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Williams: Maldonado a future champ, not ‘pay driver’(0) Last Sunday proved that Pastor Maldonado is no mere ‘pay driver’. “If he was a fool, he would not be with us, no matter how much money he brings,” Sir Frank Williams is quoted by Brazil’s Globo Esporte. Venezuelan Maldonado, whose links to the state owned oil company PDVSA and president Hugo Chavez controversially deliver many millions to Williams’ Oxfordshire based team, became F1′s fifth different winner of 2012 last weekend in Spain. It has helped him to shake off the ‘pay driver’ insult, Williams insisting he is now a potential world champion instead. “Without a doubt. He is very fast and makes no mistakes,” the newly 70-year-old Briton said. Williams does, however, acknowledge that Maldonado’s money was a key factor in the decision to sign him. “Yes, it was to some extent,” he said. “I don’t deny that. But he’s also a real driver. He fully deserves to be on the team, with or without money. “The truth is that if you don’t have money, you don’t get to be in formula one,” added Williams. Team shareholder Toto Wolff agrees: “If you want to race in GP2, you need a few million pounds. So, the drivers need not only to be fast and talented, but able to attract the sponsors. “So let’s forget this thing about ‘pay drivers’,” he insisted. Triple world champion Nelson Piquet, however, has some lingering doubts. He ran Maldonado in his own GP2 team some years ago, and this week recalled a driver who was often “too aggressive” and made too many mistakes. “We’re not talking about a guy who shone in his youth, like Nico Rosberg,” said the famous Brazilian, “or someone like Lewis Hamilton, who always had everything he needed thanks to Ron Dennis. “In GP2, when you don’t stand out in your second year, you begin to be doubted. In Maldonado’s case, he only shone in his fourth year. “Perhaps because of this he only made it to formula one as a paying driver, without having anything special, apparently. He was perceived as just a good pilot, but clearly no Alonso. “Now he was at the right place at the right time but he still managed to beat Alonso in Spain as well as another world champion, Kimi (Raikkonen). So hats off to him.” |
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Another report links Webber to Ferrari(0) More reports are suggesting Mark Webber could be Ferrari-bound. One of Spain’s leading F1 correspondents, Raymond Blancafort, wrote in El Mundo Deportivo that “there may be a pre-contract” between the Maranello based team and Red Bull’s experienced Australian driver. Webber, 35, was also linked with Ferrari last year, before Red Bull decided to sign him up for another single season alongside Sebastian Vettel. He is now touted as Felipe Massa’s 2013 replacement, not only because of his “experience (and) the consistency of his results” but because “he gets along” with number one driver Fernando Alonso, Blancafort said. Flavio Briatore also manages both Alonso and Webber. Following Blancafort’s claims, Spain’s El Confidencial is now reporting similarly. The publication said Webber has been earmarked as Alonso’s ideal teammate for 2013, perhaps pre-dating Sergio Perez’s move to the team in 2014 when the young Mexican has gathered another season of experience. That may mean yet another single-season deal for Webber, but it might be better than what he is offered by Red Bull, given the energy drink-owned team’s grooming of youngsters Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne at Toro Rosso. El Confidencial said Webber is also Spaniard Alonso’s first choice, with a source saying a deal has been “already reached but not signed”, possibly therefore in the form of a letter of intent. |
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Force India: Chinese Grand Prix PreviewComments Off Sahara Force India looks ahead to the third round of the 2012 season in Shanghai, China. To download the full PDF preview or the media schedule for the weekend, please click on the links below. Vijay’s Vision After two races the 2012 season appears to have all the ingredients needed to serve up a spectacular year of racing. Already the fans have enjoyed two thrilling races and the intensity of the competition across the grid is sure to capture everybody’s attention. I said last year that the competition in the midfield was close, but this year it seems to be even more so with the majority of the grid capable of fighting for points. It’s a good situation for Formula One, but it also means points are harder to come by. It’s encouraging that we have scored points in both races and that will be our aim once again in China. I have to congratulate Paul and Nico on their excellent drives in Malaysia. They are only in their second full seasons of Formula One, but they both showed their maturity in the difficult conditions. At times Paul was one of the fastest cars on the circuit, excelling in the conditions, and it’s clear that we can expect another strong season from him. I was also delighted to see Nico pick up his first points with us after such a strong showing. In terms of car development, the factory at Silverstone continues to work at full capacity to improve our performance. The first two races have given us a great deal of information to work with and we will put it to good use in the coming races. Dr. Vijay Mallya Paul on Shanghai Paul, you must be pretty happy with your start to the season… Do you enjoy visiting China and experiencing the different culture? Tell us about the track… And what about the overtaking opportunities? Nico on Shanghai Nico, after the disappointment of Melbourne, you finally got some racing miles under your belt in Sepang… Did you learn much about the car given that the conditions were so changeable in Sepang? Does the team have a better idea of the pecking order yet? What are your thoughts ahead of this weekend’s race in China? |
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Albers could become third HRT test driverComments Off Jun.9 (GMM) HRT could be set to sign a third test and reserve driver. The new Spanish outfit has already appointed Sakon Yamamoto and Christian Klien to attend grands prix and occasionally drive during Friday morning practice. According to the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, the third test driver could be Christijan Albers. Dutchman Albers, 31, raced for Minardi and Midland in 2005 and 2006, and lost his Spyker drive due to sponsorship issues mid-way through 2007. But he has retained his links to former Midland and Spyker boss Colin Kolles, including driving for his Le Mans and DTM teams. Kolles is now the boss of HRT. “Also last year there was a possibility (of being in F1), but there was no chance of driving, so that was useless,” said Albers. “Colin knows how strong I am, especially technically. With all the teams for which I’ve driven, we have made progress. “I am keeping trying and it might succeed with the help of my loyal sponsors. I have a partner that just might give that final push. “But before I do something I like to be very well prepared,” he added. |
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Haug applauds F1′s peace in new Todt eraComments Off
Apr.20 (GMM) Norbert Haug on Tuesday is quoted as applauding the better environment in formula one this year. After his long reign and the bitter political war of 2009, Max Mosley has been replaced as FIA president by Jean Todt. There had been concerns about the Frenchman’s appointment due to his links with Ferrari and his often belligerent attitude in running the Italian team. And it was believed that former candidate Ari Vatanen was supported by many of the teams because of his vocal opposition to Mosley, while Todt was viewed as the continuation of the Briton’s unpopular regime. But Mercedes’ Haug told the German news agency DPA: “There is a constructive atmosphere now. I hope the cooperation goes on.” For now, the scandals of the past years have quietened, but Haug is not expecting a perpetual peace. “There will be more hard fighting in the future,” he predicted. |
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Review of first tests in ValenciaComments Off The first three official test days for the 2010 Formula One World Championship have concluded, and if we had to choose a short sentence to define them it would be, “Ferrari is a step above the rest.” Even though, they’re just doing tests, the teams need to check-out and take the most advantage possible of the cars so to confirm the actual performance of the single-seaters and carry out the improvements and adjustments that are needed. That’s what it’s all about. It’s worth noting that since the first day, the Brazilian, Felipe Massa at the wheel of the Ferrari F10 evidenced the supremacy of the red racing car in the Valencia racetrack (right in these moment), during the second official tests. We’ll see what happens. Talking about single-seaters, several options have been seen. Some quite innovative, as is the case of the Mercedes GP with its “double airbox”; the Toro Rosso’s union of the sharp fin with the rear wing, etc. Different solutions to the problems that were brought forward to the engineers regarding the cars’ design. Having said that, Ferrari returns to the leading positions forecasted by the experts. The F10 looked solid with great rhythm in the long portions, with an exceptional performance of the red racing car driven by the Spaniard, Fernando Alonso, who made his debut today with Ferrari. Alonso only needed one training session in the Comunidad Valenciana Ricardo Tormo Circuit to show that he was the fastest of all the pilots who have participated in these three days of collective tests. The pilot from Asturias started out with the intention of making clear that he’s not just a Ferrari passer by, stopping the chronometer in 1:11.470, better time than his team-mate Felipe Massa, who marked the rhythm during the first two testing sessions. Alonso won seven times Massa’s best time, and he made most of the more than one hundred racetrack’s laps in 1:12, a devastating rhythm. However, the surprise of these tests has been in charge of the BMW-Sauber, in the hands of his pilots Pedro Martinez de la Rosa and the Japanese, Kamui Kaobayashi. They have shown options to be on top. The clear evolution of the BMW 2009 together with Ferrari engine’s performance has resulted in a machine with ambitions. Both pilots have concluded in second position during the three testing days. They have followed Ferrari’s wake in sessions that have helped Pedro to recover the feeling of a team’s official pilot. As De la Rosa, the German, Michael Schumacher has recovered the control of an F1, the Mercedes GP, showing to be a step behind the Ferrari and the BMW-Sauber, during the first contact of the season. The new and remodeled Toro Rosso has improved from last year, as well as the Spaniard, Jaime Alguersuari who complied with in his debut. He has only driven one day in Cheste, but it has been helpful enough to show him he can finish among the best. He got the best fourth time of the session, better than the time of his team-mate, Sebastien Buemi, and try to learn all that he can to continue progressing in the Formula 1. The most noticeable note in a negative sense was given by the current world champion, Jenson Button who with his McLaren had to be pleased with the fifth best time, far from the Ferrari. Together with Button, the Renault R30 still does not convince us. In spite of the innovations and changes, the single-seater has not been able to find the solution. Let’s hope Kubica can contribute with his experience to improve the car. |
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MLM Traffic Formula Tips Learned From Mike DillardComments Off Outrageous value in this internet marketing course, MLM Traffic Formula, by Mike Dillard but it’s not cheap. This is “Mad Tom” Bell. I don’t think he would mind if I use his picture here because he contributed big time to the value of this course. Online, he had 1,117 people join his MLM in 8 days so he knows internet marketing. |
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Popular Formula D Tire ManufacturersComments Off Sport fans tend to follow the sponsors of their favourite team or player. The same can be said with auto racing; the only difference is that these players are referred to as drivers. In fact, with auto racing, this is most commonly seen with NASCAR. It has been said that NASCAR has the largest group of loyal fans. Fans not only support the sponsors of their favourite drivers, but they also tend to purchase merchandise or services from them. The same can be said with Formula Drifting. |
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Navigating Through Formulas In Large And Complex Microsoft Excel SpreadsheetsComments Off When Microsoft Excel is used to construct large and complex spreadsheets containing multiple worksheets, it can become extremely difficult for someone to navigate, let alone track or trace numbers through the spreadsheet with all of the values and formulas contained within it. This is because in a large spreadsheet like a financial model, there can often be hundreds if not thousands of different formula down and across each page including calculations which may contain several links to other sheets within the workbook. The difficulty experienced with navigating through the formulas of large and complex spreadsheets exists even when you were the one who designed and built the spreadsheet. Microsoft Excel does come with some basic functionality to help users navigate through a spreadsheets formulas. Some common methods are: – Utilising the ‘Go To’ window [ctrl + G] and typing in cell addresses – Entering edit mode [F2], thus outlining same sheet precedents in different colors – Using formula auditing to draw arrows to precedent or dependent cells and double clicking to move back and forth between same sheet references and the ‘Go To’ window to move back and forth between off-sheet references. This functionality and all of the inefficiency of double mouse clicks falls well short of the mark for many users who have large complex spreadsheets, such as a financial model with formulas that link to a number of cells or cells much further down/across the sheet or to cells on a variety of other worksheets, or even workbooks. The bottom line is that when it comes to formula navigation the existing functionality of Microsoft Excel is difficult to use, inefficient and lacking in functionality. The main problem is that when trying to check or understand a formula you must first take a look at the precedents cells or ranges, but then be able to quickly jump to the other precedent cells and finally back to the original formula you were originally looking at. Navigating to these precedents and then back again using Microsoft Excel’s existing functionality is time consuming to say the least as many have felt the frustration of editing, checking, de-bugging, enhancing or auditing a formula that you, or worse, someone else has created in their spreadsheet when multiple precedents and sheets are involved. This common complaint with Microsoft Excel is heard time and time again by engineers, accountants, management consultants, bankers and finance professionals who work with Excel spreadsheets on a daily basis. Many spreadsheet users including financial modellers (who seem to be leading the charge) are turning towards Excel Add-ins and software tools that plug into Microsoft Excel to help them navigate through formulas and complex spreadsheets more easily. Probably the most popular and widely used Excel add-in for this purpose is ‘Formula Navigator’. An add-in created by the company ‘Spreadsheet Guys’. They have developed a unique add-in utilising a re-sizeable floating window and hyperlink system to help Excel users understand a formula and efficiently jump to all of its precedent and dependent cells and ranges no matter whether they are on a different worksheet or a different open workbook. An additional history window added as part of the products 2nd release also allows the user to click back to any cell previously looked at (traced) using the tool, during the current open session. Whether the spreadsheet was designed by you or someone else, ‘Formula Navigator’ definitely fills a need and has already cured the frustration of many Excel spreadsheet users, helping them to more quickly understand the logic in a formula and links between sheets, thus helping to reduce spreadsheet errors, facilitate debugging and assist with spreadsheet auditing. |
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Website Profit Formula Review – What’s In It For You?Comments Off A new online training course called ‘Website Profit Formula’ is available very soon. The creator of this product is Steve Tenpenny. This guy is not a guru, he’s just an ordinary guy who has found a way to make 6 figures online. This new product is his genuine attempt to teach others to be successful online as well.But, does the product live up to its promise? They are so many money-making courses and scams online. Why do you need this one?I have spent the last few hours reading the training materials and watching the video tutorials inside the Website Profit Formula’s member area. I will let you know what is the course about and how it can benefit you. And I hope you can make an informed decision after reading this review.As mentioned, Website Profit Formula is an online training course. The main reason why it’s online is because Steve (the owner) is updating the content on a regular basis. As new techniques or new ways of earning money online become available, he will add them in the course. This will set it apart from other money-making products. As a member you’ll always receive first hand information!The training materials are currently organized into 6 main sections:1. PLANNING. This is the best place to start. Make sure you download the getting started guide and read it (it’s a PDF file). After you read the guide, get back to the planning section online and read ‘From The Ground Up’ ~ it shows you exactly what you need to do to start your very own website. It doesn’t matter how little experience you have, you need to read it.NOTE: Since Website Profit Formula is an online course, there are many hyperlinks to other topics. Your desktop may get cluttered up with many windows after a while. So, please stay focused and don’t get confused.2. LOOPHOLES. This section has two topics: ‘Instant Page Rank’ and ‘Quick Index Tool’. If you’re new, I suggest you to skip the first one as it’s a bit advanced. Start with the ‘Quick Index Tool’ that shows you how to get your new website indexed within 24 hours. You can come back to ‘Instant Page Rank’ and watch the video after you have gained some experience in building and managing a website.3. PROFIT. This is my favorite section as it shows you many different ways to monetize (earn profit from) your website or blog. I’m not going to elaborate more on this because I have written a detailed review at my blog (you can find the link in my author resource box). Newbies may need to read this section a couple of times.4. TRAFFIC. This is a very important section as traffic is the lifeblood of any website. You will learn how to generate traffic step-by-step. If you’re an experienced online marketers, some of methods taught here are NOT new. If you’re a newbie, take action and use the techniques to promote your site, do not afraid of making mistakes, it’s part of learning.5. LINK BUILDING. Another very important section. If you want your website to land on the top spot of Google’s result page, building links to your site is a must! However, DO NOT abuse the system by building links too quickly and get punished and de-indexed by Google. Just follow the instructions outlined in the course and build links naturally.6. RESOURCES. This is like a reference page where it provides a listing of useful information, webmater tools and other services that can help your site to earn more profit.Additionally, there is a bonus page where you can download some related products for free.Website Profit Formula is not perfect!All in all, Website Profit Formula provides good value for money. But, I have two complaints.First, the content and image of some video tutorials are too small. I have difficulty trying to read the text in the videos. Hope Steve can provide a PDF manual with some screenshots for easy reference. I hate having to go back to the videos and watch them from the beginning again.Another complaint I have is that each section has too many hyperlinks. If you’re not careful, you can easily get confused and lost. There is no work around on this issue as this is a online training course. You just need to be more focused and organized, and close the windows that you no longer need.Conclusion:Website Profit Formula is a well-structured course especially for the newbies. It lays out the right formula for those who have just got started in their online adventure. If you’re new to the Internet Marketing world, perhaps this course is worth considering as it guides you to the correct path from the very beginning. Also, the owner is updating the course on a regular basis so that you can be sure that you’re always on top of things. |
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The Popularity of Formula D RacingComments Off When it comes to racing or sports that are centered on cars, there are a number of different sports that automatically come to mind. One of those sports is NASCAR. Although NASCAR could easily be considered one of the most popular sports, in the United States, there is another sport that is rapidly increasing in popularity. That sport is known as Formula D Racing or Formula Drifting. |
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