In today’s round-up: Vettel dubs his new car ‘Kinky Kylie’ and Massa’s wearing lucky pants.
Links
Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:
“In the city where singing superstar Kylie Minogue was born, he christened his world-beating Red Bull racer ‘Kinky Kylie’.”
Superstitious Massa banking on lucky pants in his drive for F1 glory (CNN)
“I have special underwear which I race in most of the time. [I wear them] just for the Saturday and Sunday I don’t wash but, two days, what’s the problem?”
Christian Horner: The man who gave wings to Red Bull’s F1 dreams (The Independent)
“I said to Adrian, ‘Let’s go and see Mark’. Here was a man whose world had just fallen apart, whose dream had evaporated, while in the next room there was a kid who had achieved his dream, who was on top of the world. It was bizarre, a very strange dynamic, and all credit to both of them; they took time to get together and talk things through for a good 45 minutes, just the two of them. On the Monday Dietrich sent his plane to collect us, and when we arrived in Salzburg he was waiting on the tarmac to greet us, with senior members of the company. That evening, with all of Red Bull Austria there, Mark got a standing ovation, which I think really touched him. We visibly saw his spirits lift.”
Australian GP – Conference 2 (FIA)
Sebastian Vettel: “It is Friday afternoon, it is a very busy day and I cannot be in the garage now, I have to be here so potentially it is the worst possible moment of the weekend to answer your question unless you can answer me which ratios we put in the car or those sorts of things.”
“The DRS, drivers use the button just to switch on, cause as soon they brake the system came back to normal automatic by 0.05 [seconds]! Nice?”
Via the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app
Glock hopes Virgin can still qualify (Autosport)
“The only chance we have is that the top guys in Q1 run the hard tyre and we run softs and then we don’t have a problem to get within 107%. It’s disappointing and not great that the car is not on the pace.”
Mercedes-Benz.tv: Formula One TV Commercial ‘Compliments’ (YouTube)
Thanks thecam78 for the tip
Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.
Comment of the day
DaveW on McLaren’s step forward:
Im sure a big sigh of relief was heard from Martin Whitmarsh. This is pretty stunning considering the testing pace and the comments from the drivers. It’s just free practice, but relative practice pace is usually a useful guide.
Did anyone see what exhaust system they ended up using, if not the trouble some ‘U’ exhaust? You can imagine that McLaren has a wing of the Technology Centre now archiving failed exhaust designs.
DaveW
From the forum
Are HRT going to be even worse than last year?
Happy birthday!
It’s a quadruple birthday extravaganza! All the best to Alianora la Canta, Henrique Pinheiro, Fallon and Jake!
On this day in F1
Happy birthday to Virgin technical director Nick Wirth who is 45 today.
Fifty years ago today Jack Brabham won the Lombank trophy, a non-championship race run to F1 rules, at Snetterton.
Driving a Cooper-Climax he fionished in front of Cliff Allison (Lotus) and John Surtees (Cooper).
Brianstorm (@brianstorm)
26th March 2011, 0:07
That commercial was actually quite amusing. Hats off to Mercedes GP.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
26th March 2011, 2:13
Really I liked it too.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
26th March 2011, 2:39
Have you seen the new Hamilton y Button Spanish ad? Classic!
US_Peter (@us_peter)
26th March 2011, 2:40
Whoops, forgot the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoaOKpULdg8&feature=youtube_gdata_player
BasCB (@bascb)
26th March 2011, 7:44
Very nice job, both from the phone company there and Mercedes above.
Robert
26th March 2011, 2:42
Good ad but not as good as the Hami/Alonso/Hakkinen one of 2007.
Solo (@solo)
26th March 2011, 8:20
Was that De La Rosa serving the drinks? :-P
electrolite (@electrolite)
26th March 2011, 0:10
Haha, the best F1F round up title yet. Here’s my little contribution, just to refresh our minds of one of the best Melbourne poles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9Mh5XewCDo
infy (@infy)
26th March 2011, 1:16
Is it just me or does Brundle say the more obvious things some times?
In this vid he says “squeeze up against the wall for best acceleration”. haha what a chop. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi-yzlzU2e0&feature=related
dave_m_11 (@dave_m_11)
26th March 2011, 4:19
haha as well as “on the brake with his left foot, now on the throttle with his right foot!”
Dave Blanc
26th March 2011, 0:31
Great round-up. As an aside, I saw Michael Scumacher yesterday in Rebel Sports in Melbourne buying a pair of nike trainers. Apparently he’s been to the same store for the last 8 years and likes popping in. So I can confirm that Michael is actually human after all!!
The shop assistant told me that Jenson had been in there as well the week before…
TKSoni (@)
26th March 2011, 0:41
Oh God…Red Bull, give me some vodka with that if I really really have to, Boss.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
26th March 2011, 0:50
Thanks for oversharing Felipe baby. Too much information.
butterdori (@butterdori)
26th March 2011, 4:34
Yeah, eww..
Ok normally, two days without washing them wouldn’t be too bad
But after a day of racing?
Tim
26th March 2011, 6:57
Could be worse – have you heard the story of David Coulthard’s lucky pants?
Like Massa, DC used lucky pants – but started much earlier, back from his karting days. Funnily enough, by the time he made it to car racing the pants were a little small and a little worn but DC kept squeezing into them. Until, that it, DC had a big shunt in the Formula Opel Lotus (now defunct category below F3) race at Spa in 1990. DC had to be cut out of his overalls and – in front of his parents and team boss Jackie Stewart – was found to be wearing a pair of extremely worn, extremely small y-fronts.
The pants never raced again.
BasCB (@bascb)
26th March 2011, 7:48
Looks like someone snatched away Massas lucky pants now. He was driving like he missed that security today.
Solo (@solo)
26th March 2011, 8:25
Yeah warring them for two days is hardly a big deal if you haven’t done anything tiring but after sweating in an F1 car i don’t think it’s very nice.
Marcel Fonseca
26th March 2011, 0:54
Kinky Kylie? I like it!
US_Peter (@us_peter)
26th March 2011, 1:12
Interesting article on Horner. I would guess the relationship between Webber and Vettel’s probably not as bad as the media likes to make it out to be.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
26th March 2011, 5:49
Well the drivers know themselves them are competing. I just think Webber is a little less media-friendly than most.
BasCB (@bascb)
26th March 2011, 7:54
Really nice read. They did get together for a talk through right after the season. And Webber did say he used a bit of the aversity to pump himself up a bit as well (remember Alonso doing that in 2006 to great success?).
Then again, after todays qualifying will that hold?
Omar Roncal
26th March 2011, 1:38
I really liked the commercial, but it’s like Mika bets high for Mercedes when challenges Schum and Nico. It would be great such a championship, Alonso, Vettel and Webber, Hamilton and Button, Schum, probably Nico, probably Nick winning races, and not so probably Massa with these lucky pants winning more than Alonso hahaha
Robert
26th March 2011, 2:33
Felipe: When did you last win a race? Can’t be that lucky then, eh?
BasCB (@bascb)
26th March 2011, 7:55
I think surviving that spring in Hungary counted for a bit more than just winning a race.
And why blame the pants for Germany 2010?
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
26th March 2011, 5:48
Only here would I get an insight into Felipe Massa’s underpants.
Nice words from Christian Horner and i’m sure Webber will keep that in mind this season.
Alianora La Canta
26th March 2011, 21:13
Thank you for the birthday shout out, Keith :)