Buemi drives in Red Bull demo in Switzerland

F1 Fanatic round-up

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In the round-up: Motor racing may be banned in Switzerland but it didn’t stop Sebastien Buemi showing up there with a Red Bull F1 car.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Racing The Showcar Around Switzerland (Red Bull)

“More than 25,000 saw Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi put the Red Bull Running Showcar in his home nation this afternoon.”

Italian Grand Prix race video (F1)

Little new footage from FOM, so still no idea what happened in the Felipe Massa/Jarno Trulli/Sebastien Buemi collision.

How F1 came to India, why it took long (Hindustan Times)

“In a nation that was just warming up to cable television, [Vicky] Chandhok and his associates wondered if going pay-per-view was the right way to take things forward. The safest bet, and the one with the widest reach, was showing it on the national network, Doordarshan.”

The real story: Raikkonen, Williams and Sutil… (Joe Saward)

“It is not credible that [Kimi Raikkonen’s] visit to Williams was a private one.”

Christian Horner explains Mark Webber’s problem with starts this season (James Allen)

“The Spa thing was more a calculation on the Renault side really, measuring the amount of torque that was required and Sebastian [Vettel] was within just 100 revs of having exactly the same start as Mark.”

Michael Schumacher insists he’s not making 2013 plans yet (ITV)

“I don’t give a damn about suggestions. There is no point to talk about my future right now.”

Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.

Comment of the day

Great to hear from Handcart whose sixtieth birthday was on Friday and received tickets to next year’s Belgian Grand Prix:

For sure I am a very lucky and very happy sixty year old!

F1 Fanatic is my regular company for races as though I’m not posting I’m always reading the articles, comments and follow the live chat. Now I’m excited about maybe meeting up with F1 Fanatics there. Bonus!
Handcart

From the forum

Still getting lots of great contributions to “You know you’re an F1 Fanatic fanatic when…”

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to UKK!

On this day in F1

Jackie Stewart won the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport 40 years ago today.

The race was stopped after 64 of the scheduled 80 laps due to heavy rain. Ronnie Peterson was second for March in front of Mark Donohue’s McLaren.

It was the sixth win for Stewart, who had already won that year’s world championship title.

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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52 comments on “Buemi drives in Red Bull demo in Switzerland”

  1. I’ve done a bit of number crunching.

    IF, which is a big word in motor racing… In fact, it’s Formula 1 spelt backwards ;)

    Anyway, if the top 5 at Singapore are as follows:

    1. Vettel
    2. Hamilton
    3. Webber
    4. Button
    5. Alonso

    Vettel will be champion.

    I.e.

    For Vettel to be champion at Singapore if he wins:

    Alonso must be 4th or lower
    AND
    Button must be 3rd or lower
    AND
    Webber must be 3rd or lower.

    If Vettel finishes 2nd:

    Alonso must be 8th or lower
    AND
    Button must be 5th or lower
    AND
    Webber must be 5th or lower
    AND
    Hamilton mustn’t win.

    If Vettel finishes 3rd:

    Alonso must be 9th or lower
    AND
    Button must be 7th or lower
    AND
    Webber must be 7th or lower
    AND
    Hamilton must be 4th or lower.

    If Vettel finishes out of the top 3, the title will roll onto Japan.

    1. Yeah, we’ve known all this since Vettel won at Spa.

      1. Maybe you did, but I didn’t (having been on holiday), so you have my thanks, Craig-o!

    2. First time I’ve seen it laid out so well. Nice one! Even if someone doesn’t agree…

    3. Nice one Craig, all nice and clearly laid out instead of fiddling with numbers in my head!

    4. PM doesn’t like it so you know you’ve made a good contribution to the thread.

      Nice to see it laid out clearly!

      1. That was unnecessary. And also wrong. I never said I didn’t like it, I simply pointed out that the championship standings have been known for some time.

        In the future, play the ball – not the man.

        1. grumble, grumble, grumble… well, that’s surely part of why we enjoy reading your posts PM!

          Thanks for the number-crunching craig-o, it’s always a cool contribution.

        2. It was, I apologise.

    5. Nice.

      I hadn’t realised that Hamilton was so close to being mathematically eliminated from the running. He has to finish in front of Vettel or that’s it for him.

      I also hadn’t actually realised how close we were to the end of the season! That winter break is looming large :(

  2. Nice one craig, i might make a note of that and have it handy whilst i watch the singapore race pan out, and keep glancing at it like, if the race ended now…

    1. No doubt the commentators will bring it up a few times. Particularly given that we get on-screen graphics showing how the championship situation will look if the drivers held their positions at the time. It came up a few times at Monza.

      1. I remember when it was 207, and the title was close, they (FOM) brought up a “championship prediction” where they showed what points Hamilton, Alonso, Raikkonen and Massa would be on. I hadn’t seen it back up until recently.

  3. DID the Swiss government permitted him to drive or did he drove illegally?

    Kimi to Williams isn’t happening, they are just hopeless.

  4. The Swiss really do not like Motorsport…

    No lectures by the way, I know why they banned it but…come on, seriously. Time to move on.

    1. A few lawmakers have tried getting it removed a few times, but they always get outvoted. Why the ban keeps getting upheld is beyond me.

      1. Why the ban keeps getting upheld is beyond me.

        I suspect the Swiss government disapporves of motorsport, as opposed to the Swiss people.

    2. The Swiss really do not like Motorsport

      And yet, they produce a whole heap of racing drivers – Sebastien Buemi, Clay Regazzoni, Jo Siffert, Neel Jani, Jean-Denis Deletraz, Gregor Foitek and Marc Surer all raced in Formula 1, while Fabio Leimer is in GP2, Christopher Zanella is in Formula 3, Zoel Amberg is in GP3, and Alain Menu in touring cars.

      Strangely enough, Switzerland also produces a whole lot of feamale racing drivers – like Simona de Silvestro, Natacha Gachnang, Rahel Frey and Cyndie Allermann.

      1. It’s a shame, really. The Swiss are holding on to 1955 a bit too tightly.

        Or is it a case of NIMBY-ism? Not wanting to see the green slopes “desecrated” by purpose-built circuits.

        1. No, I think it’s just good old-fashioned Swiss conservatism. They see no reason to lift the ban (which I think was a massive over-reaction), so the ban does not get lifted.

          1. I think you are right on that.
            “The ban has now been in place for over 50 years, why change it?” will be the predominant thinking about it.

          2. What they need is a world champion. In all seriousness though, having the ban for this long is ridiculous. But I guess people can’t miss what they haven’t really had so perhaps little incentive to lift it.

          3. I don’t think that will change their mind. They’ve got dozens of racing drivers, plus racing teams (Sauber, Jenzer, matech), and they’ve proven to be perfectly successful without being based in Switzerland.

            The only thing lifting the ban on motorsport will do is open the door for actual racing in Switzerland. And given the country’s proximity to Germany, France and Italy – where there is plenty of motorsport – there is no real need for it. It would be more of a problem if Switzerland was isolated, like Australia.

    3. The Swiss are big on their green issues, I imagine the argument is directed more that way these days

  5. Can anyone tell me if Alonso were to win every race from now, what vettel will have to do to clinch the title?

    (not that i want that to happen!)

    1. Minimum is to get 38 points in the following races (including Singapore) to be tied on points and win on countback by having more race victories.
      In effect a couple of podiums and an low points position will fight off even that.

    2. By my rough estimation, if Alonso wins every race, then all Vettel has to do is finish no lower than sixth at every race for the rest of the season.

      1. Yeah, we’ve known all this since Vettel won at Spa.

        BOOM!

        1. If you don’t have anything constructive to say, then don’t say anything.

          BOOM!

  6. Happy birthday robk23.

    1. Yes, happy birthday from me as well!

  7. That article from Joe Saward is pretty weak. For a start, one of his last points about the Renault situation is a load of rubbish, Kimi pretty much told them where to get off.

    I really doubt we will see Raikkonen at Williams. He could do better, so much better.

    1. I agree, from what I remember about the Renault thing they were the ones trying to get publicly of being linked to Raikkonen and he as you said told them where to get off!

      Think the problem is none of the top 4 teams will take a chance on him after being out so long and maybe looking under motivated at times at Ferrari in his last year.

      But there is a Red Bull & Ferrari seat vacant after next year so if he can get the right contract and impress at Williams he could have a chance then of getting somewhere better. There is zero chance either of them two teams would even consider him if he spent another year away.

    2. That’s Saward for you – one part fact, one part rumour. And one part insinuation. He’s okay for soft news if you take it with a grain of salt, and his extrapolations can be quite interesting at times.

      1. An example of “play the ball – not the man”?

        1. An example indeed. Saward’s posts are often constructed in the same way: they start out with established facts, and progress to the rumour, all tied together with insinuation.

          However, if in future you want to turn someone’s words around on them, make sure you’re not commiting the same sin that you’re attacking them for. it never looks good.

    3. Kimi wanted a top team for 2010, and as he had no offers from one he left. He’s now been absent for two years, and he might be desperate if he is ready to drive for Williams. Kimi’s decision was wrong, he could have been driving in these two years with a decent team, instead of missing two seasons and “returning” (if he does) with a Williams in decline.

    4. I agree Andrew, Kimi at Williams to drive their F1 car seems a very far shot. He would cost money (probably, this is Kimi after all) and he is not known for being a development driver.

      I can see them either keeping Rubens if they want an experienced developper, or take Sutil for potentially giving them a shot at points finishes, or some young kid with future potential and a big backing package attached.

      1. He would cost money (probably, this is Kimi after all) and he is not known for being a development driver.

        If he really wants back in, he’ll know he has to take a pay cut. Otherwise, he’s just wasting everyone’s time.

        That said, I agree that it’s a long shot.

        1. There’s no way he could command the kind of pay packet he was getting from Ferrari.

          That said, would money even be his biggest concern? He left the sport pretty easily and he did get a substantial payout I believe.

          1. The cynic in me does suspect Kimi priced himself out of a 2010 seat on purpose. Ferrari generally have a policy of buying staff members out of their contracts on the condition that they take a ‘sabbatical’ year so that nothing they learned at Ferrari could be used by another team; by the time they return to the sport, any knowledge they have is a year out of date and therefore worthless. I don’t think they’ve ever actually done it to a driver, but I’ve heard Raikkonen was “encouraged” to go rallying for a year by the senior management at Ferrari. Rather than simply take the money and go, Raikkonen may have entered into contract negotiations with other teams with a list of unrealistic expectations (full salary, heavily-reduced PR hours, championship-worthy car, etc.). This would make a show of him negotiating, so that when things fell apart (as he intended), it would simply look like he hadn’t been able to find a new team, rather than admitting he had taken the money and sat out. It was a way of saving face more than anything else.

  8. If you want to see great gameplay videos of the new game go to TeamVVV youtube channel.

  9. Watching MotoGP at Aragon, I think Formula 1 absolutely needs to visit the circuit some day. It’s a shame the circuit organisers/owners won’t play ball – Bernie asked them if they wanted in last year in the event South Korea would not be ready, and they said no.

    1. Maybe that in itself is a good strategy to end up getting F1 at a more or less reasonable cost. If they can build up a good reputation with other events before getting involved in negotiations they might be in a stronger position to negotiate. Unfortunately I’m speculating wildly, I wonder how well they are doing outside MotoGP…

      1. Well the calendar looks busy but mostly with seemingly low profile events. Maybe that’s the way they like to do business. Let’s face it, F1 is an expensive (and therefore risky) business.

  10. Isn’t it funny how everyone was talking about wether Schumacher would throw the towel in the ring early and not do this year, or stop before next year. Now he’s had a couple of solid races he is being asked about 2013!
    I am curious to see if the queston goes back to the former position in a race or two.

    1. I reckon he’ll be in F1 in 2013, I really do. He’s shown that when his car is good, he can mix it with the “big boys.” You don’t lose talent.

      1. I think if Schumi have a good car that can take him in the top 3 in the WC then he may think of 2013 given he have a good fitness which has never been his problem.

  11. That article from the hindustan times is a very nice read Keith.

    The part about how far off a route it is for an Indian to get into F1 shows how big a task even getting in a backmarker team is for many people in the world. Actually instead of giving them slack, we should praise their effort to get to the grid. And when we consider Karthikeyan might have been at the top of his skill in the early 2000s its easy to understand why he now struggles (just compare Schu)

    But the best part of it is the latter part where Chandhok describes their fitness regime.

  12. I have COTD! Awesome! The gift that keeps giving… Thanks Keith, wow, I think I’ve peaked now – till the race weekend itself of course.

  13. Motor Racing in Switzerland hasn’t been banned since 2007.

    http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Switzerland_lifts_ban_on_motor_racing

    (wiki news with sources, also this site posted the news)

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