In the round-up: Mercedes expect to continue to perform at their Shanghai level.
Links
Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:
Mercedes says China pace was genuine (Autosport)
Norbert Haug: “The speed is there. The performance in China was genuine.”
Sonangol Caterham Team Lotus (Motorsport, according to me)
“The following domains were registered on the 19th April: sonangolcaterham.com, sonangolcaterhamf1.com…”
Interview with McLaren’s Gary Paffett
“The exhaust and floor package which we introduced in Melbourne was last minute – it was the first time it had run on the car and was far from being refined. So we, and everyone else I guess, have got a lot of work around that area to try and maximise that. There are updates coming and hopefully they can deliver and get us closer to the qualifying pace of the Red Bulls.”
F1’s Bernie Ecclestone may sell shareholding in QPR for 100m (The Guardian)
“If somebody bought that team today it would be a very good punt. It is probably worth 100m. I don’t have any choice staying in or going out. Flavio [Briatore] would probably be the one to sell if anybody?? It is dependent on Flavio.”
BBC Sport earns three Bafta award nominations (BBC)
“BBC Sport’s Formula 1 team have also been nominated for their production of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.”
Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.
Comment of the day
Today I’m off to see what Lotus are bringing to the next couple of races. GeorgeTuk is one of several readers who aren’t convinced by their expectation to be fighting for points in Barcelona:
That is quite a wild prediction, would mean some serious failings of strategy, reliability or speed from those further up the field.
This is based on beating one "midfield" driver in one race.
Could be true if no one else developed their car in the same period, would rather they were realistic than constantly talking up slim chances.
GeorgeTuk
From the forum
The WRC Fanatic thread is going strong – look out for a “Why you should watch” on the subject of the World Rally Championship later this year.
Site updates
A slight tweak to the design yesterday: article pages on the main site now include the article sub-titles. Expect a similar change on the mobile site soon.
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to El Gordo!
On this day in F1
Alain Prost finished first in the 1986 San Marino Grand Prix, as he had the year before.
But this time he was allowed to keep his win – in 1985 he had been disqualified as his McLaren was found to be underweight.
Here’s some action from the race:
Image © Mercedes
Scribe (@scribe)
27th April 2011, 0:13
That video is hilarious, no he doesn’t James. Even the best make mistakes huh?
Interested to see what McLaren can do for Turkey, they may have incredible recources but they’ve also a funny way of directing them. For the sake of the seasons as much as my own loyalties we need at least one team one Redbulls pace consistantly, I’d say it’ll probably be McLaren. Be Nice if Merc or Ferrari get in with a shout.
BasCB (@bascb)
27th April 2011, 20:17
So far it was OK, but I am curious as well of weather they will bring a next update that works as good on track instead of just having to ditch it and try again.
MagillaGorilla
27th April 2011, 0:19
I agree they had the pace, they weren’t lucky, I think bad pit stop calls is what killed it for them. Nico could have gotten a better spot if his tires had not fallen off at the end. However, Merc GP still needs to work on having constant speed and I think Turkeywill show improvement. Also Nico could have got fourth if he didn’t over drive the damn car. He’s got the ability he just needs to calm himself.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
27th April 2011, 0:57
It was fuel conservation that lost him the race, not tires. Rosberg himself said post race that he’d have had a shot if he hadn’t had to dial down his engine right before Hamilton overtook him.
Todfod (@todfod)
27th April 2011, 7:01
US Peter is right. He had the freshest of the hard tyres on as well, and he could have defnitely made a charge if it wasn’t for the fuel problem.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
27th April 2011, 7:24
Too bad a slight miscalculation of fuel cost him a possible maiden win in F1.
bananarama
27th April 2011, 7:52
Lets not get ahead of ourseves, it cost him a podium, not a win.
BBT
27th April 2011, 8:32
Was never in with a shout of the win, don’t believe the PR hype. A podium maybe, which is still a good showing with the field as competitive as it is.
Alonso_McLaren (@)
27th April 2011, 1:36
Gary Paffett.. more than 30 years old now but without a Formula One race..
John
27th April 2011, 8:37
He and another 6 billion people :P
sato113 (@sato113)
27th April 2011, 9:42
wow that’s a lot of 30 year olds!
iamdanthomas
27th April 2011, 1:51
https://www.racefans.net/2007/09/18/when-hamilton-raced-schumacher/
Completely unrelated, but an interesting read nonetheless, considering how things have changed.
Fixy (@)
27th April 2011, 15:11
Told you Liuzzi beats them all!
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
27th April 2011, 7:06
Interesting.
The annoucement is some time today, isn’t it?
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
27th April 2011, 7:47
Correct. Anyone any idea of what time we’re talking?
bananarama
27th April 2011, 8:02
At least it seems Lotus is now prepared in case they can’t continue racing as Team Lotus. It doesn’t really make much of a difference if they race as Lotus or Caterham or AirAsia or FancyPantsGP, its just a name because as much as Fernandes wants us to believe it, they have no history (and I don’t mind that – where would we be without new teams?!).
Sure, merchandise with ‘historic’ names on it sells better and its maybe easier to convince sponsors that have no understanding of F1 whatsoever but those two aren’t factors that ensure the survival of a team in the long run, only solid work, improvement and some level of success do that and once they get to that point they will have made their own name (or not, but then even the name Ferrari wouldn’t help).
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
27th April 2011, 8:14
I’m not so sure this is some kind of preparation. I suspect they’ll annouce a new name as “Sonangol Team Caterham” or some such. If they can’t beat Group Lotus, they’ll try and make it look like they’ve come off better than they actually did by “voluntarily” changing their name. They would have registered the “sonangolcaterhamteamlotus.com” name to cover all their bases in case someone else registers it.
Besides, I’m pretty sure you can’t have two title sponsors.
HounslowBusGarage (@hounslowbusgarage)
27th April 2011, 9:16
Will the FIA allow them to change the name of the team mid-season, or will the change have to wait for next year?
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
27th April 2011, 10:23
Some seem to think it will go ahead. No doubt the FIA and FOM will have no problem with it if it’s a part of some kind of settlement.
Daniel
27th April 2011, 7:15
The speed might be there but they failed to constantly show that until now, except the last race. Apparently, when they (Mercedes) make a step forward, the other teams (those that matter) make bigger steps forward. That is to say, within 3 weeks gap, the distance between Mercedes and McLaren, or RedBull will increase. I expect them behave worse in Turkey. But who knows, maybe they’ll surprise the world and make a better race than China.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
27th April 2011, 7:46
Not a terribly thrilling insight from Haug on that Autosport link, though of course consistency is key. Their rhetoric strikes me as a bit weak.
Meander
27th April 2011, 9:18
Keith, the website has never been as fast as it is now. I don’t know if you had anything changed or not, but it’s great at the moment :)
Maciek
27th April 2011, 10:16
Definitely – I’m back to using Safari for F1F and its loads without any problems.
topdowntoedown (@topdowntoedown)
27th April 2011, 11:09
Great to see the BBC Sport coverage nominated for more awards – they’re consistently excellent in my view.
Might be a bit awkward at the ceremony though – would they have to invite Legard?
TommyB (@tommyb89)
27th April 2011, 11:19
Good on the BBC. The coverage of the finale was great but unfortunately it was a German and not a Brit that won, so they don’t have a chance at winning.
Remember ITV winning the BAFTA for Lewis’ first race win despite not even showing any post-coverage due to Coronation Street?
alex
28th April 2011, 12:48
Nice to see some overtaking in Imola. Today this seems impossible.
David-A (@david-a)
29th April 2011, 20:19
Don’t eat too much cake! :D