No more excuses, say Ferrari

At the Circuit de Catalunya

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali surveys the Formula 1 paddock through mirrored windows from a scrupulously tidy white office on the first floor of the team's pristine motorhome.

What he could see on Friday morning at the Spanish Grand Prix was a world still coming to terms with the news that Ferrari have extended their commitment to Fernando Alonso, rated by many in F1 as the finest racing driver in the world, until the end of 2016.

As Alonso munched his breakfast outside his boss's office, the satisfaction Domenicali took from this development was plain. Yet the genial 46-year-old Italian remains a man with bigger problems to solve.

After the crushing disappointment of handing the 2010 drivers' title to Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel after a strategy error left Alonso stranded down the field in the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, Ferrari were expecting to bounce back strongly this season.

Fernando Alonso at the cockpit of his Ferrari

Ferrari have not yet laid down a serious challenge to Red Bull this season

So the reality that their car is lagging a long way behind Red Bull on pace has been something of a shock, and it has triggered a period of introspection and self-analysis at Maranello.

While Vettel has stormed to three wins and a second place in the first four races of the season, Ferrari and Alonso had to wait until the Turkish Grand Prix two weeks ago to score their first podium finish.

The sport's most iconic team has been open about the fact that the problem has a dual cause.

As their president Luca di Montezemolo has said: "We were a little bit too conservative with the new (car) project but also unfortunately we faced something we have never seen before - that the wind tunnel results have not been confirmed by the track. This is not an easy problem (to solve)."

In a rare exclusive interview here, Domenicali projected a tough edge that some in the paddock have at times accused of him of lacking - especially in comparison with his ruthless predecessor, Jean Todt, now president of the governing body the FIA.

"No doubt I was expecting a better car because from the winter testing the feeling was not too bad," Domenicali says. "We have discussed that we have this problem with the correlation from the wind tunnel.

"But as I said to my people, I do not want to speak about this again. The situation is as it is. For the last grand prix it seems not too bad in the race but we definitely need to improve in qualifying otherwise the race is always difficult.

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"That's where we stand now. My engineers (must) just understand that the others are pushing very hard and we need to improve. Full stop."

The wind tunnel problem is one thing - it has arisen from Ferrari's switch from using a 50% scale model of their car to simulate aerodynamic performance to a 60% model, and it is the sort of thing that can happen.

More worrying is the creeping conservatism in the design office. Domenicali admits that the roots of it lay in the team's domination of the early part of the last decade with Michael Schumacher, when a process of gradual iteration of a proven concept delivered five consecutive world titles.

That all changed with the introduction of new regulations in 2009, when Ferrari had their least competitive season for years. They recovered impressively to fight for the title with Alonso last year, but that championship bid was aided by Red Bull's faltering progress - it is not as if Ferrari had the fastest car.

"First of all," Domenicali says, "with all respect you can see I was pushing my team since Turkey 2010 to be more aggressive in terms of design, in terms of approach to the car.
"It's a matter of mentality, ideas and organisation. And I really push with my people to go towards that route that is not really there at the moment.

"That doesn't mean if you are conservative you can't win, because if you remember last year, unfortunately the result was not in our favour, but if Abu Dhabi had been different, the season would have been not great but fantastic.

"So we don't need to throw away all the things that relate to a different methodology, or a more normal approach to the design of the car.

"It is a matter of balance, but for sure I am pushing my people to look ahead in a different way. The new elements of the regulation now are quite clear, and I want to see a step in that direction very soon - different ideas, different concepts."

The Ferrari designers, then, face a period of mounting pressure. Not only is the boss on their back, but the knowledge that Alonso has committed the rest of his career to Ferrari creates a heavy burden that is rooted in its obvious benefits.

Alonso is, as Domenicali says, a "reference", one of very few drivers a team knows they can count on to deliver every last bit of a car's potential, on every lap, of every race of the season.

He has a tireless pursuit of perfection and he drives his employers hard. His view is simple - give me the car and I will win the championship for you.

For their part, the designers know that with Alonso there is no hiding place. Any shortfall in performance cannot be laid at the door of the driver. It can only be that the car is not quick enough.

That, says Domenicali, is the whole point. "That's what I need," he says. "I don't want to hear from my engineers that they have a problem with the wind tunnel. If you have something to improve you have to do it. The time of excuses is finished. I don't want to look for excuses - this is not our style, and it's not mine."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/05/ferrari_conscious_of_need_to_c.html

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Hamilton's pace threatens Red Bull

At the Circuit de Catalunya

Sebastian Vettel had the same question on his lips following his victory in a thrilling Spanish Grand Prix as everyone else. "We need to see where our pace went," he said.

It is an interesting question. Vettel and his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber qualified first and second in Barcelona, about a second faster than Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button in third, fourth and fifth places. And yet in the race Hamilton's McLaren was at least a match for the Red Bull. Indeed, as Vettel put it, "it seemed quicker".

It is the starkest example yet of a phenomenon that has been apparent throughout the year. For all Red Bull's breathtaking pace on a Saturday afternoon, the races have actually been pretty competitive.

The reasons why are complex, and vary depending on who you talk to. They will be explored in much more depth by my colleague Mark Hughes in his column on Tuesday.
What it means, though, is that a season that on paper looks like a Red Bull walkover is actually anything but.

Vettel might have taken four wins and a second place from the first five races of the season, but he has had to work hard for all of them.

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton will not give up the fight in the battle to beat Red Bull (Getty)

That was not expected to be the case here, of all places. If there are circuits that could have been made for the Red Bull, they are this track and Hungary's Hungaroring, where the combination of long corners of varying speeds plays perfectly into the hands of a team whose car is aerodynamically the class of the field.

Last year, Red Bull duly dominated both events. So for McLaren to run them so close this weekend bodes well for more battles of this intensity throughout the season. As does the fact that at Barcelona, where races have generally tended towards the soporific, this time the grand prix was exciting from start to finish, a sure indication that this year's new rules, with rapidly degrading tyres and the DRS overtaking device, are working.

Just as in China, the race was made by a slower car holding up the Red Bulls in the early stages, preventing them stretching their legs.

But the pace of the McLaren throughout the Spanish Grand Prix suggested Hamilton, on scintillating form, would have been able to take the fight to Vettel even without the intervention of Alonso's spectacular start in the ultimately slower Ferrari.

When Vettel finally cleared Alonso by using what Red Bull team principal Christian Horner described as an "aggressive undercut" - making a second stop at the very early stage of lap 18 - the German must have expected that the rest of the race would be pretty comfortable.

He did brilliantly to clear four slower cars during his 'out lap' and having seen Alonso emerge from the pits behind him next time around, Vettel must have thought that he was now in control.

But when Hamilton emerged from his second pit stop five laps later and began edging closer to Vettel, it became clear that was not going to be the case. "From then onwards," Vettel said, "I knew it would be very, very close."

While it was perhaps not that surprising that Hamilton, on tyres that were five laps fresher, was able to close in on Vettel between their third and final stops, it was impressive indeed to see him continue to do that in the final stint, when their tyres were at more or less identical stages of their lives.

What saved Vettel, Hamilton said, was the performance of the Red Bull in high-speed corners, the characteristics that put them on the front row.

The Red Bulls were the only cars that were able to take Turn Three, Turn Nine and the final corner flat out on the throttle in qualifying, a speed advantage over the other cars of something like 15.5mph - a huge amount. On race fuel and worn tyres they were no longer flat out there, but the pace differential between the Red Bull and the other cars remained comparable.

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That, said Hamilton, meant he was unable to stay quite close enough to Vettel, particularly through the final corner, to be able to bring the DRS effectively into action and make a pass.

"They were massively, massively quick in the high-speed Turn Three, Turn Nine and through the last corner," Hamilton said. "His downforce was incredibly clear for me to see. It is very, very difficult with the step in downforce they have against us."

In hindsight, race director Charlie Whiting may consider that the DRS zone, which started at the timing line, could have been moved further back to the exit of the last corner, to make it a little more effective.

Whatever, not all tracks are like Barcelona and the next two, Monaco and Canada, should even things out more between the two cars.

Horner said he was not overly worried. "It wasn't concerning at all," he said, "because we managed to win the grand prix.

"It would be very arrogant of us to believe we had a car that enabled us to pull away at a second a lap. We managed to have a phenomenal qualifying.

"McLaren pushed us hard in China. They were competitive there. They weren't competitive in Turkey and it tends to see-saw.

"They brought a huge upgrade, almost a B-spec car here, and the upgrades that we have managed to introduce have moved us forward. I think we're in a good situation.
"The form will continue to be circuit-dependent, where some teams will be stronger in the race and some teams stronger in qualifying."

Hamilton clearly fancies his chances around the streets next weekend, saying after the race: "It is good to come from this race on a positive footing going into Monaco, where a driver can make even more of a difference."

Which you can take to mean: I'm brilliant around Monaco, just watch me go.
He's right, of course. But he is not the only Monaco specialist in the field. Alonso, at his superb best here, is also an ace on street circuits - just look at Singapore last year. Webber - who took a stunning victory in the principality last year - is pretty handy there, too. And Vettel, who Red Bull feel has moved on to another level this season, will be desperate to prove he belongs in the same Monaco masterclass.

Qualifying next weekend, then, promises to be fascinating, and there has been much discussion in Spain about how the new rules will affect the race there.

Two weeks after that comes Montreal, where McLaren finished one-two last season and Red Bull's engine power deficit will bring them back closer to their rivals.

Vettel's lead in the championship - 41 points over Hamilton - is edging up towards two clear wins after just five races, but this season is a long way from over yet.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/05/xxx.html

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NASCAR Tickets - Talladega Brings Crashes, Leaves Seven Fans Wounded

The Talladega Superspeedway is known for its tight track and close races, and last weekend's Aaron's 499 at Talladega proved this to be true once again. Wrecks were the name of the game in Sunday's 'Dega race, as restrictor-plate racing gave way to multiple accidents in yet another intense race at the speedway. Three big accidents took out many of the Cup Series' top contenders, as a 13-car buildup early in the race on Lap 7 would set the tone for the day. A 10-car accident also ensued toward the end of the day with nine laps to go, and finally on the sprint to the finish Carl Edwards made Talladega's grand finale with a fiery crash that sent his car soaring through some fencing against the grandstands, injuring seven fans while sparking an unreleased medical condition with an eighth.

While Talladega's two multi-car pileups were ample cause for riled-up excitement in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race (as they took out Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer, Mark Martin, Martin Truex Jr., Sam Hornish Jr., A.J. Allmendinger, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick and several more top-runners,) it is Edwards' crowd-injuring crash that is likely to be remembered from the speedway. In the last lap of the 'Dega race, the battle for first place came down to a four-car struggle between Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr., with Edwards and Keselowski in a locked-in battle that ultimately led to Edwards' disastrous crash.

Keselowski nudged Edwards into first place with one lap to go in yesterday's intense race, but when Keselowski attempted to pass him, Edwards blocked the pass and inevitably caused contact that sent his car in a spiral, landing in a frontstretch fence and just barely missing contact with the grandstands. Debris went flying and ultimately injured seven race fans (though none seriously) becoming cause for evaluation by NASCAR officials to tighten safety features for upcoming races.

Carl Edwards made a statement following the race that while he wasn't pegging the crash on any one driver, he was upset that the accident had such a disastrous result. "I'm glad the car didn't go into the grandstands," he told the media. "I saw some fencing at one point and that made me a little bit nervous. I don't know if I could live with myself if I ended up in the grandstands." About the current rules on restrictor-plate racing at Talladega, Edwards said, "We'll race like this until we kill somebody, then [NASCAR] will change it."

This type of restrictor-plate racing that is in place at 'Dega also applies at Daytona, attempting to limit the high speeds at the two racetracks. Inevitably, this use of restrictor plates leads to a tightly-packed field on the track, and crashes are typically in high numbers at both speedways where they're in place. Dale Earnhardt Jr. spoke of this subject following Sunday's Talladega race, saying, "For years, we've had wrecks like this every time we've come to Talladega, ever since the plate got here. And for years it was celebrated. The media celebrated it, the networks celebrated it, calling it 'The Big One,' just trying to attract attention."

If these drivers sound like they're upset about the way things ran at Talladega, perhaps they are. Several drivers were out of luck yesterday following the two massive buildups during the race, and after the damage was done (including for those in the grandstands) reevaluation of the track and race will most likely be in question. Ryan Newman, who snagged a third-place finish at 'Dega, summed things up by saying, "Talladega is short for 'We're going to crash, we just don't know when.' We saw [an airborne car] two times this weekend, so maybe we need to look at things that keep the car down on the ground."

Indeed, some changes are unavoidable concerning safety at the track, but in the meantime the Cup Series will go on. Last weekend, Jeff Gordon lost his first-place standing for the first time since NASCAR season started, as Kurt Busch is now in first place after Talladega, and the excitement is just now getting started. Several more races are still to come this season, and NASCAR tickets are still available online in the meantime!

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Article Source: NASCAR Tickets - Talladega Brings Crashes, Leaves Seven Fans Wounded

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NASCAR Tracks - The Texas Motor Speedway

Texas Motor Speedway is the second largest sports facility in America and it plays host to professional auto racing, concerts and giant auto shows. Take a tour of the Speedway and get a birds-eye view of more than 150,000 seats and 1,000 acres that make up the Speedway. Texas Motor Speedway represents the pinnacle of luxury for fans of auto racing, as the facility features 194 sky box VIP suites. Order your tickets today. Texas Motor Speedway offers amenities to make every fan comfortable while they watch in awe as 43 Nextel Cup stock cars roar around the Texas track. There is no better way to spend an afternoon than with NASCAR tickets for the whole family.

Texas Motor Speedway also has a special ticket for $79 for fans who want to be close to the pre-race activities. The 7-Eleven Pre-Race ticket provides access to the infield and pre-race show stage area, a prime spot for viewing the entertainment as well as pre-race driver introductions. Texas Motor Speedway has begun to be a fast track and is becoming more like Atlanta! Texas Motor Speedway remains a favorite of racing fans because it is still managed by the legendary racing promoter Eddie Gossage. Gossage has managed TMS since it was built in 1996.

The Texas Motor Speedway also offers fans access to pit road where you can glimpse the behind-the-scenes workings of a pit crew. The Texas Motor Speedway is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long: The front stretch is 2,250 feet (686 m) long, and the back stretch is 1,330 feet (405 m) long. At 230 mph (337 f/s), the drivers take about 6.5 seconds to go down the front stretch, and then they are slammed by almost 5 Gs of force for the next 6.5 seconds as they go around the turn.

The Texas Motor Speedway's track has longer turns with higher banks at each corner than the Indianapolis 500 track. This affects the G-forces on the driver and how long they are acting on them. The Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5 mile obstacle that offers many of the same challenges as Lowes Motor Speedway. Banked turns and a long straightaway on the back half offer drivers the chance to let loose. The Texas Motor Speedway ticket office will be open from 9:03 a.m. Sunday and then traditional weekday hours from 9 a.m.

The Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5 mile obstacle that offers many of the same challenges as Lowes Motor Speedway. Banked turns and a long straightaway on the back half offer drivers the chance to let loose. The Texas Motor Speedway's track has longer turns with higher banks at each corner than the Indianapolis 500 track. This affects the G-forces on the driver and how long they are acting on them. The Texas Motor Speedway, that was designed very similar to the Atlanta Speedway, did have faster times during 2004 to 2005, but after its surface was worn, the higher speeds returned to Atlanta. Tracks such as Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway did once have faster lap times, averaging about 322 kilometers an hour, but NASCAR mandated restrictor plates for these tracks, making the average speed approximately 306 kilometers an hour.

The Texas Motor Speedway is a popular venue for concerts and live performances. The biggest names in entertainment perform at the Texas Motor Speedway year round.

For NASCAR Merchandise, Up to the minute News, and everything NASCAR including RaceCar jackets or Nascar Racing Car Jackets we have them at the best prices everyday!

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Lewis Hamilton outburst overshadows Monaco thriller

As if the Monaco Grand Prix had not already been dramatic enough, Lewis Hamilton's controversial comments afterwards will ensure it makes even bigger headlines across the world.

The McLaren driver quoted Ali G, the original spoof character dreamt up by Borat creator Sacha Baron Cohen, as he railed against the decision by race stewards to call him to explain his part in two separate incidents during Sunday's event.

Hamilton pointed out to BBC F1 pit-lane reporter Lee McKenzie that it was the fifth time in six races this year he had been called to account for his actions, and she asked him why he thought that was.

"Maybe it's because I'm black," he said, laughing. "That's what Ali G said. I dunno."

"People want to see overtaking and racing and you get done for trying to put on a show and make a move," he continued. "Fair play. If I really feel I've gone too late and hit someone, I'll put my hand up and say I've caused the incident and been the stupid one."

Hamilton described his being called to account for incidents for which he felt was blameless as "a joke", and described the rivals in question - Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Williams novice Pastor Maldonado - as "stupid".

What was he going to do about the situation? "I'll just try and keep my mouth shut," he said.

It is too late for that, though, even though McLaren went into damage-limitation mode after the race.

"Immediately after the race he was very down," team principal Martin Whitmarsh said, "and during a post-race TV interview he made a poor joke about his penalties that referenced Ali G. However, I'm pleased to say that he chose to return to the track a little while later to speak to the stewards about the joke. They accepted his explanation."

Hamilton's remarks came at the end of a weekend when nothing seemed to go right for him.

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A wrong call to do only one run in qualifying led to him starting the race from ninth place, after he made a mistake and cut a chicane on his flying lap.

Trying to make up ground in the race, a brilliant early pass on Michael Schumacher was followed by the two collisions with Massa and Maldonado.

Sir Jackie Stewart talks about the importance of ridding yourself of emotion before stepping into a grand prix car, but it looked as if Hamilton had not taken the great man's advice on Sunday.

Hamilton has made himself one of global sport's highest profile figures thanks to his inspirational driving, and cool, youthful image. And he has established himself in the four and a half years of his career as unquestionably the greatest overtaker in F1, as well as arguably its out-and-out fastest driver.

But he did not earn that reputation with performances like that in Monaco on Sunday. BBC F1 commentator Martin Brundle described his late lunge down the inside of Massa as "clumsy" and his attempt to pass Maldonado later on was similarly optimistic.

When Hamilton watches the incidents back, I suspect he might agree, as he may well regret his post-race comments when he calms down after what was admittedly an intensely frustrating weekend. It remains to be seen whether they will get him into hot water with governing body the FIA.

In the days of the former president Max Mosley, there is no question Hamilton would have been called up to answer a charge of bringing the sport into disrepute. His successor Jean Todt has taken a less antagonistic approach, but has not yet had to deal with a similar incident.

Brundle said he thought Hamilton had let frustration creep into his driving, and it certainly looked that way.

He entered Monaco expecting to fight for victory and was quick throughout practice on a circuit he adores and on which he excels, only for it all to slip agonisingly through his fingers.

That frustration will be heightened by the fact that Vettel is now in what has to be considered a virtually unassailable position in the championship.

Hamilton is well aware of how good he is. He aches to add more crowns to the one he won in 2008, and even before Monaco it was obvious that the fact this season is likely to be another barren year was already bubbling provocatively inside him.

But the sooner he realises that his quest to win the multiple titles he feels he deserves will not be helped by this sort of reaction, the better it will be for him.

While luck appeared to desert Hamilton in Monaco, the angels are truly smiling on Vettel this season. And it is not even as if he needs them.

Time after time, circumstance has intervened to make the German's path to victory easier than it should have been, and Vettel has taken full advantage.

Vettel's victory in Monaco on Sunday, his first in the principality, was his fifth in six grands prix so far this season. Only Jim Clark, Nigel Mansell, Schumacher and Jenson Button have achieved that and all of them ended the season in question as champions.

Vettel now leads the championship by 58 points - that means Hamilton, his closest pursuer, would have to take two wins and a sixth place with the Red Bull driver not scoring just to draw level.

It is the sort of margin that can be closed only by a driver in the best car. The problem is that it is Vettel himself who enjoys that luxury and, boy, is he capitalising on it.

His and Red Bull's domination is being founded on their blistering superiority in qualifying. In races, as Sunday demonstrated yet again, the Red Bull is far more vulnerable.

This time, a mix-up at Vettel's first pit stop meant he rejoined on the harder of the two tyre choices, the softs, when Red Bull had been intending to put him on the super-softs, which his closest pursuer Button chose to fit at his first stop.

The mistake made, Red Bull altered their strategy, in light of a mid-race safety car period, and decided to try to make it to the end of the race on those tyres.

That meant Vettel entered the final 30 laps of the race with tyres that were already 32 laps old and with two of F1's finest drivers closing in fast on fresher rubber.

The tyres on Fernando Alonso's Ferrari were 17 laps younger than Vettel's, Button's a full 31; and with a little less than 20 laps to go the three of them were running nose to tail.

Vettel, driving brilliantly as he has all year, had held them off relatively comfortably until a big crash involving Hamilton, Vitaly Petrov, Jaime Alguersuari and Adrian Sutil brought out the safety car again and subsequently the red flag.

The 20-minute stoppage before the race was resumed robbed millions of viewers around the world of what promised to be a spectacular climax to the race - it meant all the drivers could fit fresh tyres and Vettel survived the last eight laps of the re-started race without incident.

It will never be known whether he could have held off Alonso and Button had the race not been stopped.

But McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale told BBC pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz that by their calculations Vettel's tyres had no more than three more laps before they "dropped off the cliff", as F1 teams have taken to describing the moment the Pirellis that have done so much for the racing this year finally lose all their grip.

If Neale was right, even at Monaco Vettel would surely not have been able to hold Alonso and Button back.

Even Red Bull team principal Christian Horner admitted luck had shone on his team, saying the red flag was a "reprieve".

It was just the latest example of a recurring phenomenon this year. For all Vettel's searing qualifying pace, he is vulnerable in races, but events are transpiring to give him the breathing space he needs to keep winning.

Monaco followed Australia, Malaysia and Turkey this year as a race in which he might have faced a more serious challenge but didn't.

The championship may already appear to be a formality but the races themselves are making up for it with a combination of action and unpredictability that F1 has never seen before.

Next up is the Canadian Grand Prix, on one of the least favourable tracks for Red Bull, the long straights at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve favouring the extra power of McLaren's Mercedes engine and Ferrari over the Renault in the Red Bull.

Last year, Red Bull could manage only fourth and fifth in Montreal, behind Hamilton, Button and Alonso, in a race that prompted the decision to ask new supplier Pirelli to produce tyres that degraded rapidly.

The unique track surface there made the super-durable Bridgestones used last year behave like the Pirellis are doing at every race this season, and prompted the most exciting grand prix of the year.

If that happened when the racing was sometimes processional, even if the title fight was thrilling, the mind boggles at what could happen there in 2011.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/05/hamilton.html

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Has F1 made overtaking too easy?

There have been five grands prix so far in the 2011 Formula 1 season and every single one of them, in its own way, has been a cracker.

The introduction of faster wearing tyres from new supplier Pirelli, the DRS overtaking aid and the return of Kers power-boost systems has led to a perfect storm of close racing, overtaking and pit stops.

This has made for an exciting season even though Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel is running away with the championship after four wins and a second place in five races.

Yet there is disquiet in some parts of the Formula 1 paddock.

There is a purist view that what the world is seeing is some kind of pale shadow of what F1 really should be. Superficially the racing has improved, some are saying, but is it real? Is this F1 or a tainted, cheapened version of it?

After years of complaints about overtaking being too difficult in F1, about races tending towards the processional, about a general lack of entertainment, it might seem a somewhat perverse thing to say.

But the sense, in some quarters, is that in trying to spice up the show, the sport has veered a little too far towards showbiz and lost some of its true essence.

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He is careful about he expresses it, but Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber is one of the chief exponents of this view.

Ironically, Webber has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the new rules so far.

In China, where he qualified close to the back, the Australian used a clever strategy to benefit from the huge grip differences between new and old, hard and soft tyres, as well as the DRS, to climb up to third place by the end of the race, just seven seconds behind winner Lewis Hamilton.

So great was his pace advantage over his rivals in the latter stages that had the race been three laps or so longer Webber would have won. From 18th on the grid. In a race in which there was only one retirement. Even allowing for the superiority of the Red Bull, that is astonishing.

And yet Webber said afterwards that it felt a little hollow. Sure, he had enjoyed himself, and he was pleased with the result. But passing tough, world-class competitors such as Fernando Alonso so easily when they were effectively defenceless did not feel quite right. The racing, he says, is "less intense" than it was.

Webber brought up the subject again in Spain at the weekend, pointing out that the lap times F1 cars were doing on worn tyres and high fuel loads were only eight seconds faster than those of the GP3 cars, two categories down the motor racing ladder.

"We still need to be the pinnacle," Webber said. "We need to be able to push the cars to the limit throughout a grand prix and have very strong lap times, man against machine.

"Pirelli are working hard but we need to make sure the degradation and pace is still of a sensible magnitude and the cars can be put on the limit and not get too far on the showbiz side of things."

It's not just Webber, either. Last week, influential Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo weighed into the debate, too.

Di Montezemolo said: "Listen, I want to see competition, I want to see cars on the track. I don't want to see competition in the pits.

"A little bit, yes - but in the last race (Turkey) there were 80 pit stops. Come on, it's too much. And the people don't understand anymore because when you come out of the pits you don't know what position you're in.

"I think we have gone too far with the machines, too many buttons. The driver is focusing on the buttons, when you have the authorisation to overtake. We have gone too far."

Much of the criticism has, as Di Montezemolo said, focused on the DRS. This is a clever device that moves a part of the rear wing, reducing drag, and therefore increasing straight-line speed.

A driver can use it in a specified zone on the track, on the longest straight, when he is within a second of the car in front at a predetermined point before the DRS zone. The driver defending his position cannot use it.

The idea was to make overtaking easier - but not too easy. The problem is that people have looked at the Turkish race, and the number of times drivers sailed past rivals down the long back straight, and concluded that DRS is making overtaking like driving past someone on the motorway.

That, though, is a misunderstanding of what is actually happening. In Turkey, as in so many of the other races, what promoted the overtaking was the differing grip levels of the tyres at various stages of their lives.

As Charlie Whiting, the race director, points out, in a lot of the cases in Istanbul, the driver behind already had a massive speed advantage over his rival even before he got to the DRS zone. Because his tyres were providing him with so much more grip, he could slingshot out of the preceding corner so much faster.

In those circumstances, the pass would have been easy regardless, DRS or not.

"Our view has always been we shouldn't make it easy, we should make it possible," Whiting says.

"In Melbourne we didn't have quite enough length (in the DRS zone). I think it worked perfectly in Malaysia and China. But we're all learning here. I definitely don't think we've made it too easy.

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"I don't think anyone is under any illusion that it's the DRS that's allowing the overtaking. Opinions vary presumably, but tyres probably have a bigger part to play at the moment. I don't think we've gone over the top with the DRS, and we certainly don't want to. We've got no intention of doing that. We believe it's a good tool and hopefully you agree."

Although I share some of Webber's reservations, I also do not want to see fast cars stuck for ever behind slow ones just because the laws of aerodynamics dictate that drivers cannot follow closely enough to overtake. The DRS is a way of using technology to get F1 out of a hole that technology has got it into.

So, fundamentally, as long as governing body the FIA can find the right balance, I think Whiting is right on this, and the proof came in Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

Vettel spent the first 18 laps bottled up behind the fast-starting but slow Ferrari of Alonso. Red Bull tried to jump the Spaniard with an early first pit stop, but just failed when Ferrari responded and got out in front.

So they tried again and despite Vettel having to pass three cars on his out lap and Ferrari responding next time around, the German blasted past the pit exit just as Alonso was emerging.

Last year, with much slower wearing Bridgestone tyres meaning smaller pace differentials between the cars, Vettel would never have been able to pass three cars on his out lap, and he may well have spent the entire race behind Alonso.

At the same time, the difficulties all drivers had in passing down the main straight, the DRS zone, when they were able to pass elsewhere - around Turns Four, Five, 10 and 11, for example, where overtaking was previously very rare - proved that it was the tyres not the DRS that were making the difference.

"Barcelona had the possibility to be a drone-a-thon," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said after the race. "Two years ago here, Sebastian drove around looking at the exhaust of (Ferrari's) Felipe Massa for the whole grand prix.

"This has really changed the dynamics of that and a track where it's traditionally difficult to overtake and produce close racing has produced an absolute thriller. The regulations have obviously contributed and created that. They're working."

It's true that the tyres' fragility is stopping the drivers exploiting the full potential of their cars all the time. This may not always be desirable but, as my colleague Mark Hughes points out in his column, this season it probably is.

If the cars were all on rubber that allowed them to push to the limit in the race, Red Bull would probably be able to tap into more of the speed that gives them such a huge advantage in qualifying. In which case Vettel wouldn't just be winning, he would be driving off into the distance. The tyres appear to be making the racing close, and introducing competition that might not otherwise be there.

Despite Vettel's domination, all the races have been close and exciting to watch and that is having a startling effect on the television audience.

You might expect, for example, that a German winning nearly everything would cause TV audiences to switch off in the UK, but in fact the opposite has been the case.

The BBC F1 audience has been up at all but one race so far this year. China had the highest number of viewers that race has ever had. During the Spanish race, the peak audience was 1.2 million higher this year than last.

But far more telling is the behaviour of the audience during the race. In the past, there would usually be a peak at the start, a significant dip in the middle, another peak at a moment of high excitement - a crash, a pit stop etc - another dip and a peak at the end.

This year, though, the audience has started higher than before - and stayed there throughout the race. People dare not switch off for fear of missing something. Far from the races being too confusing - as some newspapers have said - they are proving to be gripping from beginning to end.

I'll leave the final word to Jenson Button. He was asked if F1 had veered too far towards 'showbiz'.

"There are more positives than negatives," he said. "Of course it's a show; that's what any sport is. We need viewers to exist and the viewers have gone through the roof supposedly. I don't think we've done anything wrong. We've definitely gone in the right direction."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/05/has_f1_made_overtaking_too_eas.html

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Lewis Hamilton outburst overshadows Monaco thriller

As if the Monaco Grand Prix had not already been dramatic enough, Lewis Hamilton's controversial comments afterwards will ensure it makes even bigger headlines across the world.

The McLaren driver quoted Ali G, the original spoof character dreamt up by Borat creator Sacha Baron Cohen, as he railed against the decision by race stewards to call him to explain his part in two separate incidents during Sunday's event.

Hamilton pointed out to BBC F1 pit-lane reporter Lee McKenzie that it was the fifth time in six races this year he had been called to account for his actions, and she asked him why he thought that was.

"Maybe it's because I'm black," he said, laughing. "That's what Ali G said. I dunno."

"People want to see overtaking and racing and you get done for trying to put on a show and make a move," he continued. "Fair play. If I really feel I've gone too late and hit someone, I'll put my hand up and say I've caused the incident and been the stupid one."

Hamilton described his being called to account for incidents for which he felt was blameless as "a joke", and described the rivals in question - Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Williams novice Pastor Maldonado - as "stupid".

What was he going to do about the situation? "I'll just try and keep my mouth shut," he said.

It is too late for that, though, even though McLaren went into damage-limitation mode after the race.

"Immediately after the race he was very down," team principal Martin Whitmarsh said, "and during a post-race TV interview he made a poor joke about his penalties that referenced Ali G. However, I'm pleased to say that he chose to return to the track a little while later to speak to the stewards about the joke. They accepted his explanation."

Hamilton's remarks came at the end of a weekend when nothing seemed to go right for him.

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A wrong call to do only one run in qualifying led to him starting the race from ninth place, after he made a mistake and cut a chicane on his flying lap.

Trying to make up ground in the race, a brilliant early pass on Michael Schumacher was followed by the two collisions with Massa and Maldonado.

Sir Jackie Stewart talks about the importance of ridding yourself of emotion before stepping into a grand prix car, but it looked as if Hamilton had not taken the great man's advice on Sunday.

Hamilton has made himself one of global sport's highest profile figures thanks to his inspirational driving, and cool, youthful image. And he has established himself in the four and a half years of his career as unquestionably the greatest overtaker in F1, as well as arguably its out-and-out fastest driver.

But he did not earn that reputation with performances like that in Monaco on Sunday. BBC F1 commentator Martin Brundle described his late lunge down the inside of Massa as "clumsy" and his attempt to pass Maldonado later on was similarly optimistic.

When Hamilton watches the incidents back, I suspect he might agree, as he may well regret his post-race comments when he calms down after what was admittedly an intensely frustrating weekend. It remains to be seen whether they will get him into hot water with governing body the FIA.

In the days of the former president Max Mosley, there is no question Hamilton would have been called up to answer a charge of bringing the sport into disrepute. His successor Jean Todt has taken a less antagonistic approach, but has not yet had to deal with a similar incident.

Brundle said he thought Hamilton had let frustration creep into his driving, and it certainly looked that way.

He entered Monaco expecting to fight for victory and was quick throughout practice on a circuit he adores and on which he excels, only for it all to slip agonisingly through his fingers.

That frustration will be heightened by the fact that Vettel is now in what has to be considered a virtually unassailable position in the championship.

Hamilton is well aware of how good he is. He aches to add more crowns to the one he won in 2008, and even before Monaco it was obvious that the fact this season is likely to be another barren year was already bubbling provocatively inside him.

But the sooner he realises that his quest to win the multiple titles he feels he deserves will not be helped by this sort of reaction, the better it will be for him.

While luck appeared to desert Hamilton in Monaco, the angels are truly smiling on Vettel this season. And it is not even as if he needs them.

Time after time, circumstance has intervened to make the German's path to victory easier than it should have been, and Vettel has taken full advantage.

Vettel's victory in Monaco on Sunday, his first in the principality, was his fifth in six grands prix so far this season. Only Jim Clark, Nigel Mansell, Schumacher and Jenson Button have achieved that and all of them ended the season in question as champions.

Vettel now leads the championship by 58 points - that means Hamilton, his closest pursuer, would have to take two wins and a sixth place with the Red Bull driver not scoring just to draw level.

It is the sort of margin that can be closed only by a driver in the best car. The problem is that it is Vettel himself who enjoys that luxury and, boy, is he capitalising on it.

His and Red Bull's domination is being founded on their blistering superiority in qualifying. In races, as Sunday demonstrated yet again, the Red Bull is far more vulnerable.

This time, a mix-up at Vettel's first pit stop meant he rejoined on the harder of the two tyre choices, the softs, when Red Bull had been intending to put him on the super-softs, which his closest pursuer Button chose to fit at his first stop.

The mistake made, Red Bull altered their strategy, in light of a mid-race safety car period, and decided to try to make it to the end of the race on those tyres.

That meant Vettel entered the final 30 laps of the race with tyres that were already 32 laps old and with two of F1's finest drivers closing in fast on fresher rubber.

The tyres on Fernando Alonso's Ferrari were 17 laps younger than Vettel's, Button's a full 31; and with a little less than 20 laps to go the three of them were running nose to tail.

Vettel, driving brilliantly as he has all year, had held them off relatively comfortably until a big crash involving Hamilton, Vitaly Petrov, Jaime Alguersuari and Adrian Sutil brought out the safety car again and subsequently the red flag.

The 20-minute stoppage before the race was resumed robbed millions of viewers around the world of what promised to be a spectacular climax to the race - it meant all the drivers could fit fresh tyres and Vettel survived the last eight laps of the re-started race without incident.

It will never be known whether he could have held off Alonso and Button had the race not been stopped.

But McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale told BBC pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz that by their calculations Vettel's tyres had no more than three more laps before they "dropped off the cliff", as F1 teams have taken to describing the moment the Pirellis that have done so much for the racing this year finally lose all their grip.

If Neale was right, even at Monaco Vettel would surely not have been able to hold Alonso and Button back.

Even Red Bull team principal Christian Horner admitted luck had shone on his team, saying the red flag was a "reprieve".

It was just the latest example of a recurring phenomenon this year. For all Vettel's searing qualifying pace, he is vulnerable in races, but events are transpiring to give him the breathing space he needs to keep winning.

Monaco followed Australia, Malaysia and Turkey this year as a race in which he might have faced a more serious challenge but didn't.

The championship may already appear to be a formality but the races themselves are making up for it with a combination of action and unpredictability that F1 has never seen before.

Next up is the Canadian Grand Prix, on one of the least favourable tracks for Red Bull, the long straights at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve favouring the extra power of McLaren's Mercedes engine and Ferrari over the Renault in the Red Bull.

Last year, Red Bull could manage only fourth and fifth in Montreal, behind Hamilton, Button and Alonso, in a race that prompted the decision to ask new supplier Pirelli to produce tyres that degraded rapidly.

The unique track surface there made the super-durable Bridgestones used last year behave like the Pirellis are doing at every race this season, and prompted the most exciting grand prix of the year.

If that happened when the racing was sometimes processional, even if the title fight was thrilling, the mind boggles at what could happen there in 2011.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/05/hamilton.html

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My preview of the next few grands prix

There is so much to look forward to over the next few races. First there is the Turkish Grand Prix, on a track very popular with the drivers. After that it's on to the true start of the European season in Spain. Then the incomparable Monaco Grand Prix and unique Canada, which always seems to produce a fantastic race, before I am back on this blog after the European Grand Prix in Valencia, which to be brutally honest has a track that does not live up to what is a great city.

I'm sure we're in for some fascinating action. In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy my preview of the next five races.

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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/murraywalker/2011/05/there_is_so_much_to.html

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NASCAR Tickets - NASCAR Continues To Thrive

Whoever thought that the current economic turmoil would leave the grandstands empty at sporting events didn't consider NASCAR's dedicated fan base. Stock car racing is one of America's favorite pastimes, and enthusiasts of the racing league have recently been proving their dedication to the sport, as NASCAR tickets have been selling out even despite the hard times during this recession. The gigantic amount of support from NASCAR fans has been overwhelming, and it was proven once again last weekend at the Bristol Motor Speedway, when a sold-out crowd came down to the grandstands to cheer on their favorite NASCAR drivers at the Food City 500.

Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee is one of stock car racing's most coveted racetracks, and last week's Food City 500 set a track record, but it wasn't the racecar drivers breaking precedents. For the 54th consecutive event in a row, the half-mile speedway sold out tickets to the track for a race, filling up all 160,000 seats in the stadium with racing enthusiasts set to cheer on their favorite NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitors like Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth. While the Bristol Motor Speedway has sold out tickets to the Food City 500 every year since 1982, this year the track and its employees had to work extra hard to turn out tickets to fans, as several corporate sponsors had handed their tickets back in during this economic recession. Bristol nonetheless accomplished this task, letting the tradition live on this year at the Tennessee track. The Food City 500 was also the second race of this NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season to sell out, following in the footsteps of the season opener at the Daytona 500.

At last weekend's Food City 500 race, the sold-out crowd at Bristol Motor Speedway watched anxiously as Kyle Busch zoomed his way to another Cup Series victory, yanking his second win of the season (after Las Vegas earlier this month) and also his second career win at what is dubbed "the world's fastest half-mile." Busch held off Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne (respectively) to whiz down Victory Lane in first place, using all the help he could get from his pit crew to propel him to the top of the NASCAR race. Busch almost lost his race-leading edge after a late pit stop in last week's Food City race, but after communicating with his pit crew, Busch said that, "I told the ladies to man up, and they got it done on the next stop. It is pretty awesome to win here. I should have won last fall here. We've had great cars, we just keep ruining it on pit road."

Kyle Busch now sits in fourth place overall in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, loosening the grip Jeff Gordon has over the league in points and climbing three spots from the last race. Gordon is still in first place in standings after finishing fourth at Bristol, sitting pretty with 794 total points while Kurt Busch has 718, Clint Bowyer has 715, Kyle Busch has 709 and Carl Edwards has 665. It's still anyone's game, however, so get tickets to a NASCAR race online and come out to the track to watch these phenomenal drivers speed circles around their competitors during the rest of the 2009 racing season!

This article is sponsored by StubHub. StubHub is a leader in the business of selling NASCAR tickets, sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and special events tickets.

Article Source: NASCAR Tickets - NASCAR Continues To Thrive

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/251701/nascar-tickets-nascar-continues-to-thrive

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