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F1: New Toro Rosso ‘Very Different’ – Ricciardo

2013 Toro Rosso 'very different' – Ricciardo Van der Garde's Caterham hopes 'shrink' – report Magazine leaves Alonso off top-ten driver ranking Force India in talks for Ferrari power – report 2013 Toro Ro


  • 2013 Toro Rosso 'very different' - Ricciardo
  • Van der Garde's Caterham hopes 'shrink' - report
  • Magazine leaves Alonso off top-ten driver ranking
  • Force India in talks for Ferrari power - report

2013 Toro Rosso 'very different' - Ricciardo

This year Toro Rosso car is "very different" to the 2012 model, Australian F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo has revealed.

Ricciardo and his teammate Jean-Eric Vergne finished last season eighteenth and seventeenth consecutively, with the Faenza-based squad ahead only of the sport's three newest teams in the constructors' standings.

23-year-old Ricciardo has acknowledged the pressure to improve in 2013.

"I'm aware of that, and I know that my targets in 2013 will have to be more ambitious," he told Italy's Autosprint magazine.

"My Achilles heel is that in 2012, in the first part of the season, I wasn't aggressive enough in the races. In some aspects I was the opposite of Grosjean."

Another crucial element, Ricciardo admitted, is a better Toro Rosso single seater.

"I have already seen the new car. When you examine it more closely, it is very different to the old one.

"I believe that it is better. In any case, it's not one of those cars that looks a total copy of the last one, as though nothing has changed," he added.

(GMM)

Van der Garde's Caterham hopes 'shrink' - report

Giedo van der Garde's hopes of finally breaking into F1 in 2013 have "shrunk", according to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

The now 27-year-old flirted with a move to F1 several years ago with brief test roles at Super Aguri and Spyker, and while racing for Caterham's GP2 team in 2012 he finished the F1 season as reserve driver for the green-coloured outfit.

With sponsor backing, the Dutchman was a leading candidate to be Charles Pic's 2012 teammate.

Van der Garde's new year has kicked off on a happy note with his engagement to his girlfriend, but De Telegraaf is reporting that Caterham incumbent Vitaly Petrov is now the hot favourite to complete the team's 2013 race line-up.

Van der Garde's manager Jan Paul ten Hoopen, however, said nothing has been decided.

(GMM)

Magazine leaves Alonso off top-ten driver ranking

A list of the best Formula One drivers of all time has overlooked Ayrton Senna for a top-three spot, and left out Fernando Alonso completely.

Italy's Autosprint said Juan Manuel Fangio, the five-time world champion of the 50s, deserves the number one spot.

He is listed ahead of runner-up Michael Schumacher, with triple world champion Sir Jackie Stewart also finishing ahead of the late and revered Senna.

Jim Clark, Alain Prost, Sir Stirling Moss, Alberto Ascari and Niki Lauda are ranked fifth to ninth respectively, with reigning triple world champion Sebastian Vettel completing the top ten.

Spaniard Alonso, Ferrari's double world champion who was recently voted the top driver of 2012 by team principals, was not mentioned.

"We have analysed not only the results on the track, but also the importance and impact a single driver had on his era," the Autosprint report read.

(GMM)

Force India in talks for Ferrari power - report

Force India is in negotiations to revert to Ferrari engine power, according to Italy's La Stampa newspaper.

The talks between the Silverstone based team and Ferrari are "under way", correspondent Cristiano Chiavegato claims.

Force India is currently powered by Mercedes' V8 engine, but Vijay Mallya's team began its F1 career with customer power supplied by fabled Ferrari.

Central to the new talks, according to La Stampa, is the Ferrari-linked French driver Jules Bianchi, who was Force India's reserve in 2012 and is now reportedly first in line for the race seat alongside Paul di Resta this year.

(GMM)

 

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