F1 FANS MAG

ISSUE 2

OCTOBER 2013

@F1FANSMAG

WWW.THEF1FANSMAGCOM

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WE  LOOK  BACK  AT  

THE  CAREER  OF  

OUTGOING  

FERRARI  DRIVER  

FELIPE  

MASSA

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Massa - End of a Ferrari Era

It was announced on 10th September 2013 (prior to the Singapore Grand Prix weekend) Felipe Massa confirmed the news that he was leaving the Ferrari team at the end of the season. The following day Ferrari announced that Kimi Raikkonen would be rejoining the team to partner Fernando Alonso for the 2014 season, taking over Felipe’s seat. With Massa’s Ferrari career coming to an end, it’s appropriate to look back on his career with the team he has loyally served.

Since returning to racing four years ago after experiencing his head injury in Hungary, the F1 paddock and the fans have only seen glimpses of the promise and the peak he showed in 2008 when for a short time he was crowned world champion of the sport. Per-sonally, I believe the peak in per-formance he showed in 2007 (espe-cially by winning dominantly in Bah-rain, Spain and Turkey and loyally yielding victory in Brazil to help

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Kimi Raikkonen’s title cause when Kimi was firmly established as the team’s number one driver that year), allowed Massa to mature and nurture his talent to briefly become Ferrari’s ‘main man’ the following year and challenge for the Driver’s Championship.

In 2008, Massa again won in Bahrain and Turkey (winning Turkey for the third consecutive year). Acting upon his engineer Rob Smedley’s advice regarding Ste Devote, Massa heeded the advice and shone and was rewarded with grip and speed into the corner and took Pole Position ahead of Raikkonen and Hamilton. Massa was driving on a complete different level to what I had seen before.After Monaco, Massa and his confidence in my view was unbeatable for the rest of the year. Felipe outclassed Hamilton through the first two corners of Hungary to take a dominant victory that sadly ended with Massa retiring with engine failure. Felipe bounced back from his the next race with an outstanding Pole Position in Valencia, helped Raikkonen to victory in Spa (but ended up winning the race with Hamilton receiving a penalty and Kimi having a crash) but Singapore for me was a demonstration of Massa’s natural talent and ability for driving.Massa was very impressive during qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix in 2008, the first night race and the very first time all teams and drivers raced on the circuit. Massa was fully

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engaged in the title fight with Lewis Hamilton, just trailing one point behind him. During the qualifying lap, Felipe despite the understeer within the car and himself pushed himself to the limit way and beyond what was expected and he was rewarded with a fantastic lap to achieve Pole Position and put himself one step further to securing the championship.

However, it was not meant to be for him. On track, Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately causing a spin on the circuit .The spin causing a chain reaction on pit stops by all drivers and

teams (except for Fernando Alonso) that turned into a fundamen-tal error for Massa and his team caused by the fuel hole still being attached to the car as he left the pit lane. This was where Massa’s chances of becoming the 2008 Formula One World Champion were lost.

Ever since the 2008 season, where Felipe and his talent were at his peak, Felipe has never been able to recover this part of his talent again. I am not disputing that Felipe is not talented, because he is. For him to come back after an awful head injury from Hungary in 2009 and to be racing again fully in 2010 takes determination, talent and skill. Which is what Massa showed in his return when he qualified second and finished second behind

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Fernando Alonso in Bahrain (despite Felipe saving fuel for 22 laps), finishing third in Melbourne and storming through the field from 21st place to 7th place in Malaysia. At the end of the year, Massa was sixth in the Driver’s Championship and was rewarded by Ferrari with a contract extension until the end of the 2012 season.

Over the last two years, Felipe has a dip of form (especially in 2011 not scoring any podiums) but consistently scoring points for the team on a regular basis. Felipe’s Ferrari career looked all but over in first half of 2012 but he put in some truly amazing drives that allowed him to keep his Ferrari seat until the end of this season. This season Felipe has had an amazing early start to the season. Felipe managed to out-qualify his team mate in Australia and Malaysia but has not been able to outperform or out score his Ferrari team mate in qualifying or racing this year and leaving Ferrari no choice not to renew his contract for next year.

Since Massa joined the team, he has been loyal and humble servant to them. When the team required Felipe, Felipe respected and honoured the wishes made to Kimi Raikkonen firstly when Felipe was his team mate and more recently to Fernando. Felipe being team mate to Fernando over the last

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few years will have also impacted on him. For example, at the 2010 German Grand Prix, Massa was ordered by the Ferrari team to let Fernando ‘by’ be-cause he was ‘quicker’ which Massa did on Lap 49, which led to Ferrari be-ing fined for breaking Sporting Regulations. As a racing driver, I am sure it would have pained Felipe to make way for both Kimi and for Fernando. But he did it for the good of the Ferrari team. The team that gave him his first shot at a competitive drive within the sport, gave him first win in 2006 at the Turkish Grand Prix, gave him the best chance to win be World Champion in 2008 and ultimately become a Ferrari driver for seven years of his Formula One career.Not many drivers achieve the aim of becoming a Ferrari Formula One driver. Felipe Massa did. Not many drivers get seven consecutive years to the team with the most history in the sport. Felipe Massa did. Not many drivers get the chance to fight for the World Championship. Massa did. Felipe Massa should be remembered as the driver that (apart from Lewis Hamilton winning the title in 2008) let his racing talent shine brightly in that same year and was runner up in the Championship, loyally obeying and tak-ing decisions for the Ferrari team without question throughout his career and finally to be remembered for 11 Grand Prix Wins, 15 Pole Positions, 14 Fast-est Laps and 36 Podiums that he achieved within the sport. And that is what Felipe Massa should be proud of when he leaves the Ferrari team at the end of the year and it cannot be taken from him.

You can follow me on Twitter at @jonesy_laaa. I also regularly blog about the sport on www.mclarenf1messiah.wordpress.com.

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Niki Lauda is a classic F1 combination of courage and calculation. This three-time World Champion survived one of the most shocking, dangerous and life hanging crashes ever seen in Formula One only to walk away from a near-certain 4th title in 1976. His triumphant second career in the mid-1980s with McLaren saw Lauda as the elder statesman of F1 and the tutor of young “Professor” Alain Prost.

Niki Lauda had two careers in Formula One. The first, from 1971 through 1979, included two World Champion-ships for Ferrari, a horrifying accident at the Nürburgring — in which he nearly died and was administered the Last Rites of the Catholic Church, and the famous

rain-soaked finale in 1976 at Japan’s Mt. Fuji circuit where, just weeks after his disfiguring crash, Lauda courageously withdrew while leading the drivers championship points.

The second, from 1982 through 1985, saw Lauda return as the “grand master” of Formula One to capture another World Championship for McLaren, become a mentor to the young Alain Prost in the finer art of scientific race driving, and rally against the advent of ground effect F1

technology.

In both of his careers, Lauda combined sheer speed and tremendous determination with a calculating approach to racecraft that defied comparison. Lauda was always quick, but tempered raw speed with a unique knowledge of F1 engineering and a dispassionate regard for driving only as fast as necessary to win. He epitomized the racing truism that “to finish first, one must first finish.” Blessed with a meticulously tidy and consistent driving style, he always did just enough to secure the result he needed and seldom subjected himself to risks he deemed unrealistic. Add to this the fact that he was one of the first F1 drivers to “buy” a ride in the series and to face

Niki Lauda

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and to face legal action after jumping to Ferrari from March (after first signing with BRM) in 1974, and it became clear that Niki Lauda is the true prototype of the modern F1 driver. Indeed, a Ferrari driver hadn’t won the World Championship since John Surtees in 1964 (sound familiar, Michael Schumacher fans?) and like Schumi the Austrian helped to galvanize the Scuderia into fulfilling its potential.

Lauda will always be remembered as one of the most pragmatic, logical Grand Prix divers of all time. Yet he had an emotional side as well. After recapturing the F1 title in 1977 with Ferrari (beating new teammate Carlos Reutemann convincingly on the track, rather than in the garage) Lauda abruptly quit to join Bernie Ecclestone’s emergent Brabham-Alfa Romeo team. He won two races for Brabham be-fore, once again retired.

Lauda then chose to devote all his efforts to his then-fledgling airline, Lauda Air. Like a boxer, however, Lauda could not resist the urge to make comeback, and in 1982 he rejoined Formula One, winning his third GP after returning and the 1984 title, over Prost, by the wafer-thin margin of 1/2 point (with Prost taking seven wins to Lauda’s five). Finally giving in to the years, Lauda retired for good with 25 GP wins after the 1985 season.

Since retiring once and for all Lauda has successfully founded an airline served as a consultant to Ferrari and Schumacher during the

second resurgence of Scuderia in 1998-2004, and now holds a senior position with the Mercedes AMG Petronas team in which he is widely credited for persuading Lewis Hamilton to join the team for 2013

Thanks to Paul Gawne for this article

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Here are some amazing and iconic F1 pictures from Twitter account @F1Porn.

Ayrton Senna in the gravel trap in his McLaren MP4/5, 1989 British Grand Prix

Louis Chiron blasting past the trees at Reims in his Lago-Talbot, 1951 French Grand Prix

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Paul Di Resta during practice for the 2013 Korean Grand Prix

Patrick Tambay driving the Mclaren M26 at the 1978 US Grand Prix

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Jacques Villeneuve in the BAR 004, 2002 Monaco Grand Prix

Jean-Pierre Jarier in his March-Ford, 1973 Argentine Grand Prix

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Round 14 of the 2013 Formula One World Championship at Korea’s International circuit in Yeongam 4th- 6th October

Circuit statistics

Laps: 55Track length: 5.615 km.DRS Zones: There are two DRS zones this weekend, the first between turns two and three and the second on the pit straight. Lap record: Sebastian Vettel - 1:39.605 - (Red Bull; 2011)2012 pole: Mark Webber - 1:37.242 Direction: Anti-clockwise

The second of the flyaway races this weekend see’s us move from the streets of Singapore to the unusual anti-clockwise Korean International circuit in Yeongam. The Yeongam circuit has three distinctive sectors, the first full of long straights, the second boasts high-speed corners and the final sector is tight, similar to that of a street circuit. Much like Singapore, the Korean grand prix is relatively new to the F1 calendar with only three races having been held so far with only two men to have ever been crowned victor. These two men are none other than title contender’s Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. Fernando Alonso won Korea’s inaugural race, as he did in Singapore, in 2010, with Sebastian Vettel winning in 2011, and 2012. In terms of this year’s championship, Fernando Alonso will be hoping to recreate that first win to deprive Sebastian Vettel of all but securing his fourth consecutive title, as he stands with a 60 point lead. However, Korea is an unusual circuit, with the pole sitter never having secured the win and the last person to win from be-low the first row of the grid being Fernando Alonso himself, who’s starts this year have been unbelievably effective, so all could still be to play for at Yeongam on Sunday.

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2012 Korean Grand Prix

2012’s race saw the Red Bulls dominate on Saturday and Sunday, with Mark Webber securing pole and Sebastian Vettel taking the win over him on Sunday to secure the championship lead from Fernando Alonso for the first time in the season.

The drama of the Korean circuit emerged from the very start with two retirements in the first two laps, as Jenson Button’s McLaren and Nico Roseberg’s Mercedes collided with Kobayashi’s Sauber for which Kobayashi was awarded a drive through penalty and later retired. Meanwhile at the front a four way battle for the lead emerged between Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Here, however, the fight remained clear of contact as Webber, lost the lead to Sebastian Vettel at turn one, whilst the fast starting Fer-nando Alonso secured third from Lewis Hamilton as his move down the inside of the Red Bull’s failed. Kimi Raikkonen also attempted to capitalize on the four way battle by going around the outside of Alonso and Hamilton, but ultimately had to settle for fifth. The race did not improve for Lewis Hamilton as tire damage saw him easily passed by Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, then a slow pit stop and a piece of astro-turf attaching itself to the underside of his car in the finals laps saw him finish with only one championship point. Meanwhile Sebastian Vettel managed to control his worrying tire wear to secure the race win and the championship lead. His teammate Mark Webber came home second to secure a Red Bull one-two from the two Ferrari’s. Kimi Raikkonen finished fifth for Lotus boasting his championship standings with Nico Hulkenberg sixth for Force India, Romain Grosjean seventh, Jean-Eric Vergne eighth from teammate Daniel Riccardo and Lewis Hamilton tenth. The race appeared easy for Sebastian Vettel but a multitude of radio messages calling for him to preserve his tires suggested that it was anything but. Tire issues have been relatively low for Red Bull in recent races but could this old issue reappear around Korea’s unusual anti-clockwise circuit and reignite the championship battle?

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F1 2013Classic EditionWe take a look at the latest installment of the F1 video games series, F1 2013

F1 2013 Classic Edition is the fourth and inevitably final F1 game on the current gen-

eration consoles and I am happy to report that Codemasters have gone out with a

bang. With a bundle of new content and technical changes, F1 2013 Classic Edition

is the game F1 fans have been waiting for.

The 2013 part of the game contains, as you might have guessed, all the cars, drivers,

tracks and regulations from the 2013 season. This part of the game is more or less

the same as F1 2012. You start off at the Abu Dhabi Young Drivers Test where you

complete a number of challenges to unlock teams to start your career with and to

get a feel for the game. In this game you can actually skip day one of the test if you

have a save file from F1 2012 on your system. Once you complete the test you are

thrust into your F1 career. This is the same as usual; beat your team-mate, move up

the F1 food chain and fight for championship glory. In session-saves have been

added to give you the chance to compete in longer races when you don't have two

hours to do so. I would've liked to have seen some new features in the career mode

but it is no less fun. Season Challenge makes a return. This is where you fight for the

title over a season of ten races consisting of one-shot qualifying sessions and five

lap races whilst beating rivals and gaining their seats. A recycled idea that is a bit

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fun if you have twenty minutes or so to kill. Scenario mode replaces champions

mode. There are twenty scenarios ranging from finishing ahead of your team-mate

in a Marussia to charging your way through the pack to win a race. Each scenario

can be played at three difficulty levels; Bronze, Silver and Gold. Even on the Gold

difficulty the scenarios aren't hard but are fun nonetheless. Time Trial and Time

Attack are the same as all the other

games likewise multiplayer and

Grand Prix mode. The real

changes, in terms of content,

comes in the form of F1 Classics.

The introduction of classic content

has been long awaited but it has

been worth it. The classic mode is

split into two eras; 80's and 90's.

There are five cars from the 80's, six

from the 90's and the racenet exclusive 1976 Ferrari 312 T2 driven by Niki Lauda,

Clay Regazzoni and Carlos Reutemann (for one round). There are also four classic

tracks and seventeen iconic drivers. The classic mode is almost like a game within a

game. There is a grand prix mode, scenario mode and multiplayer. The classic cars

can be raced on modern tracks and the 2013 cars can race on classic ones. The

most enjoyable part about the classic mode is that it is voiced by the legend that is

Murray Walker. It may take some people time to adjust to the fact that you can be

racing against Damon Hill in a Williams FW12 whilst you are Alain Prost in an FW07B

but if you look past the historical anomalies it is a fantastic game mode.

At this point you are probably thinking that aside from some extra content nothing

has really changed. This is not the case as the devil is in the detail. For starters the

game is incredibly pretty. This is thanks to improved lighting. Light now bounces off

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of your helmet and mirrors as well as peeking its way through trees and fences. Add

rain to the game and it becomes possibly the prettiest game ever. The details on the

car are smoother and replays stutter less. The mirrors are more useful now. With the

cars behind more visible

you are less likely to cause

any silly accidents. The han-

dling and physics have

been given a fine tune. The

tyres drop off dramatically,

forcing you to use a good

tyre strategy and the

difference in grip offered

by the different compounds

of Pirelli tyre is more noticeable.

You will lose front end grip when you are in the turbulent air of the car ahead of you

and it is easier to spin the wheels coming out of corners now, meaning you won't be

able to get on the power as early and run away from the AI. The AI are more intelli-

gent and more aggressive. They will look for anyway past and will attempt to block

you if you attempt a pass. This means you will be racing harder which is bloody

good fun. They are also prone to mistakes which increases the likelihood of a safety

car which was a problem in last years game. The sound of the game is fantastic.

Each car sounds different and the exhaust noise is more audible this time around.

The engine being revved during a pit-stop is more realistic and the noise of the cars

around you is a lot louder now too. The turbos pop and the V10's scream. The noise

in F1 2013 is wonderful. The game is presented well. The dimly lit hangar style

menu from F1 2012 has been replaced by a factory wind tunnel and the classics

mode menu is an old style pit garage. The loading screens are filled with official

race pictures and the pit-stops are more cinematic. These may seem like small

This is game footage, not the actual Sauber C32. I

know, incredible!

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With the large number of technical changes and the addition of classic content, F1

2013 Classic Edition is Codemasters most complete F1 experience and by far their

best.

By Lewis Duncan

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After Spa in Belgium, the Italian Grand Prix is another historic race that is just embedded in the legacy of Formula 1, evoking so many memories. It also brings one of the most dedi-cated fan bases, the Ti-fosi who while support-ing their beloved Ferrari also bring an incredible at-mosphere to the race. Being the fastest circuit on the calendar, it also brings the fastest race time, with the fastest average speed, a unique chal-lenge for all the teams.

The first part of Qualifying went as normal, with Gutierrez, Bottas, Van der Garde, Pic, Bianchi and Chilton predictably fell at the first hurdle. That wasn’t going to be said the second though. In an unusual manor, Lewis Hamilton went wide at the

final corner, the Parabolica, damaging the floor of the car. Although down in 14th place after the first run, he tried again, but the pace wasn’t there, so having to settle for 12th place, amazingly just behind championship rival Kimi Raikkonen. The Lotus didn’t have the qualifying pace around Monza with Romain Grosjean also finishing 13th.

In the final part of Qualifying, the top 10 shootout, Ferrari continued slipstreaming, perfecting that method although it was Mark Webber who set the early pace, with team mate Vettel just behind. Ferrari went out again together for their final run, although the experiment didn't work with Massa too far ahead of Fernando, so much so that Felipe’s final lap was faster than that of Fernando. The surprise of

of the session was Nico Hulkenburg taking 3rd place, a much needed boost for the Sauber team. Vettel took the pole position though, something that looked certain from yesterday afternoon, with Mark Webber second in the sister car. With Hulkenberg 3rd the Ferrari’s came 4th and 5th.

With sunny days through practice, race day would bring rain showers around before the start of the grand prix, including the supporting GP2 race in the morning. A further light shower descended an hour before race start.

From qualifying, Adrian Sutil got a 3 place penalty for impeding Lewis Hamilton in the parabolica. Overnight Red Bull decide to change 5th, 6th and 7th gears on both cars, and according to the

Vettel Victorious in Monza

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rules this can be done without penalty. Ferrari also changed the engine in Felipe Massa’s car, again without a penalty for race, but it was an older engine and the newer one cant be used before Brazil.

Everyone was late to the grid, electing to take a few laps to assess the conditions. While most took the intermediate tyre, back on the grid drivers were talking about taking the slick tyre as the majority of the racetrack was dry. The threat of rain though stillremained.

Hamilton started on the hard compound tyre, along with Raikkonen and Gutierrez, they all had a free choice starting outside the top 10.The Ferraris both a great start, with Massa getting ahead of Webber, however Alonso didn’t and got stuck behind. Kimi got cut off but Perez swooping across in front of him, causing a collision into the chicane with Perez going straight on and Kimi loosing part of his

front wing. Nico Hulkenburg lost a bit of ground falling down to 5th.

At the second chicane Paul di Resta hit the back of Romain Grosjean, taking out the front wing and breaking the front suspension, his first retirement in Formula 1 on the first lap. Raikkonen though pitted with the bro-ken front wing, and a change of tyres.

Hamilton had managed to get his way into 10th, making up a little ground.Fernando Alonso got around the outside of Mark Webber into the second chicane on lap 3, even without the help of the DRS, but was squeezed, that didn't stop him though in a quite amazing move. Lewis

Hamilton had radio problems, the team was unable to hear him.

Fernando Alonso passed Felipe Massa on lap 8 into the first corner, no fight from Felipe, looking like he was more than likely asked to move aside for his team mate.

Jean-Eric Vergne, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Romain Grosjean were close together, Button managed to get past into Ascari for P10. Up front Red Bull reported that it was ‘being monitored’ on Vettel’s car, but it was not looking good. It later transpired that it was the flat spot caused while breaking and locking up into the first corner at the start. It didn’t stop him

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setting the fastest lap, and maintaining the lead.

Lewis Hamilton had a front right puncture and was asked to pit by the team. With the radio not working, at the end of Lap 12 he didn’t pit, prompting the team to continue to ask him to. A couple of laps later and he entered the pits, deciding to take the medium tyre. Mark Webber attacked Massa into the first corner on lap 15, but he didn’t get past.

After some noticeable smoke coming from the rear, Jean Eric Vergne retired after the second chicane – engine smoke coming out the rear, looking very much like an engine failure. It was looking like a promising weekend for the Toro Rosso team, focusing very much on top speed.

The first of the scheduled pit stoppers was Charles Pic on lap 18. The Caterhams had problems with tyre wear, and we’re expected to do two stop. At the front Alonso

maintained the gap at 6 seconds to Vettel.

Just before the first pit stops, the order at the front was Vettel, Alonso, Massa, Webber, Hulkenberg, Rosberg, Ricciardo, Perez, Button and Grosjean. Gros-jean was the first of the leading group to pit on lap 21, but a slow stop of 5.1 seconds pushed him down the order. Button stopped a lap later, a quick stop of 3 seconds, and returned just behind Lewis Hamilton, who had just set the fastest lap.

Ricciardo and Perez pitted together on lap 23. Perez had a slow stop of 4.5, so Ricciardo retained the advantage, returning behind Hamilton and Button who had got ahead of his teammate.

Massa pitted on lap 25 with Hulkenberg behind, Massa came out behind Webber, Hulkenberg just got out ahead of Bottas who had yet to pit running in the top

10. He though pitted on lap 26. Vettel getting up to speed though set the fastest lap taking a second on Alonso who was yet to pit, and was getting vulnerable from Mark Webber.

The other car not to pit earlier was Rosberg, running second on the road, pitted on lap 27. Alonso did the same a lap later taking the hards. A stop time of 2.6 seconds, slotting in second place ahead of Mark Webber. Webber only just behind Alonso.

Hamilton on a different strategy got past his team mate Rosberg into the first corner.

After everyone pitting once the order was Vettel, Alonso, Webber, Massa, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Hamilton,

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Rosberg, Ricciardo and Button on lap 29. Raikkonen and Hamilton though would have to pit again after pitting early in the race, the tyres not able to last a whole race distance. Kimi pitted again for his second stop on lap 31.

Hamilton on a similar strategy was still setting fast-est laps. Dicing with Hulkenberg, was very close through the second chicane and Lesmo’s, before dropping back on the back straight. Raikkonen pitted and returned in 14th behind the Force India of Adrian Sutil.

Hamilton though got through on the inside of the Curve Grande a lap later. Behind there was a close battle between Ricciardo, Button and Perez for 8th place. On Lap 38 though Grosjean overtook Perez to take 10th into the first chicane. After being really quick, Hamilton stopped a lap later. A great 3.2 second stop to come out behind Kimi Raikkonen in 14th.

Mark Webber started to gain on Alonso, close enough to be within the DRS. Quickly dampened by the team over the radio to that he needed to short shift in turn 2 due to a problem, dropping from the back of Alonso slightly. After the pit stop Hamilton was a second behind Raikkonen, closing on a points paying position. Raikkonen got past Gutierrez in traffic to take P12.

In the lead Vettel was also asked to short shift by his team, but for him it was 5th to 6th gear. Lewis Hamilton also got past Gutierrez a lap later on lap 42. Raikkonen battled ahead with Sutil as well in the first corner, only just up the road getting past Sutil quickly into the parabolica. With Hamilton overtaking Sutil on the

Hamilton had caught up Kimi by lap 47, with Kimi being told he had no KERS. Lewis Hamtilon overtook down the front straight, but Kimi managed to keep the position into the first chicane. The same happened a lap later, but Hamilton got better drive and got around the outside through the Curve Grande.

Hamilton a lap later took 10th from Perez. Next would be Jenson Button, with him again overtaking down the front straight, an easy pass using the DRS to take 9th. Kimi Raikk-onen got past Perez, getting close to Button, but was at-tacked again going into the second chicane.

Hamilton on the final lap got very close to Grosjean into the

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into the first chicane and then cut the second chicane, giving the place back to Grosjean.

Vettel though won the Italian Grand Prix from Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber in 3rd. Felipe Massa finished 4th, with Hulkenberg 5th and Rosberg 6th. Daniel Ricciardo finished 7th ahead of Grosjean and Hamilton with Jenson Button rounding out the top 10.

After the race Sebastian commented: “It’s fantastic to win this event again. I just managed to make turn one! I locked the front right and it just didn’t seem to come back. I had a big flat spot, which I felt straight away and I wasn’t sure if the tyre would survive, but fortunately I managed to make it round and have a strong first stint. I pushed straight away to get a bit of a gap, in case we had to stop early and change to a two-stop strategy. We had a gearbox issue and I had to short shift, which meant we dropped some time in the straights – but I

tried to make it up in the corners. It’s great to finish on the top step. The podium here is always very passion-ate. We are in Italy and when you walk around outside the track, you see Ferrari clothing and merchandise in all the shops starting from the smallest sizes upwards; it’s part of their DNA, which I understand. It was great for the Tifosi to have Fernando on the podium today. The season is going well and we’re pushing hard, but we take each race as it comes. We’re looking forward to Sin-gapore next, which I want to finish; I think it’s the toughest race we have all year.”

Fernando was also pleased, getting onto the podium in front of the home fans. “Stepping onto the Monza podium is always a special feeling, as it’s the only one where you can feel all the love that the fans have for the team and it’s the best prize at the end of what was an almost perfect weekend. ‘Almost’ because our championship rivals won and we send them our

ongratulations. We went well on both Friday and Saturday, getting both cars in the top five, but Red Bull was able to do better. When Vettel pitted, we were still doing green sector times and so we opted to lengthen the stint as much as possible, at least while Webber was not be-coming a threat. That way, we could have tried to get Vettel on Hard tyres that were fresher by a few laps. We tried our best and even if we have to be realistic about our championship chances, as it’s not an easy task to close down a 53 point gap in the few remaining races, in Formula 1 anything can happen and we will believe in our chances all the way to the finish line in Brazil, always trying to give a hundred percent”.

This review was by Ashley James

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Hello my name is Edward Sanchez and I am the producer of an upcoming feature length documentary ‘Trackside’; a film exploring the role of marshals in Motorsport.I have been an avid Motorsport fan for many years and been working on documentaries for a number of years and thought now would be a great time to produce a film on something I am really passionate about. In recent years there has been something of a boom in films focusing on Motorsport. The brilliant 'Senna’ in 2010, 'Rush' came out in cinemas last month, and another documentary looking at the history of F1 called '1'. None of these films really focus on what many believe to be the life and soul of Motorsport: the marshals. I have branded the tag line of ‘Trackside’ with the slightly melodramatic sounding 'No Marshals, No Motorsport', but it is a statement I believe to be true. Without these brave men and women volunteering their time weekend after weekend, through scorching sun and torrential rain, then these races across the country really couldn't happen. 

A few months ago I began preproduction work that goes into making a documentary. First and foremost is research: lots and lots of research. This ranges from reading magazines, watching videos on YouTube, to listening to old radio interviews. The main driving forces of this film will be the marshals themselves. Whilst this is going to be a film looking at Motor-sports, it will have a broad appeal to a wider audience. A documentary I watched recently did this extremely well. I can recommend the film 'Racing Dreams' directed by Marshall Curry. His film he follows the budding racing careers of three young children in the USA who are karting, and aiming for NASCAR. At the beginning of the film you are just wanting to see how their races go, but by the end you really care about these kids and their lives.

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To really kick the film off, it is all about making contact with people and exploiting all their contacts. I sent countless emails off and waited for a few days. The responses slowly started to trickle in. Paul Sutcliffe is the National Membership Secretary at the BMMC (British Motorsport Marshals Club) and got in touch and liked the idea of the film. We met up, and really got the ball rolling. He is putting me in touch with people, setting up shooting dates and genuinely he has been a great help.  The main issue surround the production of any sort of film or TV show is, inevitably cost of production. And ‘Trackside’ is no different. I am funding most of the film myself as well as sponsors but also exploring other methods of raising money. I will be utilising a new way of anyone to fund their ideas, it's called Crowd Funding. And I am using the Kickstarter platform. The concept is this, I post my idea on the website, anyone can then donate towards the production costs of the film, and each amount they donate, they receive a different stage of reward. Such as £5 donation gives you access to an exclusive production blog with exclusive video content. £150 is 2 x tickets to the premiere etc. It does then make this film a true people film, it allows members of the public to become part of the production, and get some really great rewards in return. We will be launching our Kickstarter campaign in the next few months, all information will be shown on our website.  We are right at the beginning of this journey, and hope that this project sounds interest-ing to you, if you want to keep up to where we are in this then please visit our website, or fol-low us on twitter. www.tracksidefilm.com Twitter - @tracksidefilm

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Before I go any further I actually agree with the reprimand handed to Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber after Webber hitched a lift back to the pits with Alonso at the end of the Singapore GP. Alonso stopped in an awkward place and Mark running onto the track when there were cars still circulating was a little dangerous. However this reprimand being Webber's third of the season automatically gained him a ten place grid penalty for Korea. A little harsh if you ask me. The FIA in general dish out some pretty hard punishments for very minor things. Romain Grosjean was handed a drive-through penalty for passing Massa off track at the Hungarian GP in-stead of being asked to give the place back. Drivers are also punished for mistakes made by the team. For example, if the team misjudge how much fuel is put in the car and there is not enough left to produce the required sample then the driver is sent to the back of the grid. It's mad! Thankfully the FIA are adjusting their penalty system for next year. One thing being introduced is a penalty points system. Depending on the of-fence, a diver will receive a set amount of penalty points. If a driver accumulates twelve penalty points then they will be given a one race ban and five penalty points up on their return to discourage them from future offences. A new time penalty system is being introduced as well to reduce the need for drive-through penalties for minor of-fences. The FIA can award time penalties which can be taken at a drivers pit-stop. If the driver does not need to pit again then the time penalty is added onto their race time. These changes could not come quick enough. Too many races have been ruined by silly penalties for silly offences but even then drivers are still bound by pretty stringent rules. As well as changes to the penalty system, an actual change to the rules needs to be made. For example, drivers should be allowed to make more than one move when de-fending their position and drivers should be allowed to get away with the odd bang of the sidepod as long as it is not to violent a move. Although small these amendments to the rules may be, they would at least bring back some of that hard fought, wheel to wheel com-bat we all love to see.

Changes to The FIA's Rule Book

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Red Bull and Vettel's Booing

Problem!

I've been considering writing about this for a few weeks now and I've always put myself off, thinking that writing about it just brings more attention, and the over-attention is fuel-ling the fire.

But Although its clear that the booing is not particularly nice, surely it is just a part of modern sport. Go to a premier league foot-ball match (Or soccer if you prefer) and you will regularly see rivals being booed, some-times even supporters booing their own team in cases of a string of disastrous results or animosity against the manager.

Fans will argue that they pay a premium to go to an event and are entitled to have an opinion, whether elation and celebration or boredom and disappointment.

So why is the booing happening?

The main explanation being splurted out by the worlds media is that its the relentless win-ning machine that is Sebastian Vettel, Winning more weekends than not, most often run-ning around in the lead from the very start leading to a seemingly processional grand prix.

Personally I don't buy this excuse. Michael Schumacher won 5 world titles on the trot in a

F1 Pundit Martin Brundle telling the Singapore fans not to boo the 3-Time World Champion

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Ferrari but was never booed on the podium (Austria 02 aside!)

Maybe its because the Ferrari fans are at every track, they have been since day one, they have a history and an unbelievable following. Red Bull are a johnny-come-lately operation that changed from the fun loving party hosting new boys to the clean and clinical operation they are today. They are a serious business, a serious racing team. Gone are the fun days and now it comes down to business, a business they have become very good at.

But I'm going to say something slightly controversial....They don't have a lot of fans do they? If you look around a track you will not sea a see of blue. You may see the odd banner / flag supporting the team or drivers but nothing on the following that Ferrari / Mclaren have.

Red Bull are perceived in a lot of quarters to have bought success, in buying Newey, standing up against cost controls and going their own way. Having a junior team in which they have been able to gather lots of data, being on tyre performance, driver perform-ance etc. A lot of the way they go about their business smacks of arrogance in the face of sport struggling financially to put 11 teams on the grid.

A second excuse points to Vettel's ignorance of team orders in Malaysia, and of course its understandable that a few people might not like that, however its got nothing on park-ing on the racing line at Monaco to stop other people from having a chance at qualifying. Or shoving a driver off the track to gain the world championship when your car is al-ready damaged beyond repair. So is it worth booing? Simply No. In fact if it were Webber we would have been patting him on the back saying 'Get in mate'.

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Why does Webber not get booed?

Ok so Mark is a Red Bull driver, he helped develop the team into what it is today starting before Vettel even had his chance in a Torro Rosso! But he has, since Vettel arrived at least always played the outsider, the guy on the other side of the Austrian / German alli-ance, the fly in the ointment of the Vettel regime! - and on some levels it is too true, re-member the fallout in 2010 with Turkey and the front wing at Silverstone. ("Not bad for a no.2 driver!") - lets be honest, the public love an underdog, and the public sympathise with him.

Formula One is a sport. A game. It needs hero's and villains. For a long time Alonso has been the pantomime villain thanks to the controversial past events but things have changed. Almost metronomic success in a team that doesn't have the following / support have led to a new villain of F1. Sebastian Vettel.

Article by Paul Gawne

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Ù

As a Formula One fan here

and now in 2013, imagine a

driver turns up on the grid who; has good looks, long blonde hair, smoking ciga-rettes, a reputation for sleeping with the grid girls and air hostess’, living the playboy lifestyle, Speaking their mind, even drug taking prior to a race.

Of course, you can’t. Because here in 2013 it would never be allowed! The corporations and the sponsors would never allow that sort of behavior to represent their brand. But of course we live in very different times, as has been said, he was ‘racing at a time when the sex was safe and the driving was dangerous’

James Hunt was the outsider who burst on to the Formula One scene in 1973 with the privateer team Hesketh, who

all seemed like a lot of public schoolboys out having a party and a jolly good time!

Hesketh pulled Hunt straight from the Formula Three championship, in which the man tipped to be the ‘next big thing’ - Roger Williamson, had regularly beaten him. At the time he was better known by the nickname 'Hunt the Shunt' because of his ability to get caught up in accidents and possibly be-cause of the punch he threw that knocked out David Morgan after a crash at Crystal Palace in 1970. Although it must be said that Hunt was a very serious driver underneath the facade of joking and humour. He was frequently so psyched up before a race that he would wretch before climbing into the car.

Hesketh bought a March 731G, hired a young designer

called Harvey Postlethwaite and they went racing in 73. No one rated them, although Hunt did finish fourth in the British GP, which did catch a few people’s eye.

He finished third in the Dutch Grand Prix, in which Williamson was killed, and ended his first season by chasing Ronnie Peterson home in the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. Peterson was recognised as the fastest man in racing, yet Hunt finished only seconds behind him in an inferior car. He had arrived.

In 1975 he won his first grand prix, in the Netherlands, taking Hesketh's eponymous car to a calculated victory over Niki Lauda's Ferrari. But it was not until Hesketh's team folded at the end of the year and Hunt switched to McLaren that he had the

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he equipment to run at the front on a regular basis.

The 1976 season is the year that inspired the ‘RUSH’ movie, which we will discuss later on. The season gave us amazing entertainment and provided an unbelievable battle. A true movie story line if ever there was one!

After a difficult start to the year Hunt won the Spanish GP. Lauda then amassed a string of strong results as Hunt struggled. and then, in a bombshell decision, the governing body disqualified Hunt's Spanish triumph on a technicality. Hunt won in France, but though he subsequently had his Spanish win reinstated, his triumph on home ground at Brands Hatch was again annulled on a technicality. Then Lauda was almost killed in Germany. Hunt won that event and, as Lauda recovered, further triumphs in the Dutch, Canadian and the US GP’s brought the title within his grasp setting up a title

decider in Japan - Fuji.

Hunt appeared to have victory in sewn up after an amazing drive. Lauda had withdrawn due to the ‘dangerous’ very wet condi-tions and the harrowing recent memories of his accident.

But in true Hollywood style then Hunt sustained a puncture. He pitted and then drove an amazing fighting drive to the finish with such anger, he went crazy at his team when he got out at the end of the race. He had finished third, giving him the points he needed for the title, but it took a long time before he could be convinced that he had indeed won the championship.

In his title year James gave many cause for concern, turning up with bare feet at black-tie events clad only in jeans and a T-shirt that usually broadcast an offen-sive message. He was a real

playboy!

On the track he was still a great racer and scored another three wins in 77, but from they’re onwards the quality of his car’s got worse and worse. In 79 he moved to Wolf as Postlethwaite had designed a new car, but Hunt no longer had the motivation to compete.

After the Monaco Grand Prix he announced his retirement.

He then had a successful career as a commentator joining Murray Walker on the BBC grand prixprogramme, this gave Hunt a platform for him to indulge his love for being outspoken and controversial.

Besides his commentaries, he wrote magazine and newspaper articles, which revealed an in depth knowledge of the sport, which he also passed on to young drivers.

James left behind a legacy,

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of the great Formula One of the 70’s. He inspired many and is truly a great world champion.

Article by Paul Gawne

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Rush – Every fan’s driven by something  It must have been about a year ago. Surely it was a tweet or something. I heard some-body is doing a movie. About Formula One. A real movie. Not a documentary report. About something that really had happened. No fiction. So it began about a year ago. And that waiting for “Rush” to come into the cinemas which seemed to last forever finally ended last Thursday.   When I stepped out of the theatre everything appeared a bit different to me. Did the world around move slower all of a sudden or did I just ‘rush’ suddenly? At this very mo-ment, the films haven’t even reached my head. It had to sink in first. It was a bit like Christ-mas. An event you have to wait for so long for just so it can all happen in just five min-utes. You have that great expectations and you are not sure if they have all been satisfied. And then it’s the review that opens to you what a wonderful gift you have been given.  

 The perception came first at night, lying in my bed. It was good. It was very good. It could hardly have been any better.   Ron Howard, the director, succeeded in something so many have tried and failed on before. A movie about race drivers. The adaption of fast moving sport cars on a static screen. The implementation of a true story to a Blockbuster without serving stereotype American preferences. Done by some-body who hasn’t even been famous for spending his spare time with watching Grand Prixs.   

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A Story is told in 123 minutes. A true one. And it’s as close to the reality as possible with the help of art, budget and the given resources. The F1 fanatic will quickly find the one or the other mistake but also has to admit that nothing really important has been changed.  For the motorsport supporter a well known story has been illustrated. For the amateur it’s aunbelievable incident has been told. And it will be more than difficult for the first one to explain to the second one, that the whole thing actually really happened.   These words of praise are coming right from my F1 coloured heart. But they are also the result of a heavy debate between my critical heart and my loving heart that happened on my way home from the cinema.  The following questions popped into my mind: Hasn’t the back story of that season 1976 been reeled off to quickly? Has the introduction of the main characters held by from the first-person perspective really been the best solution? Was it necessary to use that much swearwords?  Hasn’t the bashing scene been a bit to violent? Has the live of James Hunt been told too offensive? Why have those poignant hospital scenes been so long? Wouldn’t it have been enough to show Hunt vomiting once? Has the process of the season been understandable? Have the race scenes been realistic? 

And finally twosignificant questions:  Who has been the bad boy of the movie? And why is the end of the movie been described as very emotional and crucial?

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It honestly seemed a bit strange to me that the main characters were introducing themselves to the audience and that their way to this season of fate has been told that quickly. But I rapidly realised that another point of view would hardly be possible without appearing too documentary and standoffish. With picking out the main events and quickly coming to the point, they’ve created exactly what the motorsport fan as well as the amateur expected. For the more knowing it wasn’t too romantic and not too far away from the actual storyline and the newbies were informed about the most important information they needed to understand the plot.  Hard words, hard guys and a lot of ‘love’ scenes. I don’t think they were just used to satisfy the modern audience which is more open to such things than ever but just because it actually has been like this back then. At times when race drivers have been idols already but still could act like tough guys without immediately being jugged by the wide world of the internet. At times when it was possible to insult your rival in the pit lane, to get into a fight or to have fun with some stewardesses, without being mentioned on twitter.     I have to admit that I’m not able to reflect n the whole scenes of Niki Lauda in the hospital. I had to close my eyes sometimes. Absolutely nothing has been embellished there and the spectator is forced to empathise and to realise the whole range of the drama. And to show Hunt while he gets sick before the races is a smart way to look a bit behind the playboy image.  To show the complete process of the season would probably have broken the mould. The fan knows what happened anyway and just lies in the wait for the important scenes.  Next to me sat my friend who hasn’t got any prior motorsport knowledge. She indeed reported that it was difficult for her to follow the action at some stages. But in the end it all made sense for her. It was very interesting how enthusiastic about the race scenes, about the camera ankles, the screaming engines and the thrill of speed. The funny thing was that while she was sitting up during the race scenes I contrarily leaned back in my seat. And I began to smile. Because it felt familiar. Familiar noises. Familiar environment. That’s my personal compliment to the director.

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So if the Movie had stop after Hunt won the Championship it would have been a nice movie. But it became an amazing film because of what happened after that. Stepping out of the cinema I seriously ask myself which character I admire most. That’s usual for watching a movie, sitting in front of the TV or reading a novel, isn’t it? You try to find something from yourself in the main characters to position yourself and after all you always find that fight between the good and the bad guy in a Hollywood Blockbuster, don’t you? But there is no bad guy in ‘Rush’. It isn’t the generous Hunt and neither is it the eager Lauda that gives you any feeling of disfavour in the end. Because fundamentally they have been so similar with the same passion and the same goal. And it is exactly that insight what you wouldn’t reach until the end of the movie told from the perspective of Lauda and highlighted with scenes from their real life. It is exactly that fact that makes the movie so special. That touching story about real legends.   I’m not able to tell anything about the movie from a objective point of view. I’m not able to judge if the film will reach international success. I’m only able to report that as a great F1 fan, I went into the cinema with relatively high expectation and stepped out with all of them being fulfilled.  

Article by Rebecca Friese

   

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