Formula One Fantasy - Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel

If you’re being paid to travel the globe whilst racing some of the world’s most technologically-advanced cars many would say you are living the dream. But if you’re already an F1 driver, and have firsthand experience of the glitz, glamour and glory, what would you spend your time daydreaming about? Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel reveals his Formula One fantasies, which include battling team mate Jochen Rindt around the Nurburgring’s Nordschleife in a McLaren MP4-5…

Q: You must choose a city for a new Formula One street circuit - which city, anywhere in the world, do you choose, and why?
Sebastian Vettel: Very clearly and 100 percent New York. There have been rumours lately and I think that it would be the ultimate city to race in. Everybody knows New York and it would be awesome to be part of such a race. The paddock in Central Park and racing along Fifth Avenue, all the way down to Washington Square. Manhattan is not that big so we could have a circuit passing all the important landmarks. Awesome!

Q: If you could choose one former world champion as your team mate, who would you choose and why?
SV: Jochen Rindt, very clearly! For me he had something that was very inspiring. He was a cool guy and it would be an honour to race against him in the same team. In that way you could get all the secrets of his exceptional personality, and of course it would be a big challenge.

Q: Formula One innovations of the past - ground effect, active suspension, turbocharging, six wheels, the list goes on. If you could bring back one past innovation, what would it be and why?
SV: I’d put big V12 engines in the car! Put lots of downforce on because this is it what gives us the feeling and sensation. I definitely would go for a lot of power, a nice sound - some brutal machinery so that you have to rise above yourself every time you jump back into the car.

Q: What innovations would you like to see in the future?
SV: Nothing really new - just making it possible to overtake. That would be fantastic for the drivers and obviously help the show. Everybody knows that it is almost impossible in Formula One to overtake so if you manage to do it you know that you’ve achieved something. Overtaking is something that separates the men from the boys. On the other hand I think that overtaking should never be artificial. And that is partly what I feel we are facing with this moveable rear wing and I am just hoping that it is not becoming too artificial. Obviously it is really hard to find a mode that allows the fastest man to find his way through. I think that what is important is to have a sizzling atmosphere around the track - to have a 100,000 excited people. Such an atmosphere would be very special and thank God we have a lot of races where the atmosphere is fantastic. You always really look forward to these races.

Q: You can only drive at one circuit for the rest of your life - which circuit, past or present from anywhere in the world, do you choose?
SV: It would either be Suzuka, Spa or Nurburgring Nordschleife. Obviously we would have to discuss the run-off areas here and there, but at these tracks you would never get bored.

Q: Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Tyrrell, March are just some of the teams that have departed the sport. Which former team would you most liked to have raced with and why?
SV: Clearly Lotus from the old days. The Colin Chapman outfit. I think the drivers didn’t have an easy time there but it was iconic. And of course it was a big challenge to have Chapman as your team principal.

Q: You have to design a new Formula One circuit, combining all your favourite corners from other tracks around the world. Which three corners are top of your list and why?
SV: Sector one of Suzuka, sector two of Spa and some parts of the street circuits of Singapore and Monaco.

Q: You can travel back in time and compete in any decade of Formula One racing, from the 1950s to the 1990s. Which decade would you choose and why?
SV: The 1970s. With the safety standards of today! The atmosphere must have been very special and being part of that must have been quite some experience. I guess even being there made you some kind of hero. Formula One was obviously very special in that decade but of course from a pure instinct of survival you would always choose today. From an emotional point of view the ‘70s must have been fantastic. How pure the racing was, the camaraderie among the drivers - that’s what’s missing a bit today.

Q: What current Formula One regulation would you most like to change and why?
SV: I would put a V12 engine in the car - (I’m) against all the four-cylinder advocacy. I would take KERS off the car and put a V12 into the car. That would be ‘greener’ than what we have now!

Q: If you could pick two Formula One greats of the past (from different eras) to watch race against each other, whom would you pick?
SV: Senna and - yeah Prost. It happened but today I would understand much more about their ‘battles’. When it happened I was too young to understand and of course I was too far away from the action to get a real idea. They were both so completely different in their personalities. Today I would like to witness that.

Q: If you were a team boss, which current driver would you pick first for your team (excluding yourself and your current team mate)?
SV: Nobody of today. I once again would aim for Senna and Prost. I would probably have to take some sort of course to learn how to handle them.

Q: Just 20 of the world’s motor racing circuits feature on the current F1 calendar. You can add one more. Which circuit do you pick and why?
SV: Kyalami, South Africa or Buenos Aires or the Nordschleife!

Q: You are having a dinner party and can invite four people from the world of motorsport, past or present. Who do you invite?
SV: Bernie (Ecclestone), Jochen Rindt, Fangio and Senna.

Q: You are given the chance to drive any legendary Formula One car of the past (excluding those made by your own team). Which car would you choose?
SV: I think the McLaren from 1990. The MP4-5.

Q: Rooftop swimming pool, bowling alley, revolving sushi bar - just some of the features most F1 motorhomes don’t possess. If you could add one thing to your team’s motorhome, what would it be?
SV: A good gym with a sauna. My Finnish trainer would be very happy then. And you wouldn’t struggle to find all the other Finnish guys in the paddock. Just go to where the sauna is!

Q: You have just won the world title. Where do you go for your celebratory meal and what do you choose from the menu?
SV: Wienerschnitzel with Pommes (breaded veal escalope with sliced potatoes).

F1: Raikkonen heads to NASCAR

If you were surprised when Kimi Raikkonen quit Formula 1 to move to WRC in 2010, this might shock you! The Iceman has now made a move to NASCAR.

The Finnish driver will be racing with the new ICE1 Racing Team. Raikkonen will reportedly be racing in the Truck series to begin with, and will then move on to the Nationwide and Sprint series.


While talks are still on as to which car the 2007 F1 champ will pilot on his NASCAR debut, Kimi has confirmed that he will take part in eight rallies of the 2011 World Rally Championship too.

BSM says: Come back to F1, why don't you!

Sebastian Vettel streets ahead in Melbourne

Sebastian Vettel set the fastest lap of the final practice session for the Australian Grand Prix as Red Bull finally showed its hand.

Vettel set a time of 1:24.507 on the soft tyres, which was eight tenths quicker than team-mate Mark Webber as the world champions confirmed the outright pace of the RB7. In doing so, the German set the fastest three sector times of the session.

There was still some encouragement for McLaren as Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button finished the session third and fourth fastest respectively, albeit a second off Vettel's pace. Vitaly Petrov impressed for Renault with the fifth fastest time as many drivers did qualifying simulations, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Kamui Kobayashi.

Plenty of drivers were pushing hard in the hour-long session as they tried to understand the full characteristics of the Pirelli tyres ahead of qualifying, which led to a lot of mistakes. Button ran off the track at turn three, while Vitaly Petrov went wide at high speed exiting turn twn. Pastor Maldonado also went off in to the gravel after taking too much speed in to turn six, and his car had to be recovered after stopping just before the wall.

Mercedes will be slightly worried at being two seconds behind Vettel, although times in practice are still not completely representative of outright pace. It was a bad morning for Williams as there was little running for Rubens Barrichello, who suffered a gearbox oil leak and only managed seven laps. Sergio Perez didn't reach double figures either after he toured back to the pits midway through the session.

It was a bittersweet session for HRT, who managed to get Tonio Liuzzi on track early in the session only to have the engine cut out after three corners. They did get Narain Karthikeyan's car running though, and he completed five laps to set a time 17 seconds off the pace, although the team will have been carrying out system checks.

There were problems for Virgin too, as Timo Glock became the first driver to be forced to make an engine change after a loose bolt dropped in to a trumpet inlet. However, the team will have been heartened by being within half a second of Lotus.

Red Bull's Vettel takes pole for F1 season-opening Australian Grand Prix

Reigning Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel will start from pole position in Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix after a dominant performance in qualifying on Saturday.

Vettel posted a fastest lap time of one minute 23.529 seconds. It was the 23-year-old German's 16th career pole.

"It's a good position to be in. It's the best position, pole position, so I'm very happy with that. But we need to keep our feet on the ground and see how we get on tomorrow," the Age quoted Vettel, as saying.

A late dash from Lewis Hamilton underlined McLaren's improvement as he closed within 0.778 seconds of the German to join him on the front row.

Red Bull's Mark Webber will start third in front of his home crowd, with McLaren's Jenson Button at fourth.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso qualified fifth and Mercedes' Michael Schumacher was 11th.

Hispania Racing Team's Narain Karthikeyan won't be on the starting grid, as he failed to set a qualifying lap under new rules requiring drivers to get within 107 per cent of the fastest time

Sebastian Vettel: My F1 car has a 'sexy butt', just like Kylie Minogue Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/oddballs/859147-sebastian-vettel-my-f1-car-has-a-sexy-butt-just-like-kylie-minogue#ixzz1HhLaBweu

Reigning Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel is so happy with the rear-end of his new Red Bull he has decided to name the car after Aussie pop star Kylie Minogue

Vettel could hardly contain himself as he described his new RB7 to reporters ahead of this weekend's season opening Melbourne Grand Prix.
'It has a tight butt, is supple and is good to look at,' the 23-year-old petrol-head said.
'Hopefully, it will be quick as well.'
The Red Bull driver also revealed a history of naming his cars after good looking women who catch his eye.
Apparently there was a Randy Mandy (Moore perhaps?) and Luscious Liz (maybe Hurley?), but perhaps the ladies in question are of the fraulein variety.
But while Vettel had time to joke as the first practice session got underway, McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton set off to work registering the quickest two lap times of the session.
The pair had been left worried that their cars wouldn't compete after winter testing, but the team appear to have ironed out design problems.
'For the first time this year nothing has gone wrong, which is great, and now we have to build on that.' said Button.
'We have reliability, which is something we haven't had all winter, so to finally have a car in which we can do as many laps as we want is great.'
'The feeling is so much better, the car feels a lot more complete, one that we can really make some progress with.'

Button hopes to see out F1 career at McLaren

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Jenson Button has banished thoughts of retirement to the back of his mind and said he hopes to see out his Formula One career with McLaren.

"I've a few years that I still want to race in Formula One," the 2009 world champion said at the Australian Grand Prix where he was surprisingly quickest in free practice on Friday after a troublesome pre-season.

"I'm sure it will come to a point with me where I'll think 'Right, I don't want to do any more, I want to do something else.' That point isn't yet, and I can't even imagine it happening yet.

"I'll be here for a couple more years," added the 31-year-old Briton, who joined the Mercedes-powered team on a multi-year deal at the end of 2009 after winning the world championship with Brawn GP.

"I can't imagine going somewhere else in Formula One after McLaren. I'm really happy here.

"When I was younger, at the start of my years in Formula One, I never thought I'd drive for McLaren."

Button, who has won in Australia for the past two years in a row, said he particularly enjoyed the team spirit at McLaren even in tough times.

"When something goes wrong there is no finger-pointing. You talk about it," he said.

"For instance, (technical director) Paddy (Lowe) will come up to me, and say 'I'm so sorry, this isn't what we want, and what we want you to see either. We're going to get back on track.'

On F1: Rain, no, wings and fragile tires, yes

PARIS — Formula One and professional cycling, sports poles apart which share a common problem: how to pass the bacon butty and tea test.

That is when sports are so lacking in suspense or surprise that couch potatoes comfortably feel they can go to the kitchen, make themselves a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea without having to worry that they're missing crucial action. Make me one, please, while you're at it.

Predictability is not good for a sport. F1 is aware of that and so is adding bells and whistles to improve the show, including tires that with luck should fall apart as quickly as an ice cream in a hot hand. Drivers sliding around on worn-out rubber should make for more riveting viewing and unforeseen race outcomes in this new season that starts Sunday with the Australian Grand Prix. Both are most welcome in a sport which, given the hundreds of millions its teams spend on the cars and their drivers, should be delivering far more bang for all those bucks.

Cycling, on the other hand, should embrace the fact that there are always quiet moments in races, especially its most important ones, the three-week tours of France, Italy and Spain, when spectators will pour themselves a glass of wine and doze off.
And that's fine. Because in cycling, as with tennis, action often builds toward a crescendo. The first few hours of a race, the first games in a set, aren't so important in themselves, you can slip away to the kitchen for refreshments. But they lay the foundations for the denouement — the tiebreaker, the 5-4 game, the bunch sprint, the last mountain climb — that no fan wants to miss.
Cycling will never deliver adrenaline through a fire hose — thrills! Spills! All the time! — like F1. Its tantalizingly gradual delivery of excitement is one of its charms. International cycling boss Pat McQuaid should tell television executives to buzz off and defend the sport's idiosyncrasies instead of pandering to their demands for more spectacle.

To add spice, McQuaid is trying to strip riders of the two-way radios they use to communicate with their managers during races. The International Cycling Union president figures that will make riders think more for themselves and that left to their own devices, they'll race with more derring-do and be more exciting to watch.

But there's no compelling evidence that it will work. Since many riders and team bosses are opposed, McQuaid risks simply aligning the sport against him. Somewhat insultingly, his plan suggests that riders with radios are little more than remote-controlled robots.
Cycling puts on a fine show as it is. If anything, the best way to improve it would be to make it more believable. Redouble efforts to catch drug cheats, and more viewers will tune in.
As for F1, there were worrying indications from Friday's practice sessions that the new Pirelli tires may not be quite as fragile on Melbourne's Albert Park circuit as was thought during offseason testing.

Damn. The idea that drivers might be forced to dip into the pits as much as four times in a race to replace tires worn to the canvas was exciting. The Bridgestones used until last season were so durable that cars looked at times to be riding round and round on rails, which was as boring as watching the hands of a clock.

Hopefully, the new Pirellis will wear much faster, as they are designed to do, and reward drivers who know how to take care of tires, like Jenson Button — which is only fair. Hopefully, those drivers who don't or who are saddled with poorly balanced cars will be punished with crumbling tires that will cause them to slow dramatically. That is only fair, too. It should make for a much better show.

So, too, should the go-fast rear wing that drivers will be able to activate when they're closing in on the car ahead, giving them an extra burst of speed to overtake. Overtaking shouldn't be too easy. But nor should it be as impossible as it was for Fernando Alonso at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last November, the season-ending race that had the potential to be a thriller but instead was a crushing anticlimax because so little happened.

Lotus Renault driver Vitaly Petrov says fiddling with all the gizmos and dials on their steering wheels — gears, rear wing, KERS power-boost button, et cetera — while driving at top speed could prove to be like answering mobile phone text messages, frying eggs and tying one's shoes all at one time. But isn't this why these guys are paid fortunes, because they are the best and have reflexes as sharp as razors? If they're unhappy, they can drive a taxi.

F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone's whacky suggestion that "suspense would be guaranteed" if tracks were sprayed with water to make them slippery and treacherous is just silly. Race outcomes would be too random. F1 does not need to become a lottery to rediscover excitement.
But Ecclestone is right that F1 should be delivering the unexpected. If not, there is always a bacon sandwich and cup of tea calling our name.