F1 Fanatic round-up: 19/8/2010

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Here’s today’s round-up:

Links

The Secret Life of Robert Kubica (Formula1.com)

"He’s Polish; he’s driven for BMW Sauber and Renault; in five seasons on the Formula One grid he’s scored one win, 11 podiums, one pole position and 226 points; and many tip him to be a future world champion. These are just some of the things you probably do know about Robert Kubica. Now find out a few you don’t, with the help of the latest instalment in our Secret Life series?óÔé¼?ª"

Adrian Sutil interview: Waiting for the big break (Autosport)

"After quite a difficult start in Formula 1, Adrian Sutil has made a name for himself on the grid with some impressive performances. With Force India getting stronger, can he start challenging for wins? Edd Straw finds out."

Mercedes may not replace Heidfeld (ESPN F1)

"Mercedes may elect not to appoint a replacement for departing test driver Nick Heidfeld after the team released the German from his contract to become Pirelli’s official tyre development tester.

"Spain’s daily AS sports newspaper initially reported that Andy Soucek, who last week left his role as Virgin’s reserve driver, was one candidate to fill the vacant position.

"According to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, however, Mercedes may not appoint a permanent replacement as a full-time reserve driver is not required by the sporting regulations."

Comment of the day

Patrickl has his own suggestion for best reply to a team order:

My favorite response to a ‘team order’ would be Rubens’ "Don’t make me laugh" when the team informed him that Button was 2 seconds quicker.
Patrickl

From the forum

Martin Brundle One Liners

Happy birthday!

Nico Hulkenberg is celebrating his 23rd birthday today.

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Gerhard Berger made his first start in Formula One on this day in 1984 at the Austrian Grand Prix.

This was the first of four races for ATS during his first season, before moving to the Arrows team for his first full year in Formula One. That led him to Benetton (formerly Toleman) for 1986 for whom he scored an opportunistic maiden win from driver, team and tyre supplier (Pirelli) at Mexico.

Between 1984 and his retirement in 1997, Berger had total of 240 race starts, 385 career points, 48 podiums and ten wins. His final win came at the 1997 German Grand Prix for Benetton.

46 comments on “F1 Fanatic round-up: 19/8/2010”

  1. Every day further into the summer break we get, the news seems to slooooow even further. Only a week now until the circus arrives at Spa!! Wish I was going.

  2. 1) Sutil interview requires subscription.
    2) You realise the Mansell interview is from 2007?

  3. That Mansell quote is 3 years old :) haha I’m not sure if that’s meant to be in “On this day X years ago”.

    Selby

    1. Thanks for the heads up guys.

  4. Big LOL at the Mansell link!

    We need Keith back ASAP.

    1. I’m sorry you feel that way – must try harder, eh?

      1. I would’t worry, your keeping things going just fine.

      2. tough crowd. i hope they got their money’s worth

        1. No kidding, Nehpets needs to chill. Keith will be back soon enough. In the meantime Cari is doing a fantastic job keeping things running smoothly.

          1. I agree, Cari is doing great,

            The fact that Ned hasn’t taken over and the site isn’t called FlandersF1.co.uk is good enough for me!

      3. Cari you are doing fine. I think we can all acknowledge the job is no walk in the park.

      4. Sorry Cari, I take it back, you’re doing a great job. But I’m not sure how a story with Mansell saying Hamilton will wrap up the 2007 title this Sunday in Brazil could be mistaken for current news. ;)

      5. Actually I was going to say Cari Jones round-up’s are awesome, lots of info. Great job so far!

        1. Cari you are doing a good job. Keep it up.

      6. You can try harder, but the occasional mistake will happen anyhow.

        Don’t worry your doing a very nice job there.

        The Renault factory visit was a very good read and reactions to news coming in (Pirelli/Heidfeld, Piquets interview) was timely and the poll a great idea.

        1. You are doing a good job, Keith makes mistakes (especially in spelling) regularly…

          1. Haha, I was going to say that.

            They both do a great job but Cari’s spelling is better ;)

        2. ..and I (more surprised than anyone) got a “Comment of the Day”.

      7. +1 Cari – keep up the good work.

        1. excellent job Cari. It’s taken me a while to realize Keith’s away and you’re maintaining the site. That means you’re doing a top-notch job. The only difference I spotted was the increased length of the round-ups, which is by all means a positive.

      8. I’d give him the benefit of the doubt and say it was a joke, so don’t take it personally Cari, you’re doing fine :)

    2. “We need Keith back ASAP.”

      What lack of respect. Hopefully you’ll be leaving, ASAP.

  5. Is there no requirement to have a third driver? What happens if they have a situation similar to Toyota when they had to bring in Kobayashi?

    1. They are allowed just not to race (like Ferrari did in Hungary last year) or get someone from another team.

      I suppose Mercedes would have no trouble finding someone to drive the car, if they would have one of their drivers injured (Paffet, Di Resta, Sutil, maybe even get Heidfeld back, and others would be interested as well).

      1. I also believe that the Brawn GP team didn’t have a test/reserve driver in 2009.

  6. “I would not say that we can become a winning team,” he admitted.

    Brave words from Sutil. Either he knows he wont be in F1 next year, or he has a drive with another team.

    1. Or he’s just being honest and he and his team know it. Nothing against Force India, I like seeing them up front, makes things interesting..

      1. Not to mention that paddock rumors are saying their 2011 development is seriously hampered because key technical personnel left the team.

  7. Not actully F1 but I thought Australian fans might be interested in this.

    http://www.nascar.com/2010/news/headlines/cup/08/17/mambrose.jtg.daugherty.rpm.leaving/index.html

    Australian NASCAR driver Marcos Ambrose has signed a multi-year deal with Richard Petty Motorsports.

    1. Thanks Macca ;)

      1. Cheers Macca,
        Ambrose on a mission, personal i think he will do well.

        1. Well it was a great drive last week at Britol to come from 37th and be sitting in 5th with 20 laps to go.

          In a good outfit next season I think he can certainly make the chase.

  8. Robert Kubica is BORING :X

    1. Except for his comments on films, he actually seems like the kinda guy I’d want to meet and hang out with, really. Pretty down to earth with a few harmless quirks and passions.

    2. Ha! That was exactly my thought. Then I felt bad for thinking it, ’cause he seems like a really nice guy and I really like him behind the wheel. Then again if he lightened up a little he might not be the driver that he is.

    3. I actually find it refreshing to have a guy telling us, he has no great collections or exasperous ideas, just relax at home.

      At least we did not get the 100th confession of liking chocolates or sweets!

      I’m all for a barbecue with Robert.

    4. Maybe – but the fact is what’s boring is these pointless interviews. At least if they’d write them up word for word rather than rephrasing in nicely concise britishy/international English we might get a feel for these guys’ genuine personalities.

      It was kind of funny though: Do you… No. How about… No. Will you… Maybe. Actually, no.

      1. I would like to see one done like that with previously driving Fins: imagine Raikonnen having an interview, and Hakinnen was good that way too :)

  9. I think someone mentioned it yesterday, but SpeedTV did a telephone interview with Mark Webber.

    Below is a link to the video (from the Speed TV studio)
    http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid626910340?bctid=585736243001

    1. His doing another one tonight in Australia on a show called Thursday Night Live.

      1. It’s nice to hear from Webber, i would like him to win the championship.

        By the way, Pitpass noticed a curious similarity between Australian WDC that would fit with Webber as well: They all won the first WDC their team had.

        http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=41745

    1. It’s a good surface to start with the tyres there but Nick’s quite light on tyres so I doubt he’s mashed them up too much. Glad it’s going well, everything should be fine but it is early days. I’m more interested with seeing who fails/triumphs with the tyres next season as there’s bound to be some surprises.

    2. Why on earth do they test on Mugello? Wouldn’t it make more sense to use Jerez or Barcelona?

      At least on those tracks all the teams will have tested which would allow them to interpret the data.

  10. Some people seem to think, that Glock stating to be committed to Virgin is only part of negotiating tactics between Renault, Glock and Virgin apparently involving a deal between them and Esteban Guerrieri (which they claim will be financed by the Argentinian government, ring a bell anyone?).

    Not sure what to make of that, but there might still be some movement between those back end cars.http://formula-1.updatesport.com/news/article/1282206282/formula_one/F1headlines/Glock-to-move-on/view.html

    1. Sounds like typical F1 silly season stuff. No idea if it is true. Might as well be!

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