Maldonator - The Movie

Oh my god...  As you know everybody's joking about Pastor Maldonado and his driving skills but this time somebody really made an effort to mock him.

Ayrton Senna 1st Victory F1 1985 Portugal GP Full Race

I am posting this race again because the previous one was erased from YouTube. Ayrton Senna was phenomenal!

Lotus and Grosjean close to completing 2015 deal

Lotus have revealed that they are near to reaching an agreement with Romain Grosjean that will see the Frenchman stay on as Pastor Maldonado’s team mate in 2015.

Grosjean, who has endured a frustrating 2014 campaign, finishing in the points on just two occasions, has spent his entire F1 career with the Enstone-based team, having made seven appearances for the then-Renault squad in 2009 before rejoining the team from the 2011 season onwards. 

“Romain is in pole position for (a 2015 seat) and honestly it’s a case of us finalising a few details,” confirmed deputy team principal Federico Gastaldi. “We expect to have an announcement very shortly.”

Regarding the timing of that announcement, Grosjean, who has scored all eight of Lotus’s world championship points in 2014, joked: “Maybe we think it’s fun to keep the media speculating! 

"Honestly, we’re very close to having something to announce but there’s no pressure on when we say something.”

Despite the fact that Lotus are poised to finish outside the top five in the constructors’ standings for the first time since 2009, Gastaldi is hopeful that the former world champions will enjoy a renaissance in 2015 thanks to a recently-announced switch from Renault to Mercedes power.

“That is the plan!” he said. “Obviously (switching to Mercedes) was something that was in the pipeline. Behind the scenes we realised it was time for a new direction and we are very happy we can finally confirm this publicly. 

“Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains have already made a positive impression and we believe that they will be a key ingredient for future success. 

"It has become obvious this year that they have the most competitive package on the engine side. Their strengths, allied to ours, will form a potent combination in 2015 and create a special E23 Hybrid package. The partnership also forms a key ingredient for the long-term future of Lotus F1 Team.”

(source: f1.com)

Lotus expecting competitive surge at Silverstone

Lotus are confident of breaking back into the top-ten pecking order in next weekend’s 2014 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix at Silverstone, a track the Enstone team believe will play to the strengths of their E22 car.

After apparent progress in Spain and Monaco, where Romain Grosjean recorded successive eighth-place finishes, Lotus struggled last time out in Austria. Neither Grosjean nor team mate Pastor Maldonado made it into Q3 on Saturday, and the best either could manage in the race was the latter’s 12th place.

But rather than signalling a downward trend, Lotus believe their Spielberg form was track specific and are expecting to be far closer to the frontrunners in Great Britain.

"Obviously Silverstone is a very different track to Austria, with many more high-speed corners that will suit our car better," technical director Nick Chester explained.

"We've also got a few updates, including a front wing and floor, some different combinations of aerodynamic parts to try and some new set-up concepts to explore.

"We've shown the car can work well on the medium and hard tyres at Barcelona, another high energy circuit, so that gives us added confidence for Silverstone."

Maldonado, who won at Silverstone in GP2 in both 2009 and '10, said the team cannot be complacent, but the Venezuelan admitted he too is anticipating being more competitive in Great Britain.

"The team and Renault Sport F1 hopefully learnt quite a lot [from Spielberg] - there were many issues to manage, but we but we drove through them to get to the end of the race," he said.

"Hopefully the high speed corners [of Silverstone] will work better with our car and it would be great to be back to where we were in Barcelona which is quite a similar circuit to Silverstone. 

"Obviously, at the Barcelona test teams were all running to different programmes, so I don't think we're suddenly going to be the fastest car, but I do expect to be further up the order than we have been at recent races."

Grosjean's brace of eighth-place finishes remain the only points Lotus have scored so far in 2014. The team sits eighth in the constructors' championship as a result, with eight points - six ahead of Marussia and four behind Toro Rosso. Grosjean is 13th overall in the drivers' standings, while Maldonado is one of six drivers yet to score a point this year.

(source: f1.com)

Maldonado hails 'big step forward' for Lotus after test

Pastor Maldonado believes Lotus made real and significant progress during this week's two-day test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The Venezuelan topped the day-two timesheet and racked up more than 100 laps on what was his first trouble-free day of testing in 2014.

In addition to Maldonado's running, reserve driver Charles Pic managed 70 laps on day one, making the session Lotus's most productive test of the year so far. 

The Enstone-based squad had previously suffered poor reliability in testing, with pre-season being particularly torrid. In Bahrain in February the team averaged just 29 laps per day over eight days on track.

Maldonado said his smooth run in Spain was crucial, allowing the team to make strides with both set-up and performance work.

"It's been a big step forward," Maldonado said of the second day. "That was a complete day for us and my first normal day of testing this season.

"We didn't have any problems and we gained a lot of good running with good track conditions compared to [day one]. We ran to plan and completed everything we wanted to do. 

"We learnt a lot more about the car, the set-up and performance is improving all the time so I'm feeling more comfortable to push too. Hopefully [that] means we'll be much better for the rest of the season."

Alan Permane, Lotus's trackside operations director, said Lotus's prospects for the rest of the 2014 campaign had been lifted by the two days in Barcelona.

"We completed everything we set out to do today," he explained, "including aero assessments, mapping work, energy recovery scenarios, evaluations of set-up and ride height, tyre usage programmes and so on and I'm pleased to say the E22 didn't miss a beat. 

"We completed over 100 laps today so it's been very good to see what is possible when we have good reliability. 

"With the data we have collected over the last two days and the progress we've made, we're in much better shape heading to the next races. There is plenty of potential in the E22."

Lotus's positive test performance comes off the back of their first points finish of the year, with Romain Grosjean having claimed eighth place in Barcelona last weekend.

(source: f1.com)

Comparing the 2014 teammates: Force India

After comparing the teammates of Ferrari, Red Bull and Lotus it is time for Force India.
Force India has changed both of their drivers for the 2014 season. Nico Hülkenberg is coming back after one season at Sauber and Sergio Perez is filling the second seat after leaving McLaren.

Hülkenberg has always been a good driver and in my opinion he is one of the best drivers in Formula One. Perez on the other hand is a driver who is a bit off sometimes but is capable of scoring some very good points for him and his team. Perez was good at Sauber but at McLaren he couldn't beat his world champion teammate Jenson Button.

The comparing starts here and I will begin with Sergio Perez. First the year, then the former teammate and how the season went.

2011 - Kamui Kobayashi. Perez started his career with a very good and hungry teammate. Kobayashi was said to be a rising star but for some reason he isn't driving in F1 anymore.
The first season in F1 wasn't that good for Perez. Kobayashi got double the amount of points than Perez. Sauber was also a very weak team that year which didn't really give him a chance to show any skills.

2012 - Kamui Kobayashi. This time the Sauber was working much better than the year before and even Perez was driving better. He won Kobayashi with 6 points (66-60) and even got three podium finishes. The 2012 Malaysian GP was the best race ever for Perez. He almost won the race but got second place in the end fighting with the two time world champion Fernando Alonso. People were talking that Perez was going to replace Massa at Ferrari. In the end Perez got a contract with McLaren after Lewis Hamilton wanted to leave.

2013 - Jenson Button. Now it was time for Perez to show his real potential but he failed. Jenson Button was not an easy man to beat. Perez lost 73-49 in points and lost also his seat at McLaren to the newbie Kevin Magnussen. Not a good year for McLaren and not for Perez either. So Perez has driven in F1 for three years but has had only one really good season. Let's see how he will do with Nico Hülkenberg.

And now we shall take a look at the German superstar Nico Hülkenberg. Some say that if Kimi Räikkönen would have stayed with Lotus Hülkenberg would have joined Ferrari for sure.

2010 - Rubens Barrichello. The only season that Hülkenberg has lost to his teammate. As a rookie he got only half of the points that Barrichello got. But then on the other hand Hülkenberg retired twice more than Barrichello. The young rookie from Germany also shocked everybody by taking pole position in Brazil with a car that wasn't good enough for that.

2011 - This year he lost his seat when Williams needed a pay driver and signed Pastor Maldonado. Hülkenberg would have gotten a seat for sure in another team but Williams notified him so late that all of the seats were already taken.

2012 - Paul di Resta. Hülkenberg was back again and showed his teammate who's boss with the points 63-46. Hülkenberg was now a driver that every team was keeping an eye on. McLaren could have signed him for 2013 but thought that his 2014 teammate (Sergio Perez) was a better choice. An interesting question was in the air: If they would have signed Hülkenberg instead of Perez would they have signed Magnussen for 2014? We will never know and only wonder.

2013 - Esteban Gutierrez. This was a pretty obvious victory for Hülkenberg because he got over 8 times more points than his teammate. The points were 51-6! What a difference! Sauber were happy enough to keep him for one more season though. Hülkenberg was good enough to say that he wasn't happy with the car and returned to Force India who were glad to take him back.

If I would make a guess I would say that Perez will lose this time because "the Hulk" is a very tough teammate to beat.

Next time I will compare the Mercedes teammates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

F1 stuff for Christmas

Here you can see what F1 stuff I got for Christmas.

This first gift was a book in finnish. It's basically a collection of funny stuff that Kimi Räikkönen has said to the media. The title is "EVVVK" which is short for "Ei vois vittu vähempää kiinnostaa". It means "I fucking couldn't care less" which is probably just what Kimi thinks in his head. I almost read the whole book already and laughed a hundred times. Here are some examples:

Journalist: How does it feel to drive a Formula One car 300km/h? Kimi: normal..

Kimi: It was nice to do something else than F1 for a while. Now I can take more of your (the media) shit.

(Journalist approaching Kimi after meeting the president of Finland) Kimi: Just ask me the question so that I can go home! I just shook the presidents hand and the situation was over.

Kimi to the media: I don't care what kind of crap the papers write about me cause I'm not Michael Schumacher.

Journalist: Kimi how does it feel to start from 5th position? Kimi: It's the 5th position on the grid.

Journalist: How did the tyres work today? Kimi: They were rolling.

Journalist: What does the helmet mean to you? Kimi: It protects my head.

Then I got this book about the 1984 race reports. The reason it was 1984 was because I was born that year. Interesting book as well.

Then of course a man needs some deodorant and what could be a better brand than Ferrari if you are a huge F1 fan like me?

Did you get anything? Please answer on our Facebook page.

Comparing the 2014 teammates: Lotus

I have compared Ferrari's and Red Bull's drivers earlier so now it's time to continue with Lotus.
Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado side by side and head to head. Some say it will be a disaster and some say that these to guys can bring a lot of points to Lotus. We shall wait and see.

Personally I think that Grosjean will be better than his teammate even though Maldonado is a race winner. Last year he won the Spanish Grand Prix. Grosjean has never won a race in Formula One.

The most interesting fact is that this will be the first time Grosjean is driving with somebody who isn't a world champion.

Let's begin comparing! I'll start with Romain Grosjean. First I will write the year and then the teammate and how it went.

2009 - Fernando Alonso. Grosjean replaced Nelson Piquet Jr. because Flavio Briatore wasn't satisfied with his results. Grosjean on the other hand didn't do that much better. He had even worse results and didn't get a seat for 2010. Alonso won him in every race he finished.

2012 - Kimi Räikkönen. Grosjean got a second chance and was now better than in 2009. He had just won the GP2 series and was hungry for good results. But unfortunately for Grosjean's sake Kimi Räikkönen mopped the floor with him. Grosjean got 96 points and Räikkönen 207. Over twice the amount more than Grosjean. Only Alonso and Räikkönen got twice as much as their teammates in 2012. Was it because they were so good or because their teammates were just that bad? You be the judge.

2013 - Kimi Räikkönen and Heikki Kovalainen. Kovalainen drove in two races but it was pretty clear that he was a bit rusty or he had very bad luck. Grosjean won Kovalainen in the first race but in the second he retired. Räikkönen on the other hand won Grosjean in 11 races and would have won more but retired twice and didn't race in the last two races. Even though Räikkönen was again better it didn't mean that Grosjean had a bad season. Compared to 2012 it was a great year and he got better all the time. I wish him well and good luck.

Then Pastor Maldonado. He has always driven for Williams just like Grosjean has always driven for Lotus / Renault. It shall be interesting seeing him in another team. Let's continue...

2011 - Rubens Barrichello. Maldonado lost because he got 1 point and Barrichello got 4. Not a good year for Williams.

2012 - Bruno Senna. The only time that Maldonado actually was better than his teammate. He even won a race for Williams so 2012 was much better for them.

2013 - Valtteri Bottas. 2011 all over again but this time he lost to a rookie. 4 points to Bottas and only 1 to Maldonado. He stated to the media that even though he lost to Bottas it was his best season ever. He made it very clear that Bottas is not a regular rookie but a professional with just a little experience.

So both Maldonado and Grosjean have driven in three seasons but only Maldonado has once been better than his teammate.

Next comparing will be between the two Force India drivers and it will be in a few days.

Lotus has asked the FIA for postponement

Lotus has asked the FIA if they could postpone the winter tests with one week. Some other teams have also been worried about the schedule but it is very unlikely that the dates will change. Lotus needs every other team to agree on the postponement. The bigger teams are happy with the dates.

The Formula One series are switching to V6-turboengines next year so the tests are very important for every team.

The 2014 winter testing (first session) starts in Jerez, Spain in the end of January.

F1.COM: Maldonado to race for Lotus alongside Grosjean in 2014

Lotus have signed Pastor Maldonado for the 2014 season, it was announced on Friday. Maldonado, who leaves Williams after three seasons with the British team, replaces the Ferrari-bound Kimi Raikkonen.

With Lotus also retaining Romain Grosjean after his strong 2013 campaign, Maldonado’s confirmation effectively ends Nico Hulkenberg’s chances of moving to the Enstone-based squad from Sauber.

“It is a fantastic opportunity for me to join Lotus F1 Team for 2014,” said Maldonado. “It’s no secret that I have wanted a change of scene to help push on with my Formula One career and Lotus F1 Team offered the very best opportunity for me to be competitive next season. The regulations and cars will change significantly so it is a very good time for a fresh start. I can’t wait to be racing in black and gold.”

Maldonado, the 2010 GP2 Series champion, made his F1 debut with Williams in 2011 and went on to become the first Venezuelan to win a Grand Prix with his 2012 victory in Spain. This year he has scored just a single point on his way to 18th place in the drivers’ championship.

Grosjean’s re-signing with Lotus means the Frenchman goes into this third successive season of F1 competition with the team, having scored 132 points - including six podium finishes - in 2013, placing him seventh in the drivers’ championship.

“I am very happy to have official confirmation that I will be continuing to drive for Lotus F1 Team next season,” said Grosjean. “This past year has been tremendously satisfying for me. We have worked well together, and I know everyone at Enstone is motivated to continue the fight for every last point available. I am very excited about next year’s car and I cannot wait to get out on track for pre-season testing before heading to Australia for the first race of the season.”

Commenting on Lotus’s 2014 driver line-up, team principal Eric Boullier said: “It is with great pleasure that we can formally confirm that Romain Grosjean will continue with Lotus F1 Team next season. He has really made the most of his tremendous talent over the latter part of the 2013 season and will be a fantastic asset to our 2014 challenge.

“Romain will be joined by Pastor Maldonado; a driver I have known since he drove for me at DAMS in the 2005 World Series by Renault season. It is clear that Pastor has pace and potential - demonstrated by his 2010 GP2 Series title success and then through strong races throughout his career at Williams F1 Team - and we are convinced that we will be able to provide the correct environment to enable him to flourish regularly on track.

“We have been working on our new car in alignment with the new regulations for over two years and we are confident that we have a very good solution to all the challenges ahead. With Romain and Pastor I believe Lotus F1 Team will be able to cause quite a few surprises next year.”

(Source f1.com)

Kimi Räikkönen mentioned in a song by Robert Glasper Experiment, Snoop Dogg & Lupe Fiasco!

Listen to this song. Kimi Räikkönen's name is mentioned twice. First time in 1:55.

2013 United States Grand Prix review

Vettel won again but the race was still interesting in many ways. The most interesting things for me were Räikkönen's replacement Heikki Kovalainen and the young rookie Valtteri Bottas.

Williams has had one of the worst season of the teams history. Pastor Maldonado has scored only one point this season and now Bottas was 8th at the USGP. That was good news not only for Williams but for the young Finn as well. He really showed that he is able to overtake when the car has what it takes to compete.

Right at the start he overtook Kovalainen and then later Esteban Gutierrez in a high speed chase.

I was very impressed with Bottas! And yes I have said many times that he is a pro driver waiting for his chance.

Have also promised that I will stop talking about him until he actually does something. That didn't take long when I made that promise in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago.

Heikki Kovalainen was a big disappointment right from the start, but when I heard that the problems was because of his KERS, front wing/lack of down force and tire temperatures I understood that it wasn't his fault. I really thought at first that he is a bit rusty but don't think so anymore. His speed in the practice sessions and qualifying was very similar to Kimi Räikkönen so it can't be that bad.

Even Davide Valsecchi who at first said that Kovalainen was a bad choice changed his mind about him.

It takes a racing driver to see how good Kovalainen was performing. But all in all I was still very disappointed with his results. I really wanted to see him higher up fighting with the other top drivers.

Both of the Ferrari's were very slow. Even Alonso had problems keeping Nico Hulkenberg behind him but that is also because Hulkenberg is an awesome driver and not just the lack of Ferrari's speed.

Then I thought that I should mention the name of Romain Grosjean who drove almost like Räikkönen would have driven. It was probably a big relief for Team Lotus when they weren't sure if their two drivers could bring same kind of points home as Räikkönen usually does.

Mika Salo asked Eric Boullier before the race if Grosjean could fight for 2nd place. Boullier answered right away by saying "No, no, no. The Red Bulls will be first and second". It seems that the result was a bit better than even he could have expected. At least when we talk about Grosjean. In Kovalainen's case everything was wrong. Even the first "normal" pit stop was 2 seconds slower than Grosjeans. What was taking so long guys?

And like I always do at the end of the reviews - Here are the guesses from the preview and the actual results:

Pole position: Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull - CORRECT

Race:

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull - CORRECT
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - ONLY WRONG GUESS IN THE TOP3. LH WAS 4TH AND GROSJEAN WAS 2ND.
3. Mark Webber, Red Bull - CORRECT

Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull - CORRECT

Surprise: Heikki Kovalainen seems to be a mystery to many but I believe that he will be higher up than Grosjean. This guy is better than many may think. Keep an eye on him if you haven't already done that.

He has been good in the practice sessions so far and is performing stronger than his teammate.

He performed better in the long runs than Grosjean at the practice sessions but then after that everything started going downhill for the former Caterham pilot. I really hoped that he wouldn't retire from the race and he didn't but the problems that he had were almost the same thing.

The biggest surprise for me was the new speed found in the Williams cars. Unfortunately only Bottas could take advantage of the new setups. Maldonado was held up in the qualifying session by Max Chilton and Esteban Gutierrez. Maldonado's position was 18th when Bottas was 9th.

Maldonado had earlier even complained that Williams has been favoring Bottas and making his (Maldonado's) time there more difficult on purpose.

That is a stupid thing to say because Williams needs every point they can get. Valtteri Bottas said that he is going to fight for some more points next weekend at Interlagos. Let's hope that will happen.

Tomorrow I will post the 2013 Brazilian GP preview which is the last preview of the season.

What is going on in F1 right now?

Have anyone else noticed how much is going on right now in this sport?

I'm going to talk about issues regarding:

• Kimi Räikkönen
• Ferrari and Lotus
• Kimi's replacement
• Nico Hülkenberg and Pastor Maldonado
• Heikki Kovalainen
• Team Williams and the drivers
• McLaren and Sergio Perez

At first Lotus and Räikkönen were fighting about money. Then Kimi decided not to race because of his back pains. Some people speculated that he was lying but I don't believe in that. Back pain is the biggest problem with older F1 drivers. Everyone has had back pains, even Alonso has the same problem but not as bad.

The Iceman was sure that he would have surgery after the 2013 season, but after visiting Ferrari's factory he had a discussion with Luca di Montezemolo. Suddenly he decided to have surgery before the end of the season. My first reaction was that did Luca effect Kimi's decision to have surgery earlier? Who knows?

Luca di Montezemolo has stated that he knew nothing about Kimi's plans but thought that it was a good idea to have surgery now so that he would be in better condition before the 2014 season.

Some even speculated that Kimi helped Ferrari (his next team) by skipping the last races with Lotus so that Ferrari would have one team less to fight against. True or not but I think it will help them and hurt Lotus much more.

Some said that Lotus saved money when they don't have to pay Räikkönen for more points, but the truth is that Lotus also gets money depending on their position in the constructors championship.

Kimi could have secured the 3rd spot for Lotus or even the 2nd! They would have got much more money with that.

The team that is 2nd in the standings gets so much money that they can afford to pay their motors for the next season and maybe even the drivers salary. Now they will probably be 4th and they will loose millions of dollars.

Grosjean can't help them alone with this situation. They need a driver like Kimi or they can't keep up the good pace. So this is the part where we can start talking about Kimi's replacement.

At first everybody was sure that Valsecchi would get a shot and I understand why, he is the reserve driver. The only problem is that he has never competed in a Formula One race and they need points like hell right now. They don't have time for Valsecchi to develop when there is two races to go.

Team Lotus needs somebody that is experienced and available. Now who could that be?

First there was Nico Hulkenberg that could probably drive for Lotus next year. He said no. WHY?!?

He hasn't got his salary either from Sauber who also has money issues just like Lotus so he could leave any time he wants. Still he decides to stay with Sauber. Maybe he got nervous and thought that if he fails with Lotus in the two remaining races he looses his seat at Lotus next year? Just a theory so don't hate me for that comment. It was just a thought and maybe a stupid one.

Then there was Pastor Maldonado who's sponsors have failed to support Williams. He could have probably left right away as well but didn't. Was he also afraid or did his money truly run out? Lotus would have needed Maldonado's money also so he could have had a chance next year as well, but now it doesn't look good. We shall wait and see.

Some people said that Buemi could jump in the Lotus. I don't understand that because he works for Red Bull as the number 3 driver and they don't wanna send him anywhere. Trust me they don't.

After all these choices we come to a man who has beaten all his teammates in his career except Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, which was in his words the most difficult time of his career mentally. He has won the race of champions beating Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Loeb and many others. He almost won the first ever GP2 series with a car that wasn't even the best. This man is a GP winner but didn't get a seat this year when Caterham ran out of money. He is Heikki Kovalainen and Lotus chose him.

Heikki Kovalainen after winning the Race of Champions

This is Heikki's last chance to show everybody that he still has what it takes to be in this series. If he fails then everything is over for him and he can start doing something else. I wish him luck.

Team Williams is next on the list. They decided to kick out Pastor Maldonado when he can't support the team financially anymore. He even stated to the press that the team only wanted his money. Sad but if he has problems to beat Valtteri Bottas who is a total rookie then he isn't probably what Williams needs.

Valtteri Bottas on the other hand has only just started his career and has a great mentor to help him.. Mika Häkkinen.

The new driver for the team is Felipe Massa who has found his motivation again. He is not the number two driver anymore but the leader of the team! He will bring Williams back to the top. Just watch out for the young boy Bottas. He is waiting for the right moment to attack the top drivers on the track.

McLaren has had problems this year and are kicking out Sergio Perez. He had a chance but they wanted more from the young driver. Perez himself has stated that McLaren is a chaotic team with no order and that they are not fair.

Former F1 driver Jan Magnussen's son Kevin is probably going to replace Perez. They have actually said it already but no names have been written down on any contracts. So everything is still possible.

Now I have written more than I would wanna read so it's best to stop here.

If you have questions or wanna leave a comment please do.

Mika Salo: Kovalainen would be the best choice to replace Räikkönen

Heikki Kovalainen, Caterham

The former F1 driver Mika Salo from Finland has stated to MTV3 that the best choice to replace Kimi Räikkönen at Lotus would be Heikki Kovalainen. Mika Salo got a chance at Ferrari by replacing Michael Schumacher in 1999 so this situation is a bit similar.

Lotus has Davide Valsecchi as reserve driver, but Mika Salo has an opinion that it would be wiser to use a driver who has already competed at the two remaining tracks last year.

Kovalainen has also driven practice sessions for Caterham this season so he should be in good shape for the job. The Finn has also much more experience than Valsecchi and Lotus doesn't have time for him to learn the new tracks.

Caterham also uses Renault engines which is also an aspect that links Heikki to the Lotus team.

Mika Salo also stated that the only better choice would be if they could use their next years driver but that is not very easy to arrange when the decisions haven't been made yet.

Kimi's next race is with Ferrari

According to Turun Sanomat and Autosport Magazine Kimi is not driving in the final two races because of back surgery next week. It was Räikkönen's manager Steve Robertson who told them the news.

His back has been in bad condition after the practice sessions in Singapore. The car had jumped over a curve and hit the ground just hard enough to make his back ache. It is an old injury from the beginning of his career in Formula One so it did not start this year.

Räikkönen was supposed to have surgery after the season but it could effect his start of 2014 with Ferrari and he wants to be in good shape.

After the surgery he can't drive for 4 weeks so that is why he can't drive anymore this season. This also means that next time he jumps in a Formula One car it is not a Lotus, it's a Ferrari.

Davide Valsecchi will take Kimi's place in the final two races. He was also in Abu Dhabi as reserve driver when Kimi announced that he will not drive anymore. Lotus finally talked him over to race one more time.

There has also been rumors that Nico Hülkenberg would drive instead of Valsecchi. Hülkenberg hasn't got his paycheck from Sauber and is making a protest by jumping to Lotus. The irony is that they haven't payed Räikkönen either at Lotus.

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

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.

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:

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull
2. Kimi Räikkönen, Lotus
3. 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 ;)

The 2013 Indian GP review

First of all congratulations to Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel for their 4th world title. Alain Prost also won 4 titles in his career but not as fast. When Prost was in Sebastian's age he hadn't won anything yet.

People may say that he only wins because of Red Bull but I don't really believe in that. Mark Webber drives a very similar car. I believe that the car isn't exactly the same but it's close. Also in 2010 and 2012 Alonso had a very good car but didn't win. And yes I know that the Ferrari sucked in the beginning of the season but he didn't lose that much when Vettel didn't really win either.

That's it for the congratz and now let's focus on the race shall we!

The start was great for Mercedes. Hamilton almost overtook Vettel in the beginning but didn't have room to pass. Even though Hamilton got a good start Rosberg had better luck in the race.

Giedo Van Der Garde blamed Max Chilton for causing an accident "again" and called him an idiot on the radio.

Räikkönen, Webber and Alonso were fighting for positions but then they ran into each other. Webber jumped over the side and touched Kimi and right after that Alonso made contact with Webber and Button. Alonso dropped to 10th place and was forced to make an early pitstop. That was the end of Alonso's race because he couldn't really get higher up after that. Massa on the other hand drove a much better race for a change.

Almost all drivers with soft tires made very early pitstops including the world champion Sebastian Vettel. At first it looked like a stupid idea but eventually Vettel was at the top again as usual.

Nico Hulkenberg overtook Valtteri Bottas from the outside of the track and right after complained that Kimi is driving over the curves. It didn't give Kimi an advantage so it didn't matter. Hulkenberg on the other hand got a penalty for driving outside of the track and not giving the position back to Bottas.

Grosjean was driving from side to side behind Gutierrez and couldn't pass him. He complained on the radio that Gutierrez is holding him back. I'm sorry to say this but even a blind dog could have seen that Gutierrez was driving straight and did NOT change his line. What was the problem? If you wanna pass him you have to overtake him! HELLO!!

Mark Webber retired again! I mean what the hell?! WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO HIM AND NOT VETTEL? I have wondered about this topic before and I am wondering again till I get an answer. It was very sad of course and I would love to see him win a GP before he retires at the end of this season.
It would be awesome if he would win the last race and then retire. I think Jackie Stewart managed to do that when he retired. I am pretty sure that he did. Correct me if I'm wrong..

Then I was very surprised when I realized that Team Lotus is trying to get Kimi to finish with one single pitstop. WHAT?!? WHY?! He drove with the first set 8 laps and the tires were ruined. Then he got the harder tires and they thought that they would last till the end.. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?! Then it seemed that he obviously couldn't finish and dropped from 2nd to 7th.

The Lotus team were really angry with Kimi when the tires were starting to fail and he couldn't let Grosjean pass right away. He couldn't move to the side in the fast corners and he was also obviously worried to lose a spot to Massa (right after he lets Romain pass). They said "GET OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY KIMI" on the radio. My jaw dropped when I heard this. How can they talk to him like that when they didn't say anything to Romain after Spa 2012 when he almost killed Alonso?! And what if Kimi would have wanted to fight against Grosjean even though it was very difficult? Lotus has stated that there isn't going to be any team orders..

What is going on at Lotus? Are they this grumpy about Kimi leaving? I don't blame him for leaving. I totally understand. Could you imagine Red Bull saying that to Vettel or Ferrari to say that to Alonso?! No never.. 

Some fans of Kimi Räikkönen have said that they will kill Alan Permane's family for shouting at Kimi. I know that it was very rude but please guys.. calm down! That's a bit too much.

Here's a clip with the radio conversation:



Right after he let Grosjean pass there was Massa right behind passing him as well just like he knew it would happen.

Then it didn't really matter that much to come in to the pits and change tires. Right after that Kimi was flying and got the fastest lap.

Vettel took the checkered flag and won not only the race but his 4th championship. He made a few donuts in front of the crowd and got a 25 000 euro penalty. Again I must say WHAT THE HELL?
This was almost as ridiculous when Alonso gave Webber a ride and they got penalized.

Anyways Vettel ended the GP weekend like a superstar and the crowd weren't booing for a change. Guess the "fans" finally realized what sportsmanship means and cheered for the champion. I am not a Vettel fan anymore but I still give a lot of respect for the guy even though the sport has become more boring because of him.

Then finally the guesses and the actual results. Here are my guesses:

Pole position: Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull 

The race:

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull
2. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari
3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

(If Hamilton has problems with his car or himself I believe one of the Lotuses will take his place)

Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull

Surprise: Valtteri Bottas, Williams. He may finally take a point to Williams this weekend. Maldonado has already taken one point for the team and they haven't scored anything else this season.

Actual results:

Pole position: Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull - CORRECT

The race:

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull - CORRECT
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes - I knew that a Mercedes would be up there at least..
3. Romain Grosjean, Lotus - I knew that if Hamilton has problems one of the Lotuses will take his place and that's what happened.

Fastest lap: Kimi Räikkönen, Lotus - WRONG

Surprise: Valtteri Bottas did not get his first point even though it looked like it would come true in the beginning. Unfortunately the Williams isn't good for anything this year. It may be that the one point Maldonado got will be the only point. I hope I am wrong because I always cheer for the classic F1 teams such as Ferrari, McLaren, Williams, Mercedes, Lotus etc.

So this was it for today. In the morning I am leaving for Dubai where I will spend 5 days and then it's Abu Dhabi baby!!

I'll try to write the Abu Dhabi GP preview on the plane. I should have time to do that when the flight is 6 hours.

2013 Indian Grand Prix - Race

1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	60	1:31:12.187	1	25
2	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	60	+29.8 secs	2	18
3	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	60	+39.8 secs	17	15
4	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	60	+41.6 secs	5	12
5	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren-Mercedes	60	+43.8 secs	9	10
6	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	60	+52.4 secs	3	8
7	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	60	+67.9 secs	6	6
8	14	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	60	+72.8 secs	12	4
9	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	60	+74.7 secs	13	2
10	19	Daniel Ricciardo	STR-Ferrari	60	+76.2 secs	11	1
11	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	60	+78.2 secs	8
12	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	60	+78.9 secs	18
13	18	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Ferrari	59	+1 Lap	14
14	5	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	59	+1 Lap	10
15	12	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	59	+1 Lap	16
16	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Renault	59	+1 Lap	15
17	23	Max Chilton	Marussia-Cosworth	58	+2 Laps	22
18	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Cosworth	58	+2 Laps	19
19	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber-Ferrari	54	+6 Laps	7
Ret	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	39	+21 Laps	4
Ret	20	Charles Pic	Caterham-Renault	35	+25 Laps	21
Ret	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham-Renault	1	+59 Laps	20