 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Nov 18
Alex Wurz had a hand in the layout of the new Circuit of the Americas, which has lauded by formula one drivers this weekend.
Wurz, now 38 and a sports car driver, contested 69 grands prix between 1997 and 2007, finishing on the podium three times. The Austrian now works as a ‘driver coach’ at Williams, serving alongside his friend and countryman Toto Wolff, the British team’s new shareholder and director.
Oct 16
Jenson Button has hit out at those suggesting McLaren is falling out with departing driver Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton is heading to Mercedes next year, and since the news broke, reports have revealed a Twitter dispute with Button and a Suzuka party-snub by his mechanics. And after Hamilton was reportedly late for a briefing in Korea, a Sky reporter quoted Button as saying his 2013 teammate “Sergio (Perez) wouldn’t have been late”.
Oct 15
Fernando Alonso will focus intensely on the final four races of the season amid a ‘media muzzle’, according to the German newspaper Bild.
The report said Ferrari’s Spaniard – who finally lost his championship lead as his on-form title rival Sebastian Vettel won a third consecutive grand prix on Sunday – will not give any more interviews as the 2012 season draws to a close over the next six weeks through India, Abu Dhabi, the US and finally Brazil.
Oct 15
Eric Boullier has ended the uncertainty about Romain Grosjean’s future in formula one.
Amid the Frenchman’s first-lap troubles this year, culminating in him being branded a “nutcase” by Mark Webber at Suzuka, Lotus boss Boullier and team owner Gerard Lopez had refused to guarantee Grosjean will stay put in 2013.
Oct 14
Spain’s El Confidencial observed that the 26-year-old will, in Korea, be a “trout among piranhas”.
Romain Grosjean is expecting his rivals to ramp up the pressure as he vows to get through the first corner in Korea without incident. The Frenchman’s career is on the line following a string of first-lap crashes in 2012 and his Monza race ban, and most recently yet another incident at Suzuka.
Oct 13
Championship lead-chaser Sebastian Vettel hit out at his engineer ‘Rocky’ on Saturday after missing pole in Korea.
It was his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber trumping qualifying instead, with Vettel hitting out at his race engineer Guillaume ‘Rocky’ Rocquelin after crossing the chequered flag. “Why did you not tell me about Massa?” the German, who is 4 points behind Ferrari’s championship leader Fernando Alonso after winning in Singapore and Suzuka, shouted on the radio after the ‘Q3′ session.
Oct 13
Red Bull is confident it has got to the bottom of its recent alternator problems.
The team has had several problems with the Magneti Marelli units supplied by engine partner Renault in 2012. But Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport says Renault recently reverted to a 2011-specification alternator that helped Sebastian Vettel to reliably win the last Suzuka and Singapore grands prix.
Oct 13
Fernando Alonso would be the worthiest winner of this year’s world championship.
That is the view of the Spaniard’s countryman Pedro de la Rosa, who drives for the backmarker team HRT. Ferrari’s Alonso appeared the outright favourite to secure his third drivers’ crown this year until very recently, when first-lap crashes at Spa and Suzuka allowed reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel to close the gap to just 4 points.
Oct 12
Sebastian Vettel is now the outright favourite for the 2012 title, his countryman Michael Schumacher says.
But the seven time world champion has admitted his predictions underwent an about-face at Suzuka, where championship leader Fernando Alonso crashed at the first corner. “For me, the championship was already decided,” Schumacher is quoted by Bild newspaper in Korea.
Oct 12
Championship long-shots Mark Webber and Jenson Button each have very different targets for the rest of the 2012 calendar.
While McLaren’s Button has basically conceded the title, Australian Webber – just three points ahead of Button in the championship – is still pushing hard. “Yes. That’s the goal, mate,” he said in Korea. His deficit to the championship lead, however, is 60 points, so with just five races to go, some in the paddock might think a better strategy for Webber would be to back his teammate Sebastian Vettel’s realistic title challenge.
Oct 12
Kimi Raikkonen has dismissed as “rubbish” a conspiracy theory about Fernando Alonso’s retirement from recent grands prix.
A Spanish newspaper correspondent said last week he saw a possible link between the fact Lotus drivers Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean were involved in the incidents that knocked former runaway championship leader Alonso out of the races at Suzuka and Spa respectively.
Oct 10
It is simplistic to say Red Bull has sped into the 2012 title favourites’ role due to its new ‘double DRS’ device.
As Sebastian Vettel closed the championship gap to Fernando Alonso to just 4 points with wins in Singapore and Suzuka, it had emerged that his RB8 was equipped with a new top speed-boosting system.
Oct 10
“There are suspicious ones in the paddock” – Manuel Franco
A Spanish newspaper reporter has concocted a conspiracy theory in the days since Fernando Alonso’s first-lap retirement at Suzuka last weekend. Diario AS Correspondent Manuel Franco reminds his readers that, at Spa, it was Lotus’ Romain Grosjean who triggered the chaos that ended former runaway championship leader Alonso’s race.
