Shell and Ferrari Tuesday

Look how wonderful the Ferrari along with Shell where is again in first place in the MARKETING PLUS having all the world's attention this Tuesday at Monza

Luca di Montezemolo Ferrari President and Don Alfredo Saenz CEO Grupo Santander announce a five year partnership for Santander with the Ferrari team

Shell Friday

Giancarlo Fisichella, Scuderia Ferrari, fans

FIA press conference: Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India F1 Team, Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber F1 Team, Giancarlo Fisichella, Scuderia Ferrari, Rubens Barrichello, BrawnGP, Jarno Trulli, Toyota F1 Team

Sutil winds up fastest on Friday in Monza

Adrian Sutil held nothing back as he charged to the top of the speedcharts to set the pace for the Italian Grand Prix during today's opening two practice sessions. The German ended the second session with a time of 1:23.924 for the Force India-Mercedes team to best the earlier fast lap -- belonging to Lewis Hamilton -- by 0.012 seconds.

Adrian Sutil, Force India F1 Team.
"Everything went well today. The car was working perfectly and we can be very happy about the result," said Sutil. "It was a very, very good time that came as a result of some good work, a great set-up and getting the tyres to work well."
The reigning World Champion Hamilton was definitely superman in the first practice this morning at Monza, Italy. Try as they might, not one of his Formula One rivals could top his time of 1:23.936 on the historic 3.6-mile Autodromo Nazionale Monza circuit.
Hamilton was testing the new low-downforce Monza package for the MP4-24. Despite losing a fuel filler cap on his opening lap, the testing proved successful in the morning run. "I'm pleased with our progress," he said.
"It's always a little nerve-wracking when you arrive at a unique circuit such as this because you want to see if you've taken the right direction with the car's aerodynamics," added Hamilton. "But this morning's session showed us that the engineers had made a very accurate assessment of what would be needed. KERS certainly helps around here -- we can expect it to be worth nearly four tenths in qualifying tomorrow -- but we also made some good progress with our overall package. This afternoon was spent on heavier fuel-loads, so you can't read too much into the times, but I'm encouraged by where we are."

Renault's rising star, Romain Grosjean, appears to keep his focus on his new challenge instead of the on-going "crash-gate" frenzy. Moving over from the GP2 Series, the Frenchman proved his worth with a 1:24.163 to take the third best time.

Romain Grosjean, Renault F1 Team.
"Today has gone rather well, although I had to learn the Monza circuit for the first time in an F1 car," Grosjean said. "It's the 'temple of speed' and a legendary circuit where there is a lot to learn, especially running with the KERS and so there were lots of new procedures for me to get used to. We finished the day in good shape and I'm continuing to work well with the engineers. I tried to improve the set-up and the results were positive so I will continue in the same way tomorrow."
Following his new teammate across was Fernando Alonso with a best laptime of 1:24.297 in the Renault R2904 running mostly on the Bridgestone hard-compound while making adjustments including gear ratios changes.
"It was a normal Friday for us where we worked on set-up and evaluated the tyres. If we can find some more performance tomorrow then hopefully we can be in good shape for qualifying," said Alonso.

For Sutil, the second practice started with him sitting in the team's garage watching an engine change. His patience paid off when he came out and turned in a top five performance on the harder (medium) compound tires Bridgestone . At that time it was Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber setting the pace on the softer Bridgestones.
"We didn't try specifically to go fastest but if you are on top of your game and the car is working well there's no reason why you couldn't be P1 at the end of the session," Sutil said. "It was a very productive day on a very cool track and it's good to have some fun right now."
While Heidfeld could not improve on his 1:24.693 times, Alonso flew to the fastest time but he too was no match for Sutil once the German switched to the softer tires. It was in the final five minutes that Sutil found his stride and hit his fast lap.

Hamilton's speed in the first practice did not show in practice two. The World Champion failed to break into the top 10. Still the McLaren drivers were second and fifth fastest on today's combined practice times.
For the BWM Sauber team, Heidfeld's early speed was topped by teammate Robert Kubica who hit his best mark of 1:24.622, placing him fifth in P2 but sixth best for the day. In the combined times of Friday's practices, Heidfeld was faster in the morning one with a 1:24.683 which left him eighth on the day's efforts. Both BMW F1.09 drivers had modified front wings and to lower the drag on the Monza circuit, they were using a "special rear wing".
Kubica. "In the afternoon we worked on the set-up of the car and tried to evaluate the tyres Bridgestone "

Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber F1 Team. .
Heidfeld went off in practice two which he explained: "The height of the new kerbs changes the circuit quite a lot, you have to get used to it and look where you can still go over them and which ones you better avoid. At the end of the second session I pitted a few minutes early after I went straight on at the Ascari chicane and wanted to have the car checked."
Sandwiched between the two BMWs was Toyota's Timo Glock with a 1:24.634 in practice two. The German ended seventh in the overall picture. "It was a reasonably good second practice. It was tougher in the morning but we made some changes to the set-up and in the afternoon the car felt better overall," said the German.
"The weather was also quite a bit different to last year's rain and that was definitely an improvement," added Glock.
Sebastien Buemi was able to outdo both of the Brawn-Mercedes team drivers to place ninth fastest in his Toro Rosso-Ferrari with a time set in practice one of 1:24.703. Points leader for this year's world title, Jenson Button, was 0.020 seconds back, taking the 10th best time of the day with a 1:24.706.
For the homeland "red" team, the best time of the day was set by the Ferrari rookie: The dream for Giancarlo Fisichella to race for the Scuderia Ferrari team came true this weekend. Making his debut in his homeland might have put pressure on him but if that was the case, it didn't show. Instead, the Italian laid down a 1:24.732 in the morning session which stood up in the afternoon to place him 11th overall. Teammate Kimi Raikkonen's best was a 1:24.796 in practice two.
"I feel satisfied with this first day, which was particularly tough from a driving point of view," said the Italian in his first time driving the 'Prancing Horse' in a competitive environment. "The major difficulties are in adapting to the different positions of the buttons and gaining confidence with the KERS.

Giancarlo Fisichella, Scuderia Ferrari.
"This morning, braking heavily at Ascari, I flat-spotted the left front tyre and that meant I had to fit the softer tyres earlier than planned: I felt more confident with those and I managed to drive at a strong pace. In both sessions, we didn't go looking for performance and I had a lot of fuel on board," Fisichella continued. "The potential is there to get onto the front few rows, but I need a bit more time to improve, especially in terms of braking and cutting the kerbs."
The real story will show tomorrow now that the F1 teams have sorted out their qualifying and race setups for the high speed circuit. Who will be fastest at the end of qualifying is the first question with the second one being who will parlay their fast times on Saturday into Sunday's victory.

Italian GP Bridgestone Friday practice report

F1
Date
2009-09-11
Bridgestone's soft tyre proved to be the fastest rubber at the high speed and historic motor sports destination of Monza for the first day of the Italian Grand Prix. Under glorious blue skies Force India driver Adrian Sutil set a 1min 23.924secs time in the afternoon practice session.
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was the fastest in the morning session, using the medium compound to set a time of 1min 23.936secs. In this session only Giancarlo Fisichella in his Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro debut made use of the soft compound tyre, with all other competitors only using the medium compound.
Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development
What was significant about today's running?
"Today was interesting as this was the first time that we have run in Monza this season. Historically, there would be a test here before the race weekend, so today was the first time that the teams have used their special low drag and lower downforce Monza configurations. Additionally, the revised kerbs have changed the nature of the lap, so this was another factor to consider today. Despite this, lap times were once more very close, with the top twelve cars this afternoon separated by a second."
How do you expect this allocation to work over the weekend?
"It is still too early for us to make strong predictions. The track is still improving and there were many different chassis set-ups and aerodynamic configurations used today which makes tyre comparison difficult. What we can say is that both compounds have worked well today. We haven't seen any graining and there were no other particular tyre issues. As the times are so close the smallest mistake by a driver or in car set-up will make a big difference in qualifying tomorrow."

Scandals and scandals Barrichello and Schumacher were forced to do in Zeltweg. Senna and Prost, soldiers in a personal war that was worth the title. Briatore, Nelsinho and Symonds were only selfish in this fight among themselves and tell by the way very well done. What is the exact size of the scandal of Renault in Singapore? It is fair to crucify Nelsinho Piquet, a boy of 24 years, "pressed", "leaning against the wall," "thrown to the lions?

Is it right for an overnight an end to the reputation of Pat Symonds, more than three decades of racing, with tickets for great teams, partner pilots who made history? It is sure to deliver to the FIA on a silver platter the severed head of Flavio Briatore, the manager who came to the F-1 with no experience and somehow found Schumacher and Alonso took the two to four world titles? What differentiates these villains and their historical crimes of scandals in the category, such as exchanges of positions between Schumacher and Barrichello at Ferrari, deliberate beats between Senna and Prost, cars under the weight of Piquet's Brabham, the countless OMISSIONS OF TRUTH always been part of racing? If they were all 100% correct that would be in a friary and not on the track competing vitorias.Isso fa zparte Formula 1 I think Renault have rushed in while Briatore and Pat as I said before was enough to give some FIA fines and some suspensions temporary but NEVER EXCLUSION ...

to the genius Bernie Ecclestone was saddened by the departure of Briatore and said qu andnot want to say anything she wants to wait Monday so let's hope that the FIA then get over it because people do not care .. just want to see cars and drivers on the track and for the good of all is IMPERATIVE that the punishments are not strong and end this fight as soon as only one up wins NEWSPAPERSA

high ranking FIA official reportedly knew about the 'crash-gate' allegations as long ago as the 2008 season finale in Brazil last year.
Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper on Friday published a transcript of Nelson Piquet Snr's August 17 interview with Quest investigators, commissioned by F1's governing body, about the scandal.
In the interview, Piquet revealed that after learning from his son about the deliberate crash only days after the September 2008 event, he told his former Brabham colleague Charlie Whiting "the whole story".
Today, Whiting is the FIA's safety and technical delegate and F1 race director and starter, and therefore the first point of contact between Formula One teams and the Paris federation.
At Bernie Ecclestone's Brabham team in the 1980s, he worked as a senior mechanic and engineer with the team's then driver Piquet.
"Anyway in Brazil I talk to Charlie ... I got him and I said 'Look, what could happen to Nelson if I bring this up?' And I was afraid to screw up the career of Nelson (Jr)," Piquet said.
"... in the race in Brazil I called Charlie and I told the whole story to Charlie."
The current President of the FIA said that he knew nothing and the people ... .. as I believe the best way to end and be done WITHOUT SEVERE PENALTIES