Hunt for Glory: Nathan Mckane's 2nd Season

[RealRacingRoots]

What was Codemasters smoking?

The Penalty System in a nutshell, folks.

[RealRacingRoots]

Last Tweet Before Qualifying:

"Talked with Jules Bianchi little while ago, says track has rubbered in online after GP2 running earlier."

Qualifying Report:

Practice showed not much since the rain showed up when most teams were going to go out for their option run. The pace of everyone would be fully known with the rest of te weekend being Italian Summer Weather rather than British. It was still rather windy out, but it gave a nice breeze to alleviate the heat. I was among the first to go out and try to get a fast lap on. It proved to be a tall task because slower traffic plagued my lap times. I was also having a understeer issue in the higher speed corners, which also lost us crucial time. We were fifteenth when we boxed for changes and a new set of options. In the first lap of the second run, I was one second faster through the first two sectors of the lap, but lost half a second in the final sector. If I didn't lose the half second, I would have qualified around tenth based on the final times. After that run, however, it proved hard to lower my laptime. Traffic also plagued those laps too, even though the options had past their best years. I can't say that I'm happy with the result today. We could have been higher in the standings, but the luck of the draw wasn't on our sides today. We shall see how the race unfolds.

Qualifying Results:
1st Vettel 1:30.585
2nd Massa +0.315
3rd Button +0.638
...
12th Perez +1.374
13th McKane +1.681
14th Alguersuari +1.706
...
19th Di Resta +2.425
20th Liuzzi +3.729
21st Glock +3.974

Post Qualifying Tweets:

"The first sector run will be interesting tomorrow, not sure how it will turn out after turn 1 into braking for turn 2."

"Very interested to see how my Top Gear interview looks on TV! Watch on BBC1 after the race."

[RealRacingRoots]

Last Tweet Before the Race:

"National pride and bragging rights is on the line today. All of us want to do well at home."

Race Report:

It is right about now in the season that we really see who is in the hunt for the championship. It was bright above Silverstone, as the British fans came out in the colors of the favorite heroes, mostly the Silver and Red of McLarens. With me starting outside the top 10, I got to start on a fresh set of tires for the race ahead. The plan was to use the fresher options and get to or close to the front in the first two laps and maintain my position. The plan worked, as I was P3 by the end of the first lap with Vettel and Massa ahead. Barrichello managed to get up to fourth in the early squabble and didn't have the pace. His pace meant that I was running on my own for the first stint, with the cars ahead faster than me and the the others being held up my Rubens. This no-mans land, although boring, meant that I would maintain third after the first round of stops. Barrichello lost out in the stops which mean Button lead the second pack to me. I still had a healthy gap that was slowly shrinking. Mid way through that run, the Primes had a span where they lost a bunch a grip which meant I would go wide at Brooklands which would compromise Luffield which lost me even more time. Button was now in DRS range which meant the Battle for The Best of Britain was on. Button was able to get past, albeit on the outside but I was able to outbrake him comfortably the first few times. On a later go at me we kept side by side at Brooklands and made contact a few times, Button then went wide in the transition as I went to the inside to keep position. A few laps later the tires were completely finished and he was able to get a good run out of Copse and by before the Maggots-Becketts complex, I tried to get past at turn-in to Chapel, but Button had too much of a straight line speed advantage for me so I was now P4. I pitted the next lap for the final set of Primes for the final run to the finish. Behind me after I pitted were my main championship rivals in Alonso and Hamilton. With my pace with cold tires, or lack thereof, Hamilton got past in a similar manner that Button did on the out lap. I gave him a little bump at Becketts and got side by side with him on the run to Stowe. With his straight line advantage he able to get in front for some time. Alonso also wanted to get in on the action by following Hamilton to the Outside, although he was still behind me. Under braking I got a little ahead of Hamilton but we remained side by side onto the run to Vale. I took a lane change to the inside for braking and took back the position for the moment in nice fashion. The pit sequence finished up and the Renault of Petrov ended up ahead and Webber still behind but now in my battle. A little later on the run we hit the only lap traffic of the day. Petrov was held up by a Lotus all the way till the end of the Arena complex which meant i had a good chance of getting the pass done under braking for Brooklands. I was side by side with him for that corner but i got the position on the transition to Luffield where I was on the inside. Hamilton was able to get past as well before Woodcote which meant he was now fifth. Ahead Button was also getting held up more then Hamilton and I were but we weren't able to close the gap. We got through the lap traffic but I went wide into the marbles at Brooklands which meant Hamilton was long gone and Petrov was beginning to catch up He was on me the next lap. I went wide again at Brooklands, this set of primes just didn't have the mid/low speed grip compared to the last set, and Petrov went past when I was on the run-off pavement trying to get back on track. Now I really was in the belly of the beast as a pack lead by Alonso was now on the back of me. We were approaching the last few laps of the race and my Prime tires just weren't going to last with competent grip. I managed to keep them at bay for a few laps. On the exit of Chapel, I ran wide into the marbles, my car oversteered and i tried to correct it but went into the marbles at Chapel and did a 360 trying to get the car going in the right direction in the recovery. Webber just made it through on the inside as I trotted into the grass to recover and not cause a bigger mess. When I thought it was right to go back on track and put the power down, a Sauber ran over the front of my car sending me into a spin into the guardrail before the bridge, totaling the left rear suspension. Race Over. I was out of my Home Race after coming so close to a top five result just a few laps before. I leaped over the guard rail and took the long walk back to the hospitality area.

Race Results:
1st Vettel
2nd Massa +3.775
3rd Button +11.250
...
17th Perez +1:17.471
18th Liuzzi +1 Lap
19th Glock +1 Lap


Not Classified:
McKane - Contact Damage
Alguersuari - Engine

Post Race Tweets:

"I was so close yet so far from a good result. I tried my hardest to make something when not everything was given to me. Sorry guys."

"In other news, I'm so happy to top the Top Gear F1 Board. All my time playing GT5 payed off it seems!!" (I was at Top Gear instead of Vettel, still did a 1:44.0)

[RealRacingRoots]

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rNn2Tv-Xog

WDC Standings:
1st Hamilton 125
2nd Alonso 112
3rd Webber 102
4th McKane 101
5th Vettel 86
6th Massa, Petrov 58
8th Heidfeld 53
9th Schumacher 48
10th Rosberg 35
11th Button, Perez 32
13th Kobayashi 29
14th Barrichello 16
15th Di Resta 8
16th Maldonado 7
17th Buemi, Alguersuari 3
18th Sutil 1
Liuzzi, D'Ambrosio, Trulli, Glock and Kovalainen all have 0

WCC Standings:
1st Red Bull 188
2nd Ferrari 170
3rd McLaren 157
4th Renault 111
5th HRT 101
6th Mercedes 83
7th Sauber 61
8th Williams 23
9th Force India 9
10th Toro Rosso 6
Virgin and Lotus both have 0

British Grand Prix Post-Weekend Quote:
Nathan McKane (Ret. - Contact Damage)
"The team and I had a lot to look forward to this weekend, with us coming off another win and it being my home race. But the lack of pace that we predicted for Valencia showed up here instead which meant i had a huge task ahead for the race. We had a great start which got us to third which we maintained for the first half of the race. My pace deteriorated with the tires and the pack caught me up which meant i was in a battle for the rest of the race. While we were still had good chances at good points in relation to the other title contenders, the tires just didn't hold up in my last stint which put me in the spin which lead to my retirement. It really looked like we had a lot in store this weekend, but we hope to regroup and get back to the front for the next round in Germany."

[RealRacingRoots]

In Game Press Clippings From Britain

Vettel Edges Out Massa
Red Bull were celebrating last nigh as Sebastian Vettel edged out Felipe Massa at Silverstone. Sebastian Vettel was said to be very pleased with how the weekend progressed and would be looking to build on the result at the Nurburgring.

Liuzzi Leads New Teams as McKane Crashes
Competition between the new teams is always a hot topic for discussion in the paddock. At Silverstone, Liuzzi was able to get the upper hand in the battle as his team mate, Nathan McKane, retired from the race.

Tweets From Between Race Weekends:

"Favorite part about going to the Nurburgring, getting to take my DBR9 for a spin around the nordschleife!" (Ravenwest gave him the DBR9 he drove in the iGA (with spares) before they went bust)

"I will never get bored of the noise this thing makes, always gives me goose-pimples"

"There is a Save The Ring protest going on right now. I Support STR." Image included. (ignore watermark)



Germany Preview Quote:
Nathan McKane, HRT
2010 (Hockenheimring) Qualifying - 1st, Race - 1st
"Looking back to last year is a reminder of how volatile the weather can get in these areas. It rained the whole weekend which we were able to take to our advantage. Now we are higher in the mountains, which could mean that we are in store for another wet race. Rain or Dry, the only direction I can go is up after a disappointing retirement in the final laps in Silverstone. We have new upgrades for this race which will improve the handling of the car based on the data we have gotten at prior grand prix. I look to do well and get back in the Title battle."

[RealRacingRoots]

Upgrades for Germany:
Suspension Arms Improvements: Increase Mechanical Grip by 10%

Last Tweet Before Practice:

"The rain still hasn't fully let up yet. Few puddles around the track, full wets probably best idea."

Practice Report:

It's pouring rain, a lot. The Eifel Mountains have dealt a bad hand for the practice session. It really did look like The 2007 Euro GP all over again. The forecast for the rest of the weekend is for dry, if a bit cloudy, running which means the only real time we could get any real relevant running is near the end of the session if we are lucky. Still, we have new parts here and it would be best to give them some data and to see how the track is. We waited for the others to go on track before we did our first run on inters since lap times seemed decent enough. Our timing proved not the best, as the rain picked up when we went out. For the five laps I was out there, I wasn't having the time of my life. We went out again, this time on full wets to get a better reconnaissance of the track. "They feel nice..." I said to Andy in referring to the Wet Pirellis, they have a really nice sweet spot when the track is really wet out. I did a few laps to feel around the car then went back to the garage with about half the session to go. I was still down the order quite a bit because I didn't go out on Inters as soon as the session began, but I wasn't worried. I stayed in the garage until there was seven minutes to go because a lot of the field went out on intermediates again, so it was time to give them another shot. The track was ok, for the most part. Turn 3 gave me the most issues as the car would spin out easily on no power there. We didn't learn much here, either, and it didn't help that I got the braking wrong for the Castrol-S and slid into the sand, beaching my self. Great. End of a hugely useless session there. At least the rest of the weekend will be dry.

Practice Results:
1st Button 1:38.853
2nd Vettel +0.328
3rd Hamilton +0.765
...
20th Kovalainen +3.895
21st Liuzzi +4.336
22nd D'Ambrosio +4.405
23rd Trulli +4.431
24th McKane +5.044

Post Practice Tweet:
"I remember coming here when the track was covered in Snow years ago. I'd rather race my HRT then."

General Announcement

OK. The end of the first half of my school year is here which means Exams and such goodies. Quali and the Race will come around eventually. In the mean time, the half way mark of the season is here which means obligatory Half-Way Season Reviews and such. So, give McKane a review on his season so far. And also give me feedback in how I can improve the videos, the posts for the various events and what not. Give me some food for thought. Thanks in advance guys! (If anyone does respond at all, who knows...)

[Shizuka]

I see what you did there.

McKane is either a hit or miss driver so far, making him a bit inconsistent.

[RealRacingRoots]

Keep the mid season reviews coming...

Last Tweet Before Qualifying:

"Looks like the track has dried out nicely, I don't really want to get off-line though."

Qualifying Report:
The best part with having practice rained out, is the fact that we got all the dry tires for qualifying and the race. Depending on how qualifying goes, it gives us a lot of room to try interesting strategies. We were second to go out, behind the Ferrari of Massa. Our first three lap run went well enough, we ended up tenth although 1.7 seconds off the pole sitter which was Button. We made some changes and went out for our final run with five minutes left in the session, with me still being in tenth. While a Red Bull held me up on my first lap as he was exiting the pit lane, I had found the pace for my second and final lap on this stint. I went green in each sector, eating a lot of time in the third sector in particular. I crossed the line with a few seconds to go, and saw P4 show up on my steering wheel. I chose not to do another lap because I was super happy with this result, I think the whole team is to be honest. I ate nine tenths in that last lap, which made me feel really good for the run to the first corner and for the strategy. Although I did use two sets of Options, to me it was money well spent.

Qualifying Results:
1st Button 1:30.669
2nd Perez +0.296 (Sutil here in 2009 Anyone?)
3rd Vettel +0.685
4th McKane +0.915
5th Massa +1.036
...
20th Kovalainen +4.431 (He got a massive toe while behind me on the front straight when I was starting my final lap)
21st Liuzzi +4.992
22nd Trulli +5.026

Post Qualifying Tweets:

"Just got out of telemetry reading session, I could have gotten a bit more probably."

"I really like what I see for tomorrow. Lap 1 will be fun."

[RealRacingRoots]

Last Tweet Before the Race:

"Huge pressure on Perez after qualifying second, I wish the best for him."

Race Report:

After qualifying fourth yesterday, I feel confident for the start and for the early running. While I think some cars that start behind us didn't get their best time, I will have to push hard to keep out in front. While I didn't get the best start off the line, I kept fourth on the run to turn one. Perez went to the inside and Vettel and Button took to the Inside which left the middle completely open. I braked the latest and made it to the inside in front of Perez on the inside and beside Button. I went to the inside for the transition and was close to Button. Button was able to get the power down better but ran wide on turn in which brought me right to the rear of the McLaren. Then I outbraked Button into turn 3 and took the lead. The race was on now as the faster cars were behind me and I was in the lead. Button got a big toe on the back of me after Hatzenbects-Bogen and took to the inside to pass on the straight before I outbraked him into Veedol to retain the lead. He once again took a run on the inside on the front straight but kept the lead after braking for turn 1. Vettel would remain the main guy I had to defend against for the rest of the stint. The first lap DRS was active, Massa and Vettel both got it and Massa took it to the outside and Vettel to the inside. As they drifted to the inside for the chicane, I took to the outside to make the pass, which succeeded. Schumacher also took up the challenge and was the third driver wanting to get past. The pitstop rotation began on lap six with most of the front runners pitting. While I pitted for Primes, Vettel behind be put on Options. I didn't have speed on the cold primes and Vettel got past at the end of the arena complex. He was gone with this wind, and Hamilton now wanted a piece of the fight. The next lap Hamilton got a insane slingshot at the exit of turn 1 and got past, it was like the duration of the first lap until turn four. I made the pass on the inside under braking for turn three, but Hamilton made the Over-Under work and pushed to the apex for turn four. I was still on the inside and Hamilton didn't clear me, so we collided which made me have a massive correction which forced us both onto the escape road which left Hamilton spinning into the outside barrier, and out of the race. He wasn't pleased with his retirement, the onboard replay after the crash showed him throwing the steering wheel out of the car in disgust, he was fairly certain he had the position and he thought I forced him off:

"There was still more than a car length on the inside, he nearly forced me into a spin since he didn't see me on the inside..."

That was what I said a few laps later. But with Hamilton and I's contact, Schumacher made it past with ease and Webber was now behind me. I was able to keep him at bay which allowed Heidfeld and Rosberg to catch up. Rosberg got past after he got a insane slingshot out of T1, and was able to keep it until the Dunlop-Kehre where i passed him on the inside. Rosberg, myself and a few others soon pitted for Options. I entered in the lead of this group, but exited behind Rosberg. He ad a faster stop, bu I could have exited side by side with him, but the lollipop man didn't do that. My pace meant that I wasn't able to keep up. I had a stable gap for a while, before I began getting lapped traffic. At this time, Andy told me that the DRS wasn't working and they were working on a fix. It didn't really matter, as I only every got one chance to use it all race. While I had little trouble, Vettel, who was on a different strategy, had issues getting through the last of the five lapped cars before his final pitstop and mine. We had a spirited battle from Veedol until the end of the arena complex before I pitted for another set of options (sadly scrubbed). I entered ahead of Perez, but exited behind him. I really wish I was let go earlier, so that I can at least exit beside him, it probably would have gained me a few places in the final classification and valuable points. The last stint remained quiet, until Massa caught up with a few laps to go. He took a look in Veedol, but wasn't enough to take the place. I took home 8th place after a hectic first stint. I'm happy with this after crashing out from similar points at Silverstone.

Race Results:
1st Vettel
2nd Schumacher +0.660
3rd Petrov +6.991
...
7th Alguersuari +14.127
8th McKane +20.302
9th Massa +20.974
...
19th Kovalainen +1 Lap
20th Liuzzi +1 Lap
21st D'Ambrosio +1 Lap

Not Classified:
Hamilton - Contact

Post Race:
Hamilton was interviewed by Lee McKenzie during the race for the BBC broadcast after he came out of his hospitality area to answer questions. He still wasn't happy with how he retired from the race:

For sure, it was his fault that i spun into the barriers. I clearly was in front by the time we made it to turn four. His moves are a frickin' joke sometimes. Huh, yeah, I think he should get a penalty of some kind for today or when we go to Hungary.

Post Race Tweets:

"Four points, always better than nothing I say."

"I will talk to Hamilton on Thursday once we are in Hungary."

[Shizuka]

Well, seems like Hamilton is the same in the game as IRL

[RealRacingRoots]

Video is currently unlisted on Youtube because of a render fault, I will fix it tomorrow when I got time, here it is in the meantime: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsy8DaeDQ08

WDC Standings:
1st Hamilton 125
2nd Alonso 112
3rd Vettel 111
4th McKane 105
5th Webber 102
6th Petrov 73
7th Schumacher 66
8th Massa 60
9th Heidfeld 53
10th Rosberg 47
11th Button 42
12th Perez 40
13th Kobayashi 29
14th Barrichello 16
15th Alguersuari 9
16th Di Resta, Maldonado 8
18th Buemi 3
19th Sutil 1
Liuzzi, D'Ambrosio, Trulli, Glock, and Kovalainen all have 0

WCC Standings:
1st Red Bull 213
2nd Ferrari 172
3rd McLaren 167
4th Renault 126
5th Mercedes 113
6th HRT 105
7th Sauber 69
8th Williams 24
9th Toro Rosso 12
10th Force India 9
Lotus and Virgin both have 0

German Grand Prix Post-Weekend Quote
Nathan McKane (8th)
After a wild first stint, it was a tough race as we slowly began losing places. We tried our best to make our good qualifying position work, but didn't as some drivers didn't show their true pace on Saturday. I can be happy, however, as any points is good points when trying to get another championship. After crashing out of Silverstone, we were looking to get back in fighting fit here in Germany, and I believe the team can be happy with this result. My incident with Hamilton was one that I have gone over with my engineers a few times already, and we hope to put the past behind us and look forward to the final part of the European leg of the season.

Other News:
Post race, there was a new e-mail in my HRT account. My agent, Sabine Walker, has notified me that Colin Kolles has offered me a contract for next season already! Tonio already has a long term deal, but we shall see how things develop from here. I have not accepted the deal yet, and I still have half the season left before I make my final decision.

[RealRacingRoots]

In Game Press Clippings From Germany:

Nathan McKane Enjoys Good Season So Far
With a 4th place in the Driver's Championship at the midway point of the season, many would consider this a title defense which hasn't reached it's legs. However with many races still to go, the final result is anything but certain.

Vettel Edges Out Schumacher
Red Bull were celebrating last night as Sebastian Vettel edged out fellow German Michael Schumacher at the Nurburgring. Sebastian Vettel was said to be very pleased with how the weekend progressed and would be looking to build on this result in Budapest.

Tweets From Between Race Weekends:

"Have already declined some interview requests from people wanting to discuss Hamilton incident."

"Hamilton already said his side, and I said mine during the race, time to get over it I say."

"Looking to be sunny as always in Budapest, such a nice place to be in the Summer."

Hungary Preview Quote
Nathan McKane, HRT
2010 Qualifying - 17th, Race - Ret. (Made contact with another car at start, front wing got lodged underneath the car and I ran into the barriers at Turn 14)

"My first retirement in Formula 1 came here after a difficult weekend where we couldn't get the balance right. I return here one year on looking to cement our charge to the front of the Driver's Championship standings after a good weekend in Germany. This track is often underused which means practice will be very dusty, but we will have to work hard to get as much data from what little time we have on track. With the advent of DRS, it looks to make overtaking at this tricky, but fun track more possible than ever before here. The season is quickly winding down, and we have to get the maximum out of every day we have on track. We have more new parts to implement here in order to keep pace with the Red Bulls of the world. I am really looking forward to keep this push towards another Driver's Championship alive.

[RealRacingRoots]

Thursday at the Hungaroring - Media Day

The hot topic in F1 remains to be the contact in Germany between Hamilton and myself. It was still very fresh in many people's minds because the German Grand Prix was only three days before. I was hoping to focus on a very important weekend with the Summer break around the corner, but that wasn't to be. As people came by during the autograph session, the brunt of the questions were about my contact and how I felt over Hamilton's comments after he returned to the paddock while the race was still going on. The main response I gave was,

It was a racing incident, it's a shame that things have to get overblown like they do nowadays. The media are wolves and I happened to be the bait at this moment.

Little did the fans know, but Charlie Whiting had organized a meeting between Lewis, Andy Latham (his race engineer), Andy Knight (my race engineer), Charlie, and myself to get to an understanding about the inquiry made by the stewards and so that this conflict can get resolved sooner than later. The atmosphere was tense when we entered the meeting room as Lewis and his engineer were already there as Charlie escorted us too the room. The first thing to go over was the press release that the FIA was going to release later that day. No penalties or reprimands were going to be done over the accident, as the stewards felt that it was a racing incident and my correction that was made was to counteract a potential spin. There was a subtle sigh I heard out of Hamilton after Charlie finished speaking and went to set up the video analysis that the FIA made when evaluating the incident. He noted the aggressive turn-in that Hamilton took which gave me little room to make the turn.

With where Nathan was at this point (the transition to turn four) he had little room to make his turn-in without running into your sidepod Lewis. When his front-left tire went into your sidepod, it unsettled his car forcing him to correct and keep your cars locked together. Once you both went into the run-off, you hit a bump Lewis and your car steered into the barriers. There was a bunch of room to your left at turn four to give him room since he was in on the inside, it would have jeopardized your exit since there was marbles there, but it would have been the safer decision. We also noted that you made contact with him at the exit of turn one before this incident, which is noted in this press release, which could have ended in a similar result if both of you remained in conact but with Nathan on the outside instead of you.

After Charlie finished, we both said our sides of the story, but with Lewis still being adamant that my correction was to crash me on purpose. We soon reached a compromise saying that it was a racing incident and the meeting ended. Someone had noticed us going to the meeting area, and it was apparent that the media wanted a word with anyone once it ended. But for the good of all of us, Lewis didn't say a word and went back to his hospitality area with his engineer, I followed suit as we prepared for practice day.

On board video of the contact: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cmKM7Az1L4 (Add your opinion to the contact in replies.)

Other news:

School is beginning to stabilize, thankfully. And I am looking to get Hungary done and dusted in the next week before making the push to the end, beginning with Spa.

[RealRacingRoots]

Upgrades for the Hungaroring:
Minor: Increase Rear Downforce by 5%

Last tweet before practice:

"The summer heat won't be nice to the tires, but at least the breeze is nice for the fans.."

Practice Report:
The last weekend before the Summer break is upon is, and it is at the tricky Hungaroring. The track is dusty since it's so underused outside of a WTCC and a LMS weekend. I had a horrible weekend here last year with trouble finding balance at this track. The first thing to do today was get data on new aero parts that we have for this weekend. With the amount that the track will change over the weekend with the amount of rubber going down, so these early laps will just be getting used to the track and getting the balance right. After we got enough data on the new aero parts, the rest of this run was for finding a good pace with the baseline. Our baseline proved to be a good one as we set the pace early on with a 1:20.9. After the ten lap run, Alonso went faster by two tenths at the end of his first run. The track was busy once we pitted so we spent this time making subtle changes, looking at the data, and waiting. For the second and last run, options are to be the plan unless the run was really needed. With overtaking being tricky here on the best of days, keeping as many sets of tires open for the race will be key. With ten minutes to go, it was time for the three lap option run. With clean air, I did improve to the lead, but only ahead of Hamilton by .008 of a second. With a few minutes to go, it was only a few mid-field drivers on track to wind down the session. Everything is looking good for tomorrow and Sunday, we look to make good and return to the championship battle.

Practice Results:
1st McKane 1:20.668
2nd Hamilton +0.008
3rd Alonso +0.129
...
19th Barrichello +1.971
20th Liuzzi +3.368
21st D'Ambrosio +3.386

Post-Practice Tweets:

"Feels nice to be back in the front after two tough weekends, qualifying will be fun!!"

[RealRacingRoots]

Last tweet before Qualifying:

"Good grid position is so important here, the closer to the front, the better for tomorrow."

Qualifying Report:
A light bit of overcast was above as one of the more important qualifying sessions was ahead. While I can make most moves stick, the track width in most parts of this tracks makes it hard on most days since it is a one lane track. As soon as we were able to park in front of the pit exit, i was there. Alonso was behind me as a few more cars joined the queue. When the session began, Alonso and I went out as fast as possible because we both wanted a lot of room on track for our two flying laps. I got a little bit of traffic on the beginning of my first lap, which left my lap three tenths slower than Alonso although I was still ahead on track. The second lap I hit no traffic at all, and improved on Alonso's pole time by three tenths. Alonso failed to improve which left me on provisional pole with half the session to go. While my pace in sector one and three wasn't the best, no one was faster in the second sector by a large margin, which gave me my real pace. Was the plan to put in another lap? No, not really. We parked it to save a set of options and watch the time tick by. With around five minutes to go, the rest of the front runners all went out for their final run. Alonso failed to improve, while Massa, Vettel and Button all improved their lap times, but it wasn't to be enough. My lap stood tall and I took a important pole. While Hamilton showed the pace on Friday, traffic proved to be an issue as he qualified eleventh ahead of both Toro Rossos. Everything is looking good for tomorrow, there is no doubt about it.

Qualifying Results:
1st McKane 1:20.167
2nd Massa +0.350
3rd Alonso +0.353
4th Vettel +0.354
...
21st D'Ambrosio +5.179
22nd Liuzzi +5.457
23rd Glock +5.725
24th Trulli +5.769

[RealRacingRoots]

Last tweet before the race:

"It is hot, hot, HOT today! The heat will wreak havoc on tires no doubt."

Race Report:

The heat is a big issue up and down the paddock today. The wear rates of both compounds are a lot higher with the temperature, which mean the strategy to go for at the front is to be four stops. The start was all right, Massa went by on the inside and Alonso tried the same on the outside but had no room to do it. He ran into my side, damaging the right side of his front wing. Then under braking I took the lead back. The Ferraris behind me were scrambling for second as I tried to build a gap, with Alonso getting second after I shut the door on Massa at turn 1. I kept the lead for the first lap as Alonso stormed past on the front straight but lost the lead as I out braked him into turn 1. I was a little late getting the power back on and Alonso took to the inside to take the lead back on the run to turn 3, where I managed to out brake the Ferrari driver for the second time in one lap. Behind us the pack began to catch up with Vettel leading the attack. Alonso made the same move out of turn 2 stick, but was forced to yield as i got beside him before the fast turn 6. The first round of pit stops came round and a portion of the front runners went in so that they don't queue, with me taking on a new set of Prime tires. The first car out of the pit lane behind me was the Red Bull of Vettel after Alonso had a front wing change. On the new tires I took the fastest lap of the race, and then promptly ran wide at turn 1 forfeiting the lead to Vettel. Vettel began to pull away as Webber and Alonso were battling behind me. Alonso slipped behind and Webber kept up the pace as Vettel continued to pull away. We remained close in proximity as Vettel maintained a healthy gap until a half-shaft let go on the run to turn 6, forcing the then leader to retire. His car was parked on the inside grass near the run-off, and he was there watching as his teammate and I each gained a place. In the wake of the matter, I ran wide at turn 7 on my worn tires letting Webber past into the lead. Red Bull remained in the lead after one of their drivers retired. I pitted for another set of Primes as Webber elected to pit one lap later like he did in the last pit stop rotation. As I entered my pit stall, a Virgin and a Lotus both exited theirs which meant lap traffic was going to come around in the next few laps. While I got past the first Virgin with little trouble, I had to muscle past both Lotuses and the T8/T9 chicane which forced me to go to the inside curb. I got through the last of the lapped cars, a Virgin as Liuzzi retired before the first stops with a water leak, it was time to push to get to the top two of Button and Alonso. I did get another fastest lap of the race, but the lead was easily attained as the guys ahead of me had yet to pit. After I retook the lead it was then my turn to pit for the first set of new Option tires. I exited behind Schumacher and began to push hard to get the position as time was running out. He was on worn out Primes, and over the next few laps I tried to work the pass. I made it to his side at the middle of Turn 1 but he got a better exit using KERS and retained the position until I pushed my way through at turn 3. The only lapped mid-field car of Barrichello exited the pits and held up Schumacher, allowing me to retain second place with ease. Alonso's engine let go earlier leaving Button to run by his lonesome in the lead. I pitted for the final time for another new set of Options for the run to the finish. In my attempt to get back to Button on the new set of tires, I set yet another Fastest Lap of the race. My last gasp wasn't to be enough as Jenson Button took home his first win of the season after a rough start to 2012. Button deserved this win after he got rejected a win in Valencia, it was only a matter of time before he took it home. Second place is still great for my title defense, with other drivers mechanical issues this result moves me to second in the driver's classification.

Race Results:
(The results for WDC contenders will be shown alongside Liuzzi and I's result.

1st Button
2nd McKane +11.201
3rd Schumacher +13.363
4th Massa +17.441
5th Hamilton +19.384

Not Classified:
Alonso - Engine
Webber - Hydraulics
Vettel - Gearbox
Liuzzi - Water Leak

Post Race Tweets:

"The main issue I have with lapped traffic is that I think the Virgin are Red Bulls!! lol"

"Button nailed the strategy and did better on worn tires, he ran a great race."

[RealRacingRoots]

I really like how the video turned out, good decision on my part to change the song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SJCRSZCTw8

WDC Standings:
1st Hamilton 135
2nd McKane 123
3rd Alonso 112
4th Vettel 111
5th Webber 102
6th Schumacher 81
7th Petrov 77
8th Massa 72
9th Button 67
10th Heidfeld 59
11th Rosberg 55
12th Perez 40
13th Kobayashi 29
14th Barrichello 16
15th Alguersuari 10
16th Di Resta, Maldonado 8
18th Buemi 5
19th Sutil 1
D'Ambrosio, Liuzzi, Trulli, Glock and Kovalainen all have 0.

WCC Standings:
1st Red Bull 213
2nd McLaren 202
3rd Ferrari 184
4th Mercedes, Renault 136
6th HRT 123
7th Sauber 69
8th Williams 24
9th Toro Rosso 15
10th Force India 9
Virgin and Lotus both have 0.

Hungarian Grand Prix Post-Weekend Quote
Nathan McKane (2nd)
"Expecting to struggle and ending up with a podium result is a lot more than what I would have expected when we came here. While we had the pace all weekend, Jenson (Button) had the better strategy and got a deserving win. For us, the 18 points for second couldn't come at a more pivotal point of the season where the championship is beginning to heat up. All of my rivals either didn't finish or finished behind us which means we have closed the gap to the top of the standings. This was a long and hot race with the tire wear at it's all time highest this season with four pit stops during the race. This weekend could have been a lot worse, but instead it cemented our title challenge. The summer break is upon us which gives everyone who is a part of F1 a welcome break before the final race to the finish, starting in Spa. This season has a lot to go, and there is so much that can still happen."

[RealRacingRoots]

Just a quick update saying that my laptop has died and is at the shops getting repaired. Which means I can do practice and qualifying but not races (because I can't capture race footage and whatnot), so that may get done in the next few days because the teachers in British Columbia are on strike. (They are striking Monday through to Wedensday). So yah, back to doing nothing and testing setups for Spa.

[RealRacingRoots]

In Game Press Clippings from Hungary:

Win for Jenson Button
A fantastic weekend of driving saw Jenson Button come out on top. In the driver's press conference Jenson Button thanked the team for all their effort over the last few weeks.

HRT Principal Urges 'Repeat'
Colin Kolles was said to be extremly pleased with his driver Nathan McKane finishing second at the Hungarian Grand Prix and now hopes Nathan can continune his success in his title defence as he backed him with praise, "...he (Nathan) has undoubted talent."

Pre-Summer Break Statistics:
(Most stolen from the My F1 menu)

Points: 123 (2nd Place)
Wins: 4
Fastest Laps: 3
Poles: 4
Average Speed: 188.96 KPH
Pitstops: 28
Laps in the Lead: 136
Time on Track: 16:46:56
Clean Races: What? Never heard of them.

Belgium Preview Quote:
Nathan McKane, HRT
2010 Qualifying - 1st, Race - 1st

"A well needed Summer Break for everyone in F1 has come and gone, and not it is time to resume with the task at hand at Spa-Francorchamps. Everyone enjoys coming to this track; it's fast and flowing and always a lot of fun to race on. The team and I are riding high after a strong podium in Hungary and we look to continue the momentum. Last year I had a thrilling last lap battle with Fernando (Alonso) after I ran wide at Stavelot. I managed to keep it together and pass Alonso under braking into the chicane before the finish line. That will be something I will always remember and we want to replicate those results this weekend."

[RealRacingRoots]

Last Tweet Before Practice:
"Sunny here in Spa, looking more like it will rain tomorrow. Spa is fun either way!"

Upgrades for Belgium
Minor: Reduce Engine Wear by 5% (Worthless)

Practice Report:
This is the reward for being away from driving a F1 car for the break, Spa-Francorchamps. The team and I are upbeat this weekend as we all love this track and we have very fond memories from last year. While it will rain a little bit during qualifying, we are working on race pace this session because it will be dry for the race, albeit a bit cloudy. We were in no rush to get out and get data for the new parts. One of the best parts about Spa is with the length of the track, it isn't that hard to find clean track to do a long or short run on. Later on in this run, the primes were really worn out and it was the last lap on the first run. The car oversteered at the second part of Les Combes, tried to correct and ran into the barriers at the beginning of turn nine, braking the front wing and giving the front left tire a puncture. It took a little bit of time to get it into gear and limping back to the pits. After the car got repaired, we made some big changes as we were having some stability issues in the second sector, we were losing a lot of time there. The changes proved to go not in the right direction so we had a lot to before the last on the option tires. While the changes did help the car's stability, I just wasn't able to string what I felt was a representative lap, even with using DRS. Sector 2 just doesn't like the HRT. We will see how lucky we get for qualifying, because that could improve our chances for a good race.

Practice Results:
1st Vettel 1:46.702
2nd Heidfeld +0.094
3rd Alonso +0.132
4th Webber +0.340
...
9th Hamilton +1.158
...
17th Sutil +2.035
18th McKane +2.353
19th Glock +3.550
20th Liuzzi +3.786
21st D'Ambrosio +4.148

Double Feature, doing qualifying as well because I'm bored.

Qualifying Report:
The rain had failed to materialize as of the beginning of the session. So there was a big chance that the later in the session, the better possibility that there will be rain. So there was a big rush to get out on track and set a lap. Yesterday proved inconclusive which meant I had to hustle to get a good lap in. There were cars in bunches out on track which mean no one was really getting a good lap. I was ninth by the time I went in to make some changes and get a new set of options. At this time the rain clouds that were predicted began to materialise and it was beginning to turn darker. As soon as I went out on the Kemmel straight on my warm up lap, it began to rain which meant this session was over for us.The early bird got the worm in this case though as Sergio Perez took his maiden pole in F1. The Sauber garage went nuts when the session ended, but tomorrow is when we will see how everything goes, race day.

Qualifying Results:
1st Perez 1:46.467
2nd Petrov +0.646
3rd Schumscher +0.705
...
6th Vettel +0.802
7th Webber +0.862
...
9th Alonso +0.936
...
11th Hamilton +1.960
12th Kobayashi +2.153
13th McKane +2.202
14th Alguersuari +2.313

Outside 107% - 1:53.919
23rd Liuzzi 1:54.431 - +7.964
24th Barrichello No Time (Water Leak on out lap, stranded at Les Combes)

Last Tweet from Saturday at Spa:

"It will be a real challenge tomorrow, car misbehaving and in the mid-field wars. Hopefully we can get some points.."

[RealRacingRoots]

Race Day:

Liuzzi and Barrichello Allowed to Race
It has been confirmed by race director Charlie Whiting that both HRT Driver Tonio Liuzzi and WIlliams driver Rubens Barrichello will be allowed to race in today's Belgian Grand Prix after both were not within the 107% barrier during qualifying yesterday. The Williams of Barrichello suffered a water leak at the beginning of the lap and was stranded on track with no possibility of it being returned to the garage in time to repair it. HRT driver Liuzzi cited traffic issues on all of his laps, "..most drivers that were doing laps were in packs. It made it impossible to get a clean lap, and once we were able to get a clean lap in it began to rain which meant we weren't possible to get a good lap in."

Charlie Whiting confirmed that based on their practice pace, that both will be allowed to race, they will be starting 23rd and 24th for today's race.

Last Tweet Before The Race:

"The first lap is always fun here. T1 is very acute, got to get though that clean before the real chaos begins."

Race Report:
The rain that was here at the end of qualifying dried out soon after the session ended, it was a powerful, but swift storm. The support races was able to get down an ample amount of rubber before we made it out to the grid. It was nice and clear out for the start of the race with not-hostile clouds expeected to fly over mid way though the race. The start was good, I was level with Kobayashi who started in twelth. I took the inside lane for braking into turn 1, which is something I don't like doing because there is good chances you will make contact with another car. Which was the case as I made a little contact with Webber at the exit.I made up a few places in the turn 1 tussle and was behind Massa, Webber and other front runners. With their better top speed, the Ferraris ran away and Petrov got side by side with me before we got to braking for La Combes. Petrov over-squized me to the outside, (looking at the replay we did make contact as petrov moved to the outside,) I outbraked him and was right to the back of Massa for the initial right and made it past in the left and solidifyied my pass on the run to Bruxelles. I ran a little wide at mid and exit which allowed Massa to get to my right side. We remained side by side until Pouhon where I retained the position. The group ahead, with Alonso in the rear, was just too fast for me to catch up to, so I put my focus to keeping a steady pace and keeping the pack behind. Schumacher, who was in the lead pack, slowed to a halt on the front straight slowing up Alonso in the process allowing me to get past at La Source but into the escape road so I was right at the back of Alonso and was able to get the DRS working on the Kemmel straight. I made the pass stick under braking and now had both Ferraris behind me. The options I started on were beginning to wear out as I went wide at Campus, giving Alonso his position and into the gravel at the exit to Campus giving Massa his position back. This was the first sign that the the tires were getting worn and my schedualed stop was the next lap. I elected to stay out an extra lap so then pit for a fresh set of Primes, with Vettel now behind me. The next lap, Hamilton has his first stop and exited in front of me. I tried to outbrake him inot Bruxelles with success until I ran wide onto the marbels letting him past.The rest of the prime run went well, I stayed out a few extra laps after the pit window opened up because the tires weren't wearing as aggressively as we had pridicted. Rosberg got past Vettel on the pit straight and then got past me with his DRS and Vettel went to my inside before braking for Les Combes. I got past both of them under braking but Rosberg kept on it and was on the outside at the transition. If I kept in it too, I would have hit him so I had no choice to take the escape road and take the position on the run to Bruxelles. The next lap was when I pitted for the presumed second of three stops, this time for a new set of options. Kobayashi and Maldonado haven't pit yet and got past when he got DRS and I had a had a hard time on cold options. We had a three stopped set for the race, but with the slower wear rate then pridicted, by the time I really wanted to pit was with two laps to go and points position on the line. So a third stop didn't happen and when other people pitted, we regained a few positions. Both Toro Rossos were the cars behind me at this point. With two laps to go, a lapped Team Lotus went wide into the gravel at Campus, and was ran into by a Marussia-Virgin who we were about to lap. In the scramble to get past this, I locked up my front brakes braking for Stavelot and went into the gravel myself, but lost no positions as the Toro Rossos slowed down considerably to get past the tussling lapped-traffic. Maldonado pitted and was able to get past the crash first after me and was behind me on the final lap as my options past the cliff and now were a handful. But I kept my cool and crossed the finish line in seventh place, taking home points after a tough weekend. The car just didn't work at the mid-speed corners, which Spa has a numerous amount of. While the setup wasn't the fastest, the team was happy as the strategy got us a few more points then we expected.

Race Results:
1st Webber
2nd Alonso +1.217
3rd Button +9.928
...
6th Kobayashi +29.066
7th McKane +44.101
8th Maldonado +45.501
..
15th Glock +1 Lap
16th Liuzzi +1 Lap
17th Kovalainen +1 Lap

Not Classified:
Rosberg - Puncture
Vettel - Water Leak
Hamilton - Hydralics
Petrov - Vibration
Heidfeld - Spun Off
Schumacher - Gearbox

Post Race Tweets:

"The whole team is happy to recover some points and get closer to the WDC lead! To Monza!"

[RealRacingRoots]

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1poa4jSxRNg

WDC Standings:
1st Hamilton 135
2nd Alonso 130
3rd McKane 129
4th Webber 127
5th Vettel 111
6th Massa 84
7th Button 82
8th Schumacher 81
9th Petrov 77
10th Heidfeld 59
11th Rosberg 55
12th Perez 50
13th Kobayashi 37
14th Barrichello 16
15th Maldonado 12
16th Alguersuari 11
17th Di Resta 8
18th Buemi 7
19th Sutil 1
Trulli, Liuzzi, D'Ambrosio, Glock and Kovalainen all have 0.

WCC Standings:
1st Red Bull 238
2nd McLaren 217
3rd Ferrari 214
4th Mercedes, Renault 136
6th HRT 129
7th Sauber 87
8th Williams 28
9th Toro Rosso 18
10th Force India 9
Lotus and Marussia-Virgin both have 0.

Belgian Grand Prix Post-Weekend Quote:
Nathan McKane (7th)
"While the weekend began rough with a tough time finding balance in the mid-speed corners, it ended with a well deserved seventh place. We didn't have the outright pace, but with the way the car was set-up, the wear rate of the Pirelli tires was lower than pridicted which meant we were able to take one less stop then the drivers who I was racing by the end of the race. It was tough keeping the car on the road in the last few laps, which was exemplified after I went wide going into Stavelot trying to go around the crash between at Lotus and a Marussia-Virgin. Other title-contenders retired with mechanical woes, including points leader Hamilton, which has given us a shot to take the title lead at Monza. These next few races are massively important, and this momentum must keep in our favor if I am wanting to defend my title."

In Other News...
Two more contract offers were put on the table, and on my e-mail, after the race finished. Marussia-Virgin and Force India have requested contract discussions with Sabine, my manager, and myself. That's now three contract offers on the table, a re-signing with HRT, and offers from Marussia-Virgin. The representative from Marussia-Virgin said they want to finalise the deal, if there is one, before Suzuka so that I could get used to the team quicker and so they can build the team around me.There is a lot to think about here, and time is running out. What do you think I should do? (I already got some ideas for 2012, but we shall se how this develops...)

[RealRacingRoots]

Oh wow, Procrastination is Domination. I should stop playing Gran Turismo 1 and finish H4G. I mean Ayrton Vasser's career is past Italy.

In Game Press Clippings From Belgium
Webber Edges Out Alonso
Red Bull were celebrating last night as Mark Webber edged out Fernando Alonso at Spa. Mark was said to be very pleased with how the weekend progressed and would be looking to build on the result in Monza.

Tweets from Between Race Weekends:

"On the plane to Italy, see a few people in Ferrari shirts already. The faith is strong in these ones.."

"I'm surprised they don't know I'm on the plane, they must be ignoring me. Might surprise them later, who knows!"

Italy Preview Quote:
Nathan McKane, HRT
2010 Qualifying - 3rd, Race - 1st
"The last round of the European leg is here and it's at the fastest track on the Calendar in Monza. All the teams are bringing a unique Low-Downforce upgrade for this track to try and lessen the speed trap gap we have to the other title contenders. It was a big issue at Spa last race weekend as I would be on par with the other cars in most of the corners, but lose out on the straights. Finding the right balance will the crucial here as a ill-handling car at Monza will make it had to get the power down, losing valuable time. It's always a great race from the perspective of the fan or the driver, and I hope to get back on the podium and keep getting closer to the points lead before we go to Asia for the final run to the championship.

[RealRacingRoots]

Upgrades for Italy:
Unique Upgrade: Modified Downforce by 20% (whatever that means)

Practice Report:
As with most typical Monza weekends, the summer heat is still strong which means it will be dry all weekend. It's a great thing as it allows more time on setup work which is most crucial here. As it is, we will need to find the straight-line performance as that is where we will lose ALL the time. So the first run was a recon lap then runs on the Prime tire. In the first run, it was already apparent the speed-differential issue we were having to other cars; a Williams passed me going 5-10kph faster than me when we were both on the DRS going on max attack on the front straight. Outside of the obvious issue, there was a instability under braking for turn 1, and a general understeer/stability issue at the Lesmos and Ascari, which could become unmanageable on worn options. We made the changes, put on a new set of primes, and went out for the second run. We found more time in the car, which shows that there is still more that the car can give, which is a huge boost. Many of the other front-runners were beginning to make their option run and showing their true pace, which we shall leave until there is ten minutes left in the session. Monza typically already is rubbered in before the weekend begins, as here and Silverstone have a lot of racing outside of one weekend per year. Was a representable time able to be put in on the option run? Not really. Hamilton insisted on getting past after Ascari and braking absurdly early into Parabolica which had me correcting and spinning into the dirt. What a joke. Can't other drivers make their own room? I guess not. It means that we are in the bottom of the mid-field, still hunting for valuable pace. The speed-traps is a joke, comparing the new teams to everyone else. We do have the same engines as Williams, Right?

Practice Results:
1st Petrov 1:22.797
2nd Hamilton +0.346
3rd Rosberg +0.355
4th Webber +0.357
...
6th Vettel +0.475
...
10th Alonso +0.748
...
17th Di Resta +1.727
18th McKane +1.810
19th Sutil +2.046
...
22nd D'Ambrosio +3.058
23rd Liuzzi +4.117
24th Trulli +4.252

I will do qualifying, eventually.

F1 Rumors wooo!

McKane to Force India?
Recent rumors in the paddock have suggested that reigning F1 champion Nathan McKane may go to the struggling Force India in the 2012 season. There have been sources close to Force India management which say that, "they want a driver that can help develop the team in the future." Nathan's contract with HRT is up at the end of the season, which means we could see the Scot go to a different team next season. Nathan McKane was unable to comment on the matter and has been quoted to say that, "I'm focusing on the matters at hand, we shall see what the future has in store for my F1 career."

Qualifying Report:
The next 20 minutes would be important to see our real pace on these low downforce, high speed tracks. Hamilton blocked me on my flying laps during practice which meant that our cards hadn't been fully shown yet. But with everyone using DRS ALL the time here, our race pace may be our savoir in getting some points. The plan was for a pair of 2 or 3 lap runs on fresh option tires. The first run went good, getting us just in the top ten. While the car still wasn't behaving at the Second Lesmo, we got some good drafts from a Sauber and Red Bull in front. That Red Bull, being Vettel, putting in the fastest lap in the session. We made one minor change for the second stint, then went out to find that there was no chance to improve since there was no one to give us a draft at the long front straight. The second set of Options only have 2 laps under their belt, which could be handy if strategy plays a big role during the race. While the lap which put me tenth didn't stay at tenth, we are in with a shout for points if the race goes our way, but with the other people in the hunt for the Driver's Title at the front, damage control has to be the main priority

Qualifying Results:
1st Vettel 1:22.648
2nd Button +0.492
3rd Hamilton +0.719
4th Webber +0.732
...
6th Alonso +0.797
...
13th Buemi +1.734
14th McKane +1.792
15th Heidfeld +1.821
...
23rd Glock +5.334
24th Liuzzi +5.673

Tweets from Saturday:

"Can't believe how hard I was going on that first run to be 1.7 behind Vettel. This Speed Trap difference is a joke."

"We rocked in Canada, yes? Then why do RB, McLaren and Ferrari have a 10kph+ gap to us!"

Race, yes. I must do that now before the race, yes.

[RealRacingRoots]

RACE! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

Race Report: 2011 Italian Grand Prix
With the issue of straight line performance, we had to get it done in the corners. We found a sweetspot but wasn't able to show for it during qualifying. With starting near the middle of the pack, the first corner was going to be tight, witeveh everyone braking very early for turn 1. I did manage to make it into the top 10, in front of Schumacher and behind the Ferrari of Massa and kept that position after the Varainte della Roggia and Massa and I passed the Williams of Barrichello before the first Lesmo.While the straight line issues meant the cars behind were keeping up, my braking performance and cornering speeds meant I was able to keep up with Massa in front. Massa would be passed under braking for the first Lesmo at lap 4 after I got DRS, even though I still couldn't keep up with them. The top 7 were running nose to tail when the bottom 3 got too close to each other at turn 1, allowing me to close right up in the corners. But the McLaren and Red Bull in front were too far away, and now it was time to defend from EVERYBODY behind me as they ALL got DRS. Being a sitting-duck was an understatement. Massa and Heidfeld got past right before braking for T1, but I kept the position only for them to attack some more before the Varainte della Roggia. Massa got through on the outside and Heidfeld tried to follow suit. I was getting ready to move to the outside to out-brake Massa when Heidfeld was right where I was going to, we made contact. I went into the inside wall, ricocheted into the outside wall, braking my front wing, left mirror and giving my front left tire a puncture. I was going for the ride now, spinning out of control as I went through the grass. The grass lead to the corner where Barrichello was right in my path, smashing his front wing in the process.

Yeah, that sucked. But now I had to get back to the pits to get a new front wing and Prime tires. The new team drivers got past before Ascari and I went wide into the gravel at Parabolica before pitting. The rest of the race was about finishing with good, consistent times and getting past the other new teams. It took that whole Prime stint to get past all the other new team cars, and then pitted for Options, with little happening, then Primes for the rest of the race. Throughout the final two stints, while there was no one around, the race setup we got was a lot of fun. It was like riding on rails through Varainte Ascari, and we had a fastest lap that was in the top 10. With two laps to go for me, the leaders in Webber and Hamilton we fighting it out for the win when I was given Blue Flags. I was racing with no one, so I let them past easily with letting Vettel past before Parabolica. The checkered flag then waved, since it was the last lap for them, with Hamilton taking the victory by more than a tenth of a second. I was the last car to get lapped and the only one not of the bottom 5 to get lapped. I got lapped because of the insane pace of Hamilton and Webber were showing in their brawl for the win. What could be said about the race? Not much. If the crash didn't happen, I would have gotten some points, but now It's a rush to keep the dream alive.

Race Results:
1st Hamilton
2nd Webber +0.178
3rd Vettel +3.017
4th Massa +8.460
5th Alonso +9.175
...
16th Barrichello +1:18.819
17th McKane +1 Lap
18th D'Ambrosio +1 Lap
19th Trulli +1 Lap
20th Luizzi +1 Lap
21st Kovalainen +1 Lap

Not Classified:
Button - Gearbox
Di Resta - Hyrdalics

That crash summed up in one image :



Replay to be done for tonight.

[RealRacingRoots]

Link to Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCH7S1N2Fbg Video is NOT viewable in the United States, United States Minor Outlying Islands, United States Virgin Islands. WMG are idiots and don't like people using their songs for their videos.

WDC Standings:
1st Hamilton 160
2nd Webber 145
3rd Alonso 140
4th McKane 129
5th Vettel 126
6th Massa 96
7th Schumacher 87
8th Button 82
9th Petrov 81
10th Rosberg 63
11th Heidfeld 59
12th Perez 51
13th Kobayashi 37
14th Barrichello 16
15th Alguersuari 13
16th Maldonado 12
17th Di Resta 8
18th Buemi 7
19th Sutil 1
Trulli, Liuzzi, D'Ambrosio, Glock and Kovalainen all have 0.

WCC Standings:
1st Red Bull 271
2nd McLaren 242
3rd Ferrari 236
4th Mercedes 150
5th Renault 140
6th HRT 129
7th Sauber 88
8th Williams 28
9th Toro Rosso 20
10th Force India 9
Lotus and Virgin both have 0.

Italian Grand Prix Post-Weekend Quote:
Nathan McKane, HRT (17th)
"While we had great showings last year at the low downforce tracks, we showed that similar performance only at Canada this year with issues at both Spa and this weekend at Monza. We went with a high downforce setup and found great pace under race conditions, but the potential was all for naught as I had a hard hit fighting for position. Heidfeld and myself just wanted to go into the same place at the same time, and I got the worst of the contact. It was a scary crash with the car keep spinning out of control I was a torpedo which hit Barrichello, a innocent victim. For the rest of the race it was about keeping good pace which we did, I think we put in a fastest lap which would have put us in the top ten. I am sorry to the team for not being able to capitalise on a great opportunity, and now we must re-group as all that's remains are the fly-aways. We must push now if I want to be able to go for a second championship.

In-Game Press Clippings:

Magnificent Win For Hamilton at Monza
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton took the chequered flag at Monza with a sublime drive. After the race, Lewis state that the car had been perfect to drive all weekend.

Singapore Grand Prix Preview Quote:
Nathan McKane, HRT
2010 Qualifying - 4th, Race - 3rd
"Everyone comes to Singapore excited for the atmosphere of the event. The race happens at night and everything feels electric for this tough street race. It's a tough track to pass so we must make every opportunity count. Brakes are always a talking point here as this track is one of the toughest on equipment. With that in mind, we are bringing new equipment to help lessen the wear on parts. The gap to the points leader is now 31 points, and that needs to decrease now and over the next few races in order to give me a shot at retaining my title. It all comes down to the next few races.

In Other News:
*Williams gave me a contract offer, wooo.
*In the first failed attempt at the Italian Grand Prix I got the Robot-Like Consistency trophy, which shows how good that setup was. In that take, I went to pit for primes and had to queue behind Liuzzi, but after he left the stall and I entered the tires didn't change although it did show the animation. This game.

[RealRacingRoots]

Tweets from between race weekends:

"Already hard at work to change body clock. If it was Le Mans I wouldn't need to, but it's F1 so I have to."

"I always want to try out this track in the wet, but the forecast says it will be dry all weekend."

"Practice tonight, new parts to try out. Hopefully we can get some clean running unlike Monza."

New Upgrades for Singapore:
Minor: Reduce Engine Wear by 5% - Worthless upgrade is worthless.

Practice Report:
Much to the team and I's surprise, the high-downforce tracks appear to be where this car has the speed. Of the three street-courses on the calendar, this is the most busy in terms of concentration. As it turns out, we got more to be happy about here. After the prime run, we were P10 with most of the front runners doing option times early on. So we came in after 8 laps on the primes, made some changes, and went out on a new set of the Prime tires. With fresh rubber and a rubbered in track, we made a lot of progress to the front, going P3 on primes with the fastest lap of that run. So we came in, and waited until late in the session for the option run. When few other drivers were on track, it was time for the final run of the session. We found more speed, but I wasn't able to put the perfect lap together as I would have hoped. We got potential, but just haven't shown it yet.

Practice Results:
1st Vettel 1:41.210
2nd Alonso +0.048
3rd Hamilton +0.227
4th Webber +0.359
...
7th Massa +0.682
8th McKane +0.848
9th Schumacher +1.027
...
19th Barrichello +2.756
20th Liuzzi +5.669
21st Trulli +6.006

Qualifying Report:
Confidence is high, we didn't show our full pace and if we got clean track we got a good shot at a top 5 starting position. With the first run, we were P5, albeit nine tenths off the pole time of Nick Heidfeld. It was go or go home for pole this time, so we went out for another run on new Options. It took clean air and a lot of courage, but I did improve enough to get 5th in that second run. The late apexes and awkward transitions are a trick to get it all right for one lap, but not getting pole but being still at the front was enough for me. We got a great chance to win tomorrow, but we shall see if the luck goes our way this time.

Qualifying Results:
1st Schumacher 1:41.149
2nd Vettel +0.156
3rd Heidfeld +0.416
4th Webber +0.478
5th McKane +0.806
6th Hamilton +1.035
...
10th Alonso +1.447
...
19th Maldonado +3.507
20th Liuzzi +5.271
21st D'Ambrosio +6.700

Outside 107% - 1:48.229
Kovalaninen - 1:48.991
Trulli - 1:49.489
Glock - 1:49.652

[RealRacingRoots]

RACE: 2011 Singapore Grand Prix

Race Report:
It's a long days night, and everyone will be working like a dog. It's the longest race of the season in terms of time elapsed, and one of the most draining on the car and the driver. The tires will be the biggest hit, with four stops on the strategy for tonight. Off the start, Hamilton got side-by-side with me before braking but I dived in alot more into a gap on the inside that was made by Webber and Heidfeld. Heidfeld got level with me at turn 2 as Vettel and Schumacher in front closed up any gaps on the inside or middle. Both of the Germans got good launches on exit but braked excessively early for turn 5, allowing me to get past Vettel and be ready to pass Schumacher at turn 7 or 8, with the pass being made at Turn 8. If the passes weren't made on the first lap before my worn Options fell off, they would never have been done and I probably wouldn't have won the race, OR WOULD I. In the second and third sectors, there was no chance of the others even attempting to get past, I was just too quick there; but with the long straights of the first sector there was always a chance. By the end of the first stint, the options were fully finished and passing the cliff. It was a relief to get fresh options for the second stint, with Vettel being the first behind me. During the middle of the stint, I had a slow exit off of turn 3 and Vettel got past with a burst of speed. I got right to the back of him at turn 5 and kept close down Raffles Boulevard, with an outbraking attempt to the outside making it that I was now side-by-side with Vettel, leading to an easy pass to return to the leas of the race, with Hamilton also looking to take a lunge at the offline Red Bull, which proved unsuccessful. The rest of the stint proved uninteresting, but exhausting as it was now for the first race run on Primes, exiting ahead of Alguersuari, who stopped for primes with his first stop, who was ahead of Vettel.

After that stop, however, the other championship contenders began to drop like flies, with Webber, (Bad Luck) Button, Hamtilon and Vettel all either crashing, or having mechanical difficulties within the start/end of the second/third stint (they weren't the only ones, more on that later). How crazy was that! But now it was for lapped traffic, with me catching up to them at the sketchiest part of the track, Turn 8 to 13. Lovely. One Marussia, Lotus and Liuzzi were all discharged with ease, but the next lap when trying to get past Trulli at Turn 16 on the outside, he swung wide into me, under braking no less, putting me into a half spin with me having to use him as a buffer when mt car went going into the inside wall, but no damage was done outside of wearing the primes out even more. I lost so much time to Alguersuari and the others who were behind me now with that blunder from Trulli, I'M THE LEADER YOU NIT LET ME PAST WITH EASE. Alonso then retired, leaving me as the only title contender left classified, and I was in the hunt for a good 25 points. It was time for the last set of primes for stop 3. This stint set in just how tiring this race is, seeing no one else during the whole of the stint, just pulling in good clean laps working to keep me in the driver's seat. But on the second to last lap of the stint, I lost concentration after Turn 19 for a moment. The front-left tire hit the barrier, vaulting me into the outside wall, smashing my front wing. I pit that lap for the last time, for Options and a new front wing, putting the pressure on that the race win could be at stake. But was it, really? Nope. Everyone else still had to pit, giving me the win even if I screwed up once and Trulli was an idiot potentially at my expense. 8 minutes from the 2 hour time limit, and everyone on the podium just look exhausted. But for Perez, Petrov and myself, these points couldn't come at a better time.

Race Results:
1st McKane
2nd Petrov +5.670
3rd Perez +6.301
...
14th D'Ambrosio +1Lap
15th Liuzzi +1Lap
16th Trulli +1Lap

Not Classified
Massa - Brakes
Alonso - Brakes
Vettel - Accident
Hamilton - Geabox
(Bad Luck) Button - Hydralics
Webber - Accident

(I, RealRacingRoots not Nathan McKane, dedicate this race victory to my lovely girlfriend who is here from Germany and gets to stay for 3 weeks. Having to wait 1 year to see here again and getting a race win the day before she arrives is just awesome. Tl;dr: I'm pretentious, YEY.)

[RealRacingRoots]

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uwzRglswc8 Once again, WMG won't allow the video to be viewed in the USA, USA, USA HOOOOOOOOO

Drivers' Standings
1st Hamilton 160
2nd McKane 154
3rd Webber 145
4th Alonso 140
5th Vettel 126
6th Petrov 99
7th Schumacher 97
8th Massa 96
9th Bad Luck Button 82
10th Rosberg 75
11th Heidfeld 67
12th Perez 66
13th Kobayashi 43
14th Barrichello 16
15th Alguersuari 15
16th Maldonado 12
17th Buemi 11
18th Di Resta 9
19th Sutil 1
D'Ambrosio, Trulli, Liuzzi, Glock and Kovalainen all have 0.

Constructors' Standings
1st Red Bull 271
2nd McLaren 242
3rd Ferrari 236
4th Mercedes 172
5th Renault 166
6th HRT 154
7th Sabuer 109
8th Williams 28
9th Toro Rosso 26
10th Force India 10
Virgin and Lotus both have 0.

Singapore Grand Prix Post-Weekend Quote
Nathan McKane, HRT (1st)
"How this race weekend turned out could be the defining moment in my title defence. We were on the pace all weekend and we showed that with a great showing in the race. In many ways, I should consider myself lucky considering my contact with Trulli and my mistake out of turn 19; if the other title contenders weren't out of the race by then I would have lost quite the few valuable points. We found ourselves lucky with the circumstances given, and with our pace at high downforce tracks it it a recipe for success this weekend. The gap to the points leader (Hamilton) is now only 6 points, which is the closest it has ever been for us at this point in the season. We must use this new momentum after a tough go in Monza to lead the way into the final rounds of the season.

In-Game Press Clippings: (I made two up)

Trulli given reprimand:
Team Lotus driver Jarno Trulli was given a reprimand by the stewards after causing a avoidable collision when being passed under blue flags by eventual race winner Nathan McKane. Mckane was quoted after to race to be very disappointed with the respect to the leader Trulli gave.

Silly Season 2011: McKane?
One of the big rumours going around the paddock is where current world champion and Singapore Grand Prix race winner Nathan McKane will go. Force India team principal Vijay Mallya has already stated the intent in sighing a much more experienced driver to the team, who is currently 10th in the Constructors' Standings. Recent rumors have began to arise that he may potentially go to Williams to replace Rubens Barrichello with the technical agreement between HRT and Williams already in place. The HRT driver was asked about the topic and said, "I would rather focus on the situation at hand, there is still a lot of time before Melbourne next year. We shall see how everything unravels."

Japanese Grand Prix Preview Quote:
Nathan McKane, HRT
2010 Qualifying - 8th, Race - 6th
"I always enjoy coming to Japan to race. This country has some of the best race tracks in the world and it's especially a pleasure to race a F1 car around Suzuka. The track just flows beautifully with the high amount of downforce these cars have. With this in mind, we have come with one of our last major packages of the season, with new aerodynamic parts all around the car we are hoping to keep up with the other front runners. While they had a tough race at Singapore, I am fully expecting that they will be on top of their game this weekend and for the rest of the season. From here on to Brazil, every point counts for the Drivers' Championship and we need to continue what we started in Singapore."

[RealRacingRoots]

Girlfriend is back in Germany, now it`s time to get this thing done.....I hope.

2011 Japanese Grand Prix

Upgrades for Japan:
Standard, Front and Rear Wing Improvements: Increase Overall Downforce by 10%

Practice Report:

A innocent layer of marine cloud covered the Suzuka circuit as practice day began. Most of the cloud will probably burn off later on in the day, but no threat of rain for this weekend. Confidence is high going into this weekend after a win in Singapore, and now we got more upgrades to work with on the aero side, which is a big boost. The new bits helped from the get-go, there was more mid-speed corner stability which is something that we struggle with at certain tracks, which you would expect to be the case here with the whole first sector happening in fifth gear, it feels like. The first prime run at the begging showed how much the car has evolved through the season, as we were in the top 2 of the tables are the first prime run, only a tenth and a half off of points leader Hamilton. The best part about the first run was that although the track had yet to rubber in, the setup on the car already felt consistent at speed, which will be a big boost on the Prime run(s) during the race. After checking the data and waiting for a good time to go out, it was time for another prime run. My time did improve, putting me back on top for the session. Later on in the run, turn 1 and Spoon were a little tricky as if off line the car will have a tendency to oversteer, which caught me off guard at the mid part of Spoon, putting me into a spin. Luckily for me, the concrete run off was there, so I resumed with little issue. As the session wore on, Vettel and Alonso did pull in faster times on primes, but I wasn`t worried. Two prime runs and we were done, giving us a extra set of Options for Qualifying and hopefully the race, which others did use during the session.

Practice Results:
1st Alonso 1:33.125
2nd Vettel +0.044
3rd Bad Luck Button +0.086
...
5th Webber +0.321
6th Schumacher +0.357
7th McKane +0.399
...
9th Hamilton +0.443
...
21st Kovalainen +3.583
22nd Liuzzi +3.770
23rd Trulli +4.019

BONESAW IS REAADDYYY TO QUALIFY

Qualifying Report:
The sun is out! Clear skies for as far as the eye can see, the temp is warmer then it was for practice, and it looks to be a good time to qualify. I was the first one to go out which guaranteed the clean air which has been oh so vital to pole times this season. First fast lap was a 1:33.321, which I thought to myself could me more than enough to get on the front row. But there was places to improve, I took the whole of the S section in fourth gear instead of the usual fifth gear, which did lose a lot of time from the lap. So it was time for one more lap, and it blew me away. Four tenths were eaten up good with my second and final lap of the session. It was purple all the way around baby, and the first time for anyone below 1:33.0 the whole weekend. Now it was only a waiting game to see if the time would stand the test of time. Webber was currently the closest time with a time one and half tenths slower than mine, but I felt confidence with the amount of traffic on track. Vettel soon took second with a time marginally better than Webber`s, and into the 1:32s. But that would be as fast as anyone else would get, as I took pole with authority. This is the race where I take the Championship by the scruff of the neck, based on the events so far.

Qualifying Results:
1st McKane 1:32.843
2nd Vettel +0.140
3rd Webber +0.161
4th Alonso +0.502
5th Hamilton +0.754 (Oh look, all the title contenders are in the top 5. Lovely.)
...
22nd Trulli +5.630
23rd Liuzzi +5.651
24th Kovalainen +5.879

Dear Wizzie,

I do not appreciate your attempts at changing the difficulty in other user`s careers at their benefit or expense. We all know your superpowers in GP4, and I fear it may be leeching into other games. SO STOP IT.

Sincerely, RealRacingRoots.

Also, MGMT - Electric Feel (Justice Remix) gets me in a epic zen when I`m driving around Suzuka for some reason.

[Shizuka]

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uwzRglswc8 Once again, WMG won't allow the video to be viewed in the USA, USA, USA HOOOOOOOOO

Seriously, these stupid blocks are affecting everyone. Even me, and I'm a goddamn YT partner for crying out loud!

[RealRacingRoots]

RACE: 2011 Japanese Grand Prix

Race Report:

The top five on the starting grid are the contenders for the Driver's Championship. Even though it's only Japan, you could still cut the tension with a knife. Everyone is hungry for points and wins with time running out before Brazil. It's a little cooler today with the advent of some small clouds coming off the coast. At the end of the formation lap, I had to aim my car to the right as Vettel had a good chance to take the lead going into turn 1 with his power advantage. I got a good start and was able to prevent Vettel or Webber from taking my lead into turn 1. Webber had the preferred line which meant he got second with Vettel having to check up so he doesn't compromise his line going into turn 2. The main opportunities for Webber to try and overtake me was when his extra power would come in handy, the straight coming out of Spoon and the pit-straight. This was something he took advantage of on the second lap when he pulled to the inside on the straight after Spoon and made the pass by the mini pit lane that exists on that straight. But what surprised me was that be lifted for 130R; a corner that I take flat all day, everyday. With my added momentum I went to the outside and outbraked him into the chicane and retained the lead. Soon after DRS was activated and Webber took another shot at the pass on the front straight with the assist of DRS. While he had the preferred line for turn 1, he took a wider line into turn 2 which opened the door for me, and I closed the door as I went to the exit of turn 2 to retain the lead again. Webber was still on the outside, but ran wide onto the run-off pavement which allowed Vettel to take second. By now everyone's options were beginning to get worn and it was getting easier to slip up. A few laps later i did a similar move to Webber and ran wide at turn 2, giving Vettel the lead. But I was none too alarmed because the decision was made that if I get passed, I would follow them into the pits because we were both on the same tire at the start. In any case, I still wanted to dictated the pace so that a victory could still be within reach. The Red Bulls both appeared to have better race pace than myself today. Nevertheless, I saw fit to divebomb Vettel at the hairpin with great success. Then a few of the front runners, myself included pitted for the first time. I went for Primes, Webber went for Options with me getting out before him. I exited amongst some mid fielders, behind a Force India and ahead of a Toro Rosso, but they soon pitted which allowed Webber and I to lead the way. Webber's strategy relied on him being able to get past me with his options since I will be going longer than him. But,he wasn't able to do so as once he did get past I was able to retake the place at either the hairpin or the chicane after 130R, which allowed the others to catch up with my slower pace, with Vettel getting past Webber after I got past at the hairpin. Vettel, also on primes was the main contender once again and I wanted to pit with him if possible. Vettel would get past after I went wide at Degner 2 and would maintain the lead until he and I both pitted for our next stop, with Button coming in behind us. We entered as Vettel, McKane, Button and exited Vettel, Button, McKane..... =/

Come on guys, what was that?

Yeah, I wasn't pleased. Anyways, another set of Primes and now only one stop to go. Hamilton and Massa were behind me now and both wanting a show with me being on cold tires, but I was having none of it. Ahead of me, Button was having issues getting past lapped traffic, which slowed his pace considerably which gave me the opportunity to strike when the time was right. Said opportunity would arise when Button was having troubles getting passed a Marussia-Virgin on the front straight when it didn't yield enough to the inside to let button past on the outside. Button and I both got DRS but with my run, I made it three wide to the inside and made the pass on both of them. Vettel also had issues with traffic, which allowed me to close the gap somewhat, but not enough as he soon began to leave me in the dust. The intention was, again, pit with him for the last stop of the race. But he was way in the distance this time around so I didn't get the signal to pit, so I pit one lap after for the final set of Options. Webber's strategy on going on Primes for the last stint paid off as he took my second place, giving a Red Bull 1-2 to the finish. Button was on the hunt for a podium at my expense as he wanted his persistence of bad luck to end. But as we rounded 130R one last time, a Team Lotus was there which provided a good way to leave Button in the dust for a healthy third place. While we had the pace on Friday and Saturday, Red Bull played their hand on Sunday, which gave both of their drivers the well needed boost they were looking for in the title run. The 15 points I got are also handy, as you will see in the results and in the points table.

Race Results:
1st Vettel
2nd Webber +3.204
3rd McKane +5.873
4th Button +6.720
5th Hamilton +11.606
6th Alonso +14.371
...
20th Kovalainen +2 Laps
21st Liuzzi +2 Laps
22nd Trulli +2 Laps

Not Classififed:
Barrichello - Collision Damage
Sutil - Collision Damage

Oh lord, I recorded both the race and the replay without audio. The RGB cables that go in the audio-out in the tv were somehow knocked out of the tv. Pants on head retardism, folks.

[RealRacingRoots]

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNa0t5JoJ-w You better be happy Wizzie, you chose the song.

Drivers' Standings
1st Hamilton 170
2nd McKane 169
3rd Webber 163
4th Vettel 151
5th Alonso 148
6th Massa 102
7th Schumacher, Petrov 99
9th Button 94
10th Rosberg 75
11th Perez 70
12th Heidfeld 68
13th Kobayashi 43
14th Barrichello 16
15th Alguersuari 15
16th Maldonado 12
17th Buemi 11
18th Di Resta 9
19th Sutil 1
D'Ambrosio, Trulli, Liuzzi, Glock and Kovalainen all have 0.

Constructors' Standings
1st Red Bull 314
2nd McLaren 264
3rd Ferrari 250
4th Mercedes 174
5th HRT 169
6th Renault 167
7th Sauber 113
8th Williams 28
9th Toro Rosso 26
10th Force India 10
Virgin and Lotus both have 0.

Japanese Grand Prix Post-Weekend Quote:
Nathan McKane, HRT (3rd)
"The battle for the drivers' championship intensified with the race today. All five major contenders were in the top five during qualifying and we were all in the top six in the race which shows how hungry we all are for the championship. The fifteen points we got here proved vital in the title hunt as it closed the gap to Hamilton to only one point, which means the race is on in these final four races in the calendar. I did the best I could with the pace the car had, we showed our potential on Saturday but Red Bull showed their real pace on Sunday. With the way the tires wore out and the strategy that we went with, the team and I can be happy with this result and it showed that our new aerodynamic parts worked up to expectations. But now the expectations rise even more with the title fight getting tighter and tighter.

In-Game Press Clippings:

Vettel Edges Out Webber:
Red Bull were celebrating last night as Sebastian Vettel edged out team mate Mark Webber at Suzuka. Vettel was said to be very pleased with how the weekend progressed and would be looking to build on the result at Yeongam.

Podium Finish For McKane
An excellent weekend of sport was topped off with an exciting Formula One race at Suzuka. Nathan McKane enjoyed a good day at a races with a podium finish for HRT after starting on pole. In an interview Nathan's race engineer Andy Knight praised his driver for his hard work both on and off the track.

Korean Grand Prix Preview Quote:
Nathan McKane, HRT
2010 Qualifying - 2nd, Race - 2nd
"The changeable conditions last year and the newly finished Yeongam circuit proved for an exciting race as we fought hard through the wet and the dry. This time around everyone will have experience and data on this tricky circuit after driving blind going into the first practice session last year when the track was like driving on ice. We come off of two podiums in a row at Singapore and in Japan, and the 44 points we got in those two weekends have given us the boost we needed in the title fight, and we look to continue that here in Korea. Any mistakes in the last four races will be costly to my title defence, and it is key that we all work to make realise this dream."

Karthikeyan to replace Liuzzi in India
HRT have confirmed that their current third driver Narain Karthikeyan will replace Tonio Liuzzi for the inaugural Indian Grand Prix. Narain was one of the drivers for HRT to partake at the Jerez winter test,and with personal sponsor Tata bringing in money to HRT there was little doubt he would get the drive.

“Driving in front of the home crowd cheering on is going to be a surreal experience,” says Karthikeyan, who is set to be the only Indian in the race. “A once in a lifetime experience and I feel extremely fortunate. There is a huge buzz around the Grand Prix already and I’m sure that it’ll be a resounding success."

If it says Liuzzi, I will scribble it out and write in Karthikeyan. Simple as that.

[Wizzie]

Solid. I like it

[RealRacingRoots]

2011 Korean Grand Prix Race Weekend

Practice Report:
It should come with little surprise that all the teams were more optimistic about letting their drivers go on track compared to last year. The "driving on ice" feeling which was apparent last year in practice is gone, left with a track broadly in the same conditions as the Hungaroring during practice. It is very hard to push in these opening minutes as many places where going flat could be considered during the race is just impossible right now, and braking must take place a lot earlier then during the race or risk going wide onto the run-off areas. No DRS either for me, as per the norm in practice. By the end of the first Prime run, I was in the low 1:40s and in the top five, while some of the people in front of me have already done a Option run, which I probably won't do. Another Prime run will be done once the track rubbers in proper. So with about 15 minutes left, it was time for the second prime run of the day. While I did improve my time, I remained in fifth as everyone around us was doing Option runs on their cars. I prefer to save the extra set of Options for qualifying in the case that 2 clean runs can be done and there could potentially be an additional clean set of options for the race. The car waned to give more this session, but traffic impeded us, so I called it a session with five minutes to go.

Practice Results:
1st Hamilton 1:39.015
2nd Vettel +0.063
3rd Alonso +0.422
4th Button +0.606
5th McKane +0.619
...
8th Webber +1.482
...
20th Glock +4.970
21st Liuzzi +4.988
22nd D'Ambrosio +5.078

Qualifying Report:
With a tricky track to overtake on, this session matters a lot for the race. The whole weekend will be dry so it is put up or shut up for everyone in the title race. Kobayashi was the first driver to out on track, with myself following suit. With the cooler track, grip had decreased a little, but was compensated by the fact that we were running on the option tires. I was P4 on the first run, but six tenths off of provisional pole man Vettel. So now we wait and find an open bit of road and time for the second run, on a fresh set of Options. The car had a lot more to give, and with about 8 minutes to go, it was time to get to the top row of the grid. In fact, the car had so much in it, it had the fastest lap of the session and the only time in the 1:37s in it. The HRT garage erupted once I crossed the line, as I finally got together the best 3 sectors that I felt were possible at this track. I pitted next lap to conserve tires as a few other drivers tried to get in their final laps, but no one came close to contesting my time. Once again, this is what we needed with Hamilton being only 1 point ahead, this gives us the confidence to win the Korean Grand Prix on merit.

Qualifying Result:
1st McKane 1:37.812
2nd Vettel +0.327
3rd Hamilton +0.876
4th Alonso +0.903
...
8th Webber +1.593

Outside 107% - 1:44.658
D'Ambrosio - 1:44.900
Kovalainen - 1:45.347
Liuzzi - 1:45.568
Glock - 1:46.432
Trulli - 1:46.644

(If Vettel was on pole, 107% time would have been 1:45.008. Oh dear.)

[RealRacingRoots]

Yeongam is a tricky track as it's probably one of the hardest tracks to put in consistently fast laps in. Turn 11 to 16 are the main culprits because the physics of F1 2011 just don't like the way those corners flow into each other. I like Yeongam, but the game makes it rubbish.

Race Report: 2011 Korean Grand Prix
So, four races to go. I start from pole and need to finish in front of Hamilton to take the points lead for the first time during the season. I start from pole, and got a good start and a even better launch out of turn 1 to solidify my lead in front of Vettel. He would have his chances at the first long straight, but I would maintain my lead in the braking zones, as per the norm. A bunch of the front runners, me included, pitted together with me leading the way on pit exit a few laps later. Maldonado was ahead of me, starting my first Prime run of the race. He chose to pit that lap which allowed me to lead the way once again. Hamilton got past Vettel in the stops and now was behind me. His chances were similar to Vettel's, in terms of execution and success rate. After a few attempts, he ran a little wide on exit of Turn 3 which allowed Button to yoink the position. Then came the second round of stops, with me going for Primes again. But....once again, the HRT pit crew failed me as the lolipop man hesitated to let me go, letting Button past and into the lead once all the pit stops cycled through. With his option tires, he began to gap me for the duration of the stint until he hit lapped traffic. Hamilton was behind me again, and couldn't get past, again. Yes, ALL of the drivers who weren't within 107% did start, and Button was cursing that as with them, I closed the gap in a matter of laps. I was within 2 seconds of Button, still with a lapped car to go when the safety car came out just as we passed pit in. Alonso was pushing hard as he was in a fight for a top five position, when he got wide at exit of turn 14, and smashed into the outside wall putting debris all across the track. Alonso retired on the spot, pretty much eliminating him from having any chance at the title. The Merc SLS picked up Button, then me, with a few lapped cars behind me. At the end of the first lap behind the Saftey Car, Button elected to pit alongside other front runners. I elected to stay out banking on the lapped cars holding up the cars behind. On the one flyer I did, the Primes were shot. Button and the others made the right move pitting in under safety car. By the time I pitted for another set of Primes and everyone circulated, I dropped to 8th. But on exit, debris was in the braking zone for turn 1 as Kobayashi ran into the rear of Sutil, who were both in front, losing his front wing. The contact damaged the rear of Sutil's car too, which mean it was easy to dispatch both of them. But getting past Sutil was a treat as both Rosberg (behind me) and I got DRS, and we made it 3 wide going by the crippled Force India, and I did stay ahead of Rosberg under braking for turn 3. I was 6th when I pitted for the final time (four stops) for Options, I exited behind Rosberg, Buemi and Maldonado. Buemi and Maldonado both were doing their final stint on Primes, while Rosberg was getting held up by them after they pitted for the final time. With them being on worn Primes, and myself on new options, it was time to strike. The pass was made on Rosberg going into turn 1, allowing me to go after Buemi with the assist of DRS, which he also got. I was plenty close enough to make the pass going into turn 3. Maldonado was now being held up by lapped traffic, which allowed me to take the pass going into turn 10. He also got past the lapped car of Kovalainen, but I began to gap the struggling Williams driver. The rest of the race was quiet, as I took home a disappointing fourth place. Hamilton led home a McLaren 1-2, which was vital for him to get a bigger points buffer to me. The strategy call during the safety car didn't work, and that costed us today. Now there are only three races left, and things are getting desperate if your name isn't Lewis Hamilton.

Race Results:
1st Hamilton
2nd Button +5.535
3rd Heidfeld +8.687
4th McKane +13.144
5th Maldonado +21.207
...
8th Vettel +25.809
...
18th Kovalainen +1 Lap
19th Liuzzi +1 Lap
20th Trulli +1 Lap

Not Classified:
Webber - Gearbox
Alonso - Accident

Doing replay and other stuff in the morning.

[RealRacingRoots]

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZxDFSDMcNY

WDC Standings:
1st Hamilton 195
2nd McKane 181
3rd Webber 163
4th Vettel 155
5th Alonso 148
6th Button 112
7th Massa 102
8th Schumacher 101
9th Petrov 99
10th Heidfeld 83
11th Rosberg 81
12th Perez 71
13th Kobayashi 43
14th Maldonado 22
15th Buemi 19
16th Barrichello 16
17th Alguersuari 15
18th Di Resta 9
19th Sutil 1
D'Ambrosio, Trulli, Liuzzi, Glock and Kovalainen all have 0.

WCC Standings:
1st Red Bull 318
2nd McLaren 307
3rd Ferrari 250
4th Merccedes 182
5th Rennault 182
6th HRT 181
7th Sauber 114
8th Williams 38
9th Toro Rosso 34
10th Force India 10
Virgin and Lotus both have 0.

In-Game Press Clippings

1st Place for Hamilton at Yeongam
For fans a Formula One race weekend is always an exciting prospect, and the race at Yeongam was no exception. In a hotly contested race, Lewis Hamilton was able to make use of a good strategy and take the chequered flag to extend his points lead to Nathan McKane.

Korean Grand Prix Post-Weekend Quote
Nathan McKane, HRT (4th)
"While more points in the title battle is good, today could have gone better with the gap to points leader Hamilton widening by thirteen points. We were caught out by a late strategy call when Button and the other front runners pitted, and that costed us a lot of time on track after the safety car came in. Ultimately, our pace was good during the race even as the wear rate of the tires were higher then predicted on practice day. The car's pace has given the team hope that these poles are able to translate into victories, in which we need with three races to go."

Expect another post later tonight. Any guesses on what I'll be posting?

[JeremyMcClean]

Hold on

Force India has only 10 points???

[RealRacingRoots]

Hold on

Force India has only 10 points???

Remember how Williams was the odd team out in the midfield last year in real life? Yeah, it's happening to Force India instead.

[RealRacingRoots]

Someone will probably be disappointed in me for doing this, but...

Dan Wheldon, 1978-2011

Dan Wheldon, who moved to the United States from his native England with hopes of winning the Indianapolis 500 and went on to prevail at his sport's most famed race twice, died Sunday after a massive, fiery wreck at the Las Vegas Indy 300.

He was 33.

McKane, Button, Hamilton Pay Tribute To Fellow Brit Dan Wheldon

Nathan McKane, Jenson Button, and Lewis Hamilton are among the many racing people to have paid tribute to Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon, who died after a crash in Las Vegas on Sunday.

The trio of former F1 World Champions drivers knew Wheldon from their karting days, with Button having been a fierce on-track rival for many years.

...

In a blog article from Nathan McKane's website, Nathan wrote:

"It's one of the harshest realities in the sport we are all apart of. We always had great battles going up the ladder in the UK, and became good friends in the later years once we both found our ways in international motor sport. I will always remember the 2006 Daytona 24 where we finished 1-2.

"You could hear and see his passion in everything he did on and off the track. He was someone we all looked up to, and it's going to be tough not having him around anymore."

Nathan also confirmed he will be using a tribute helmet at the next F1 round at India, with the helmet being auction off after the race weekend with the proceeds going to the Wheldon family.

India Preview Quote:
Nathan McKane, HRT
"Coming to a new track is a challenge that all the teams are looking forward too. From the simulator work Narain and I have done at the Williams Factory, the track looks like a real treat once we get down to driving it on Friday. Having Narain driving the other car this weekend in front of his home crowd has given the team the extra motivation for both the title battle, and making the Indian fans proud. It's going to be a pivotal weekend with three races to go in the title battle, and we had a tough outing during the race at Korea. We need to look ahead to the race and the points that are in store."

And for the heck of it, I will be using the F1Rejects nicknames that were used during the videocast before the race. For McKane, I'm probably going to use "The Big Red Machine" as a reference to Kane (the wrasslor) and the aggressive style that McKane has when he races, unless you guys got a better idea..