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Schumacher Backs Ferrari And Alonso

jaya — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 11:10:57 +0000

Michael Schumacher

It was reminiscent of the days of old when Schumacher drove for the Italian marque, winning title after title, at times at the expense of his team-mate.

And although the German admits there are “nicer” to go about implementing team orderst, “in principle I fully accept” them.

Here’s an easy way to decide debates about sporting morality. 1. See which side Michael Schumacher’s on. 2. Take the other side. Rarely will you be in the wrong.

And so it proved again at the German Grand Prix, when Schumacher immediately defended Ferrari’s blatant and cack-handed team orders. Well, at least he’s not a hypocrite.

Clearly, though, this was a bad day all round: farcical ’sport’, some woeful lying, and some pretty shoddy journalism too.

And it would take a heart of stone not to feel for Felipe Massa. It is exactly a year since that nauseating full speed smash at Hungary, which could have ended Massa’s career, or even worse.

A victory at Hockenheim would have been the most uplifting of stories. Instead, he was shafted.

Worse followed, when the poor sod had to stand on the podium as Alonso sprayed champagne all over him.

Courtesy of The Telegraph and PlanetF1

Alonso Wins Controversial F1 Race

jaya — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 06:45:27 +0000

Fernando Alonso celebrates his win with a disappointed Felipe Massa and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.

Formula One was engulfed in a fresh ‘team orders’ row on Sunday night after Ferrari were found guilty of bringing the sport into disrepute by ordering Felipe Massa to stand aside and let Fernando Alonso win Sunday’s German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

The Italian team were fined $100,000 (R740000) on the spot, with the matter also referred to the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council “for further consideration” under Article 151c of its Sporting Code, which basically gives the governing body carte blanche to sanction Ferrari as it sees fit.

Punishments could range from a slap on the wrist to exclusion from the championship, with a hearing not expected to take place until after this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, during the sport’s August break.

The verdict capped a controversial day in Germany in which the stewards also mulled over the legality of the front wings on the Ferrari and Red Bull cars, although these were later cleared.

It was an uncomfortable victory for Ferrari, who should have been celebrating their first one-two since the season-opening race in Bahrain. But they ended up defending their Machiavellian tactics. In an ideal world it would have been Massa celebrating his first win since Brazil in 2008. The Brazilian’s dejection at the end — he looked utterly miserable in the post-race press conference — was all the more poignant for the fact that yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of his near-fatal accident in Budapest when he was hit on the helmet by a metal spring and spent almost three days in an induced coma.

Capitalising on Sebastian Vettel’s poor start from pole and the German’s subsequent preoccupation with Alonso, Massa, starting third, passed the pair on the outside and led the race going into the first corner. Although Alonso generally had the better pace, and indeed briefly passed Massa on lap 21, the Spaniard could not make the move stick and voiced his frustrations to the pit wall, and the wider world, saying: “This is ridiculous.”

Ferrari were faced with a difficult decision and eventually decided to back Alonso, who led Massa by 31 points going into the race. On lap 47 Massa’s race engineer, Rob Smedley, came on the radio to deliver the crushing news: “OK, so, Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?”

The whole world understood it. Two laps later Massa allowed the Spaniard through on the exit to turn six, whereupon a sympathetic Smedley came on again: “Good lad. Just stick with it now. Sorry.”

It may not have been as blatant a case of team orders as the incident at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix when Rubens Barrichello pulled over on the finish straight to allow Michael Schumacher past, but it was fooling no one. Eddie Jordan, commenting on the BBC, described the incident as “theft”. “They stole from us the chance of having a wheel-to-wheel contest between the drivers,” he said. “Ferrari should be ashamed. For me, it is cheating and these two cars should be excluded.”

Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner, was also scathing. “The regulations are pretty clear,” he said. “Team orders are not allowed.”

Indeed. Article 39.1 of the FIA’s Sporting Regulations, introduced in the wake of the incident in Austria in 2002, states: “Team orders which interfere with the race result will be prohibited.”

Ferrari and Massa later tried to claim, half-heartedly in the case of the Brazilian, that the idea had been the driver’s. “I’m very professional and I’ve showed today how professional I am,” Massa said during a heated press conference. “You have your job to do and I have mine.”

Alonso, by contrast, was unapologetic. Asked if he ranked this result up there with Singapore 2008, the infamous race in which Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jnr crashed his car to help his then team-mate win. “I think you have a very strong result from Ferrari today, one and two, a very strong performance all weekend and if the final thought of the weekend is your question it’s because maybe you didn’t see the whole practice, qualifying and the race,” he said.

Not good enough. Pressed on whether he could understand why some fans might feel cheated, Alonso made reference to Red Bull’s episode in Turkey when their drivers crashed into one another while fighting for the race lead. “Today Ferrari has 42 points [sic; 43] in their pocket, so I think it’s what we are here for,” he noted.

The end justifies the means, in other words. It did not wash with his audience, many of whom booed and hissed, and clearly it did not wash with the stewards either.

It was not supposed to happen like this. Vettel, the darling of the thousands of fans who packed Hockenheim, was meant to emerge from Michael Schumacher’s shadow to press his claims for the world title. He again choked on the start line and finished third, thereby going level on points with Webber in the standings.

It was another spot of plundering in Spain’s bountiful sporting summer. Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, the footballers in South Africa, Alberto Contador in the Tour de France and now Alonso, back in the F1 hunt.

The sport needed him back. Even tarnished by controversy.

Courtesy of The Telegraph

Hamilton Fights Back After Costly Crash

jaya — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 13:43:00 +0000

Lewis Hamilton

Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton suffered a costly crash in practice for the German Grand Prix on Friday while rivals Ferrari and Red Bull showed off their speed.

McLaren’s Hamilton had to sit out all but 12 minutes of the afternoon session, led by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, after skidding off and smashing sideways into the tyre wall in the morning.

The impact, after the McLaren snapped right and skimmed across the grass, damaged three corners of the car.

“I’m in the wall, the car is damaged. Heavily,” he said over the team radio.

The 2008 world champion, a winner at Hockenheim in 2008, still managed to set the seventh fastest time despite completing just 10 laps after lunch to add to the eight he did in the morning.

Team mate Jenson Button, the reigning world champion who is 12 points behind the younger Briton, ended the first session third fastest but was only 15th in the second.

Overall leaders McLaren had hoped to get some testing miles on their new floor and ‘blown diffuser’ but the wet conditions made that difficult.

While they struggled, Ferrari and Red Bull filled the top four places.

Ferrari’s double world champion Fernando Alonso was fastest with a lap of one minute 16.265, 0.029 quicker than home favourite Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull.

The German’s Australian team mate Mark Webber was fourth behind Ferrari’s Brazilian Felipe Massa.

The morning session, run in heavier rain with cars skidding and spinning as if on an ice rink, saw Force India’s Adrian Sutil top the timesheets with compatriot Michael Schumacher lapping second slowest.

Sutil, always good in the rain, took advantage of a drying track towards the end of the session to post a best time of 1:25.701.

The 41-year-old Schumacher’s quickest lap in the morning on his first home appearance for Mercedes was 0.341 better than Japanese tail-ender Sakon Yamamoto, preparing for only his second race since 2007.

The seven times world champion, back at Hockenheim after a four-year absence, had talked on Thursday of his hopes of getting back on the podium and made that look more likely with the sixth best time in the afternoon.

In a reflection of the fickle conditions, Germany’s Timo Glock was 12th fastest for newcomers Virgin Racing in the morning.

Normal service was resumed later on, with Glock back in a nonetheless respectable 19th place.

Courtesy of stuff.co.nz

Schumacher To Stay At Merc In 2011

jaya — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:56:39 +0000

Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher has given an emphatic ‘yes’ when asked if he would remain with Mercedes GP next season.

Schumacher’s return to Formula One after a three-year lay-off has seen the German dogged more by criticism than by praise, raising questions about whether he will stay on next season, the second year of his three-year Mercedes GP contract.

And the seven-time World Champ is adamant he will continue.

Asked categorically during Thursday’s German GP press conference whether he will race for Mercedes in 2011, Schumacher said: “Yes.”

The German was questioned about his goals for next season, stating quite clearly that he wants an eighth World title.

“It is what I mentioned the other day – that I officially publicised when I rejoined F1 – which is to win the title. That is my focus and that is what I am here for.”

As for the criticism he has faced after only scoring 36 points in the first half of this year’s Championship, Schumacher reckons fans and detractors alike were perhaps expecting too much from him in his comeback season.

“Am I perfectly happy with my own performance? That is probably the wrong thing to say,” he said.

“There is an expectation out there, but you have to be realistic that it is probably impossible to meet. To be out three years and start where I finished in a car that doesn’t allow me do it, is unrealistic.

“I will take my time. I enjoy most of it, this process. There are ups and downs and that is part of motorsport. I am very confident I can achieve it, which is what I am focusing for.”

Courtesy of The Bleacher Report

HAVE YOUR SAY: With all the young, hungry and ambitious drivers on circuit this season, can Schumacher win another title?

Sunday: It’s England Vs Germany X2

jane smith — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 11:03:29 +0000

Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton will go head-to-head on Sunday, just as their nations soccer players battle each other in the FIFA World Cup.

England and Germany clash on the soccer pitch in Bloemfontein on Sunday, while halfway across the world, German and English F1 racers will tussle on the street circuit at Valencia – but there’s just one encounter that they’re all talking about…

Britons Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton (of British team McLaren) and Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher (of Germany’s Mercedes team), as well as German Sebastian Vettel all have their own performances on Sunday to worry about as the F1 Championship reaches the crunch stage – but that doesn’t mean they’re not excited about the big World Cup match happening that same afternoon.

Jenson Button
“It’s really a pity that we are playing Germany already this early in the World Cup, but this is really a game that I have been looking forward to. It’s not only a competitive game for the players, but also for the fans. Also that last game has been quite challenging for the boys. I really hope that it will not finish on penalties, but that one team wins on goals during the game. I will be watching it as soon as I jump out of the car on Sunday after the race. Hopefully we will not have any safety-car phases, because this would be eating up the match time. I hope it will be a good result for the English team, so good luck to them.”

Lewis Hamilton
“I’ll be rooting for them. It’s going to be a tough game, but England are improving all the time, so I’m hoping they’ll be at their best when we face Germany. I’m sure they’ll want to beat Germany more than any other team.”

Michael Schumacher
“I’m sorry for the English-speaking nation on Sunday, what you have to face and go through. It’s tough on you. We have better statistics. I’m sorry about that, but that’s what it is.”

Sebastian Vettel
“Neither team has been in the most comfortable situation looking at the last couple of matches.But if it gets to penalties, we should be all right.”

Nico Rosberg
“I think the English team is going to be so nervous at the start because they know that against the Germans there is just no way (they are going to win), as we’ve seen in World Cup history.”