F1 links: Massa’s charity and Mirko Bortolotti

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Lewis Hamilton cheated out of Belgium win, says Murray Walker

Murray Walker: "I would like to see people experienced in a Formula One car working as stewards. I think there is no doubt that the stewards cheated Lewis Hamilton out of a justified victory [in Belgium]. In principle, I think that is obviously wrong – it's like me going along to Wimbledon and sitting in the umpire's chair." (Thanks Chalky)

Lowe: KERS to mix up order in 2009

Paddy Lowe: “Certainly, the variation from circuit to circuit will be different. Also KERS will have more authority at some tracks than at others – so the pecking order from circuit to circuit may change a little bit.”

Massa donates $25,000 to Brazil flooding victims

"Felipe Massa has revealed that he will make a personal $25,000 donation to the victims of the catastrophic flooding and earth sliding caused by the heavy rains that hit the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina last weekend."

Deal puts Formula One in pole position

'Dermot Boden, LG's chief marketing officer, said: "History shows that if you want to build a brand you have to invest in that brand and investing in a downturn is one of the best times." The economic downturn is pinching Korea's export sector. While it had established $50bn in sales, LG has yet to build brand connection with consumers, Mr Boden said. "And this association with F1 allows us to build that emotional connection."'

Red Bulletin lives on

"Red Bull have confirmed that the publication will still live on, but in a different guise as a monthly supplement that will be given away free with The Independent newspaper from January 2009 onwards." The replacement magazine won’t be as focused on its F1 team, which is a shame, I really enjoyed Red Bulletin.

A new star is born at Ferrari

"18 year old Mirko Bortolotti went two tenths under the lap record for that car at Fiorano, setting a 59.111s lap. Now this needs qualifying; the car hasn’t done much running there this year and the lap record was set by sometime test driver Andrea Bertolini, but in only 14 dry laps (after 26 on a damp track), the fact that this 18 year old could do that time is hugely impressive. The other two, Eduardo Piscopo and Salvatore Cicatelli were and second and two seconds behind respectively."

On E.J. Viso and Robert Doornbos

"E.J. Viso sent me an e-mail this morning from Europe to say he has his program secured with HVM Racing for 2009. He also said he expects to have Robert Doornbos as his team mate, giving team owner Keith Wiggins a two-car team."

Mark Hughes on Webber’s ’09 challenges

"Webber has seen off every team-mate he’s ever been paired with in seven years of F1. Before you say ‘hang-on, what about Nick Heidfeld?’ Well, Nick out-scored Mark at Williams in 2005, but he was an average of over half a second behind in qualifying and had Webber’s traditional ill luck not struck several times in the races, he’d have out-scored Heidfeld too. By the end of that year, no-one within Williams believed that Heidfeld was as intrinsically quick as Webber. He plain wasn’t."

Di Resta happy to start in midfield

Paul di Resta: "What's a bad team to drive for?. The driver has to make the best of what he has. You've got to be beating your team-mate on a regular basis, then you can make a case for the car holding you back. It's a difficult one, but I'm up for the challenge if that occurs."

Piscopo enjoys Formula One debut

Edoardo Piscopo: "The car is incredible, so well-balanced and seems even easier than an A1GP car." Is this what we should expect a rookie's first impression of an F1 car to be – that it's easy to drive? Is he just trying to make himself look good or are F1 cars a bit too forgiving?

Piscopo enjoys Formula One debut

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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5 comments on “F1 links: Massa’s charity and Mirko Bortolotti”

  1. Mark Hughes is a respected F1 journalist whose opinion is always worth reading. But has he drifted into a parallel universe? In 2005, Nick Heidfeld scored 28 points to Mark Webber’s 36. That’s what the formula1 site says, anyway. How is that Nick out-scoring Mark? Surely, Mark’s problem (apart from the whole bike car leg snap crackle pop business, and the relative obesity of both Webbo and the KERS system) is that people like Mark Hughes keep referring to his ‘traditional ill-luck’.

    If you’re rational and understand probability you know that persistent bad luck is either a feeble excuse or simply improbable. So you might think twice before writing off all his DNFs as bad voodoo. Alternatively, if you’re superstitious and believe that Webbo really is prone to bad luck, then you’re not going to want him driving one of your cars in case his bad karma loosens the wheelnuts.

  2. John, I think Hughes means Heidfeld out-scored Webber in the races they did together. Heidfeld missed the last five races of the year due to injury, prior to which he was 28-24 up on Webber.

  3. love the way murry says he is the only man to win on his second championship, forgetting Jaques Villneuve

  4. I’m with John, Webber is a great bloke but he’s only a good driver.

    He may have a physical disadvantage due to his size but the bad luck argument just doesn’t cut it with me.

    Coulthard hasn’t really pushed him this season and I can see Vettel beating him consistently next season, and I thought this before Webber had his accident too.

    Missing the winter testing, preparations for next season and the added weight of KERS are all going to count against him in a season where he’s teamed up with one of the best young drivers out there.

    Daniel, in Murray’s defence Jacques is an easily forgettable driver, I remember him more for his moaning than his driving and always forget he’s won a World Championship.

  5. Thanks Keith, I understand the 1995 thing now.

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