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Sunday, July 24, 2011

Lewis Hamilton - classic F1 2011

Lewis Hamilton picks his five all-time favourite races ahead of the British Grand Prix, in the latest instalment of BBC Sport's classic Formula 1 series.

This year, we have asked all the drivers to make such a choice, and we are serialising them before each race to whet your appetites for the action ahead.

The drivers have taken different approaches to this task so far.

Multiple world champions Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, for example, chose a mixture of their own races and events that resonated with them from before their own time in F1.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, by contrast, did not take his own races into account at all.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Hamilton - like reigning champion Sebastian Vettel before him - has gone for his five favourite races from his own F1 career. And what a selection it is.

Hamilton has been F1's most exciting driver since he entered the sport with a bang in 2007, and in that time he has produced drives that are not only among the best of his era, but will stand the test of time as all-time great performances.

His five choices reflect that, and you can watch him discussing his choices with F1 presenter Jake Humphrey in the video embedded immediately below. He starts off by talking about this season's Chinese Grand Prix.

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Hamilton has included a couple of career landmarks because of what they mean to any driver - a home race, a Monaco win, for example - so not all of them would necessarily be on a list of the five greatest drives of his career. But at least three of them would.

His superb wins in Belgium 2010 and Hungary 2009 do not make his list, nor is there a mention for his breathtaking qualifying lap in Japan last year.

Nevertheless, I'm sure many could make a case for the other two as well, and all are stand-out performances from a man even his team-mate Jenson Button describes as "super-talented, one of the best drivers Formula 1 has ever seen".

Hamilton has not ranked them himself, either in order of preference or in order of status, so I have done so myself, after discussing their merits with our F1 commentary box producer Mark Hughes.

In what we perceive to be reverse order of merit, they are as follows:

5. The 2008 Monaco Grand Prix
Hamilton has chosen this because, he says, as a grand prix driver "you always remember your first Monaco". He undoubtedly drove superbly to win in mixed conditions, but the victory owed a lot to luck.

He crashed into the barrier at Tabac corner on lap six, damaging a rear wheel, as rain began to fall more heavily. But he managed to get the car back to the pits undamaged, enabling him to take on more fuel and delay his final tyre change to dry tyres until he had built a winning lead.

4. The 2007 Canadian Grand Prix
Hamilton made an instant impression in his debut season in F1, overtaking his team-mate Alonso around the outside of the first corner at the first race of the season in Australia.

After a series of increasingly impressive performances, and podium finishes in every race, his maiden victory came at the sixth race of the season, the Canadian Grand Prix.

It was a dominant performance, leading from lights to flag, despite four safety cars, and such was Hamilton's superiority that it appeared to completely unsettle Alonso.

The Spaniard went off at the first corner after the start disputing the lead with his team-mate and, most uncharacteristically, ran off the track there a further three times during the course of the race, eventually finishing seventh.

3. The 2007 Japanese Grand Prix
Run in horrendous, monsoon-like conditions on the Fuji Speedway in the shadow of Japan's iconic mountain, this was the first real indication that Hamilton had the almost supernatural ability on a wet track that marks out the truly great drivers.

He led the race throughout, coping well with a safety car intervention, while other drivers - including Alonso - were caught out by the rivers of water that were running across the track or the appalling visibility.

Hamilton joked with Humphrey that seeing his team-mate, with whom he was at the time disputing the world championship, had crashed was one of the reasons he remembered the race so fondly.

He describes it as "the race in the wet in Fuji where Fernando crashed".

"That made it great, did it?" Jake asks.

"Yeah," Hamilton says with a laugh, before adding: "No, it was a great race because it was the trickiest conditions. And you've got a two-time world champion who's been racing a lot more than me and he's put it in the wall. And the others who were trailing around and struggling, to have those races and keep the car on the track in those conditions, it doesn't compare to anything."

2. The 2011 Chinese Grand Prix
Hamilton's only victory so far this season was the result of a breathtaking drive, in which all his raw pace and daring overtaking skills were on display.

He chased Vettel down in the closing laps and passed him brilliantly into the 150mph Turn Seven to take the lead. That was impressive enough.

But the win hung on an equally stunning overtaking move on Button earlier on, diving audaciously down the inside into Turn One at the last possible moment. The two came very close to disaster, Button having a wobble as he noticed his team-mate was there and took avoiding action.

"Every moment was amazing," Hamilton remembers. "To express what you feel in the car, you can't put it into words.

"I race a Formula 1 car. It's crazy to be able to even say that. I've been racing since I was eight and now I've got my own F1 car that I can race and help develop. I feel very privileged.

"When you're in that race and you feel you've got the car beneath you, overtaking Vettel, the world champion, was amazing - and also doing it in a place where he didn't expect it.

"It's definitely one of the best grands prix I've had."

1. The 2008 British Grand Prix
Hamilton was brief on the subject of this race, his first and so far only win in his home grand prix, describing it as "wicked". Another way of looking at it is as one of the greatest wet-weather performances in F1 history.

It was a drive that reminded onlookers of Ayrton Senna's iconic victory at the 1993 European Grand Prix at Donington Park, Michael Schumacher in Spain in 1996 or Jackie Stewart's at the Nurburgring in 1968 - a day when one man is on a completely separate level from his competitors.

In treacherous wet conditions, Hamilton was at times four of five seconds faster than anyone else. It was, as McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said at the time, "an astonishing performance".

Highlights of that memorable afternoon are embedded below, with beneath it links to short and extended highlights of Mark Webber's victory for Red Bull in last year's British Grand Prix.

CLICK HERE FOR SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 BRITISH GRAND PRIX
CLICK HERE FOR EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

Short highlights of Canada 2007, Japan 2007, Monaco 2008, Great Britain 2008, China 2011 and extended highlights of the 2010 British Grand Prix will be broadcast on satellite and cable from 1500 BST on Wednesday 6 July until 1830 BST on Friday 8 July. They will be broadcast on Freeview from 1040 BST until 1240 BST on Friday 8 July.

Renzo Zorzi Ricardo Zunino Carlo Abate George Abecassis

N�rburgring set for a close race even without rain | 2011 German GP pre-race analysis

Can Mark Webber hold back Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso to win?

Chris Bristow Peter Broeker Tony Brooks Alan Brown

HRT F111 unveiled in Barcelona (photos)

Alan Rollinson Tony Rolt Bertil Roos Pedro de la Rosa

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Toyota FJ Cruiser TRD

When we are looking for a sport utility vehicle that can negotiate the urban jungle as well as the real jungle, the 2011 Toyota FJ Cruiser TRD (Toyota Racing Development) is an outstanding option. This descendant of rugged Toyota off roaders is no longer a one trick pony and has added urban practicality to its impressive off road reputation. Toyota has made the FJ Cruiser TRD a utilitarian option that can do both jobs supremely well whether it is navigating the parking lot at the supermarket or crawling over a sand dune in the Sahara.

Of the different versions and options offered for the vehicle, we picked the the 2011 Toyota FJ Cruiser with the TRD package because it offers quite the bang for your buck ($33,461). For that price, we got a genuinely brilliant off roader that can seat five adults, but more importantly, receives a sportier feel with TRD 16-in. 6-spoke alloy wheels and hefty BFGoodrich All-Terrain tires. Then there’s the TRD-developed, high-speed?tuned Bilstein shocks for extra support.

The FJ is a relative newcomer to the market (introduced in 2006) . Now, the FJ is aiming to tackle the suburbs as well the trail. Let’s see if the FJ can truly be the best of both worlds.

Hit the jump to see if Toyota was successful.

Toyota FJ Cruiser TRD originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 22 July 2011 17:00 EST.

Bob Said Eliseo Salazar Mika Salo Roy Salvadori

Will Hamilton frustration prompt Red Bull move?

Lewis Hamilton's frustration with life as a McLaren driver has been palpable in recent weeks.

There was his outburst after finishing sixth at Monaco, the result of a messy weekend at a race he was hoping to win.

There was the supposed-to-be clandestine visit to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner on Saturday afternoon in Canada, a matter of hours after qualifying a disappointing fifth for another race he was hoping to win.

There were the messages over the team radio as he laboured in fourth place, struggling with tyre wear, during the European Grand Prix. "I can't go any slower," he said to his engineer after being asked to look after his tyres. And a few laps later: "I can't go any faster," when asked to try to make up some ground.

So will Hamilton still be a McLaren driver in 2012?

Although he has a contract that lasts until the end of that season, someone leaked to the Mail on Sunday that there is an option for Hamilton to leave if either he does not win the drivers' title or the team do not win the constructors' championship this year, neither of which is likely to happen. McLaren will not comment on the veracity of the Mail report.

On Monday the Independent published an interview with McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh, who said: "Lewis loves this team and he knows the car is capable of winning races.

"He's sat with me in the last 10 days and explained his passion, enthusiasm and desire to remain part of this team.

"I've known him since he was 11. I don't think he would look me in the eye and say that if he didn't mean it."

Lewis Hamilton signs autographs for fans

Hamilton remains one of the biggest stars in F1 despite some disappointing moments this season

But someone who has spoken to Hamilton about his future recently says that the 26-year-old is not happy at McLaren, and would leave if he could.

And in the last few days, a source with intimate knowledge of the driver market told me that Hamilton had been having "extensive negotiations with Red Bull".

The catalyst for Hamilton's discontent is another year in a car that is again not good enough to mount a realistic challenge for the title - the third in a row now for Hamilton at McLaren since he won the 2008 drivers' title in his second season with the team.

Hamilton is widely regarded in F1 as the fastest driver in the world, and he certainly believes that of himself. So to watch Sebastian Vettel running away to a second consecutive title at Red Bull, in the fastest car on the grid for the third year in a row, is painful indeed.

Publicly, Hamilton continues to say positive things about McLaren. His most recent utterance on the subject of his future was to say: "Fortunately I don't have to make any decisions just yet. I still have a contract for another year and a half."

He has added that he sees no reason to leave as long as he has a competitive car.

Some would follow Whitmarsh in arguing that he does - had things gone differently, Hamilton might have won in Spain, Monaco and Canada in addition to his sole victory so far in China this year.

That would mean he and Vettel would have been tied on four wins each, in which case Hamilton may not have been eyeing the Red Bull quite so jealously.

Even had this happened, however, the Red Bull would remain undoubtedly F1's fastest car - its advantage in the races is far less than it is in qualifying, but it seems increasingly certain that is simply down to the fact that Vettel has to take it easy on Sundays to manage this year's delicate Pirelli tyres.

Hamilton could only go to Red Bull in 2012, though, if two things married up - he has to really want it, and so do Red Bull.

You can be sure Hamilton would think very carefully about engineering a way out of his contract with a team that has nurtured him from the age of 11.

Firstly, there is the personal loyalty he must still feel on one level, even if he might think he has paid a lot of it back with some of his stunning wins in recent years, victories McLaren would not have had without him.

Just as important, though, will be the knowledge that, historically, McLaren always win in the end.

Stay where he is, and Hamilton can be pretty sure he will get a title-winning car eventually - just as Mika Hakkinen did after sticking with the team through the difficult years of the mid-1990s.

Equally, it is not that long since Hamilton dismissively referred to Red Bull as a "soft drinks company". And while McLaren and Ferrari are in F1 for the long haul - it is their raison d'etre - no one can be quite sure how long Red Bull will stick around.

But that's the long-term view, and racing drivers, generally, are pretty short-term people - after all, they have limited shelf lives.

The short-term view is as follows:

The Red Bull is likely to remain the car to beat as long as the current technical structure under Adrian Newey remains in place - which is until at least the end of 2014.

By then, Hamilton will be 29. He will still have plenty of life left in him, but that is a long period to wait fighting the odds - and potentially without a title - when most people consider you the fastest driver in the world.

There are other issues in the mix, too.

Hamilton - and team-mate Jenson Button, it is believed - find the public relations demands of being a McLaren driver quite tiring - and they note the rather different requirements on Vettel and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, the other member of F1's big three.

Equally, McLaren are quite restrictive of drivers having their own personal sponsors, although Hamilton does have such a deal with sportswear company Reebok.

So in a lot of ways, a move to Red Bull might make sense for Hamilton. The question remains, though, does it make sense for Red Bull?

On the face of it, you might think not. They already have Vettel, their blue-eyed boy wonder.

Why unsettle him by sticking Hamilton alongside him in a match-up that is bound to be super-high-maintenance? And if they do, what is the point of their driver development programme, which is moving on apace with Red Bull prot�g� Daniel Ricciardo being given his F1 race debut in a Hispania this weekend at the British Grand Prix.

But if Vettel continues to dominate F1 in the way he is doing this year, is that really good for Red Bull? Yes, he is winning everything, but that is likely to turn off a majority of the audience, not excite them. And that is no way to sell cans of soft drink.

Red Bull seeks to project a cool, youthful, exciting image, and what could fit those qualities better than sticking Hamilton in the team alongside Vettel and saying to the world: "There you go. We're got two of the three most exciting drivers in the world and we're going to sit back and watch them go at it."

The reality is that any negotiations that may be taking place will likely be between Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz and Hamilton's new manager, Simon Fuller. Neither of whom routinely give interviews to F1 journalists.

For now, no one beyond that needs to know anything about it - not even Whitmarsh or Horner. So at the end of the day, it comes down to Hamilton and Mateschitz, and how much each of them wants to link up with the other. Time will tell.

UPDATE, 1600 BST: I have just heard from my old friend Gerhard Kuntschick on this subject. He is a journalist for the Austrian newspaper Salzburger Nachtrichten and knows Mateschitz as well as any reporter. Kuntschick spoke to Red Bull F1 adviser Helmut Marko on Monday, who told him: "Red Bull considers Lewis Hamilton as having a firm contract with McLaren and we don't interfere with other people's contracts. But you never know what will happen in the future."

Louis Chiron Joie Chitwood Bob Christie Johnny Claes

Marussia Virgin MVR-02 Launch pictures (7th of February)

Gianfranco Brancatelli Eric Brandon Don Branson Tom Bridger

Watch Bahrain F1 Grand Prix Live on Star Sports ? Time in India, Hongkong, Malaysia and Singapore

Fernando Alonso clocked the fastest time in Q3 on Saturday at the Bahrain F1 Grand Prix. However, it was Sebastian Vettel who will take the pole position on Sunday at Sakhir, Bahrain. Sebastian Vettel dedicated his pole position to Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. Fernando Alonso will start from the 3rd position on the grid.
Star Sports, which [...]

Roberto Bonomi Juan Manuel Bordeu Slim Borgudd Luki Botha

Sutil scandal: I suppose I'm witness X

Walt Ader Kurt Adolff Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr

Friday, July 22, 2011

Car Infographics: Driving Habits and Distractions

We’ve all seen them. Hell, we’ve all been them. Distracted drivers are everywhere, whether it’s a woman running late and putting on her makeup in the car or the guy who skipped lunch and is now scarfing down a double cheeseburger, these types of drivers are the ones that cause accidents.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 80% of crashes involved driver distraction. The risk is three times higher when the driver is fiddling with their cell phone and nine times higher when the driver is reaching for something (like that cell phone). Statistics show that 79% of drivers are distracted due to changing their radio stations or CDs and 51% are distracted because of their cell phone.

These examples are some of the more obvious distractions that can cause accidents, but there even some driver habits that will lead to crushed metal. Remember taking an eyeful of that accident to see if anyone was hurt or coming back from a daydream only to brake for no apparent reason? The driving habits some of us pick up can lead to an accident just as easily as if we were on the phone. The best way to overcome these habits is to fine tune our driving techniques. Don’t just keep your eyes on the road, keep your thoughts on the road as well. Then there’s the more obvious suggestions such as catching up with your best friend while sitting on the couch and not while you’re in the car or keeping up with the flow of traffic and not cranking your neck back to see what’s going on in the other car.

Check out the rest of the infographic to get more helpful driving techniques and statistics and remember to check back with us for the next installment in our Car Infographics series.

Car Infographics: Driving Habits and Distractions originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 22 July 2011 19:00 EST.

Geoff Duke Len Duncan Piero Dusio George Eaton

Pastrana to try challenge

Pat Flaherty Jan Flinterman Ron Flockhart Myron Fohr

Rising star Ricciardo relishing Hispania opportunity

At Silverstone

For a man making his grand prix debut this weekend, Daniel Ricciardo finds himself with an unusual amount of Formula 1 experience.

The Australian Red Bull protege has driven three different F1 cars in the last 12 months.

He piloted Red Bull's championship-winning RB6 car at a test for young drivers at the end of last season, and then became Toro Rosso reserve in 2011 before he was loaned out to Hispania as their race driver for the rest of this season just in time for the British Grand Prix.

Despite going from the fastest car on the grid to the slowest in the space of a few months, Ricciardo is viewing his promotion to Hispania race seat as a big step in the right direction.

"The car can't be compared to the Red Bull but it's still an F1 car," said the 22-year-old with an ear-to-ear smile. "It does some amazing things speed-wise and the potential under braking is still pretty strong. I'm definitely having fun.

"I was only 18 when I was picked up by Red Bull, and I knew there was still quite a few years to prove I could go through the categories and get into F1. It's only become a reality now."

The wet and windy weather that buffeted Silverstone on Friday meant Ricciardo did not have the best conditions in which to show his capabilities during his first full day of practice.

Ricciardo is hoping to impress at Silverstone this weekend. Photo: Getty Images

But he made a solid start, closely matching team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi in the morning and beating the experienced Italian by 0.209 seconds in the afternoon.

All drivers use the man on the other side of the garage as their initial benchmark but Liuzzi presents an interesting comparison for Red Bull as they assess Ricciardo. The team know just how far Liuzzi's talents reach because he drove for Red Bull in 2005 before joining Toro Rosso.

Does Ricciardo's future with the Red Bull family hang on whether he can regularly beat the Italian?

"It wouldn't hurt," responded Ricciardo. "I'll drive as fast as I can and where I end up will determine my future.

"Tonio is quite experienced and has spent more time with the team than I have. Going by the pace today I was quite happy to be in a competitive range and we'll see how it goes in the dry.

"The plan is to be around and to race in F1 for many years to come so with that I have to be fast and to prove myself."

Ricciardo asked fellow Aussie Mark Webber for some advice this weekend and there is even speculation that Ricciardo could be fast-tracked into Webber's seat in 2012.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has even compared Ricciardo's situation to Damon Hill's route into F1.

Hill stepped into a race seat with Brabham halfway through the 1992 season when he was a reserve for Williams. The next season, Hill was promoted to a race seat with Williams and four years later he won a world title.

So, does Ricciardo fancy a seat with the fastest car in the field?

"Having a connection and a link with Red Bull, it's somewhere in the back of my mind and it would be nice one day," said the Australian, who handily already lives near the team's headquarters in Milton Keynes.

"The news I got last week has filled up quite a bit of space in my head so I will just try and enjoy that at the moment.

"My main objective this weekend is to finish the race. Of course I'll push and try and get as much as I can from the car.

"I don't think we'll be fighting with Red Bull or Ferrari but I don't plan running at the back and having my own race. If I can be a few more places up the grid then of course I'll go for it. It would be nice to be involved in a good fight and I'll be pushing through all the race."

At the end of his first media session as an F1 racing driver, Ricciardo made another unusual gesture as he gathered up the dictaphones in front of him and handed them back one-by-one to each member of the media.

"There are a few more people here than I thought," said Ricciardo, with another trademark grin. "It's nice that people are taking an interest."

It's fair to say that there are plenty of people watching this space. After all, who's to say Ricciardo won't emulate former Red Bull protege Sebastian Vettel and rise through the ranks of Toro Rosso and Red Bull to become a world champion?

Bob Evans Corrado Fabi Teo Fabi Pascal Fabre

Live: 2011 German Grand Prix second practice | F1 Fanatic Live

Follow the 2011 German Grand Prix second practice session on F1 Fanatic Live.

Mike Taylor Trevor Taylor Marshall Teague Shorty Templeman

HRT F111 unveiled in Barcelona (photos)

John Fitch Christian Fittipaldi Emerson Fittipaldi Wilson Fittipaldi

New team owners

People who arrive in Formula 1 after successful forays in other walks of life have an alarming tendency to know all the answers – and to get things horribly wrong as a result. The Carabante Family was a good example of this concept, although they left with a profit after 18 months, despite not really [...]

Nigel Mansell Sergio Mantovani Johnny Mantz Robert Manzon

Remembering Jeff Krosnoff...

David Walker Peter Walker Lee Wallard Heini Walter

Sebastian Vettel dashes hopes of reining in Red Bull

Perhaps the most telling image of the European Grand Prix weekend did not even happen on race day.

After qualifying third and fourth behind the Red Bulls, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso briefly stood side by side as they took in the fact that, for all the pre-event talk, they were just as far behind as before.

The two finest racing drivers in the world didn't speak, nor even exchange a glance. But their drained, haunted faces told you all you needed to know about what Sebastian Vettel's rivals are up against for the remaining 11 races of this season.

Twenty-four hours later, both men effectively admitted that the fight for the world championship is already over.

Valencia was something of a reality check for anyone who retained even the slightest hope that Vettel and Red Bull's relentless march towards a second consecutive world title might be halted.

There were a number of reasons behind the optimism. But in the end they all evaporated as the German drove another controlled, measured race, perfectly judging his car and tyres and keeping just far enough out of reach of his pursuers on his way to a sixth win in eight races.

It looked relatively close for a while, but the suspicion remains that Vettel is going only as fast as he needs to a lot of the time, with one eye on the deliberately high wear of the Pirelli tyres.

Afterwards, Vettel pretty much admitted this was what was going on. "There's no big secret," he said. "It's a just a question of going fast without giving the tyres too hard a time."

The telling part of the race was leading up to the final pit stops. Until then, Vettel's lead - whether over team-mate Mark Webber or Alonso's Ferrari - had been around two or three seconds, but suddenly he turned on the speed.

A succession of fastest laps followed until his stop on lap 47, after which his advantage was more than eight seconds. If it had not been game over already, it certainly was then.

In a situation such as he faced in Valencia, Vettel is nigh-on unbeatable. If he is going to show a vulnerability, it is when he is under pressure, needs to make up or defend a place - as Jenson Button proved in the Canadian Grand Prix. And on Sunday he knew he had enough of a performance cushion that he didn't really feel any.

Vettel will surely be beaten again from time to time in 2011, but more and more this season is beginning to feel like 1992, when Nigel Mansell swept all before him in the Williams-Renault FW14B.

Vettel's 77-point advantage over his closest pursuers - Webber and Button - is more than three clear wins after just eight races. And his position is further strengthened by the fact that the men who are most likely to be able to pose a consistent threat over the rest of the season - Hamilton and Alonso - are even further behind.

"They're dominant in this championship," Alonso said this weekend, summing up the problem for Ferrari and McLaren. "Probably the most dominant in years."

The Williams FW14B has gone down in history as one of the great F1 cars, and there is no doubt that this year's Red Bull, the RB7, will do the same.

Adrian Newey - also responsible for the FW14B among other defining cars - and his team have done a fantastic job creating a machine that is simply a level above anything else on the grid.

There is no one secret to the Red Bull's pace. As Newey so often says, it is "down to the overall package". Every part of the car designed to perfection, each giving a small gain, all of them adding up to a big advantage in lap time. Removing the reliability niggles that led to a stuttering start last year has been the final piece of the jigsaw.

That's why hopes that Red Bull would be slowed by a new ruling ahead of Valencia restricting changes to engine maps between qualifying and race were always likely to be misguided.

And it emerged over the weekend that a second ruling to come into force at the next race, the British Grand Prix, may well also not have the effect Red Bull's rivals initially hoped.

That is the banning of off-throttle blowing of diffusers - a practice whereby teams blow exhaust gases over the back of the car's floor even when the driver is not pressing the accelerator, significantly increasing downforce and therefore grip.

Initially, the belief among some of Red Bull's rivals was that because the world champions had been the first in exploiting this technology, they must be more advanced with it, and therefore would be hardest hit by any ban.

But Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said over the course of the weekend in Spain that they had tried 'hot blowing' and abandoned it because it was burning the bodywork - so had stuck with the less influential 'cold-blowing', where the throttles are kept open but fuel is not burnt. This produces significantly less energy and so is less effective than hot blowing.

That means that far from the Silverstone ruling hurting Red Bull, it could actually help them - as their closest rivals, Ferrari and McLaren, are both using hot-blowing.

It was already difficult to imagine Red Bull being beaten at Silverstone - a track that abounds with the sort of long-duration corners of varying speeds that bring out the car's strengths. With these latest revelations, their advantage in Northamptonshire could be even bigger.

The Red Bull's superiority was summed up by Webber in typically succinct fashion after the race in Valencia on Sunday.

"This is probably our weakest track of the year," the Australian said after finishing third. "We have a different regulation for Silverstone but we're expecting to still be pretty competitive again. So if we can keep Valencia as one of our top three weakest tracks then we didn't do too badly today."

Good as the car is, so far only Vettel is able to exploit its full strengths, and there is no doubt he is having a superb season that will inevitably end with him becoming, at 24, the youngest double world champion.

Webber is far less at home with the car on this year's Pirelli tyres, as was proved again in Valencia, where he fought a valiant but ultimately unsuccessful battle to keep an inspired Alonso - at his relentless best - behind him.

Alonso, who believes he is driving better this season than ever before, was all smiles after the race and well he might have been. For this result - splitting the Red Bulls - will have felt like a victory, so untouchable does Vettel appear barring the sort of wild-card circumstances that led to his only defeats so far this season.

Riccardo Paletti Torsten Palm Jonathan Palmer Olivier Panis

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Team order rule needs a re-think

Formula One should look at abolishing the controversial ban on team orders after Ferrari escaped further punishment for their manipulation of the German Grand Prix result. That is the view of the Daily Telegraph?s Tom Cary, who is of the opinion that the team orders rule now needs to be seriously looked at because of its obvious shortcomings.

?Whether you are for or against team orders, if the FIA could not back up its own rules and nail a competitor in a blatant case such as this the rule really does need reviewing. Perhaps Ferrari?s thinly-veiled threat to take the matter to the civil courts if they were punished too harshly scared the governing body, who as much as admitted the flimsiness of its rule."

Paul Weaver, reporting for the Guardian in Monza, was in favour of the ruling which keeps alive Ferrari?s slim chances in an enthralling championship.

?The World Motor Sport Council was right not to ruin a compelling Formula One season by taking away the 25 points Alonso collected in Germany. That would have put him out of the five-man title race. But the council was widely expected to increase the fine and possibly deduct points from the team, as opposed to the individual. In the end, it could be argued that common sense prevailed. But the decision will dismay those who were upset by the way Ferrari handled the situation as much as anything else.?

The Daily Mail's Jonathan McEvoy expressed outrage at the FIA tearing up its own rule book by allowing Ferrari to escape unpunished.

"Although the race stewards fined them �65,000 for giving team orders in July, the FIA World Motor Sport Council, to whom the matter was referred, decided not to impose any further punishment. It leaves the sport's rulers open to derision. It was, after all, their rule they undermined. In a statement, the WMSC said the regulation banning team orders 'should be reviewed'."

Ian Ashley Gerry Ashmore Bill Aston Richard Attwood