Sunday, May 30, 2010

Horner gets Red Bull clash call wrong


Christian Horner, the Red Bull team boss, appeared to blame Mark Webber for the clash between the Red Bull F1 cars at the Turkish GP.

The two team mates came together on lap 41 of the race as Sebastian Vettel tried to overtake Mark Webber into turn 12.

The two cars made contact as they approached the corner causing Vettel to retire from the race and Webber to pit for a new nosecone.

Horner appeared to blame Webber, who eventually finished third, claiming the Australian should have given Vettel more room given he was behind at the time of the clash.

In my opinion, that is the incorrect call and I agree with the opinions of BBC F1 presenters Martin Brundle and David Coulthard.

Horner claimed that Vettel had the right to go for the lead because he had managed to save fuel in comparison to Webber and therefore didn't have to turn down his engine.

Webber would have been less able to save fuel having spent the first stint defending from the feisty Hamilton, so I don't think this is a fair stance to take.

Regardless of who deserved to win the race, just because a driver manages to save fuel does not give them the right to turn across another driver on the straight.

Whether or not one driver does not give the other much room does not alter this fact.

Vettel clearly turned right across Webber when you take the reference point as the white line on the left hand side of the circuit as the cars approach turn 12.

For this reason, I lay the blame squarely with Vettel.

It will be interesting to see how this incident has an impact upon the team as the season progresses.

Image courtesy of Derek Noh - Wikimedia
Vettel leads Webber at the Chinese GP, 2009

Thursday, May 6, 2010

New Silverstone layout

I'm excited about this. Silverstone finally spending money on much needed redevelopment. I question the need for a new circuit but at least this will lead to a new pits complex.

All that is needed now is a proper, permanent main grandstand... I don't see why this is not part of the plans given the precendent set by every circuit other than Monaco - which has an excuse.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Hamilton Under Fire

Lewis Hamilton has come under fire for this move in Malaysia:



In my opinion, what he did was perfectly legal. He moved to break the tow and Petrov moved to follow him rather than the other way around.

Had Petrov been in Hamilton's tow and moved out before Hamilton changed his direction, that would have been justifiably penalised.

Lego Bayern

Thursday, March 4, 2010

New pictures of the Westfield iRACER

I spoke to Paul Faithfull, the project manager of Westfield's iRACER concept, this morning about the gestation of the car and the future of motorsport.

A full article of the interview will appear on my wordpress blog: www.andrewpapworth.wordpress.com

Until then, the images below are the latest from the project - one computer generation of how the car will look on a race track, and the other was taken at the Geneva motorshow. The video below those is of the first running of the chassis.

e-WOLF, e-1 Extremsportwagen mit Elektromotor

iracer_geneva

Images courtesy of Westfield

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Cardiff City vs. Peterborough


I went to the Cardiff City Stadium for the first time tonight to see Cardiff beat Peterborough 2-0.

Peterborough occasionally looked dangerous with George Boyd in particular causing problems, but ultimately they created few clear-cut chances and it was fairly comfortable for Cardiff.

The goals came from a Chris Burke volley on the 30th minute and Anthony Gerrard turning in a free kick from close range on the 77th minute.

Cardiff remain fourth in the Championship ahead of Swansea on goal difference. Peterborough are now three points below Plymouth at the bottom of the league having played two games more.