Mclaren Triumph with Button, Hamilton lost in the end

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Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungaroring, Budapest - Race Result

Jenson Button won his 2nd Grand Prix of the season and 11th of his career on the occasion of his 200th Grand Prix Start. This is the same circuit where Jenson Button won his first grand prix victory in 2006.

A lot of dramas continued into the race with a wet start for the teams, switching to super soft dry tyres. Heidfeld car catching fire due to overheating and parking the car near the exit of pitlane causing a stir of drivers diving into the pits for 2nd stop fearing a call for Safety car. Rain predicted two times during the race and came in the last for few minutes causing some drivers to wrongly switch to Intermediates costing them some positions. Finally a lot of confusion between the lead lap car, 1lap down and 2lap down car all at the same time trying to pass each other during lap 60-65.

As the half way down into the race, it was no way near for a Button win in the end, but Lewis Hamilton who lead most part of the race until his unfateful stop for Interms that caused him his race Victory.

Button on the other hand, with a steady start at the 3rd climb his way past Vettel for 2nd and hanged in that position until Hamilton made his mistake giving away the race lead to his teammate.

Button did not lose his calmness as he holds himself ahead of Vettel in the final laps to win the race with a comfortable gap at the back.

Sebastian Vettel who started on the pole, finished 2nd with some ups and downs during the race that at the moment saw him as low as 5th. But he hold his nerves to finish 2nd. Fernando Alonso whose Ferrari looked slower than that of Mclaren and Red Bull gained a lot during the 10min rain when Webber and Hamilton who choose for Interms fall behind him. Alonso even after a 4stop comfortably stayed ahead of Webber and Hamilton but not in contention for a race victory for Ferrari today.

Lewis Hamilton finished 4th after leading 50 odd laps with a string of fastest laps, lap after lap. His choice for Intermediates, a spin in the middle of the race track, dangerous recovery in front of Paul Di Resta leading to a drive through penalty was enough to strap him from the top. He dropped to 5th due to all this, finally recovering in the dying laps to be ahead of Webber.

Mark Webber has a tough race weekend with losing the much of the momentum in the starting dropping bottom 10 and switching to interms was his mistake.

Felipe Massa with some exceptional overtaking maneuvers saw him finished 6th after an early spun and hitting the wall. Massa drove the race with a damaged rear wing that might interfere with some of the aerodynamic of the car.

Force India F1 rookie driver Paul Di Resta drove excellently to finish at career best 7th position. This was his 3rd point finish of the season. He stayed at 7th for most part of the race, holded that line. Though dropped out of 10 in the second half but made his way past some drivers with great overtaking maneuvers like a professional to give him his best finish of the career.

The 100th race for Toro Rosso could not be more sweeter as both of their drivers finished in top10 after starting from the back. Sebastien Buemi who started from 23rd on the grid finished 8th and his teammate Jaime Alguersuari in 10th.

Nico Rosberg switching to interm saw him drop of the top 10 later recovered to finish at 9th. Not a great weekend for the Mercedes as some more points could be scored. Michael Schumacher could not complete the race due to gear box problem. This was Nico's 100th race. He is still without a race victory.

Kamui Kobayashi could have finished at some higher position if his two stop strategy would have worked. The gamble did not paid off in the end with him dropping from 5th to 11th.

It was a dreadful day for Renault as Nick Heidfeld car caught fire just after the pitstop with something went wrong into the pits that saw some sparks coming out of the car as he came out of the pit that change into a massive fire at the pit lane exit. Nick came out safe and sound. The car even had a small explosion with Marshals doing the heroic job in between to cool down that Renault.

Vitaly Petrov finished 12th not looked competitive during the whole race.

Rubens Barrichello in the leading Williams was 13th and Adrian Sutil who took an early spin on the first lap finished 14th after climbing from as low as 20th. Sutil however started at 8th and lost everything in the first lap.

Rookie driver Sergio Perez who started in top 10 for the first time, could not cope up with the wet track condition and lost a lot of places in first lap and finally finishing in 15th.

Maldonado in the second Williams was 16th followed by Timo Glock in Virgin for 17th.

Daniel Ricciardo in HRT outpaced his teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi and Virgin drive Jerome D'Ambrosio to finish his best position 18th.

Ambrosio finished 19th ahead of Liuzzi who struggle for Reliability during the whole race and was last classified driver for the race.

Both the Team Lotus car could not complete the race as both their drivers parked their car due to some mechanical issue.

Lot of improvements on their way as the teams head for 3weeks of Summer break. Next Race - Belgian Grand Prix, 26-28Aug.

Pos	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Pits	Grid	Points
1	Jenson Button	Mclaren - Mercedes	70	1hr 46min 42.337sec	3	3	25
2	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull - Renault	70	+3.5 secs	3	1	18
3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	70	+19.8 secs	4	5	15
4	Lewis Hamilton	Mclaren - Mercedes	70	+48.3 secs	6	2	12
5	Mark Webber	Red Bull - Renault	70	+ 49.7 secs	5	6	10
6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	70	+ 83.1 secs	4	4	8
7	Paul Di Resta	Force India - Mercedes	69	+ 1 Lap	3	11	6
8	Sebastien Buemi	STR - Ferrari	69	+ 1 Lap	3	23	4
9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes GP	69	+ 1 Lap	4	7	2
10	Jaime Alguersuari	STR - Ferrari	69	+ 1 Lap	3	16	1
11	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber - Ferrari	69	+ 1 Lap	3	13
12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	69	+ 1 Lap	4	12
13	Rubens Barrichello	Williams - Cosworth	68	+ 2 Lap	5	15
14	Adrian Sutil	Force India - Mercedes	68	+ 2 Lap	4	8
15	Sergio Perez	Sauber - Ferrari	68	+ 2 Lap	4	10
16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams - Cosworth	68	+ 2 Lap	5	17
17	Timo Glock	Virgin - Cosworth	66	+ 4 Laps	3	20
18	Daniel Ricciardo	HRT - Cosworth	66	+ 4 Laps	3	22
19	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Virgin - Cosworth	65	+ 5 Laps	4	24
20	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT - Cosworth	65	+ 5 Laps	5	21
21	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus - Renault	55	+ 15 Laps	5	18
22	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes GP	26	+ 44 Lap Gear Box Problem	2	9
23	Nick Heidfeld	Renault	23	+ 47 Laps Fire in Car	2	14
24	Jarno Trulli	Lotus - Renault	17	+ 53 Laps	1	19
Fastest Lap - Felipe Massa, Ferrari on Lap 61 - 1min 23.415sec
Lap Record - Michael Schumacher, Ferrari - 1min 19.071sec

Sebastien Buemi for Toro Rosso, qualified 18th but dropped five places due to the penalty for causing a collision with Nick Heidfeld during the last race 'German Grand Prix' at Nurburgring.

F1 2011 Season Drivers Standing
1	Sebastian Vettel	234
2	Mark Webber	149
3	Lewis Hamilton	146
4	Fernando Alonso	145
5	Jenson Button	134
6	Felipe Massa	70
7	Nico Rosberg	48
8	Nick Heidfeld	34
9	Vitaly Petrov	32
10	Michael Schumacher	32
11	Kamui Kobayashi	27
12	Adrian Sutil	18
13	Sebastien Buemi	12
14	Jaime Alguersuari	10
15	Sergio Perez	8
16	Paul Di Resta	8
17	Rubens Barrichello	4

Constructors Standing for 2011 Season
1	Red Bull	383
2	Mclaren	280
3	Ferrari	215
4	Mercedes GP	80
5	Renault	66
6	Sauber	35
7	Force India	26
8	Toro Rosso	22
9	Williams	4

Sky Sports buy F1 Broadcasting Rights, F1 fan base set to decrease

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With the ongoing phenomenal changes in the world of sports, most of the sports are going for live streams and free broadcasting to increase worldwide popularity but FIA is going on a tighter stand for F1 as to get more money which make the sports availability online as paid only.

Since the inception of the Formula One, BBC has covered Formula 1 races. Until 1976, there were some odd races covered by BBC and there after full season till 1996. BBC Started the live coverage in 1990's with expansion to cover both Qualifying and Race.

In 1996, BBC lost rights to ITV and again started covering F1 in 2009 after a gap of 12 years. BBC made a contract for 5years in 2008. BBC now covers F1 Live also that is free to air that includes the inclusion of special Red Button by BBC. BBC covers Qualifying and Race along with all the three practice sessions.

But Recently on Friday, F1 Supremo Bernie Eccelestone penned the contract between F1 and the coalition of the BBC & BSkyB not all races will be broadcast on free-to-air television.

To say that it caused a stir in the fan community is a huge understatement.

Statistics

An annual subscription to Sky Sports costs around £470 but for the same sum you could buy three-day general admission tickets to six races including Monaco, Silverstone, Turkey and Canada.

It's little wonder therefore that a poll on one sports reporter's website showed that as of Saturday morning 81% of readers would not buy a subscription to watch F1 on Sky Sports. So how did this happen?

"The issue ultimately is the money that CVC Capital Partners, the owners, via Bernie, take out of the sport," is the explanation from another sports reporter and although it reflects the general opinion in F1 it isn't accurate.

The real reason for the new deal is much more straightforward than that - the BBC broke its contract of 5years deal and they wanted to reduce their F1 Coverage Budget.

It left the BBC with a decision: either break its contract by dropping F1 completely, a move which would have saddled it with a huge financial penalty, or find some way of reducing its annual fee. The most logical way of reducing its fee is to reduce the amount of coverage it gets and this is exactly what it did.

BBC has sold half of it's F1 rights from the 2012-2018 season. Sky Sports acquire exclusive rights for coverage in United Kingdom.

Ten of the races will be shown by BBC Live and other 10 as an extended highlights. The races will now will be interrupted by commercials also unlike before.

Era of BBC Free to Air races in UK is now coming to an end.

Sky Sports bought rights to all practice, qualifying and race sessions to every single Formula 1 Grand Prix for the next six seasons. The BBC are to broadcast 10 races per season, including the "key" races, such as the British, Monaco and Abu Dhabi Grand Prixs. BBC Radio Five Live will still broadcast all the races and qualifying.

Flash Back

The BBC got the rights to broadcast F1 in 2008 with its coverage beginning the following year. The reason that the rights were available in the first place was because ITV had broken its contract which was due to run until the end of last year.

According to the Telegraph and other media sources at the time, ITV dropped F1 in order to "save money which can be used to expand coverage of football."

Not coincidentally, at the same time as the BBC announced it had picked up F1, ITV announced that it had retained the rights to broadcast Champions League football matches as part of a deal from 2009 to 2012.

With ITV, the BBC's main competition, out of the picture, there was no chance of a bidding war inflating the price of the F1 rights when the deal was done in 2008.

More importantly, the BBC knew F1 was a distressed seller since ITV had broken its contract leaving it high and dry.

According to a report by the UK's communications regulator Ofcom, ITV was paying £29m annually under its contract which ran from 2006 to 2010.

Given that F1 was a distressed seller and there was no bidding war when it was sold, it is safe to assume that the BBC paid perhaps only a 5% to 10% premium on ITV's fee which would take it to around the £31m ($50m) figure estimated in F1 trade guide Formula Money. Even this has become too much for the Beeb to justify.

Sky Sports

Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting.

SKY has revolutionized the world of Sports with a high digital quality and coverage. With the inclusion of special effects and techniques they have changed the world of Cricket and Football.

They are the exclusive owners of many sporting broadcasting rights in UK and Ireland.

But the main problem with Sky is that, they provide coverage for a sum. That is it is a paid channel. A hefty sum has to be shelled out from your pockets to watch your favorite sports.

Sky sports will provide F1 with paid broadcasting and for some time some of the races will remain free to air on BBC. But BBC is already retracting from F1 and the broadcasting will be a property of Sky in the future to come.

Why BBC was better than Sky?

BBC have broadcasted free to air Formula One in UK over the years covering all 3 Practice Sessions, Qualifying and Race. BBC races were not commercialized as there were no ads commercials during the races.

Sky, on the other hand, is a paid broadcasting. It will also cover all the races including all 3 Practice Sessions and Qualifying. These races will be interrupted by commercials though earlier claims of no commercial interruption were rejected.

Vettel Set Red Bull on Top in Hungarian GP Qualifying

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Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungaroring, Budapest - Qualifying Result

Just when it looked, Hamilton has done it for the first time this season, but in the dying moments it was Vettel again on Pole. This was the 8th pole for the German out of 11 races taking his pole tally to 23.

Lewis Hamilton after dominating the first two practice sessions was left 1 tenth of a second behind Vettel. But it is a good sign for Mclaren as both their cars shares the first two rows. Hamilton though on the dirty side of the track would be having difficulties at the start.

Felipe Massa pipped his teammate for 4th as Alonso who set the fastest laps in Q1 and Q2 could not do it in Q3.

Fernando admitted his mistake later on as he could not made a better time with super softs on his flying lap and after that it was too late to improve on those fragile tyres.

Mark Webber in the 2nd Red Bull could only went 6th fastest.

Nico Rosberg once again outpaced his teammate and fellow German, Michael Schumacher. Nico qualified 7th ahead of Adrian Sutil for Force India F1.

Adrian Sutil had some hard time in Q2 battling for Q3 with teammate Paul and Mercedes was tough for him.

Sergio Perez, for the first time finished in Q3 and will start at 10th. Sergio Perez also made an appearance into the Q3 in Monaco but due to accident could not able to taste the grid position. Perez did not run in Q3 and saved tyres.

Paul Di Resta who could have made it to the Q3 was left stranded by late improvement from 7 time world champion Michael Schumacher.

Vitaly Petrov in the lead Renault was 12th while Kamui Kobayashi in the 2nd Sauber was 13th ahead of Nick Heidfeld in 2nd Renault.

Rubens Barrichello leads his teammate for 15th while Maldonado qualified 17th.

Jaime Alguersuari was the only Toro Rosso in Q2 qualified 16th.

Sebastien Buemi was the first driver to be outqualified from Q3.

With both the Lotuses taking their places at 19th and 20th, a fight for the 21st position was seen between HRT and Virgin.

Ultimately, Timo Glock with an improved time made it to 21st while both the HRT's followed him. Jerome D'Ambrosio will be starting at last

Sebastien Buemi was handed a 5grid penalty for causing a collision with Nick Heidfeld during German Grand Prix. Thus he will be starting at 23rd.

Pos	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull - Renault	1min 21.740sec	1min 21.095sec	1min 19.815sec	14
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mclaren - Mercedes	1min 21.636sec	1min 21.105sec	1min 19.978sec	12
3	Jenson Button	Mclaren - Mercedes	1min 22.038sec	1min 20.578sec	1min 20.024sec	15
4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1min 22.130sec	1min 21.099sec	1min 20.350sec	15
5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1min 21.578sec	1min 20.262sec	1min 20.365sec	15
6	Mark Webber	Red Bull - Renault	1min 22.208sec	1min 20.890sec	1min 20.474sec	16
7	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes GP	1min 22.996sec	1min 21.243sec	1min 21.098sec	12
8	Adrian Sutil	Force India -Mercedes	1min 22.237 sec	1min 22.000sec	1min 21.445sec	19
9	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes GP	1min 22.876sec	1min 21.852sec	1min 21.907sec	17
10	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	1min 23.067sec	1min 22.157sec	No Time	16
11	Paul Di Resta	Force India -Mercedes	1min 22.976sec	1min 22.256sec		13
12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	1min 23.070sec	1min 22.284sec		14
13	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber - Ferrari	1min 23.278sec	1min 22.435sec		16
14	Nick Heidfeld	Renault	1min 23.024sec	1min 22.470sec		14
15	Rubens Barrichello	Williams -Cosworth	1min 23.075sec	1min 22.684sec		16
16	Jaime Alguersuari	STR - Ferrari	1min 23.285sec	1min 22.979sec		10
17	Pastor Maldonado	Williams -Cosworth	1min 23.847sec			9
23rd	Sebastien Buemi	STR - Ferrari	1min 24.070sec 5 Place Grid Penalty			9
18	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus-Renault	1min 24.362sec			8
19	Jarno Trulli	Lotus-Renault	1min 24.534sec			7
20	Timo Glock	Virgin -Cosworth	1min 26.294sec			10
21	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT - Cosworth	1min 26.323sec			11
22	Daniel Ricciardo	HRT - Cosworth	1min 26.479sec			11
24	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Virgin -Cosworth	1min 26.510sec			8

107percent Qualifying Rule Time: 1min 27.288sec.

Hungarian GP - FP3 - Vettel On Top again, Hamilton Lose Pace

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Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungaroring, Budapest - Free Practice Session 3, Saturday

World Champion and Championship leader, Sebastian Vettel is back on top again surprising all in the padock while Lewis Hamilton who dominated the early sessions dropped to 7th in the final practice session.

Fernando Alonso maintained the momentum for Ferrari by keeping his pace upto standards and finished 2nd ahead of Jenson Button.

The 2nd drivers of the top teams maintain the order with Mark Webber in 4th ahead of Felipe Massa who was followed by Nico and Lewis.

Track Talk:

It was a hot and humid day at Budapest with Track Temperature soaring upto 35deg Cel.

So, it is like Red Bull was hiding their pace as they hit back hard on Ferrari and Mclaren. Vettel enjoy a comfortable 0.3sec gap to Alonso behind him and set 1min 21:168sec for being fastest on super softs.

Massa went onto the grass as he tries hard to break into the 1min 21's. Nico was the leading Mercedes in 6th. Michael was 8th overall followed by the Renault of Vitaly Petrov.

Paul Di Resta bettered his teammate this time with 10th fastest time while Sutil was only 16th.

Nick Heidfeld clocked 11th fastest that provided Renault a breather for the moment. The two Saubers followed the Renault car. Saubers were followed by the upgraded Williams.

The Toro Rosso were last among the midfielders at 17th and 18th.

At the back, usually Lotus lead from HRT and Virgin. But this time around HRT provided competition to Virgin with Daniel Ricciardo finishing ahead of Jerome D'Ambrosio for 22nd.

Liuzzi had troubled time at the back with some of the debries from his front wing flies off.

Lets wait for Qualifying drama, as Super Softs only last for 1 lap at their best.

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull - Renault	1min 21.168sec		17
2	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1min 21.469sec	0.301	13
3	Jenson Button	Mclaren - Mercedes	1min 21.639sec	0.471	14
4	Mark Webber	Red Bull - Renault	1min 21.645sec	0.477	18
5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1min 22.002sec	0.834	14
6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes GP	1min 22.534sec	1.366	22
7	Lewis Hamilton	Mclaren - Mercedes	1min 22.667sec	1.499	14
8	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes GP	1min 23.037sec	1.869	19
9	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	1min 23.175sec	2.007	19
10	Paul Di Resta	Force India - Mercedes	1min 23.276sec	2.108	18
11	Nick Heidfeld	Renault	1min 23.281sec	2.113	13
12	Sergio Perez	Sauber - Ferrari	1min 23.375sec	2.207	18
13	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber - Ferrari	1min 23.626sec	2.458	25
14	Rubens Barrichello	Williams - Cosworth	1min 23.663sec	2.495	17
15	Pastor Maldonado	Williams - Cosworth	1min 23.894sec	2.726	17
16	Adrian Sutil	Force India - Mercedes	1min 23.966sec	2.798	18
17	Jaime Alguersuari	STR - Ferrari	1min 23.998sec	2.830	15
18	Sebastien Buemi	STR - Ferrari	1min 25.061sec	3.893	19
19	Jarno Trulli	Lotus - Renault	1min 25.141sec	3.973	20
20	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus - Renault	1min 25.501sec	4.333	20
21	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Virgin - Cosworth	1min 26.955sec	5.787	20
22	Daniel Ricciardo	HRT - Cosworth	1min 26.991sec	5.823	19
23	Timo Glock	Virgin - Cosworth	1min 27.174sec	6.006	16
24	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT - Cosworth	1min 27.713sec	6.545	20

Sauber retained same driver lineup for 2012

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The Sauber team will retain the Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi and the Mexican, Sergio Perez in an unchanged driver line-up for next year.

The Swiss team confirmed the news on Thursday, after agreeing to the new contracts with the pair, on the eve of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Peter Sauber, the team principal, said: "Kamui has grown into his role extremely well this year. Though it is only his second full Formula One season, he is already taking on the responsibilities that naturally fall to the more experienced driver.

"We had an option of working with him in 2012 and there was never any doubt that we would take it."

Perez already had a contract for 2012 after agreeing a multi-year deal before he signed. Sauber said that the Mexican's pace - and recovery from his big accident at the Monaco Grand Prix - had shown he was right to have faith in him.

"After the accident in Monaco he [Sergio] demonstrated that he can handle difficult situations too.," Sauber said. "With a rookie that always entails a certain risk, of course, but clearly it has paid off."

Perez said: "It is very good to have continuity and this way I can intensively prepare with my race engineer for what will be my second season. The summer break will be very good for me because since my accident in Monaco it has been a busy time."

The Mexican driver Sergio Perez also commented of considering Austin US Grand Prix just like the home race in 2012.

"I think it is going to be full of Mexicans. It's going to be a very nice grand prix for me. It's almost my home race."

"I get a lot of support from Mexicans, I think I'm one of the most popular (sportsmen there) at the moment because I'm in the top level of my sport."

In a statement during the first practice session on Friday, MD of Sauber, the first Female F1 MD, Monisha Kaltenborn, commented, "We were very clear about the driver line up for 2012."

"We had no doubt in our driver line up and announcement is just the formality and were already determined to keep our all three current drivers."

On being asked about giving a racing seat to Esteban Gutierrez, reserve driver of Sauber, for 2012, she said, "There are no plans to run Esteban in 2012 but there may be some future plans."

F1 pirate to drive in V8 Supercars event

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Vintantonio Liuzzi, the Grand Prix racer nicknamed 'The Pirate', leads a V8 Supercars raiding party headed for the Gold Coast in October.

The Italian, 29, will co-drive with Ford's Tony D'Alberto in the Wilson Securities Falcon in the V8 Supercars event at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit from October 21-23.

It will come during a busy period for the former Force India driver.

Liuzzi will race at the Korean Grand Prix on October 16 before flying to Australia, then heading to India for round 17 of the Formula One season a week later.

He said his experience would help make it easier to adapt to the V8 Supercar.

"There isn't much difference in size between myself and Tony and our seat position should be comfortable together. We will be a good team," Liuzzi said.

"I don't think it will take me long to adapt to the car. The one-day testing before will be good. I have experience with powerful saloon cars and I really enjoy driving them. I see the V8 Supercars being very similar."

Vitantonio Liuzzi is the lead driver for Hispania Racing F1 Team.

VW planning to join F1 in 2018

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Volkswagen, the third largest automaker in the world, may consider joining Formula 1 in seven years' time, the car maker's head of motorsports Wolfgang Duerheimer has said.

"I could imagine involvement in Formula 1 in 2018, when the company is at the forefront of the industry," Duerheimer told Auto Motor und Sport magazine.

"We have enough brands that could do that."

The car maker had said last year that Formula 1 would need more stability and a better image before the company considered joining the sport.

That came after Volkswagen revealed in 2009 that it was evaluating the potential benefits of F1 when new engine regulations are introduced from the start of 2014.

Volkswagen's line-up of brands also include Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche, Skoda, Bugatti and SEAT.

The company is aiming to be the largest automaker by 2018.

Bernie admitted to paying Gerhard Gribkowsky £14m

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Bernie Ecclestone has admitted that he paid only $23 million (£14m) to a former German bank executive rather than the $44m (£27m) which has been alleged, and repeated his assertion that the money was not a bribe. According to a press release sent out by the Munich state prosecutor’s office last week, F1’s 80-year-old chief executive paid $44m "in bribes" to Gerhard Gribkowksy who, as chairman of Formula One’s holding company SLEC, oversaw the sale of the sport to current owners CVC Capital Partners in 2005. (Read the complete news)

Gribkowsky, then chief risk officer at Bayerische Landesbank, one of three banks which had a stake in F1 at the time, has been charged with breach of trust, tax evasion and being in receipt of corrupt payments.

Ecclestone initially denied any knowledge of the payments. However, he has now admitted to paying Gribkowsky $23m after being "shaken down" by the German.

Gribkowksy, he says, threatened to make life difficult for him with the Inland Revenue by making “false claims” regarding the running of the Ecclestone family trust Bambino Holdings.

If the UK tax authorities had launched an investigation at the time, Ecclestone claims it could potentially have cost the trust billions so his lawyers advised him to pay.

Singapore unveils off track entertainment package

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This year's Formula One Grand Prix race in Singapore will see loads of action off the track - with some S$5 million being spent on entertainment alone.

The Music

Besides American rockers Linkin Park, fans can also catch Glee actress and singing sensation 'Charice'. There is also 80s pop star Rick Astley and Grammy-winner Shaggy. Meanwhile, trip hop fans can also look forward to a DJ set from Massive Attack's Daddy G and 3D.

FROM BROADWAY TO BOLLYWOOD

For the first time ever, race-goers can catch two full-fledged musicals both in Zone 1 and Zone 4. Hindi music fans can shake their booties in a mass ‘Jai Ho’ dance with the cast of BOLLYWOOD EXPRESS (Esplanade Outdoor Theatre – Friday, Village stage – Saturday and Paddock Club Lifestyle Stage - Sunday), a colourful musical featuring cult favorites such as ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’, among others. The 45-minute song-dance affair is conceptualized by the celebrated producers of Merchants of Bollywood, a sold-out production in London and Singapore last year.

Just for laughs, indulge in some truly Wicked sport with cult New York show FORBIDDEN BROADWAY (Village stage – Friday & Sunday), a satirical revue that does hilarious spoofs of contemporary Broadway shows from The Phantom of the Opera to Rent, Les Misérables and Hairspray. New York’ longest-running musical comedy revue, Forbidden Broadway promises to have you in stitches from the start!

Visual Art

Announcing these acts on Thursday, organisers said there will also be many visual arts performances, roving performers, as well as the wildly popular Brazilian samba girls. More acts are expected to be announced soon.

Michael Roche, executive director of the Singapore GP, said: "We know nostalgia sells. We know we need big picture acts. You can't put a wonderful eclectic - let's say like Adele or someone like that, you know, if she comes on solo and a very acoustic set - in an F1 environment; it doesn't work.

"It's got to be colourful, animated, got to be sing-along. We know the Wailers worked fantastically, the Backstreet Boys and Mariah (Carey) - because people need that familiarity. We're not trying to be per se, a music festival."

Meanwhile, ticket sales for the F1 race itself have been good, with over 80 per cent of targeted sales already achieved, said organisers.

Join It With SOTC

Kuoni India’s outbound travel brand SOTC announced the launch of an exclusive 4 days package for travellers to feel the adrenaline rush at the Formula 1 this package is designed to experience Singapore Grand Prix weekend festivities at its best. Travelers can witness the city with electrifying parties, thrilling race themed events and the splendid art, culture and architecture of the city.

SOTC offers a variety of tailored 4 days 3 nights’ packages for the travelers. The basic packages include accommodation stay and Zone 4 walkabout pass to Marina Bay circuit starting for INR 27000 per person. The premium packages include accommodation in selective hotels with options of hospitality suite combined with passes for Pit and other grandstands. SOTC heightens the Grand Prix experience with entry to the exclusive after race F1 party at Amber Lounge and the most awaited Linkin Park live concert on 25th September post the main race event. The package includes return airfare, hotel accommodation, meals as per itinerary, access to the most happening after race parties and private return air transfers in Singapore.

For this action packed Grand Prix weekend SOTC also offers a special corporate package for groups including accommodation in luxurious Swisstotel and Fairmont Hotel with private hospitality suites and rooms facing the track . These packages will be customised according to the size and preferences of the traveling groups and calls for groups planning a perfect racing weekend get together.

Hungarian GP - FP2 - There is no stopping for Hamilton at the moment

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Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungaroring, Budapest - Free Practice Session 2, Friday

Lewis Hamilton continue to dominate at the top with scoring fastest lap in both the practice session. Mclaren is looking even more stronger after the German Grand Prix win.

All the teams tested for Super soft option tyres and Hamilton got with 1min 21.018sec which was a sec slower than last year best practice time.

Track Talk

Track Temp: 26deg Cel. and Air Temp: 21deg Cel.

Tyres tested by teams were Soft and Super Soft Option Compound.

Red Bull is either hiding their true speed due to heavy fuel levels or have gone behind Mclaren and Ferrari. Both the Red Bull drivers finished 4th and 5th with world champion Sebastian Vettel again lagging behind Mark Webber. However Mark Webber is running on a newer front wing.

B'day Boy Fernando Alonso squeezed between the two Mclarens at 2nd position and was only 2tenth of a second slower than Hamilton.

Ferrari and Mclaren both practiced for longer runs in the second half of the 2nd session with Alonso completing a massive 40laps which is not bettered by any other driver but equalled by teammate Felipe Massa who finished at 6th and Paul Di Resta for Force India F1 at 9th.

Felipe Massa took an early spin in the first 15mins in Turn 12 after losing on the DRS Zone but recovered well with no damage done.

Both the Mercedes struggle for pace in the soft tyres and finished 7th and 8th on super soft more than a second behind the fastest man Hamilton.

Adrian Sutil in the second Force India F1 finished 10th behind his teammate.

The top 8 slots were occupied by the best 4 with Force India occupying the next two slots bettering Sauber and Renault.

Happy Camp Sauber was at 11th and 12th.

There will be battle for last points scoring positions between Force India, Sauber and Renault over the weekend.

Rubens Barrichello in heavily upgraded Williams was only 13th fastest. His car was running with new rear wing. Earlier they have bought new suspension, new front wing to upgrade their aerodynamics performance.

Nick Heidfeld in the leading Renault could finished only 14th followed by second Williams of Pastor Maldonado.

The Toro Rosso sandwiched the second Renault of Vitaly Petrov behind Maldonado.

At the back, scenario continues with Team Lotus ahead of Virgin and then followed by HRT at the back.

But only this time Lotus driver Jarno Trulli beating teammate Heikki Kovalainen for 19th and HRT driver Daniel Ricciardo beating teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi for 23rd.

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mclaren - Mercedes	1min 21.018sec		29
2	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1min 21.259sec	0.241	40
3	Jenson Button	Mclaren - Mercedes	1min 21.322sec	0.304	34
4	Mark Webber	Red Bull - Renault	1min 21.508sec	0.490	35
5	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull - Renault	1min 21.549sec	0.531	31
6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1min 22.099sec	1.081	40
7	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes GP	1min 22.121sec	1.103	36
8	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes GP	1min 22.440sec	1.422	36
9	Paul Di Resta	Force India - Mercedes	1min 22.835sec	1.817	40
10	Adrian Sutil	Force India - Mercedes	1min 22.981sec	1.963	37
11	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber - Ferrari	1min 23.030sec	2.012	34
12	Sergio Perez	Sauber - Ferrari	1min 23.399sec	2.381	37
13	Rubens Barrichello	Williams - Cosworth	1min 23.679sec	2.661	34
14	Nick Heidfeld	Renault	1min 23.861sec	2.843	28
15	Pastor Maldonado	Williams - Cosworth	1min 24.181sec	3.163	39
16	Jaime Alguersuari	STR - Ferrari	1min 24.182sec	3.164	26
17	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	1min 24.546sec	3.528	21
18	Sebastien Buemi	STR - Ferrari	1min 24.878sec	3.860	35
19	Jarno Trulli	Lotus - Renault	1min 24.994sec	3.976	38
20	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus - Renault	1min 25.447sec	4.429	39
21	Timo Glock	Virgin - Cosworth	1min 26.823sec	5.805	33
22	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Virgin - Cosworth	1min 27.261sec	6.243	28
23	Daniel Ricciardo	STR - Ferrari	1min 27.730sec	6.712	31
24	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT - Cosworth	1min 28.255sec	7.237	25

Hungarian GP - FP1 - Hamilton continues to lead from Red Bull and Ferrari

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Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungaroring, Budapest - Free Practice Session 1, Friday

First practice session went good for all as they collected data for their cars, track information, pitlane practice and much more. But for Mark Webber, the day just started on a bad omen, as he hit the barriers - damaged the front wing, punctured left front tyre and spin the car. Webber managed to get back into the pits with the call of the session for him. Although, he had made enough progress to remain 4th on the time sheet.

Track Talk:

The track was still damped as there was rain overnight. The slick and soft option compounds were tested by the teams. Track Temp was 22deg Celsius and Air Temp was 20deg Celsius as the morning session started.

Birthday Boy:

Fernando Alonso turned 30 today. Finished the session 3rd nice and easy. But there is lot of work to do in the Ferrari camp, if they want to make his 30th b'day memorable.

Lewis Hamilton continues to lead from the Red Bull and Ferrari while Jenson Button, fellow teammate continues to struggle. Lewis set the fastest time of the morning session with 1min 23:350sec with World Champion Sebastian Vettel find it difficult to better and finished 2nd with over 2tenth of a slower to the Mclaren.

Lewis Hamilton was in the racing mood as he tried to overtake Jaime Alguersuari in the dying moments. He even was hard on the brakes and went off the track as he locked his Mclaren once.

Fernando Alonso sliced between the two Red Bulls in 3rd and Mark Webber set enough time to finish 4th before hitting the barriers and damaging his RB7.

Jenson Button was 5th overall followed by the second Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.

The top three teams were then followed by Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher. Schumacher had some problem in the end and he back off from his last flying lap. The two Germans were 1sec behind the Mclaren of Hamilton.

There was a happy camp in Sauber team as they had made their drivers announcement yesterday for 2012 season. They have retained their all three drivers including the reserve driver. MD of Sauber, first female, Indian Monisha Kaltenborn commented as they were already focused for their 2012 driver lineup and are happy to announce the same. Sergio Perez finished 9th and Kamui Kobayashi finished 11th in the second Sauber.

Vitaly Petrov was 10th for the session.

Force India drivers finished 12th and 13th with Di Resta ahead of reserve Nico Hulkenberg. Rubens Barrichello in the leading Williams was 14th.

Bruno Senna, nephew of Late Ayrton Senna, was on the track for the first time this season in Renault and finished the session 15th, 0.8sec slower than his teammate. Bruno Senna drove for HRT in 2010.

He was followed by the two Toro Rosso and the second Williams.

At the back, the scene is almost same with Team Lotus ahead of Virgin and HRT.

There were not much incident involved except for Webber. All the drivers were on the soft tyres for their final run and the times depict their faster times with soft compounds.

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mclaren - Mercedes	1min 23.350sec		19
2	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull - Renault	1min 23.564sec	0.214	24
3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1min 23.642sec	0.292	29
4	Mark Webber	Red Bull - Renault	1min 23.666sec	0.316	12
5	Jenson Button	Mclaren - Mercedes	1min 23.772sec	0.422	20
6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1min 24.115sec	0.765	25
7	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes GP	1min 24.250sec	0.900	22
8	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes GP	1min 24.369sec	1.019	20
9	Sergio Perez	Sauber - Ferrari	1min 24.620sec	1.270	24
10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	1min 25.093sec	1.743	22
11	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber - Ferrari	1min 25.113sec	1.763	21
12	Paul Di Resta	Force India - Mercedes	1min 25.336sec	1.986	22
13	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India - Mercedes	1min 25.357sec	2.007	17
14	Rubens Barrichello	Williams - Cosworth	1min 25.836sec	2.486	24
15	Bruno Senna	Renault	1min 25.855sec	2.505	25
16	Sebastien Buemi	STR - Ferrari	1min 25.890sec	2.540	28
17	Jaime Alguersuari	STR - Ferrari	1min 26.099sec	2.749	36
18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams - Cosworth	1min 26.124sec	2.774	25
19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus - Renault	1min 26.878sec	3.528	26
20	Jarno Trulli	Lotus - Renault	1min 27.352sec	4.002	21
21	Timo Glock	Virgin - Cosworth	1min 28.533sec	5.183	30
22	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Virgin - Cosworth	1min 28.903sec	5.553	22
23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT - Cosworth	1min 29.059sec	5.709	24
24	Daniel Ricciardo	STR - Ferrari	1min 29.904sec	6.554	26

Fernandes is plotting £100m move to buy QPR

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Air Asia tycoon Tony Fernandes is plotting a £100 million ($163 million) move to buy Queens Park Rangers, according to the 'Mirror'. The multi-millionaire Malaysian businessman, who is team principal for Formula One outfit Team Lotus, is growing increasingly confident of striking a deal to take control of the Barclays Premier League club, the report said. Fernandes, 47, has already been shown around Loftus Road and talked to manager Neil Warnock about transfer funds as Rangers plan for their return to the top flight.

In an earlier news, Co-owner Bernie Ecclestone commented in April that '£100 million would be enough to take over the west London club'.

(Read article)

A QPR statement confirmed "preliminary discussions" had taken place over the sale.

West Ham fan Fernandes lost out to David Gold and David Sullivan in his bid to buy the Hammers in January 2010 but claimed earlier this year that he was still looking to invest in the club.

Roaring F1 silent impact

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Indian F1 lovers are frantic that India got the spot in F1 Season 2011 Calendar but it putted a silent impact on indian farmer's life, who actually don't know anything about f1.

They also don't know what is going to happen but hundreds of farmers who sold their land to make way for the track are unhappy at the changes to their lives.

Construction of the new $350-million circuit outside New Delhi, set to host the first Indian Grand Prix on October 30, has turned their lives upside down.

"We sold away our land for the organisers of the race," Singh told AFP while supervising the construction of his new two-storey house in Dankaur-Sarlarpur village which overlooks the race circuit.

"We got the money in exchange, but it was a raw deal," the 49-year-old said without revealing the compensation amount, believed to be around five million rupees ($112,622) according to a senior village official.

"We are building a new house and we have a car now, but we are not happy because our means of livelihood which was farming has been snatched away," he added.

Around the dusty settlement of about 500 families, 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the capital, there are signs of construction as the newly wealthy improve their ramshackle homes.

In the background, trucks carrying construction materials rumble noisily along the badly potholed road to the circuit and buffalo graze in the rubbish-strewn open areas.

Singh says there is "ill-will among the villagers" because of jealousy and suspicion.

"Even in the families, sons are fighting over their share of money," he said. "They are giving up on their studies as they think they have enough money to last a lifetime.

"They roam around the whole day drinking beer and picking petty fights."

Fights over land

Across India, fights over land are taking place as companies and governments look for space for new industrial projects.

The existing land acquisition act dating back to 1894 allows the government to acquire any piece of land for projects in the "public interest" such as hospitals, roads and schools.

A new law has been promised, possibly as early as this year, but in the meantime perceived injustices over land acquisition flare up periodically.

Farmers complain they are being pushed off their land unfairly, while businesses say that industrial projects that provide jobs for local people are being unnecessarily held up.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry said in a 2009 report that land disputes had stalled 133 projects in the country, holding up investments to the tune of $100 billion.

The villagers of Dankaur-Sarlarpur illustrate how, even when compensation is paid generously and on time, strong emotional links to land and the lack of future prospects for uneducated farmers leave many dissatisfied.

Mukesh Kumar, a 22-year old college drop-out, has taken up work as a security guard at the racing circuit due to lack of other employment options.

"I have a temporary job but what after the race is over? The government had promised that at least one member of each family will get employment but that has not happened," he said.

"We would have been happier if we had jobs rather than some cash stashed in lockers."

Not everyone in the village though has made money out of the buying spree.

A few like Bihari Lal did not own any land and instead tilled the plots of other land-owners.

"We knew only farming but the farms are also gone. We have had to switch to construction work. Those who got money strut around in gold chains and drive fancy cars," said Lal. "We are stuck in the same misery."

Resentment in the village

Back in the village, the general feeling among the older generation is one of disillusionment because of the difficulties in adapting to the new lifestyle.

And with money and aspirations have come frustrations - over the poor roads, the open sewage system, the intermittent electricity supply and the lack of proper schools or hospitals in the vicinity.

"We have a new dish antenna which beams as many as 200 channels," said Santo Devi, an elderly woman who lives in a spacious house where buffaloes share space with a shiny new car in the front courtyard.

"But the problem is we can hardly watch TV because the electricity is only available for 3-4 hours. The government is allowing so much to be spent on racing cars but they have done nothing for the village.

"The money will get over with time. What will we do then? We will be left to beg in the street.

Ferrari to add more pace in 2012 reason

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Ferrari chief designer Nikolas Tombazis has revealed that the team will be much more aggressive in their approach next season and has credited exhaust changes with an upturn in performance.

The Italian outfit have been unable to match the pace of Red Bull for the majority of the season and endured a particularly poor start to the campaign.

This resulted in a technical reshuffle that saw Aldo Costa parting company with the team and Pat Fry taking control of the technical department.

Results have improved of late with Fernando Alonso winning at Silverstone and finishing second last time out in Germany.

Tombazis says that the change has a lot to do with the team's handling of their exhaust system.

"First of all we've made some improvements in the area of the exhaust."

"We believe that that still has a lot of scope for improvement, and clearly after various rule clarifications and so on, we have a slightly clearer view about what we can do over the next few races to further improve that area. As we have seen there is quite a bit of performance there.

"Further to that, for this race, we had a new rear brake duct. We had in the last race a new rear wing, and we can work with that further because with the DRS this year the wing has some scope for improvement. And we also have a fairly pushy front wing programme that for the next few races will show some further improvements."

While the task of chasing down Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull at the front of the field is a massive one, Ferrari's recent work on the 150° Italia's blown diffuser indicates they have far from given up on this season's campaign.

"[The blown diffuser] is an area of clear performance gain that we have found for this year's car, so some resource naturally has to be spent on this year's car because we want to win races, and we do have quite a few more races ahead of us. Therefore we want to get more wins under our belt," explained Tombazis.

"Obviously, the research is not applicable for next year's car but other things we are doing for this year's car also has some bearing towards next year's car, so it is a bit of a mix on that - trying to prioritise best our resources to cover both cars."

The Greek designer believes that there is room for even further improvement this season.

"I think as long as we are not winning on a race-by-race basis then there is enough margin," he said.

"I think that Silverstone was an indication of a performance improvement, and the Nurburgring is not what would have been considered a track that was favourable to us a few months ago and a few months ago we would have been further behind.

"I think that the developments that we have in the pipeline for the next few races should enable us to be up there fighting."

Looking further ahead to the 2012 campaign, the 43-year-old admits that Ferrari have a huge amount of work to do if they want to produce a title contender, a situation which requires them to be bolder in their decision making.

"We have taken a very fresh approach, and there are a lot of areas of the car that will change substantially," he said of next year's model.

"In that regard it represents a bigger change compares to previous years and previous cars and, quite frankly, we need to do that because we need to make a bigger step forward than we have done previously

"In modern F1 you never start with a clean sheet and throw everything in the bin, and say, 'Okay guys, let's start from zero.' You do have a lot of things you learn from the previous years and you have to apply them.

"I think if you look at the different cars in the pit lane you will find strong points in every single car, even the ones that are slowest, so nobody starts from a totally clean sheet ever. I think the degree of change will be quite big," he added.

McLaren awarded by Carbon Trust Standard

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In recognition of its reduction in carbon emissions, the first Formula One team; McLaren has been awarded the status of Carbon Trust Standard in recognition of their success.

The team principle, Martin Whitmarsh has commented on the continued dedication of the team over a three year period to achieve such status. The principle confirmed that the progress in reduction had been made by leaner, longer-lasting and more efficient energy solutions. In fact, we're probably the only sport in the world with the resources, know-how and commitment to drive forward pioneering new technologies that have the potential for huge mass-market crossover".

The team were able to save 1,365 tonnes of CO2 each year and have given an insight into the how the saving was achievable. Improvements have been made to reduce energy consumption in the premises including low carbon lighting and controls and they have advanced the air conditioning system so that it only operates when people are in a specific area.

What is Carbon Trust Standard

The Carbon Trust Standard was developed by the Carbon Trust in 2007/08 to encourage good practice in carbon measurement, management and reduction by businesses and public sector organisations.

It is designed to provide a robust, objective and consistent methodology for assessing corporate carbon performance. The Standard specifies requirements in three key areas:

• Carbon footprint measurement
• Carbon management
• Carbon reduction performance

The Carbon Trust's core activity consists of helping companies and organisations reduce carbon emissions through providing help, support and advice.

The Carbon Trust Standard is a much sort after recognition. Many other organizations are striving to achieve it and those holding the status so far include Tesco and HM Treasury.

Red Bull & Infinti may join hands to expertise outside F1

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Red Bull is set to expand its motoring foray beyond the championship winning Formula One team.

Autocar is reporting that Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner told them that he wants to use Red Bull Racing’s expertise outside of the realm of Formula 1.

“Red Bull used to be known only as an energy drink company, but now it is recognized as an engineering team,” Horner said.

“It’s a natural evolution for us to get involved in road car engineering.”

With a Formula 1 Constructors Championship under its belt last year and a current first place standing in the 2011 F1 season, it sounds like Red Bull Racing’s expertise could be to good use by Infiniti.

Ferrari Wheel Nut innovation stopped Massa from better finish

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Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was looking extremely well throughout the 2011 Formula 1 German Grand Prix weekend as he secured the 5th place on the grid and during the final stages of the race, he was ahead of the reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel in 4th place.

The two drivers kept fighting for the 4th place for around 15 laps after which both of them had to make their final pit stop during the final lap.

It was one of the most exciting moments of the race when Ferrari and Red Bull Racing had a ‘pit race’ during the last lap of the race after which Massa lost his 4th place as the RBR made a quicker stop than Ferrari.

In the race for faster stops, Ferrari introduced the new nut for Silverstone, where it contributed to fast stops.

It also worked well for the first five of the six stops at the Nurburgring, but not for Massa’s last lap stop, costing him fourth place to Sebastian Vettel.

“It was a problem of the nut on the front left tire that went disconnected from the wheel gun,” said Stefano Domenicali in Germany. “That is something that is part of this game. We are stretching everything up to the limit to minimize the pit stop time. In this case it was a problem on the technical side.”

Silverstone was the first race we ran with a completely new specification of wheel nut, which has been very interesting, because in the British Grand Prix, our pit stops were the quickest in the race.

“Then, in Germany, we were again using this new wheel nut, which does work better, but the system is still not perfect and, at Felipe’s last tire change, we lost the connection between the wheel nut and wheel nut gun, which cost us around one and a half seconds. So we have more work to do on perfecting it.”

What Brazilian Driver, Felipe Massa has to say:

“Sure, I would have preferred to have stayed ahead of the World Champion right to the end. But at the final pit stop there was a problem with the wheel nut on the left rear which cost me a few seconds: these things happen and recrimination achieves nothing,” said Massa.

Either way, Massa admitted that it was an exhilarating race and that he enjoyed his battle with Sebastian Vettel for the 4th place. If Massa finished ahead of the current championship leader, then Vettel’s lead would have decreased by two more points which would have been quite useful for his rivals Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

“I got away well at the start, but then Vettel closed the line on the inside and I tried to go round the outside, because there was nowhere else to go if I wanted to make up some places. In fact I actually lost one to Rosberg,” said the Brazilian driver.

Nevertheless, one has to admit that Massa did a great job in holding Vettel back and in the process, proved that he still has the ability to compete alongside the top runners of the sport.

Webber confirm to stay with Red Bull

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According to the team principal of Red Bull Racing team Christian Horner, Mark Webber is going to stay with the team for the 2012 Formula 1 season and signing a contract with him is just a ‘formality’ now as both of the sides have already agreed to stay together.

Red Bull Racing have dominated the 2011 Formula 1 season as they are currently leading the constructors’ standings with 355 points which is 112 points more than their closest rivals McLaren.

This is mainly because of the fact that both Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel are performing at their best and since the team is not going through any issues whatsoever, they have decided to keep the same drivers’ line-up for 2012 as well.

“Obviously we haven't sat down and signed the contract, but ultimately I expect that to be a formality. I am very happy with the two drivers we have. They push each other hard and I can't imagine any other driver in our car, or Mark Webber in any other team's car next year,” said Horner.

Other than that, the RBR boss claims that Webber and Vettel are the two strongest drivers on the grid at least for the team and one has to admit that both of them do have this certain ‘chemistry’ as a result of which, they push the other drivers to improve even more.

“The dynamics between them tells us so. They push each other harder then perhaps some others, so we are very happy with that combination. They are now together in their third year and it is logical that we are looking to extend that,” he said.

Nevertheless, Webber is currently in 2nd place in the drivers’ standings and after the German Grand Prix, he is now just 77 points short of his teammate Sebastian Vettel who is currently leading the championship with 216 points.

Since Red Bull have the two current best drivers of the sport, they cannot ask for anything more and that is what Horner is doing currently.

Red Bull may sign the contract with Mark Webber and announce it officially during the Hungarian Grand Prix this sunday.

F1 2012 Driver LineUp

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Following are the names of drivers that are associated with the team for 2012 season (Contract Signed and Speculative).

Team	Constructor	Engine	Race Drivers	Test/Reserve Driver(s)	Contract News
Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	Renault	Sebastian Vettel Mark Webber (Most Probably - Official Contract not Signed)	To be Announced	Vettel Contract Webber Deal News
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	Mercedes	Lewis Hamilton Jenson Button	Gary Paffett
Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	Ferrari	Fernando Alonso Felipe Massa	To be Announced	Alonso Contract
Mercedes GP Petronas	Mercedes	Mercedes	Michael Schumacher Nico Rosberg(Speculative)	To be Announced	Driver Lineup Speculation
Lotus Renault GP	Renault	Renault	Robert Kubica (Subject to fitness) Vitaly Petrov	To be Announced	Boullier Speak
AT&T Williams	Williams	Renault	Rubens Barrichello (Speculative) Yet to be Announced	To be Announced
Force India F1 Team	Force India	Mercedes	Adrian Sutil Paul Di Resta (Both Speculative)	To be Announced	Di Resta Speculation
Sauber F1 Team	Sauber	Ferrari	Kamui Kobayashi Sergio Perez	Esteban Gutierrez
Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	Ferrari	Yet to be Announced	To be Announced
Team Lotus	Lotus	Renault	Yet to be Announced	To be Announced
Hispania Racing Team (HRT) F1 Racing	HRT	Cosworth	Yet to be Announced	To be Announced
Marussia Virgin Racing	Virgin	Cosworth	Timo Glock Yet to be Announced	To be Announced	Glock Contract

Renault third driver Bruno Senna ready for his first appearance

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Renault third driver Bruno Senna nephew of late three time Formula one Champion Ayrton Senna will drive for the team on Friday morning in Hungary. Senna will replace Nick Heidfeld in the R31 during the opening practice session at Budapest’s Hungaroring.

This will be his first appearance in F1 since 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix besides pre season testing in February and aero test in May.

“I’m really excited to be driving in FP1 at the Hungaroring,” said the 27 year old Brazilian.

Senna made his Formula One debut last year with HRT but endured a difficult rookie campaign, failing to score a point in the team’s under-developed F110. He had 9 retirement out of the 18 races he participated in. He finished 23rd in the drivers standing in 2010.

The 27 year-old joined Renault as third driver in February and drove the R31 during testing at Jerez that same month.

He completed a straight-line aero test at Duxford in May and has also driven the R29 this year

Rule Changes in 2014

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FIA is making a lot of changes in 2014. The most important is the much talked about engine change.

Earlier it was finalized to switch from V8 to V4 in 2013 that was criticized by most of the teams and fans. So, FIA has now finalized switch to V6 from V8 and that is also in 2014.

All these changes are supported by F1's Technical Working Group and the F1 Commission along with the backing of teams at times.

Here is the complete List of changes that will be taking place in 2014:

1. New engine regulations -

Current 2.4 litre V8s being replaced by more efficient 1.6 litre, turbocharged V6s with energy recovery system (ERS).

ERS will replace current Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) and is expected to be more powerful.

Combination of the above two will provide overall power outputs to be same as the current levels (approximately 750bhp.). These engines will be greener than the present used engines. Turbo engine were last used in 1988 in F1.

The aim is to improve the engines by as much as 35%, as well as to popularize hybrid and other energy-efficient technologies to speed up their adoption in road cars.

Maximum Rev Limit -

The maximum rev limit will also increase from 12000 to 15000 to maintain the sound of the engines, also to allay concern about the spectacle.

Combustion engine specifications:

1600cc, V6
15000 rpm max
Direct fuel injection up to 500bar
Single turbocharger
Controlled fuel flow

2. Energy Recovery System

ERS will replace current Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) and is expected to be more powerful.

The power capacity of the Energy systems will be increased from 60kw to 120kw.

Energy recovery and storage systems specifications:

Kinetic, 120kW on the rear wheels
Exhaust energy recovery linked to the turbocharger

3. Aerodynamically Different Chasis.

Smaller front wings

Size of the front wings are further reduced. At present, F1 car may use the full 1,800mm width of the cars – from 2014 they will be cut to 1,650mm.

Further tightening of restrictions at the front and rear of the car, and around the middle of the car to continue the work begun in the 2009 regulations changes to ‘clean up’ the appearance of the cars and reduce the number of small aerodynamic appendages.

Recently announced changes without Teams Contention:

4. Cars to be driven by Electric Power only in Pits

All the cars will be power driven only in the pitlane from 2014. Once entered into the pits and until exiting the pits cars must run “in electric mode” with “no ignition and no fuel supply to the engine at all times when being driven in the pit lane.”

For the time being, this ruling is under objection by the teams and highly classified persons in F1.

The main objection is that this will make pitlane silent and dangerous.

5. Self-starting F1 Cars Engine

Drivers will now be able to start the engine “when seated normally at the wheel and without any external assistance.”

This should put an end to drivers retiring from races because of stalled engines.

6. Minimum weight for the car increased

The minimum weight of the cars will increase again, to 660kg (from 640kg) from 2014.

A minimum weight for the power unit (including the engine and energy recovery system) has been set at 155kg – previously the engine alone was subject to a minimum weight of 95kg.

7. Extra gear

The number of forward gears will be increased to eight.

Note: The list will be periodically updated as FIA announce new changes. So stay updated.

For further details, you may visit the FIA Website here.

Mr Realiable Nick Heidfeld was unable to avoid the collision

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Lotus Renault GP driver Nick Heidfeld has said that he could not avoid his contact with Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi during the German Grand Prix on Sunday, July 24, 2011.

Heidfeld had a collision with Buemi at the braking zone during the 20th lap of the race. The Swiss driver blocked the left hand side of Heidfeld, hitting the Renault car from behind and pushed him into the grass.

The German retired from the Nürburgring race, as his R31 was not able to run more on the grid after the accident.

After a post-race investigation of an accident between Heidfeld and Buemi, the German race stewards confirmed that the Toro Rosso driver was at fault for the contact. The stewards announced that Buemi will have to serve a five-place grid penalty in the next Hungarian Grand Prix for his contact with Heidfeld.

Buemi finished his race at the 15th place for the team after an accident at the German race circuit.

Heidfeld was penalized for the collision with Force India driver Paul di Resta in the initial laps of the race.

Talking to the reporters, the 34-year-old driver said, “My start wasn't too good. I lost some positions there when I collided with Paul [di Resta]. After that I tried hard to make up some positions. I overtook a couple of cars and came up behind Buemi.”

Heidfeld went on to mention, “But then I was next to him on the right and he just moved over, and there was nowhere to go. I was a bit sandwiched in the second corner, then on the third corner Paul was on the outside and a bit in front of me. I locked up the front wheels, I tried to avoid him, but just slid into him.”

His teammate Vitaly Petrov started his race from the ninth place and ended up in the tenth spot for Renault.

After a disappointing race weekend in Nürburgring due to Heidfeld’s retirement, Renault are hoping for a better Hungarian Grand Prix, which will be held on July 31, 2011.

Sebastien Buemi to serve Five Place Grid Penalty during Hungarian GP

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Sebastien Buemi could have avoided the accident that caused Nick Heidfeld his race during the German Grand Prix.

Nick Heidfeld had a collision with Sebastien Buemi at the braking zone during the 20th lap of the race. The Swiss driver blocked the left hand side of Heidfeld, hitting the Renault car from behind and pushed him into the grass.

The German retired from the Nürburgring race, as his R31 was not able to run more on the grid after the accident.

After a post-race investigation of an accident between Heidfeld and Buemi, the German race stewards confirmed that the Toro Rosso driver was at fault for the contact.

The stewards announced that Buemi will have to serve a five-place grid penalty in the next Hungarian Grand Prix for his contact with Heidfeld.

Later, Lotus Renault GP driver Nick Heidfeld has said that he could not avoid his contact with Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi during the German Grand Prix on Sunday, July 24, 2011.

Buemi finished his race at the 15th place for the team after an accident at the German race circuit.

Sebastien Buemi was also penalized during the German Grand Prix as his qualifying time was stripped off due to the fuel irregularities found in his car fuel sample. He started the race from the last position on Sunday.

Yes/No on Battery Power rule in Pit Lane

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As part of a series of rules changes designed to spur green-tech innovation and promote sustainability within the sport, Formula 1 sanctioning body recently announced that, as of 2014, cars must travel on battery power only while in pit lane.

The technical rules for 2014 published by the FIA state cars must run “in electric mode” with “no ignition and no fuel supply to the engine at all times when being driven in the pit lane.”

Effectively, the new rules will turn every F1 car on the grid into dual-mode hybrid electric car, and force designers to build reliability into each of the cars’ existing KERS-flywheel hybrid systems (which will, presumably, continue to charge the cars’ batteries).

This ruling joins Formula 1's return to turbocharged V6 engines as part of 2014's sweeping changes, and serve as a stepping stone towards Jean Todt’s ultimate goal of an all-electric race series.

Boullier Fear

Renault team boss Eric Boullier is among a number of Formula One personalities to express fears that plans to make cars run electrically in the pits from 2014 is too dangerous

He said "The concept is intriguing but... the cars would not make noise and that could be very dangerous,"

Ferrari Boss Stated Pros and Cons

"There are different opinions on that," admitted Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali at the Nurburgring, admitting that "some manufacturers" are not keen.

"This is a topic that in my view, because of the situation that it is for 2014, it can still be discussed, we have the time to discuss it in a proper way," he added.

Domenicali said one potential problem is that F1 would lose some "passion" with a silenced pitlane, while another is that cars not making any sound could be a safety issue for those working in the area.

Agreed Renault technical director James Allison, who is also FOTA's new technical chief: "There are pros and cons with it from an operational point of view that we're still discussing."