Paul Di Resta says No to Mercedes

Click to find out more

Paul di Resta says that while he is flattered by suggestions that he will soon be a target for Mercedes, he is more than happy with Force India at present.

"Force India have given me a great opportunity and delivered what they said they would".

"Hopefully I am delivering what they hoped I would deliver for the team.”

Di Resta has made a strong start to his debut season in Formula One, securing points finishes in the opening two grands prix of the year in Australia and Malaysia.

That run came to an end when he crossed the line 11th in China but had still qualified eighth, again outperforming his more experienced team-mate Adrian Sutil.

With Mercedes' Norbert Haug calling his opening races "exceptional", di Resta said he was happy with the attention.

Resta won the 2010 DTM series with Mercedes before moving into Formula One with Force India.

Di Resta's manager, Anthony Hamilton, said that he felt Mercedes would be considering him for a potential future drive, but that there had been no contact at this early stage of the season.

DHL Turkish Grand Prix 2011 - Pre Race Analysis

Click to find out more


DHL Turkish Grand Prix 2011 - Istanbul Park

Number of Laps:	58
Circuit Length:	5.338 km
Race Distance:	309.396 km
Lap Record:	1min 24.770sec - JP Montoya (2005)
2010 Result:	1. Lewis Hamilton 2. Jenson Button 3. Mark Webber
First Race:	Year 2005.
Total Races:	6

Turkish Grand Prix is the fourth race of the season 2011 and marks the beginning of European Season. After a long break of 3 weeks and time spent with families, all the drivers are gearing up for win.

As the drivers gears up, there were silent Technical team that were working 24x7 to improve the performance of their cars.

And, the race will see the comeback of many teams with further improvement to the top teams.

Chinese GP saw Vettel reign ending with Lewis snatching the victory from him in the last few laps to display the reliability of Mclaren. To continue from the last year win in Turkey, Lewis Hamilton will be the danger man again.

The Turkish GP is famously remembered for Red Bull crashing with each other last year which forced Sebastian Vettel to retire and Mark Webber to drop from 1st to 3rd.

Seating capacity is around 130,000, with 25,000 of those in the main grandstand, and parking is available for 12,000 cars. Dominating the circuit's skyline are two seven-floor VIP towers at either end of the paddock.

F1 Changer - Pirelli has admitted that Turky will be hard on tyres and pit stop strategy will be essential factor to win the race.



Circuit Analysis

Turkish Grand Prix circuit is an anti-clockwise circuit. It is one of the three circuits (Brazil and Abu Dhabi the other two) which run anti clockwise this season. The circuit is designed by famous German Architect Hermann Tilke.

Circuit is one of the most spectacular in terms of speed features 14 turns - eight lefts and six rights and the cars can reach speeds up to 330 km/h. Circuit is also very hard on tyres as the track surface is very abrasive.

Must watch on the circuit are -

Multi apex Left hander Turn 8.

Turn 12-14 that will see a lot of overtaking and driver tactics to provide the maximum as of slightest mistakes can put you out of race just like Sebastian Vettel did last year.

However the circuit does not provide ample opportunity for overtaking so the Qualifying will play a major role. This year introduction of KERS and DRS could play a life saver for some.



Weather Report

Turkey is very hot on track, hard on tyres and may provide a slight chance of rain also.

Friday:	Rain Expected (Light Rain)	15 °C	88%
Saturday:	Slight Chance of Rain (Slight Showers)	15 °C
Sunday:	Clear Sky (Partly Cloudy)	12 °C

Visibility will not be a problem and may be it will not be as hot afterall but it will be humid.



Ticket Prices

Ticker Prices are starting form $100 for General Admission . For Grandstand Weekend prices vary from $375 to $500 for main grandstands.



Timing

Practice 1	Fri 10:00 (EEST) / 12:30 (IST)
Practice 2	Fri 14:00 (EEST) / 16:30 (IST)
Practice 3	Sat 11:00 (EEST) / 13:30 (IST)
Qualifying	Sat 14:00 (EEST) / 16:30 (IST)
Race	Sun 15:00 (EEST) / 17:30 (IST)

Prediction

As the European Season Starts, it became really hard to predict the outcome of the race. With all team got ample opportunity and time to improve their performance over the three weeks. It could be anyone on the top.

One thing is still sure, there will be a tough competition among Red Bull and Mclaren on top. May be this time, Ferrari have got it right or it can be Mercedes who could surely able to compete with the top guns.

So, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher all plays a crucial role with Jenson Button and Mark Webber eager to deceive their teammates to top.

Hungry Fernando Alonso could convert a podium this time.

As all the teams and their drivers are claiming to give a strong performance out their in Turkey, Let us see who will has the last laugh at the end.

Lets Start Racing.... in Europe....

Karthikeyan hopeful to grab point

Click to find out more

The 34-year-old Karthikeyan, who is making a comeback to Formula One with the HRT, made his debut in the 2005 Australian Grand Prix with Jordan. That season he finished 18th with 5 points in his kitty.

Making a comeback to F1 after around six years, Karthikeyan said he feel like a rookie again and is practicing hard in the gym to stay fit.

He said: "I work out at least two-four hours a day. I have to be fit and I will really miss the tasty Indian dishes when I am driving abroad."

Karthikeyan, who is the first Indian F1 driver, said the season looks quite promising to him and October will be the time when the team will be at its peak.

He said: "October will be a big month for me. By the time we will have a quite a decent practice."

In October, India will host one of the legs of the Formula One in Greater Noida. However, the race is still subject to circuit approval.

Karthikeyan said he is yet to have a look at the track at Noida though he has seen some pictures of it.

On Friday, HRT announced their tie-up with Base Batteries, naming the Indian company as their 'Official Battery Supplier' during the Indian GP on October 30.

Narain is happy that "Indian know-how" will be used in an F1 race car, and that too in front of the home crowd.

"I am very pleased and proud that Base Batteries has become the official battery supplier for Hispania Racing. It is a matter of great pride for us Indians that the most technologically advanced racing cars in the world are becoming increasingly reliant on Indian know-how. I hope the trend continues and I am looking forward to race at the Indian Grand Prix," said Narain

Ecclestone decline chances of F1 takeover

Click to find out more

Earlier this month, reports emerged claiming that Murdoch, together with Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, was in the process of putting together a bid to take control of Formula One.

The reports suggested that the News Corp boss had even spoke with one of F1's big-name outfits, believed to be Ferrari, to get them on board.

And although Ecclestone initially "rubbished" the reports, the F1 supremo later hinted that selling F1, which is owned by private equity firm CVC and managed by Ecclestone, could be on the cards.

Even Ecclestone once raised speculation to retire if Buyout happened.

However, the 80-year-old has now thrown another U-turn.

He said the chances of News Corp. purchasing the sport were “close to zero.” He guessed that the rumors were started by people looking to make money.

"Its never too late" as Bernie Ignited the hope for Bahrain

Click to find out more

Formula One will give Bahrain more time to decide whether its Grand Prix can be rescheduled this year while Turkey could be spared the axe in 2012, commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone said on Thursday.
“We need to wait a little bit to see exactly how progress is made,” Ecclestone said, adding that it might be “bye-bye Bahrain” but a decision was not imminent despite a May 1 deadline.

“I suppose we’d be safe by early June or something like that.”

“Things can change in a couple of weeks,so you don’t know. All of a sudden everything might be peaceful in a month’s time and they are happy to run the event and so we are happy to be there.”

People also want Bahrain GP as some are backing it by online support.

Hundreds of people signed an online petition set up to support the staging of this year's Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, within hours of its launch.

The Bring Back Bahrain Formula 1 GP appeal was set up on Twitter yesterday by a user known as mShareeda.

It garnered almost 500 signatures within its first four hours.

In a message posted on the page, the creator described the Grand Prix as a key part of Bahrain's history.

They said the country's economy had improved and its name was now known around the world as a result of hosting the high-profile event.

V8 officials are hoping to stage race in India

Click to find out more

An Australian government trade group is discussing the possibility of holding two V8 Supercar races in India next year and including an Indian team and driver on the Australian-based circuit.

Austrade's senior trade commissioner in New Delhi, Peter Linford, says more negotiations will now be held on entering an Indian team and driver into next year's championship and organising back to back races in Chennai and at India's new Formula One track on the outskirts of New Delhi.

"Having an Indian driver with an Indian team racing against all of the other Australians makes a lot of sense because that will give us the opportunity to televise the series more popularly in India," Linford said.

"Then when the series does come to India it will have a fan base already established.

"From the V8 side they're all ready to put up a base sponsorship commitment so the commitment of money has actually come from the V8s themselves here in Australia to the Indians rather than the other way around ... and we don't see that too often.

"The next phase is to get an equal commitment from the Indian side and then to work together with the Indian and Australian commercial entities to bring about other commercial supporters so we've got the budget needed to deliver the first event."

Any Indian team would also need to buy or lease a racing entitlement contract, with V8 Supercar racing limited to just 28 cars - each having its own licence.

"It's not impossible, but there's a bit of work to do, and in fairness to the Indians front of mind for them at the moment is their first F1 race," Linford said.

"To talk to them about V8s is a little bit difficult because they're so focused on getting the track ready, especially as they haven't run an F1 race there before."

McLaren is the final destination of Button

Click to find out more

Jenson Button says he is ready to commit the rest of his Formula 1 career to McLaren, ahead of the opening of talks later this summer to discuss a new contract with the team.

The former world champion joined the Woking-based outfit on a three-year deal from the start of 2010, and it is understood the outfit wants to begin discussions to extend his stay over the next few months.

With both team and driver delighted with the way their partnership has gelled, Button has told autosport in an exclusive interview with this week's magazine that he sees a future exclusively at McLaren.

"When I finish racing here, I won't be racing in Formula 1 anymore," said Button. "I'm very happy here. I want to enjoy my racing and I'm really enjoying my time here. I can't see any reason to be anywhere else.

"I'm driving for one of the best teams in the world. It's a position that most drivers would love to be in and I've worked very hard for it. I might be around for three years, five years...I don't know."

Button's future pledge is no great surprise for McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh, who reckons that talks with Button to frame a new deal will be relatively straightforward.

"If Jenson says he is totally committed and wants to do x more years, then I suspect that we could quickly come to an agreement," Whitmarsh told autosport. "He's a tremendous asset to the team and when we get around to that, I hope that it will be a quick and easy conversation."