Live: Watch F1 British Grand Prix Silverstone Free Live Streaming July 10, 2011

 Watch F1 Silverstone Live Streaming On Ustream, Veetle, Justin tv, etc.

Just as the Pirelli's home race in Monza, Silverstone is a circuit-symbol in the Formula One calendar, famous for its long straights and fast corners. This year, the English track is presented with a revised look, with different parts of the track resurfaced and the new pits and paddock complex, jobs that follow major surgery which was performed on the circuit last year. The key features of Silverstone, however, remain unchanged, with a fastest lap and fluid, where it counts the most aerodynamic of mechanical grip.
Pirelli P Zero tires confirmed the choice of Silver hard as 'first' and Pzero Yellow soft as the 'option': the combination most commonly used this year that has offered exciting races in the eight rounds played so far.
The Grand Prix is ​​a race more than ever imbued with national pride, given that eight of the 12 Formula One teams are based in England. And also for Pirelli, which has its own distribution and logistics center for Formula One in Didcot, about half an hour from Silverstone, will be a bit 'like a second home race.
Opened in 1948, after the recent work on the English circuit measures 5.891 km, the longest ride of the season so far and the second longest of the year, after the Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. Along with high speeds and the notoriously unpredictable British weather, the 52 laps of the track - they are three to four possible pit - will be extremely challenging for the tires, as well as for the drivers.
During the practice sessions on Friday, the team will be given two additional sets of PZero White medium, to test the performance of a circuit known to be very severe on the tires.

Technical Notes:

* The load levels at Silverstone are relatively high, delivering more aerodynamic grip in fast corners in the first part of the tour. The route is flat and fast at Silverstone because it is a former military airport. This also makes it subject to changing winds, which can affect the aerodynamic balance and tire wear.

 * The construction of the new Silverstone pit complex, which was moved on the straight between Club and Abbey corners, took 54 weeks and 260,000 hours of work, in addition to 575 truckloads of concrete. There are 41 garages and a new media center, for a total of 2,780 square meters.

* Between 1950 and 1954, Pirelli has won five consecutive victories in Grand Prix of Great Britain, from Nino Farina Alfa Romeo 158 to that of Froilan Gonzalez Ferrari 625.

Pirelli in the UK:

* The fully automated factory Pirelli's MIRS (Modular Integrated Robotised System) Burton on Trent was voted 'Best Factory 2010' by a jury of senior managers Pirelli Pirelli beating 27 other facilities around the world.

* The concept of the Pirelli calendar was born in the United Kingdom. The idea of ​​the calendar was the Marketing Department of Pirelli UK in the early 60's, and the first calendar was produced in Majorca in 1964, by British photographer Robert Freeman.

* Pirelli supplies original equipment to the UK's most prestigious car manufacturers: Aston Martin, Bentley, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lotus and McLaren, confirming the company's reputation as a world leader in Ultra High Performance tires.

Timetable
Practice 1         Fri  08-7-2011  09:00
Practice 2         Fri  08-7-2011  13:00
Practice 3         Sat 09-7-2011  10:00
Qualifying         Sat 09-7-2011  13:00
Race                Sun 10-7-2011  13:00

Live Streaming
Watch F1 Silverstone Live Streaming On Sport Channel 1

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Formula 1 Race Montreal Grand Prix du Canada Live June 12, 2011

Sebastian Vettel remains the strongest candidate to win the Canadian GP. Still, he predicts race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will be very tight. Vettel won his sixth pole this season in the qualifying session that was held yesterday.

Vettel outperformed the Ferrari duo, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. "We know it's not our strongest circuit, we love fast corners. But, we have the fastest package today. So, we can be confident," said Vettel in Autosport. Vettel predict the race will be very tight. Racer nicknamed Baby Schumi is also ready to deal with it. 

Meanwhile, Alonso became the best racer to record a second time after the final moments of qualifying session sharpened his time to go beyond their own colleagues, Massa, who will start in third position.
Vettel's teammate at Red Bull, Mark Webber, will start the race from fourth starting position from McLaren's Lewis Hamilton starts in fifth position. followed by Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher.

Despite failing to reach 107 per cent of the best Q1 time on the qualifying session, Virgin-Cosworth driver, Jarome D'Ambrosio still allowed to go in Canadian GP. The decision was taken by the Stewards after considering he had set a time in FP1 which was quick enough to persuade stewards to allow him to take his place on the grid.

Starting Position:

01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m13.014s
02. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m13.199s + 0.185
03. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m13.217s + 0.203
04. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m13.429s + 0.415
05. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m13.565s + 0.551
06. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m13.814s + 0.800
07. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m13.838s + 0.824
08. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m13.864s + 0.850
09. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m14.062s + 1.048
10. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m14.085s + 1.071
11. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m14.752s
12. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m15.043s
13. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m15.285s
14. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m15.287s
15. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m15.334s
16. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m15.361s
17. Pedro de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1m15.587s
18. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m16.294s
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m16.745s
20. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m16.786s
21. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m18.424s
22. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m18.537s
23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m18.574s
24. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m19.414s

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Maldonado Crashed, Collide Again by Hamilton Monaco Grand Prix 2011

Looked Like over ambitious passing attemp by Hamilton and is under Investigation by race steward. The Williams car is wrecked. At the end of the race Hamilton finished in sixth, assuming he doesn't receive any post-race penalty.

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Monaco Grand Prix 2011 Red Flagged

Vettel coming up more traffic. Button begin to push Alonso they took the huge traffic and found petrov on the wall. Algersuari get damaged too. Replays show Sutil started proceedings, hitting the wall in the swimming pool. That triggered chaos behind him. Alguersuari running into the rear of hamilton, leaving Petrov with nowhere to go but into the wall. Safety car is Deployed. And The race has been red flagged. The race restart lead by safety car within 1 lap. In the end, Vettel Win 2011 Monaco Grand Prix.

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Petrov And Alguersuari Crash . Race Halted Again At The End of Monaco Grand Prix

Alonso close enought to have a look into Ste Devote, but not close enough to pass. Vettel coming up more traffic. Button begin to push Alonso they took the huge traffic and found petrov on the wall. Algersuari get damaged too. Replays show Sutil started proceedings, hitting the wall in the swimming pool. That triggered chaos behind him. Alguersuari running into the rear of hamilton, leaving Petrov with nowhere to go but into the wall. Safety car is Deployed and the race has been red flagged. race marshalls push petrov's renault off the track. He is being transfered to the ambulance. Renault say Petrov was reporting pain whils sat in the car and did not want to get out of the car without assistance. Renault team boss Eric Boullier tells that Petrov seems fine apart from bruise legs. He has been taken to the medical centre for checks, but he is not thought to have broken any bones.

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Massa and Hamilton Collide At Hairpin, Crash Here At Monaco 2011

Replay show massa and hamilton collided at the hairpin.  Race halt, safety car is deployed. Massa Ferrari's  slammed Into right hand wall in the tunnel, coming to halt further down the hill. However Hamilton's wing is Okay. Lewis Hamilton get drive through penalty for causing an avoidable collision. Where Vettel is in the lead at this time.


Full report to follow..

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F1 Grand Prix de Monaco Race Monte Carlo Live Today 29 May 2011

After difficult, halted qualifying yesterday, we we do believe about something that we always need. Luck has always played a big part in winning in the gambler’s paradise that is Monte Carlo. And on Saturday it was very much on Sebastian Vettel’s side, as the Red Bull driver emerged triumphant in a qualifying session that was rendered something of a lottery by Sergio Perez’s dramatic accident in the Sauber (from which the Mexican mercifully escaped without serious injury). With a grid that may well not represent their true Monaco form, we take a look at driver's fortune. The prediction of the Monaco Grand Prix will be 'different' tomorrow and hopefully every driver should be able to push for the win, even though the legendary street circuit's barrier won't let that makes so easy. So let's hope not to get any more car wrecked today.

The Team's Fatcs

Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel, 1m 13.556s, P2
Mark Webber, 1m 14.019s, P3
Zero problems for Vettel, who beat Raikkonen’s long-standing pole record of 1m 13.664s from 2005 and was in just the right place at the right time to take the most coveted grid place. Webber was still suffering from the loss of FP1 track time, but said he was happy with third in the circumstances.

McLaren
Jenson Button, 1m 13.997s, P2
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 15.280s, P7, starts P9
Button said his MP4-26 wasn’t quite au point in Q2, but he really nailed it early on in Q3 and that paid dividends as he described himself as very happy with the car’s performance and his lap. Hamilton gambled on a late run in the hope of avoiding traffic but that backfired spectacularly as Perez’s accident forced him to abort at the crucial moment. He’d dominated Q1 and Q2, but found himself only seventh as his super-soft Pirellis had lost their temperature when Q3 resumed for a final two and a half minutes. Things went from bad to worse when stewards deleted his best Q3 time for missing the chicane, dropping him to ninth on the grid.

Ferrari
Fernando Alonso, 1m 14.483s, P4
Felipe Massa, 1m 14.877s, P6
Somewhere along the way Ferrari lost the pace they’d shown all weekend. Alonso said he didn’t get anything like the same feel from the car in qualifying that he did in practice, and it showed in the lap time. Massa said his session left him with a mixture of satisfaction and regret, after he made a mistake at Rascasse in Q3 which possibly cost him two places.

Mercedes
Michael Schumacher, 1m 14.682s, P5
Nico Rosberg, 1m 15.766s, P8, starts P7
Schumacher was the first to admit that Perez’s accident probably helped him to P5, and that P7 would have been more realistic. But he had his Mercedes going well. So did Rosberg, who bounced back superbly from his heavy morning mistake and accident to take P5 in Q1. Unfortunately, he, like Hamilton, was compromised by Perez’s incident, and should have been much higher than eighth.

Williams
Pastor Maldonado, 1m 16.528s, P9, starts P8
Rubens Barrichello, 1m 15.826s, P12
Maldonado took ninth on the grid for Williams for the second race in succession. He was fast and consistent, but was one of those compromised by the Perez incident. Barrichello said his car worked less well on new tyres than old, and blamed traffic for failing to get to Q3.

Sauber
Sergio Perez, No time, P10, will not start
Kamui Kobayashi, 1m 15.973s, P13
Perez did a great job to get his C30 into Q3 after setting ninth best time in Q2, but then he dropped it under braking for the chicane and ended up having a sizeable broadside impact with the chicane wall. Thankfully he was extricated conscious and speaking from the wreckage, but will not be allowed to start the race. Kobayashi got tagged by Alguersuari at Rascasse in Q1, and never quite got going in Q2.

Renault
Vitaly Petrov, 1m 15.815s, P11
Nick Heidfeld, 1m 16.214s, 16
Renault struggled all weekend on the super-soft tyre, and Petrov was not happy to miss out on the top 10. Heidfeld was only 16th, and said there were no problems. That summarised how much trouble the team were in.

Force India
Paul di Resta, 1m 16.118s, P14
Adrian Sutil, 1m 16.121s, P15
Di Resta and Sutil could not have been more closely matched, but for the fifth time the Scot out-qualified the German. The former thought P14 was a fair reflection of the VJM04’s pace, while the latter said that Petrov spoiled one of his laps and that thereafter his tyres were past their best.

Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi, 1m 16.300s, P17
Jaime Alguersuari, 1m 17.820s, P20
Buemi was very disappointed in Toro Rosso’s qualifying form, while Alguersuari missed out on the chance to get through to Q2 as his STR6 was in the its nose being repaired after he tagged the back of Kobayashi’s Sauber at Rascasse.

Lotus
Heikki Kovalainen, 1m 17.343s, P18
Jarno Trulli, 1m 17.381s, P19
Lotus came back to earth in Monaco, after their Q2 performance in Spain. Kovalainen said he didn’t get the best from his first set of tyres in Q1, but that his second run was much better. Trulli reported that his first set of tyres was fantastic, but that the car did not respond anything like so well on the second. Head scratching all round.

Virgin
Timo Glock, 1m 17.914s, P21
Jerome D'Ambrosio, 1m 18.736s, P22
Glock said he had pretty much a perfect Saturday, and that he got the best qualifying lap he’d ever driven at Monaco which included a couple of brushed walls. D’Ambrosio got a bit left behind this time, and said he felt he went backwards compared to FP3.

HRT
Tonio Liuzzi, No time, will start P23
Narain Karthikeyan, No time, will start P24
Liuzzi’s car was still not repaired after his crash in FP3, and Karthikeyan’s did not run after sustaining a suspension problem, but the stewards announced that they will be allowed to race after setting suitable times in a free practice session

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Vettel On Pole As Q3 Qualifying Monte Carlo Halted by Sergio Perez

Vettel On Pole At Halted Monte Carlo Q3 Qualifying

Sebastian Vettel is on pole from button, webber and alonso. as little time space for other to improve. while Lewis hamilton only P7. Q3 Qualifing F1 at Monaco got stopped after Sergio Perez crashed.As the previous post here.

Vettel held top spot at the time of the red flag stoppage, which came with just over two minutes remaining in the session and lasted for more than quarter of an hour, and the remaining drivers had one flying lap to respond to the world champion. Jenson Button was the closest thing to a rival for Vettel, albeit four tenths shy of the Red Bull driver, after McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton appeared to be distracted by Felipe Massa at the start of his first flying lap.

Although the session restarted, no-one was able to make any major moves, confirming Vettel and Button on the front row, while Hamilton gained just one spot, to line up seventh.

Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso will start on row two, ahead of Michael Schumacher and Massa, with Pastor Maldonado claiming the ninth spot behind Nico Rosberg.

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	RBR-Renault	1:15.606	1:14.277	1:13.556	18
2	4	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:15.397	1:14.545	1:13.997	18
3	2	Mark Webber	RBR-Renault	1:16.087	1:14.742	1:14.019	24
4	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:16.051	1:14.569	1:14.483	22
5	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:16.092	1:14.981	1:14.682	29
6	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:16.309	1:14.648	1:14.877	25
7	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:15.207	1:14.275	1:15.280	15
8	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:15.858	1:14.741	1:15.766	26
9	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Cosworth	1:15.819	1:15.545	1:16.528	23
10	17	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:15.918	1:15.482	no time	23
11	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	1:16.378	1:15.815		21
12	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams-Cosworth	1:16.616	1:15.826		20
13	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1:16.513	1:15.973		20
14	15	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	1:16.813	1:16.118		22
15	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	1:16.600	1:16.121		19
16	9	Nick Heidfeld	Renault	1:16.681	1:16.214		22
17	18	Sebastien Buemi	STR-Ferrari	1:16.358	1:16.300		17
18	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus-Renault	1:17.343			10
19	21	Jarno Trulli	Lotus-Renault	1:17.381			9
20	19	Jaime Alguersuari	STR-Ferrari	1:17.820			9
21	24	Timo Glock	Virgin-Cosworth	1:17.914			12
22	25	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Virgin-Cosworth	1:18.736			11
23	22	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	No time			0
24	23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT-Cosworth	No time			0
		Q1 107% Time		1:20.471

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Sergio Perez Got Shunt, Accident And Delay The Q3 Qualifying F1 At Monaco

 Perez's Crash Delay The Q3 Qualifying F1  At Monte Carlo

Q3 Qualifing F1 at Monaco got stopped after Sergio Perez crshed. Replays show he lost control exiting the tunnel, the car snapped right into the barriers, and then he slid down the hill and went side on into the barrier at the bottom of the hill at Monaco Circuit. While his Sauber car is crained away, as Sergio Perez is extracted and stretchered into the waiting ambulance. The barrier is being repaired be the marshalls.
Report suggest Sergio Perez is okay, but taken to hospital for medical checking.

Full report to follow..

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Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco Free Practise 3 Today Live 28 May 2011

Watch F1 Live Streaming at 11.00 GMT

Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco Free Practise 3 Live 28 May 2011. Sebastian Vettel admitted that things were looking a lot tighter at the head of the field following Thursday practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.

The defending champion, winner of four of the five races run so far this season for Red Bull, was quickest in the morning session before slipping back to fifth following the second 90 minutes of running.
While he admits it looks tight, Vettel was happy with the opening day in the principality and in particular with the performance of the Pirelli tyres after questions were raised pre-event about the longevity of the super soft compound. 

“It's been positive so far,' he said. “Both tyres are working well and seem to be lasting, which is important. We will see how the conditions are on Sunday, but the super soft tyre seems to be the preferred one for qualifying. It seems to be quicker and you can extract more lap time out of it. 

“I had a good feeling straight away in the car; it's fun driving around here; it's a different track and it's quite bumpy and rough. I brushed the wall after three laps, so hopefully that's that done for the weekend! The car looks competitive, but everyone is very close to each other, so it looks tight.”

Monaco is one race Vettel has yet to win and he admitted that success on the streets of Monte Carlo would be special if he can manage it this weekend.

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Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco Free Practise 2 Live 26 May 2011

 Watch Live Stream F1 GP de Monaco

Monte-Carlo featured on the very first Formula 1 calendar back in 1950 and, although it may be impossible to pass, there’s always something special going on when the sport visits this tiny Principality located on the south coast of France. Rain is always possible, though… 

It’s funny just how quickly things change in this game, isn’t it? Think back to 2010. We had those glorious scenes of a Red Bull 1-2, with Vettel and dominant race winner Webber happy as can be. Then came Istanbul a fortnight later and we all know what happened there. The point I’m making is that Monaco signalled a crucial change in the World Championship last year, psychologically if anything, so that’s what all rivals of Sebastian Vettel will be hoping for again.

Incidentally, the fun element still hasn’t gone. It’s only Wednesday and already Webber has accidently on purpose pushed BBC presenter Jake Humphrey into the Red Bull swimming pool at the Energy Station. See what I mean? There’s always that added bit of liveliness around the place, just because it’s Monaco.

Which brings us to more serious matters. Tyres. For the first time in 2011, we don’t have the Soft-Hard combination of compounds with us. This time, although the Soft remains, the red-marked Super Softs are set to be rolled out for Thursday practice – and that’s Thursday not Friday, so the city can then be prepared in time for the weekend. The difference between the two types won’t be anything like it was Barcelona but, crucially, those Super Softs do not last for long. Run one lap too long without pitting and that really could change things, especially as it’s so hard to overtake.

The added potential to overtake remains a key factor. DRS has been banned in the tunnel on safety grounds, but it’ll be interesting to see if anybody can mess up somebody else’s strategy by making any use of it on the start/finish straight – it’s not very long, so you’d think against it, but stranger things have happened…such as a truck catching fire in the middle of St. Devote...

...this was Tuesday evening, when circuit workers suddenly found a huge blaze on their hands as the their vehicle went up in flames, leading to frenzied activity this morning in order to replace what was already a brand-new section of tarmac right in the middle of the first corner. Whoever was responsible for that inferno might want to steer clear of any crashers, with an even greener layer of track there now.

Of course if anything weird happens anywhere, it’s usually here. That’s exactly what Heikki Kovalainen and Lotus are hoping for. Yes, they’re making huge strides towards the midfield but, no, they’re not yet quick enough to score points on merit. But if we do see some carnage, like during that crazy May afternoon in 1996, they could be the ones to watch. Any opportunity will do and Mike Gascoyne knows that only too well.

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Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco Qualifying Live 28 May 2011

Watch Live Streaming Qualifying F1 GP de Monaco 

Qualifying perspective from Red Bull Racing star Mark Webber suggests this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix could be even more of a lottery than usual - as Christian Horner warns McLaren-Mercedes has taken a big step forward

As he bids to make it back-to-back victories in the most glittering race on the annual F1 schedule, Red Bull Racing star Mark Webber contends that there are 'a lot of question marks' approaching this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix.

Webber celebrated the finest moment of his top flight career to-date around the narrow, tortuous streets of Monte Carlo last year, leading from lights-out to chequered flag in the glamorous Principality to seal a tremendously popular triumph and confirm his status as a genuine title contender.

Returning to the scene of his success twelve months on, the Australian is under pressure to deliver a good result and turn the tables on runaway Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel – but he cautions that with so many changes this year, a race already renowned as one of the most unpredictable on the calendar could throw up even more surprises than usual.

“We know this is one of the most prestigious races of the year,” the 34-year-old acknowledged. “There are a lot of question marks going into this year's race in terms of how the tyres will be, and the strategy could be the most complicated of the year. It's a track that I've always seemed to do reasonably well at, though, and I have some of my best memories as a racing driver there.

“It's clearly a demanding street circuit, which requires incredible concentration and composure for the drivers throughout the weekend, starting with Thursday's practice sessions. The dramatic coastline and cliffs make an incredible backdrop to one of the most famous tracks in the world – it's clearly like no other circuit we race at.”

“It's remarkable to drive an F1 car around Monaco,” concurred Vettel, who will arrive there with a commanding 41-point margin over any of his pursuers in the chase for the drivers' crown, having won four of the five grands prix this season to-date. “It's a completely unique track and a unique challenge for the driver. You have to push as hard as on a normal racetrack, but the smallest mistake can bring a big penalty.

“Grid position is very important and can determine your race, as traditionally, overtaking in Monaco is very tricky. Managing the traffic during qualifying is also a big challenge. As an event, it's one of the highlights of the year. We did well there last year, and I hope we can be very strong again.”

Meanwhile, RBR team principal Christian Horner has argued that the reason Vettel was pushed so hard for victory by Lewis Hamilton in last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix – despite an advantage of the best part of a second in qualifying – was that McLaren-Mercedes had brought a substantial raft of upgrades to its MP4-26.

“We knew it would be a close battle,” the Englishman told Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat. “It would be very presumptuous to believe we have a car that is one second per lap better. We just had a phenomenal qualifying. I stress that McLaren brought an enormous update to Spain – it's almost a B-model.”

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Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco Free Practise 1 26 May 2011

Watch F1 FP1 Live Streaming

Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco Practise 1. In times past, Formula One drivers negotiated the Circuit de Monaco practically one-handed, their right palms rubbed raw by the thousands of gear changes required during up to 100 laps of the tortuous track in the Principality. Today's drivers may have a slightly easier time of it, in that they can at least keep both hands on the wheel, but those hands are also significantly busier in 2011.

The modern Formula One steering wheel also fulfils the function of dashboard, gear lever and clutch pedal, and the drivers have up to 32 individual controls that can be adjusted. With the increased in-cockpit workload for 2011 generated by KERS and the DRS, Monaco will present an even greater challenge for the drivers aiming to extract every last ounce of performance.

FIA ban on the deployment of the Drag Reduction System (DRS) through the tunnel in Monaco this weekend, contending that the first driver to attempt to use it there 'would have put it in the wall' and arguing that the major aids to overtaking around the narrow streets of the glamorous Principality will be tyres and KERS.

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Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco Preview 2011

Watch F1 Grand Prix de Monaco 2011

At the greatest street circuit in the world, can Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel add another special place to his ‘win list’ with success in Monte Carlo this weekend? Or will the unique nature of this tight little circuit in the Principality of Monaco throw things open and enable McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes or even Renault to get into the winning picture?

With four wins out of five thus far in 2011, and Mark Webber’s runaway victory here in 2010, the reigning world champion has to start favourite.

“It’s remarkable to drive an F1 car around Monaco,” Vettel says. “It’s a completely unique track and a unique challenge for the driver. You have to push as hard as on a normal race track, but the smallest mistake can bring a big penalty. Grid position is very important and can determine your race, as traditionally overtaking in Monaco is very tricky. Managing the traffic during qualifying in Monaco is also a big challenge. As an event, it’s one of the highlights of the year. We did well there last year and I hope we can be very strong again.”

Team mate Webber would also love nothing better than to repeat his success. “This is one of the most prestigious races of the year,” he says. “There are a lot of question marks going into this year’s race in terms of how the tyres will be and the strategy could be the most complicated of the year. It’s a track that I’ve always seemed to do reasonably well at and I have some of my best memories as a racing driver here. It’s clearly a demanding street circuit, which requires incredible concentration and composure for the drivers throughout the weekend, starting with Thursday’s practice sessions.”

McLaren’s duo also knows what it takes to win here.

“I love Monaco,” Lewis Hamilton says. “It’s a race I remember watching when I was a kid and it’s a place that really showcases Formula One at its very best: racing flat-out against around the toughest and greatest circuit in the world.

“After such a strong showing in Spain, I’m really looking forward to Monaco this year because I think we’ll see a different race from previous years. I think a combination of DRS, KERS and the Pirelli tyres will really make the racing come alive, and I’d love to see some overtaking action and some hard racing this year.”

And of the DRS zone on the pit straight, he added: “I think it’s only around 300 metres, so it’s pretty short, and not really long enough to enable us to really get enough of a launch on the car ahead. I think the aerodynamics will only really start working properly once we’ve reached the braking zone for Ste Devote, so I don’t think we’ll see too many DRS-assisted overtaking moves.”

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso added with a big smirk: “Maybe we will all arrive four abreast at Ste Devote!”

Hamilton believes that the biggest chance of overtaking lies in the performance of Pirelli’s soft and, for the first time this year, super-soft, rubber, notwithstanding the mountain of used rubber that will get thrown off the racing line as the race progresses.

“They will probably give us the greatest scope for excitement and the best chance of passing. While I don’t think the soft and super-soft compounds will be as critical around Monaco as they were at a place like Turkey, I still think the drop-off we encounter as the tyres go off should create opportunities. And I don’t think the marbles will be as bad as people fear, because they tend to occur at the exits of high-speed corners, and Monaco is generally quite a low-speed track, so I don’t think we’ll see the build-up that we saw at somewhere like Turkey’s Turn Eight, for example.”

McLaren’s Jenson Button won here in 2009. “Monaco is the most glamorous and historic race on the calendar,” he says. “Winning here was the fulfilment of a lifelong dream, and it remains one of my favourite Grand Prix victories. It’s always a strange contrast going from a circuit like Barcelona, which is fast, open and flowing, then arriving a few days later at Monaco - which is the slowest, tightest and toughest track on the calendar.

“On your first lap out of the pits, the acceleration just feels incredible and the barriers feel far too close! But you build up a little more gradually than you would at any other circuit, and you quickly find your focus. Still, it’s an intense and slightly unbelievable feeling.

“There’s been some suggestion that KERS might not provide a useful lap time benefit around Monaco, because you might think you couldn’t really exploit it to give you a boost onto a straight. But our simulations suggest that it’s worth as much at Monaco as it is pretty much anywhere else, which is another positive because I think that the Mercedes-Benz unit is the best in Formula One.”

While Button (and everyone else at McLaren) will be making extra sure that the radiator covers are removed before the start, Alonso will be hellbent on avoiding the costly mistake he made last year at Massanet.

“It’s a special race on the calendar,” the Ferrari star says. “And anything could happen there. Sure, we know the amount of downforce required at this track is the highest of the year, but that was also the case last year and we were competitive. I am definitely not thinking of giving up on the championship after just five races: the gap in the classification is very big, but everything can still happen, I'm sure of it."

After the multiple pit stops of China, Turkey and Barcelona, Pirelli believes there could be fewer here as stopping is costly in terms of lap time and track position.

"Monaco is one of those circuits where, if you have slip and wheelspin, you are in difficulty," Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery says. "That is often what you get in slow-speed corners and you accelerate and get slip so you get a lot of grip from the tyre which is why we went supersoft and soft, and pretty similar as to why we have gone that way for Canada.

"If you go with a tyre that is too hard and it is not giving you an advantage from the compound you do get wheelspin and you get excessive consumption of the tyre and that probably for the public is hard to understand as the hard is going to resist more, no matter what you do to it. But it is more complex, it is also related to how much wheelspin you get.

"We would like to see a two-stop strategy and based on Melbourne that should certainly be feasible on a low-speed circuit, although Melbourne doesn't have the really tight corners that it has at Monaco, so it will all be related to how much wheelspin we get and we will only see what when we get there."

As last year, when it barely rained at all, the forecast suggests that there is a chance of showers throughout the weekend. On Wednesday there may be showers and the ambient temperature will peak at 21 degrees Celsius. That should be the case through Thursday’s practice day to Friday, then the temperature will dip to 17 on Saturday and Sunday.

In terms of track changes, Ste Devote was resurfaced on Wednesday after a truck fire there on Tuesday and the kerbing into the seafront chicane has been revised slightly. In addition, during practice and qualifying DRS use will not be allowed in the tunnel on safety grounds.

“The circuit layout at Monaco makes it possible for drivers to short-cut the chicanes at the exit of the tunnel and at the second part of the Swimming Pool complex," explains FIA race director Charlie Whiting. "To prevent drivers gaining any advantage from this, we have this year introduced higher kerbs and speed bumps at these two sections.”

The race will run over 78 laps or 260.520 kilometres (161.887 miles), and will start at 14.00 hours local time, which is two hours ahead of GMT.

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Race Formula 1 - Spanish Grand Prix Catalunya, Barcelona Live - 22 May 2011

Interesting to see what we can predict for the race. Red Bull's Mark Webber took pole position today for Sunday's F1 2011 Spanish Grand Prix.

The Aussie was the only man to break the 1 minute 21 second bracket, his best lap a 1m 20.981s. That put him two tenths up on Vettel, who had no KERS power boost in Q2 and Q3, and who prior to this weekend had started every race this year from P1. It was Webber's first pole since the 2010 Belgian GP.

Lewis Hamilton meanwhile was 'best of the rest', albeit disappointingly more than eight tenths further back in his McLaren on a 1m 21.961s.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso put in a late run to split the McLaren's, just three thousandths off Hamilton and 0.032 seconds up on Jenson Button in fifth. It was some consolation for the Spaniard in front of his home fans, although he had to use an extra set of tyres to accomplish the feat.

Lotus Renault GP's Vitaly Petrov will start sixth, half a second further back, and a tenth up on Nico Rosberg. Felipe Massa, who only just made it through to the pole position shoot-out ended Q3 in eighth, with Pastor Maldonado an encouraging ninth for Williams.

Michael Schumacher rounded out the top ten, electing not to even set a time in Q3 and instead save some rubber for tomorrow's grand prix.

Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi was unfortunate not to make it through to the third qualifying session and ended Q2 just on the wrong side of the cut-off, two tenths slower than Massa. Sauber's Sergio Perez was next up and in front of the other Toro Rosso of Jaime Alguersuari in 13th and his team-mate, Kamui Kobayashi in P14.

Heikki Kovalainen shined for Team Lotus and not only made it through Q1, but also beat both the Force India's to take 15th. Paul di Resta was the quicker of the FIF1 men, four tenths up on his more experienced team-mate, Adrian Sutil.

Rubens Barrichello and Nick Heidfeld were the two big names that failed to make it through the opening session.

Heidfeld was unable to turn a single lap following a fire in practice. The German's mechanics worked tirelessly to try and get him out, but they were unable to repair the damaged R31 in time. The team blamed an exhaust failure for the issue in final practice.

Barrichello also failed to progress due to a mechanical issue - possibly gearbox related. He will line up 19th in his Williams, behind Team Lotus' Jarno Trulli.

Timo Glock trailed Barrichello in 20th in his Virgin, followed by the Hispania's of Vitantonio Liuzzi and Narain Karthikeyan and his team-mate, Jerome d'Ambrosio, who was 0.211 seconds within the 107 percent time.

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Formula 1 - Spanish Grand Prix Catalunya, Barcelona Spain Qualifying Live - 21 May 2011

Mark Webber,“It will definitely be better than what we have had in the past,” the Australian said yesterday. “It has to be. The tyres are playing a big role these days and the wing on this straight as well. The last sector in Turkey is a little bit more open for different moves, so Turn One here is a bit different but you can still get the job done with the tyres and with the wing. It will be a different Spanish Grand Prix to what we have seen in the past in terms of overtaking. Not the most overtakes we have seen here in the past, but that will probably change on Sunday.”
Last year’s winner here for Red Bull, is not only determined to kick start his world championship quest with a repeat performance this weekend but also suggests we will see a much more exciting Spanish race than we have of late at the Circuit de Catalunya.

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Formula 1 - Spanish Grand Prix Catalunya, Barcelona Spain Free Practice 3 - 21 May 2011

Mark Webber, last year’s winner here for Red Bull, is not only determined to kick start his world championship quest with a repeat performance this weekend but also suggests we will see a much more exciting Spanish race than we have of late at the Circuit de Catalunya.

“It will definitely be better than what we have had in the past,” the Australian said yesterday. “It has to be. The tyres are playing a big role these days and the wing on this straight as well. The last sector in Turkey is a little bit more open for different moves, so Turn One here is a bit different but you can still get the job done with the tyres and with the wing. It will be a different Spanish Grand Prix to what we have seen in the past in terms of overtaking. Not the most overtakes we have seen here in the past, but that will probably change on Qualifying and Sunday.”

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Formula 1 - Spanish Grand Prix Catalunya, Barcelona Spain Free Practice 2- 20 May 2011

Barcelona isn't often regarded as one of the more exciting races on the calendar, but Goss added that he expected that to change this time around thanks to a combination of the new Pirelli tyres and the Drag Reduction System.
In Spain, the DRS zone will run along the main start-finish straight and will be the longest used so far this season.
McLaren is planning an aggressive assault on rivals Red Bull Racing in Spain this weekend after revealing that up to a dozen upgrades will feature on the MP4-26 at the Circuit de Catalunya.
The team is set to use a series of upgrades that had been planned for the Turkish Grand Prix a fortnight but were pulled at the last minute, while other upgrades which were due to run in Spain will also be trialled during Friday practice.

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Formula 1 - Spanish Grand Prix Catalunya, Barcelona Free Practice 1 - 20 May 2011

McLaren is planning an aggressive assault on rivals Red Bull Racing in Spain this weekend after revealing that up to a dozen upgrades will feature on the MP4-26 at the Circuit de Catalunya.
The team is set to use a series of upgrades that had been planned for the Turkish Grand Prix a fortnight but were pulled at the last minute, while other upgrades which were due to run in Spain will also be trialled during Friday practice.

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F1 Spanish Grand Prix Preview - Barcelona 20 May 2011

The Formula Ones teams are gathering in Spain amid excitement that the combination of KERS, DRS and Pirelli’s tyres will provide an unusual level of overtaking at the Montmelo circuit, which in the past has generated low-key races with relatively little passing.

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh is just one who believes that the race will confirm how successful the 2011 technical rule changes have been.

"I'm particularly interested to see how they affect Sunday's Grand Prix," Whitmarsh said. "We've seen how DRS and KERS Hybrid have influenced the racing so far this season, so we'll see how things progress at Barcelona given that the Spanish Grand Prix has previously shown limited opportunities for overtaking."

McLaren will be just one of several teams bringing significant updates to this race - engineering director Tim Goss reveals that they will have more than 10 - having just missed the mark with them in time for Turkey. "As usual the relentless pace of upgrades continues,” he says. “We have a package of upgrades which we're taking to Spain. It's a package of about 10-12, some of which will be recognisable from the outside and some that won't be.

"Our objective is to win races and championships and to do that we have to close the gap on Red Bull. We just keep chipping away at the problem. We had a package for Turkey that we took there. We're always trying to accelerate getting upgrades to the circuit as quickly as possible. Just prior to Turkey we had a minor issue that meant I wasn't confident that the upgrade would be durable over a race distance. So we pulled out of that at the last minute. We'll re-evaluate all of our issues on Friday here."

Ferrari will also have a major upgrade, and after his podium finish in Turkey Fernando Alonso believes that he can still fight for the world championship this year.

"You know I like playing with numbers - and as I travelled backwards and forwards between home, Maranello and Turkey, I made a comparison between my first four races of last year and those of this year in the corresponding Grands Prix," he explains. "What came out of this little game was that compared to 2010 I'm eight points short (49 versus 41) but in the same four races, this year I've brought home 13 more points compared to last year (41 versus 28).

"It's true that my current gap to the top of the drivers' championship is much greater (52 points) compared to what I had after Shanghai 2010 (11 points) but I well recall that after Silverstone we were 47 points away and we only had eight races left.

"Today we still have 15 Grands Prix to come. This shows that you can look at the same thing in two different, even completely opposite ways. What matters are results and we've started to make the podium: we must do that regularly and if so I'm convinced that we will again be able to fight for the title."

Mercedes will have a revised aero package as team principal Ross Brawn remains adamant that Michael Schumacher can kick-start his fight-back here, as will Sauber, Force India, and Williams. Lotus and HRT also have big changes.

The former aim for a second per lap’s worth of progress, which could put them firmly in the midfield, the latter will be running for only the second time at home. “The Spanish Grand Prix is the perfect setting for the team to show the fans what we’re capable of and we hope to make the next step forward in front of the home crowd,” says HRT team principal Colin Kolles.

Virgin, the third of the ‘newcomers’, believe that they learned a lot about the update they took to Turkey after recent straight-line running with tester Adrian Quaife-Hobbs at Idiada in Spain.

Meanwhile, overall, Red Bull are confident of remaining the 2011 pace-setters for the fifth Grand Prix in succession.

The most prominent feature of the 4.655-kilometre Circuit de Catalunya is the very long pit straight, which also provides drivers with the second longest run from grid to first corner. A hefty 830m of that straight will serve as the DRS zone, with the detection point shortly before the final corner and the activation zone starting shortly after it, so expect plenty of passing attempts into Turn One.

However, it’s the combination of different corners in Barcelona that highlights every aspect of a car’s performance and is very tough on tyres. Pirelli will be bringing their new ‘silver’ hard tyre, which is slightly more durable over race distances, together with their established ‘yellow’ soft as this weekend’s option.

Catalunya is a popular testing venue and the teams have all tried Pirelli’s wares here on previous occasions, once last winter and twice in the pre-season official tests. Along with Pirelli’s on-going private test campaign last month, it means everyone has a lot more information on tyre performance than they did in the first four races.

The weather in Montmelo will be mainly sunny, with some cloud a predicted ambient temperature high of 24 degrees Celsius on Thursday and Friday, dropping to 23 on Saturday. It is expected to rise again to 25 on Sunday.

The Spanish circuit is largely unchanged since Red Bull’s Mark Webber won the 2010 race, the only significant alterations being higher kerbs in Turns Seven and Eight which were installed for winter testing. The race will run over 66 laps or 307.104 kilometres (190.834 miles), and will start at 1400 hours local time, which is two hours ahead of GMT.

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