F1 2013 for Dummies - The Full Story

Check out this funny video from YouTube!

‘1’ documentary set for London opening

The spectacular new Formula One documentary ‘1’ makes its London debut this week. The film tells the story of the drivers who competed during F1 racing’s most dangerous era in the 1960s and ‘70s and those who stood up to improve safety standards.

Using rare archive footage, ‘1’ features the largest list of F1 interviewees ever assembled for a single film, among them 12 world champions. Contributors include Bernie Ecclestone, Max Mosley, Professor Sid Watkins, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, John Surtees, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Jody Scheckter, Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Jacky Ickx and Martin Brundle.

The Spitfire Pictures, Flat-Out Films and Diamond Docs production is directed by acclaimed documentary maker Paul Crowder, whose credits include the award-winning ‘Riding Giants’, and written by Crowder’s long-time creative partner Mark Monroe, the man behind Oscar-winning documentary ‘The Cove’. Nigel Sinclair, who co-produced '1' with Michael Shevloff, is a noted film and documentary maker who has previously won Grammys for ‘No Direction Home: Bob Dylan’ and ‘Foo Fighters: Back And Forth’.

"The early days of Formula One racing was a very different time - the risks were high and the characters were more than larger than life," said Sinclair. “Our film is a big screen experience in which we travel across the world with the glamorous circus surrounding this death defying sport but also experience the tragedy that came with it. It’s emotional, frightening and so very, very exciting, but ultimately about humanity and friendship between the drivers.”

“We set out to truly capture the spirit and soul of Formula One, the smell and the sounds, the charisma of the drivers and the pioneering spirit of a different generation," added Shevloff. "It was such a distinct period, so raw and real.”

“Millions of people worldwide watch the Formula One races as the circus travels the globe, but there are many who just don’t know the history behind this, at one time, incredibly dangerous sport,” commented Crowder. “Our film conveys the essence of the era while telling this story and giving intimate insight into the life and personality, struggles and triumphs of racing’s pivotal characters.”

(source: f1.com)

The drivers permanent numbers!

BOTTAS wanted to be 77 because the numbers are like the two T-letters in the middle of his name.

1 Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull
 3 Daniel Ricciardo     Red Bull
44 Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes
 6 Nico Rosberg         Mercedes
14 Fernando Alonso      Ferrari
 7 Kimi Räikkönen       Ferrari
 8 Romain Grosjean      Lotus
13 Pastor Maldonado     Lotus
22 Jenson Button        McLaren
20 Kevin Magnussen      McLaren
27 Nico Hülkenberg      Force India
11 Sergio Perez         Force India
99 Adrian Sutil         Sauber
21 Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber
25 Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso 
26 Daniil Kvjat         Toro Rosso
19 Felipe Massa         Williams
77 Valtteri Bottas      Williams
17 Jules Bianchi        Marussia

Vettel will be number 5 when he looses his title.

Mika Häkkinen tribute

After Ayrton Senna's death Mika Häkkinen was my absolute favorite driver. I just found this tribute video of him which was surprisingly good! Check it from the link below ;)

http://www.riemurasia.net/video/Mika-Häkkinen-Tribute/14050

The best/worst of 2013

I sat down at my computer and in a second I came up with an idea. THE BEST/WORST OF 2013!

So what was best/worst for me? (and of course I am talking about Formula One).
I'll make a list of the best and worst things and you may comment on them if you like.

Remember that these are just my personal opinions so don't take them too seriously if they are different from yours.

The best team was obviously Red Bull. I mean they were unbeatable! But if we think about the time before Pirelli changed the tyres because of Red Bull's demands then the team wouldn't be the same. The best team before the tyres changed was probably Mercedes. They were excellent in qualifying and even won 3 races (Rosberg 2 and Hamilton 1).

The worst team was probably Caterham. They were always better than Marussia but after Kovalainen and Petrov left it all changed. Was it because of the drivers or something else? Or was Bianchi just that good with his Marussia that it made Caterham look bad? It was like Caterham was driving in 2013 with the 2012 car. Everybody else had gotten better but they were the same.

Best rookie was Jules Bianchi or Valtteri Bottas. No doubt about it! They were both phenomenal but if I would have to choose one of them I would say Bottas. He was clearly better than his more experienced teammate Pastor Maldonado and even got a P3 in qualifying. Maybe if Bianchi would have had a more experienced teammate it would have been easier to compare his skills. It didn't look very hard to be better than Max Chilton.

Worst rookie was probably Esteban Gutierrez. I made this decision because Nico Hülkenberg mopped the floor with him and got 8 times more points than he got. Not 8 points but 8 TIMES MORE! Jules Bianchi was also much better than Max Chilton but it wasn't as clear.

Biggest surprise was when Kimi Räikkönen won the first race in Australia starting the race from 7th place. He said that it was the easiest victory of his career. Some papers and magazines even wrote that this will be the season of Lotus. Yeah right.. When Kimi won the first race in 2007 some said that Kimi would win all the races but it was far from the truth. He had to fight with Alonso and Hamilton until the end.

Biggest disappointment was probably Heikki Kovalainen's race pace. He was very fast in the practice sessions but then in the race drivers were overtaking him easily. Some might say that the car had problems but even Kimi got podiums with a broken car. It reminded me of Luca Badoer driving for Ferrari in 2009. He had been a test driver for too long so they signed Giancarlo Fisichella to drive for them instead. He was also a disappointment but much better than Badoer.

Most boring race was probably... I can't think of anything else than the fact that Sebastian Vettel won so many races. I guess one of the races he won was the most boring. Can't tell you which one though.

The best feeling in 2013 was probably when Kimi signed with Ferrari and Ricciardo with Red Bull. That's gonna be interesting! Alonso vs. Räikkönen and Vettel vs. Ricciardo!

The worst feeling was when Michael Schumacher had his accident. I hope that he'll get well soon. It can't be over for him yet! The F1 world needs him. Right? He is such a big part of this sport!

GET WELL SOON!

Details of Schumacher crash investigation revealed

Investigators in France have revealed details about the skiing accident suffered by seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher at the Alpine resort of Meribel in December.

It was confirmed that Schumacher, who is currently in a critical but stable condition in hospital in Grenoble having sustained severe head injuries, was wearing a helmet-mounted video camera at the time of his accident, the footage from which has formed a key part of the investigation. 

“The film is perfectly clear and gives us a lot of information,” said Patrick Quincy, the French prosecutor leading the investigation. “It confirms all the information that we already had. We used this film to do a reconstruction of the accident.”

Schumacher, whom investigators described as "an extremely good skier", was found to have been eight metres off piste and travelling at the speed one would expect of "a very good skier" when he struck a rock. He then fell forward and hit his head on another rock. 

The investigators, who will continue to study the footage from Schumacher’s helmet with experts, appeared to rule out the speed at which the 45-year-old was travelling, the signage at the resort, or the German's skis as being key contributors in the accident. 

(f1.com)

McLaren to unveil new car online ahead of Jerez test

McLaren will unveil their 2014 Formula One car, the Mercedes-powered MP4-29, in a digital-only online launch on Friday January 24, four days ahead of the first pre-season test of the year in Jerez, Spain. 

Images, videos and information about the car will be revealed on the Woking team’s official website at 1200 hours GMT. 

The news, which effectively confirms McLaren’s presence at the first test of the year in Spain, comes a day after Lotus announced that they would not attend the four-day Jerez session and will instead launch their 2014 challenger at the second test of the year in Bahrain.

Meanwhile, Mercedes, the 2013 constructors’ championship runners-up, confirmed plans to roll out their new car on the opening morning of the Jerez test on January 28. 

(source: f1.com)