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  1. [extract] The management at McLaren could have felt embarrassed by the fact that their supercar, the MP4-12C, got trashed by the Lamborghini Aventador in episode 8 of Head-to-Head. Therefore, for the 2013 model year, the British race car maker decides to give the car a series of improvement, with the most significant upgrade being a 25bhp power bump. This brings the twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V8's total output to a screaming 616bhp, but still fall behind the Aventador
  2. Without a doubt, the sultan of Brunei is one of the richest person in the world with a vast car collection, some specially created ones. With thousands of dream cars to go through, Carbuzz.com tried narrowing down to a few real exotics among the Sultan's immense fleet of luxury and ultra rare vehicles which is worth an estimated $300 (S$383) million, and fills five garages the size of airplane hangars. Rolls-Royce wedding car: The Sultan's Rolls-Royce wedding car: Gold Plated Rolls-Royce made with 24k pure gold Rolls Royce: The world's most expensive Rolls Royce, The Star of India costed him $14 million. Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR: The world's only right-hand-drive version with a 6.9-litre V12 powertrain producing 612hp. The tip of the iceberg is his collection of like any other gazillionaire the Sultan has a taste for Ferrari's with over 300 in his collection. Ferrari FX: Like any other gazillionaire the Sultan has a taste for Ferraris with over 300 in his collection. This FX is based on the F512M enclosed with a custom-built body and rumoured to have a seven-speed transmission from the Williams F1 Team. 6 F90 Ferrari Testarossa Speciale: All 6 are owned by the Sultan. All the F90's use a Ferrari Testarossa chassis producing 390hp sent to the rear wheels. The interior is custom with a glass greenhouse and a fully removable sunroof. McLaren F1s: Eight McLaren F1
  3. FaezClutchless

    McLaren

    [extract] Somewhere in the southern part of England, there is a warehouse where its location is closely guarded. This facility is known as Unit 2 which houses the biggest collection of McLaren cars, including the company
  4. These billionaires made it to the Forbes list as some of the richest people in the world, but their choice of rides varies. For example, one house hardware entrepreneur drives a car that would only fetch about $1,500 (S$1,864), while a software mogul could sell his car for $4.4 (S$5.47) million. While some vehicles are considered dream rides others made the list due to the owners. Though the source of this article is new, it is unsure if these billionaires have changed their rides. Carlos Slim Helu is the world's richest man, according to Forbes Bill Gates' Porsche 959 Coupe, one of only 230 in the world Alice Walton, heiress of the Wal-Mart, second-richest woman in the world. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud, member of the Saudi royal family Ingvard Kamprad, founder of Ikea, worth $28 Billion Michael Bloomberg Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle Warren Buffet Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook Michael Dell, CEO Dell Computers Steve Ballmer from Microsoft with his Ford Hybrid Fusion Phil Knight, founder of Nike Francois-Henri Pinault, husband of Salma Hayek Laurene Powell Jobs, Widow of the Steve Jobs Eric Schidt of Google
  5. [extract] This ultra-rare 1997 Gulf Team Davidoff McLaren F1 GTR 'Longtail' race car will grace the auction block at Bonhams
  6. The Chinese Formula 1 Grand Prix in Shanghai on April 15 was an interesting race and one that Nico Rosberg won after taking part in 111 F1 races. And now that little jinx has been settled, we may see an increase in confidence in the German driver (He is half Finnish and half German) much like how Jenson Button winning his first race and then go on to winning a world championship. Of course, the win was in a way handed to him by the fact that his Mercedes Petronas F1 team mate Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button in the McLaren suffered similar misfortunes. Schumacher, who started off second suffered as team mechanics failed to properly tighten his car tyres at his first pitstop causing, no, forcing the on-form seven time world champion to retire very early on. Jenson Button who was behind the suddenly very competitive Mercedes F1 cars had also suffered from a tyre change bungle as the McLaren pitcrew struggled to change the rear wheel on Button's car. This allowed Rosberg to scoot ahead comfortably and he wasn't seriously challenged at all right to the finish line. The Shanghai grand prix also showed to us F1 fans that Ross Brawn, who runs the Mercedes Petronas team which was born out of the championship winning Brawn GP squad in 2010, is back in the business of winning. These new Mercedes F1 cars seem to be even better than the Red Bull Racing cars that reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel drives. This also marks the first F1 win for the modern Mercedes F1 team and the first win as a constructor since 1955. It also allowed us to watch a mega scrap between those placed 2nd to 8th position. Which is usually what viewers want. One other notable fact that I happened to notice is that Ferrari, which won the previous race over at Sepang suffers from a lack of pace. It must have been down to the weather (the rain) and the fact that Fernando Alonso is indeed an exceptional driver. RESULTS 1. Rosberg (Mercedes) 1h36:26.929 2. Button (McLaren-Mercedes) +20.626 3. Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) +26.012 4. Webber (Red Bull-Renault) +27.924 5. Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) +30.483 6. Grosjean (Lotus-Renault) +31.491 7. Senna (Williams-Renault) +34.597 8. Maldonado (Williams-Renault) +35.643 9. Alonso (Ferrari) +37.256 10. Kobayashi (Sauber-Ferrari) +38.720 11. Perez (Sauber-Ferrari) +41.066 12. Di Resta (Force India-Mercedes) + 42.273 13. Massa (Ferrari) +42.700 14. Raikkonen (Lotus-Renault) +50.500 15. Hulkenberg (Force India-Mercedes) +51.200 16. Vergne (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) +51.700 17. Ricciardo (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) +1:03.100 18. Petrov (Caterham-Renault) +1 lap 19. Glock (Marussia-Cosworth) +1 lap 20. Pic (Marussia-Cosworth) +1 lap 21. De la Rosa (HRT-Cosworth) +1 lap 22. Karthikeyan (HRT-Cosworth) +2 laps 23. Kovalainen (Caterham-Renault) +3 laps DNF Schumacher (Mercedes) - Boo Hoo Hoo! I was rooting for the chap!
  7. The 2012 Malaysian Formula 1 Grand Prix was again an event full of unpredictability mainly due to the weather. I was glad that I decided to stay home and catch it on telly again as it rained, the race was red flagged after some laps before continuing again some time later. It was so unpredictable that Fernando Alonso driving the Ferrari came in first behind Mexican Sergio Perez of Sauber and Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren Mercedes. Sergio who? Exactly. The rain cause a great many upsets until we got to see the first Mexican in over 40 years to step up on a Formula 1 winner's podium. And then we got to see grown men from Ferrari and Sauber shed tears of joy. Team Ferrari was most pleased that they've managed to secure a win after a very tough and dry 2011 season. Whilst for Sauber, it has managed to score some points and a podium finish after a great deal of years finishing at the rear. This is also the first podium finish for Sauber as an independent team instead of branded as BMW Sauber or Sauber Petronas in recent years. Watching Peter Sauber cry is almost like watching a happily-ever-after fairytale ending. Of course it isn't. The F1 calendar for 2012 has just got into full stride. This is only the second race this season but the first proper race held at a track. Melbourne was a city track and we did not see the true potential of the cars. BUT it rained in Sepang and we still didn't manage to see the true potential of the cars. We could see however that some drivers and some cars doing well in the wet, but that's about it really. We also saw upsets. Michael Schumacher started in fourth and was tagged by turn 4 of the opening lap. It caused him a chance for a top three finish that I was also hoping for due to the rain (the chap was called 'rainmeister' if one remembers correctly). He managed to finish 10th giving him some points though. Starting high up in the grid shows us the potential of the Mercedes Petronas F1 car. It seems to me that this latest Ross Brawn designed car is up there with the rest of the leaders. Even with ol' Schumacher at the wheel. Maybe it is because he's at the wheel in a car that is set up for him that he's fast
  8. Anyone here collecting and building it? The 1:8 scale is worth it for its size and detail.
  9. The Formula 1 circus show has begun for 2012 Melbourne Grand Prix recently. The race was entertaining as the cars were bunched up again with 17 laps to go due to the safety car coming out after a racing incident. So it was basically down to the wire. However, the Malaysian Grand Prix happens this coming weekend (the 25th of March 2012) over at Sepang and the carnival has started early for some. The newly minted Lotus F1 Team (Lotus bought out the Renault F1 team last year) have started the ball rolling displaying their latest challenger, the E20. It was displayed and driven in front of the Malaysian public at Proton's Power of 1 Event. Donuts and all. Driven by former F1 Champion Kimi Raikkonen and newbie Romain Grosjean, Raikkonen did quite well coming in 7th over at Melbourne while Grosjean did not finish. It wasn't too long ago that a powered by Renault car propelled Fernando Alonso to two world championships and it is a good platform for any car manufacturer to gain entry into F1. Of course we have to note that Renault is an automobile manufacturer in their own right and must have decided that they had to spend tons of money on their own in Formula 1. That is why they must have become enginge suppliers. It makes perfect sense money-wise and so we now have the Lotus F1 Team
  10. FaezClutchless

    Rusty Car Art

    [extract] Rust is something we usually see on old or poorly maintained cars. It is the corrosion of iron and its alloy and usually associated with junk metal. When someone sees a rusted item, in their mind, it is not worth saving or keeping and that item would normally be discarded. Car owners do not want to see rust on their car
  11. [extract] The McLaren MP4-12C was just released only recently and there have been already 3 crashes reported in the World Wide Web. Also, there have been reports of McLaren halting shipment of the car to dealers. They claimed that it was due to
  12. It is certainly a rare site to behold - 21 McLaren F1 models all in one place. These photos come to us courtesy of CarsUK, who's source for the photos was one of the F1 owners. The cars were gathered for an event last month at McLaren headquarters in Woking, U.K. - the introduction of the new McLaren MP4-12C. McLaren had invited a host of current F1 owners to come along and create this wonderful photo-op for the supercar maker. Since the McLaren F1 was introduced in 1994, it has been a rarity. There were only 64 road cars made and a total of just over 100 were ever built. The average price for an F1 today is $2.5 million (
  13. The 2011 Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix concluded with Sebastian Vettel coming in first and he is almost assured to be crowned this year's F1 champion. Discussing Vettel's win over in Singapore is somehow pointless as he drove exceptionally well and the Red Bull F1 car in winning form. This year is his and there is nothing we can do about it but enjoy the performance. Now if you've been following this year's F1 like I have been you'd have noticed that the media has been trying hard to create waves elsewhere as Vettel's winning ways are killing headlines. In a way that is. Imagine the same headline 'Vettel Wins!' throughout the season with only the venue changing. So they try turning something into nothing. It must be hard for them to cook up stories as they've recently decided to crucify Lewis Hamilton because of his antics in the Singapore GP. What happened over in Singapore (somewhere behind the winning Sebastian Vettel) was Hamilton driving the tyres out of his McLaren and rear ending Fillipe Massa of Ferrari. This had caused a furious Massa trying to make his way towards Hamilton in the pits. This had also caused the media speculating that the drivers were ganging up on Hamilton stating that he had made dangerous moves on other drivers in Malaysia, Monaco, Montreal, UK Hungary, Belgium and a few others. Honestly, he was racing and trying his hardest to overtake everyone in front of him. I think the media is making a big fuss out of nothing. It also seems that some media people want races to be without incidents or without aggressive drivers. Maybe the cars would have neon signs that state 'Please move over I am faster than you, you slowcoach'. Too much hot air is being blown onto this issue. Oh yes. I have not reported on the 2012 Singapore GP as yet. Aside from Vettel winning again (and again, and again) it was quite good. Hamilton crashing in Massa meant that the drivers are indeed racing. The track is super tight as usual and there is no room for error. The Singapore GP is indeed taxing on the drivers as they mostly see barriers, tall fencing and lights. How most of them can keep their concentration lap after lap in a totally cooped up environment is totally commendable and truly awesome. photo credit:planetf1
  14. The 2011 Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix was another one of those action packed races this season where Sebastian Vettel won. Yes, that chap may still be knocking the socks off the other contestants but it isn't a dull one horse race at all. He may be impervious at this moment but I don't really care because after the recent mid-season break we're actually seeing some movement from the other teams. Ferrari and McLaren seem to have gotten their form back as Jenson Button came in second for McLaren and Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari Vettel drove impeccably and even did a brilliant overtaking move against Alonso early on in the race. But what really got me extremely enthralled with the Italian Grand Prix was Michael Schumacher's ultra defensive (or aggressive
  15. SINGAPORE - Singapore billionaire Peter Lim has made a "significant investment" in UK-based sports car maker McLaren Automotive, the company said. Mr Lim, who earned the nickname "Remisier King" in the city-state, has joined McLaren Automotive's board with immediate effect. Forbes Asia recently ranked him No 8 on Singapore's rich list, with an estimated fortune of US$1.8 billion (S$2.17 billion) built mainly from investments. "Peter Lim's track record in Asia as a highly respected business leader adds further quality to our board in this highly competitive business environment at an exciting time for the company," McLaren Automotive and McLaren Group executive chairman Ron Dennis said in a statement. The company said demand for its new McLaren sports car, the MP4-12C, is strong with retailers in the Asia Pacific region confirming orders that account for around 18 months of production. The McLaren Group also runs a Formula 1 team. Last year, Mr Lim made a
  16. The recent Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix was interesting. I suppose the weather helped again as it rained and we got to see defending World Champion Sebastian Vettel as well as previous World Champions Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso losing it with either a spin or having some off the track incidents. We also got to see a level headed ex-world champion Jenson Button winning the race in a McLaren. Lady luck must have been with him as the Hungarian Grand Prix was mainly led by Lewis Hamilton who drove the other McLaren. Now other than that this race marked Button's 200th race and incredibly his 11th race win. I suppose this basically means that Formula 1 is tough as this chap has been racing for so long and actually won the driver's championship once yet he only has eleven wins around his belt. It must be as he has to fight four other world champions out there (the chaps mentioned above and Michael Schumacher too). Anyway, it rained and as usual that sort of weather makes racing so unpredictable. Aside from the spins and slips by the race leaders and challengers, one other reason Jenson Button won was his decision not to come in of intermediate tires when everyone seemed to want to use them. He opted for the prime tires in a slightly damp track and kept it on the track when others seemed to be slip-sliding all around him. From what I have seen, the Red Bull cars are still the cars to beat on race day but when the weather comes into play, tire strategy, patience and skill comes into play. One other incident that is actually worth writing about is the fact that Nick Heidfield's Renault actually caught fire in the pits (at around lapd 20). This happened as the Renault was stationary for quite a while and upon exiting the pits, his car caught fire. Heidfield managed to scramble out of the car and the car experienced a small explosion while the track marshalls were trying to put the fire out. One marshall was hit by flying shards of carbon fiber and it was a nearly a safety car incident. It wasn't, but if the safety car was brought out, the outcome of the race may be altered. Anyway, as I posted earlier, mid-season is usually when Formula 1 gets interesting. No one knows what will happen after this upcoming 4 week break from racing. The next race is scheduled on the 28th of August at Spa, Belgium. Results 01. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1h43:42.337 02. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 3.588 03. Alonso Ferrari + 19.819 04. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 48.338 05. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 49.742 06. Massa Ferrari + 1:17.176 07. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 08. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 09. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap 10. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 11. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 12. Petrov Renault + 1 lap 13. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 2 laps 14. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 2 laps 15. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 2 laps 16. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 2 laps 17. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 4 laps 18. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps 19. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 5 laps 20. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 5 laps Retirements Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 56 Schumacher Mercedes 27 Heidfeld Renault 24 Trulli Lotus-Renault 18 photo credit:planetf1
  17. [extract] Fact: The first few McLaren MP4-12C supercars will be delivered during the third and fourth weeks of July 2011. Fact: McLaren has already made some changes to the cars that are to be delivered. Imagine that, some important, very last minute tweaks right before the first few customers receive their McLaren MP4-12C and McLaren says that these were necessary to increase the
  18. Most of us will never know what it's like to order a supercar. Thankfully, we have collector extraordinaire Jay Leno to share the process. Leno is the proud owner of a 2012 McLaren MP4-12C, and he recently discussed how he went about buying his new toy. Leno says that normally, acquiring the latest exotic can be annoying. Sales associates want to tell you that the car is sold out while also pushing options you may or may not need. Not so with McLaren. When Leno ordered his MP4-12C, he simply phoned the McLaren office and went through the options list. When doing so, he found a refreshing level of honesty in the person helping him buy the car. Leno said he wanted the carbon ceramic brakes, and the sales associate asked whether Jay would be tracking the car or not. Leno said no, and the salesperson told him he wouldn't need the ceramics, then, as the standard steel brakes were cheaper, lighter and very effective. The associate also informed Leno that the carbon fiber interior accents were merely decorative and offered no weight savings, helping Jay save even more on the bottom line. All told, it seems Jay Leno is just as smitten with the car as he with McLaren's operation as a whole. The MP4-12C will occupy a space in Leno's giant garage, positioned, we assume, right next to the McLaren F1 he already owns. Before purchasing the MP4-12C, however, Leno took a trip to Woking to see how the car is made. He got some track time, too, which you can watch in the clip posted after the jump.
  19. [extract] It rained during the British Formula 1 Grand Prix at Silverstone on the 10th of July. This basically meant that racing was at its finest (subjectively speaking that is). Ferrari managed to break its dry spell in this wet race with Fernando Alonso taking the win with the usual suspects, Sebastian Vettel coming in second and his Red Bull counterpart, Mark Webber taking third. It is Ferrari
  20. http://www.autoblog.com/2011/06/27/fifth-g...tali/#continued
  21. McLaren has released full details on the MP4-12C and the model's specs are definitely in line with the uncompromising performance that the supercar-maker has promised. Under the mid-rear bonnet is the M838T power plant in the McLaren MP4-12C - a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 engine that produces a total of 600 PS (441 kW / 592 bhp) and 600 Nm (443 lb-ft) of torque. The MP4-12C does the 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) sprint in 3.3 seconds (3.1 with special Corsa tires) and has a top speed of 330 km/h (205 mph). 0 to 200 km/h (124 mph) comes in at 9.1 seconds, 8.9 with the Corsa racing tires. The MP4-12C's MonoCell carbon-fiber chassis, which weights only 75 kg (165 lbs), helps makes for a sprightly vehicle that could weigh-in as low as 1301 kg (2868 lbs) with the lightweight options that McLaren will make available once the model goes on sale. Transmission on the MP4-12C is a seven-speed SSG gearbox which offers three drive modes: Normal, Sport and Track. The MP4-12C also comes with adjustable roll control, which replaces mechanical anti-roll bars, and the new supercar features a suspension control module with 3 modes too, Normal, Sport and Track, just as with the transmission but which acts independently of the gearbox setting. "I am immensely proud of the 12C development team. I don't believe any car company in the world has put as much effort, innovation, passion and sheer determination into launching a car as McLaren has with the 12C...Both in simulation, and in the real world on road and track, we have gone to extremes to ensure the 12C stands up to the performance and quality we know our prospective customers demand," said Antony Sheriff, McLaren Automotive's Managing Director, in a statement. McLaren is currently still testing the MP4-12C with four prototypes having gone on the road for further tests in Portugal and Spain just last month. The MP4-12C will be available through a network of 35 retailer locations in 19 countries at a price of around $229,000 in the US and about
  22. Monaco. Vettel wins again. His first ever win at Monaco. And it IS Groundhog day but at least the 2011 Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix wasn't a procession of cars like it usually is year after year. Sebastian Vettel's win for Red Bull Racing wasn't a walk in a park. It was a race filled with the very good looking SLS Safety Car, red flags, stoppages and a lot of accidents. It is Monaco, but with a slightly different tinge to it. Vettel's win was quite unexpected. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso's second place was unexpected too. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was penalised for dangerous passing even though he finished sixth (and then post-race he started blaming the stewards for wrongly penalising him because of his color
  23. Wearnes Automotive, which represents brands like Renault, Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar, Bentley and Bugatti in Singapore, held a Media Nite recently to announce the addition of two more brands to their portfolio. The two brands, McLaren and Infiniti, are without doubt highly-anticipated, and local car enthusiasts can most certainly look forward to a slew of exciting new cars arriving this year. The biggest news has to be the impending arrival of McLaren, for the first time ever in Singapore officially. McLaren's debut supercar to be launched here will be the MP4-12C, which is expected to arrive by the end of this year. Unfortunately Wearnes didn't have an example to showcase at the event, but they did display a customer's McLaren F1, which was breathtaking nonetheless. Beside it was another customer car, a limited edition carbon fibre-bodied Bugatti Veyron, one of only five in the world. Infiniti themselves also made their presence known with its FX SUV, which will go on sale along with the M-Series sedan before the year is out. Other highlights at the event include the Range Rover Evoque, which too wasn't available on display. But a funky wire mesh version was created and placed on a rotating turntable in a room with a disco-like setting. The Evoque is scheduled to go on sale in Singapore by the third quarter of this year, and is targeted at the youthful set who likes a bit of ruggedness with their sporty and stylish lifestyle. There was also a Red Bull Racing F1 car on show outside the premises, to underline the sporty pretensions of the brands under Wearnes Autmotive's hold. The Red Bull F1 car is powered by a Renault engine, and carries Infiniti sponsorship logos. All in all, it was an exciting night, made even more so with such amazing automotive gems on display. But it certainly can't beat the tantalising prospects of the new cars that will soon arrive on our shores.
  24. Okay people, the second race of the 2011 Formula 1 Grand Prix had just concluded and reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel has won the 13th Malaysian Grand Prix held on Sunday, the 10th of April 2011. Two races on and Vettel is faultless to date. After Melbourne a couple of weeks ago he has done it again. Second place went to McLaren's Jenson Button and third place to Nick Heidfield of Renault, who must have surprised some F1 pundits as he was a last minute replacement for Robert Kubica, who suffered a pre-season rally car accident that was pretty bad. The top 10 grid positions at the start was as follows: 1.Vettel, 2.Hamilton, 3.Webber, 4.Button, 5.Alonso, 6.Heidfeld, 7.Massa, 8.Petrov, 9.Rosberg and finally, 10.Kobayashi. The race started off with concerns of rain but as the lights went out everyone was moving in on everyone. Third grid spot Mark Webber had a fault with his KERS and was overtaken by quite a few people behind him till he ended up ninth. Michael Schumacher from eleventh ended up eighth. Heidfield from sixth up to second place. I suppose the amazing thing was there was no major accidents or damage towards all the participants with the exception of Rubens Barrichello who unluckily suffered an early tire puncture. One of the newer drivers, Kamui Kobayashi, driving the Sauber Ferrari drove spiritedly. I suppose this was to make up for Sauber's disqualification in Melbourne for an illegal sized rear wing. He was in a skirmish from the start. On Lap 4 to Lap10 he was involved in a scuffle for position with Mark Webber . It only ended when Webber pitted for tires. This was one of the first few tire changes of the race due to everyone predicting that it was going to rain soon. By Lap 12 just about everyone came in as there was sign of rain on the track. It did rain but those that thought it was going to be a long and heavy one were disappointed. Those that changed to intermediates or wets must have been truly disappointed as it rained lightly and it dried up quickly due to the heat on the track. It was a little chaotic but nothing really dramatic happened. I suppose some teams wanted rain to even up the playing field. That didn't happen and things were seemingly the same from this point onwards. The only piece of accident excitement that happened was when Vitaly Petrov driving the Renault went airborne after running wide and then crashing. There wasn't any real threat towards race leader Sebastian Vettel at all throughout the race. At the very best, Lewis Hamilton, who was second behind Vettel tried a push but he was at best, 6 seconds behind. This attempt was thwarted when Hamilton's car suffered problems with his left tire. Hamilton's troubles left him with a seventh placing at the end of the race. Sebastian Vettel/Red Bull had won a rain free Malaysian Grand Prix. Jenson Button finished second some 3 seconds behind with Heidfield, Webber, Massa and Alonso coming up after that. It was quite a good race that showed off a lot of Pirelli tire changes -with three to four tire changes due to the teams unsure whether it was going to rain or not and also because the tires were temperamental with some strange handling characteristics. It looks like Pirelli is still getting some slack for their tires in their first year of being the sole tire supplier in F1. Some also had problems with the DRS wings and some had KERS that decided to take a holiday instead of working on the track. But sometimes, especially during Formula 1, it is better for us viewers, fans and enthusiasts that things don't go as planned. But can I add some non-race issues to this year's Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang? The first is that if you drove there from Kuala Lumpur you'd expect a 10 minute drive from the toll booth as you exit the ELITE highway. But what I cannot fathom is how can things get so bad in the middle of nowhere (Yes, Sepang IS in the middle of nowhere) you need over an hour to park your car and it isn't close to the track. Then you add the humidity and overall temperature to the situation it gets close to unbearable. And secondly, parking during F1 events are usually expensive, but a jump from RM5 to RM50? That's a tenfold increase. And if most are aware, a successful event needs regular people to fill up an event and local Malaysians do not earn in Euro, US Dollars or even Singapore Dollars. I can bet you that the locals will stay away from next year's F1 because of these two issues. Imagine battling through the traffic jam and then reaching the parking only to find out that it costs a bomb. You already know that a cheap 'night market' standard burger will not cost RM1.50 but at least RM5-10. It may be cheap to the tourists from Europe but as I said, its the locals who actually make up most of the crowd on the hillstands and cheaper grandstands. The Malaysian man on the street who drives a normal Perodua or a Proton to Sepang isn't too happy actually. Oh, by the way, it is great to see Ol' man Schumacher still able to duke it out with the younger boys. Ninth position is pretty good in my opinion. Makes a good role model for people in their forties (which is actually just around the corner for yours truly). BUT...This isn't the end. Both Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton of McLaren were each handed a 20 second penalty for overly aggressive driving against each other. Their jostle for third place was actually quite a jostle. Alonso's front wing made contact with Hamilton's car and forced Alonso to the pits to finish in sixth as well as forcing the stewards to slap him with the penalty. Hamilton's penalty came as a result of very aggressive defensive driving on the previous lap. But since both were given penalties, but the race results have not changed as somehow both of them had quite a buffer from the car right behind them. Look towards the end of this article for the official results. The ones below were the results at the end of the race not at the end of the race stewards final decision. Actually they shouldn't have been given any penalty as it did make the race slightly more interesting. Somehow racing as if their lives depended on it isn't allowed anymore. Race Results 01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h37:39.832 02. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 3.261 03. Heidfeld Renault + 25.075 04. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 26.384 05. Massa Ferrari + 36.958 06. Alonso Ferrari + 37.248 07. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 49.957 08. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:07.239 09. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:24.896 10. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:31.563 11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1:45.000 12. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap 13. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 14. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 15. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 1 lap 16. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps 17. Petrov Renault + 4 laps Not classified/retirements: Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 47 D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 43 Trulli Lotus-Renault 32 Perez Sauber-Ferrari 24 Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 23 Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 15 Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 9 Revised Results 01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h37:39.832 02. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 3.261 03. Heidfeld Renault + 25.075 04. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 26.384 05. Massa Ferrari + 36.958 06. Alonso Ferrari + 57.248 07. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:07.239 08. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 69.957 09. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:24.896 10. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:31.563 11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1:45.000 12. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap 13. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 14. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 15. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 1 lap 16. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps 17. Petrov Renault + 4 laps photo source: planetf1
  25. http://www.worldcarfans.com/111021530730/d...458-and-porsche
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