Mistakes mounting up for Hamilton

After his worst run of results in Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton came to Suzuka looking for a strong start to a weekend that could make or break his challenge for the world championship.

If you think that sounds a touch melodramatic, then bear in mind the words of one McLaren leading official who told me on Thursday evening: "If he fails to score here, it's game over."

Having failed to finish three of his last four races and watched Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso overtake him in the standings, the last thing the 2008 champion needed was an early accident in practice.

But halfway through the first session, on his first proper run of the day, that's exactly what happened.

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He locked up his front right wheel heading into the second right-hander at Degner,thought he could catch the car but ended up bumping along the tyre wall and ripping off his front left wheel as well as damaging the McLaren's new rear wing.

Hamilton emerged unscathed but his distress was evident as he leaned back in the shadows under the bridge below the 130R corner. After looking steadfastly ahead, his helmet then slumped forward as if he was consumed by disappointment and disbelief.

He managed to avoid the television cameras and photographers awaiting his return in the paddock by taking a back entrance but you could see he had a face like thunder when he eventually appeared and marched into the back of the garage.

The big concern was that the chassis would need replacing, which would have ruled him out of the entire second session.

As it was, the repairs were so extensive - new gearbox, floor, and front and rear wings - and took so long that Hamilton was able to complete just four timed laps on the track in the dry.

That was crucial for race set-up because heavy rain is expected throughout Saturday, which would throw a whole set of variables into final practice and qualifying.

Hamilton is aware that could level the playing field and, depending on how severe the conditions are, the lost time could be rendered irrelevant, at least in terms of grid position.

But his reluctant, smiling admission after practice that he was "probably pushing too hard" en route to his crash will be seized on by his critics as another example of his excessive aggression behind the wheel costing him his title chances.

Indeed, that opinion was already being voiced in the paddock. "I see Hamilton and McLaren are throwing it away again under pressure," said a rival technical director.

Collisions in Monza and Singapore, and this latest incident certainly don't help his cause.

With only four races remaining, now is the wrong time for Hamilton to start making mistakes like Alonso, Webber and Sebastian Vettel have done earlier in the season.

Unlike in Melbourne, Valencia and Spa - when Hamilton found trouble but came through it - he's currently being punished for the sort of bold moves that make you look a hero when they work, and a novice when they don't.

Had he backed off and played the percentage game, say his critics, he would still be leading the championship. Understandably, Hamilton doesn't accept that view, and will continue driving as only he knows how.

"The fact is I'm not going to drive around in the position I was in and hope to finish the race. That's never been in me," he said in a BBC interview to be broadcast during the BBC One qualifying show.

"I want to fight for a win and I hope people respect that. Sometimes it is too aggressive and that's why it catches you out."

"Every now and then, you try to pull it back a bit and hope it works. Fingers crossed this weekend will be an improvement to say the least."

So far, not so good.

At a demanding track where he has raced just once - in 2009 - he has hardly scratched the surface of the programme that he and his engineers hoped to complete.

But his performance last year, finishing third, was one of his finest drives and is reason for optimism within the team.

"He likes it here, loves the track and will be competitive," said one engineer. "You can't take away what makes him the champion that he is."

Hamilton also received support from a rival team principal involved in the title battle.

"You must try to get your drivers as calm as possible, but it in the end it doesn't matter what you say to them because as soon as they get on the track, it all goes out of their heads," he said.

Another criticism levelled at Hamilton is that he's missing a management figure in a role previously filled by his father.

One team manager told me that Hamilton would benefit from having an independent sounding board outside the team environment, somebody on hand with advice on when to push and when to take it calmly.

McLaren's team principal Martin Whitmarsh would dispute that.

He made a point of sitting down with Hamilton after Monza and Singapore to discuss both incidents. And he did the same again after Friday's crash.

It's a point picked up by one last year's title contenders, Rubens Barrichello.

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"The mental preparation is so important, more important at this stage than the driving," Barrichello said.

"He's clearly got the team support in a good way. But I'm not sure he has the car."

And there's the rub for Hamilton.

He acknowledges that the team are working flat out to improve the car. Another new rear wing is arriving overnight in time for qualifying, with engineers happy that the upgrade added performance.

But he knows, just like McLaren know, that Red Bull remains the fastest car. Ferrari have been quicker too.

So if he's to achieve a second world title, he needs something special from within himself to make up for a lack of performance.

"We've been over-delivering for a long period of time during the year," he said.

"We've not been at the front where we've been absolutely faster than everybody else. We've just done generally better jobs than other teams."

"Clearly now it's down to pace as well as no mistakes, and hoping that we're edging ourselves closer to the others."

Suzuka has decided some classic title contests. Hamilton has to believe - and demonstrate - that he's not about to be counted out this weekend.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jonathanlegard/2010/10/post.html

William Ferguson Maria Teresa de Filippis Ralph Firman Ludwig Fischer

Porsche Cayman CS


Back in 2005, Porsche was looking for something to slot in the middle of the 911 and the Boxster. It had to be pretty darn good, as the 911 is a legend among car fans and the Boxster was a hit for the automaker. What they came up with was the Cayman.

First launched in the 2006 model year, the Cayman is a coupe derived from Porsche’s second generation Boxster convertible, yet it looks like a 911 in the front. The name Cayman is an alternate spelling of caiman, a reptile in the same family as the alligator. Some thought the name came from the Cayman Islands, but that?s incorrect.

After the first generation Cayman was debuted and widely accepted, the second was introduced on February 21, 2009. The power was upped, the transmission was replaced, and the overall performance was vastly superior to the previous model. As an example, this baby 911 could hit 60 mph in just 5.2 seconds.

Now, there is a new Cayman variant on the way and we believe it might make its debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Hit the jump to read about it.

Porsche Cayman CS originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 3 November 2010 14:00 EST.

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Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/porsche/2011-porsche-cayman-cs-ar99428.html

Stefan Bellof Paul Belmondo Tom Belso JeanPierre Beltoise

Your classic grand prix - race 16

The 1993 Japanese Grand Prix is the selected race in the latest edition of our classic Formula 1 series.

Last week, we asked readers to tell us which of three great races they would most like to see - the 1990, 1993 and 1995 Japanese Grands Prix - and the overwhelming choice was Ayrton Senna's victory in 1993.

The full 'Grand Prix' highlights programme broadcast on the BBC at the time is embedded below, with the shorter highlights of it and the other races linked underneath. There are also short and long highlights of Sebastian Vettel's victory in an incident-packed Suzuka race last year, too.

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WATCH SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 1990 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX
WATCH SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 1993 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX
WATCH SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 1995 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX
WATCH SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2009 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX
WATCH LONG HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2009 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX

Because of the Commonwealth Games, the classic races will not be shown on the red button, either on digital and satellite or on Freeview.

I have to say that I was surprised by just how popular the 1993 race was - it outdid the other two choices by something like five to one.

The 1993 race witnessed a great drive by Senna, and was full of action and intrigue both during the race and afterwards, but I have to say I thought the famous crash between Senna and Alain Prost at the start in 1990 would be the most popular choice.

There was all the drama of the start, Nigel Mansell putting paid to his chances by breaking his Ferrari's driveshaft with an over-exuberant getaway from a tyre stop, and the unusual podium of two Benettons and local hero Aguri Suzuki.

The 1995 race also made a strong case for itself - a superb drive from Michael Schumacher, comedy retirements from Williams drivers Damon Hill and David Coulthard (although it's fair to say the team's no-nonsense technical director Patrick Head wasn't laughing) and a battling drive from Ferrari's Jean Alesi before his retirement (also with a driveshaft failure).

Having said that, it is hard to argue against 1993. It was one of Senna's great wet-weather victories after a race-long battle with arch-rival Prost and there was the sub-plot of Eddie Irvine's electrifying grand prix debut.

Drafted in by Jordan for the last two races of the year, the Northern Irishman qualified an excellent eighth, and used his knowledge of Suzuka gleaned from three years in Japanese Formula 3000 to pass Schumacher and Hill at the start.

Later in the race, while battling with Hill, Irvine had the temerity to unlap himself from Senna. And when the great Brazilian, a little the worse for wear, confronted Irvine about it after the race, he did not find the novice as apologetic as expected - the two got into a heated argument which ended with Senna punching Irvine.

A number of you asked on my last blog whether there was film of this argument. There isn't. But the journalist Adam Cooper was in the room with Irvine at the time, and he recorded the whole thing. A transcript of the row was published in Autosport magazine - for which both Cooper and I were working at the time - and you can read it here.

There were also questions about why we had not chosen the 1996 race, when Hill clinched the world title.

The answer is in the name of this series - classic grands prix. Hill is a popular man, and with good reason, but in no way could that race be called an all-time classic in comparison with others we have chosen.

To recap, the title battle had distilled by the time of Japanwhich was the last race of the season, into a fight between Williams team-mates Hill and Jacques Villeneuve.

Hill led by nine points going into the race - which meant the only way Villeneuve could be champion was if he won and the Englishman was out of the points.

Villeneuve increased the tension by qualifying on pole, ahead of Hill, but his chances were effectively ruined within seconds of the green light, when the Canadian made a poor start and dropped to sixth, behind Hill, Benetton's Gerhard Berger, Mika Hakkinen's McLaren, Schumacher's Ferrari and Irvine's Ferrari.

Villeneuve managed to get past Irvine, but was still in only fifth place when he retired when a rear wheel came off going into Turn One with 15 laps to go. Hill, meanwhile, led untroubled from the start, going only as fast as he needed to, keen to conserve his car.

A popular result, yes, especially in Britain. But a classic grand prix it was not.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/10/your_classic_grand_prix_-_race_3.html

Jackie Stewart Jimmy Stewart Siegfried Stohr Rolf Stommelen