| By Pablo Elizalde | Thursday, November 29th 2012, 16:58 GMT |
Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone believes the controversy over Sebastian Vettel's overtaking move in the Brazilian Grand Prix is a "complete joke"
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| By Sam Tremayne | Thursday, November 29th 2012, 17:37 GMT |
Nelson Piquet Jr will make his Daytona 24 Hours next year after signing with Action Express Racing.
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| By Scott Mitchell | Thursday, November 29th 2012, 18:33 GMT |
Rick Kelly will drive Nissan's new V8 Supercar challenger for the first time this weekend
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| By Pablo Elizalde | Wednesday, November 28th 2012, 17:18 GMT |
Maria de Villota underwent further surgery last week following her dramatic accident during testing for the Marussia team
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| By Sam Tremayne | Wednesday, November 28th 2012, 18:02 GMT |
Michael Laverty and Yonny Hernandez have both been named as Paul Bird riders in the provisional 2013 MotoGP entry list.
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| By Sam Tremayne and Pablo Elizalde | Wednesday, November 28th 2012, 18:53 GMT |
Red Bull boss Christian Horner admits he was impressed by the way Sebastian Vettel managed to keep his focus and rise above the 'gamesmanship' of rival teams
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| By Jonathan Noble | Tuesday, November 27th 2012, 16:11 GMT |
Pirelli hopes that a decision on whether or not it will continue as Formula 1's tyre supplier for 2014 can be made well before next June's deadline
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| By Michele Lostia and Matt Beer | Tuesday, November 27th 2012, 17:17 GMT |
Valentino Rossi hopes his victory in last weekend's Monza Rally marks the start of an upsurge in his fortunes ahead of his return to the Yamaha MotoGP team
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| By Sam Tremayne and Matt Beer | Tuesday, November 27th 2012, 17:58 GMT |
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has thanked Michael Schumacher for his 'gracious' gesture of handing sixth place to Sebastian Vettel at the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, November 26th 2012, 16:59 GMT |
Red Bull believes it can be even stronger in Formula 1 next year as it targets yet more world championship success
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, November 26th 2012, 17:08 GMT |
Ferrari is confident that it will be able to provide Fernando Alonso with a car that is capable of winning the Formula 1 championship next year after his near-miss in 2012
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| By Matt Beer | Monday, November 26th 2012, 18:08 GMT |
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo wants his team to undertake a full analysis of its organisation and practices to ensure it does not repeat the poor start that cost it in the 2012 Formula 1 title race.
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| Sunday, November 25th 2012, 21:37 GMT |
Brazil Sunday quotes: Ferrari
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'); if (google_ads[0].type == "text") { for(i=0; i '; } s += '' + '' + '' + google_ads[i].line1 + '| Sunday, November 25th 2012, 21:40 GMT |
Brazil Sunday quotes: Red Bull
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'); if (google_ads[0].type == "text") { for(i=0; i '; } s += '' + '' + '' + google_ads[i].line1 + '| By Jonathan Noble | Sunday, November 25th 2012, 21:52 GMT |
Red Bull boss Christian Horner labelled the Brazilian Grand Prix as the most stressful race he had experienced in his career.
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| By Edd Straw and Matt Beer | Saturday, November 24th 2012, 21:15 GMT |
Kamui Kobayashi thinks he might still have an opportunity to remain in Formula 1 with another team despite losing his Sauber seat to Esteban Gutierrez.
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| By Edd Straw and Matt Beer | Saturday, November 24th 2012, 20:22 GMT |
Kimi Raikkonen reckons his Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying would have been much more competitive had he not lost significant practice mileage to engine problems.
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| Saturday, November 24th 2012, 20:52 GMT |
Brazil Saturday quotes: Lotus
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'); if (google_ads[0].type == "text") { for(i=0; i '; } s += '' + '' + '' + google_ads[i].line1 + '| Friday, November 23rd 2012, 20:30 GMT |
Brazil Friday quotes: Lotus
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'); if (google_ads[0].type == "text") { for(i=0; i '; } s += '' + '' + '' + google_ads[i].line1 + '| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, November 23rd 2012, 20:32 GMT |
Ferrari can head into the Brazilian Grand Prix with a level of confidence about its chances of fighting Red Bull wheel-to-wheel after an encouraging opening day of practice, reckons Felipe Massa
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| Friday, November 23rd 2012, 22:15 GMT |
Friday's press conference - Brazil
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'); if (google_ads[0].type == "text") { for(i=0; i '; } s += '' + '' + '' + google_ads[i].line1 + '| By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, November 22nd 2012, 19:09 GMT |
Mercedes is set to abandon its Coanda-effect exhaust for the final race of the season in a bid to try and get a better understanding of its tyre situation.
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| By Glenn Freeman | Thursday, November 22nd 2012, 19:20 GMT |
Kevin Magnussen topped Formula Renault 3.5 testing for the third time since the end of the season, as he led the way on day two of this week's Aragon test.
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| By Matt Beer | Thursday, November 22nd 2012, 19:34 GMT |
Lewis Hamilton admits that his final race with McLaren in Brazil this weekend could be his last chance to win a grand prix in a while.
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| By Pablo Elizalde | Wednesday, November 21st 2012, 16:37 GMT |
Formula 3 Euro Series champion Daniel Juncadella will return to GP2 action when he tests again with the Rappax team at Jerez
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| By Michele Lostia and Sam Tremayne | Wednesday, November 21st 2012, 16:44 GMT |
Valentino Rossi admits he learnt nothing during his barren two-year spell with Ducati.
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| By Gary Watkins | Wednesday, November 21st 2012, 17:26 GMT |
The Anglo-Swiss Rebellion LMP1 squad will race full-time in next year's American Le Mans Series in the wake of its victory in the season-ending Petit Le Mans enduro at Road Atlanta last month.
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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 Sam Tremayne | Tuesday, November 20th 2012, 16:06 GMT |
IndyCar's interim CEO Jeff Belskus has been replaced by Mark Miles as the chief executive officer of Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Hulman & Co
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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 Diego Mejia | Monday, November 19th 2012, 16:39 GMT |
Roger Penske believes Brad Keselowski's leadership qualities were pivotal in his team's first NASCAR Sprint Cup title success
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| By Glenn Freeman | Monday, November 19th 2012, 19:01 GMT |
Champions from eight junior single seater championships lead the entry for this week's Formula Renault 3.5 rookie test at Aragon
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, November 19th 2012, 00:23 GMT |
Red Bull boss Christian Horner says his team's third consecutive title may be a dream come true for the outfit - but its job for the season is still only half done.
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, November 19th 2012, 00:36 GMT |
Red Bull has admitted that the latest alternator failure suffered by the team is a 'worry' ahead of the season finale in Brazil.
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| By Diego Mejia | Monday, November 19th 2012, 01:19 GMT |
Brad Keselowski became the first Penske driver to clinch a NASCAR Sprint Cup title with a 15th-place finish at Homestead as Jimmie Johnson retired with a transmission problem and Jeff Gordon took the final win of the 2012 season
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| By Matt Beer | Saturday, November 17th 2012, 21:56 GMT |
Kimi Raikkonen described Lotus's strong United States Grand Prix qualifying form as a pleasant surprise given how badly it had struggled with tyre issues in practice.
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| By Edd Straw and Pablo Elizalde | Saturday, November 17th 2012, 22:57 GMT |
Marussia's sporting director Graeme Lowdon was surprised Sergio Perez got away without a penalty following his clash with Charles Pic during final practice at Austin
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| By Dieter Rencken and Matt Beer | Saturday, November 17th 2012, 23:11 GMT |
Mercedes stands by its decision to switch Nico Rosberg back to an older car specification for United States Grand Prix qualifying, despite him struggling to 17th on the grid as a result.
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| By Diego Mejia | Saturday, November 17th 2012, 01:42 GMT |
Joey Logano claimed pole position at Homestead in his final NASCAR Sprint Cup race for Joe Gibbs Racing, while points leader Brad Keselowski qualified third, seven places ahead of title rival Jimmie Johnson
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| Saturday, November 17th 2012, 03:19 GMT |
Mark Winterbottom gave his slim V8 Supercars title hopes a boost by beating championship leader Jamie Whincup to pole position at Winton
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| By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, November 15th 2012, 23:16 GMT |
Formula 1 teams will face tougher front wing tests next year, with the FIA keen to clamp down on team's exploiting the flexible bodywork rules.
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| By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, November 15th 2012, 23:47 GMT |
Formula 1 chiefs are considering revising the qualifying rules for next season to remove ambiguity over what is a justifiable reason for cars not completing their in-laps.
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| By Peter Mills | Friday, November 16th 2012, 02:39 GMT |
World Touring Car Championship points leader Rob Huff eschewed a cautious start to the title-deciding Macau event by setting the fastest time of the weekend so far in Friday morning practice
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| By Pablo Elizalde | Wednesday, November 14th 2012, 17:41 GMT |
Audi has been granted two of 16 automatic entries to the 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours by organising body the Automobile Club de l'Ouest
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| By Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, November 14th 2012, 21:05 GMT |
Formula 1 is to have a new medical rescue co-ordinator next year, after the FIA decided not to renew the contract of the long-serving Gary Hartstein beyond the end of this season
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| By Mark Glendenning | Wednesday, November 14th 2012, 21:47 GMT |
Graham Rahal says that the potential in the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team was the main spark behind his decision to join the team for the 2013 IndyCar season
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| By Sam Tremayne | Tuesday, November 13th 2012, 18:30 GMT |
Andrea Dovizioso said he felt instantly comfortable on his first day working with the works MotoGP Ducati team
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| By Matt Beer | Tuesday, November 13th 2012, 17:10 GMT |
Marc Marquez accepted Honda's decision to postpone the first test of his MotoGP career until conditions improve at Valencia
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| By Sam Tremayne | Tuesday, November 13th 2012, 18:48 GMT |
Bradley Smith said he was devastated to lose his first day at a MotoGP rider to the adverse weather conditions at Valencia
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| By Kevin Turner | Monday, November 12th 2012, 17:29 GMT |
Mini racing champion Chris Knox will test with British Touring Car squad ES Racing this week.
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| By Sam Tremayne | Monday, November 12th 2012, 17:34 GMT |
Two-time MotoGP champion Casey Stoner admitted his MotoGP farewell weekend at Valencia was a surreal experience.
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| By David Evans | Monday, November 12th 2012, 17:34 GMT |
Ford team principal Malcolm Wilson paid tribute to the Blue Oval's commitment to the World Rally Championship after its last rally in Spain
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| By Matt Beer | Sunday, November 11th 2012, 18:13 GMT |
Yamaha described stand-in rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga's surprise Valencia podium as a deserved boost for Ben Spies' crew at the end of a difficult 2012 MotoGP season for the team working on Yamaha's second bike
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| By Sam Tremayne | Sunday, November 11th 2012, 20:10 GMT |
Cal Crutchlow reckons he was culpable for the mistake which led to him crashing out of second in a treacherous Valencia finale
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| By Diego Mejia | Monday, November 12th 2012, 01:23 GMT |
Kevin Harvick fended off Kyle Busch to claim Richard Childress Racing's first win of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, while Brad Keselowski moved into the Chase lead after Jimmie Johnson hit the wall in an eventful afternoon at Phoenix
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Subscribe to Premier Sports TV to watch all Sprint Cup events live in the UK. Visit www.premiersports.tv for more information.
| 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 Michele Lostia and Sam Tremayne | Saturday, November 10th 2012, 18:18 GMT |
A Spec ECU and datalogger system will be made compulsory in MotoGP from 2014, governing body the FIM has announced
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| By Diego Mejia | Friday, November 9th 2012, 20:41 GMT |
Jimmie Johnson is confident NASCAR Sprint Cup title rival Brad Keselowski will race him fairly in the remaining two races of the Chase following their hard battle for victory last week at Texas
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| By Diego Mejia | Friday, November 9th 2012, 22:04 GMT |
Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart have remained tight-lipped over a report that Harvick will join the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion's Stewart-Haas team from 2014
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| By Diego Mejia | Saturday, November 10th 2012, 03:32 GMT |
Kyle Busch claimed pole position for Sunday's penultimate NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase round at Phoenix while championship leader Jimmie Johnson struggled
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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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| By Kevin Turner | Thursday, November 8th 2012, 17:55 GMT |
Alex Zanardi tested a modern DTM BMW M3 for the first time today as part of the 40th anniversary celebration of BMW's Motorsport division.
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| By Pablo Elizalde | Wednesday, November 7th 2012, 17:26 GMT |
Alberto Cerqui says he remains a ROAL driver despite being replaced for the Macau round of the World Touring Car Championship
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| By Sam Tremayne | Wednesday, November 7th 2012, 17:26 GMT |
IndyCar's Simon Pagenaud admits he could be tempted to compete in future Global Rallycross events after enjoying his first test in the category at a Las Vegas track last week.
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| By Matt Beer | Wednesday, November 7th 2012, 17:31 GMT |
Brad Keselowski believes he still has every chance of denying Jimmie Johnson the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup title, despite Johnson's wins in the last two races moving him into a seven-point lead with two rounds to go
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| By Sam Tremayne | Tuesday, November 6th 2012, 16:04 GMT |
Antonio Felix da Costa was happy to ease into his first day of testing Red Bull's RB8 in Abu Dhabi
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| Tuesday, November 6th 2012, 21:29 GMT |
Daniil Kvyat ended the first day of GP3 testing at Estoril on Tuesday on top of the timesheets
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| By David Evans | Tuesday, November 6th 2012, 21:45 GMT |
The FIA has appointed new firm Sistemas Integrales de Telecomunicacion (SIT) to run World Rally Championship safety tracking and timing
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| By Edd Straw | Monday, November 5th 2012, 17:02 GMT |
Formula 1's final young driver test of the season kicks off in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, with Red Bull and McLaren among the six teams running.
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| By Edd Straw and Matt Beer | Monday, November 5th 2012, 17:04 GMT |
Sauber team boss Monisha Kaltenborn has urged McLaren-bound Sergio Perez to remember that helping his current squad to a strong finish to the Formula 1 season is still important for his career and reputation
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| By Matt Beer | Monday, November 5th 2012, 17:40 GMT |
Jimmie Johnson reckons his NASCAR Sprint Cup title rival Brad Keselowski took things 'right to the edge' in their battle for the Texas race lead, but did not object to Keselowski's driving.
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| By Diego Mejia | Monday, November 5th 2012, 03:58 GMT |
Jimmie Johnson overtook title rival Brad Keselowski on a green-white-chequered finish to claim his fifth win of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway
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| By Mark Glendenning | Sunday, November 4th 2012, 20:00 GMT |
Mario Andretti has called on IndyCar stakeholders and media to stop letting politics dominate coverage of the sport
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| By Jonathan Noble | Sunday, November 4th 2012, 20:18 GMT |
Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes Sebastian Vettel's drive in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was one of the best of his career
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| By Pablo Elizalde | Saturday, November 3rd 2012, 19:47 GMT |
Sebastian Vettel will start the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from the pitlane following his penalty for a fuel infringement.
The Red Bull driver qualified in third position but was sent to the back of the grid as his car did not have sufficient fuel on board for the mandatory one-litre sample that is taken out for analysis.
Vettel was ordered to stop on track right after qualifying due to what Red Bull said was a fuel system issue.
Red Bull's decision to start from the pitlane means it will be able to make some changes to Vettel's car's set-up ahead of the race.
"One of the best ski jumpers of all times once said 'Every chance is an opportunity and as far as we are concerned there are still plenty of chances tomorrow'," said Vettel after finding out about the penalty.
Championship rival Fernando Alonso, 13 points behind in the standings, will start from sixth.
| By Edd Straw | Saturday, November 3rd 2012, 20:12 GMT |
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is convinced that the necessary fuel for the mandatory one-litre sample was in Sebastian Vettel's car but that regulations preventing the removal of bodywork meant that it could not be extracted.
The FIA stewards' decision stated that scrutineers found "an insufficient quantity of fuel for sampling purposes", which led to Vettel being excluded from qualifying.
But Horner, who accepted that the penalty was fair, insists that the fuel was there, but that a full litre could not be extracted without removing bodywork, in contravention of Article 6.6.4 of the Formula 1 technical regulations.
"The rules dictate that one litre has to be able to be provided without the removal of bodywork, without manipulating the car," said Horner.
"We believe that the fuel is in the cell, according to what Renault have told us, but you cannot dismantle the cell to give the sample.
"The car will be worked on tonight, so it is out of parc ferme, and we should have a better understanding and hopefully a cure for tomorrow."
The need for fuel sampling is covered by Article 6.6 of the F1 technical regulations, which reads:
6.6 Fuel draining and sampling
6.6.1 Competitors must provide a means of removing all fuel from the car.
6.6.2 Competitors must ensure that a one litre sample of fuel may be taken from the car at any time during the Event.
Except in cases of force majeure (accepted as such by the stewards of the meeting), if a sample of fuel is required after a practice session the car concerned must have first been driven back to the pits under its own power.
6.6.3 All cars must be fitted with a -2 'Symetrics' male fitting in order to facilitate fuel sampling. If an electric pump on board the car cannot be used to remove the fuel an externally connected one may be used provided it is evident that a representative fuel sample is being taken. If an external pump is used it must be possible to connect the FIA sampling hose to it and any hose between the car and pump must be -3 in diameter and not exceed 2m in length. Details of the fuel sampling hose may be found in the Appendix to these regulations.
6.6.4 The sampling procedure must not necessitate starting the engine or the removal of bodywork (other than the cover over any refuelling connector).
| By Jonathan Noble | Saturday, November 3rd 2012, 20:17 GMT |
Red Bull says it is baffled as to the nature of the fuel cell problem on Sebastian Vettel's car that resulted in him getting thrown out of qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Vettel will start from the pitlane at the Yas Marina circuit on Sunday after he was disqualified from his third place slot on the grid for not having enough fuel in his car for a mandatory one-litre fuel sample to be taken.
With the team and Renault both convinced there was enough fuel in the car to provide the sample - but the limits of the regulations preventing it being extracted – the FIA had no choice but to exclude Vettel from the results.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said on Saturday night that his outfit and Renault had no immediate answers for what had gone wrong, which is why Vettel's car was being pulled from parc ferme so a full investigation could be undertaken.
"It is frustrating. It's annoying. It is one of those things," explained Horner, whose team had successfully proven that there was a 'force majeure' reason for stopping Vettel after his qualifying effort.
"It is an issue that was reported on the in-lap. The instruction from Renault was clear. They wanted us to stop the engine immediately due to an issue that they saw within the fuel cell. We did that.
"The FIA accepted that, they accepted the technical issue that Renault reported to us, and unfortunately as the regulations dictate there has to be a one litre fuel sample to be able to taken from the car, and it is only 850ml that has been extracted.
"Renault are convinced that the rest of the fuel is in the tank but we have taken the car out of parc ferme tonight to further investigate."
He added: "It is a frustrating scenario and we need to get into the fuel cell to understand what the issue is. We are working with Renault on it, and they dictate the amount of fuel that goes into the car.
"They are happy with the margins, they are happy with the amount of fuel that should be in the car but for whatever reason we have had this issue on the slow down lap."
Vettel's car being taken out of parc ferme means he will now start from the pitlane, which is a blow to his hopes of further extending his points advantage over Fernando Alonso in the championship table.
Horner said, however, that there were still opportunities for Vettel to limit the damage of what has happened.
When asked what impact he believed the result would have on the title battle he said: "It is difficult to say.
"There is a long race ahead of us and there is an opportunity, so we will go into the race, we will attack the race and I am sure Sebastian will demonstrate to everybody why he is a great racer.
"He has come from the back and produced great races before and I have no doubt he can do it again. There is no reason why Sebastian cannot salvage something."
| By Edd Straw and Sam Tremayne | Friday, November 2nd 2012, 18:16 GMT |
Paul di Resta has switched to a new chassis in Abu Dhabi in a bid to move on from the 'fundamental' issue which had blighted his last few races.
The Scot had previously told reporters that he was hopeful the issue had been solved.
AUTOSPORT has learned he has switched to a new chassis, the first time he has done so this season.
Despite the switch, di Resta admitted there were still problems for him to overcome, namely making up the time lost when third driver Jules Bianchi took the reigns in first practice.
"We're not as concerned as we were - I think we have sorted it," di Resta confirmed in relation to his previous issue.
"We're still trying to catch up though. It was quite a difficult day [with having] to miss a session, and it's very tricky to get the car in the right working window.
"We're a bit behind where I'd like to be yeah, but not concernedly so because I think its better to have that going in to tomorrow.
"In terms of the session we got through everything we had to achieve in the outline, so now we can sit down and really get into then nitty gritty of it ahead of tomorrow."
Di Resta stressed the importance of getting the tyres into the right operating window, saying unlocking Pirelli's rubber would be fundamental to a strong weekend.
"We're going to need a step tomorrow morning for Q3 - our immediate competitors seem quite quick, and certainly Williams looks strong," he said.
"I think there is a very narrow [tyre] window, and if you can get yourself in it you can go. I'm reserved at the moment because I have only done one session, and we know we have work to do.
"The car is moving about a lot here and they have changed the kerbs quite a lot so I think it is quite a different approach.
"Every session I went out I got better and by the long run it seemed to be a good step better again.
"The guys already have things written down to change it, and I think with overnight changes we should have a further benefit."
| Friday, November 2nd 2012, 19:25 GMT |
Andreas Mikkelsen kicked off the weekend that will see him officially crowned as the final Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion by setting the pace on stage one in Cyprus.
With Skoda opting not to enter Juho Hanninen and Jan Kopecky for the season finale, reigning champion Mikkelsen's points lead is unassailable.
The Norwegian was quickest by 4.4 seconds on the Pafos street stage that kicked off the last rally in IRC history.
Production Cup driver Jarkko Nikara upstaged the rest of the Super 2000 pack with second place in his Subaru.
World Rally regular and 2010 Cyprus winner Nasser Al-Attiyah and double Production WRC champion Toshi Arai share fourth place, closely followed by series returnee Sepp Wiegand in the Skoda Deutschland Fabia.
The rally proper kicks off on Saturday morning with the first of 12 gravel stages.
Click here for AUTOSPORT's full analysis of the end of the IRC and the prospects for its European Rally Championship successor
Leading positions after SS1: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Andreas Mikkelsen Skoda UK 2m48.6s 2. Jarkko Nikara Makinen Subaru + 4.4s 3. Nasser Al-Attiyah Qatar Ford + 5.7s 4. Toshi Arai Makinen Subaru + 5.7s 5. Sepp Wiegand Skoda Deutschland + 6.7s 6. Yazeed Al Rajhi Yazeed Ford + 9.2s 7. Robert Consani Renault + 9.5s 8. Paraskevas Paraskeva Paraskevas Mitsubishi + 11.5s 9. Andreas Aigner Makinen Subaru + 11.7s 10. Armin Kremer Subaru + 14.7s
| By Diego Mejia | Friday, November 2nd 2012, 22:47 GMT |
Jimmie Johnson kept his momentum running from last week's Martinsville win to claim pole position for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase race at Texas.
The Hendrick driver bounced back from being only 27th fastest in Friday practice to set a flying lap of 28.261 seconds at an average speed of 191.076 mph.
It stood unbeaten for the rest of the session as another 26 subsequent cars attempted, but failed, to knock the Chase leader from pole.
"It was a white knuckle lap," admitted Johnson. "A couple of opportunities kind of lost control there but staying on the throttle definitely kept the car pointing in the right direction and I blasted off a great lap.
"We weren't totally happy when practice ended but we felt a lot better than what the chart showed."
Roush Fenway's Greg Biffle came closest to Johnson's benchmark, running a lap a tenth of a second slower then the five-time champion managed.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch, title contender Clint Bowyer and his Michael Waltrip Racing team-mate Martin Truex Jr rounded out the top five, followed by Busch's team-mate Joey Logano.
Penske's Brad Keselowski, Johnson's main title rival, had his best qualifying since the Chase started and will line up eighth on the grid, beside Wood Brothers' Trevor Bayne who was seventh fastest at the wheel of the #21 Ford, the best-placed among the non-guaranteed drivers.
Roush Fenway duo Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth completed the top 10.
Stephen Leicht, Kelly Bires and David Stremme failed to make the field.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 28.261s 2. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 28.364s + 0.103s 3. Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota 28.402s + 0.141s 4. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota 28.411s + 0.150s 5. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota 28.422s + 0.161s 6. Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota 28.457s + 0.196s 7. Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Ford 28.480s + 0.219s 8. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge 28.491s + 0.230s 9. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 28.500s + 0.239s 10. Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford 28.502s + 0.241s 11. Mark Martin Waltrip Toyota 28.527s + 0.266s 12. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota 28.530s + 0.269s 13. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet 28.573s + 0.312s 14. Aric Almirola Petty Ford 28.575s + 0.314s 15. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford 28.583s + 0.322s 16. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet 28.602s + 0.341s 17. Sam Hornish Jr Penske Dodge 28.628s + 0.367s 18. Kurt Busch Furniture Row Chevrolet 28.663s + 0.402s 19. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet 28.669s + 0.408s 20. Casey Mears Germain Ford 28.672s + 0.411s 21. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 28.717s + 0.456s 22. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet 28.724s + 0.463s 23. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet 28.757s + 0.496s 24. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 28.790s + 0.529s 25. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 28.810s + 0.549s 26. AJ Allmendinger Phoenix Chevrolet 28.817s + 0.556s 27. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet 28.823s + 0.562s 28. JJ Yeley Max Q Chevrolet 28.836s + 0.575s 29. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota 28.842s + 0.581s 30. David Gilliland Front Row Ford 28.899s + 0.638s 31. Scott Speed Leavine Ford 28.899s + 0.638s 32. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 28.948s + 0.687s 33. David Ragan Front Row Ford 28.958s + 0.697s 34. Mike Bliss Humphrey Smith Toyota 28.959s + 0.698s 35. Josh Wise Front Row Ford 28.968s + 0.707s 36. Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 28.975s + 0.714s 37. Michael McDowell Parsons Ford 29.022s + 0.761s 38. Travis Kvapil BK Toyota 29.053s + 0.792s 39. Reed Sorenson Humphrey Smith Toyota 29.077s + 0.816s 40. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet 29.204s + 0.943s 41. Landon Cassill BK Toyota 29.287s + 1.026s 42. Ken Schrader FAS Lane Ford 29.696s + 1.435s 43. Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 29.097s + 0.836s Did not qualify: Stephen Leicht Circle Sport Chevrolet 29.173s + 0.912s Kelly Bires Go Green Ford 29.494s + 1.233s David Stremme Inception Toyota 30.568s + 2.307s
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| 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."
| By Mark Glendenning | Friday, November 2nd 2012, 00:01 GMT |
IndyCar CEO Jeff Belskus says that growing the series' fanbase has to be the first priority of the new leadership regime following the departure of Randy Bernard last week.
Belskus, who has taken on the series CEO role during the process of finding and installing a permanent replacement for Bernard, told AUTOSPORT on Thursday that the work needed to develop the series was dependent upon drawing more fans into the sport.
"Job one is growing our fanbase," he said. "We've got to grow that; we've got to create awareness with fans; we've got to engage them. I think a lot of things will flow from that in terms of growth of the series, growth of TV ratings, and things along those lines."
Belskus admitted that it has been a chaotic week since Bernard and the board of series owner Hulman & Co decided to part ways, but said that the process of finding a new full-time CEO would not be rushed.
"It has been busy," he said. "We've been reaching out to our key stakeholders and others involved with the IndyCar Series, and having a lot of meetings, and focused on the upcoming season and our plan for the upcoming season.
"We're committed to a strong IndyCar Series, and we're excited about the future of the IndyCar Series. We've been racing here in Indianapolis for about 100 years, and we're going to be racing here for another 100 years.
"We are going to conduct a search [for a new CEO], and I think it's premature at this point to say what that candidate list might look like, or who might be on it and who might not be on it. But I am CEO of the IndyCar Series for now and for the foreseeable future."
Asked whether the list of names could include his, Belskus - who has been CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for three years - replied, "It might".
News of Bernard's departure was greeted with dismay from fans and some quarters of the series' unusually factionalised media, with particular criticism being directed toward the board for allowing Bernard to leave without having a transition plan in place.
This was echoed by respected team owner Roger Penske, who was quoted as saying, "The board continues to show poor judgement. There is no future plan. No business can run with a senior management change every two years."
This criticism was rejected by Belskus, although he did seek to allay fans' concerns.
"We do have a replacement in place, and it's me," he said. "I'm now the CEO of the IndyCar Series. It's a position I've held previously, so I'm engaged and on it, and energised by what I'm seeing.
"[And] I'm thankful for our fans. They're passionate about our sport. They've emailed us, and we're working on responding to each of them. I want to let them know that our priority is to grow our sport and make IndyCar as exciting as ever."
Despite the fact that Belskus is technically running the series on a caretaker basis, he is insistent that the lack of a permanent CEO will be no obstacle to making plans for the long-term.
"I think we can accomplish a lot," he said. "We're giving a lot of thought to a longer-term, three-to-five year sort of vision for the healthy growth of a sustainable sort of IndyCar Series, and putting a lot of effort into executing the plan for 2013, which is more immediate.
"Parts of that plan have already been started, and even executed – an example is the schedule. That's been announced already. But other parts are still a work in progress. We're going to accomplish what we can accomplish. We're going to roll up our sleeves and get after it."
Belskus believes that the board has a very clear idea about what sort of qualities the person chosen to take IndyCar forward will need to possess.
"We're looking for leadership experience – experience as a CEO or COO," he said. "Great communication skills. The ability to work with all of the different stakeholders that we have in the series. We'd like sports experience, and motorsports experience would be considered a plus. I don't think it's absolutely necessary, but it would be considered a plus.
"We want a strategic thinker; somebody who can think strategically and implement strategy. And we're looking for a promotional mindset as well, in terms of creative ideas to advance the series."
One of Bernard's perennial struggles lay in securing the support of the team owners, and Belskus said that this formed part of another, broader requirement of whoever is selected for the CEO role.
"It is critical to be able to work with our key stakeholders, and we have a lot of key stakeholders – the car owners, the drivers, the track owners and promoters, sponsors, and fans," he said.
"You've got to be able to balance all those groups and balance their desires. You need to be able to communicate with all of those groups effectively, as well."
He also did not rule out the potential for further organisational changes within the series, although he said that he has confidence in the current structure.
"We have a good team in place at the IndyCar Series," he said. "I'm sure whoever ends up in the permanent role is going to want to make their own mark and build their own team, and that's very understandable – that's what CEOs do. But we have a very good team in place today."
Belskus previously held the position of IndyCar interim CEO between Tony George's departure in mid-2009 and Bernard's appointment in February 2010. Bernard was three years into a five-year contract when he left the series last Sunday.
| By David Evans | Friday, November 2nd 2012, 00:10 GMT |
World Rally Championship event organisers have called on the FIA to retain Stage One Technology as provider of the series' vital timing and tracking systems.
There was anger at the rally organisers' meeting in Paris earlier this week when FIA rally director Jarmo Mahonen was unable to provide clarity on who would be running the safety tracking and timing systems from the 2013 Monte Carlo Rally onwards.
The FIA is evaluating the current Stage One Technology system and one proposed by Spanish firm SIT. A decision is expected from the FIA next week - which some organisers are saying is already too late.
Rally Mexico director Patrick Suberville's comments were typical of those felt by next season's events: "I was very disappointed not to have an answer about that this week. Our whole event depends on these systems. The rally is about results and getting all of that information out as soon as possible. We all know Stage One is up to that level right there.
"We know we can rely on [Stage One Technology]. They know the events extremely well and even down to the marshals on the stages – they all know those guys, they know how it works and this makes staying with Stage One Technology the only option right now.
"It would be such a relief to know Stage One is back on the timing for next year."
A source from a rally early on the 2013 WRC calendar said: "It is a big worry that we are so close to the start of the season. Changing system is not a good solution, it makes life easier to stay with Stage One Technology, but we have to have a decision. Don't they realise just how close we are to 2013?"
Stage One Technology managing director Simon de Banke is confident his firm is the WRC's best option.
"Next week's Catalunya Rally will be about our 180th WRC event. A decision to go with us takes the problem and risk away," he said. "Going with another party at this late stage adds significant risk to the safety and integrity of the WRC.
"I'm incredibly touched by the overwhelming support we've received from the organisers and teams backing us to continue in the future. That said, we fully appreciate the magnitude of this decision and understand its not one that can be rushed."
A spokesman from SIT said it awaited the FIA's decision, stating: "We have confidence in our systems, but we cannot comment further at this time."
Mahonen confirmed a decision would be coming from the FIA soon, but would not be drawn on a precise timescale.
| By Sam Tremayne | Wednesday, October 31st 2012, 16:05 GMT |
Caterham's Alexander Rossi turned pacesetter on a wet second day of post-season GP2 testing at Barcelona.
An early morning deluge severely restricted running, and it wasn't until the afternoon, when the rain had finally abated, that serious times began to be posted.
It was Rossi who ended up top of the pile, the American working his way down to a 1m31.173s - enough to put him almost four tenths clear of the field but still way over 1s slower than yesterday's benchmark.
This year's Auto GP champion Adrian Quaife-Hobbs ended the day second fastest, having switched from Rapax to Barwa for the second day.
Nigel Melker also changed squads and ended up third fastest for Racing Engineering, fractions ahead of Simon Trummer(Arden) and 2012 GP3 runner-up Daniel Abt (Lotus).
Unsurprisingly given the conditions, there was no shortage of incident across the day, with a total of nine red flags.
Three of those were caused by Lazarus's Rene Binder, who spun and stopped at Turns 5 and 6 in the morning and then halted at Turn 7 in the afternoon.
F3 Euro Series champion Daniel Juncadella and Rossi's Caterham team-mate Lucas Foresti also went off in the afternoon at Turn 4, before Pal Varhaug crashed his iSport machine at the same spot to bring the day to a premature conclusion.
Yesterday's pacesetter Luca Filippi didn't set a time in either the morning or afternoon for Coloni.
GP2 will next travel to Jerez in three weeks for the second and final post-season test of 2012.
Morning times
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Facundo Regalia Racing Engineering 1m51.799s 2. Sergio Canamasas Lotus Gp 1m52.023s + 0.224s 3. Alexander Rossi Caterham Racing 1m52.118s + 0.319s 4. Nigel Melker Racing Engineering 1m52.179s + 0.380s 5. Daniel De Jong Scuderia Coloni 1m52.469s + 0.670s 6. Adrian Quaife Hobbs Barwa Addax Team 1m52.529s + 0.730s 7. Pal Varhaug iSport International 1m52.536s + 0.737s 8. Arthur Pic DAMS 1m52.566s + 0.767s 9. Daniel Juncadella Rapax 1m52.648s + 0.849s 10. Stefano Coletti Rapax 1m52.934s + 1.135s 11. Jake Rosenzweig Barwa Addax Team 1m53.108s + 1.309s 12. Jolyon Palmer iSport International 1m53.196s + 1.397s 13. Rio Haryanto Carlin 1m53.653s + 1.854s 14. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1m53.776s + 1.977s 15. Lucas Foresti Caterham Racing 1m53.844s + 2.045s 16. Sergey Sirotkin DAMS 1m53.890s + 2.091s 17. Kevin Giovesi Venezuela GP Lazarus 1m53.892s + 2.093s 18. Rene Binder Venezuela GP Lazarus 1m54.042s + 2.243s 19. Stéphane Richelmi Trident Racing 1m54.096s + 2.297s 20. Simon Trummer Arden International 1m54.546s + 2.747s 21. Eddie Cheever Jr Scuderia Coloni 1m54.604s + 2.805s 22. Julian Leal Trident Racing 1m54.909s + 3.110s 23. Mitch Evans Arden International 1m56.843s + 5.044s 24. Daniel Abt Lotus GP 2m00.783s + 8.984s 25. Luca Filippi Scuderia Coloni no time 26. Kevin Ceccon Ocean Racing Technology no time 27. Ramon Pineiro Ocean Racing Technology no time
Afternoon times
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Alexander Rossi Caterham Racing 1m31.173s 2. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Barwa Addax Team 1m31.552s + 0.379s 3. Nigel Melker Racing Engineering 1m31.583s + 0.410s 4. Simon Trummer Arden International 1m31.667s + 0.494s 5. Daniel Abt Lotus GP 1m31.763s + 0.590s 6. Stefano Coletti Rapax 1m31.773s + 0.600s 7. Rio Haryanto Carlin 1m31.822s + 0.649s 8. Sergio Canamasas Lotus GP 1m31.876s + 0.703s 9. Daniel Juncadella Rapax 1m31.883s + 0.710s 10. Kevin Giovesi Venezuela GP Lazarus 1m31.896s + 0.723s 11. Daniel De Jong Scuderia Coloni 1m32.027s + 0.854s 12. Mitch Evans Arden International 1m32.035s + 0.862s 13. Jolyon Palmer iSport International 1m32.036s + 0.863s 14. Pal Varhaug iSport International 1m32.039s + 0.866s 15. Jake Rosenzweig Barwa Addax Team 1m32.040s + 0.867s 16. Stéphane Richelmi Trident Racing 1m32.236s + 1.063s 17. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1m32.243s + 1.070s 18. Facundo Regalia Racing Engineering 1m32.337s + 1.164s 19. Arthur Pic DAMS 1m32.438s + 1.265s 20. Rene Binder Venezuela GP Lazarus 1m32.492s + 1.319s 21. Julian Leal Trident Racing 1m32.770s + 1.597s 22. Eddie Cheever Scuderia Coloni 1m32.781s + 1.608s 23. Sergey Sirotkin DAMS 1m32.907s + 1.734s 24. Lucas Foresti Caterham Racing 1m33.840s + 2.667s 25. Luca Filippi Scuderia Coloni no time 26. Kevin Ceccon Ocean Racing Technology no time 27. Ramon Pineiro Ocean Racing Technology no time
| By Edd Straw | Wednesday, October 31st 2012, 17:40 GMT |
Pirelli needs a bigger choice of dry weather tyre compounds to choose from to avoid low-degradation one-stop races like the Indian Grand Prix.
F1's control tyre supplier has to specify four dry compounds at the start of the season, with two being selected for use in each grand prix weekend.
This system was introduced when Bridgestone became sole tyre supplier in 2007 and has continued under Pirelli.
But Paul Hembery, Pirelli's motorsport director, believes that four compounds cannot cover the full range of track surface, configuration and temperature conditions faced over the course of a Formula 1 season.
"We would love to have a bigger range of compounds, then we could have a bigger range of solutions for each track to guarantee a two or three-stop strategy," Hembery told AUTOSPORT.
"With four choices, you're always going to be slightly compromised.
"As a minimum, we could do with eight compounds, with low and high [temperature] working ranges in each of the four levels [super soft, soft, medium and hard] that we've got now."
For an analysis of the type of racing the low wear and degradation in India resulted in, click here.
Hembery confirmed that there had been no discussions to expand the number of compounds and Pirelli is currently working on finalising four for use in the 2013 season.
But should the Italian firm remain in F1 beyond its current contract, which expires at the end of 2013, Hembery confirmed that it would discuss expanding the compound range with the teams and the FIA.
Hembery also admitted that there is an inevitable tendency for race strategies to become more predictable as the season goes on.
"The teams improve all of the time," said Hembery. "They are trying to reduce wear and degradation and we're trying to increase it so we are working in opposite direction.
"The engineers in these teams are brilliant. At the start of the season, when there was a lot of comment about the tyres, the engineers weren't making comments.
"They realised that 'if I can dominate this technical challenge, I'll have an advantage'.
"We'll change a lot of things next year. Will it be enough? We'll wait and see. But hopefully we'll have an exciting start to the season."
| By Sam Tremayne | Wednesday, October 31st 2012, 16:33 GMT |
Moto2 podium-sitter Anthony West has been stripped of his seventh-place finish at Le Mans and banned from competition for one month for a doping transgression.
West, who has finished runner-up in the last two Moto2 races, gave a sample back at Le Mans in May which was found to contain traces of a prohibited substance.
Organising body FIM, the Federation Internationale de Motorcyclisme, said that West's sample contained Methylhexaneamine, on its list of banned 'specified stimulants.'
As a result the FIM has disqualified the 31-year-old Australian from the French Grand Prix results, and has also banned him for one month from competing in an FIM-sanctioned or FIM-affiliated race, effectively immediately.
West has five days to appeal the decision.
Methylhexaneamine is considered a stimulant as it increases heart rate and blood pressure, and can be found in training supplements - although it isn't always identified on the product.
Should West's appeal prove unsuccessful, he will miss the Moto2 finale at Valencia next weekend.
