ZitatBahrain to hold final pre-season Formula 1 tests in 2014 By Jonathan Noble Thursday, October 3rd 2013, 11:26 GMT
SakhirBahrain has won the battle to hold the final two pre-season Formula 1 tests in 2014.
After months of discussions among the teams about whether to run in Bahrain, or try Abu Dhabi or Dubai, it has finally been decided that the Sakhir circuit will be used.
A decision to hold the tests there was finally signed off at a meeting of team managers ahead of the Korean Grand Prix.
The decision finalises the build-up to the 2014 campaign, with the first test taking place at Jerez in Spain on January 28-31.
The two tests in Bahrain will be held from February 19-22 and then from February 27-March 2.
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said that the Bahrain decision was the correct one, because it was the best venue in the Middle East for testing.
"The idea is that you get into some temperature testing and, if you look at the Middle East, Abu Dhabi is not a good circuit for testing, and Dubai is a bit Mickey Mouse," he said.
"The best circuit for testing out there is Bahrain, so that is why we are going there."
Korea GP: Charles Pic reprimanded for missing weighbridge By Edd Straw Friday, October 4th 2013, 09:53 GMT
Zitat
Charles Pic has been given an official reprimand for missing the weighbridge during Friday afternoon practice ahead of the Korean Grand Prix.
The Caterham driver passed a red light indicating he should stop for weighing at the end of the session in contravention of article 26 of the Formula 1 sporting regulations.
Stewards, including former Benetton and Scuderia Italia and five-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Emanuele Pirro, heard that Pic had believed the red light was not for him but insisted that the Frenchman should have known he had to stop.
"The driver failed to proceed to the FIA garage for weighing when signalled to do so," said a statement from the officials.
"He admitted having seen the red light and that the official pointed to him.
"However, he claimed that he believed the light was for the car behind him."
This is Pic's second reprimand of the season, meaning he is under threat of a 10-place grid penalty if he incurs another.
His previous one was for rejoining dangerously in front of Sebastian Vettel at Spa after running off track at the chicane during practice.
REPRIMANDS IN 2013
A total of 10 drivers have been hit with official reprimands during the 2013 season. Any driver incurring three is automatically hit with a 10-place grid penalty, providing at least two of them were for 'driving' offenses.
Mark Webber, 3 Charles Pic, 2 Fernando Alonso, 1 Jules Bianchi, 1 Valtteri Bottas, 1 Romain Grosjean, 1 Lewis Hamilton, 1 Kimi Raikkonen, 1 Nico Rosberg, 1 Adrian Sutil, 1
Why does Kimi have a reprimand? " title="dunno" />
Kimi's interview - F1 Sokuhou - Japanese Paper Magazine 2013, October
ZitatQ: you finally made a big decision. have you relieved?
Kimi: No, nothing has changed of my feeling. it's not such a difficult decision. I know the team well, so do people.
Q: Will Ferrari be a comfortable place to you?
Kimi: I already feel it comfortable. there is no reason to deny it. when I met core people of the team, they all welcomed me home from bottom of their heart. I know what I can gain in Ferrari. I also know how they work. Those were main things to help me to make my decision. What made me happy was that the racing team staffs are also happy to hear I will be back. We fought with not so competitive car in 2009, but still we had some good results and even won once. At last, I left team with good feeling.
Q: what is the feeling like to be Ferrari driver again?
Kimi: it's totally different than to go to new team. I don't have any special bad memory either. When I look back the past and think there might be different way to do few things, but all the racing team is like that. We have big change in technical regulation. It's very important to be in the big team like Ferrari in such period. We will be stepping into a new era. This change will be the biggest change since I've raced in F1. And I can feel the passion that Ferrari wants to fight back on WDC/WCC. They are away from it recent years.
Q: when you moved to Ferrari in 2006, you said Ferrari would be your last team. will it be your last team this time?
Kimi: it's highly possible. although no one can predict such things correctly. but at this point, I don't think I will make contract with another team in future, and I think it's not going to change whatever happens. It is because of my age.
Q: you are going to be 34 on October. You will be the oldest driver on the grid next year.
Kimi: the oldest driver…it's not sounds good. (wry smile)
Q: if you continued with Ferrari in 2010, would it be your last season in F1?
Kimi: can't say. but if we say it, 09 would be possible. I was away from F1 and did WRC for a while. later, I started wanting to race again to fight for the tittle. The biggest reason that I made contract with Lotus is that. at that point, none believed we could flight for the title. but we did pretty good fight last year, and not bad this year too. but you will lose to get title if you done 2-3 bad races. I leave Lotus due to financial issue, but I appreciate them to give me an opportunity to come back to F1 from bottom of my heart. Ferrari has more huge resources and technical ability to provide such a good car and an engine. Of course nobody knows which team will understand the point of new regulation accurately. but it's a good thing to be in top team who has good budget scale in such period.
Q: James Allison and Dirk de Beer have moved to Ferrari.
Kimi: they could be a bit my advantage. they are wonderful engineers to make a good car, and it's good for the team.
Q: then, are you able to beat Alonso?
Kimi: the time will tell. by pushing very hard each other, the team's result will definitely be improved.
Q: will he be your toughest teammate in your career?
Kimi: Even if he is, nothing will change my race. this is my first experience to ride the same car with Fernando. As a team, we are aiming big target. from that effort, I don't think we'll have a problem. we are old enough, so even if there is something happens, we can calmly solve it. I think others who are not in the team are just worried about it. the story that our relationship will get worse is creating by people who have no experience to work in a racing team. Fernando and I have to work well as much as possible. As a result, which one will do better we will see. the biggest job of the team is to provide a fast car for us. From there, we drivers work to make the car competitive.
Q: do you have equal condition with Alonso?
Kimi: As far as I understand, yes.
Q: what do you think about political side of Alonso?
Kimi: I have no interest about political things, and I do not know how others are doing.
Q: what do you think of Alonso?
Kimi: He won WDC twice and very superior driver. I only know him on the circuit. I believe working together to improve the car will be good for both of us.
That is a really nice interview, yes Kimi sounds very mature about it all. I am not sure everything will go over so smoothly but it will be an exciting ride. On last big clash before retirement.
It is an interesting choice from Kimi but it makes sense in someways. If you cant win a WDC the next best thing is to team up with one of the best drivers, if you do well then your reputation will be even more enhanced then by winning another WDC. F1 is build on rivalries. So it is an interesting thing to do. Of course I am sure Kimi doesn't really care about it all.
Räikkönen's fierce overtake and moving up to 2nd in the race was a real paternal lesson, Jukka Mildh writes.
Jukka Mildh
Romain Grosjean's cranky fit in Korean GP stirred up a lot of discussion. It was especially annoying for Grosjean himself, but also for the team's management.
Now that Kimi Räikkönen has made his decision and is going to Ferrari next season, you got the impression of Grosjean's radio-behavior that he thinks he has a priviledged position. There's no doubt that Grosjean has done a good work ever since summer and that he has remarkably lifted up his performance level into a more mature one. And especially a more faster one.
However it doesn't put him in a priviledged position for as long as Räikkönen drives in Lotus. Räikkönen's fierce overtake and moving up to 2nd in the race was a real paternal lesson. Never take anything for granted. Remember that your teammate is your enemy number one. Always. Räikkönen showed where the closet stands and at the same time reminded Grosjean to never think of anyone else but himself on the track.
That was what Grosjean did, but it was his mistake to assume that he gets everything served on a platter. Especially if he himself makes a driving error, which was a substantial reason for him losing his position. The WDC will only be a dream this season, but a 2nd position in Korea put Räikkönen up to 3rd in the overall standings. If he continues like this then he can still catch Fernando Alonso and get silver. So why on earth would he give his 2nd place to his teammate?
They often operate in F1-teams with a 'service in return' -prinicple. Grosjean has been obediant the whole season and he expected a service in return too early. As a world champion Räikkönen does things for his teammate only when he doesn't have any theoretical chances left. And only then does he do them half-willingly and after thinking very closely about it, but he never gives anything for free.
When Eric Boullier chipped in the radio-discussion between Grosjean and his race engineer, it described how much fumbling there is going on inside the team. Based upon the discussion from the pitwall the communication had either been disconnected or then the race engineer assumed that the game is free and overstepped his authority. Lotus also need to work on this area if they want to upgrade their action to a winning level.
At this moment all the success that Lotus gets is like putting money in the bank for the future. But one also has to be ready to pay for it. Now the finishing order cost remarkably more than it would had cost with the opposite finishing order.
On the other hand Lotus is only 44 points after Mercedes and 3rd position in the WCC.
The higher they get, the more chances they have to pay their debts to Räikkönen.
"How We Rate the Drivers after the Korean GP" by Edd Straw (Autosport.com)
Since this is Autosport PLUS content, I can only post a sentence or two for each pilot. But I wanted to highlight that Romain scored a better driver rating than Kimi in Korea. Despite Kimi finishing ahead..
Zitat"I don't want to speak ill of him, because Kimi has been absolutely fantastic for us, he really has. You can see the last two races he has qualified poorly and he's been on the podium. But that can't happen always. You have to be able to qualify well and race well and there's no doubt he races well. But he doesn't have the greatest of qualifying speed and, if next year the tyres get a bit harder, maybe he'll struggle a little bit more."
Zitat"I don't want to speak ill of him, because Kimi has been absolutely fantastic for us, he really has. You can see the last two races he has qualified poorly and he's been on the podium. But that can't happen always. You have to be able to qualify well and race well and there's no doubt he races well. But he doesn't have the greatest of qualifying speed and, if next year the tyres get a bit harder, maybe he'll struggle a little bit more."
Permane just cant help himself it seems.
This guy is an irritant! " title="annoyed" /> But I am bit concern about the last point since Kimi does have problem heating up his tyres.
Maria de Villota has been found dead in her hotel room in Seville, according to reports in Spain.
Various reports state that de Villota was found in her hotel room by emergency services on Friday morning. She was due to appear at a 'What Really Matters' conference in Seville, which has since been suspended.
De Villota lost her right eye after a crash while testing for Marussia in July 2012. She suffered serious head injuries after crashing in to the back of a truck at Duxford Airfield.
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Thu Oct 03, 2013 2:22 pm
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" title="ty" /> so much Maki! 
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