Latest F1 news in brief
- Hamilton must 'calm down' and nurse tires – Villadelprat
- Merc's new motor home cost 7 times less than Red Bull's
- Backmarkers to make Monaco a 'disaster' – Hamilton
- Wet weather forecast for Monaco GP
- Bridgestone says F1 still important and significant
- 'Unrealistic' to expect Red Bull defeat – Heidfeld
Hamilton must 'calm down' and nurse tires – Villadelprat
(GMM) Lewis Hamilton needs to temper his aggression if he wants to add another title to his tally.
That is the claim of Joan Villadelprat, the F1 veteran who is bidding to bring his Le Mans team Epsilon Euskadi onto the grand prix grid next year.
He also writes a column in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
"Lewis Hamilton needs to calm down a bit to get the most out of his potential," wrote Villadelprat.
"For me, he is one of the top three drivers in formula one, on the level of Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso."
Whilst running second in Barcelona and eyeing second place in the drivers' championship, Hamilton suffered a tire failure and crashed.
McLaren believes debris caused the problem, but even Hamilton was amazed that he has suffered more tire failures since debuting in 2007 "than most people have in their whole lifetime".
Villadelprat added: "I'm not saying what was the cause of his problem on Sunday. But his history has shown that as a result of aggressive driving, he is one of the drivers who most consumes his tires.
"And now that the tires must withstand runs in excess of 50 laps, it can cause many problems," said the Spaniard.
Merc's new motor home cost 7 times less than Red Bull's
(GMM) The first photographs of Mercedes' new motor home have emerged from the paddock of the Monaco street circuit.
The Brackley based team used a motor home usually seen in the DTM paddocks in Spain, while the new structure was being put together for the first time in the Principality.
The three-storey structure resembles a glass-fronted office building and can be seen on the team's official Twitter site at http://twitpic.com/1mp7lr and http://twitpic.com/1mp7cz.
German reports say the motor home has been made at a cost of less than 2 million euros, compared with the EUR15m cost of Red Bull's Energy Station.
While Mercedes and Red Bull's motor homes were already in Monaco, the first motor home to arrive from Spain on Monday morning was Renault's.
Reportedly, the Enstone based team bought the motor home operated last year by the departed Toyota.
McLaren's so-called Brand Centre takes longer to disassemble, and as of late on Monday it had not arrived in Monaco.
Backmarkers to make Monaco a 'disaster' – Hamilton
(GMM) Backmarkers will make the Monaco grand prix "very tough" for F1's faster cars, according to Lewis Hamilton.
The 2008 world champion's car-to-pit radio was broadcasted live last Sunday when he said Virgin's Lucas di Grassi did a "terrible job" being lapped.
"I don't know what the hell he was doing there," Hamilton later expanded in comments reported by British newspapers. "It wasn't very safe."
The reporters asked the Briton if he thought the slow Virgin, Lotus and HRT runners would "screw" the pacesetters this weekend in Monaco, a twisty circuit confined by Armco barriers.
"It's just very difficult when there is such a big (speed) difference," said Hamilton, who was one of the drivers who had called for Q1 qualifying to be split into two groups for the fabled event.
"I lapped di Grassi four times in Spain. That's one of the biggest gaps I've had in formula one.
"You catch them so quick, it's unreal. When you see them you are second guessing where they will move out of the way, and then they move into the wrong position.
So far, fortunately, there have been no incidents and it has been ok, but Monaco will be very tough. It could be a disaster," added the McLaren driver.
His teammate Jenson Button agrees that traffic in Monaco will be "a nightmare", as BBC commentator Martin Brundle describes the six slowest cars as "mobile chicanes".
"Expect complaints and contact aplenty" in Monaco, Brundle added.
David Coulthard wrote in his latest Telegraph column that it is up to the teams to use their sophisticated GPS technology to help backmarkers let the faster cars through.
"They should be well able to get straight on the radio warning them that a faster car will be with them within a few seconds," said the Scot.
Wet weather forecast for Monaco GP
(GMM) A week of bad weather could lead into a wet 2010 Monaco grand prix.
Weather forecasts said rain in the Principality is expected to persist intermittently throughout the entire race weekend.
Lewis Hamilton said on Monday that McLaren's forecast is also for "extremely unpredictable" weather and likely "heavy rain".
The 2008 world champion is also quoted widely as worrying about the effect slow backmarkers will have this weekend on the twisty Armco-barrier lined circuit.
One calculation has shown that if the entire field was evenly spread around the famous street layout, there would be less than 140 meters between each car.
"Even if it doesn't rain on the Sunday, the possibility of heavily disrupted practice and qualifying sessions means that we'll probably go into the race with a chance of one of the most exciting and unpredictable Monaco grands prix for many years," said Hamilton.
Bridgestone says F1 still important and significant
(GMM) Bridgestone is showing signs of performing a dramatic U-turn and staying in formula one beyond 2010.
Currently, the Japanese supplier is due to depart at the end of the season, as potential replacements including Michelin, Pirelli, Avon, Kumho and possibly others clamor at the paddock turnstiles.
But the teams are trying to persuade Bridgestone to stay, and have written a letter to Bridgestone Europe that will be passed on to CEO Shoshi Arakawa.
"The request is an honor," said the marque's F1 boss Hiroshi Yasukawa.
Before departing Barcelona, he indicated in a statement that F1 is still important to Bridgestone.
"We hosted guests from the USA and Brazil as well as many from our European markets which has illustrated the importance of formula one as a business tool," said Yasukawa.
"Our sales companies continue to support our formula one activities, showing the significance of this to our business.
"We are proud to have the support of all of the teams in this fantastic sport," he added.
FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh said the teams are hoping the issue of 2011 tire supply is settled in Monaco this weekend, but Stefano Domenicali fears it might take another week.
"There are four proposals that appear to be out there and maybe there's another couple as well," Whitmarsh confirmed to Reuters.
And with Michelin wanting tire competitors and the smaller teams wanting cheaper options, the Briton admitted that the concept of multiple brands in F1 next year is not out of the question.
But he insisted: "If you use multiple suppliers, it has got to be controlled in terms of testing and development."
'Unrealistic' to expect Red Bull defeat – Heidfeld
(GMM) It is "unrealistic" to expect Red Bull might be beatable on the streets of Monaco this weekend.
Some reports have pointed out that while the RB6s dominated Barcelona qualifying before Mark Webber commandingly won, Sebastian Vettel was actually being beaten by Lewis Hamilton until the German suffered his brake problem.
Moreover, while Red Bull was also competitive in the 2009 season, the Monaco street circuit was not among the car's strongest.
But according to Mercedes reserve driver Heidfeld, it is wishful thinking to expect the Milton Keynes based team to struggle at the Principality this weekend.
"It is realistic that things will look a little differently," he is quoted by Motorsport Aktuell, "but it is unrealistic to think Red Bull will no longer be at the front.
"Their gap in Barcelona was just too big, more than a second (per lap)," Heidfeld remarked.
Red Bull's main Achilles heel so far this year has been unreliability, with Vettel telling Die Welt newspaper that the RB6 "is quick but it must go quickly to the finish".
Webber insisted: "We can build tractors, but they are slow. You need to build formula one cars that are on the edge and this is the balance everyone is chasing."