Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/1YKqyZR6GeM/f1-babes-heidi-klum-3
John Fitch Christian Fittipaldi Emerson Fittipaldi Wilson Fittipaldi Theo Fitzau
Monday, March 31, 2014
F1 Babes: Heidi Klum
Flavio Briatore certainly does have a long line of attractive former partners, and perhaps the very best of those is the gorgeous Heidi Klum. The German model was romantically involved with the former Renault boss until 2004, and as our gallery shows, she?s quite a looker. CLICK HERE TO REVEAL OUR HEIDI KLUM GALLERY
Arrinera Hussarya production version breaks cover
Poland-based Arrinera Automotive has released the first pictures of the production-ready Hussarya supercar.Hermann Lang Claudio Langes Nicola Larini Oscar Larrauri Gerard Larrousse
2015 Chevrolet Cruze spied totally undisguised inside and out
The second generation of the Chevrolet Cruze has been spied without any camouflage ahead of an official unveiling programmed for later this year.Johnnie Tolan Alejandro de Tomaso Charles de Tornaco Tony Trimmer Maurice Trintignant
Red Bull relying on Renault finding speed, says Horner
Christian Horner says Red Bull has exceeded expectations in the first two races given the problems experienced in testing. Horner says that the gap to Mercedes largely reflects a disparity in straightline performance, but remains confident that the French manufacturer … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2014/03/31/red-bull-relying-on-renault-finding-speed-says-horner/
Bill Aston Richard Attwood Manny Ayulo Luca Badoer Giancarlo Baghetti
Wife arranging to take Schumacher home - reports
Michael Schumacher could soon be headed home. British newspapers the Daily Mail and the Sun are reporting that the F1 legend's wife Corinna is making arrangements for a $17 million medical suite so ...John Barber Skip Barber Paolo Barilla Rubens Barrichello Michael Bartels
Cool, canny Alonso seems to have all the answers
The remarkable story of Fernando Alonso and Ferrari's incredible season continued at the German Grand Prix as the Spaniard became the first man to win three races in 2012 and moved into an imposing lead in the world championship.
Those three victories have all been very different, but equally impressive. And each has demonstrated specific aspects of the formidable army of Alonso's talents.
In Malaysia in the second race of the season, at a time when the Ferrari was not competitive in the dry, he grabbed the opportunity provided by rain to take a most unexpected first win.
In Valencia last month, it was Alonso's opportunism and clinical overtaking abilities that were to the fore.
Other drivers may wonder how to stop Alonso's relentless drive to a third title. Photo: Getty
And in Germany on Sunday his victory was founded on his relentlessness, canniness and virtual imperviousness to pressure.
Ferrari, lest we forget, started the season with a car that was the best part of a second and a half off the pace. Their progress since then has been hugely impressive.
But vastly improved though the car is, it was not, as Alonso himself, his team boss Stefano Domenicali and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel all pointed out after the race on Sunday, the fastest car in Germany.
Vettel's Red Bull - which finished second but was demoted to fifth for passing Jenson Button by going off the track - and the McLaren appeared to have a slight pace advantage over the Ferrari, given their ability to stay within a second of it for lap after lap.
But Alonso cleverly managed his race so he was always just out of reach of them when it mattered.
He pushed hard in the first sector every lap so he was always far enough ahead at the start of the DRS overtaking zone to ensure his pursuers were not quite close enough to try to pass him into the Turn 6 hairpin.
After that, he could afford to back off through the middle sector of the lap, taking the stress out of his tyres, before doing it all over again the next time around.
Managing the delicate Pirelli tyres in this way also meant he could push that bit harder in the laps immediately preceding his two pit stops and ensure he kept his lead through them.
Equally, he showed the presence of mind to realise when Lewis Hamilton unlapped himself on Vettel shortly before the second stops that if he could, unlike the Red Bull driver, keep Hamilton behind, it would give him a crucial advantage at the stop.
It was not quite "67 qualifying laps", as Domenicali described it after the race, but it was certainly a masterful demonstration of control and intelligence.
And there was no arguing with another of the Italian's post-race verdicts. "(Alonso) is at the peak of his personal performance, no doubt about it," Domenicali said.
It was the 30th victory of Alonso's career, and he is now only one behind Nigel Mansell in the all-time winners' list. The way he is driving, he will surely move ahead of the Englishman into fourth place behind Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna before the end of the year.
At the halfway point of the season, Alonso now looks down on his pursuers in the championship from the lofty vantage point of a 34-point advantage.
That is not, as Red Bull team principal Christian Horner correctly pointed out in Germany, "insurmountable" with 10 races still to go and 250 points up for grabs. But catching him when he is driving as well as this will take some doing.
Alonso is clearly enjoying the situation, and is taking opportunities to rub his rivals' noses in it a little.
He is not the only driver to have been wound up by the index-finger salute Vettel employed every time he took one of his 11 wins and 15 pole positions on the way to the title last year.
So it was amusing to see Alonso do the same thing after he had beaten the German to pole position at Vettel's home race on Saturday.
The exchange between Alonso, Button and Vettel as they climbed out of their cars immediately after the race was also illuminating.
After standing on his Ferrari's nose to milk the applause, Alonso turned to Button and said: "You couldn't beat me?" He then pointed to Vettel and said: "He couldn't either."
All part of the game, but a little reminder to both men of what a formidable job Alonso is doing this season.
The race underlined how close the performance is between the top three teams this year.
Red Bull had a shaky start to the season by their standards - although to nowhere near the extent of Ferrari - but have had on balance the fastest car in the dry since the Bahrain Grand Prix back in April.
And while McLaren have had a shaky couple of races in Valencia and Silverstone, they showed potential race-winning pace in Germany following the introduction of a major upgrade.
Despite a car damaged when he suffered an early puncture on debris left from a first-corner shunt ironically involving Alonso's team-mate Felipe Massa, Hamilton was able to run with the leaders before his retirement with gearbox damage.
And Button impressively fought his way up to second place from sixth on the grid, closing a five-second gap on Alonso and Vettel once he was into third place.
This has not been Button's greatest season, as he would be the first to admit.
Germany was the first race at which he has outqualified Hamilton in 2012 and even that may well have been down to the different tyre strategies they ran in qualifying.
Nevertheless, he remains a world-class grand prix driver and Germany proved the folly of those who had written him off after his recent struggles.
And despite Alonso's lead in the championship, the season is finely poised.
Germany was a low-key race for Mark Webber, who was unhappy with his car on the harder of the two tyres but remains second in the championship. And Red Bull's two drivers clearly have the equipment to make life difficult for Alonso.
The McLaren drivers are determined to make something of their season still and Lotus are quick enough to cause the three big teams some serious concern.
Mercedes, meanwhile, have a bit of work to do to turn around their tendency to qualify reasonably well and then go backwards in the race.
"It's going to be a great, great season," said McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh on Sunday. "It already has been a great season."
And the next instalment is already less than seven days away in Hungary next weekend.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/07/cool_canny_alonso_looks_diffic.html
SRT Viper Will Not Participate in The 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans
Well this is some pretty sad news. After sitting out for more than a decade, the Viper returned to Endurance racing last year and participated in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. It seems that triumphant return was short lived as SRT and Chrysler have announced that they are pulling out of the historic race.
While it is not being claimed as the official cause, and the production and motorsport programs are separately funded, the recent closure of the Viper production plant in Detroit due to low sales is likely playing some part in this decision. Racing is expensive; it?s a simple but saddening fact.
Thankfully you can still hear the V-10 wail of a Viper GTS-R on track as the SRT Racing team is still competing in the US TUDOR United SportsCar Championship for the remainder of the season. Current plans are to continue with the series next year, but the Le Mans run was supposed to be a multi-year initiative as well.
If you have the means, and you enjoy the Viper, maybe you should put one in your garage and help these guys out.
Click past the jump to read more about the SRT Viper GTS-R.
SRT Viper Will Not Participate in The 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 27 March 2014 15:00 EST.
Rudi Fischer Mike Fisher Giancarlo Fisichella John Fitch Christian Fittipaldi
Ricciardo gets ten-place grid drop | 2014 Malaysian Grand Prix
Daniel Ricciardo will be moved back ten places on the grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix. 
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/vNGmYKOdYoM/
Jody Scheckter Harry Schell Tim Schenken Albert Scherrer Domenico Schiattarella
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Rosberg quickest but worried about tyre degradation
Nico Rosberg set the pace in Malaysia on Friday, but the Mercedes driver admitted that keeping his tyres in good shape was a major concern. ?It was a decent day,? said Rosberg. ?It was very, very hot, tough for the … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2014/03/28/rosberg-quickest-but-worried-about-tyre-degradation/
Vic Wilson Joachim Winkelhock Manfred Winkelhock Markus Winkelhock Reine Wisell
Hamilton saga nearing endgame
Only Lewis Hamilton truly knows where he wants to drive next season - and perhaps not even he does just yet. But the signs are that the saga that has been occupying Formula 1 for months is nearing its endgame.
Hamilton has two competing offers on the table for his future - one to stay at McLaren and one to move to Mercedes.
The word at the Singapore Grand Prix - for what it's worth - was that he is leaning towards staying where he is; one McLaren insider even suggested that a deal could be inked within days.
At the same time, there may be a complication. There are suggestions that earlier this year Hamilton signed something with Mercedes - a letter of intent, a memorandum of understanding, perhaps - that he would need to get out of before he could commit to McLaren. His current team have heard talk of this, too. Hamilton's management deny this.
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The conventional wisdom is that Mercedes are offering Hamilton more money and that the deal is sweetened further by greater freedom over personal sponsorship deals. Those are highly restricted at McLaren because of the team's breadth of marketing tie-ups.
But BBC Sport understands it is not quite as simple as that.
For one thing, some sources say the figures quoted for the Mercedes offer in the media so far - of �60m over three years - are significantly larger than what is actually on the table.
Of course, in theory, as one of the largest car companies in the world, Mercedes can afford to pay almost any figure it wants.
But the board's commitment to Formula 1 has been in question all year. While it is understood that the company has now reached an agreement with the sport's commercial rights holders defining the financial terms under which they have committed for the next few years, F1 is not a money-no-object exercise for them.
McLaren believe their offer to Hamilton is broadly similar to Mercedes', and that in terms of total remuneration he could actually end up earning more money if he stays where is.
How so? Well, it seems the headline salary figures may not differ that much - although I understand Mercedes' offer is larger.
Mercedes offer greater freedom in terms of new sponsorship deals with which Hamilton can top up his income, and out of which his management group - music industry mogul Simon Fuller's XIX - would take a cut that some sources say is as great as 50%, a figure XIX say is wildly exaggerated.
McLaren, by contrast, have strict rules around their driver contracts - they do not allow any personal sponsorship deal that clashes with any brand owned by a company on their car.
So deals with mobile, fashion, household products, perfumes, oil and so on are all out. Jenson Button is allowed to have his deal to endorse shampoo because it was signed before McLaren had GlaxoSmithKline as a partner.
McLaren, I'm told, have loosened some of their restrictions in an attempt to give Hamilton more freedom.
And in their favour is that all contracts contain clauses that define bonuses for success; in McLaren's case for wins and championships. These amount to significant amounts of money and on current form Hamilton would earn more in bonuses with McLaren than with Mercedes.
Financially, it is in XIX's interests for Hamilton to move to Mercedes - that is where they will earn most money.
But that may not be the case for Hamilton, which of course begs the question of whether the driver and his management group actually have conflicting interests.
While Hamilton has steadfastly refused to discuss his future with the media, he has been consistent in one thing. As he put it at the Italian Grand Prix earlier this month: "I want to win."
He knows exactly how good he is and it rankles with him that he has so far won only one world title.
In which case, the last few races will have given him pause for thought.
McLaren started this season with the fastest car in F1, the first time they have done that since at least 2008 and arguably 2005.
But Hamilton's title bid was hampered by a series of early season operational problems that prevented him winning until the seventh race of the season in Canada. Was it during this period that he signed that "something" with Mercedes?
After a slight mid-season wobble through the European and British Grands Prix in late June and early July, though, McLaren have come on strongly.
Upgrades introduced at the German Grand Prix gave them a big step forward, making the McLaren once again the fastest car.
Progress was disguised in Hockenheim by a wet qualifying session, which allowed Alonso to take the pole position from which he controlled the race.
Even then, though, with Hamilton out of the reckoning after an early puncture, Button ran the Spaniard close.
Since then, it has been all McLaren. Hamilton won from pole in Hungary and Italy; Button the same in Belgium. Then in Singapore Hamilton lost an almost certain victory, also from pole, with a gearbox failure.
Meanwhile, Mercedes have floundered. And while rival teams agreed that a big upgrade to the silver cars in Singapore did move them forward a little, Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher only just scraped into the top 10 in qualifying and were anonymous in the race until Schumacher's embarrassing crash with Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne.
Undoubtedly, Mercedes will have given Hamilton the hard sell.
They'll have pointed out that they have won the world title more recently than McLaren - in their previous guise of Brawn in 2009.
They'll have said they are a true works team backed by a huge car company, whereas McLaren are from next year paying for their "customer" Mercedes engines.
They'll have argued that, in team boss Ross Brawn, Mercedes have the architect of the most dominant dynasty in F1 history - the Ferrari team of the early 2000s - who is determined to do it again. Triple world champion Niki Lauda, who is expected to be given a senior management role at the Mercedes team, has also been involved in trying to persuade Hamilton to join the team.
And they'll have said Hamilton has relative commercial freedom with them to make as much money as he wants.
What they won't have said is that the 2009 world title came about in rather exceptional circumstances and that at no other time has the team looked remotely like consistently challenging the best - whether as BAR, Honda or Mercedes.
And they won't have said that McLaren - for all Hamilton's frustrations over the cars he has had since 2009 and the mistakes that have been made in 2012 - have a winning record over the past 30 years that is the envy of every team in F1.
Of course, the past does not define the future, but the future is built on the past.
It's possible that the near future of F1 is one of Mercedes hegemony, but it would be a hell of a gamble to take for a man who professes he just "wants to win".
If the latest indications about his mind-set are correct, perhaps that is what Hamilton has now realised.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/09/hamilton_saga_nearing_endgame.html
Bill Whitehouse Robin Widdows Eppie Wietzes Mike Wilds Jonathan Williams
Malaysian Grand Prix ? FIVE Of The Best
Since 1999 the Sepang circuit in Malaysia has been a permanent fixture on the Formula 1 calendar. It was one of the first circuits designed by Hermann Tilke, Bernie Ecclestone?s preferred circuit architect ? since then the German has also designed new layouts at Sakhir, Istanbul and Yeongam to name just three. The threat of [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/FTNqSXCFORo/malaysian-grand-prix-five-of-the-best
Patrick Neve John Nicholson Cal Niday Helmut Niedermayr Brausch Niemann
BMW 5 Series
Earlier this year, our spy photographers managed to catch the next-generation BMW 5 Series Touring while it was being towed to a test facility in Europe. Today, the next 5 Series was caught once again, but this time we caught both the sedan and station wagon variants.
As you can see, the 5 Series that we caught testing is covered in tons of camouflage, which shows us that BMW is planning a pretty significant overhaul. Unfortunately, it looks like the 5er is still in its early production stages so what you see may not carry over into the production model.
Rumors suggest that the next 5 Series will lose some weight, thanks to the use of next-generation 7 Series-derived CFRP technology. We also believe that the model will feature an exterior design inspired by the Vision Connected Drive concept and an interior stuffed with tons of safety gizmos.
Under its hood, BMW will place an update range of engines, starting with a new 1.5-liter, three-cylinder engine and capping off with a V-8 in the M5 — if BMW decides not to replace the V-8 with the new six-cylinder engine from the 2014 M3.
The next-generation BMW 5 Series is expected to be unveiled sometime in 2016, making it a 2017 model year here in the U.S.
Updated 03/27/2014: British magazine AutoExpress revealed a series of new info on the next-generation BMW 5 Series set to be revealed in 2016. According to the magazine, the next 5 Series will feature a range of modular engines that use 0.5-liter cylinders, similar to the three-cylinder engine found in the new Mini lineup. BMW is still weighing whether customers would actually buy a three-cylinder 5er, but at least the architecture and cost spreading is in place. Additionally, this will be the cleanest engine lineup in the class, set to deliver under 100g/km.
BMW 5 Series originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 27 March 2014 14:00 EST.
Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/bmw/2017-bmw-5-series-ar161216.html
Al Pease Roger Penske Cesare Perdisa Luis PerezSala Larry Perkins
Hamilton dedicates win to victims of MH370 crash | 2014 Malaysian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton dedicated his win in today's Malaysian Grand Prix to those who lost their lives in the Malaysian Airlines plane crash three weeks ago and their families. 
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/jNM2PQIEOGo/
Art Cross Geoff Crossley Chuck Daigh Yannick Dalmas Derek Daly
Brabus Classic to showcase six classic Mercedes models at Techno Classica
Brabus Classic has announced plans to display a handful of models at the Techno Classica show.Lucas di Grassi Cecil Green Keith Greene Masten Gregory Cliff Griffith
New F1 engine sound is ?s**t,? says Vettel
Sebastian Vettel caused a stir today by joining in the throng of criticism of the sound made by the 2014 power units. The German was able to watch the Australian GP from the pits after his early retirement, and thus … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2014/03/27/new-f1-engine-sound-is-st-says-vettel/
Bernard de Dryver Johnny Dumfries Geoff Duke Len Duncan Piero Dusio
Will The ?Dream Team? Be A Nightmare?
A quick glance down the pit lane at the Australian Grand Prix revealed which constructors were unhappy with the position they?re in, Ferrari being one of them. It has become a recurring pattern for the Italian manufacturer, who has been on the back foot for the last couple of years. This season is no different; [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/C985sNPQs9o/will-the-dream-team-be-a-nightmare
Nelson Piquet Jr Renato Pirocchi Didier Pironi Emanuele Pirro Antônio Pizzonia
Button Steps Up Pre Season Training With Lance Armstrong
Jenson Button teamed up with record breaking cyclist Lance Armstrong, as he continues to prepare for another Formula One season. The McLaren driver excitedly tweeted that he would be riding with Armstrong, the 7 time Tour de France winner, in Hawaii. Armstrong responded via Twitter “I hope he doesn’t ride as srong as he drives […]
Source: http://f1fanatics.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/button-steps-up-pre-season-training-with-lance-armstrong/
Patrick Tambay Luigi Taramazzo Gabriele Tarquini Piero Taruffi Dennis Taylor
Saturday, March 29, 2014
VIN #0001 1969 Shelby GT 350 is up for sale, owner wants $495,000
If you want to own a true classic sports car, we have an interesting offer for youGary Brabham Jack Brabham† Bill Brack Ernesto Brambilla Vittorio Brambilla
Can This Newbie Mount A Title Challenge?
16It was a dramatic start to the opening Grand Prix of the season with Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel forced to retire. Daniel Riccardo was disqualified after breaching fuel consumption rules. The Aussie in his debut season was replaced by Kevin Magnussen, and his team-mate Jenson Button was third. McLaren must have been delighted after [...]
Hermann Lang Claudio Langes Nicola Larini Oscar Larrauri Gerard Larrousse
BMW 3 Series
The current-generation BMW 3 Series has only been around for a couple years, but keeping with the company’s LCI ethos, it’s not surprising to see that the 3 Series is due to get a facelift. This fresh batch of spy photos straight from our photographers is proof of that.
For the most part, the camouflage on the 3 Series was left on the front end, but our curious eyes did find a few hints of change on the face of the 3er. Looking closely, you might notice that the front bumper has been redesigned to accommodate the more upright air intakes.
On the flip side, the unmistakable kidney grilles appear to be taking the inverse route as the intakes, looking more and more like its veering towards the grille design on the i3 and the i8. Maybe our eyes are fooling us, but that’s what the photo is showing.
What we can at least expect are more details of the revised 3 Series in the coming months with the model set for its debut later this year.
Click past the jump to read more about the 2015 BMW 3 Series
BMW 3 Series originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 27 March 2014 11:00 EST.
Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/bmw/2015-bmw-3-series-ar162907.html
Rob Slotemaker Moises Solana Alex SolerRoig Raymond Sommer Vincenzo Sospiri
Hamilton looks for long-term success at Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton's move to Mercedes is the biggest development in the Formula 1 driver market for three years.
Ahead of the 2010 season, Fernando Alonso moved to Ferrari, world champion Jenson Button switched from world champions Brawn (soon to become Mercedes) to McLaren and Michael Schumacher came out of retirement to replace Button.
Now, the man who most consider to be the fastest driver in the world has taken a huge gamble by switching from McLaren, who have the best car this year and have won five races this season alone, to Mercedes, who have won one race in three years.
To make way for Hamilton, Mercedes have ditched the most successful racing driver of all time.
Schumacher's return at the wheel of a Mercedes 'Silver Arrow' was billed as a dream for all concerned, but with one podium finish in three years the German marque have abandoned the project.
Hamilton leaves a team that has won more races in the last 30 years than anyone else. Photo: Getty
That the announcement was made just five days after the latest in a series of collisions in which Schumacher rammed into the back of another driver after misjudging his closing speed simply rubs salt into the wound.
Hamilton will be replaced at McLaren by one of F1's most promising rising stars - Sauber's Mexican driver Sergio Perez, who has taken three excellent podium finishes this year.
That's quite a shake-up, and it raises any number of fascinating questions, the first and most obvious of which is why Hamilton would leave a team that has won more races in the last 30 years than anyone else - even Ferrari - for one that has won one in the last three.
The explanation for that lies both at his new and current teams.
Mercedes sold the drive to Hamilton on the basis that they were in the best position to deliver him long-term success. In this, there are echoes of Schumacher's move to Ferrari in 1996.
Back then, the Italian team were in the doldrums, having won just one race the previous year. But Schumacher fancied a project, and saw potential. It took time, but by 1997 he was competing for the title, and from 2000 he won five in a row.
The architect of that success was Ross Brawn, then Ferrari's technical director and now Mercedes' team boss. Brawn is one of the most respected figures in F1, and Hamilton is banking on him being able to transform Mercedes in the same way as he did Ferrari.
Undoubtedly, Brawn will have made a convincing case to Hamilton; he is a very persuasive and credible man. It is also worth pointing out that Mercedes - in their former guise of Brawn - have won the world title more recently than McLaren. Button succeeded Hamilton as world champion in 2009.
Mercedes believe that the new regulations for 2014, when both the cars and engines will be significantly changed, will play into their hands.
They are devoting a lot of resources towards that year, and are optimistic they will be in good shape - just as Brawn were, in fact, when the last big rule change happened for 2009.
And Mercedes have a technical team that, on paper, is immensely strong. In Bob Bell, Aldo Costa and Geoff Willis, they have three men who have been technical directors in their own right at other top teams all working under Brawn.
Part of this argument is predicated on the fact that new engine regulations always favour teams run or directly supported by engine manufacturers, on the basis that they are best placed to benefit from developments, and to integrate the car with the engine.
But this is where that argument falls down a little - McLaren may be a mere 'customer' of Mercedes for the first time next year, but they are still going to be using Mercedes engines in 2014, and on the basis of parity of performance.
The love affair with McLaren, who took him on as a 13-year-old karting prodigy, ended some time ago.
Since 2010, Hamilton has been complaining from time to time about the McLaren's lack of aerodynamic downforce compared to the best car of the time.
Through 2009-11, he grew increasingly frustrated at his team's apparent inability to challenge Red Bull. Hamilton is well aware of how good he is, and it hurt to watch Sebastian Vettel win two titles on the trot and not be able to challenge him.
That explains his ill-advised - and dangerously public - approach to Red Bull team boss Christian Horner at the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix.
This year, McLaren started the season with the fastest car for the first time since, arguably, 2005. But again they could not get out of their own way.
Pit-stop blunders affected Hamilton's races in Malaysia and China early in the season, and then a terrible mistake in not putting enough fuel in Hamilton's car in qualifying in Spain turned an almost certain win into a battle for minor points.
These errors badly affected his title charge and in early summer his management started approaching other teams.
His favoured choice was almost certainly Red Bull, but they weren't interested. They also approached Ferrari, where Alonso vetoed Hamilton. That left Mercedes.
It is ironic that his decision to move teams has been announced on the back of four races that McLaren have dominated.
Meanwhile, Hamilton's relationship with McLaren Group chairman Ron Dennis, the man who signed him up and who promoted him to the F1 team in 2007, has collapsed.
It was noticeable that after Hamilton's win in Italy earlier this month Dennis stood, arms-folded and stoney-faced, beneath the podium, not applauding once. Nor did Dennis don one of McLaren's 'rocket-red' victory T-shirts, or join in the champagne celebrations with the team once Hamilton had completed his media duties.
In Singapore last weekend, it seemed that McLaren still believed they had a chance of keeping Hamilton; at least that was the impression from talking to the team.
But did Dennis already know in Monza of Hamilton's decision to defect? Was Hamilton's sombre mood after that win a reflection of his wondering whether he had made the right decision?
Was Hamilton's ill-advised decision to post a picture of confidential McLaren telemetry on the social networking site Twitter on the morning of the Belgian Grand Prix, the weekend before Italy, the action of a man who had had enough and didn't care any more because he knew he was leaving?
When was the Mercedes deal actually finally signed?
Was it done before BBC Sport broke the story of it being imminent in the week leading up to the Italian race?
Or was it not inked, finally, until this week, on the basis that only now has the Mercedes board committed to new commercial terms with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone?
In which case, was the gearbox failure that cost Hamilton a certain victory in Singapore, and effectively extinguished his title hopes for good, the straw that broke the camel's back?
In short, was Hamilton's decision based on cold, hard logic, rooted primarily in performance, in making more money, or founded on emotion as much as calculation. Or was it a combination of all those factors?
All these questions will be answered in time. Whatever led to Hamilton's decision, it is fair to say that it is an enormous gamble, one on which the next phase of his career hangs.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/09/hamilton_looks_for_long-term_s.html
Arthur Owen Carlos Pace Nello Pagani Riccardo Paletti Torsten Palm
Range Rover Sport RS spied once more ahead of this year's launch
A prototype of the 2015 Range Rover Sport RS wearing a blue & white body wrap was spotted testing prior to an official announcement scheduled for the second half of the year.Mike Hawthorn Boy Hayje Willi Heeks Nick Heidfeld Theo Helfrich
Never forget how great Michael Schumacher was
Michael Schumacher was given a round of applause by the assembled media after he finished the prepared statement with which he announced his second retirement from Formula 1 at the Japanese Grand Prix on Thursday.
It was a mark of the respect still held for Schumacher and a reflection of the appreciation for what was clearly an emotional moment for the man whose seven world titles re-wrote the sport's history books.
Schumacher stumbled a couple of times as he read off the paper in front of him and once, as he mentioned the support of his wife Corinna, his voice almost cracked.
Once through the statement and on to a question-and-answer session with the journalists, he was more comfortable, relaxed in a way he has so often been since his comeback, and so rarely was in the first stint of his career.
Schumacher's retirement from the Singapore Grand Prix had a familiar look to it. Photo: Getty
The Schumacher who returned to Formula 1 in 2010 with Mercedes was quite different from the one who finished his first career with Ferrari in 2006.
The new Schumacher was more human, more open and more likeable.
As he put it himself on Thursday: "In the past six years I have learned a lot about myself, for example that you can open yourself without losing focus, that losing can be both more difficult and more instructive than winning. Sometimes I lost this out of sight in the earlier years."
Most importantly, though, the new Schumacher was nowhere near as good.
In every way possible, there is no other way to view his return to F1 than as a failure.
When he announced his comeback back in December 2009, he talked about winning the world title. Instead, he has scored one podium in three years, and in that period as a whole he has been trounced by team-mate Nico Rosberg in terms of raw pace. In their 52 races together, Schumacher has out-qualified his younger compatriot only 15 times.
It is ironic, then, that there have been marked signs of improvement from Schumacher this season. In 14 races so far, he has actually out-qualified Rosberg eight-six.
And although Rosberg has taken the team's only win - in China earlier this year, when he was demonstrably superior all weekend - arguably Schumacher has been the better Mercedes driver this year.
Schumacher has suffered by far the worst of the team's frankly unacceptable reliability record and would almost certainly have been ahead of Rosberg in the championship had that not been the case. And he might even have won in Monaco had not a five-place grid penalty demoted him from pole position.
That penalty, though, was given to Schumacher for an accident he caused at the previous race in Spain, when he rammed into the back of Williams driver Bruno Senna having misjudged his rival's actions.
That was only one of four similar incidents in the last 18 months that have crystallised the impression that the time was approaching where Schumacher should call it a day.
It is unfortunate timing, to say the least, that the last of those incidents happened less than two weeks ago in Singapore, almost as if it was the straw that broke the camel's back.
That was not the case, of course. Schumacher has been vacillating on his future for months and in the end his hand was forced. Mercedes signed Lewis Hamilton and Schumacher was left with the decision of trying to get a drive with a lesser team or quitting. He made the right call.
His struggles since his return have had an unfortunate effect on Schumacher's legacy. People within F1 - people with the highest regard for his achievements - have begun to question what went before.
There have always been question marks over his first title with Benetton in 1994, given the highly controversial nature of that year. Illegal driver aids were found in the car, but Benetton were not punished because governing body the FIA said they could find no proof they had been used.
But since 2010 people have begun to look back at the dominant Ferrari era of the early 2000s, when Schumacher won five titles in a row, and begun to wonder aloud just how much of an advantage he had.
It was the richest team, they had unlimited testing and bespoke tyres. Did this, people have said, mean Schumacher was not as good as he had looked?
If you watched him during his first career, though, you know how ridiculous an assertion this is. Schumacher in his pomp was undoubtedly one of the very greatest racing drivers there has ever been, a man who was routinely, on every lap, able to dance on a limit accessible to almost no-one else.
Sure, the competition in his heyday was not as deep as it is now, but Schumacher performed miracles with a racing car that stands comparison with the greatest drives of any era.
Victories such as his wet-weather domination of Spain in 1996, his incredible fightback in Hungary in 1998, his on-the-limit battle with Mika Hakkinen at Suzuka that clinched his first title in 2000 were tours de force. And there were many more among that astonishing total of 91 victories.
So too, as has been well documented, was there a dark side to Schumacher, and it was never far away through his first career.
Most notoriously, he won his first world title after driving Damon Hill off the road. He failed to pull off a similar stunt in 1997 with Jacques Villeneuve. And perhaps most pernicious of all, he deliberately parked his car in Monaco qualifying in 2006 to stop Fernando Alonso taking pole position from him.
Those were just the most extreme examples of a modus operandi in which Schumacher seemed often to act without morals, a man who was prepared to do literally anything to win, the sporting personification of Machiavelli's prince, for whom the ends justified the means.
Those acts continue to haunt Schumacher today, and even now he still refuses to discuss them, won't entertain the prospect of saying sorry.
"We are all humans and we all make mistakes," he said at Suzuka on Thursday. "And with hindsight you would probably do it differently if you had a second opportunity, but that's life."
He was given a second opportunity at F1, and he took it because in three years he had found nothing to replace it in his life.
His self-belief persuaded him that he could come back as good as he had been when he went away, but he learnt that time stands still for no man.
He has finally been washed aside by the tide of youth that with the arrival of Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen towards the end of his first career already seemed to be replacing one generation with the next.
It seems appropriate in many ways that the agent for that was Hamilton, the man who many regard as the fastest driver of his generation.
That, after all, is what Schumacher was, as well as one of the very greatest there has ever been. And nothing that has happened in the last three years can take that away.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/10/never_forget_how_great_schumac.html
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