Practice for the Turkish Grand Prix starts tomorrow. Remember if you want to join in our live blogs you can find details of all the sessions here.
Also predictions for the race are now open. Make your predictions here now. You have until the start of final practice on Saturday to get your entries in.
Here’s today’s round-up:
Links
“Lotus F1 drivers Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen and Fairuz Fauzy will be the star guests at the Classic Team Lotus Festival, which takes place at Snetterton on Sunday 20 June.”
Lewis Hamilton has moves of a brake dancer (Daily Express)
“The telemetry tells me whether I’m braking earlier or later than my team-mate, but I’m the only one who can pick my braking point and I do that by listening to what the car’s telling me. A lot depends on the track. As the surface increases in grip over the weekend, I’ll brake later and later.”
“In contrast to Gillett’s over-ambitious plans to transform the venue and host the F1 British Grand Prix, Adroit [Group] intends a careful approach. Broome said: "It is a big task and nobody is under any illusions about that. We intend to bring the site back up to a world class standard.”
“It will be fascinating to how long the US fans’ traditionally capricious interest in F1 endures this time around.” I’d be more inclined to question Bernie Ecclestone’s commitment to having a race in the United States than the American fans, many of which have continued to follow F1 despite losing their race three years ago.
Comment of the day
Some great insight from Mahir C into why the Turkish Grand prix has struggled to draw a crowd. Make sure you read his full comment here:
I rarely saw any promotion of the event to the local public. When the organisers decided it would be cool to have an F1 race in Turkey, they mainly saw it as a tourism booster, as if Istanbul needed one.
The local interest was always secondary consideration. Daft idea as it is already very hard for locals to get to the track, I cant imagine how hard it must be for a tourist.
Never mind the huge cost of a cab ride, it will feel like the driver is abducting you. Why don’t the race organisers arrange coaches (not city buses) from city centre to race track is beyond me.
I would also blame Bernie [Ecclestone]. Turkish officials always wanted have the race in Antalya (in southern Turkey), which always has a sizeable tourist population.
If you come to watch a GP in Istanbul, you’ll have no time to see historic places. On the other hand, most of the tourist in Antalya are there to have a relaxing holiday and choose to stay at their all inclusive hotels. I am sure the hotel owners there would have sold F1 tickets bundled in a holiday package and attracted a bigger crowd. Plus, access to the track would have been easier.
Anyway, Bernie insisted on Istanbul so Istanbul it was.
Mahir C
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Graigchq!
On this day in F1
Four years ago today Michael Schumacher was thrown to the back of the grid for the Monaco Grand Prix after the stewards found he had stopped his car deliberately during qualifying in an attempt to keep pole position.
The stewards’ verdict was:
The stewards can find no justifiable reason for the driver to have braked with such undue, excessive and unusual pressure at this part of the circuit, and are therefore left with no alternatives but to conclude that the driver deliberately stopped his car on the circuit in the last few minutes of qualifying, at a time at which he had thus far set the fastest laptime.
Read more: Michael Schumacher still refuses to explain 2006 Rascasse controversy
Michael Griffin
27th May 2010, 0:12
Mahir C is spot on, Antalya would have been awesome to have the Turkish GP, my sister goes there every year, the place is packed, and to make matters more agonising, I suppose, the pubs and bars are always packed to death with people squinting at one tv for the F1.
Sad really.
Red Andy
27th May 2010, 9:25
The only possible problem with Antalya is that it might have been necessary to make it a flyaway race, which F1 doesn’t necessarily need more of.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
27th May 2010, 10:53
Good point.
Scribe
27th May 2010, 11:01
Istanbul’s promoters should look west a little bit. See if they can’t draw in any Greeks. (/non rioting jobless greeks of course)
Seriously put signs in the city. Advertise on the telly, people will come. Same for China.
Icthyes
27th May 2010, 13:15
There’s quite a cult following amongst Greeks for Formula 1, and with prices so low, I bet a fair few would travel to Constant…I mean, Istanbul in normal times.
Magnificent Geoffrey
27th May 2010, 1:01
Pleased for Donington Park – hopefully the new investors help to revive this terrific circuit back up to the standard it deserves to be at.
macahan
27th May 2010, 1:28
More news on the US GP.
http://adamcooperf1.com/2010/05/26/tilke-designing-austin-track-site-already-purchased/
Seems Tilke will design it. Poh. But it’s not on a flat area (yay) and “The German has been asked to create a fast circuit with challenging corners that resemble those of classis established circuits such as Silverstone, Hockenheim and Spa.” Yihhha… Now if he can just pull that off and give us some overtaking places to.
800 acres not to far from the Airport. Sweet. Water and waste permits done.. Great. Now we just need track design and shovels in the dirt.
sato113
27th May 2010, 13:55
what challenging corners does Hockenheim have???
Todfod
27th May 2010, 8:07
Antalya definitely would have been a better spot for the Turkish GP. I have a feeling that Bernie screwed up by having the Indian GP just outside delhi as well. If it were around Mumbai, there would be a whole lot more people willing to attend.
OEL
27th May 2010, 9:36
What I don’t understand is why Shumacher stopped on track, making it so obvious that he tried to destroy Alonso’s potential pole lap. Had Michael been more cleaver, he’d put it in the wall. That way noone would be able to say he didn’t make a driver error, and the stewards wouldn’t be able to punish him. It would be very ugly, but so was what he did anyway.
MacLeod
27th May 2010, 10:41
Probaly he was thinking about it and not deciding which trick to use so when he approached the corner he was too late for a ‘clean’ crash that why he was so obvious.
Oli
27th May 2010, 10:47
Hammond Meets Moss, to be aired in the United Kingdom at 9pm on BBC 4 next Sunday. the pair recall their individual accidents and talk of how the brain is affected after such a traumatic experience.
Could you add this to the f1 fanatic calendars please Keith??
MPJ1994
27th May 2010, 13:46
An announcement is apperently imminent that Pirelli has been selected to supply tyres for 2011.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/83894
MacLeod
27th May 2010, 14:22
Force India to use f-duct in Turkey seems they want to be the fastest on the straight.
Glenn
27th May 2010, 14:59
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/formula-1-news/235616/tilke-selected-to-design-texas-circuit/
Well it looks like Tilke will be used for the Austin Circuit. I think the approach taken with the design of the Indian GP with full driver input will improve the cirucit at Austin. ANd given that Tilke’s history with track turn around time he will surely have a track ready to go in 2012. Here’s hoping that it is a well designed driver’s track. And not just an exercise in F1 regulations.
Hallard
27th May 2010, 15:12
By the way how are things coming with the new circuit in Korea? That race is less than 5 months away and we havent seen or heard much about it. And F1.com has the race listed as “*Subject to circuit approval”
HounslowBusGarage
27th May 2010, 15:37
There’s due to be a GT3 Asia race there on August 27 – on the long circuit. But as the web site is still in Korean only, I can’t tell if that’s the first planned race.
BasCB
28th May 2010, 21:10
I really like the interview Adam Cooper did with Bernie.
It seems at least Bernie looks at the results of the LG thing, he got the message, that more street circuits are not needed