It’s the first day of the Chinese Grand Priux weekend so remember to join us for F1 Fanatic Live during today’s two practice sessions.
In today’s round up: Sergio Perez has switched chassis after the damage incurred in Malaysia.
Links
Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:
Perez to have new chassis for Chinese Grand Prix (Reuters)
“I was really lucky to get away with no [personal] damage after what we saw, how it got the chassis. I am happy that nothing else happened to me. We reckon it’s a [piece of] ballast. Nothing else can do such damage.”
Chinese Grand Prix – Conference 1 (FIA)
Lewis Hamilton on how his Malaysian Grand Prix might have gone if Nick Heidfeld hadn’t overtaken him at the start: “I think I could have competed for the win. Obviously we started second and for whatever reason I lost position at the beginning and didn’t really see Heidfeld pop down the outside so I was caught napping a little bit but I had Jenson on the inside, so I was more focusing on him, obviously not touching Sebastian.”
“Apparently there’s a shortage of gold bands so look out for silver on the options this weekend.”
Via the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app
Hispania Racing F1 Team’s Photos – Wall Photos (Facebook)
“Do you know how to write Narain in Chinese?”
Renault eyes more starts progress (Autosport)
Vitaly Petrov: “We are always trying to find good clutch positions to make a good start, and we try every weekend. This weekend we also have something we need to try and maybe we can improve. The pity here is that it’s not a long straight.”
Working flat out in Maranello (Ferrari)
“I am especially happy about Felipe’s performance, as he drove with bravura and aggression, showing he is back on top form, so I am particularly pleased for him.”
Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button could be at McLaren ‘for five years’ (The Guardian)
Martin Whitmarsh: “I can’t think of two drivers who are better communicators than Jenson and Lewis. And we’ve got both of them.”
Too much, too soon? (GrandPrix)
“As for DRS; sorry, this leaves me cold. The overtaking moves are largely artificial.”
Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.
Comment of the day
I always like a pithy COTD. Maciek neatly debunks the ‘sport shouldn’t be political’ argument:
This is a debate based on false assertions – by going to countries whose governments repress their populations, Formula 1 is precisely a political tool, one which those governments use to gain legitimacy on the international stage.
Maciek
From the forum
Movement asks Why do some people think that F1 never used to rely on strategy?
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Happy birthday!
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On this day in F1
Ralf Schumacher scored his first F1 win ten years ago today in the San Marino Grand Prix.
It was also the first win for Williams with engine supplier BMW.
mcmercslr (@mcmercslr)
15th April 2011, 0:05
Haha Karthlkeyan. I’m surprised anyone noticed
RandomChimp (@randomchimp)
15th April 2011, 0:36
lol
They can’t even write it in English.
RandomChimp (@randomchimp)
15th April 2011, 0:51
Unless the Spanish ‘L’ makes a sound more suited to the way it is pronounced by someone who speaks Tamil?
F1Yankee (@f1yankee)
15th April 2011, 0:55
bam!
Williams F1!
15th April 2011, 1:17
Maybe they translated the english from the chinese!!! ;)
roberttty
15th April 2011, 1:58
Narian 纳连
Karthikeyen 卡迪克彦
tkcom (@tkcom)
15th April 2011, 6:11
At least the sign didn’t read “Mr. Bean”.
Sushi Meerkat (@sushi-meerkat)
15th April 2011, 0:08
A big happy unbirthday to all of you who aren’t celebrating a birthday!
BasCB (@bascb)
15th April 2011, 6:02
LOL
RIISE (@riise)
15th April 2011, 0:15
If last race is Massa back on full form I don’t hold much hope for him now.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
15th April 2011, 0:53
Keith, it looks like this didn’t conform to your style sheet, and as a result, looks like it’s part of the Karthikeyan blurb above.
Regarding the article, very interesting that Renault think they can improve upon their already stellar starts.
RIISE (@riise)
15th April 2011, 0:56
Just lacks a href. Nothing to do with the CSS.
I think….
Fixy (@)
15th April 2011, 14:03
I’m seriously considering to leave F1F and find a better blog…
Nah, kidding :P
Doance (@doance)
15th April 2011, 1:01
N. KARTHLKEYAN lol the HRT team fails so much
Doance (@doance)
15th April 2011, 1:05
actually it prob wasnt the team who wrote that
Fixy (@)
15th April 2011, 13:44
And they wrote:
N. Karthikeyan
but not:
V. Liuzzi
but just
Liuzzi
Oliver
15th April 2011, 3:03
Perez is probably lucky that whatever he hit wasn’t flying at head level. Surely ballast don’t get ejected from a car’s exhuast. I would assume they are placed safely within the tub.
gDog
15th April 2011, 5:03
Brilliant extract from The Official Ferrari Opus (yours at a snip of $275,000 for the Diamante edition, or a bargain $3520 for the basic) in the back of the business magazine in The Australian today.
It’s a Q&A with Fernando and Massa which really shows exactly why Alonso is a champion and Massa never will be.
Quote from Alonso:
I hate losing. I never give up. If I am 100 points behind the championship leader, it doesn’t matter because in the next race I will try to win. … I am like that about everything on a day-to-day basis and in any sport I take part in. If I am playing football and we are losing 9-0, and the match is the first to 10, I am still convinced we will win 10-9.
Quote from Massa:
In spite of the speeds we drive at, it is possible to think while we are driving. Sometimes, your thoughts shift from what you are doing. At that moment, you criticise yourself, you say, “Watch out, you got that wrong, do it properly.”
What, he starts thinking about what he’s gonna have for tea??
and another from Massa:
In the most difficult races, where for one reason or another it seems impossible to do a good job, to get a great result, I’ve done better than I and many people expected. What I’ve learnt is this: very often, things go wrong when the challenge is easier rather than harder.
The article really shows the difference in the nature of their competiveness.
Although, I do have my doubts that they are direct quotes from Massa. There’s not a single “for sure” to be seen. There is, however, a “without a doubt”.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
15th April 2011, 5:58
That does sound highly suspect…
…for sure.
Ral
15th April 2011, 12:00
.. What?
You are putting a massive (hahaha) spin (double hahaha) on the quotes from Massa. All he’s saying is that when things seem to be going well and without any unexpected happenings, it’s easy to get distracted or complacent and that adversity focuses the mind. They’re not even talking about the same thing.
Fixy (@)
15th April 2011, 13:52
BasCB (@bascb)
15th April 2011, 6:13
That piece by Maurice Hamilton is pretty nice. Although I think he used the story of the lawyer even in FP1 or FP2 in the 5Live studio, telling a friend of him stopped watching years ago because of how complicated it was. Lets take it as an bridge used to convey the concept then.
As for the confusion, I do not agree. And that was me watching without live timing and not even minding the blog. The only thing I did not see immediately but only half way through was, that Seb was walking it again. But that was because up to then I had seen so much good on track action not even to watch for that.
Sure, I had the feeling DRS was just a tad too much, but it is doing what it was supposed to do. I hate the Idea, there I agree with M.Hamilton. KERS is fine by me, just it should be used to really boost performance, not as an overtaking tool.
The biggest investments have been made (Red Bulls**t about having to do a system themselves, is exactly that. They could have just gotten the Renault package), so why not use it?
BasCB (@bascb)
15th April 2011, 6:17
That COTD very nicely captures the state of affairs. Thanks Maciek.
Maciek
15th April 2011, 8:45
cool : )
BasCB (@bascb)
15th April 2011, 8:59
I see you changed your avatar, took me a while to realize it was you yesterday :-)
Maciek
15th April 2011, 10:33
You too! I’ve gone retro with Siouxsie Sioux… windmill for you?
BasCB (@bascb)
15th April 2011, 10:52
Yeah, its a windmill reflected in the canal on a nice sunny day.
Nice colours and shows my ties with Holland even when I don’t live there now. And their is a second windmill a bit further for a bit of family relations.
I like yours as well, nice change.
glue (@glue)
15th April 2011, 6:37
I can’t believe it’s been ten years since Ralf’s first win
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
15th April 2011, 7:26
Please have a good start Petrov!
I like how Hamilton states the obvious. Of course he could have competed for the race win had Heidfeld not had the better of him, that’s a given.
Oh and the site is better for me Keith, well done :)
Andy Price
15th April 2011, 9:55
I agree with Maurice Hamilton that the Pirelli tyres have made a huge difference to F1 and I love it. KERS has always left me cold and it is neither cost saving nor green – so I could live without it. As for DRS – I don’t see any problem with it. We’ve had turbo boost in the past and as David Coulthard says the whole car is an overtaking device. Once the cars get close the aero effect ruins the effectioveness of the following cars front wing so things are only being evened up. It would have helped Alonso last year.
If journalists cannot understand what is happening during the race then they are in the wrong job and I would be only to happy to stand in.
I was in Malaysia last week – the circuit commentary could not be heard, it was hard to read the text on the big screens and I did not have a radio commentary or acess to loive timing – I still understood most of what was happening.
F1 moves on and I have been a fan since the mid 60’s when, as a 10 year old, I got hooked on the thrill of F1. I have follwoed it for all these years and it has changed a lot along the way. The last two years have been some of the best I recall and this years looks promising.