grandprix 2011 calendar  27/03       Australia  10/04       Malaysia  17/04       China  08/05       Turkey  22/05       Spain  29/05       Monaco  12/06       Canada  26/06       Europe  10/07       Britain  24/07       Germany  31/07       Hungary  28/08       Belgium  11/09       Italy  25/09       Singapore  09/10       Japan  16/10       Korea  30/10       India  13/11       Abu Dhabi  27/11       Brazil  2010       Archive
grandprix 2011 drivers and teams Red Bull McLaren Ferrari Mercedes Renault Williams Force India Sauber Toro Rosso Lotus HRT Virgin 2010 Archive

Posts Tagged ‘Chinese Grand Prix’

Bernie comes up with radical plan to get all teams (apart from Virgin) out of China

Bernie comes up with radical plan to get all teams (apart from Virgin) out of China

With their cars currently stuck in Shanghai because of the Icelandic volcano and its big ash cloud, the F1 teams have agreed to take part in a race that will not only provide excellent competition but at the same time… get them back to Europe.

Bernie Ecclestone has come up with a one-off Asian Grand Prix, running from Shanghai to Athens, using the 7,000km Silk Road. Despite initial concerns over tyre wear, the teams have agreed to contest the race which will start on Wednesday and is due to last until Friday night or a week next Thursday for the HRT squad.

The route which is mostly desert, goes from China, through an awful lot of countries wth names ending in ‘stan’ before pitching up in Greece, where a ferry will be waiting to take the cars to Barcelona.

The only team expecting problems are Virgin, who reckon that their fuel tank will only see them as far as the Shanghai ring road.

map-silk-road

88831377-4a142fa1a21b9d09aa3bac5b7f6169e7_4bccc14d-scaled

 

 

Chandhok must start Chinese Grand Prix from car park

Chandhok must start Chinese Grand Prix from car park

Due to an issue with his team looking at (or looking for) his car’s gearbox on Friday night, Karun Chandhok has been handed a five place drop on the grid for Sundays race.

However as he qualified dead last anyway, officials… felt that the punishment could not be served so they have insisted that the popular Indian starts from the circuit car park.

However, the other drivers were not happy, saying that the grip in the car park was actually quite good, so Karun now has to start in the women’s parking section (left), meaning he is likely to get stuck behind a lady attempting to get a Nissan Micra into a spot the size of an aircraft hangar as the lights go out for the race start.

Karun Chandhok has China in his hands…

Karun Chandhok has China in his hands...

 

Not much worries Karun Chandhok, which given the dreadful car he has to drive every other weekend is a good thing, so when he was told that Twitter was banned in China he still took along his trusty Blackberry in… the hope of keeping his loyal army of followers up to date with the weekend’s happenings.

Thankfully Karun was met at the airport by ‘three very sweet people’ who told him how to get around the ban (the Chinese authorities have probably had them shot by now) and since then he has been sought out by many members of the paddock to make sure they can still send their Tweets from Shanghai.

Chandhok has already been busy, musing on everything from how awful Shanghai airport is, to the horrendous decor of local restaurants and their puny portions, accompanied by a picture of team mate Bruno Senna looking ready to throw up.

If they let him back in next year it will be nothing short of a miracle.

86556290

Ferrari’s Shanghai Surprise

Ferrari's Shanghai Surprise

A source close to the Ferrari F1 team has today said that the team may take advantage of the fact that teams will not be penalised for missing the first three races of the season by electing to start their… 2010 campaign from the Chinese Grand Prix onwards.

The rule was brought in to allow no-hopers like Campos and US F1 until April to announce their withdrawal from the sport but keen eyed Ferrari management see an advantage for their team.

Said our source; “From testing results it is pretty clear that Ferrari will win the championship very easily anyway, so even if they miss Bahrain, Australia and Malaysia they should still have both titles sewn up by the Japanese Grand Prix in early October so what is the point going to those horrid places and getting the cars all dusty and mucky?”

Rumours that McLaren and Mercedes also can’t be arsed to turn up until Shanghai have yet to be confirmed.

Spread the F1 fun