Sebastian Vettel wins 2011 Australian GP

Sebastian Vettel claimed the eleventh victory of his F1 career, and his first as reigning world champion, with a consummate performance in the Australian Grand Prix.

The German, who had never previously finished at Albert Park, led from start to finish, only losing his advantage during the two pit-stops necessitated by the Pirelli tyres, and eventually came home a comfortable 22 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

The Briton, as promised, kept his rival honest in the opening stages, often lapping faster than the Red Bull, but suffered damage to the floor of his reworked Mclaren and dropped away in the second half of the race. The problem could yet cause concerns for the McLaren team in scrutineering.

The pair were joined on the podium by Renault's Vitaly Petrov, who no doubt provided another spur for the injured Robert Kubica to return to action. The Russian, taking his first top three finish, benefited from a flying start that elevated him ahead of Jenson Button and, having run a lonely race for much of the 58-lap distance, resisted late pressure from Abu Dhabi rival Fernando Alonso to underline Renault's pre-season promise.

Alonso overcame a poor start and the second Red Bull of Mark Webber to take fourth for Ferrari, while the Australian pulled off immediately after the chequered flag, suggesting he may have had a problem towards the end that prevented him from chasing the Spaniard.

Button recovered from a drive-thru' - for cutting an corner while battling the fast-starting Felipe Massa - to claim sixth, ahead of impressive rookie Sergio Perez, who bested Sauber team-mate Kamui Kobayashi after making just one stop for tyres. Massa got the better of Sebastien Buemi late on to take ninth, while the Swiss opened Toro Rosso's account with the final point.



But the Sauber drivers, Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Pérez, were disqualified because they had a faulty bottom aileron, and the 7th, 8th,9th and 10th position were gived to Felipe Massa, Sebastien Buemi, Adrian Sutil y Paul Di Resta.

Ferrari alters car´s name

Ferrari will now refer to its 2011 car as the Ferrari F150th Italia after complaints from the Ford Motor Company that the team’s use of the original F150 name was infringing its trademark.
The Maranello outfit announced prior to the launch of its new car last month that its latest challenger would be named F150 to mark the 150th anniversary of Italy’s unification.
However, it emerged on Thursday that Ford had objected to the team’s use of the moniker, and subsequent logo produced for the car, as it was too similar to the one for its top-selling F-150 pick-up truck, with the car giant reportedly launched a law suit in America against Ferrari.
Ferrari has since issued a statement saying it finds Ford's complaints “very difficult to understand”, pointing outing that its use of F150 – which the Italian team claims was the 2011 car’s abbreviated name anyway – was to highlight the Italian anniversary and wouldn’t be used on a commercial vehicle.
Nonetheless, the team adds that in an act of good faith, and to avoid confusion, it will now only refer to the car as the Ferrari F150th Italia.

Massa, the fastest at day one in Jerez

Felipe Massa got the second pre-season test off to the ideal start for Ferrari as he topped the timesheets at Jerez on Thursday, as rival McLaren’s 2011 car made its official track bow.
The Brazilian, driving the car now known in more long-winded form as the Ferrari 150th Italia, set a best time of 1m20.709s during the morning and the mark comfortably remained unbeaten for the remainder of the day.
Ferrari worked on a programme that consisted of initial set-up work for the twisty circuit, further Pirelli tyre evaluations and aerodynamic testing, with Massa’s progress only uninterrupted by several red flags – although he still topped 100 laps. 
Mexican rookie Sergio Perez took his Sauber C30 to a potentially encouraging second place for the Swiss team, the 2010 GP2 runner-up also setting his best time (1m21.483s) before lunch.

Kubica injured in rally crash

Lotus Renault F1 driver Robert Kubica is in hospital because lat Sunday he suffered a heavy crash in a rally car. Kubica, who drives rallies regularly, was competing in the Rondo di Andora when he had an accident in his Skoda Fabia on the first stage.


There are no details of his injuries as yet but the proximity of the accident to the start of the F1 season could be a major blow for both Kubica and the Lotus Renault team who are ready to take on the field with the radical R31.


Fears that Kubica may not be fit for the start of the season are bound to surface and it is believed that Bruno Senna, an official Lotus Renault reserve driver, may be the man who replaces Kubica in the event he is not available. The team has said it will release further information when it is forthcoming.

Nick Heidfeld is going to ride the Lotus in Jerez and, if he makes it good, may be the Lotus Renault´s first driver.

Ferrari reveals its new F150

Ferrari has become the first team to unveil its 2011 Formula 1 car, as it took the wraps off the F150 at its Maranello base.

Having come so close to the 2010 title, the team hopes that the new car, which is visually similar to last year's machine, can be more competitive from the outset.

"F150 was created with a very simple aim - so simple I don't want to say it, I only want to achieve it," said team boss Stefano Domenicali.

"We are starting from a season that had difficult moments, but we also experienced wonderful moments, and we want to start work from these beautiful moments."

The team has undergone various changes in response to 2010's near-miss, when Fernando Alonso came back from a 47-point deficit to take the championship lead in the closing stages, only for a strategic error in the Abu Dhabi finale to let Sebastian Vettel pip him at the post.

Chris Dyer has been moved from his strategic role over the winter, with ex-McLaren man Pat Fry taking his place, while former Red Bull member Neil Martin is working under technical director Aldo Costa.

"Our team has been renewed - we've had some structure changes, new people have joined, and it's a logic of continuous improvement," Domenicali said.

Felipe Massa stays on as Alonso's team-mate for the 2011 season, with Ferrari's protege Jules Bianchi now promoted to full test and reserve driver status.

To see more details and a graphic of Ferrari F150, visit this website:

http://www.marca.com/2011/01/28/multimedia/graficos/1296222999.html

NARAIN KARTHIKEYAN, NEW DRIVER FOR TEAM HISPANIA IN 2011

The HRT team has officially confirmed that former Jordan driver Narain Karthikeyan (pictured, driving a Jordan) has secured a seat of the Spanish team for 2011. "I am confident that his experience and speed will be very useful for the team during the season," said team boss Colin Kolles. The news comes after the Indian driver, who debuted in F1 in 2005 on one of the yellow cars in Jordan, announced on Twitter has been confirmed with the support of its sponsors. Late last year came to light that Karthikeyan, who turns 34 next week, was more than eight million dollars available for use in the purchase of a seat, thanks in part to the support of the manufacturer based in Mumbai Tata, the believed to be closely linked with India's first Grand Prix in October. "Thanks to my sponsors for so long, the Tata Group. Their support was crucial," he posted on Twitter yesterday. After his debut with Jordan, Karthikeyan spent some time as Williams test driver, but more recently has competed in the Superleague and in the NASCAR truck. It was rumored that the Indian had a nasty parting with Kolles at the end of 2005, but he insists he has a "good working relationship" with the now head of HRT. "I always said that I have not abandoned my desire to return to the highest level of motorsport," said Karthikeyan to Indian media. Diary of Delhi 'Hindustan Times' revealed that Karthikeyan chose before the NASCAR F1 for 2011 but "will not win any money," personally this year. "It was a difficult decision," confirmed, "but once I decided, no doubt." Moreover, Karthikeyan was asked about the possible lack of competitiveness of Car 2011 of HRT, after those built by Dallara this year will prove to be the slowest on the track. "The car can not be worse than it was last year," he said. "The ideal would beat the other two new teams, Lotus and Virgin.

Algersuari sweeps in voting and the prize Motor Racing 2010 to pilot revelation

Algersuari sweeps in voting and the prize Motor Racing 2010 to pilot revelation
Alguersuari has swept the votes to win the prize for best rider Motor Racing revelation. We gave our readers a choice of more than 1, but Jaime wiped with 80% of the vote by 20% of Kobayashi and "Holy Kubica" and 10% of Hülkenberg, Barrichello, Yamamoto, Petrov and Schumacher. The latter was voted filly. Di Grassi and Senna stayed at 0% and Klien and Chandhok joined the survey or how bad they were.

For the other awards, here is the list of other winners:
Mechanical: Adrian Newey (Red Bull designer)
Pilot (in general): Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso (tie)
Team Leader: Luca di Montezemolo and Stefano Domenicali (Ferrari)
Car: Red Bull RB6
Veteran: Mark Webber
Young: Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez (GP2)
Time of year: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Bernie Ecclestone and robbery (tie)

I wish you happy new year to all readers of Motor Racing.

Neil Martin Ferrari appoints new brain strategies

Ferrari has kept his word. Recall that at the end of the 2010 season, Luca di Montezemolo and Stefano Domenicali said they would not fire anyone because of the loss of the championship, and that only make some adjustments within the team. A few minutes ago we could learn a new addition to the Scuderia.

Neil Martin joins Italian team and assumes the new role of head of Operations Strategy Development team. The Englishman, who was formerly on Red Bull and McLaren, responds directly to the technical director Aldo Costa. The strategy is currently head of Ferrari, guilty of what happened in Abu Dhabi as Domenicali, was never fired, but for that mistake in Yas Marina, was relegated to a lesser charger.

 

Great game to be a manager of a Formula 1 team

ComunioGP is a game that lets you own a Formula 1 team. In the transfer market you can sign a crew chief, engine, drivers and the team. If you click to sign him to something like "I seek the community", you can choose any league where you want to participate. To register, click HERE

Official list of registered drivers for 2011

Red Bull:
1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Mark Webber

McLaren:

3. Jenson Button
4. Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari:

5. Fernando Alonso
6. Felipe Massa

Mercedes GP:

7. Michael Schumacher
8. Nico Rosberg

Lotus Renault F1:

9. Robert Kubica
10. Vitaly Petrov

Williams:

11. Rubens Barrichello
12. Pastor Maldonado

Force India:

14. Adrian Sutil
15. Paul di Resta/Vitantonio Liuzzi

Sauber:

16. Kamui Kobayashi
17. Sergio Perez

Toro Rosso:

18. Sebastien Buemi
19. Jaime Alguersuari

Team Lotus:

20. Jarno Trulli
21. Heikki Kovalainen

Hispania:

22. Narain Karthikeyan
23. ¿Sakon Yamamoto?¿Bruno Senna?

Virgin:

24. Timo Glock
25. Jerome D´Ambrosio