-Formula 1 - Season 2012 -

[genius83]

McLaren thinks it may have found a solution for Jenson Button's problemsMcLaren thinks it could have found a solution to Jenson Button's recent struggles by identifying 'subtle' issues with his car's set-up that it reckons can be resolved for this weekend's European Grand Prix.

McLaren: Tyres still a challenge for Formula 1 teams
McLaren's operations director Simon Roberts thinks it is too soon to suggest that the top Formula 1 teams have now got a handle on the 2012 Pirelli tyres and will command the rest of the season - but reckons it is only a matter of time before that is the case.

Here is the Timing Schedule for this weekend's European GP:

[U]<font color='#696969'><font face='courier new'>European GP </font></font>
<font color='#ffa500'>Friday</font>
<font color='#0099ff'>Practice Session 1</font>[/U]<font color='#0099ff'>    13:00 To 14:30
[U]Practice Session 2[/U]    17:00 To 18:30</font>
[U]<font color='#ffa500'>Saturday</font>
<font color='#0099ff'>Practice Session 3</font>[/U]<font color='#0099ff'>    14:00 To 15:00
[U]Qualifying Session[/U]    17:00 To 18:00
</font>
<font color='#ffa500'>[U]Sunday[/U]</font>
<font color='#0099ff'>[U]Race[/U]                  17:00 To 19:00</font>

[aref]

MotorTweets | Sebastian Vettel | Motor racing-Ferrari boss fuels Vettel speculation - Reuters

[genius83]

Banker Gribkowsky admits he accepted bribes from F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone
Gerhard Gribkowsky, the banker at the centre of the corruption case relating to the sale of Formula 1, has admitted that he received bribes from the sport's commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone.

Button to copy Hamilton's set-upJenson Button will use Lewis Hamilton's set-up to begin his European Grand Prix weekend in order to start from a solid baseline.
McLaren hopeful it has identified cause of Button's struggles
McLaren's operations director Simon Roberts is hopeful that the team has discovered some "very subtle" differences between its cars that could help solve Jenson Button's recent problems.

Pre-British GP FOTA Fans' Forum to include 'Legends of F1' panel
Formula 1 fans are set to get the chance to quiz some of the sport's legends from the past at the next FOTA Fans' Forum, which takes place ahead of the British Grand Prix.

[genius83]

[genius83]

[genius83]

Sergio Perez expecting tough weekend at the European Grand Prix
Sergio Perez is anticipating a difficult European Grand Prix weekend for the Sauber team.

Kimi Raikkonen admits not winning yet is disappointing
Kimi Raikkonen says he cannot help but feel disappointed with his results in recent races having been in a position to win earlier this season.

Lewis Hamilton predicts tough contract talks with McLaren, but expects no problems
Lewis Hamilton is anticipating tough negotiations with McLaren over a new contract to run from the start of next year.

Fernando Alonso relaxed about identity of future Ferrari team-mateFernando Alonso says he is not wasting too much time thinking about potential future team-mates, as he downplayed speculation linking Sebastian Vettel with Ferrari.

[genius83]

Ferrari resurgence thrills Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso says he is "extremely happy" with the progress made by his Ferrari team in the early part of the season.

Grosjean says Lotus is now close to perfect grand prix weekend that gives them win
Romain Grosjean believes Lotus has taken another step closer towards producing the weekend-long form it needs to take a breakthrough victory - and that this weekend's European Grand Prix in Valencia will be one of its best chances to win yet.

Massa believes he can be the eighth winner in 2012 at the European Grand Prix
Felipe Massa has no doubts that he has the potential to become the season's eighth winner following his improved form in recent races.

Vettel flattered by Domenicali's comments over partnering Alonso at Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel says he is flattered by Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali's suggestion that he and Fernando Alonso could work well together.

Michael Schumacher talks down victory chances at the European Grand Prix
Michael Schumacher believes talk of him being able to win this weekend's European Grand Prix is too optimistic.

Jenson Button hopes to hit ground running at the European Grand PrixJenson Button thinks he will be able to hit the ground running at Valencia this weekend after abandoning a car set-up direction that McLaren believes contributed to his recent run of bad form.

Ecclestone faces allegations over bribes
Bernie Ecclestone has hit back at allegations of bribery after German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky admitted to a German court this week that he received corrupt payments during the sale of Formula One.

Vettel wants Webber to stay at Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel says he would be happy to see Mark Webber remain as his team-mate at Red Bull for the 2013 season.

[genius83]

[genius83]

[genius83]

[genius83]

Odds: Bookies back Lewis Hamilton again for European Grand Prix win
Lewis Hamilton is once again the bookmakers' tip to win the European Grand Prix this weekend.

Formula 1 could race in and around the London Olympic Stadium
Formula 1 could race in and around the London Olympic Stadium if a bid put forward for the race is approved.

Mercedes 'calm and concentrated' over Michael Schumacher's reliability issues
Mercedes has promised Michael Schumacher that it will adopt a 'calm and concentrated' approach to sorting out the reliability problems that have wrecked his season.

Heikki Kovalainen is willing to give Caterham time to improve
Heikki Kovalainen is willing to give Caterham time to prove that it can make the progress he wants to see, after enduring a frustrating start to his 2012 campaign.

Pastor Maldonado quickest in first practice for the European Grand Prix
Pastor Maldonado put Williams on top of the times in the opening practice session for the European Grand Prix at Valencia.

<font face='courier new'>[U]<font color='#808080'>European GP</font>
<font color='#ff8c00'>Practice Session 1</font>
[/U]</font><font color='#6600cc'>Pos  Driver                Team                  Time        Gap     Laps</font>
 1.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m40.890s            22
 2.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m40.973s  + 0.083   21
 3.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m40.984s  + 0.094   19
 4.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m40.994s  + 0.104   19
 5.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m41.065s  + 0.175   26
 6.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m41.105s  + 0.215   15
 7.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m41.117s  + 0.227   22
 8.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m41.158s  + 0.268   18
 9.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m41.182s  + 0.292   21
10.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m41.620s  + 0.730   21
11.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m41.784s  + 0.894   15
12.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m41.838s  + 0.948   19
13.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m41.861s  + 0.971   16
14.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m42.109s  + 1.219   20
15.  Jules Bianchi         Force India-Mercedes  1m42.175s  + 1.285   21
16.  Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault      1m42.299s  + 1.409   24
17.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault      1m42.442s  + 1.552   26
18.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m42.758s  + 1.868   26
19.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m42.777s  + 1.887   28
20.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1m43.209s  + 2.319   19
21.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1m44.173s  + 3.283   18
22.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1m44.996s  + 4.106   15
23.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1m45.120s  + 4.230   23
24.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1m45.338s  + 4.448    7

Pastor Maldonado sure Williams can fight back after run of disappointing results
Pastor Maldonado believes Williams has a quick enough car to recover from its recent slump in results.

Bernie Ecclestone open to idea of customer cars for small F1 teams in 2013
Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is open to the idea of customer cars returning to the sport next year in a bid to help smaller teams.

[genius83]

Paul Di Resta thinks Canadian Grand Prix issues a one-off for Force India
Paul di Resta believes that Force India does not need to fear a repeat of the problems which cost him a points finish in the Canadian Grand Prix.

McLaren confident over Jenson Button's progress following practice in Valencia
McLaren is confident that Jenson Button has made progress in getting over his recent troubles, on the back of the set-up changes made to his car for the European Grand Prix.

Michael Schumacher says he remains upbeat despite reliability problems
Michael Schumacher says that he is not getting down about his poor run of reliability so far this season.

Sebastian Vettel tops second practice for the European Grand Prix in Valencia
World champion Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time of the day in the second free practice session for the European Grand Prix at Valencia.

<font face='courier new'>[U]<font color='#808080'>European GP</font>
<font color='#ff8c00'>Practice Session 2</font>
[/U]</font><font color='#6600cc'>Pos  Driver                Team                   Time        Gap     Laps</font>
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1m39.334             33
 2.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes   1m39.465s  + 0.131   32
 3.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari         1m39.595s  + 0.261   20
 4.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes               1m39.601s  + 0.267   27
 5.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault       1m39.644s  + 0.310   34
 6.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes   1m39.700s  + 0.366   32
 7.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                1m39.733s  + 0.399   34
 8.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault          1m39.868s  + 0.534   33
 9.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       1m39.901s  + 0.567   30
10.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               1m39.926s  + 0.592   32
11.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault          1m39.945s  + 0.611   34
12.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1m39.990s  + 0.656   33
13.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault       1m40.075s  + 0.741   29
14.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes       1m40.147s  + 0.813   25
15.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari                1m40.244s  + 0.910   35
16.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari         1m40.511s  + 1.177   29
17.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault       1m40.963s  + 1.629   20
18.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m41.121s  + 1.787   32
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault       1m41.197s  + 1.863   38
20.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m41.263s  + 1.929   29
21.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth      1m42.424s  + 3.090   21
22.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth      1m42.958s  + 3.624   30
23.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth           1m44.201s  + 4.867   33
24.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth           1m44.260s  + 4.926   12

[genius83]

Michael Schumacher still pessimistic about Mercedes' Valencia pace despite strong practice times
Michael Schumacher says he remains pessimistic about his chances of fighting for victory in Valencia despite a good start to the weekend in practice.

Vettel not judging Red Bull updates yet despite setting pace in practice for European GP
Valencia Formula 1 practice pacesetter Sebastian Vettel said it was too soon to draw any conclusions about Red Bull Racing's update package after the Friday sessions ahead of this weekend's European Grand Prix.

McLaren hopeful of stronger Saturday after slow start in Friday practice in Valencia
McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button are optimistic that their team will be back on the pace for Saturday in Valencia after a difficult free practice day for the European Grand Prix.

Paul di Resta says Force India European Grand Prix practice pace is genuine
Paul di Resta believes that Force India's pace in practice for the European Grand Prix was genuine after a strong start to the weekend for the team.

Grosjean aims to unlock single-lap pace ahead of qualifying for the European GP
Romain Grosjean says the focus for his Lotus team in final practice in Valencia is to unlock much-needed qualifying pace from its car - after his long-run form on Friday left rivals in no doubt about how strong his team will be in the race.

'We were having a lot of problems' - Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton reckons he is 95% away from where he wants to be with his car after Friday practice at the European Grand Prix, but is confident he can rectify most of his problems ahead of qualifying on Saturday.

Frustrated Webber struggling with long run pace
Mark Webber admitted that he was frustrated with his FP2 and that Red Bull's long run pace was "not very good" in Valencia.

Pole not crucial for win - Alonso
Fernando Alonso does not think pole position in Valencia will be as important this year as it has been in previous years.

Downbeat Button worried by McLaren times on long runs
Jenson Button admitted that McLaren was struggling to set competitive times in race trim during practice for the European Grand Prix.

Kobayashi loses time with hydraulic issue
Kamui Kobayashi said his Friday practice sessions at the European Grand Prix were hampered by hydraulics problems even though he managed to set the third fastest time.

Mercedes progressing with rear degradation - Rosberg
Nico Rosberg believes Mercedes is learning to manage its rear tyre degradation better, but is hoping his team can make even more progress ahead of qualifying for the European Grand Prix.

Race trim is most important - Raikkonen
Kimi Raikkonen insists Lotus must ensure that a strong race pace takes priority over its qualifying speed in the European Grand Prix.

[genius83]

[U]Nico Rosberg

Pedro De La Rosa

Lewis Hamilton

Fernando Alonso

Sebastian Vettel

Mark Webber

Narain Karthikeyan

Valtteri Bottas

Romain Grosjean

Jules Bianchi

Pastor Maldonado

Vitaly Petrov

Kimi Raikkonen

Paul Di Resta

Jerome D'Ambrosio

[/U]

[UncleKracker]

Lotus looked pretty fast. Too bad they don't seem to have the single lap pace but their long run pace was easily the best of any team out on track at the same time as them and on the same tire compound. The team closest to them was surprisingly Ferrari, which was about 0.3 slower. The rest were 0.5 and further behind. No idea about Mclaren as they didn't do a comparable time when most of these teams were doing race simulation. The big unknown is relative fuel loads, although Lotus is known to run quite heavy compared to others on fridays. It's supposed to be hotter tomorrow and on sunday and that should play into their hands too and Red Bull as well.

@genius83

A quick search and Wikipedia says NSX competed in Le Manss 94 and95 with some what variable results. BMW i think have been concentrating on their return to DTM, which they did this year and got off to a successful start right away. For some it might not be so fruitful to compete at Le Mans, though with the amount of involvement Mercedes have in racing right now, one would expect them to be there. Having said that, i think they would want to go there and win because of their name and motor racing history. They can't go around just making up the numbers.
While thinking about what you had said, i remembered Forza Motor Sport:D It has a BMW prototype that you win when you reach a certain stage and it's a collectors item. I think it's from their 1999 or `98 campaign.

I think the rest of your questions will be answered by the following article. Off topic, apologies in advance for posting it around a GP weekend.

Capitalism

[genius83]

[U]

Heikki Kovalainen

Sergio Perez

Felipe Massa

Jean Eric Vergne

Charles Pic

Michal Schumacher

Jenson Button

Nico Hulkenberg

Kamui Kobayashi

[/U]

[genius83]

[U]Daniel Ricciardo

[/U]

[genius83]

[genius83]

[U]

Bruno Senna

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[genius83]