Pick your classic Brazilian Grand Prix

The Formula 1 world championship could hardly be going to a better place than Sao Paulo's Interlagos circuit for the penultimate race of one of the greatest title battles the sport has ever seen.

As if this season had not already generated enough thrills and spills, they are practically guaranteed at this autodrome built on a former swamp in a natural amphitheatre in one of the world's biggest metropolises.

Over the years, Interlagos's layout - of curling bends and long straights swooping up and down the gradients in this sultry city - has consistently produced races of the highest quality. And they stick in the memory all the more because of the electric atmosphere created by Brazil's enthusiastic fans.

There could hardly be a more fitting place for Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button to resume their thrilling battle - as can be seen from our latest selection of classic races.

As ever, we will give you four choices of races from this track in the past and we're asking you to tell us by way of responses on this blog which is your favourite.

Informed by those responses, we will then pick one from which to show you in the run-up to the 2010 race next week the full 'Grand Prix' highlights programme broadcast on the BBC at the time - although this obviously will not be possible for races that fell when ITV held the rights, from 1997-2008.

All the races will get shorter, 10-minute highlights films, and we will also show the full hour-long highlights of the 2009 Brazilian GP, when Button clinched his crown.

So, to the races we have chosen.

The first is the 1980 Brazilian Grand Prix - at Interlagos, but with a difference. This was the last race at the original 4.9-mile version of the track before Sao Paulo lost the race to Rio de Janeiro's Jacarepagua circuit. It returned to Interlagos, on the current 2.7-mile version of the track, in 1990.

The 1980 event was interesting on a number of levels, but it would worth watching even if it was boring, just to see the full greatness of the original Interlagos - particularly the long, banked, 180-degree first corner, more reminiscent of an American oval than an F1 track, and which only the very best and bravest could take flat out. You can still see this part of the old track if you go to Interlagos to this day.

The race marked the first career F1 victory for Renault's Rene Arnoux. But before the Frenchman moved into the lead it was full of drama.

Gilles Villeneuve, who had somehow qualified the unloved Ferrari 312T5 third, burst into the lead with one of his trademark lightning starts. Already in a place the car was unable to sustain, he was also soon in tyre trouble, and was passed by Renault's Jean-Pierre Jabouille and the Ligiers of Didier Pironi and Jacques Laffite on the second lap.

A skirt problem for Pironi left Jabouille in the lead chased by Laffite and Arnoux, but Laffite had an electrical problem after 14 laps and then Jabouille suffered a turbo failure at about half-distance and the race was Arnoux's.

Ayrton Senna on the podium after winning the 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix, flanked by Riccardo Patrese and Gerhard Berger

Winning in Brazil at last meant an enormous amount to Senna. Photo: Getty

Our next choice is the 1991 race, at the new Interlagos, and one of the late Ayrton Senna's greatest wins, and his first at his home race.

The Brazilian qualified his McLaren on pole, and spent the race holding off the faster Williams cars of Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese. Mansell's challenge was ended by a broken gearbox with 10 laps to go.

Unknown to anyone outside McLaren, Senna had been in gearbox trouble for some time, having lost fourth gear. Mansell's retirement left Patrese in second place, and catching Senna rapidly.

With two laps to go, Senna also lost fifth and third gears, meaning he had to take most of the corners in sixth, nearly stalling several times. Complicating his task further, it was starting to rain, and Senna started gesticulating for officials to stop the race.

It ran full distance, though, and, utterly exhausted and in extreme pain, Senna had to be lifted out of his car

This victory is covered in depth in the new Senna movie, which will be released next year in the UK and which I am sure many of you have begun to hear about.

BBC F1 editor Mark Wilkin, pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz and I were lucky enough to be invited to see it in the summer. I've been asked not to review it, but I can tell you that it is superb, and adds a revealing new dimension to this and many other aspects of the Senna story.

Our next choice is the 2003 race, one of the most remarkable grands prix in recent history.

It was held in the rain, with several storm fronts passing over the circuit in the course of the race.

A number of drivers were caught out, including Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, who was one of several - including Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya - who spun out at Turn Three, where a river running across the track turned a corner that is normally taken easily flat out into an ice rink.

Among the crashes was a huge one on the pit straight for Mark Webber, then driving for Jaguar, that also involved Renault's Fernando Alonso, who was lucky to survive after hitting the debris flat out at 180mph.

Eventual winner Giancarlo Fisichella follows the safety car as they pick their way through the debris left by massive crashes involving Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso at the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix

Fisichella follows the safety car through the crash debris at Interlagos in 2003. Photo: Getty

With debris strewn across the pit straight, officials waved the red flag, and the race was declared over, amid intense confusion about who had won, arising from a rule that dictated that a result was declared from two laps prior to when the signal to stop the race was given.

Race officials initially gave the win to McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, with Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella second from Alonso, even though Jordan were convinced their driver had won - on the basis that he took the lead on lap 54, and had just started his 56th lap when the red flag was shown.

Raikkonen took the trophy and it took a protest from Jordan, heard before the next race, the San Marino Grand Prix, to establish they were correct, and Raikkonen handed the trophy to Fisichella at an unofficial ceremony prior to that race at Imola.

Our final choice is the 2007 event, the final and deciding race of that year's title battle, which I would imagine needs no introduction to many of you.

Three drivers - McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Alonso and Ferrari's Raikkonen - went into the race with a chance of the championship.

Raikkonen needed to win to have any chance of becoming champion, but even in that situation Hamilton had only to finish fifth to become not only the youngest champion in history but the only man ever to win the title in his first year in F1.

But the day started to go wrong for the Englishman from the very beginning. After qualifying second, he lost a place to Raikkonen at the start, and then another to Alonso at the third corner.

Determined to make amends, he tried to overtake Alonso around the outside of the fourth corner, Descida do Lago, and the inevitable happened - he slid off the track and rejoined in eighth place.

But that was not the end of it. A few laps later, the car stuttered with no drive coming out of that same corner, and it looked as if Hamilton was out of the race. After a frantic radio communication with his team, though, he managed to reset the computer on his car and get going, by which time he had lost 30 seconds and was down in 18th place.

Hamilton recovered to seventh place by the end, but matters were now out of his hands.

At the front, Ferrari's Felipe Massa led, from Raikkonen and Alonso - a state of affairs that would have made a McLaren driver champion, something that obviously Ferrari did not want.

Ferrari, therefore, engineered a change of positions at the final pit stops and Raikkonen went on to win the race - and the title by a single point from both Hamilton and Alonso, with the Englishman classified ahead of the Spaniard on results count-back.

Quite a selection, I hope you'll agree. I look forward to reading your views.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/10/pick_your_classic_brazilian_gr_1.html

Georges Berger Gerhard Berger Eric Bernard Enrique Bernoldi

Two more years with Red Bull as Renault increases PR value

Red Bull Racing has agreed to extend its deal with Renault for another two seasons, taking the arrangement up to the scheduled introduction of a new engine formula in 2013. Renault seems finally to have woken up to the fact that it could win at least one World Championship as a supplier this year, and [...]

Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2010/11/05/two-more-years-with-red-bull-as-renault-increases-pr-value/

Nico Rosberg Mauri Rose Louis Rosier Ricardo Rosset

conceding defeat?

So is there ever that one project. The car too tough to tame. The one such as my tamiya porsche 911. All started well with the body excellent metallic black paint and clear smooth as silk. That's where it went southbound... I proceded to drop the parking brake down the sink followed by my most noob flocking job in years which I stripped and redid btw. On to the suspension I broke the steering rod and one of the rear arms. I fixed then and sprayed them with aluminum metalizer only to reveal patchy missed spots. The last and final straw was when the rear arm re-broke during installation. So getting to the crux of this posting is there that car that you work so hard on only to conceed defat. The kit that has so many mishaps its destined to never see the display case.

Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/scacs/forums/thread/921334.aspx

George Eaton Bernie Ecclestone Don Edmunds Guy Edwards

Brazil set for thriller as F1 season reaches climax

In Sao Paulo

The 2010 world champion will be crowned either in Brazil on Sunday or in Abu Dhabi seven days later as one of the most thrilling Formula 1 seasons in history reaches an intense climax.

The F1 teams gather in Sao Paulo this weekend with five drivers still in with a chance of clinching the title at the end of a contest that, before it began in Bahrain in March, was billed as potentially one of the greatest there had ever been. It has fully lived up to those expectations.

The battles between Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button have made this an all-time classic season, arguably the closest between the highest number of world-class drivers in the history of the sport.

It is astonishing in many ways that so many drivers have remained in contention until now. But, inevitably, with only two races left, it is increasingly unlikely that this will remain the case by Sunday evening.

There have been so many twists and turns this season that it would be very unwise to rule anyone out, but Button, particularly, is entering the last chance saloon at Interlagos.

The reigning champion is returning to the track where he clinched the title for the Brawn team last year. But at 42 points adrift of Ferrari's Alonso with only 50 remaining, his chances are already effectively over - as he admitted himself after a disastrous race last time out in South Korea.

F1 title contenders Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel pose together at the Korean Grand Prix

Five men are still in with a chance of winning the F1 drivers' title - but for how much longer? Photo: Getty

Since then, Button has said he will keep fighting until he is mathematically ruled out, while his McLaren team have said they will continue to support his bid.

Realistically, though, he has no chance.

It has become something of a mantra for drivers who are struggling in the points table this season to hark back to 2007, when Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen made up 17 points (almost two wins in that year's scoring system) on Hamilton in the last two races to steal the title at the last race.

That was remarkable in itself. But for something similar to happen to Button this year it would require all four drivers in front of him to hit major trouble - the 30-year-old is 17 points behind even the fourth-placed driver, Red Bull's Vettel.

On top of that, Button has not won a race since the Chinese Grand Prix back in April, and has struggled for pace as the season has gone on. The Italian race in September, where he was a close second to Alonso, was a rare exception.

The mathematics of the situation are complex. But for Button it is more straightforward than for the others.

To have any chance of staying in the championship, he must finish in the top two in Brazil - and even then he is out of it if Alonso or Webber win. And if Alonso finishes anywhere in the top six, Button is out of it regardless of where he finishes.

In these circumstances, the most likely scenario is that Button will drop out of contention this weekend and either in Brazil or at the final race in Abu Dhabi seven days later be asked to support team-mate Hamilton's bid, assuming the 2008 champion's chances are still alive.

Indeed, on Wednesday, team principal Martin Whitmarsh admitted to BBC Sport for the first time that they may make that decision during the race in Brazil depending on the situation.

In third place, 21 points behind double world champion Alonso, Hamilton is also facing an uphill struggle trying to close the gap on a man who has won three of the last four races and four of the last seven.

The biggest problem for both Hamilton and Button is that the McLaren has generally not been quick enough in the second half of the season to challenge Red Bull, still easily the fastest car in the field, and Ferrari.

This weekend, the team are again promising to bring updates to improve the car, but so they have at most races, and the pattern for the second half of the season has been that McLaren have struggled to make them work effectively straight away.

Their main hope could be that Sao Paulo's Interlagos circuit is one of those tracks where it's difficult to predict the relative competitiveness of the top three teams.

Red Bull have started virtually every race weekend as favourites for pole position and victory, such has been their pace advantage at most tracks - either Webber or Vettel has been on pole at 14 of the 17 races so far.

But Interlagos has a long pit straight, which will favour the McLarens and penalise the Red Bulls. On the other hand, the track is also pretty bumpy, which might make things a bit tricky for Hamilton and Button's cars, which tend to be more stiffly sprung than their rivals'.

The Red Bulls will be easily the strongest cars through Interlagos's twisty infield section, which swoops up and down the gradients of the natural amphitheatre in which the track sits.

The Ferrari sits somewhere between the Red Bulls and McLarens in both areas - but is particularly strong in braking and traction, two characteristics that are important in Brazil.

Given Red Bull's qualifying record, though, it would be a surprise if either Vettel or Webber was not on pole - and it must also be expected that Alonso will be their closest challenger.

On balance, you would expect Vettel to be the strongest driver over the final two races, at least in terms of outright pace. But making up a 25-point deficit on Alonso may well be too big a task, given the Spaniard's consistency and the German's lack of it.

Incredibly, Vettel has converted only two of his nine pole positions into victory in 2010 and has lost significant points no less than eight times, with the causes split more or less half and half between driver errors and reliability problems.

Even if Vettel wins in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, the Ferrari driver still only needs a third and a fourth to be champion. Both eventualities must be considered unlikely on the evidence of the season so far.

Webber, in the second Red Bull, has a much better mathematical chance of becoming champion, but although the Australian is only 11 points (slightly less than a fourth place finish) adrift of Alonso, his problem is a worrying lack of momentum.

The 34-year-old's last win was in Hungary at the beginning of August, he has finished on the podium only twice in the last four races, when he was second to Vettel in Japan, and he crashed out of the last race in Korea two weeks ago.

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It is little wonder, then, that BBC F1 pundit Eddie Jordan thinks Alonso is in a "very, very strong position".

Alonso is the only driver who can tie up the championship this weekend. This is how:

  • If he wins in Brazil, Webber must finish fourth or higher to keep the championship alive. Everyone else would be out of contention, regardless of where they finish.
  • If Alonso is second, Webber must be higher than eighth to stay in it, Hamilton higher than fourth and Vettel must win.
  • If Alonso is third, Webber must score points, Hamilton must be in the top four and Vettel in the top three.
  • If Alonso finishes lower than third, the championship will stay open to the last race because Webber, at least, will still be able to win regardless of where he finishes.

With so much at stake, the pressure on all five men will be intense. Almost every race this
season has been brilliant. But Brazil, where the track nearly always produces high-action races, promises to raise the bar yet again.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/11/the_2010_world_champion_will.html

Jarno Trulli Esteban Tuero Guy Tunmer Jack Turner

BMW Project i Coupe


BMW’s supercar, the M1, was sold between 1978 to 1981 as the only mid-engined BMW to be mass produced. But you’d expect more from a maker like BMW, right? And with all the competition on the market, BMW had to do something about it, so they decided to put the Vision Efficient Dynamics Concept unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show into production.

It’s not the first time we hear about the possibility of the Vision Efficient Dynamics going into production, but today we have more details about the production version rumored to be called the Project i Coupe. And while the concept is powered by a three cylinder turbo diesel power plant combined with two electric motors, the Project i Coupe will be offered in both electric and hybrid versions.

Rumors suggest that the Project i Coupe won’t be flying solo as BMW may be panning on an M version for this future model and it will most likely be called the M1.

BMW Project i Coupe originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 4 November 2010 21:00 EST.

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Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/bmw/2013-bmw-project-i-coupe-ar99499.html

Damon Hill Graham Hill Phil Hill Peter Hirt