Vettel to enter kart race this weekend

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Sebastian Vettel will race against a host of top international karting talent at the Lonato circuit in Italy this weekend before F1 testing begins in Spain.

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Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:

2016.. #mclarenhonda

A photo posted by Fernando Alonso (@fernandoalo_oficial) on

Hello 💪🏽 lets start Winter Cup This weekend @seb5_vettel

A photo posted by Karol Basz (@kbasz) on

Comment of the day

Red Bull’s new livery got a mixed to positive response. This was one of the more appreciative:

It looks simpler than last year’s and better as a result. They had been getting more and more clutter on it every year and simplifying it and adding red highlights improved the appearance of it by a good bit. It will probably look better on track.

All in all, I think it is a good livery considering that they are almost locked into their livery format from a marketing point of view.
Adam Blocker (@Blockwall2)

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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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37 comments on “Vettel to enter kart race this weekend”

  1. @keithcollantine Thanks for giving my third COTD!

    1. Congratulations Adam, it is sign of how desperate we are that a subtle variation on a teams paint job garners 3 pages of comments. How much more interesting will it be if STRs delayed paint job features a giant Alfa Romeo logo rather than a leaping bull.

    2. Congrats on your 3rd! Anyway I also liked the new livery but let’s be honest is not a classic, it looks better than it really is just because we’ve seen the same over and over again for the past ten years. But yeah having said that, it’s the best so far.

  2. Complicated tyre strategies? Not likely, the computers will all give the same answer, the variety, if any, will come from backmarker teams trying to attract attention by running ahead of their race finishing pace for awhile before plummeting down the order and finishing so far behind that the cameras will be looking elsewhere.

    1. I am sure there will be a couple of races at the start of the season where everyone is still gauging the new compounds and trying what works before it settles into a more or less steady regime from Barcelona or so onward @hohum

    2. @hohum because all cars treat their tyres the same way? Right. :)

  3. An F1 driver competing in a kart race? I expect the Australian Grand Prix will conveniently clash with it next year…

    1. ColdFly F1 (@)
      18th February 2016, 6:26

      Good one! – If only it were a Caption Competition.

    2. I would love to see a current F1 driver kart race, do it under the guise of charity.

  4. I was a little bored last night so I decided to design an F1 engine, the results were very, very good .

    1. Of course you won’t really see the performance from it until later in the season when the upgrades in the pipeline arrive

    2. ^^^lol. My thoughts exactly

    3. Get in touch with Horner for 2017

  5. That audio clip tweeted by Haas F1 Team… what is it, their transporter truck? ;)

  6. I like how Horner is playing nice now that he is at the mercy of Renault :P

    Honestly, I haven’t heard Horner be that supportive of Renault even during their glory years.

    I’m hoping Renault and Honda close the gap this year. F1 would become a 3 tier racing category if they don’t.

  7. So nice to hear that some of last year’s teams and PU manufacturers are feeling much more confident. They’re hardly likely to say they’re not at this point in time.

    Wonder whether they will be in a week’s time after they’ve actually put a wheel on track? I suppose actually doing laps will be considered a massive improvement by some.

    1. Honestly, I’m a little irritated by them reducing the test weekends from 3 to 2. This could have been very valuable time to both Renault and Honda in getting their act together.

      If I had to bet, I’d say that the Honda PU will fail 3 times in the first 3 days. They will only get their act together for the second test, where again they won’t be able to put enough mileage on the car. The 3rd test would have been really beneficial to them, but unfortunately, they will have to play ‘test’ for the opening couple of rounds again.

      Another prediction -> Mercedes will put in the most number of testing laps, followed by Ferrari, who will put in approximately 90% of Mercedes’ laps. Red Bull will also put in approximately 85% of Mercedes’ laps. Mclaren will put in approximately 60% of Mercedes’ laps.

      1. I suspect you’re being generous about the laps.

        Agree about the lack of testing – it really doesn’t give either Honda or Renault much chance, especially given that last year they barely got their cars on track for the first test and a fair chunk of the second.

        I suspect we’ll see much the same this year at the first test if (and there’s a fair amount of doubt) they both bring majorly upgraded PU’s.

        1. I suspect we’ll see much the same this year at the first test if (and there’s a fair amount of doubt) they both bring majorly upgraded PU’s.

          If they don’t, they’re going nowhere for another season.

      2. On your 2nd prediction @todfod, I expect it to be Toro Rosso.
        They always seem to go for maximum test laps, and now with the benefit of a proven PU.

  8. ColdFly F1 (@)
    18th February 2016, 6:31

    I’m one of the few on here who don’t comment on paint jobs, but it seems to hurt me in the COTD race.
    Until now!
    I like the simplicity of FA’s helmet design, and hope that Button has the same with a red top!.

    PS – congratulations @blockwall2 with your COTD

  9. ResultantAsteroid
    18th February 2016, 6:49

    Ohhhh… Seb, this is gonna make one Bernie veryyyy angry. And the fact that he will start to understand now that he is actually helpless and couldnot arrange the calendar to block F1 drivers from competing in EVERY single motor sport in the world will make him even angrier. Kudos ;-)

    1. one of the reasons why you don’t let the F1 drivers compete in lower rank classes is because if they lose, they could ‘tarnish’ the brand image of F1. You need to keep the guys in the top class, looking like top shelf, otherwise people start questioning F1 and it being the ‘pinnacle’ of motorsports, and this has a negative effect on the ROI for the sponsors, owners, etc..

      1. Let him race, and let some kid beat him. It will not ruin Sebs carrer but might begin kids carrer.

  10. Anthony Vertue
    18th February 2016, 6:52

    …but he moved 28 places up the grid with the McLaren in the first race

    What race was this journalist watching?

    1. Clearly not the Aus GP where KMag parked it on the out lap to the grid.

  11. I wish Vijay would sell the team. It’s a good team and a likeable team, but I’ve always found that nationalist name a bit alienating.

    1. Maybe you’d prefer Force Murica?

  12. Is it just me or does Fernando’s new helmet design look like a toilet seat?

    1. @berndmaylander Didn’t think of it. But now I took a second look and yes, I see it.

    2. Hahaha +1
      He’s preprared have a lot of cr *p races

    3. lmao!
      man you just killed it . +1

  13. The AS article on Alonso is quite interesting. It questions whether Alonso is still the best driver on the grid. Since Alonso became World Champion he has consistently been regarded as one of the grid’s top 3 drivers. That list usually included Hamilton, Vettel, Schumacher, Raikkonen or Kubica. Personally I have never truly rated Webber, Massa or Button. That is obviously by the toughest measure of greatness and legendary status and I think most agree on that. But, I think that Alonso has still got it and will win again.

    The sport should make more effort to ensure the 2017 cars showcase the driver’s ability more. Either by being able to race each other properly, or by being super fast and hard to drive. If that was the case then maybe we will be able to see the new talent pushed to their limits. Alonso did not make my top 3 drivers for 2015 but the shine was very slightly taken off Ricciardo this year who still be mega over the next decade. But if aero solutions are to be as planned and not what was originally proposed then the difference in cars will further pollute our view of who is the best driver.

    1. Ricciardo this year who still be mega over the next decade.

      I think that very much depends on whether RB can find a new engine in 2017 or he manages to find himself a seat elsewhere in a championship winning team, Mercedes seems unlikely given Hamilton will be there more than likely until he retires and Rosberg seats will probably go to a Max V. Ferrari is the same story with Vettel being there for the long haul, I think Dani Ric has put himself in a losing camp and there is very little way out, and by time there is he will have been passed up for some other younger more impressive talent. I fear he may have missed his moment in F1, in any meaningful way that is. I’m sure he put in some great performances but last season he was quite forgettable which is a shame.

  14. Should be very interesting to see what RBR does. If the Renault unit is improved they may not want to start fresh with someone else, and who would that someone else even be? Seems like the VW group thing is not happening, but even if it was, RBR would have to start the marriage with them by the summer, and they may still be sussing out Renault’s new potential at that point. Starting to look like they should stick with the devil they know, unless of course they are just a customer to Renault now that Renault are now a works team. Imho RBR should try to stick with the stability of
    Renault and help them along the way rather than suffer this year and then at least a couple of more of growing pains with a new entity.

  15. Only decent alternative for RBR engine is Honda. That is… If they are somewhat better than Rena…i mean TAG.

    Also Vettel racing a kart… This id like to see. Will there be some awezome videos? Maybe even on Youtube? Or FOM owns karting aswell?

  16. Alonso has made a habit of stopping by the dubai kartdrome. It is nothing short of impressive to see him get in a leisure kart that all the other drivers have a whole season of training on and done thousands of laps, and get circuit record. His pace is undeniable.

    sport360.com/article/uae/45919/fernando-alonso-visits-dubai-kartdrome-sws-sprint-series

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