“I couldn't have dreamt of coming back like this a month ago,” admitted Schumacher after qualifying. “We expected to be strong here but to be one second ahead is clearly surprising. We are back with a bang!”

But as dominant as Schumacher was in qualifying, he was even more commanding in the race. In fact were it not for having to assist Irvine’s title bid - something, it was rumoured, he did somewhat grudgingly - he would probably have scored a crushing victory. As if to underline that point, Schumacher eased effortlessly away from the field as the start lights went out on race day, establishing a 1.798s lead after one lap and stretching that to 3.167s a lap later.

Team mate Irvine couldn’t live with such devastating pace, but fortunately he didn’t have to - having made his point Schumacher was now ready to play the team game, and on lap four he slowed and allowed Irvine to assume the lead, and with it, the advantage in the title race.

For a man who, for nearly four years, had made it his personal mission to deliver Ferrari a first world title since 1979, helping Irvine towards that goal can’t have been easy, but nevertheless Schumacher ably played rear-gunner for his team mate. With the Northern Irishman leading the race and mechanical trouble dropping McLaren's David Coulthard out of contention, Schumacher’s task was simply to keep Hakkinen behind - a job he did with typical precision, despite protestations from the Finn about the rather robust nature of his defence.

In the end, Schumacher’s imperious qualifying form and selfless race performance were overshadowed by a row over bargeboards which saw Ferrari temporarily excluded from the results (their one-two would be reinstated on appeal a week later). Still, neither that nor the fact that Irvine would ultimately lose out on the drivers’ title at the final round in Japan should detract from what was one of the most impressive comebacks of recent times.

As Irvine joked in the post-race press conference: "This guy (Schumacher) is depressing - not only is he the best number one (driver), he's also the best number two!”

[sagi58]

 wrote:">The challenges of Malaysia

Scuderia Ferrari goes into the second race of the season aware that the Malaysian track is extremely demanding in terms of the climatic conditions. “Normally, we assess the tracks based on two parameters; the level of aerodynamic downforce required and the power needed from the power unit,” James Allison, Scuderia Ferrari’s Technical Director, told ferrari.com. “And if one looks at just these two parameters, Sepang is very similar to Melbourne. Therefore, the car’s competitiveness ought to be similar. However, in Malaysia, its much hotter and more humid and this is a factor that stresses both the car and the tyres. Furthermore, usually a sudden storm can require an immediate change of strategy: everyone is constantly monitoring the weather, but reaction time is always vitally important.”

Even the car’s cooling system is seriously tested at Sepang, as confirmed by Simone Resta, Scuderia Ferrari’s Chief Designer. “We have various demands to manage: reliability and performance, the latter both in terms of the power unit and the aerodynamics. We are still in the early stages of the season, therefore we need to establish an accurate understanding of our true level: in Melbourne, we managed a good top speed, which could be very useful on the two long straights of the Malaysian track. At the moment, our pace is pretty good too and, at a circuit like this, where tyre degradation is very high, it could prove to be an advantage for us.”

[sagi58]

More, more, more!!

 wrote:">Allison – Improvements on both sides

Scuderia Ferrari Technical Director James Allison met the media today, to discuss various topics concerning, above all, the steps forward which are now visible on the SF15-T as compared to last year’s car.

“In pure lap time terms, the gains are almost equal between chassis and power unit. On the chassis side, the lion’s share of the gains are aerodynamic, because that’s what has the most authority to put lap time on the car. So, on the chassis side it’s 80:20 aero versus useful gains made in the cooling efficiency of the car, which then translates into aero by allowing you to have the car tighter at the back.”

Based on Friday’s long runs, one wonders if Ferrari can now challenge the Mercedes on the race pace. Allison answers: “I don’t know. We will find out on Sunday but our tyre degradation is good and our pace is reasonably good. But everyone uses the Friday differently, so you never know what the others were doing. But we feel it’s been a good day.”

James is also wary of reading too much into the effects of the power units improvements: “It’s a little bit early to be confident of that. The way you judge it is blurry. The first time you get to see how much downforce and power you’ve got is in qualifying as that’s when you can be certain the others are on the same fuel as you and trying as hard as you are. The way you try to separate the downforce from the power is that the shape of the way the car accelerates is different depending on whether it’s a power gain or a downforce gain. It is vulnerable to things like the wind, so it’s only after a few races that the real picture emerges. From the Melbourne analysis it looks as though we have made a good step forward with the car and the loss relative to Mercedes is split equally between the chassis and the power unit.”

Speaking about closing the gap, the Technical Director analyses what is yet to come: “We will not be conservative, we will be shovelling development onto the car as quick as we can make it and there’s a load in the pipeline at the factory at the moment. The aero programme is performing strongly. These are still quite young aero rules so we can expect more from it and the same with the engine. The situation with the tokens make this year very different to last year and we can bring more during the year. You need to make sure you’ve got the horsepower to put into the tokens, but three is an important number even if it does not sound like much, as it buys you a combustion upgrade, which is quite significant regarding the top end of the engine.”

[sagi58]

Just putting it out there, if you'd like to show your Ferrari support,
please send me a PM and I can wave my magic wand and make you red!!

[andrew]

What a terrible thing to do to a person!

[gdh]

Paint me RED.

[sagi58]

What a terrible thing to do to a person!

Some of us enjoy it!!

[sagi58]

Paint me RED.

You are, you are!!

[CigarGuy]

Sagi-
Didn't get to watch the race till late yesterday, so this is my first time on since Saturday as I didn't
dare look yesterday.
All I could think about was how proud you must have been watching that race. 2nd and 4th. Incredible.
I, like Alonso, picked a fine time to leave Ferrari.
A big congrats to you and the other Ferrari supporters. The year just got interesting!

[darwin dali]

Sagi-
Didn't get to watch the race till late yesterday, so this is my first time on since Saturday as I didn't
dare look yesterday.
All I could think about was how proud you must have been watching that race. 2nd and 4th. Incredible.
I, like Alonso, picked a fine time to leave Ferrari.
A big congrats to you and the other Ferrari supporters. The year just got interesting!

2nd and 4th?
You left Ferrari? To join McLaren like FA?

[sagi58]

Sagi-
...All I could think about was how proud you must have been watching that race. 2nd and 4th. Incredible.
I, like Alonso, picked a fine time to leave Ferrari...

Very proud! Very happy! Very relieved!
Hey, you could always support both!!
I know I'm keeping an eye on Alonso!!
Well, until Alonso starts to challenge, that is!!