Tag Archives: f1

Minichamps today deliveried the 1:18 Minichamps Red Bull Showcar 2011 Vettel F1 car which is limited to 1/ 3204pcs WorldWide. Please use the link to view the Minichamps model.

Ferrari is now working flat-out on the development of what it claims is a 'very innovative' 2012 car, even though it still holds out some hope that it can haul itself back into this year's championship fight.

Fernando Alonso's recent run of good form, which included victory in the British Grand Prix, has put him 89 points behind championship leader Sebastian Vettel and his only realistic hope of closing that gap down dramatically is if his Red Bull rival hits some trouble.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali says his team's approach right now is on simply trying to win each grand prix, and then in a few race's time the outfit can take a better look to see if there is still a chance of the title.

Meanwhile, he openly admits that the real effort at Maranello is on delivering a much more aggressive car design for next year, having realised the team was too conservative this season.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner insists that he has no doubts about Sebastian Vettel's strength under pressure as the 24-year-old German bids to secure his second consecutive world championship in the final eight races of the season.

Vettel who has won six races so far in 2011, is 85 points ahead of his nearest rival, team-mate Mark Webber, in the drivers' championship. Mclaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso are 88 and 89 points adrift respectively.

But although some have suggested that Vettel is weak under pressure, Horner is adamant that he has proved this not to be the case.

Jenson Button says he is determined to continue to fight for this year's title despite his huge gap to Sebastian Vettel in the standings.

Jenson Button scored his second win of the season in last weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, but Red Bull riva Sebastian Vettel finished in second and increased his lead in the championship.

The Jenson Button conceded it will be a challenge to catch Sebastian Vettel , but he insists he is not giving up.

Jenson Button believes Red Bull Racing should have every reason to be worried about its own pace now - with the Hungarian Grand Prix winner confident McLaren is now a match for the championship leaders in both qualifying and races.

On the basis that McLaren has won three of the last five grands prix, Jenson Button sees no reason why the Woking-based outfit cannot continue its good run of form for the remainder of the season.

And, with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber now being pushed really hard in qualifying - an area where they were dominant earlier this year - Jenson Button thinks that the advantage Red Bull Racing had has now been wiped away.

Hot Wheels Elite has just announced to us that they will be releasing a two car Ferrari set to celebrate Ferrari’s success at the British GP at Silverstone two weeks ago, Hot Wheels Elite have announced a special limited edition in 1/43rd scale, ‘60 Years of Success' that will include on the same plinth both the 150 Italia of Fernando Alonso and the 375 F1 driven by Gonzalez winner of the British GP at Silverstone in 1951. The '60 Years of Success' F1 special edition will be limited to 5,000 pieces only and is due for release in November 2011. To view this Hot Wheels Elite special edition, please click on the following link - 1:43 Hot Wheels Ferrari 60 Years Of Success 2 Car Set Winner British GP

Mark Webber was quickest for Red Bull in the second Friday practice session for the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

After Fernando Alonso had led the way this morning, Ferrari was once again the pacesetter for much of the session.

Felipe Massa was quickest for a lengthy spell early on, before his team-mate Alonso produced a 1m31.879s just after the halfway mark.

But his time on top only last a few minutes before Webber (Red Bull) lapped in 1m31.770s. He then cooled his tyres for a while before putting in a 1m31.711s just before the one-hour mark, which kept him ahead for the rest of the day.

Alonso, who also had a quick visit to the gravel and a sideways moment over the hairpin kerbs dodging Michael Schumacher's Mercedes, remained second, ahead of the second Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel, and Massa.

Mark Webber says Sunday's team orders saga has no bearing on his future as he is already in "positive" talks with Red Bull over a new deal.

Webber ignored repeated instructions to maintain a gap to team-mate Sebastian Vettel over the closing laps of the British Grand Prix, prompting a showdown with team principal Christian Horner.

The situation raised speculation as to whether Webber would remain with the team, only for owner Dietrich Mateschitz to state the 34-year-old Australian would re-sign for 2012.

Felipe Massa does not believe that Ferrari is out of the running for the Formula 1 World Championship this year, despite trailing leader Red Bull by a huge margin.

Defending constructors' champion Red Bull has a 164-point advantage over Ferrari at the top of the standings while Sebastian Vettel is 92 ahead of Massa's team-mate Fernando Alonso in the race to win the drivers' title.

Despite this, Massa believes that the form shown by the Italian squad at last weekend's British Grand Prix - where Alonso won by demonstrating a clear race pace advantage over Red Bull drivers Vettel and Mark Webber – indicates that a fightback could be on the cards.

He has also been given confidence by Alonso's fightback of 12 months ago, when the Spaniard made up a 47-point deficit at this stage to lead the standings heading into the final race.

Jenson Button last night backed his team as he told them to forget their British Grand Prix nightmare. The Frome flier saw the wheels come off his 12th attempt to get on the podium at his home race.

Button's hopes were wrecked when he was sent away from the pits with a wheel nut missing, forcing him to park up. The latest in a series of blunders has put huge pressure on McLaren team chief Martin Whitmarsh.

But Button, 95 points behind leader and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, insisted: "This doesn't shake my confidence in the team. Not really. We all have bad weekends, Red Bull have had them, too. This was a poor weekend for the team but, hopefully, we will be back on track in Germany.