| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, November 30th 2012, 13:27 GMT |
A memorial service to remember the late Professor Sid Watkins will take place in London in January
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, November 30th 2012, 14:01 GMT |
Force India says speed rather than money will be the deciding factor in who lines up alongside Paul di Resta next year.
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| By Pablo Elizalde | Friday, November 30th 2012, 15:49 GMT |
Former grand prix driver JJ Lehto has been freed of all charges for his part in the boat accident that killed a friend in 2010
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| By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, November 29th 2012, 13:01 GMT |
Ferrari wants clarification from the FIA over Sebastian Vettel's overtaking move on Jean-Eric Vergne at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
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| By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, November 29th 2012, 11:45 GMT |
Exclusive analysis: Why Vettel's pass was legal
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| By Sam Tremayne and Michele Lostia | Thursday, November 29th 2012, 15:19 GMT |
Andrea Dovizioso was able to complete just two laps on the first day of Ducati's private test at Valencia on Wednesday due to the recurrence of a neck injury.
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| By Kevin Turner | Wednesday, November 28th 2012, 13:58 GMT |
British Touring Car racer Andy Neate has left the works MG squad, but will continue in the championship next season.
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| By Scott Mitchell | Wednesday, November 28th 2012, 13:14 GMT |
Former world champion Alan Jones rates Kimi Raikkonen's comeback season as "one of the most successful" the sport has seen.
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| By Sam Tremayne | Wednesday, November 28th 2012, 14:22 GMT |
Williams insists new signing Valtteri Bottas will not be given carte blanche and will instead be expected to deliver points finishes in his rookie season.
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| By Jonathan Noble | Tuesday, November 27th 2012, 11:55 GMT |
McLaren must use the momentum of its strong end to the season to prevent another world championship slipping through its grasp next year, according to team boss Martin Whitmarsh
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| By Matt Beer | Tuesday, November 27th 2012, 12:31 GMT |
Dario Franchitti admits his 2012 IndyCar campaign was 'painful' at times, as his run of titles came to an abrupt end
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| By Sam Tremayne and Matt Beer | Tuesday, November 27th 2012, 15:24 GMT |
McLaren will be less of a title threat after Lewis Hamilton's exit, reckons Red Bull boss Christian Horner
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, November 26th 2012, 13:53 GMT |
McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh has admitted to feeling some sadness now that Lewis Hamilton has had his last race for the team.
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, November 26th 2012, 14:35 GMT |
Valtteri Bottas says he needs to get racing in 2013 if he is to continue his development as a driver.
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| By David Evans | Monday, November 26th 2012, 15:30 GMT |
Mads Ostberg has sealed a full-time World Rally Championship seat with M-Sport's new Qatar-backed team for 2013
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| By Edd Straw and Matt Beer | Sunday, November 25th 2012, 14:14 GMT |
Bruno Senna believes a wet Brazilian Grand Prix could give him an excellent chance of bring his 2012 campaign to a strong end
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| By Edd Straw and Matt Beer | Sunday, November 25th 2012, 14:40 GMT |
Sebastian Vettel has vowed to push for victory in the Formula 1 season finale in Brazil even though he does not necessarily need to win to become world champion
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| By Edd Straw and Matt Beer | Sunday, November 25th 2012, 14:47 GMT |
Fernando Alonso says he will go into the Formula 1 championship-deciding Brazilian Grand Prix in a relaxed frame of mind as there is nothing more he and Ferrari can now do
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| By Jonathan Noble | Saturday, November 24th 2012, 14:07 GMT |
Pirelli has faith that the changes it is planning for its 2013 tyres will pay off, following a successful test of the new construction in Brazil on Friday
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| By Glenn Freeman | Saturday, November 24th 2012, 14:13 GMT |
Formula Renault Eurocup champion Stoffel Vandoorne broke Robin Frijns's lap record on the final day of Formula Renault 3.5 testing at Aragon on Friday
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| By Jonathan Noble and Dan Cross | Saturday, November 24th 2012, 14:38 GMT |
Paul di Resta believes Formula 1's recent one-stop races have sold the sport short
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| By Jonathan Noble and Pablo Elizalde | Friday, November 23rd 2012, 15:28 GMT |
Esteban Gutierrez believes it is too early to say if he is ready to compete in Formula 1 after securing a race seat with the Sauber team for the 2013 season
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, November 23rd 2012, 15:45 GMT |
McLaren sporting director Sam Michael thinks it is too early to judge whether Pirelli's 2013-spec tyres are easier to use, despite an encouraging first run in Brazil.
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| By Matt Beer | Friday, November 23rd 2012, 15:56 GMT |
Roger Penske has no doubt that Brad Keselowski can win multiple NASCAR Sprint Cup titles and become one the sport's biggest names.
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| By Jonathan Noble and Pablo Elizalde | Thursday, November 22nd 2012, 14:16 GMT |
Fernando Alonso says he was proud of his Ferrari team's decision to incur a deliberate penalty for team-mate Felipe Massa during the United States Grand Prix
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| By Jonathan Noble and Matt Beer | Thursday, November 22nd 2012, 14:30 GMT |
Bruno Senna believes he is still in his Formula 1 learning curve and would be much more competitive with a second full season with a competitive team in 2012.
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| By Jonathan Noble and Pablo Elizalde | Thursday, November 22nd 2012, 14:31 GMT |
Felipe Massa has set his sights on winning the Brazilian Grand Prix as he tries to help Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso in the Formula 1 championship battle
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| Wednesday, November 21st 2012, 14:59 GMT |
Brazil preview quotes: Force India
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| By David Evans | Wednesday, November 21st 2012, 14:18 GMT |
M-Sport has revealed it is already taking orders for its new Ford Fiesta R5, despite cars not being available for another five months
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| By Pablo Elizalde | Wednesday, November 21st 2012, 15:09 GMT |
Force India has been given a boost ahead of the 2013 season with the news of the approval of a £50 million investment programme
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| By Matt Beer | Tuesday, November 20th 2012, 13:15 GMT |
Yvan Muller insists there was nothing he could do to avoid putting Alex MacDowall into the barriers in a spectacular accident in the World Touring Car Championship season finale in Macau
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| By Jonathan Noble | Tuesday, November 20th 2012, 13:52 GMT |
McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh believes that Lewis Hamilton would be fighting for the Formula 1 world championship in Brazil this weekend if the team had got the most out of its car this year
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| By Dan Cross | Tuesday, November 20th 2012, 14:08 GMT |
Jeff Gordon described winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup finale at Homestead as an ideal apology after the turmoil that ensued following his retaliatory crash with Clint Bowyer at Phoenix
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, November 19th 2012, 14:36 GMT |
Renault will switch Red Bull on to its newest specification of alternator for the championship decider in Brazil following Mark Webber's failure in the United States Grand Prix
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| By Dan Cross | Monday, November 19th 2012, 14:54 GMT |
Jimmie Johnson believes that he and his Hendrick Motorsport crew should be 'proud' of their performance in the NASCAR Sprint Cup finale at Homestead, despite missing out on a potential championship victory
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, November 19th 2012, 15:42 GMT |
Sergio Perez thinks there is nothing he can do to end the scepticism over whether he is the right man to replace Lewis Hamilton at McLaren until he races for the team
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| By Jonathan Noble | Sunday, November 18th 2012, 12:02 GMT |
Lewis Hamilton has urged race officials to clean the grid for the United States Grand Prix over fears that those starting on the dirty side of the track will be hugely disadvantaged.
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| By Jonathan Noble | Sunday, November 18th 2012, 13:54 GMT |
Formula 1 team bosses say the sport may have to wait years to judge whether the sport's return to the USA has been a success
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| By Jonathan Noble | Sunday, November 18th 2012, 15:09 GMT |
Ferrari is considering replacing the gearbox in Felipe Massa's car before the start of the United States Grand Prix
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| By Diego Mejia | Saturday, November 17th 2012, 14:37 GMT |
Jeff Gordon's team boss Rick Hendrick has defended his driver's retaliatory crash with Clint Bowyer at Phoenix last weekend, saying Bowyer had got away with denying his squad its 200th NASCAR Sprint Cup win at Martinsville earlier this year
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| By Edd Straw and Matt Beer | Saturday, November 17th 2012, 14:53 GMT |
Daniel Ricciardo believes the potential for a tyre temperature-influenced lottery in the United States Grand Prix gives Toro Rosso hope of snatching a good result
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| By Jonathan Noble and Dieter Rencken | Saturday, November 17th 2012, 15:39 GMT |
The copyright case involving Force India and Aerolab/Caterham is set to return to court early in 2013, after it was ruled an appeal hearing could go ahead
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, November 16th 2012, 15:14 GMT |
Nico Rosberg will run Mercedes' old-specification exhaust in practice for the United States Grand Prix as the team seeks to better understand its recent aerodynamic developments
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, November 16th 2012, 15:26 GMT |
Lotus is heading in to the United States Grand Prix weekend better equipped to deliver success now that it has secured its first victory of the campaign
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| By Jamie O'Leary | Friday, November 16th 2012, 15:42 GMT |
The NASCAR Sprint Cup will continue to be shown on live on UK television for the next two years after Premier Sports increased its deal with the series
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| By Matt Beer | Thursday, November 15th 2012, 15:18 GMT |
Moto2 world champion Marc Marquez believes he has a lot to learn on his step up to MotoGP with the works Honda team, but was thrilled with his progress in his first test at Valencia on Wednesday.
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| By Matt Beer | Thursday, November 15th 2012, 15:23 GMT |
Porsche's leading American Le Mans Series team Flying Lizard will switch to the one-make GTC class for 2013 after the German manufacturer's decision to pause its factory GT programme.
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| By David Evans | Thursday, November 15th 2012, 15:37 GMT |
Rally of Portugal winner Mads Ostberg will now make a straight choice between Prodrive Mini and M-Sport Ford for his 2013 World Rally Championship deal, after Citroen confirmed Dani Sordo as its second driver
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| By Marcus Simmons | Wednesday, November 14th 2012, 10:52 GMT |
In the build up to this year's Macau F3 Grand Prix, AUTOSPORT's F3 reporter Marcus Simmons will interview some of the contenders of a top-quality entry
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| By Matt Beer | Wednesday, November 14th 2012, 12:43 GMT |
Mikko Hirvonen has no doubt about his ability to spearhead Citroen's World Rally Championship bid next season after Sebastien Loeb's retirement from full-time competition.
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| By Sam Tremayne | Wednesday, November 14th 2012, 15:44 GMT |
McLaren insists it will not allow Lewis Hamilton's 'painful' exit from the lead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to influence its programme at Austin this weekend.
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| By Diego Mejia | Monday, November 12th 2012, 15:04 GMT |
Kevin Harvick and Richard Childress have all but confirmed they will not continue to work together beyond 2013, following reports of Harvick's departure to Stewart-Haas Racing for 2014
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| By Pablo Elizalde | Monday, November 12th 2012, 15:04 GMT |
Formula 1 teams will have an extra set of hard tyres at their disposal for Friday practice for this weekend's United States Grand Prix
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| By Pablo Elizalde | Monday, November 12th 2012, 15:46 GMT |
The HRT Formula 1 team has confirmed it is looking for a new owner after being put up for sale by Thesan Capital
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| By Sam Tremayne | Sunday, November 11th 2012, 15:13 GMT |
Dani Pedrosa admits he was wracked with doubts about his tyre choice at Valencia and that only a last-second 'instinct' call made him start from the pitlane
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| By Sam Tremayne | Sunday, November 11th 2012, 14:58 GMT |
Casey Stoner confessed that he rode scared in Valencia as concern for his injured ankle influenced his performance in his MotoGP farewell
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| By Sam Tremayne | Sunday, November 11th 2012, 13:55 GMT |
Dani Pedrosa triumphed in a wild and chaotic Valencia MotoGP finale in which champion Jorge Lorenzo violently crashed out while leading
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| By Sam Tremayne | Saturday, November 10th 2012, 15:31 GMT |
Jorge Lorenzo admits he had no response to Dani Pedrosa's shock turn of speed in qualifying for the Valencia Grand Prix
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| By Sam Tremayne | Saturday, November 10th 2012, 15:41 GMT |
Dani Pedrosa felt he had absolutely nothing in reserve as he set a new lap record and captured pole position for the final MotoGP race of 2012 at Valencia
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| By Matt Beer | Saturday, November 10th 2012, 15:52 GMT |
Sebastien Loeb stormed away from the field on the second afternoon of the Rally of Spain
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| By Simon Strang | Friday, November 9th 2012, 15:40 GMT |
Silverstone has completed its refunding process for customers who were forced to miss parts of the British Grand Prix weekend because of poor weather, AUTOSPORT has learned
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| By Pablo Elizalde | Friday, November 9th 2012, 14:44 GMT |
Kimi Raikkonen has promised there is more to come from him and his Lotus team following their victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
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| By Pablo Elizalde | Friday, November 9th 2012, 15:30 GMT |
Lotus boss Eric Boullier says his team never had any doubts that Kimi Raikkonen would deliver in his return to Formula 1
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| By Pablo Elizalde | Thursday, November 8th 2012, 15:08 GMT |
McLaren is confident it will have a faster car at next weekend's United States Grand Prix thanks to progress made during the young driver test in Abu Dhabi
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| By Glenn Freeman | Thursday, November 8th 2012, 15:21 GMT |
GP2 champion Davide Valsecchi impressed the Lotus team on his way to topping the final day of Formula 1's Abu Dhabi young driver test.
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| By Jamie O'Leary | Thursday, November 8th 2012, 15:37 GMT |
Teenagers Jake Hill and Tom Grainger made their British Touring Car test debuts with Motorbase Performance at Brands Hatch this week.
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| Wednesday, November 7th 2012, 13:35 GMT |
Antonio Felix da Costa moved Red Bull to the top of the timesheets on the second day of the Abu Dhabi young driver test.
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| By Sam Tremayne | Wednesday, November 7th 2012, 15:23 GMT |
2011 McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award winner Oliver Rowland completed his prize test in McLaren's 2011 MP4-26 car at Silverstone today.
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| By Pablo Elizalde | Wednesday, November 7th 2012, 15:41 GMT |
Antonio Felix da Costa was delighted after making the most of his second day of testing for Red Bull in Abu Dhabi
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| By Sophie Williamson-Stothert | Tuesday, November 6th 2012, 15:09 GMT |
Team USA Scholarship drivers Spencer Pigot and Sean Johnston will test with British Formula 3 team Double R Racing at Pembrey this week
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| By Jim Holder and Jonathan Noble | Tuesday, November 6th 2012, 15:15 GMT |
Tony Fernandes is to step down as team principal of Caterham before the end of the season so he can focus more on developing his road car business
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| By Sam Tremayne | Tuesday, November 6th 2012, 14:41 GMT |
Toro Rosso says Luiz Razia's proficiency on his first day with the team led to a productive first day of testing in Abu Dhabi
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, November 5th 2012, 14:59 GMT |
Red Bull has faith that Renault has learned from the fuel issues that resulted in Sebastian Vettel being thrown to the back of the grid at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
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| By Matt Beer | Monday, November 5th 2012, 14:47 GMT |
Double Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion Andreas Mikkelsen believes he has now done enough to earn the third works Volkswagen seat in next year's World Rally Championship.
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| By Matt Beer | Monday, November 5th 2012, 15:25 GMT |
Ferrari needs to have a car quick enough to win the United States Grand Prix next weekend if it has any chance of keeping Fernando Alonso's championship hopes realistically alive, says team president Luca di Montezemolo.
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| By Jonathan Noble and Pablo Elizalde | Sunday, November 4th 2012, 15:46 GMT |
Fernando Alonso does not see the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as a missed opportunity to gain more ground on Sebastian Vettel, a podium finish being more than he expected from the race
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| By Matt Beer | Sunday, November 4th 2012, 15:50 GMT |
Lewis Hamilton reckons McLaren had a dominant car in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and would have delivered a one-two finish with a trouble-free weekend.
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| By Matt Beer | Sunday, November 4th 2012, 15:57 GMT |
Nico Rosberg felt there was absolutely nothing he could do to avoid his dramatic collision with Narain Karthikeyan in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
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| Saturday, November 3rd 2012, 15:40 GMT |
Fernando Alonso - 7th: "In all three free practice sessions, we were always around this position, so it would have been too optimistic to hope for more in Q3: a place between fifth and eighth was within our expectations going into the session and that's where we are. I did almost the same time on three occasions between Q2 and Q3, which means there was nothing more to come. I am pleased with the work we have done today, because we squeezed every last drop of performance out of the car. The updates we brought here have improved our performance but the others have not been relaxing on the sofa watching television while twiddling their thumbs...Usually, Saturday is the day we suffer the most, while on Sunday things always go better: let's hope that will also be the case this time. It's also true that with so little tyre degradation, the strategic choices are much more limited and so too the opportunities to make up places. We know that in the three remaining races, we must score fourteen points more than Vettel and that is our one and only objective."
Felipe Massa - 9th: "This is definitely a rather difficult and complicated weekend, at least up until tonight. We were hoping to be able to start a bit further up, at least on the front three rows of the grid. In Q3, I opted to run a different programme to my team-mate, partly because I only had one set of new Options available. Looking back, one could say that was not the best choice, but it's always easy to be wise with hindsight. I did not have all the updates we brought here: that was definitely not great, but looking at Fernando's result, it didn't make a difference. On the last lap I had a bit of oversteer in one corner which cost me a few hundredths: maybe I could have been eighth but it would not have changed much. Honestly, today it would have been hard to do more than this. Let's hope that tomorrow, thanks to a race pace that is traditionally our strong point, we can make up some places. This circuit seems to suit some cars particularly well: the McLaren was not this quick in the last three races, but here Hamilton took pole really smoothly."
Stefano Domenicali: "Obviously we are not happy, in fact we are very disappointed with this result. We were unable to give our drivers a car with which they could compete for the front rows of the grid, despite all our best efforts here at the track and back at the factory in Maranello. It's true that in the race we have almost always seen that the gap to the best is reduced, but we can't always hope for exceptional performances like the one Fernando produced last Sunday in India. However, it's crazy to see how things have changed in just a week, with the pecking order varying from track to track by half a second. But now there's no point crying over spilt milk: we will just roll up our sleeves and concentrate on preparing for tomorrow's race. I often say it: the points are handed out on Sunday and the sums will be done at the end of the season. We have a duty to do our utmost in every area and there can be absolutely no doubt about that."
Pat Fry: "All I can do is repeat what our boss has said: we are disappointed that we did not give our drivers a sufficiently competitive car. We had brought various updates here, some only fitted to Fernando's car, because we do not yet have enough of them for both. Unfortunately, the whole package did not work the way we had expected before coming here, at least relative to the progress that the other teams have made. Both Felipe and Fernando did the maximum they could: unfortunately they had already reached the limit in Q2, which explains why it's not by chance that Fernando did practically the same time three times in a row, while the others raised the bar in Q3. It's clear that the McLarens, especially Hamilton, seem out of reach this weekend, but all the same, we were hoping to start from higher up the grid. Now we must prepare as well as possible for the race. We know we can count on a good pace and on a top speed which will allow us to overtake. We will try and make up as many places as possible and to make the most of a slightly different grid order to the one we have seen in recent races."
| Saturday, November 3rd 2012, 15:37 GMT |
Kimi Raikkonen - 5th: "Qualifying was good. The car hasn't felt fantastic all weekend but we decided we weren't going to change the car's set-up from where it was for the last race. It was the right choice because in the end the circuit came to us in qualifying where the car was the best it has been so far here. We'll give tomorrow our best shot; Let's see if we can make a good start to get right behind the Red Bulls, and then we'll see what happens after that."
Romain Grosjean - 10th: "It wasn't a great qualifying lap for me today, and P10 is not where we want to be on the grid. In the last run in Q3 I had no grip so wasn't able to find more pace. The car had felt fine before that and we looked good through the other qualifying sessions. It just means I have some more work to do in the race and I think there's more to come from me and the car."
| By Matt Beer | Saturday, November 3rd 2012, 15:49 GMT |
Jenson Button was left utterly baffled by his McLaren's lack of speed in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying.
While his team-mate Lewis Hamilton blasted to a dominant pole position, Button was 0.660 seconds slower in sixth place.
He had only been 10th and ninth in Q1 and Q2 respectively.
"All weekend I've been happy and the pace has been good," Button said.
"But in qualifying it wasn't there and I don't know why. If I knew, I would've sorted it out, so I don't know.
"Obviously the car is very quick - Lewis is on pole by quite a bit. I'm five or six tenths off. It's a lot of laptime."
Asked what exactly he was struggling with, Button replied: "Lots. Understeer on turn-in. Traction very poor. Locking up fronts and rears. So there's lots that wasn't working."
Although he had been confident about his long-run pace in practice, Button was not sure whether that would be sufficient to make up ground.
"On Friday the car was working well on high fuel and we had the quickest long run, so hopefully we can put that to good use," he said.
"But it's going to be difficult."
| Friday, November 2nd 2012, 15:47 GMT |
Daniel Ricciardo - 17th/17th: "At the start of FP1, grip or the lack of it was a problem, but we improved the car in between the two sessions and while the short runs went okay, the long run was not as successful. Generally we were off the pace today. The heat? It's not as bad as Singapore and no problem to deal with."
Jean-Eric Vergne - 18th/18th: "It was nice to be back here, at this circuit that I know better than any other on the Formula 1 calendar, at the wheel of this car. It was an enjoyable day out on track, however, I had a problem on the car this evening which lost me some track time. We seem to suffer from a general lack of performance, which I think stems from not having enough downforce. But we have been in this situation before on a Friday and managed to recover for Saturday and especially for Sunday, so we just need to work hard tonight on seeing how best to move forward."
Laurent Mekies, Chief Engineer: "It was a difficult and yet productive day for us. We struggled with a general lack of grip, although we made progress on this front between the two sessions. However, we think there is quite a bit more to find before we can achieve a good car balance, which will allow our drivers to push harder than they can at the moment. That is what we will be working on tonight. Jev lost 20 minutes towards the end of the second session, with a front suspension issue. We chose to take our time to check it out thoroughly, before sending him out again at the end. We tend to move forward from Friday to Saturday in terms of balance, so we hope that we can again find some solutions for tomorrow. At least we gathered plenty of data in the first session, so we have something to work with to recover some of the pace that was lacking today."
| Friday, November 2nd 2012, 15:51 GMT |
Nico Rosberg - FP1: 7th/FP2: 12th: That was a good testing day, and we were able to evaluate a lot of different things. Unfortunately we are still lacking some pace but I hope that we can achieve some points with a good strategy tomorrow and on Sunday. Generally tyre degradation is not as big as last year, so it will be interesting to see how the race turns out.
Michael Schumacher - FP1: 6th/FP2: 14th: Today we saw what I would call a 'normal' Friday - doing certain programmes, changing the set-up and typical data collection work. What we saw at the end of the day is probably where we are, so a pretty realistic picture. At the moment we are driving to finish in the points, and that is what we will target for the weekend. On a different note, it really is impressive and beautiful to drive here, and to drive from daytime into the night really is special.
Ross Brawn: We completed a very useful programme today, and worked through a number of evaluations, particularly looking ahead to next year. The balance of the car looks reasonable after the first two sessions, although there are some areas still in need of improvement. The midfield is very tight again, so we will work on our performance on new tyres to ensure that we can qualify as strongly as possible tomorrow. As always, the facilities here at the Yas Marina Circuit are extremely impressive, and the amount of fans enjoying the unique atmosphere is great to see.
Norbert Haug: A Friday test day for us with no surprises. We ran through our planned programme and at the end of the second session we performed long runs during a race simulation with quite consistent lap times.
| By Pablo Elizalde | Friday, November 2nd 2012, 15:54 GMT |
Sergio Perez believes Sauber has the pace to make it into Q3 on Saturday after finishing in the top 10 in the second practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Mexican, who has not finished in the points since the Singapore Grand Prix, was 10th quickest in FP2 after what he labelled as a positive day.
"For me it was a good day," said Perez, who has qualified in the top 10 twice in the past three races.
"We have completed our entire planned programme, so in this respect it was very positive.
"I am comfortable with the balance of the car and, therefore, I think my position in the second session is pretty much what we are capable of here.
"This means Q3 is possible."
Team-mate Kamui Kobayashi endured a more difficult day as he struggled with the balance of his car, finishing down in 16th place.
"I definitely have to work and improve the balance of the car," he said. "At the moment it isn't right in any regard, but it is only day one in Abu Dhabi.
"The track's grip normally improves a lot here, which might also help. Today I didn't really manage to get the tyres to work.
"However, on long runs I don't see any issues with either the soft or medium compounds in terms of degradation."
| By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, November 1st 2012, 14:41 GMT |
Red Bull expects Mark Webber to do what is best for the team if circumstances dictate that he needs to help Sebastian Vettel.
With the championship battle distilling down to a straight fight between Vettel and Fernando Alonso, Webber could play a crucial role in the outcome of the title battle.
But although Red Bull will not impose any direct orders on Webber until he is mathematically out of the championship hunt, team principal Christian Horner said on Thursday that he has no doubts the Australian knows what is expected of him.
"Mark is a strong competitor and he is a big team player," explained Horner. "I am quite convinced that he will want to see the team achieve its best possible results.
"I am sure as a team player, if required, he will do everything to support the team.
"Mathematically now it is very difficult for him to win the championship and he is a smart guy. He has been an important part of the team and I have every confidence that he will be doing his best to help the team achieve its objectives for the championship."
When asked to expand on whether any direct instructions have been given to Webber, Horner said: "I think you can talk about so many scenarios and then a scenario you haven't talked about is the one that comes up.
"Mark is a bright guy, and he has been around a long time. He is a key member of the team and I think that he will be able to do his best.
"His primary objective is to make sure we achieve the constructors' championship and for us that we have got both drivers ahead of Fernando [Alonso].
"He was desperately unlucky last week not to keep Fernando behind after having to run reduced power and KERS for most of the race. So he will be driving his best to ensure that we have got two Red Bulls right up the front end."
| By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, November 1st 2012, 15:05 GMT |
Lewis Hamilton says he is not disheartened at the growing task he appears to be facing at Mercedes, with the outfit having not scored a point since he signed for it.
While Hamilton remains fully focused for now on trying to help McLaren win more races, it has not escaped his attention that his future employer has endured its worst spell of the campaign.
When asked in Abu Dhabi how Mercedes's run of three races with no points makes him feel, Hamilton said: "It makes me more driven to go and score the next point at some stage!"
He added: "I am very happy with the decision I made and it doesn't impact on that.
"Sometimes people do lose their way, and even we have struggled in the past to score points.
"But I have not really focused on them to see what problems they have had with the car or crashing or anything, I have not noticed it.
"I have been focused on trying to get this constructors' championship for the team, and trying to get the maximum point for us. It is theoretically still possible for us to win the constructors' championship so it will be all guns blazing."
Hamilton said that he already understood the challenge he would be facing in joining Mercedes, although he did suggest that perhaps the last few weeks had made his task just a bit bigger.
"I already knew when I made the decision," he said. "I knew how big it was. I really, really thought about it hard and I could see how big it was. Perhaps it is growing as a task, but I am excited about it.
"I really, really am excited to meet the new people, to be in a different environment and get to mould myself into that environment."
Current team-mate Jenson Button believes that Hamilton would face a tough time next year in getting used to a new team, and could find difficulties that he did not anticipate.
"I think it is first year with a new team, and it is always a little bit tricky," he said. "It is a new experience for Lewis and I am sure he is excited about it, but I really don't know.
"He is as quick as they come but sometimes it is not that easy to win grands prix and to build a team around you and help a team achieve good results."
| By Matt Beer | Thursday, November 1st 2012, 15:39 GMT |
Jenson Button thinks the lack of excitement in the Indian Grand Prix proves that Formula 1 has benefited from Pirelli's efforts to spice up the sport.
Although Pirelli has attempted to ensure dramatic racing by engineering high degradation levels into its tyres since it returned to f1 in 2010, in India the rubber proved long-lasting - leading to a relatively uneventful one-stop race.
Button's McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton said he revelled in this, as he was able to push all race without worrying about tyre conservation.
AUTOSPORT analysis: Indian GP a warning from the past
But Button said he felt sorry for the fans after India.
"I think it's more enjoyable when you have more stops, because there's more overtaking, more fights, different people on different strategies," he argued.
"I think for the viewer it's better when there's more degradation."
He is adamant that the best drivers have still shone through despite tyre management becoming more significant.
"You always end up with the right end result in the championship with the better teams at the front," Button said. "But it has mixed it up a lot and I think that's a good thing."
The 2009 world champion's only concern is that results could become too random when the tyres perplex teams. Button put his mid-2012 slump down to issues getting the best out of the Pirellis.
"I think next year there will be a lot of degradation from the tyres as well," he said.
"Hopefully it will be easier to understand, because I think that's been the frustrating thing for most, trying to understand what makes them work and what doesn't."
Button did admit that being able to go flat out to the finish in India was enjoyable. He set the fastest race lap on the final tour.
"I must admit the end of the race on the prime tyre was great fun because you really could be really aggressive with the car," he said.
"Normally when you get a bit of oversteer you damage the tyre and it's gone for a lap. You could be aggressive with it at the last race and it was nice from that point of view.
"But in terms of racing I think it's better when there's more degradation."
