Category: News

Home / Category: News

Button still enjoying F1 as 2017 decision looms

November 27, 2019 | News | No Comments

As he ponders his future in Formula 1, with several available options in the works, Jenson Button is still enjoying life as a Grand Prix driver.

The 2009 world champion is currently facing uncertainty with regard to his plans for 2017, uncertain whether he will remain at McLaren, possibly transfer to Williams, or simply call it a day on his F1 career.

Regardless of the uncertainty, and despite his last win dating all the way back to 2012, Button still enjoys his life in the fast lane as he said in an interview with German publication Auto Bild.

“Driving in Formula 1 is still fun for me. But it’s not just about driving, it’s also about winning. And for a long time now I haven’t been doing that.”

Next year will see the introduction of several fundamental technical changes which will include wider tyres and increased downforce, developments Button views as positive for the sport.

“It’s in the right direction, the sport is back on the way up.

“Hopefully we get more races like Barcelona, which everyone loved because four cars fought for victory. That only two drivers from the same manufacturer fight for the title on their own is not what the sport needs.”

As McLaren ponders its plans for next season, with only Fernando Alonso confirmed at the Woking-based outfit, Button is still unsure of the team’s future level of performance but underlines the necessity to return to the winner’s circle.

“I don’t know what it will be like next year. What we can say is that the top three teams will also be at the front next year, and hopefully McLaren-Honda as well, looking at our development this year and the talented people on the team.

“Look, it’s conceivable, but so far it’s just reading tea leaves. It’s nice to see that things are looking up and I’m part of the program, but if you’re not on the podium and fighting for wins, you’re never happy.”

Ocon replaces Haryanto at Manor

Exclusive Marcus Ericsson Q&A

Explaining the F1 summer break

Chris Amon: A legend’s career in pictures

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Click Here: Aston Villa Shop

Nico Rosberg says his decision to retire from F1 was made because he is unwilling to make the same commitment to defend his drivers’ title.

The German won his first world championship with second place in Abu Dhabi, beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton after twice missing out in 2014 and 2015. Rosberg then stunned Mercedes by announcing his decision to retire with immediate effect, breaking the news at an FIA press conference in Vienna.

Explaining the reason behind his decision, Rosberg says the effort needed to fight for the championship was too much for him to consider repeating.

“At the same time thought it has been very, very tough,” Rosberg said. “The last two years losing to Lewis were extremely difficult moments for me which fuelled my motivation in a way that I didn’t even know was possible, to fight back.

“This year was extremely tough because I put everything into it. I didn’t leave a stone unturned from Austin last year really, where I suffered a lot after that loss. So I pushed like crazy along with everyone who was involved, which is also my family. A lot of sacrifices

“My wife, for example, at home. Every time I was at home she understood I needed to rest, so I never did any nights, I never had to take care of our little daughter. I never did any nights, never did any difficult things. She was always there to support and to make it as easy as possible, and that’s just one example of the commitment we put into it.

“I’ve achieved this childhood dream now and I’m not willing to do that sort of commitment again for another year. I’m not interested in coming fourth or whatever. I’m a fighter and I want to win. I’m not interested to do that again, I don’t want to do it again so I decided to follow my heart which told me to stop there, call it a day and go on to other things.

“It’s been wonderful and it just feels right to me. I’m very excited, my wife Vivian is also very excited, she’ll have her husband back and I’ll be a dad again then in the next time, which is going to be wonderful.”

Technical analysis – Abu Dhabi

Click Here: pandora Bangle cheap

Scene at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Quotes of the week

DRIVER RATINGS: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

OPINION: A worthy champion

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

For 25 long years, Parveena Ahangar, has been leading protests and marches with Kashmiris, who have time and again raised the issue “disappearances”.

Click Here: cheap true religion jeans

She is 50 and known as the “Iron lady of Kashmir” for her untiring and fearless protests against the alleged abduction of her son by the Indian Army in 1990 and thereafter forming the Association of Parents of Disappeared Parents (APDP) in 1994.

Her association, which is backed by the United Nations, has been holding sit-in protests for over two decades against alleged “forced disappearances”.

Nico Rosberg’s advantage in distance over Lewis Hamilton in today’s qualifying session amounts to just 82cm, and while both drivers certainly deserved pole, it is the German who shall be heading the pack tomorrow.

Mercedes locks out the first row for the 10th time this season, and Rosberg, who topped every session, had no particular issues to report except that he was pleased with his achievement.

Click Here: Italy Football Shop

“Of course, happy with the result in the end,” said the German.

“It was going well the whole weekend, I had a good balance in the car, feeling comfortable so that’s what allows me to put in a lap like that in the end. So yeah, pleased with that.

The statistics say that starting from second at Suzuka – Hamilton’s spot tomorrow – has been the most beneficial  position, but Rosberg clearly isn’t relying on past track records.

Obviously, the n°6 Mercedes driver isn’t looking at tomorrow’s race as a cut and dried exercise, with the hardest yet to come.

“For sure the start is going to be an important one tomorrow. We’ve seen this weekend that it’s not been too easy because of the downhill and the grips are a little bit lower than usual, so it’ll be an interesting challenge.

“From then on I just need to get the tyre life to do a long enough stint and everything to get the strategy working, so it’s putting everything together.”

Rosberg is also mindful of Mercedes’ rivals given the positive race pace displayed by both Red Bull and Ferrari.

“We always have an eye on the opposition, but we’re feeling good about everything and think we can be quickest tomorrow.”

FEATURE: Silbermann says… Snapchat and soap in Suzuka

Chris Medland’s 2016 Japanese Grand Prix preview

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Hamilton needs to think F1, not music – Briatore

November 27, 2019 | News | No Comments

Former Formula One team manager Flavio Briatore has said that in his opinion Lewis Hamilton needed to get his head back in the game if he wanted to retain his world championship for a third consecutive season.

Briatore criticised Hamilton for his ‘playboy’ lifestyle, suggesting that the driver was spending too much time on music and his jet set lifestyle, and that he needed to focus more on driving if he wants to hold off Nico Rosberg’s challenge in the world championship standings.

“Rosberg lately seems to have put the head in place,” Briatore told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport magazine. “Hamilton is ‘a bit DJ, a bit rapper’ – he has great talent, but if you want to win you have to concentrate only one thing.

“If I were him, I would work a little less on music and more on F1,” he added.

Briatore’s comments echo those of another Formula One icon Sir Jackie Stewart, who suggested this week that Hamilton now had the sort of “life that distracts you” and that he had lost focus on Formula One due to his busy personal schedule away from racing.

But Briatore’s strongest praise went not to either of the Mercedes drivers but rather to Red Bull prodigy Max Verstappen, whom he said reminded him of Fernando Alonso – the driver that Briatore helped make world champion in 2005 and 2006.

“Verstappen is a phenomenon, a talent – it’s like seeing Alonso at the beginning. It is useless to insist on the old, it takes youngsters such as Verstappen.”

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS: Nicolas Carpentiers checks out the latest engineering novelties and concepts seen in Singapore

Scene at the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix

Quotes of the week – 2016 Singapore Grand Prix

2016 Singapore Grand Prix – Driver ratings

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Click Here: cheap nrl jerseys

Sebastian Vettel has defended Ferrari’s decision to delay his final pit stop and put him on the soft tyre at the end of the Japanese Grand Prix, despite ultimately losing out to Lewis Hamilton for third place at Suzuka.

Click Here: kenzo online españa

Lining up sixth on the grid due to the penalty he was carrying over from Malaysia, Vettel enjoyed a strong opening lap, gaining two positions at the start before overtaking Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo on the approach of the fearsome 130R corner.

“We had different plans for the strategy, we obviously had a great start, made good progress in the first couple of laps, gaining a few positions. I think we tried everything to put [second-placed] Max [Verstappen] under pressure.

“He reacted by pitting a bit earlier, all the time, in both stops and we obviously didn’t have the freedom in the second stop, as we would pit into traffic with Ricciardo. Max could, because in the worst case scenario he could pass Daniel very easily.

“It was at that point we decided to go longer in order to come back at the end of the race.”

Despite leading fourth-placed Hamilton by several seconds before his last stop, Vettel re-joined the fray behind the Mercedes.

He still hoped to regain third position thanks to his fresher rubber. But after pressuring Hamilton for a couple of laps, the 29-year-old could no longer keep apace.

“Unfortunately the way it turned out the soft tyre didn’t last very long… But if you look at the position at the end to Lewis, I don’t think there was anything we could have done to hold him because the gap to the podium ultimately too big.

“In the end, with what we tried to do, which I think was the right thing to take the risk and try to make it work.

“That’s how it goes, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, [Hamilton] seemed to always clear the cars on the straights whereas I was pretty often stuck for the majority of the first sector or the middle part of the track and lost quite a bit of time.”

DRIVER RATINGS: Japanese Grand Prix

REPORT: Rosberg wins in Japan as Hamilton fights back to third

Breakfast with … Tetsuo Tsugawa

FEATURE: Silbermann says… Snapchat and soap in Suzuka

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

After going 2-0 down at home, Spurs benefitted from some help from a ballboy as they pulled off a memorable comeback

Click Here: Cheap FIJI Rugby Jersey

New Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho has praised the work of an ‘intelligent ball boy’ that proved key in his side’s 4-2 win over Olympiacos in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Trailing 2-0 after 20 minutes, Spurs pegged one goal back just before half-time through Dele Alli and found their equaliser early in the second half courtesy of some quick thinking on the sidelines. 

As Mourinho’s side charged forward, Serge Aurier was able to take a quick throw-in courtesy of a ball boy, with Lucas Moura receiving the ball, racing into the box and setting up Harry Kane for a routine finish. 

Tottenham wouldn’t look back after the equaliser, scoring twice more to secure their spot in the Champions League knockout stages, with Mourinho heaping praise upon the ball boy that helped decide the game. 

“I love intelligent ball boys like I was, and this kid today was brilliant,” Mourinho told  BT Sport  post-match. “He read the game, understands the game and made an important assist, an important moment for him and he will never forget it.

“The goal before half-time is important. I did not see it, I saw it later on the screen.

“When you are losing 2-0, if you are in control of the other result and you know a draw is enough to qualify then we can go for the draw in the second half and be pragmatic.” 

Mourinho was seen congratulating the ball boy after Kane’s equaliser with former Spurs manager Tim Sherwood also joking that a contract could now be awaiting him. 

“Look at the ball boy, outstanding! The distribution – unbelievable,” Sherwood said on beIN Sports . 

“He will be signed in the morning that kid. That boy is probably from the academy…gets an opportunity and look at the pace of him to get that ball back.

“If I’m the Olympiacos coach, I’m strangling him after.” 

After struggling for form under previous manager Mauricio Pochettino, who was replaced by Mourinho last week, Tottenham have now won two games on the bounce. 

While disappointed to see his side fall behind early on, Mourinho praised the players for remaining calm and securing their progression in the competition. 

“We have qualified for the next round, that is the important thing for all of us at the club and the fans,” he said.

“It was hard, they are a good team, very well organised and they attacked our self esteem and self confidence.

“I did not expert our boys to feel this pressure at home and they have not had the best results in the last few months. It was a tough time, more than the changes or the tactical talk, I told them to keep calm, keep confident and believe in ourselves.” 

Force India unfazed by Williams response

November 26, 2019 | News | No Comments

Force India feels it is in a strong position in the fight for fourth place in the constructors’ championship despite dropping behind Williams at Monza.

A clear improvement since the Spanish Grand Prix has seen Force India close in on Williams and it took over fourth place following the Belgian Grand Prix where it finished fourth and fifth with Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez respectively. However, Williams hit back at Monza as Valtteri Bottas took sixth and Felipe Massa ninth, scoring ten points to Force India’s five.

Williams now holds a three-point advantage in the tight battle but Force India COO Otmar Szafnauer says scoring points with both drivers was a good result on a circuit where the Williams was particularly strong.

“Five points, both cars in the points, very good,” Szafnauer told F1i. “Could we have done better? Maybe a little bit better, maybe Nico could have finished ahead of Massa but in the end Felipe was going pretty quickly. Nico lost most of it at the beginning when he got stuck behind [Fernando] Alonso.

“Anyway, two cars in the points, pretty good. A lot of racing left, we’re only three points behind, so I think that’s good. It’s good for the championship and we’ll push hard to the end.”

Szafnauer’s confidence is based on a belief the majority of the remaining circuits will suit Force India better than Williams.

“Hopefully Singapore will suit us a lot better and there are some other ones that we like, including Austin. Suzuka could be good for us, Abu Dhabi is always good for us, Brazil is often good for us so there’s a few of them!”

Click Here: Christian Dior perfume

Scene at the Italian Grand Prix

GALLERY: Mercedes, Ferrari test Pirelli’s 2017-size tyres

2016 Italian Grand Prix – Quotes of the week

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Hamilton beats Rosberg to pole position in Austin

November 26, 2019 | News | No Comments

Lewis Hamilton will start the United States Grand Prix from pole position after beating team-mate Nico Rosberg by 0.216s in Austin.

An impressive final lap of 1:34.999 saw Hamilton secure a potentially crucial pole position as he looks to reduce Rosberg’s 33-point lead in the drivers’ championship. Rosberg provisionally took pole on his final lap but Hamilton excelled in the high-speed first sector to secure the 58th pole position of his career.

  • AS IT HAPPENED: United States Grand Prix – Qualifying

Hamilton struck first in Q3 as he beat Rosberg by 0.072s on the first runs, with Mercedes enjoying an advantage of half a second over the rest of the field. Red Bull posed the biggest threat and Daniel Ricciardo took third on the grid but was just over 0.3s adrift of Rosberg and unable to split the Mercedes pair.

Max Verstappen will start alongside Ricciardo in fourth place ahead of the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. The two Ferrari drivers struggled to stay in contention with those ahead, ending the session over a second slower than Hamilton and with Nico Hulkenberg close behind. Valtteri Bottas, Felipe Massa and Carlos Sainz round out the top ten.

Tyre tactics came into play during the second part of qualifying, with the two Mercedes drivers opting to progress on the soft compound tyre in order to start the race on the softs on Sunday. Verstappen matched that choice, while Ricciardo used the supersofts and set the fastest time of the session.

The main fight was for the final few spots in the top ten and Sainz pulled out an excellent lap to set the eighth quickest time ahead of the two Williams drivers. It was a lap which ultimately eliminated Sergio Perez as Massa completed just one run and snuck through ahead of the Force India in tenth place.

Fernando Alonso will start from 12th alongside Perez – who will get the bonus of choosing which tyres he starts on having not qualified in the top ten – while Daniil Kvyat and Esteban Gutierrez also dropped out in Q2 ahead of Jolyon Palmer and Marcus Ericsson.

The end of Q1 saw a lot of traffic causing headaches for some drivers, with Jenson Button in particular struggling. Button encountered a number of cars in the final sector, with Palmer’s Renault right on the racing line as he approached the final corner. In fairness to Palmer, he took to the kerb on the outside of the track to give Button as much space as possible, taking to team radio to complain about not being told the McLaren was approaching.

Button was attempting to improve after a poor first lap and only briefly jumped out of the bottom six before he was bumped down again, with Palmer progressing as Romain Grosjean failed with his final lap and was eliminated in 17th place. Kevin Magnussen split the Haas and McLaren, while Pascal Wehrlein was just 0.2s slower than Button in 20th place, beating Felipe Nasr and Manor team-mate Esteban Ocon.

2017 driver line-ups so far

Silbermann says … Taylor should take over F1

Romain Grosjean column: 100 races, now for the wins

PREVIEW: 2016 United States Grand Prix

TECHNICAL – Turbulent Jet Ignition: In the antechamber of F1 power

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Click Here: chloe perfume

Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3

01
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
1:36.296
1:36.450
1:34.999

02
Nico Rosberg
Mercedes
1:36.397
1:36.351
1:35.215

03
Daniel Ricciardo
Red Bull
1:36.759
1:36.255
1:35.509

04
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
1:36.613
1:36.857
1:35.747

05
Kimi Raikkonen
Ferrari
1:36.985
1:36.584
1:36.131

06
Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari
1:37.151
1:36.462
1:36.358

07
Nico Hulkenberg
Force India
1:36.950
1:36.626
1:36.628

08
Valtteri Bottas
Williams
1:37.456
1:37.202
1:37.116

09
Felipe Massa
Williams
1:37.402
1:37.214
1:37.269

10
Carlos Sainz
Toro Rosso
1:37.744
1:37.175
1:37.326

11
Sergio Perez
Force India
1:37.345
1:37.353

12
Fernando Alonso
McLaren
1:37.913
1:37.417

13
Daniil Kvyat
Toro Rosso
1:37.844
1:37.480

14
Esteban Gutierrez
Haas
1:38.053
1:37.773

15
Jolyon Palmer
Renault
1:38.084
1:37.935

16
Marcus Ericsson
Sauber
1:38.040
1:39.356

17
Romain Grosjean
Haas
1:38.308

18
Kevin Magnussen
Renault
1:38.317

19
Jenson Button
McLaren
1:38.327

20
Pascal Wehrlein
Manor
1:38.548

21
Felipe Nasr
Sauber
1:38.583

22
Esteban Ocon
Manor
1:38.806

Ricciardo seeking early edge with supersoft choice

November 26, 2019 | News | No Comments

Daniel Ricciardo will be starting his US GP tomorrow on Pirelli’s supersoft tyre in a choice which will see the Aussie be pitted at the outset against  his soft-shod top rivals, including his team mate.

Red Bull’s split strategy came about as a result of each driver’s preference, with Ricciardo obviously expressing a liking for the softest compound available and the edge it may provide him at the start.

“We talked about it before the session and Max was more keen to start on the Soft, and I was happy with the supersoft,” explained Ricciardo.

“I was bit more comfortable on that tyre yesterday on the long runs, that was the reason for that. Hopefully it gives me a bit of a better start and I can really get in the mix with the Mercedes guys.

“Obviously they are going to be fighting each other but hopefully I can be another number to their equation.”

“It’s a good circuit around here where you can do a lot of overtaking, and there are a few corners where you can change the line and do a few little things. It’s not just a one-line circuit, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Given the pace of both Red Bull cars this morning when they topped FP3, one could have hoped for perhaps a tighter battle in qualifying but Ricciardo believes the end result pretty much reflects everybody’s true level of performance.

“I think the day was pretty good, not really close to Mercedes but we expected them to be very hard to beat.

“We’ve got a good buffer over Ferrari and I think the car was working pretty well, I think we’ve got a good chance tomorrow so we’ll see what we can do.

Click Here: creed perfume sale

2017 driver line-ups so far

Silbermann says … Taylor should take over F1

Romain Grosjean column: 100 races, now for the wins

PREVIEW: 2016 United States Grand Prix

TECHNICAL – Turbulent Jet Ignition: In the antechamber of F1 power

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter