Sabtu, 27 Oktober 2012

Formula 1: Indian Grand Prix Predictions


The Indian Grand Prix takes place on Sunday at the Buddh International Circuit near New Delhi.
With just four races to go, all eyes are on Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel as they fight to become three-time world champions.
What happens in India will have a huge impact on the title battle. Will what appears to be a two-horse race go all the way down to the wire?
We can only hope.
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Kamis, 26 Juli 2012

Formula One: Ferrari boss issues rallying cry 26-07-2012


Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo issued a rallying cry to the Italian scuderia on Thursday and heaped praise on team boss Stefano Domenicali's leadership.
Speaking ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, the final race before the sport's European summer break, he also warned that he remained 'concerned' about their title challenge despite Fernando Alonso's third win of the year in Germany last weekend.
He said: "I am concerned, more so than I was the day after Valencia, where he also won.
"I see very strong opponents: McLaren has made great progress, Red Bull is very strong, Sauber had a race pace that was a match for ours and Lotus is very strong at times.
"Therefore, we have to be very careful: after we had a difficult start to the season, maybe our rivals did not expect to see Ferrari capable of fighting back this strongly, but now they will redouble their efforts to beat us.
"Therefore, we must stay very focused and continue our efforts to improve continuously."
Di Montezemolo, however, expressed joy at the team's performance in Germany and praised the work of Domenicali.
"I want to tell you I am proud of you," he said.
"When I watched you applauding the drivers, I was thinking that I am lucky to work with people like you, people who have known how to work without fuss, with ability and determination to redress the difficult situation at the start of the season, which was not at the level of the name Ferrari.
"I want to take this opportunity to thank Domenicali for his work. When, a few years ago, it was decided to go for a man who had grown from within the company, there were some who turned up their noses at the idea.
"But today I am pleased to see a true leader of a team that is doing well, which is what I want and which is worthy of the name Ferrari."
Alonso is the only driver to win three races this season and, after the Hockenheim contest, leads the drivers title race by 36 points.

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Formula One Study - How to Stay in Pole Position? 26-07-2012


The answer is to hire a boss who has worked on the floor; new research shows that Formula One teams led by bosses who started out as drivers or mechanics win twice as many races as their rivals.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) - Jul 26, 2012 -
Researchers say the key to success is hiring so-called 'expert leaders' - individuals who have built up years of experience on the floor - instead of general managers. The pattern applies not just in Formula One but across other public and private sector organisations too.

The findings come from Cass Business School and the University of Sheffield where academics analysed every Formula One race - involving almost 18,000 cars - staged in the last 60-years.  They found that the most successful team leaders are more likely to have started their careers as drivers or mechanics compared with Formula One leaders who are professional managers or engineers with degrees.

"Former top drivers, like Jean Todt, consistently turn into successful Formula One bosses, even when accounting for factors such as the resources available to each team," said co-author of the study, Dr Amanda Goodall of Cass Business School.

The authors argue their findings show that organisations headed by 'expert leaders' - individuals with deep technical knowledge and experience in the firm's core business, coupled with strong leadership ability - perform better than firms where general managers are at the helm.

"Is it important that the CEO of McKinsey was an outstanding consultant first? Should the BMW boss be an engineer? Are doctors better at running NHS hospitals? We would argue, 'yes'," said Dr Goodall.

The authors claim that former drivers - and 'expert leaders' in general - make better managers because of their deeply ingrained technical knowledge, which helps them to formulate more effective tactics and intuitive strategies.  They also suggest that 'expert leaders' command greater credibility among teammates, having worked on the floor themselves.

"We can see why comparative newcomers like Red Bull, led by ex-driver Christian Horner, and Sauber, run by former mechanic Peter Sauber, are doing so well in Formula One. These teams may not have a 50-year history like Ferrari but they are led by hands-on experts with deep intuition," Goodall said.

The authors tested their theory on Formula One as the similarities in size and capabilities of the teams allowed more precise comparisons to be made. The small teams also made it easy to assess the influence of leaders.  The study results held true even when the authors accounted for the type of circuit, the fame of the constructor team, the year of the race, and the number of cars in each competition.

Dr Goodall of Cass Business School (http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/) conducted a previous Cass study (http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2011/july...) of 300 hospitals in the US which found that hospitals run by doctors outperform those run by managers.

Cass Business School's faculty comprises over 100 research-active experts, with many of the faculty holding impressive academic credentials and a strong industry background.  This elevated research (http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/research-and-faculty/research) capability enables Cass to stay at the forefront of business and management education.

more read here http://www.prlog.org/11934497-formula-one-study-how-to-stay-in-pole-position.html
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Mechanical Problems Did Not Contribute to Formula 1 Testing Accident: A Fan’s Reaction 26-07-2012


On Tuesday, July 3, 2012, Maria de Villota was testing a Formula 1 car for Marussia F1 when her car hit the back of a transport truck. Luckily, she was going relatively slowly and not at top speed. Still, she had severe injuries and was motionless for approximately 15 minutes after the impact. She was immediately treated and rushed to the hospital. Fortunately, she survived her massive head injuries. Unfortunately, the injuries did put an end to what she had hoped would be a long racing career. Due to the severity of her injuries, surgeons had no choice but to remove her right eye.
An initial investigation has so far revealed that the car was not the problem in the crash. Initially, it seemed that she had slowed down but then suddenly accelerated and hit the back of the transport truck. Given that scenario, it seemed that there may have been a mechanical problem. Now, it seems that was not the case.
On Friday, July 20, she was released from the hospital and she headed back to her home in Spain to continue her recovery. She will need a long time to recover and with the loss of her eye she may never have the same life she did before. However, she is really lucky to have survived that crash and the loss of her eye is minor in comparison to what could have happened. There has been an outpouring of support for the driver and her family from the Formula 1 community which is not surprising given the severity of the injuries.
Even if the cause of the crash was driver error, as it now appears it was, there may still be lessons to be learned from the accident. If something can be learned from the accident, it may spare other drivers, whether testing cars or driving in races, from a similar career ending crash. In this case, unfortunately, there is probably not a lot that can be learned that would apply across the board. The number of fatal accidents and the number of accidents involving severe injuries have gone down drastically over the years. The sport will never be completely safe, but at least Formula 1 and all other major racing organizations are constantly working to improve safety.
Kristin Watt has been a fan of motorsports since she was a young girl and she watched NASCAR races with her mother. That love of NASCAR quickly evolved into a great enjoyment of many different motorsports including everything from local dirt track action to the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans to the adrenaline rush of the extreme motocross events. She has been following motorsports for many years.
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Fernando Alonso emerging as title favorite 26-07-2012


Rewind the Formula One season back to before the first event, when preseason testing was in full swing and constructors were still discovering their own capabilities and those of the competition. It was early, but the F2012 did not appear to have the pace of several rivals, and it seemed rather unlikely that Ferrari would win multiple grands prix, let alone compete for a championship.
But among all the doubters, Fernando Alonso cautioned any quick assessments, as he told Spanish sports daily Marca in the preseason, "There has been a tendency, especially from the media, to say that the car is bad and we are not having a good winter, but they don't understand. We are very calm because the car is very complex and there's no reason to believe that it won't be quick."

Fernando Alonso -- 2012 F1 Ranks

Rank
Wins31st
Podiums61st
Laps led2161st
Points1541st
His confidence has echoed in his performances this season, and Germany was no exception. To date, Alonso has paced the competition for 216 laps this year, 94 more than anyone else. What's more, teammate Felipe Massa has just a single lap led on the season, a rather clear indicator of just how much Alonso has accomplished so far.
With his third victory of the season, he's 34 points clear of the field and has begun to emerge as a title front-runner despite arguably not having the quickest machine. After all, he has yet to post the fastest lap in any event this year.
Alonso enjoyed his 30th win Sunday in Hockenheim, and only three other drivers can claim 30 victories and 75 podiums in their career. Those names are Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, some of the greatest the sport has ever witnessed. It's a true testament to Alonso; while he has collected an incredible amount of podiums, he also has shown that those are not all finishes of second or third, and that he is consistently a threat to win. In Germany, he definitely demonstrated that from start to finish.
The picture behind Alonso was not quite as clear. Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Buttonfought for position in the waning laps, and, although it appeared as if Vettel had secured second, a penalty for gaining an advantage over Button while leaving the track relegated him to fifth.

30 Wins, 75 Podiums in F1 Career

WinsPodiums
Michael Schumacher91155
Alain Prost51106
Ayrton Senna4180
Fernando Alonso3079
For Button, it was certainly a welcomed break, as it ended a run of only seven combined points in his previous six grands prix. For reference, Button scored fewer than seven points in a single event only twice all of last season.
He'll look to improve his position in Hungary, which drivers and teams must prepare for immediately with only a week between races. It's a challenging circuit that keeps drivers busy throughout the lap, and it has been hosting F1 since 1986. In that time, triumph has mixed with heartache at the Hungaroring, as drivers such as Damon Hill can attest to.
In 1997, for example, he appeared destined for victory in his Arrows machine beforeJacques Villeneuve overtook him on the final lap after Hill experienced mechanical problems. Had Hill's car been able to hold on, it would have been an incredible upset, as Arrows was certainly a struggling squad. Perhaps this year will be just as memorable.
The eventual winner should be on high alert, however, as the driver to emerge victorious here has not recently been able to convert the rest of the season into a championship. Since 2002, only once has a driver won Hungary and the title in the same year (Schumacher in 2004).
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Formula One - Hungarian Grand Prix Preview 26-07-2012


Date: Sunday, July 29th
Start Time: 8 a.m. (ET)
Site: Hungaroring (1986) -- Budapest, Hungary
Track: 4.381 km (2.722 miles), 14-turn road course
Laps: 70
Miles: 190.540 (306.630 km)
Capacity: 120,000
Total purse:
Payouts:
Year: 27th
On TV: Speed Channel
Announcers:
On Radio:
Race record: Michael Schumacher, 2004 (1 hr., 35 min., 26.131 sec.)
Qualifying record: Rubens Barrichello, 2002 (1 minute, 13.333 seconds)

2011 FINISH

Defending champion: Jenson Button
Runner up: Sebastian Vettel
Pole winner: Sebastian Vettel (1:19.815)
Top 10:
1. Jenson Button (Start: 3)
2. Sebastian Vettel (1)
3. Fernando Alonso (5)
4. Lewis Hamilton (2)
5. Mark Webber (6)
6. Felipe Massa (4)
7. Paul di Resta (11)
8. Sebastien Buemi (23)
9. Nico Rosberg (7)
10. Jaime Alguersuari (16)
Average speed: 172.416 k.p.h.
Time of race: 1 hour, 46 minutes, 42.337 seconds
Margin of victory: 3.588 seconds
Caution flags:
Lead changes:

PAST WINNERS

2011 Jenson Button, McLaren-Mercedes, 172.416 k.p.h./1:46:42.337
2010 Mark Webber, Red Bull Renault, 181.989 k.p.h./1:41:5.571
2009 Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes, 186.973 k.p.h./1:38:23.876
2008 Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren-Mercedes, 188.790 kph/1:37:27.067
2007 Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes, 191.897 k.p.h./1:35:52.991
2006 Jenson Button, Honda, 163.773 k.p.h./1:52:20.941
2005 Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren-Mercedes, 188.859 k.p.h./1:37:25.552
2004 Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 192.798 k.p.h./1:35:26.131
2003 Fernando Alonso, Renault, 185.810 k.p.h./1:39:01.460
2002 Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari, 1:41:49.001
2001 Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 1:41:49.675
2000 Mika Hakkinen, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:45:33.869
1999 Mika Hakkinen, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:46:23.536
1998 Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 1:45:25.550
1997 Jacques Villeneuve, Williams-Renault, 1:45:47.149
1996 Jacques Villeneuve, Williams-Renault, 1:46:21.134
1995 Damon Hill, Williams-Renault, 1:46:25.721
1994 Michael Schumacher, Benetton-Ford, 1:48:00.185
1993 Damon Hill, Williams-Renault, 1:47:39.09
1992 Ayrton Senna, McLaren-Honda, 1:46:19.216
1991 Ayrton Senna, McLaren-Honda, 1:49:12.796
1990 Thierry Boutsen, Williams-Renault, 1:49:30.597
1989 Nigel Mansell, Ferrari, 1:49:38.650
1988 Ayrton Senna, McLaren-Honda, 1:57:47.081
1987 Nelson Piquet, Williams-Honda, 1:59:26.793
1986 Nelson Piquet, Williams-Honda, 2:00:34.508

LAST RACE

Race: German Grand Prix (July 22nd)
Site: Hockenheimring -- Hockenheim, Germany
Miles: 190.4 (306.458 km)
Laps: 67
Finish line order: Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen, Kamui Kobayashi, Sebastian Vettel
Time of Race: 1 hour, 31 minutes, 5.862 seconds
Average speed: 201.843 k.p.h.
Margin of victory: 6.949 seconds
Caution flags:
Lead changes:
Lap leaders:

ENTRY LIST

#1 Sebastien Vettel (Heppenheim, Germ) Renault/Red Bull
#2 Mark Webber (Queanbeyan, Australia) Renault/Red Bull
#3 * Jenson Button (Frome, England) Mercedes/McLaren Vodafone
#4 Lewis Hamilton (Stevenage, England) Mercedes/McLaren Vodafone
#5 Fernando Alonso (Oviedo, Spain) Ferrari/Scuderia
#6 Felipe Massa (Sao Paulo, Brazil) Ferrari/Scuderia
#7 Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes/AMG Petronas
#8 Nico Rosberg (Wiesbaden, Germany) Mercedes/AMG Petronas
#9 Kimi Raikkonen (Espoo, Finland) Renault/Lotus
#10 Romain Grosjean (Geneva,Switzerland) Renault/Lotus
#11 Paul di Resta (Livingston, Scotland) Mercedes/Force India
#12 Nico Hulkenberg (Emmerich, Germany) Mercedes/Force India
#14 Kamui Kobayashi (Amagasaki, Japan) Ferrari/Sauber
#15 Sergio Perez (Guadalajara, Mexico) Ferrari/Sauber
#16 Daniel Ricciardo (Perth, Australia) Ferrari/Scuderia Toro Rosso
#17 Jean-Eric Vergne (Pontoise, France) Ferrari/Scuderia Toro Rosso
#18 Pastor Maldonado (Maracay,Venezuela) Renault/Williams
#19 Bruno Senna (Sao Paulo, Brazil) Renault/Williams
#20 Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Renault/Caterham
#21 Vitaly Petrov (Vyborg, Russia) Renault/Caterham
#22 Pedro de la Rosa (Barcelona, Spain) Cosworth/HRT
#23 Narain Karthikeyan (Chennai, India) Cosworth/HRT
#24 Timo Glock (Lindenfels, Germany) Cosworth/Marussia
#25 Charles Pic (Montelimar, France) Cosworth/Marussia

LEADING CONTENDERS

Name200320042005200620072008200920102011
Jenson Button10th5th5thWon21st12th7th8thWon
Sebastian Vettel16th20th17th3rd2nd
Fernando AlonsoWon3rd11th14th4th4th18th2nd3rd
Lewis HamiltonWon5thWon20th4th
Mark Webber6th10th7th20th9th9th3rdWon5th
Felipe Massa19th14th7th13th17th4th6th
Nico Rosberg17th7th14th4th22nd9th
Pastor Maldonado16th
Michael Schumacher8thWon2nd8th11th22nd
Kimi Raikkonen2nd20thWon15th2nd3rd2nd
Romain Grosjean

NOTES

Currently seventh on the points list, Jenson Button raced to victory last year at the Hungarian Grand Prix, as he defeated Sebastian Vettel by 3.588 seconds. The victory was one of three wins in 2012 for Button, who finished last season's championship in second place.
Benson celebrated his 200th career Formula One start in impressive fashion, as he posted his 11th career title. His first F1 came victory in the 2006 Hungarian GP, a race also affected by rain.
With wet track conditions at the beginning of the 70-lap race, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel started on pole and led the first four laps before he slid wide off course and allowed Button's teammate, Lewis Hamilton, to overtake him for the top position. Hamilton ran in front for a majority of the race at the Hungaroring, but as the rain intensified in the late-stages, Hamilton spun around, and Button assumed the lead and took command of the race.
2012 points leader Fernando Alonso is the driver to beat this week, as he has posted a great mark at the halfway point of the season. Alonso has finished 1st, 2nd and 1st the last three races and has 10 top-10s in as many starts. His lead over Mark Webber for the championship has reached 34 points.
Webber capitalized on pit strategy and benefited from a mistake made by his Red Bull Racing teammate Sebastian Vettel to win the 2010 running of this race.
Webber grabbed the lead when Vettel, the pole sitter, and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso pitted early in the 70-lap race. Then Vettel's drive-through penalty for a safety-car rule infringement helped Webber gain a sizeable lead over Alonso, who moved up to second. Vettel ran third after serving his penalty.
With a near 24-second lead over Alonso, Webber finally pitted on lap 44. The Australian went on to finish almost 18 seconds ahead of Alonso for his fourth victory of that season and the sixth of his F1 career. Webber's win total has now reached nine with two additional wins this season and one in 2011.
After a lackluster start to his 2009 season, Lewis Hamilton regained his form at the Hungarian Grand Prix, as he cruised to a whopping, 11.529 seconds win over Kimi Raikkonen for his 10th career Formula One title. Hamilton finished second the following week and then added another title in Singapore, as he finished fifth in F1 points that year. Hamilton won in Canada back in June and now owns 18 career titles.
Felipe Massa dominated the race in 2008, but it was his late-race misfortune that led the way for McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen to score his first career Formula One victory at the Hungaroring. Kovalainen's first F1 victory came in his 27th grand prix entry.
Lewis Hamilton led all 70 laps to win the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix. Hamilton, a rookie on the circuit that year, finished 0.715 seconds ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen for his third of four wins in 2007.
In 2006, Jenson Button dodged rain drops and pools of water to register his first career Formula One title. It took 113 races, but Button was able to cross the finish line 30.8 seconds ahead of Pedro de la Rosa. Pole sitter Kimi Raikkonen failed to finish due to an accident and placed 15th.
The Hungaroring is built 12 miles northeast of Budapest, and is set in a natural Amphitheater, as the track starts on one side, goes down into a valley before going down the far side, then turning and coming back in the opposite direction. Overtaking is virtually impossible here, as the track is narrow, with many slow corners. Hungaroring has hosted this race since it began in 1986. The track features 13 turns and offers excellent natural viewing embankments. It's location, close to the border with Germany, enables fans from all over Europe to attend.
In 2005, Kimi Raikkonen won the fourth of his seven titles that year, as he crossed the finish line a whopping 35.581 seconds ahead of pole sitter Michael Schumacher.
1986 saw Nelson Piquet win the inaugural race after beating arch rival, Ayrton Senna, in a close battle. He won again the following year, after Nigel Mansell was forced to forfeit the victory due to a loose wheel nut, with only 6 laps remaining.
Damon Hill won his first Grand Prix victory here in 1993, and in 1994, Michael Schumacher raced his Benetton to the win for the teams' maiden Hungaroring victory. Damon Hill won again in '95, and came in second in '96, behind teammate Jacques Villeneuve. The pole sitter has captured 11 of the 26 previous races, including five of the last 11 years. The winner of this race has come from a top-five starting position in every race but two (1989, 2006).
Formula One teams take its "summer vacation" during the month of August before returning to action with the September 2nd running of the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa, Belgium. Sebastian Vettel is the defending race winner.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/24/2910070/formula-one-hungarian-grand-prix.html#storylink=cpy
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