***** LIKE F1 - 4 - LIFE ON FACEBOOK! *****
Friday, November 1, 2013
4th day in Dubai
Today I went looking for Formula One
related shops and stores. The best ones I found were at Dubai Mall of
course because you can find almost anything there.
At first I found a Ferrari store with
all kinds of shirts, caps, pants, miniature cars etc.
I wanted this shirt:
..but the salesman said that they don't
have those at all. Weird though that he was wearing one of those
shirts.
Then almost next door there was a shop
that sold random motor racing stuff. DVD's, VHS-tapes, books,
clothes, miniatures etc.
I had been in this shop 2 years earlier
so I had a pretty good picture what I could find there.
When I made my previous visit I bought
2 DVD's and a VHS tape. The cashier told me that ”the bigger one is
a VHS and not a DVD”. I laughed and told her that it is not a
problem. They are cheap as hell!
This time I also bought a cheap
VHS-tape. Let's hope that my VCR still works cause it hasn't been in
use for a while. I also bought a DVD with an old Grand Prix from the
70's. I'll tell some more later about the stuff I bought when I get
home.
But If you ever are at the Dubai Mall
go to the top floor and check the map for the Ferrari store and Exoto
Tifosi for random motor racing merchandise. Both of the stores are
located next to the Sega Republic which is very hard to miss.
On Friday it all begins at last, the Abu
Dhabi GP weekend, but not for me yet. I am going there on Saturday
and Sunday.
Jay-Z, Muse and Depeche Mode are also
performing this weekend at the Yas Marina track which is a nice
bonus! Anyone who has a GP-ticket may see the concert for free.
In 2011 Paul McCartney was performing
after the Grand Prix but I didn't have time to enjoy the concert. I
had to get back to Dubai and it seems that this might just be the
case this year as well but we'll see.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
FIA Thursday press conference - Abu Dhabi
DRIVERS - Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Adrian Sutil (Force India), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sebastian, your fourth world title of course. Tell us about the last four days. What have you been doing, how have you celebrated and what has the reaction been like?
Sebastian Vettel: Well, the reaction has been very positive. Obviously great relief when I crossed the line on Sunday, a great feeling. Sunday night, obviously the whole team still had to do the pack-up, but we had a little bit of fun in the hotel bar - quite spontaneous. Obviously, there’s not a lot of time between the race in India and the race here, so the team is very busy. So we couldn’t go completely made, but I had a time on Sunday night and then I had two days at home before coming here, again fairly quiet, not very spectacular. I just enjoyed the peace at home. I had some time for myself, back with my girlfriend as well. So, fairly quiet.
Q: Probably history will remember this achievement as you in a strong team beating a very strong field of drivers - looking at the gentlemen sitting around you here. Is that how you see it?
SV: I think that’s the way it always has been. When Lewis won his title in 2008 he was with a strong team facing strong drivers, same for Fernando in 2005 and 2006, so yeah, even 20 or 30 years ago it has always been the name of the game. That’s how people remember the past and one day will remember what we are doing now.
Q: Fernando, runner-up again. So hard to hit the sweet spot in Formula One isn’t it? How far off championship level do you feel your group is?
Fernando Alonso: I think we need to be realistic, knowing that we didn’t have the chance this year to fight for the championship. In the beginning of the year we were a little bit closer but then we were not quick enough and we are fighting now for other targets, which is the Constructors’ Championship and second place in the Drivers’ [Championship] as well, which was not the main priority when we started the season but still a good target to achieve and a good thing for the team, to help them. We’ll see, I think we need to keep very focused in the remaining races and try to do our best and obviously with half of our mind thinking of 2014 because we are competitive people, we want to win. This year it was not possible but next year we start from zero.
Q: How has your relationship with the team evolved over the course of the year, particularly in terms of steering a course for the future?
FA: It’s fantastic. Obviously, every weekend I repeat the same thing. So I guess in Austin on Thursday the first question in the press conference will be how is my relationship with the team…
Q: The question was how has it evolved?
FA: It was perfect, it’s perfect and it will be perfect.
Q:Lewis, coming to you. You didn’t perhaps expect to challenge for the title this year but can you talk about the level of the challenge coming from Sebastian and Red Bull and how you take the fight to them from here?
Lewis Hamilton: They’ve done an incredible job for some time now, so you know, they’ve raised the bar and everyone just needs to work harder. Us, as a team, we’re working as hard as we can to really put the energy into next year and hope that we can compete with them. That’s ultimately what I’d love to do and ultimately what the team desires too. That’s what the dream is. There’s a long steep curve for us to climb or hill for us to climb for next year but it’s more of a level starting ground for everyone and you can either get it right or wrong. Hopefully we’re on the right side.
Q: Racing drivers always move on very quickly and I wonder if mentally you’re already in 2014.
LH: No, no. I’m still trying to… this year hasn’t been perfect for me and I’m always trying to learn and improve. There are lots of areas that can always be improved on, from myself and from the team, and we’re just working on those because we don’t want to carry the negatives of anything we have into next year.
Q: Romain, really strong run of form at the moment. Was India your best performance yet in Formula One, do you think? How much more is there to come from you?
Romain Grosjean: Hopefully two more places! It was certainly one of our best races. We misjudged our level of performance on the Saturday and we took the right decision about the strategy, how to go for the race. It was clearly not an easy one as I really had to first make the option tyre last and then try to make the prime tyre last for 47 laps. There were some quick cars around me, especially behind me, and yeah, just try to take care as much as we can of our tyres and do good driving. But I think Japan was a pretty good race. We had certainly a fantastic start and led the race from there, which was somehow easy to control in the first part. I think Red Bull was just a little bit too quick behind but when you watch the gap with Fernando who was P4, it was quite big, so I think those last four races have been pretty good: trying to improve myself every time, car is getting there and clearly the blue cars are still a little bit quicker than we are - but we try to push them as much as we can.
Q: Let’s cut to the chase: you’re a completely different racing driver from 12 months ago. What’s the key to the turnaround do you think?
RG: I don’t think there is any particular key to be honest. We like to put some things are changes but to me the work started a year ago and I’m improving myself day after day - or I’m trying to. The start of the season was poor. It’s a bit of a shame when we look at what we are capable to do right now but then since we put back the car in place it has been getting better and better. I was a bit unlucky before Germany and then Germany things turn out to be well together and from there we had very, very good races and the car is doing well. Hopefully it’s going to be the case until the end of the season.
Q: Adrian, strong drive in India, bold strategy. How important was it to stem the recent tide of Sauber getting closer and closer to you? And how much confidence has that given the team going forward now for the rest of the year?
Adrian Sutil: Well it was an important race for us, of course. It was our home grand prix and we wanted to show that we’re still able to be in the top ten. The last couple of races were a bit more difficult to score the points but we recovered and we did what we could to make a good result. We risked a little bit with the strategy - where we had both cars on a different strategy. I was on a one-stop - more risky - but almost the same outcome. Eighth and ninth position was almost the maximum we could achieve. Six points as a team, now 23 points ahead of Sauber, which is quite a good gap. It’s not over yet, we have to push on, but I think quite comfortable. It’s very important for us to save this sixth position in the championship, looking to next year of course, as a team. But I think, yeah, nice to have recovered a bit. Now we focus on what we have and try to optimise the package and do similar results in the next couple of races.
Q: Looking from the outside it seems that the tyre change mid-season didn’t really help your team particularly. What do you feel about that?
AS: Yes, it’s true. It’s one reason. We were a bit slower after that change but also we decided to stop the development very early in the season, so we had no parts on the car for the last six months or so. It’s quite a long time. I think it just hit us: from the tyre; from the development. Also the strategies in the race were more equal for everyone. Normally we were able to save one pitstop just because our tyre life was much better to others. After the tyre change that was different. But also we messed up a little bit the setup in the last races. We tried to somehow go back where we were but with a package where we just couldn’t make it. We tried different setups and it almost just slowed us down even more. We got problems, we made mistakes as the driver because the car was so difficult to drive. So, in India was said “we stop it, we take what we’ve got,” and that was the key for the points.
Q: Valtteri, been obviously a difficult, challenging year for you. What sort of shape are Williams in going forward?
Valtteri BottAS: Yeah, it’s been a challenging year. We’ve been learning a lot the whole year as a team. It’s been very tough. So we’re definitely I think going in a good direction, we’re now very focussed for next year. What I’ve seen at the factory, the working at the factory is changing. We’ve got some new people and I’ve already seen some good things. I really think the future of Williams will be much better than what we’ve seen this year.
Q: Not too many rumours about you, does that indicate that you’re staying put for next year?
VB: I think Claire Williams is tomorrow in the press conference so maybe you can ask her.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Joy Chakravarty- Sport 360) Seb, considering that the big prize is already yours, how will you motivate yourself to win over the next three races, and if you win on Sunday, will it be one of your greatest challenges, when you win with just about nothing to gain from the season, at least?
SV: Well, I don’t think we approach the weekend as if there’s nothing to gain. I think we - as a fact - we love what we’re doing. We enjoy the challenge and that’s why there’s no question as to why we are here and what we have to do. We want to race, race the others as hard as possible. If we have a chance, we want to win. As I said, I had some quiet days at home which was good, to sober up after India and get ready for here.
Q: (Khodr Rawi - Autosport Middle East) Sebastian, after winning so many races and four consecutive championships, do you think it will be harder again for you to lose?
SV: To be honest, I’m not getting in the car and thinking that there’s a guarantee that we will do well. Maybe that’s a little bit the impression that you get from the outside; obviously since the summer break we’ve won all the races but we come here and there’s absolutely no guarantee that we will do well, so we have to give it everything we have. Yes, we have a strong package so I think we have reason to be confident. I need the team, I think the team needs Mark and myself to push the car to the limit and to get some good results. There’s no guarantee for what we’ve been doing the last couple of races to make it last.
Q: (Heikki Kulta - Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, last four qualifyings you have managed to beat your team mate. Have you found something new in your one lap performance?
VB: The whole season I’ve been learning a lot and there are little things you’re picking up all the time. In qualifying, it’s been very tight this year - it’s always like that - and every hundredth counts. I think after the August break, for sure I’ve also improved in qualifying. I think I can now maybe get a bit more out of the car more consistently than before. I feel more confident all the time, so maybe we can see that in the results.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri - La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, we heard yesterday some declaration from Dieter Mateschitz saying that Red Bull has been working hard on the development for this season but also trying many new parts that they will use in 2014; about 50 percent of that will be on next year’s car. How is the situation at Mercedes? Have you been trying the same path or also working on trying to fight with Ferrari for second place in the Constructors’ series?
LH: Probably not being doing as much as it sounds as they have been doing, in terms of developing for next year, but I think that a lot of the stuff that you do develop on this year’s car, upgrades that we do bring to this year’s hopefully will have an effect on next year’s car. It’s kinda of similar but some teams obviously can turn their focus a little bit earlier and some a little bit later, but hopefully, ultimately, we’ll still be competitive next year with these guys.
Q: (Frederic Ferret - L’Equipe) To Romain, Sebastian and Fernando: what do you think of Kimi as a man and as a driver?
RG: As a man, I would say yeah, Kimi basically I don’t know him. He is with me as he is with you. As a driver, he’s a very good driver and he has been, until recently, a very good teammate. He’s a quicker driver, he’s a consistent driver and to me, having him to learn (from) and to improve myself has been pretty good. But yeah, I don’t see him in different clothes to the ones we’re wearing right now.
SV: Well, I think I have huge respect for the fact that he loves what he’s doing, he loves motor racing, any form of it. Obviously, I think Formula One gives him a lot of satisfaction to drive a Formula One car. He doesn’t like the rest of it so much. On a personal level, he does talk to me. I don’t know what I do differently. He’s one of the most straightforward guys I’ve met so far and I respect a lot that he has always been very honest. Since I came into Formula One, he was ready to help, even gave me a lift a couple of times early on. I get along with him.
FA: Personally, I cannot say anything because I do not know him enough to speak about him personally. As a driver, he’s a great champion, great talent, very very fast. He likes what he’s doing. That’s the best thing.
(Source: F1.COM)
The 3rd day in Dubai
In my last post I said that I was
planning to visit the Dubai Autodrome in Dubai's Motorcity.
It's a track that hosts an A1 Grand
Prix every year. The Autodrome was also going to host winter testings
for Formula One in 2014 but at the end Yas Marina got the honours.
I went there yesterday but it was
closed and looked kind of spooky if you ask me.
So that plan kind of failed but anyways I took these pictures from the outside:
On the other side of the road I saw
another track where people were driving go-karts.
I took several pictures but I can post
those some other time when I get back to Europe.
After all of this I was a bit disapointed
that I couldn't get inside the Autodrome area. So I jumped in a cab
and went to Dubai Mall (the biggest shopping mall in the world).
At the mall I saw a big screen saying
that Romain Grosjean is going to be there at 6:00PM.
The time was 6:45. Just my luck! So I
couldn't visit the Autodrome and now this..
I continued to walk through the mall
and stopped when I saw a small stage. There was a guard all by
himself clearly waiting for something to happen. I asked him if there
was anything going on and he told me that Lewis Hamilton is coming to
the mall in 30 minutes.
It was going to be a short interview
and then they had this Blackberry thing where people could send their
questions to Lewis with their mobilephones.
Of course I waited the 30 minutes and I
was standing almost at the front. Here's a picture:
Lewis also took a couple of pictures of the crowd, so if you see a picture like that on his twitter it is
possible that I am in that picture.
I filmed the whole thing with my Canon
600D in FullHD. The footage is quite long so I can't post it right now
from the hotel. I will do that later when I get back home and maybe
edit it a little as well.
So that was it for today and I'll get
back to you tomorrow with new updates from Dubai.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
FIA press conference schedule - Abu Dhabi
Facing the media in Abu Dhabi on Thursday will be the man who has just won the world title, two former champions who pushed him all the way, and three drivers who each aspire to be a champion. And on Friday it is the turn of senior team personnel, including McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh and Toro Rosso’s Franz Tost. The line-ups in full...
Thursday, October 31, 1500 hours local time (1100 GMT)
Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Adrian Sutil (Force India), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull).
Friday, November 1, 1900 hours local time (1500 GMT)
Cyril Abiteboul (Caterham), John Booth (Marussia), Paul Hembery (Pirelli), Franz Tost (Toro Rosso), Claire Williams (Williams), Martin Whitmarsh (McLaren).
The status in Dubai less than a week before the GP
I'm about 50 miles from the Yas Marina
track right now so I thought there would be some kind of billboards
or commercials regarding F1, but I haven't seen anything yet. It's
almost like nobody even cares about the GP.
The only thing I saw at the hotel was a
group of Russians that had Ferrari caps on and they were talking
something about Formula One. OK so I'm not the only one looking
forward to the GP weekend.
At the supermarket there was a big
cardboard Kimi Räikkönen behind the Burn energy drinks which was
kind of funny.
At the mall I saw a miniature of Alonso
and his Ferrari. A girl asked me if I needed any assistance so I asked if
they had a Ferrari with Felipe Massa as well? She looked at me with
big eyes and didn't know what I was talking about. I asked if they
had a driver with a different helmet or just this one type? She continued to look at me
like I was some kind of an idiot.
Later I went to another store and when I was
paying for my shoppings I saw somebody familiar. At first I just
looked at the guy and thought "Where have I seen this man before? Oh
yes.. on TV with a Lotus shirt on. It's Gerard Lopez!" My wife was not
impressed at all but I sure as hell was!
 |
| Gerard Lopez at a press conference (not from Dubai). |
If I have time I will later visit the Dubai
Autodrome. The Formula One management were planning to use the
track for winter testing in 2014 but they desided to use the Yas
Marina track instead.
I'll post some pictures here on the
blog if I ever get there.
 |
| The Dubai Autodrome |
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
The 2013 Abu Dhabi GP preview
I am now in Dubai waiting for the next GP in Abu Dhabi. It's about 50 miles away so I can take a bus or maybe a taxi cause it's so cheap here. Well at least cheaper than Finland or Scandinavia where almost everything is expensive.
The weather is very hot over here so the Abu Dhabi GP is again going to be driven in hot conditions until the sun sets. The last time I was there it got a bit cold in the evening because of the wind.
The Yas Marina track has hosted the Abu Dhabi GP 3 times in it's history so it's quite new. The facilities are one of the best in the world at least for me as a spectator. It is the only GP that has daylight and dark in the same race.
In 2010 Sebastian Vettel won his first world championship when Alonso couldn't get pass Vitaly Petrov. It was one of the most moving moments of Vettel's career when he cried on the podium.
The weather is very hot over here so the Abu Dhabi GP is again going to be driven in hot conditions until the sun sets. The last time I was there it got a bit cold in the evening because of the wind.
The Yas Marina track has hosted the Abu Dhabi GP 3 times in it's history so it's quite new. The facilities are one of the best in the world at least for me as a spectator. It is the only GP that has daylight and dark in the same race.
In 2010 Sebastian Vettel won his first world championship when Alonso couldn't get pass Vitaly Petrov. It was one of the most moving moments of Vettel's career when he cried on the podium.
 |
| After winning his first championship in 2010. |
In 2011 he had already won the championship when the Formula One circus returned to Abu Dhabi. That race he retired right after the start and the whole crowd in Abu Dhabi cheered. The sound was quite loud, trust me, I was there.
In 2012 Sebastian started from the back of the grid but managed to get 3rd place. Alonso was second and Kimi Räikkönen took the maiden victory for the new Team Lotus. Everybody remembers the classic radio conversations between Kimi and Alan Permane? (the same man who cursed at him in India).
Here is a video with those radio conversations:
They made t-shirts of Kimi's comments. Damn! I should have bought a shirt like that.. I don't think they sell those anymore.
This year Vettel has secured the championship again but I don't think it will hurt his motivation.
Now it's time for my guesses:
Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
Race:
- Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull
- Kimi Räikkönen, Lotus
- Romain Grosjean, Lotus
Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull
Surprise: I don't know why I again got a feeling that Valtteri Bottas is about to do something fantastic. If he let's me down this time I will shut my mouth about him until he really accomplishes something.
I'll try to get as many pictures as possible from the GP weekend. I'll keep you all posted ;)
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