Take a virtual lap around the Marina Bay circuit in Singapore with Fernando Alonso.
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Felipe Massa in talks with Lotus
Felipe Massa has his eyes firmly set on the vacant Lotus seat after announcing his departure from Ferrari, and since the announcement was made that Kimi Raikkonen will take his place at Ferrari.
Massa has confirmed that he is in negotiations with Lotus for the race seat.
The possibility of a straight swop seems very enticing from many angles and it will be very interesting to see how Massa would perform at Lotus.
Massa told Globo Esporte that Lotus appeals to him as the most competitive option remaining on the 2014 F1 grid.
“We are negotiating,” he told the publication. “In my opinion, Lotus has a competitive car, which is what I want. We are having many conversations to try to find a way, not only for me but for Lotus, to continue with a good car.”
Massa revealed he has also been in talks with McLaren but said he that Lotus is still his best option. “I’ve had contact with McLaren but I cannot judge, it’s hard to say,” he said. “With Lotus, the contact was very good,” Massa added.
Nicholas Todt, Massa’s manager, last week told Canal Plus that Massa is determined to drive for a competitive team next year.
“He never would go to a smaller team to be second driver,” Todt said. “We need to find a car that can challenge at the front in F1. The best place available is undoubtedly the one left by Raikkonen at Lotus.”
Eric Boullier last week confirmed that Lotus is in talks with a number of drivers about the 2014 season and that Lotus will make their decision “shortly”.
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Lego RUSH Trailer
A brilliant Lego trailer of the F1 movie, Rush, released in the UK on 13 September.
This is really brilliantly done and a good tribute to the movie Rush!
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Pre-order F1 2013 Classics
If like us, you can’t wait to get your hands on F12013 Classics, which is set for release on 4 October for Playstation 3, then do yourself a favour and pre-order so long!
F12013 is the latest game in the award-winning FORMULA 1 franchise from Codemasters which has sold over 6.5 million units. The culmination of five years of experience in developing cutting edge FORMULA 1 titles, F1 2013 delivers a range of new features, improvements, modes and, for the first time in the series, classic content.
F1 2013 features all the cars, circuits and stars from the 2013 season, allowing gamers to race as Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes and Sergio Perez in the McLaren-Mercedes for the first time, and includes all of the new drivers, updated rules, tyre changes and remodelled handling to authentically reflect the challenge and exhilaration of racing 2013’s stunning roster of FORMULA ONE cars. A range of enhancements, improvements, split-screen and online multiplayer plus new and returning game modes deliver the most complete simulation of a FORMULA ONE season in video-game history.
F1 2013 gives FORMULA 1 fans the chance experience a range of classic content in a brand new game mode introduced by legendary broadcaster Murray Walker. F1 Classics allows players to race legendary drivers in iconic cars and features two period circuits. This classic content can also be enjoyed in a range of further game modes including split-screen and online multiplayer modes.
Click here to pre-order F1 2013 or F1 2013 Classics now from AWX.
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F1 and the Big Boo Theories
The world of F1 always dishes up a good deal of speed, fun, scandal and every now and then, a bit of booing. Reynard Gelderblom sent us his thoughts on the last week in F1.
Even though the 2013 Italian Grand Prix in itself wasn’t the most exciting F1 race of the season, the entire week at Monza proved to be one of the most interesting. Usually at this point in time I’d have expressed my point of view on one big issue relating to Formula 1, this time I’ll touch on a few.
First off, you can’t call yourself a F1 fan if just the mere thought of the Italian GP doesn’t bring a shivering sense of anticipation to you. One of the most historic circuits in the country known for Ferrari and the beyond-fanatical support for the manufacturer. Regardless of where your allegiance lies, everyone loves the tifosi – the loyal fraternity of the Prancing Horse.
During the podium celebrations at the Italian GP I would admit that I lost some respect for some of them. Regardless of the fact that the budget for one F1 season is probably greater than that of some developing countries per annum, it’s still and always will be a sport. There is no place for “booing” in sport.My message to those tifosi: Your man Fernando Alonso was never in contention for the victory during the race. It wasn’t a close fight to the flag – it was Sebastian Vettel showing dominance. Stand up and salute the victor or sit down and shut up if you can’t be real sportsmen.
I live in Cape Town and that sort of behaviour is the exact reason why Western Province rugby and cricket fans are considered the most unsportsmanlike supporters this side of hemisphere. By the way the first place goes to the fans of Galatasaray Football Club.
And, did anyone notice how visibly disgusted Mark Webber looked with his team mate’s win? Yes, we all know that he’s still sour about the Malaysian GP when Vettel passed him despite team orders, but go ask anyone in the nearby fashion capital Milan, and they’ll tell you: “There’s never a reason to walk around looking like last month’s jug of milk in the back of the fridge”.
Let’s dish out a good award here as well though…
The set of brake pads for the fastest driver of the week goes to…. Felipe Massa. If he ever enters a head-to-head fastest tweet competition, his opponent should be playing off a handicap. Massa was just a tad eager to announce his departure from Ferrari after 2013 on the social network platform, Twitter.
Eeeaasy there son, save that speed for the Sunday race – and I don’t mean on the way to the race. The Brazilian of course also made the news for a speeding ticket he collected on route to Monza on Sunday morning.
Given the amount of booing Vettel received for beating Alonso in the race, I wouldn’t have wanted to be the traffic cop involved when he went back to the office saying “Hey guys, I just booked a Ferrari F1 driver, in a Ferrari, on the Sunday of the Italian GP for speeding on the way to Monza”.
Be sure that I will be watching Twitter to see if any of the reporters I’m following are tweeting something about a traffic cop facing treason charges.
And still at Ferrari: Out with the old… in with the… eh old. Kimi Raikkonen has finally been confirmed as Fernando Alonso’s team mate for 2014.I’m certainly looking forward to this and I’m sure now that the Iceman has picked his spot, the rest of the F1 paddock can now continue their game of F1 musical chairs to decide who drives what. Something I would like to mention though: Remember Senna and Prost at Mclaren in 1989, Alonso and Hamilton at McLaren in 2008?
Alonso is no one’s No.2 and Raikkonen is certainly not going to be anyone’s either – and there can only be one No.1. Alonso doesn’t play well with others and Raikkonen plays at his best on his own. While I’m sure that Vettel is picking a hairstyle to celebrate his fourth World championship already, I’m looking forward to the hair flying at Ferrari in 2014.
And a final note: This article goes out to the person who asked me recently “How can you sit and watch anything as boring as F1?” No name calling here… Too many people called each other idiots at Monza.
Reynard Gelderblom is the motorsport editor for Street Motion.
Keep up to date with the latest local motorsport news by following Street Motion on Twitter.
Photo Credits:
Tifosi from the podium – Fernando Alonso (Twitter)
Alonso selfie – Fernando Alonso (Twitter)
Kimi Raikkonen – F1 Madness screengrab
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Ferrari vs Lotus: Personnel Wars
Kimi Raikkonen is not the only thing Ferrari has poached from the Lotus F1 team. The Italian squad has announced two new members who are set to join from the Enstone based team.
Ferrari has bolstered its technical side of operations by signing Lotus’ head of aerodynamics Dirk de Beer. Earlier in the year Ferrari snapped up the highly sought-after former Lotus technical director James Allison. Allison’s Ferrari duties officially started at the beginning of September. Team principal Stefano Domenicalli has also revealed that Allison’s account of Raikkonen’s ability to deliver techincal input and feedback helped convince the team to lure the Finn back to the Ferrari stable.
Jarrod Murphy, head of computer aided design (CAD) in Enstone will also set off for Ferrari after 17 years of service. It is believed that Ferrari has made the signing of Murphy on the request of James Allison.
In turn, Lotus has signed up Ferrari’s chief aerodynamicist Nicolas Hennel. Hennel is expected to start work at Lotus next month and his focus will be required on the 2014 car from the get-go.
It is also believed that Felipe Massa is now in contention for a seat at Lotus for 2014. Nicolas Todt, Massa’s manager, and Lotus team principal Eric Boullier has revealed that the Brazilian in the running for what they term to be “the best seat” left on the grid. “What is certain is that other teams are interested in Felipe,” said Todt. “Felipe will never play second fiddle in a small team, so what we need to do is find him a car that allows him to play a leading role in Formula 1.”
Up until this point Nico Hulkenberg has been linked with replacing Raikkonen at Lotus. Hulkenberg was also in contention at Ferrari and is highly regarded by the top teams in the paddock.
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Vettel Skipped Webber’s European Farewell Party
Sebastian Vettel skipped Mark Webber’s farewell party after the Italian Grand Prix according to sources.
The Italian GP was the final European race of the current season and also Mark Webber’s last Formula 1 race in the continent.
Red Bull hosted a farewell party for Webber to mark the occasion but his team mate was missing from the celebrations.
Sebastian Vettel skipped the farewell party which was attended by several other F1 drivers and team personnel.
The party was held upstairs in Red Bull’s motor home at Monza and according to Bild, the German was sitting in the floor below playing with his iPhone.
The rocky relationship between the Red Bull teammates, turned significantly sour after the episode at the Malaysian GP earlier this year where Vettel chose to ignore team orders and steal the win from Webber. Since then, the two are rarely seen in the paddock talking to each other.
Webber himself has been avoiding taking part in the team photos and celebrations that Red Bull conduct after one of their drivers win a race. Vettel’s first win of the season was in Malaysia, but the photo call was dropped entirely due to the tension between the two drivers. Webber has since skipped all photo sessions for Vettel’s next four race wins.
Webber was present for the team photo call again in Monza, however, since it was his best result at the Italian GP and his final European F1 race.
There most certainly will be no love lost between the Red Bull team mates when Webber leaves for sportscar racing with Porsche next season.
Photo: Red Bull Racing
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Ferrari’s 2014 driver lineup explosive says Schumacher
According to former team champion Michael Schumacher, Ferrari has put together a potentially “explosive” driver lineup for 2014, referring to the appointment of Kimi Raikkonen alongside their current ‘number 1’ driver Fernando Alonso.
Schumacher, who was pushed into his first retirement at the end of 2006 when Ferrari signed Raikkonen, said that “For motor sport fans it will certainly be a blast, and make for a tough competition.”
“It will be exciting to watch,” Schumacher told Bild newspaper. “But Ferrari with Fernando and Kimi — it sounds like an explosive mixture,” he added.
Another former Ferrari driver, four time world champion Alain Prost, as voiced some concern over how Fernando Alonso will handle Raikkonen alongside him. “Now he will no longer be the undisputed number 1, at least not initially, and I’m not sure Stefano Domenicali has the ability of a Jean Todt or a Ross Brawn to handle a situation like this,” Prost told a French TV broadcaster.
“In Italy the press applies a lot of pressure, so I presume that sooner or later there will be trouble,” added Prost.
Photo Credit
By Morio (photo taken by Morio) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons -
Mark Slade to be Raikkonen’s Ferrari Race Engineer?
Kimi Raikkonen has been officially announced as a Ferrari driver for 2014. Will Mark Slade take the reins on the pitwall as his race engineer?
The rapport between driver and engineer is one of the most crucial relationships within any Formula 1 team and with Raikkonen’s move away from Lotus speculation has been rife as to who will take over as the monosyllabic Finn’s race engineer. Rumoured to be in the running is current race engineer, Mark Slade.
The Raikkonen/Slade relationship goes back quite a ways. Mark Slade first became Raikkonen’s primary race engineer in 2002, his first season at McLaren. Slade continued as Raikkonen’s engineer throughout all five seasons at McLaren.
Raikkonen’s first three seasons at Ferrari were shared between Chris Dyer (2007 – 2008) and Fernando Alonso’s current engineer, Andrea Stella (2009).
A brief partnership with Simon Rennie at Lotus in 2012 was responsible for the now infamous “just leave me alone, I know what I’m doing” radio message. However, in 2013 Raikkonen once again teamed up with Mark Slade. It comes as no surprise then that Slade is rumoured to be moving with Raikkonen to Ferrari.
Felipe Massa’s race engineer, Rob Smedley, has been linked with a move to Williams but may yet end up with the Brazilian at his next team.
Photo: Lotuscars.com
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Lotus will make driver decision shortly says Boullier
Lotus will make a decision on its 2014 driver line-up “shortly” after losing Kimi Raikkonen to Ferrari earlier this week.
Raikkonen’s decision leaves Lotus with at least one vacant seat. Romain Grosjean, who is out of contract at the end of the season is now more likely to stay with Lotus to provide some stability.
Team principal, Eric Boullier says he is already talking to a number of drivers and should be in a position to announce Raikkonen’s replacement shortly, although he says that Lotus has no reason to hurry.
“We are currently in discussion with a few people and will make a decision shortly,” Boullier told the official Lotus F1 Team’s website.
“We are in the privileged position of being the most desirable team on the grid with a seat available, so we are therefore in no rush to announce anyone without establishing what will be the best for our team and the future.”
Boullier added that he hoped Raikkonen could end his time with Lotus on a high.
“We still have seven races together and our aim is to provide both him and Romain with the best machinery possible. There’s still a tough fight out there and we’re still pushing to improve on last season again with P3 in the constructors’ championship.”
Photo by Lotus F1 Team
