Massa slams new teams' lack of pace
Ferrari's Felipe Massa is concerned that slow cars fielded by the new teams could make racing dangerous and believes their presence will not be good for the sport.
Lotus, Virgin and HRT will all join the grid in Bahrain, where they are expected to be up to four or five seconds off the pace of the front runners. In a column on its website last month, Ferrari was openly critical of the new teams' state of preparation and questioned the FIA's selection process. With just one week until the first race, Massa has also voiced his concerns.
"I hope they won't be a danger," he is quoted as saying on Ferrari's website. "There are six or seven teams one second apart [at the front], while those teams are four seconds behind. It's not good for the sport and not good for them; it's like two different series. They'll suffer. And we'll suffer too, when we have them in front of us during qualifying".
He also expects Williams to be challenging alongside the top four teams at the front of the field, after observing everyone's form in pre-season testing.
"We're always watching the others, not just their best time, but also race simulations," he added. "The result is that there are many competitive teams: Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes, maybe Williams. And we are in there for sure".
http://en.espnf1.com/ferrari/motorsport/story/10265.html
Raikkonen crashes out of Rally Mexico
Ex-F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen has crashed out of Rally Mexico in spectacular fashion.
Raikkonen, who swapped F1 for rallying when Fernando Alonso replaced him at Ferrari, rolled his Citroen C4 six times on the final gravel stage of day one. Both Raikkonen and his co-driver Kaj Linstrom were unharmed, but the car was destroyed in the accident and he was forced to retire.
He finished 30th in Rally Sweden last month after a number of mistakes dropped him well down the order. He was also out of contention before his big accident in Mexico, but showed real potential on an asphalt stage when he set the fifth fastest time.
He will now have to wait until early April for another chance to prove his talent at the next round of the WRC in Jordan.
