Monday, April 30, 2012

the in&out of the Bahrain Gp


*the top of the in:

- Sebastian Vettel: 
the world champion has finally released his timer of victory and well managed difficult Gp physically but also mentally. SEB has resisted well to Kimi Raikkonen and offers a win well deserved to his team who has worked extensively to improve the Red Bull. 

- Lotus:
the Lotus boys have surprised everyone by inviting themselves on the podium of the Gp of Bahrain in even having a chance of victory for both pilots and especially for Kimi Raikkonen who showed that he had reason to return to F1! a small regret for Kimi who had testedone occasion double Vettel but nevertheless the Finnish drive does not have to be ashamed of his race .

-Felipe Massa: Finally a race in the points for Felipe! certainly it is to two points but Felipe has finally relea6 its counter of points in having made a good start and in offering themselves even the luxury of having produced 1 tenth better turn faster than his team-mate! hope that this race will be a spark for Felipe !

* the top of the out:

-Mercedes:
 between the Chinese Gp and the Gp de Bahrain, the day and night for Mercedes! After a victory in China, Nico Rosberg has finished to fifth-place! It limits the damage but his race was quite turbulent with two rather bold maneuvers on Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso manoeuvres which earned him a passage in the Commissioners Fortunately for him without penalty. as Michael Schumacher it marks a small point but after an extraordinary upwelling that saw him earn not less 12 places! 

-Mclaren: 
the race seemed promising for the Mclaren drivers but in the end it was disastrous! result: a surrender to Jenson and as many points which fly in smoke and an eighth place for Lewis after a stop at the booth much too long!  -Williams: a surrender to Maldonado and a semi retirement(classified coz he made 90% of the race)! we are far from the good results seen during the first races of the season ! 

* the strategy of the day is for Paul di Resta ! Indeed the Force India driver finished in fifth position after you have chosen a strategy to two cases, rather bold and that worked! a good nice reward for this team was not even safe to stay for the Gp! 

* the ascent of the day is for Michael Schumacher who earned 12 positions !

* Of the side of the Frenchies:

-Romain Grosjean: 
what race on the part of Romain! He completely forgot his start of the season in a half tint and even led during some laps ! a beautiful smile of Romain on the podium that says a lot about the joy of the French driver ! 

-Jean Éric Vergne: 
it's not that Jean Éric is slow, well on the contrary! but he operates insufficient qualifications on the Saturday session to achieve a beautiful race! 

-Charles Pic: 
retirement  during the Gp for Charles, a shame but Charles learns quickly and was not very far from the Caterham on the track . his next goal is likely to exceed in Barcelona!

Monday, April 23, 2012

Bahrain Gp : Alonso & Massa Sunday quotes


*Fernando Alonso: "We finish this race in a better place that we feared and we have managed to limit the damage because we came here with eight points behind the leader, and we have lost only two additional. This series of four race is positive even if we can't deny that we are not happy of the latter that we need a step forward because we can not always rely on the faults of others. For example, we have reduced the difference of points with McLaren, something that I would not have thought possible yesterday. At the same time we completed the race nearly a minute behind the winner what has not happened this season. I expected to see competitive Lotus and this was the case during the weekend. The positive point of the beginning of the season and that there is no net driver domination as was the case last year for example. With regard to the race, I cannot say anything about it because last week I said that the situation would not change. At certain times we were strong, others less and everything was linked to the behaviour of tires, more, we lack of top speed and this is penalizing in a duel. With regard to the accident with Rosberg, I can only say that if there was a wall instead of sand then I would there be to speak about.
we need to improve the car as quickly as possible, we will have some major developments in Barcelona but it will no doubt be other, therefore everything will depend on the way in which rivals have worked and we will discover this at Mugello."


*Felipe Massa: "it was certainly not an easy race but we managed to do a good job and for the first time this season I mark points which is a good result for the moment even if we are aware that this is not the kind of results that can make the Scuderia Ferrari pleased. It's a performance that gives me confidence for the rest of the season and it's clear that we must improve the performance of the car as quickly as possible to be able to fight for interesting positions. In Barcelona everyone will bring major updates and we have to hope we have done a better job than our rivals to make up the ground lost in the beginning of the Championship. With respect to the race I think we were right to preserve a set of soft tires and it's a pity that I lost a position with Rosberg in my judgment, because otherwise I could have done a better result. I have had trouble with the rear tires and I had to complete running more slowly than anticipated to."

Bahrain Gp : the race results


Bahrain Gp : Alonso & Massa Saturday quotes


*Fernando Alonso: "Today we knew we would be between the 8th and 12th position, so being ninth is in our goals and reflects our current level of performance, and sincerely taking into account the characteristics of the track which are not suited to our car, it was difficult. So far the weekend went well place, and for a chance going into Q3 we sacrificed a Additional set of tires, so we did not have enough tires for Q3, which prevented me from making time. Make a time with worn tires would have been meaningless and we would obliged to go with used tires, but now we are free to choose what gum we want for the start , with a race that will be very difficult especially for tires. In general we have been more competitive Sundays than Saturdays, so I think it will be the same situation tomorrow, we must try and manage the tires better possible and make the most of new tires. The start will be important, it would be useful to win positions for knowing the overtakings are not Simple. The goal? Finishing in the points around the sixth or seventh position, I know it's not great, but we can not do better with the current car."


*Felipe Massa: "It is not a brilliant position but at least I preserved a set of soft tires for the race. It is true that the conditions improve track rounds after rounds, but I can not say if I could have go to Q3, turning track. Nevertheless it would have been very difficult and we decided to sacrifice soft tires for tomorrow's race, because I have new tires , it can make a difference on the track especially when the degradation is important this weekend. We need to get a good start to use our strategy must enable us to win positions, and we know our recent experience in Shanghai, the Overtaking will be very difficult for us because we lack traction out of turns and slow speeds edge, this is why we on the defensive in the race. "

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Bahrain Gp : the grid


Bahrain Gp : Alonso & Massa Friday quotes


*Fernando Alonso: "Traditionally my races have always gone well here and I won three times, so it's always a pleasure to drive here and Today I had fun at the first day, although it will be difficult because track conditions are not the best, especially because of the wind sand. On top of that , this track is rarely used which is a problem that adds additional understanding of this day, probably more here than elsewhere. Therefore the choice of settings on the cars are not easy to do because we must keep in mind that the track can hugely change by tomorrow. We tried to do the best we can to understand the tire behavior and we are identically in Shanghai with strong temperatures, so we need to improve adherence especially in the back."


*Felipe Massa: "It was very hot and now we have mainly worked on the behavior of tires Pirelli. From what we saw So far, the damage is important with the two types of tires. It was an especially busy schedule with research settings for the race but the sessions will be tomorrow important. Undoubtedly we still have much work to do the most fundamental thing is to have a consistent pace and a car preserve the tires."

(source of the pics : http://www.ferrari.com )

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Fernando Alonso blog : "a bit of Chinese relaxation before Bahrain"


"Another day off in Shanghai, before heading for Bahrain. I feel comfortable here: it's a city that's full of life and that offers so many things to do. And on top of that, the weather is really lovely today, as you can see in the photo I've posted on @ alo_oficial. I had lunch in a nice open-air restaurant on the Bund with my physio Fabrizio, my manager Luis and some guys from the team. For once, Formula 1 did not appear on the topics of conversation as we just had a bit of healthy fun. Everyone needs a bit of break, otherwise you'll struggle to be at your best over the race weekend, don't you think? Of course, that doesn't mean we're not thinking about the next race, far from it. I am well aware that in Sakhir, we can expect another difficult weekend, which is only natural, partly because of the track characteristics and also because the car is the same one we had in Shanghai. Both the Scuderia and I have a good record in Bahrain: the team has four victories here and I've got three, the last of which was also my debut race for the Prancing Horse. But the past counts for nothing in this sport and this weekend will be all about damage limitation for us. The championship is very open and there are a lot of teams that can aspire to victory, but clearly we need to make a leap forward to be more competitive if we want to aspire to coming out on top at the end. We have to take the step forward as soon as possible. I have faith in the team and I know everyone at Maranello is giving their all so that we can reach this objective. This weekend we will do our best and I hope I can have a race where I spend less time in traffic than I did last Sunday. It was definitely frustrating not being able to get almost a single traffic-free lap because my pace, at least in some phases of the race was not at all bad. However, when I found myself behind Hamilton after the final stop, he had the turn of speed to get past the others, whereas I had to turn somersaults to overtake in rather more difficult places than the very long straight. Not only that, but I also had little hope of defending my position when others used the DRS, as was the case with Maldonaldo. I had passed him, but then he got me back just at the braking point for Turn 14. I want to congratulate the pit crew: again in China they were the quickest and to do a time of 2"6 up to the green light, not once, but twice, as they recorded that time with both me and Felipe, is really a great time! Today also sees the start of an important cycle in Real Madrid's season: in just over a week, it will go up against Bayern Munich twice for the Champions League semi-final and, in between they take on Barca at the Camp Nou in the return match of what is known as "the Clasico." I hope I can find a Chinese TV channel tonight showing the Munich match: the commentary might be hard to follow, but it's the picture that matters!"

(pic taken from Fernando Alonso twitter : http://www.twitter.com/alo_oficial )

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

the in&out of the Chinese Gp


* the top in:

- Nico Rosberg: 
Finally ! the German driver has finally won his first victory at the wheel of an F1, and with the manner ! started from pole position, he practically never left the head of the race, with a good strategy at the level of the tires. 

- Mclaren: 
the British team scored a great blow by placing its two drivers on the podium and in the first places of the standings since Lewis Hamilton is the new leader followed by teammate Jenson Button. Small flat however because, without the error of his stand in one of his pitstops for changing of tyres, Button would have may be able to cover the victory ! 

-Mark Webber: 
Constance could be the middle name of Mark given his results in the first three races of the season ! but at least Mark is regular and back points to his team and also has the luxury to overtake his teammate at the end of the Gp ! have the wind turned for Mark ? 

* the top of the out:

-Ferrari: 
the Scuderia had warned that the result of the Malaysia Gp wouldn't be repeated in China but nevertheless one has the feeling that Fernando Alonso could complete the Gp in a better position that he did, without his small error at the end of the race. the Spanish driver nevertheless limits the damages since he's 3rd in the drivers ranking with only 8 points less than the leader .
What to say about Felipe Massa ? nothing except that the races follow and look the same for the Brazilian ! We really wonder when he will keep the head out of water ! 

-Michael Schumacher:
 what a shame ! with the result of Nico Rosberg, Michael could very much has done a win or a podium ! to his credit, it is not his fault but in  F1 we lost and win as a team ! nice gesture on his part, he not intended to offending his engineer. 

-Kimi Raikkonen: 
the Finnish driver could hang a podium but fading completely dropped his tires and had to be overtaken by his close competitors ! result: a pale 14th place ! 

-Sauber: 
one might have thought that with two drivers in the top 10 on the grid, the Sauber team would have shined , well this was the opposite ! Kobayashi harvest only a lean point and not any for Perez ! the fault to the mismanagement of the tires. 

* the strategy of the day is to be given to all drivers ranking from the 5th to the 8th place, Sebastian Vettel, Romain Grosjean, Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado who realized that 2 pitstops were enough and were able to keep the benefit of their good strategy ! 

* the lift of the day goes to Sebastian Vettel from the 11th place on the grid to fifth place on the finish line ! so  Seb could finish on the podium but he  still brings big points from Shanghai ! 

* on the side of the Frenchies:

-Romain Grosjean: 
Roman has finally released his meter ! He made a strong enough Gp, enjoying a good strategy and a high top speed ! In addition he completed before his teammate , which is always good for morale ! 

-Jean Éric Vergne: 
the Chinese Gp was not as successful as the previous two. Jean Éric having accumulated problems and even started from the stands ! attention to not repeat this kind of result in the future ! 

* Charles Pic : 
regular performance since Charles ends up in the same position as in Malaysia. At Marussia to improve their single-seater ! 

(source of the pic : http://www.nextgen-auto.com )

Monday, April 16, 2012

China Gp : Alonso & Massa Sunday quotes


* Fernando Alonso: "We knew it would be difficult, we have always been in traffic without the possibility to exploit the potential of the car and Also, when you're behind the others, tires wear out much faster. When one chooses to make three stops, it means that it is imperative exceed but with the speed that we aircraft, it was almost impossible, which I was forced to attempt overtaking other parts of the track, places where I could use the car otherwise ... Obviously, this does not leave me very optimistic about Bahrain, on a track where traction and speeds are important, what exactly are our most major weaknesses. Once again the Next week, the objective will be limit the damage. I do not think of the championship, the priority is to improve the F2012. This does not mean however that I lost hope, quite the contrary. last year we believed until SPA then there is no reason, when we are ranked third with only eight points behind the leader, not to believe it. Of course, we absolutely need take a step forward in making the faster car. In Spain, we will have major new features, but the same applies to the others so I don't expect to become faster a second longer than them."


* Felipe Massa: "I tried to do my best in a 
race very tight . Finishing 13th is not something which should make me happy, but I think we have made progress compared to last two races. I'm happy to finally have had a normal race this season and I do my maximum, the strategy was the right given my position, but with these events race we could consider other solutions. Nevertheless it is easier to criticize after the race finished. At each stop I found myself in the traffic and I paid dearly for the lack of top speed is one of our major problems with this car. The Sakhir circuit seems not to be favorable to our car because the characteristics of the track. For me it's a race I've always successful but I am under no illusions, we will try to do our better."

(source of the pics : http://www.ferrari.com )

China Gp : the race results


Sunday, April 15, 2012

China Gp : Alonso & Massa Saturday quotes


* Fernando Alonso: "We knew the qualification would be difficult and it was the case, but we managed to go into Q3 for some thousandths. The changing wind did not help to move forward knowing that the Improvements here are not sufficient to make a big jump in our performance, and so this position corresponds more or less our current potential. Of course we can not be happy to be so far from the pole position, but all we can do is to work to try to fill this gap. If we do a good job then we can think about winning but I remain optimistic. Even in 2010 we were far behind the best but still we were fighting for the championship in last race. The grid is very exciting and Interestingly, two Mercedes, a Sauber and Lotus before. We do can not afford to errors because we did not better car, and if we can to make a perfect race as Australia and Malaysia, then we can score valuable points. "

* Felipe Massa: "On one hand I am obviously unfortunate not have been in Q3, but I have to be happy with my position I considered rather well considering the results in free practice 3. In the afternoon (in China) the situation has improved, the car had much more grip and I managed to be more competitive, but I could not tell you exactly reason. The track conditions have changed in a way that suits us better. We hope this will be like that race tomorrow in order to have a good results. I would love to have a race normal, quiet in which I manage to do my job and some points, because i want to remove this zero near my name in the rankings. "

(source of the pic : http://www.ferrari.com )

China Gp : the qualifying session


Thursday, April 12, 2012

Fernando Alonso Thursday press conference


Q: Fernando, what we expecting from you and what are you expecting from yourself and Ferrari this weekend? What's changed since the last race? 
Fernando Alonso: "Nothing changed. I think it's going to be a tough weekend for us again. I don't expect any big surprises as we've been saying, the team and myself, all week, the car has some small improvements, nothing big for this race and I think it's the same, more or less, for all the other teams around us in the paddock. So I expect more or less the positions to maintain, or to keep the same as the first two races, which means a difficult to weekend for us. Struggling to be in Q3, I guess, in qualifying and then in the race to score as many points as possible as we did in the first races - trying to do a good strategy, a good management of the tyres and a little bit of luck. It's always a factor that we always seem to forget is there. I remember in Australia we had a great team effort from everybody there, a good strategy, pit stops etc, but we also had some luck to get the fifth result and in Malaysia we had the same. Starting from the first corner, we avoided any accident. It seems normal but every first corner is always a risk. We had Grosjean and Schumacher crashing in turn four in Malaysia, which we were very close to being in that accident as well. So, it's always… a race or a Grand Prix is not only pace, a good strategy or good driving skills. It's a big package and luck is a big factor. Hopefully the luck is still with us this weekend." 

Q: Will a wet track be part of that luck? 
FA: "I guess so." 

Q: So you're praying for rain? 
FA: "It can be a very good weekend for you or very bad because it's a little bit of gamble in the rain. Anything can happen. You can be with the right tyre in the right moment or completely the wrong tyre in the wrong moment, so this is what happens in wet races. As I said, with a normal race we know our possibilities, we know our limitations at the moment, which is not quick enough. So in a wet race, we can lose a couple of points or we can win a lot more. Maybe this risk of a wet race can be good for us at the moment because in normal conditions we are not as fast as we expected."

Q: Fernando, you've passed Jackie Stewart's number of wins with your victory in Malaysia. Only Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell have won more races than you. That last win of yours was also compared with Gilles Villeneuve in that it was a win against the odds. What does it mean to you to be talked about in the company of those drivers? 
FA: "I'm privileged to be in that group of great drivers that I watched on TV as a kid and now I'm having a good career in Formula One and I've been extremely privileged to drive for fantastic teams in my career. So, the number of victories will hopefully increase even more and I will be up in this table. Records are not something that you pay a big importance to now, as you concentrated on your next Grand Prix or you are so focused on your daily preparation that you don't pay too much attention but I'm sure that in 10 or 15 years time I will appreciate it much more than now. But I'm not paying too much attention now."

Q: Fernando, are you surprised that the Red Bulls haven't been as competitive as they were last year and that they will come back very soon? 
FA: "Not surprised because I know the complex world of Formula One and developing a car in Formula One is not the easiest thing in the world but for us and for the team, we were surprised that when we put the car on the track in winter testing that we didn't have the results we were hoping for and that was the biggest surprise. From that point, you start working on the car, you start working on the improvements and you know that there's not a magic button that you touch, or a magic part of the track that you can change and the car immediately becomes competitive. You start work that has to be done properly, step-by-step and hopefully new parts will come very soon that will make the car quicker but this is something that we need to be calm about, let the people in Italy work and here when we are on trackside and at the Grand Prix try to maximise the potential we have in our hands; it's what we did in the first two races and what we will try to do in the next two."

Q: Fernando, in this race are you waiting for big improvements or is everything going according to plan? Or are you waiting until Barcelona for a big improvement? 
FA: "As I said, no big improvements for this race and I don't think… No big improvements for this race and as I said, we're working, we're working on the car and I think we cannot say that for Barcelona there will be a big improvement because we don't know. We are working day and night to do the work and to improve the car and I think we have some new parts for the car which we need to test tomorrow - maybe they are working fine, maybe they are not working and we need to come back with those parts. In Barcelona there will be more new parts which I'm hoping for. We need to test to see if they are working fine. For Canada there will do more, Monaco, so it's nothing… as I said, Formula One these days doesn't have a magic button where we change something, we arrive in China, we arrive in Barcelona, in Canada and you change one part on the car and you improve by one second. This will be constant work from the team, improving one tenth, two tenths, three tenths every step that we do and we need to do it quicker than the others because all the other teams will bring a couple tenths (advantage) to every race so we need to bring some more."

(source : http://www.formula1.com )

Fernando Alonso blog : "Welcome to China !"



"Here we are in Shanghai for the start of the third race weekend of the year. For sure, arriving here in China as the leader of the Championship is something I would never have expected, at least given the way winter testing went. It means we have done a good job, managing to make use of all the potential at our disposal and making the most of every opportunity. Since I first arrived in Maranello, at the start of 2010, I have seen the team grow a lot in all areas relating to track activity, from strategy to the work in the garage and at the pit stops. I know I can count on a very strong group, which is very important and there is a great sense of purpose shared by all. We know our car is not at the level we had wanted going into this season, but everyone is reacting very well, everyone is very united, which is what you get with a real team that wants to reach its objectives. I'm not expecting any surprises in this race, compared to what we saw in Australia and Malaysia. It's true almost three weeks have gone by, but that does not mean there was enough time to completely turn the car around in such a short time: we will have a few small updates, but nothing particularly significant and on top of that, we can expect that the other teams will also bring some new parts. Therefore, we won't change our approach to this Grand Prix: to get a good result, we will need to concentrate on ourselves, trying to be perfect and to exploit every possibility that might come our way over the weekend. I don't want to come out with statements that our aim is to finish in this or that position, as these discussions are not worth the time spent on them. We will have to do the maximum and bring home as many points as possible: a bit like ants who start something one day, knowing it will produce something worthwhile in the future. I'm expecting tomorrow to be a rather busy day, with various promotional and media activities, both at the track and outside it. China is a very important country for Ferrari and for its technical and commercial partners and the Formula 1 Grand Prix represents a unique opportunity, not to be missed. Finally, if I had to draw a conclusion from what I've seen in the last 24 hours, I would say there is a great enthusiasm from the local people, especially the young ones. As you have been able to see on @ alo_oficial, yesterday afternoon there was a huge crowd of boys and girls waiting for me at the airport and even outside the hotel. It's always nice to experience the enthusiasm of the fans, especially so in a country where Formula 1 is not part of its history. It means the spectacle and excitement that our sport provides is still very attractive."

(source : http://www.ferrari.com )

Monday, April 9, 2012

la gazzetta de Ferrari


* After Fernando Alonso it's the turn of Felipe Massa to open an account on twitter! You will find all his news at this address: 
http://www.twitter.com/Felipe1Massa 
on his side Fernando Alonso, in addition to his twitter account, opened an account on the social network Instagram (available in application on apple and android smartphones) that allows to share pics using a filter that converts them . his nickname on the network is still alo_oficial. 

* Despite his bad beginning of the season , Felipe Massa received the support of his team, of Luca di Montezemolo by Stefano Domenicali. Ferrari said that Felipe will be driver for the Scuderia throughout the season despite many of his critics say that Felipe could be replaced by Sergio Pérez, the revelation of the Gp of Malaysia ! 

* Ferrari prepares its version B of its F2012 planned for the Gp of Barcelona(but surely be tested at the Mugello private tests) while new pieces will appear as soon as the Chinese Gp. This bis version might include the system of exhaust seen on the Sauber and a new front wing. on the other hand Ferrari should abandon its current suspension and return to a more conventional system.  

* Fernando Alonso entered the top 5 of the drivers with the most victories in their assets after his victory in Malaysia! with 28 victories, the Ferrari driver passed Jackie Stewart (27 WINS) but remains behind Nigel Mansell (31), Ayrton Senna (41), Alain Prost (51) and Michael Schumacher (holder of the absolute record 91 successfully).

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

the news of Tuesday !


* Here are the types of tires chosen by Pirelli for the following 3 races:
-Bahrain: medium and soft tires
-Barcelona: hard and soft tires
-Monaco: soft and supersoft tires 

* Pirelli chose the former Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari to be the teammate of Luca di Grassi as a pilot tester in the Italian manufacturer of tires . 

* The FrenchGp is on the right track since it would seem that he would be back in 2013 maybe on the circuit of le Castellet near Toulon. It would be expected to be alternating with an another Gp but it is not known yet, since the Belgian track would get away. 

* Jenson Button took part to the Lavaman Triathlon at Hawaii, where he once again confirmed qualities of an athlete. Best performer of his age group, Button finished the event in just more than two hours. His performance was the sixth overall, all registered combined . The Triathlon consisted of 500 meters of freestyle swim , 40 km of bike and 10km of jogging.

Fernando Alonso's blog : "Nice to see so many smiling faces !"


"It was nice to be back in Maranello after Sunday afternoon's win. In the plane, I was thinking again about the race and I could hardly believe it. Then, once I'd arrived here, I saw the smiles on the faces of all our people and I was very pleased to see how strong is the desire to work to improve the car in the shortest time possible. During the race, I only began to think the win might be on after the final pit stop. With the intermediates I was trying to gain as much ground as possible but I knew that on a drying track, as the possibility of switching to the dry tyres became a reality, then it could all change. Then, after the stop, I saw that Perez was very quick and he was putting me under a lot of pressure, but I knew that all the same, there was only one dry line which was no more than two metres wide: even if he got right into my slipstream, getting past would not be easy and I was hoping I'd be able to fend him off all the way to the end. It's a shame none of my friends bet on me winning in Sepang, or on me leading the championship after the first two races: I think they'd have won an impressive amount! However, my real friends are all very happy and pleased about the win, but no one, including everyone in the team, is under any illusions. The championship has not got off to the sort of start we wanted and there is much much to do. But refusing to give up is a quality that I have always admired about Ferrari, when I was racing against them and also now that I'm part of the team. The next two races will also see us on the defensive and there's no doubt about that. While we are incapable of being competitive and able to fight consistently for the podium or a win, limiting the damage is the only thing we can do. If the conditions are normal, we must try not to lose too many points compared to the best: let's hope we can do the same as we did in Australia and Malaysia… Now, I've got a few days here in Italy to undergo a routine medical check-up at the Physiology Centre at Forli where my trainer Fabrizio Borra reigns supreme. I do these medical and physical checks two or three times a year to see what shape I am in and to control every aspect of my body. Then, I'm heading back home to Spain to see the family, so we can spend a few days together. You need a bit of time to relax after such a demanding race as the one in Sepang and then it will be time to put the finishing touches to preparation for another back to back run, this time in China and Bahrain, which means more long journeys and changes of time zones. Imagine, when I left it was still winter and now, after three weeks away, we are right in the middle of spring: it's a nice change! The past three weeks have been my first on Twitter and I have to say it's been a very enjoyable experience. It's something I'd wanted to do for a while and I myself put the work in to get it up and running. Over the past months I had seen that there was a lot of talk about me on the Internet and on social media sites, so I thought it would be better if I was on it myself, don't you think? It means I can give my own point of view, talk about my life, what I get up to when I'm travelling the world going to the races, trying to put across my real feelings. Nothing technical though, because deep down, Formula 1 is still a sport where discretion when it comes to certain aspects is still important, but it's a way for me to describe what goes on in the world of someone who does the job I do. For now, it's great, especially reading all the tweets from my followers and the suggestions they send me: I don't reply to them, because it would take me all day, but I read all of them and I will try and improve my standard of tweeting. I have to say I was very surprised, first and foremost by the number of followers I had almost immediately. When I put up the first video I had made, I was having a stop off in Doha on the way to Australia and in the airport lounge, I had a bet with my manager and with my physio Edoardo as to how many followers I would have before leaving: I said a thousand, Luis eight hundred and Edoardo six hundred. Well, after four hours, when it was time to take off for Melbourne, the number had reached 39 thousand! Then there's the level of enthusiasm: there are so many messages, all of them positive and I have to say that it gives me a real boost."