-Formula 1 - Season 2011

NashTrooper (NashTrooper) 2011-06-24 09:02:09 +0500 #1641

Vitaly to take part in Sochi demo

Vitaly, currently Russia’s only Formula 1 driver, will take part in a promotional event in Sochi next month.

A demonstration event will take place on a temporary track around Sochi’s city centre on Sunday 17<SUP class=typo_exposants>th</SUP> July. The event will offer fans an unmissable opportunity to see Vitaly and watch a Formula 1 car be put through its paces.

The Black Sea resort is set to stage Russia’s first ever F1 Grand Prix in 2014.

As for now, Vitaly will be in action in Round 8 of this year’s Championship when he drives at the European GP in Valencia this weekend.

aref (Aref) 2011-06-24 09:20:22 +0500 #1642

He is one awesome dude...

Great pics genius, thanks for sharing.

Blackeye117 (Blackeye117) 2011-06-24 12:56:20 +0500 #1643

Thank You Genius For these Brilliant Outstanding pictures and your effort You are Great Like Always

genius83 (Mohammad Saad Umar) 2011-06-24 16:05:31 +0500 #1644

Renault hires Wickham as team manager
Renault has appointed John Wickham as its new team manager, AUTOSPORT can reveal, with the former technical and operations manager of A1 GP taking on his role from this weekend's European Grand Prix.

Horner questions rule changes timing
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner says he does not understand why the FIA chose to make a move on the blown diffuser regulations mid-season, rather than waiting until the end of the year.

Webber sets pace in first practice
Mark Webber set the pace in the opening practice session for this weekend's European Grand Prix at Valencia.

[U]<font color='navy'>European GP Practice Session 1</font>[/U]
<font color='darkorchid'>Pos  Driver                Team                  Time                Laps</font>
 1.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m40.403s            22
 2.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault               1m41.227s  + 0.824   20
 3.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m41.239s  + 0.836   22 
 4.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m41.510s  + 1.107   23
 5.  Nick Heidfeld         Renault               1m41.580s  + 1.177   24
 6.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m41.758s  + 1.355   23
 7.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m41.926s  + 1.523   14
 8.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes  1m41.955s  + 1.552   20
 9.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m42.043s  + 1.640   22
10.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m42.216s  + 1.813   29
11.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m42.270s  + 1.867   26
12.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m42.412s  + 2.009   27
13.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth     1m42.704s  + 2.301   23
14.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m42.738s  + 2.335   20
15.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth     1m42.841s  + 2.438   28
16.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m42.941s  + 2.538   21
17.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m43.201s  + 2.798   18
18.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1m43.769s  + 3.366    7
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault         1m44.136s  + 3.733   17
20.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth       1m45.026s  + 4.623   17
21.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth       1m45.221s  + 4.818   19
22.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth          1m45.494s  + 5.091   24
23.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1m46.926s  + 6.523   27
24.  Karun Chandhok        Lotus-Renault                               2

Button: We must keep pressure on RBR
Jenson Button says it is essential that McLaren keeps piling the pressure on Red Bull Racing - because he thinks its rivals are vulnerable to making mistakes when the heat is on.

Nico Rosberg keeping expectations
Nico Rosberg says Mercedes GP should not get too carried away with Michael Schumacher's strong showing in Canada a fortnight ago - because the outfit is not yet in the position it wants to be in.

Button says not in talks to renew McLaren contract yet
Jenson Button says that talks have not yet begun with McLaren about extending his contract at the team.

genius83 (Mohammad Saad Umar) 2011-06-24 16:30:46 +0500 #1645

Alonso quickest in second practice
Fernando Alonso delighted his home fans by posting the fastest time in second Friday practice for the European Grand Prix in Valencia.

[U]<font face='Courier New'><font color='navy'>European GP Practice Session 2</font></font>[/U]
<font color='darkorchid'>Pos  Driver                Team                   Time                Laps</font>
 1.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                1m37.968s            35
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes       1m38.195s  + 0.227   26
 3.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1m38.265s  + 0.297   31
 4.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes               1m38.315s  + 0.347   30
 5.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari                1m38.443s  + 0.475   32 
 6.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1m38.483s  + 0.515   30
 7.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       1m38.531s  + 0.563   26
 8.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               1m38.981s  + 1.013   33
 9.  Nick Heidfeld         Renault                1m39.040s  + 1.072   35
10.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault                1m39.586s  + 1.618   27
11.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   1m39.626s  + 1.658   31
12.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth      1m40.020s  + 2.052   34
13.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth      1m40.301s  + 2.333   34
14.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes   1m40.363s  + 2.395    7
15.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m40.454s  + 2.486   32
16.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari         1m40.531s  + 2.563   37
17.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari         1m42.083s  + 4.115   34
18.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault          1m42.156s  + 4.188   39
19.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault          1m42.239s  + 4.271   25
20.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth        1m42.273s  + 4.305   21
21.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth        1m42.809s  + 4.841   36
22.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth           1m44.460s  + 6.492   29
23.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth           1m46.906s  + 8.938   16

Schumacher: Podium out of reach
Michael Schumacher insists that Mercedes does not have the pace to challenge for a podium finish in the European Grand Prix despite setting the fourth fastest time during Friday practice.

Vettel: Rules nothing to be afraid of
Sebastian Vettel insisted there is "nothing to be afraid of" regarding the new engine mapping rules introduced in Valencia following practice for the European GP.

Jaime Alguersuari shrugs off engine problems
Jamie Alguersuari is confident that the problems that prevented him from taking part in the second free practice session for the European Grand Prix will not be a major setback for the race weekend.

McLaren duo struggling with Pirelli's medium tyres in Valencia
McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton admitted they were struggling to make the medium tyres work properly during practice for the European Grand Prix.

Di Resta facing uphill struggle after Hulkenberg crash
Paul di Resta faces a challenge to make up for lost time in the build-up to the European Grand Prix after third driver Nico Hulkenberg crashed the Scot's Force India this morning, restricting him to only three flying laps on Friday.

Sergio Perez confident he is now fully recovered from Monaco crash
Sergio Perez felt confident he was back to full fitness after completing the opening practice day in Valencia.

Alonso pleased with positive start
Fernando Alonso says there are several reasons to be positive about the Scuderia's performance, having delighted his home fans by topping the second practice session in Valencia.

FIA plans to experiment more with double DRS zones
The FIA plans to keep experimenting with double DRS zones for the rest of the season - even though it believes the concept did not work at the Canadian Grand Prix.

alliereyaz (alliereyaz) 2011-06-25 05:23:43 +0500 #1646

HAMILTON FEELS VINDICATED BY SENNA QUOTE | Sporting Life | Cycling, Athletics, MotoGP, Rallying

BBC - Sarah Holt: Hamilton looking to get back on track

aref (Aref) 2011-06-26 11:40:02 +0500 #1647

Martin Brundle [BBC] sounded so sad when praising Vettel.

Awesome race. Not a foot wrong.

Born2Race (Born2Race) 2011-06-26 12:48:49 +0500 #1648

2011 World Drivers Champion Sebastian Vettel

zia1288 (Rao Zia Ur Rehman) 2011-06-26 18:58:15 +0500 #1649

Vettel drove perfectly. Hardly anything to watch in this race about vettel Alonso-Webber fight for 2nd place was interesting. And I feel bad for Massa. BTW he's driving well in last 2-3 races.

genius83 (Mohammad Saad Umar) 2011-06-26 23:08:13 +0500 #1650

Pirelli wants qualifying rule tweak
Pirelli is to make a push to change Formula 1's qualifying rules to prevent drivers from being tempted to not run in qualifying in a bid to save tyres, AUTOSPORT can reveal.

Sebastian Vettel leads final practice in Valencia
Sebastian Vettel set the pace in the final free practice session for the European Grand Prix in Valencia as things began to get serious on the dusty track.

[U]<font color='navy'>European GP Qualifying Session</font>[/U]
<font color='darkorchid'>Pos  Driver              Team/Car              Time       Gap       Laps
 </font>1.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault      1m37.258s            15
 2.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari               1m37.678s  + 0.420s  16
 3.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari               1m37.840s  + 0.582s  17
 4.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault      1m38.068s  + 0.810s  13
 5.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes      1m38.326s  + 1.068s  13
 6.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes              1m38.580s  + 1.322s  15
 7.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      1m38.741s  + 1.483s  13
 8.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes              1m38.799s  + 1.541s  14
 9.  Vitaly Petrov       Renault               1m38.822s  + 1.564s  17
10.  Nick Heidfeld       Renault               1m39.113s  + 1.855s  15
11.  Adrian Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  1m39.411s  + 2.153s  19
12.  Sergio Perez        Sauber-Ferrari        1m39.778s  + 2.520s  18
13.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes  1m39.823s  + 2.565s  18
14.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari        1m39.848s  + 2.590s  18
15.  Sebastien Buemi     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m39.888s  + 2.630s  17
16.  Rubens Barrichello  Williams-Cosworth     1m39.987s  + 2.729s  18
17.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Cosworth     1m40.004s  + 2.746s  16
18.  Jaime Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m40.239s  + 2.981s  20
19.  Heikki Kovalainen   Lotus-Renault         1m41.267s  + 4.009s  15
20.  Jarno Trulli        Lotus-Renault         1m41.690s  + 4.432s  18
21.  Timo Glock          Virgin-Cosworth       1m42.557s  + 5.299s  18
22.  Tonio Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth          1m43.243s  + 5.985s  17
23.  Jerome D'Ambrosio   Virgin-Cosworth       1m43.309s  + 6.051s  18
24.  Narain Karthikeyan  HRT-Cosworth          1m44.630s  + 7.372s  19

FIA's teams will lose 0.5s per lap to mapping clampdown
Formula 1's top teams could be hurt by up to half a second per lap in qualifying due to the clampdown on engine mapping imposed at this weekend's European Grand Prix, reckons the FIA.

Vettel secures yet another pole
Sebastian Vettel's 2011 qualifying tally now stands at seven poles from eight grands prix, as the world champion took his 22nd Formula 1 career pole in Valencia.

Ferrari not pinning hopes on diffuser rule changes
Felipe Massa says Ferrari is not pinning its title hope beliefs solely on the fact that changes to the way teams can use blown diffusers from the British Grand Prix could mix up the order at the front of the field.

Rule changes not stopping Vettel's pole position run
Sebastian Vettel insisted there was too much talk about how the rule changes would affect Red Bull's performance, after the team dominated yet another qualifying session.

Hamilton hopes GP win still possible
Lewis Hamilton is optimistic that he will still have a chance to challenge the Red Bulls for victory in tomorrow's European Grand Prix despite Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber sweeping the front row, and Valencia having a reputation as a track where passing is difficult.

Schumacher stays realistic for the European GP
Michael Schumacher believes it would be too optimistic to expect his Mercedes team to be able to fight with the cars in front after a discreet qualifying showing in Valencia.

Kobayashi 'very confident' for European GP
Kamui Kobayashi says he is 'very confident' for the European Grand Prix despite failing to qualify in the top ten on Saturday.

Heidfeld says saving tyres is the right decision for the race
Nick Heidfeld believes his Renault team made the right decision in saving tyres for tomorrow's European Grand Prix.

Di Resta satisfied with recovery to P12
Paul di Resta says he is satisfied with his recovery in qualifying after losing nearly all of his practice time on Friday when Force India's test driver Nico Hulkenberg crashed his car.

Alonso adamant Ferrari will catch its rivals
Fernando Alonso is convinced his Ferrari team will catch the leading teams this year after another solid performance in qualifying for the European Grand Prix.

Fry aims to make Ferrari more 'creative'
Ferrari technical chief Pat Fry says his biggest aim is to make the team more 'creative' in its design thinking to help lift its form against rivals.

Hamilton says he may 'think twice' before trying to overtake
Lewis Hamilton says he will "think twice" before trying to overtake in tomorrow's European Grand Prix, despite vowing not to be less aggressive.

Red Bull will not run away with the European Grand Prix
Jenson Button says he is not worried about the prospect of Red Bull Racing running away with another victory in the European Grand Prix - as he predicts Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber will face a tough challenge in Sunday's race.

Valencia qualifying shows Ferrari back on course
Fernando Alonso is confident that Ferrari's season is now back on track, after another strong performance so far in Valencia.

Timo Glock promises to stay motivated
Timo Glock insists that Virgin's decision to switch its focus to its 2012 car in the wake of parting company with technical director Nick Wirth will not affect his motivation.

Heikki Kovalainen says he is driving better than ever
Heikki Kovalainen is confident he is in the form of his life with Lotus at the moment, and says he will keep working to make himself an even better driver.

Formula 1 teams back 2014 V6 engine plan
Formula 1 technical chiefs have given their formal backing to plans for 1.6-litre V6 engines to be used from 2014, but have requested that the new power-units rev higher than originally suggested.

genius83 (Mohammad Saad Umar) 2011-06-27 01:02:29 +0500 #1651

Vettel eases to European GP victory
Sebastian Vettel resumed his domination of the 2011 Formula 1 season after his Montreal blip, by winning the European Grand Prix in Valencia with ease.

<font size='2'><font color='Navy'>[U]European GP Race Results[/U]</font></font>
<font color='Sienna'>Pos  Driver        Team                       Time </font>
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h39:36.169 
 2.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    10.891 
 3.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    27.255 
 4.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    46.190 
 5.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    51.705 
 6.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +  1:00.000 
 7.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +  1:38.000 
 8.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap 
 9.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap 
10.  Heidfeld      Renault                    +     1 lap 
11.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap 
12.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +     1 lap 
13.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap 
14.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap 
15.  Petrov        Renault                    +     1 lap 
16.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap 
17.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +     1 lap 
18.  Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth          +     1 lap 
19.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps 
20.  Trulli        Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps 
21.  Glock         Virgin-Cosworth            +    2 laps 
22.  D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth            +    2 laps 
23.  Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth               +    3 laps 
24.  Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth               +    3 laps 
<font color='Green'>Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:41.852 
</font>
[U]<font color='Navy'>Not classified/retirements: 
</font>[/U]<font color='Sienna'>Driver        Team                         On lap</font>

Here is the championships standings after European GP:

<font color='Red'>[U]World Championships Standings[/U]</font>
<font color='Blue'>Drivers:                    Constructors: </font>             
 1.  Vettel       186        1.  Red Bull-Renault          295  
 2.  Webber       109        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          206  
 3.  Button       109        3.  Ferrari                   129   
 4.  Hamilton      97        4.  Renault                    61   
 5.  Alonso        87        5.  Mercedes                   58  
 6.  Massa         42        6.  Sauber-Ferrari             27  
 7.  Rosberg       32        7.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         16  
 8.  Petrov        31        8.  Force India-Mercedes       12  
 9.  Heidfeld      30        9.  Williams-Cosworth           4 
10.  Schumacher    26        
11.  Kobayashi     25        
12.  Sutil         10        
13.  Alguersuari    8        
14.  Buemi          8        
15.  Barrichello    4        
16.  Perez          2        
17.  Di Resta       2

Second place in Valencia shows Ferrari is closing on Red Bull Racing
Fernando Alonso described splitting the Red Bulls in the European Grand Prix as a 'great achievement' for Ferrari, and evidence that the team is getting much closer to winning.

Winner Vettel says he is not thinking of title
Sebastian Vettel insists he is not looking at the championship table yet, despite his huge advantage after his victory in Valencia.

Webber says losing second was his fault
Mark Webber admitted it was his fault to miss out on second place in the European Grand Prix, but the Australian was very happy with his performance during the weekend.

McLaren duo call for more performance upgrades
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button both called for the team to find more downforce on the car as soon as possible after they took disappointing fourth and sixth places in Valencia.

Alguersuari delighted with charge to eighth
Jaime Alguersuari was delighted with his result in the European Grand Prix after charging from the back of the field.

Schumacher accepts blame for accident with Petrov
Michael Schumacher took the blame for his crash with Vitaly Petrov during the European Grand Prix at Valencia.

Heidfeld left hoping for more
Nick Heidfeld said he was hoping for more in the European Grand Prix after finishing in a distant 10th place.

Pirelli unsure more aggressive tyre choice would have helped show in Valencia
Pirelli believes that even a more aggressive choice of tyres for the European Grand Prix may not have been enough to help make the Valencia race a thriller.

AAM3 (AAM3) 2011-06-27 01:09:11 +0500 #1652

race was great SV is running away with the title

khurem (khurem) 2011-06-27 02:46:50 +0500 #1653

Yet another total borefest in Valencia, despite all the DRS, KERS and relatively fast deteriorating Pirelli tyres (which although didn't deteriorate much in Valencia). There was overtaking, however pointless as that didn't change the result much.

All the top 10 drivers in qualifying ended up in top 10 at the end of the race, except for Schumacher who had an accident, which was the only reason he was not in final top 10. Vettel, Massa, Button and Rosberg in fact ended up at the same position they started.

Proved that no matter what technology you bring in this Valencia circuit, it will continue to remain an extremely boring event for the spectators. It is Monaco without all the glamor, celebrities, scenery, buildings, etc. Even the accidents frequency is low as compared to Monaco where the circuit is narrow and a slight mistake brings the safety car, hence the fun.

Someone pls. bring back the Nurburgring circuit to host European GPs!

alliereyaz (alliereyaz) 2011-06-27 03:03:53 +0500 #1654

damn!!! vettel for the title again, come on mclaren ferrari do something, everytime the same result p*** me off.

m_waqas (m_waqas) 2011-06-27 04:02:29 +0500 #1655

@Khurem..
couldn't agree with u more buddy.. though i didn't watch :-# but i don't see any point in watching anyway :S .. this just remind me of Schumacher days..

good for ALO but Ferrari should start working/focusing on next years car..

i m also in favor of Nurburgring...

ALONSO: "WE'RE HAVING A VERY BAD YEAR"

On the eve of the European Grand Prix at Valencia, Fernando Alonso said all is not lost in his and Ferrari’s quest to win the world championship this year, but admitted that the team was having “a very bad year.”

He also said that his own performance is as strong as at any time in his career and compared his performances to his team mate Felipe Massa, “These seven races.. I think I drove the best seven races of my career, with the best qualifying laps, compared to my teammate, compared to last year,” he said.

After a slow start where he qualified fifth in the first four races, Alonso had a chance to win both the last two races in Monaco and Canada, where he qualified second, but he wasn’t able to make it happen.

Speaking on Thursday he said, “I think we need to have the best car. If we have the best car we can win the title because there is plenty of time and plenty of races to recover. If we are fifth or sixth, as we are normally in qualifying etc, it’s very difficult because you cannot get the pace that everybody is doing.

“I think the championship is long. We need to concentrate, race by race. We will try to be on the podium, we will try to win every race we do. Obviously this is sometimes very difficult or impossible but this is our aim.

“This is also some pressure that you have when you are at Ferrari or when you are Ferrari. You need to win every race that you do, you need to win every championship that you do and despite these seven races when I think I drove the best seven races of my career, with the best qualifying laps, compared to my teammate, compared to last year, comparing different years, the starts etc.

“Even with that, it seems that the season has been a very bad season so far, which, in some ways I agree with, because we are Ferrari, we are obliged to win every race but in some other ways, I think we need to understand and respect our rivals and to work harder than them and to close that gap in the near future.”

Alonso didn’t want to raise hopes that the changes in the off throttle diffuser rules from Silverstone and the engine mapping changes this weekend in Valencia will put the Red Bulls behind the Ferraris. He sees it that Red Bull have the performance to be able to push when they want to and take it easy at other times.

“I don’t think it (the rule change) will massively change qualifying. I think Sebastian was quickest in qualifying (in Montreal). It’s true that it wasn’t one second, it was two tenths, but he was the quickest in wet conditions at the start of the race.

“We were following him and he was nearly eight tenths or nine tenths quicker than us on Sunday with race mapping. We saw a superior car at that moment, a dominant car, the Red Bull, in qualifying and in the race as well. It seems that sometimes they push a little bit more, sometimes a little bit less. Because of that, in races you seem a little bit closer.”

m_waqas (m_waqas) 2011-06-27 04:05:14 +0500 #1656

courtesy Sladex

m_waqas (m_waqas) 2011-06-27 04:11:28 +0500 #1657

Red Bull will not run away with the European Grand Prix

reading this now makes me laugh .. poor BUT.

James Allen Ristorante Montana Ferrari Tour - Behind the scenes in Ferrari's Canteen

//youtu.be/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trQllOsEaaI&feature=player_embedded

aref (Aref) 2011-06-27 09:08:41 +0500 #1658

HAHAHAHAHA....
Poot But. Making butt of himself.

NashTrooper (NashTrooper) 2011-06-27 10:44:29 +0500 #1659

The son of F1 Champion Keke Rosberg, who's consistently been beating his 7 time World Champion teammate, speaks fluent German, English, Italian, Spanish, and French, HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICO ROSBERG!!!

Nico Erik Rosberg born 27 June 1985 in Wiesbaden, West Germany is a racing driver for the Mercedes GP F1 team. He races under the German flag in Formula One, although he competed for Finland earlier in his career. He holds dual nationality of these two countries.
Rosberg won the 2005 GP2 Series for the ART team, having raced in Formula Three Euroseries previously for his father's team.
Rosberg joined the re-branded Mercedes team, formed by the takeover of 2009 constructors' champions Brawn GP, for the 2001 F1 season .

NashTrooper (NashTrooper) 2011-06-28 07:55:05 +0500 #1660

European GP - Best result of the season in Valencia. Fernando second, Felipe fifth after attacking from start to finish!!!

The European Grand Prix produced twenty eight points for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, thanks to a second place for Fernando Alonso and a fifth for Felipe Massa. It is the best result of the season for the Maranello team, which came at the end of a very closely contested race, as indeed had been predicted earlier in the weekend. After eight races the drivers’ positions in the classification remain unchanged, with Fernando fifth and Felipe sixth and also the Scuderia is still third in the Constructors’ championship. The next round takes place on 10 July at Silverstone, at the circuit where Ferrari scored the first of its 215 Grands Prix victories sixty years ago.

Stefano Domenicali: "Our only target has to be the victory- we are Ferrari after all – but today, all things considered, we can be pleased with this result. It was an exciting and very evenly matched contest: Fernando and Felipe drove great races, fighting right to the end with their main rivals. The Spanish driver, in front of his home fans, managed to end up ahead of a Red Bull to secure a fantastic podium finish".

Fernando Alonso: "I was determined to get on the podium. In my trophy collection, the only ones now missing are from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and, naturally, India. I hope I can complete the collection by the end of the year! I was really pleased to taste champagne again, especially in front of this lovely crowd in Valencia, an amazing city where there is a great passion for racing. This result means a lot to me. It’s hard to see the grandstands when you are driving, but I could feel there was great enthusiasm when I passed Webber. This is a positive result for the whole team, as it confirms we are working in the right direction".

Felipe Massa: "It was a good race spent constantly fighting other drivers. I tried to get the most out of the Option tyres because we reckoned that with the Prime, our pace was not at its best. It was a shame about the problem at my second pit stop, when I lost those four or five seconds which cost me the chance of fighting Hamilton for fourth place. I think that, from what have seen in performance terms, today we should have got both our cars ahead of the McLarens, and we only half succeeded in that. I got a very good start, passing Hamilton and Fernando. Then, I also tried to attack Webber, but he closed the door on me and we almost touched, so Fernando got the chance to go round the outside and pass me back. I had a few problems with my second set of soft tyres, but with the next one, which was even more worn at the beginning, things went much better".

Race

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