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Formula One
Im a big fan Formula one so i thought i would start this thread. :)
Webber set to match best season From correspondents in Magny-Cours June 23, 2008 ANOTHER points haul has put Australian Mark Webber on track to match his best performance in his seven years in Formula One. The Red Bull driver collected three points for his sixth place in the French Grand Prix, won by Ferrari's Felipe Massa from teammate Kimi Raikkonen. Toyota's Jarno Trulli was third, but Webber has predicted Red Bull will be fighting with the Japanese factory outfit for the best of the rest behind Ferrari, McLaren and BMW. "Toyota had a strong race today, but we'll have more in the future," Webber said. He now has 18 points in the world championship in a consistent season which has produced his best result to date since his first year with Williams in 2005 which included 36 points and his first podium, at Monaco. Webber was plagued by mechanical problems in his first year with Red Bull and last season suffered seven retirements and managed only three points-scoring grands prix. This year he has failed to score points in just two races - the season-opener in Australia and in Canada where he finished 12th. Webber fought back from a dodgy start to win the battle of the Renault-powered cars. His sixth place meant he finished ahead of the two factory Renaults, with Nelsinho Piquet and former dual world champion Fernando Alonso behind him, followed by his own Red Bull teammate David Coulthard. "My start wasn't great, but my first stint wasn't too bad in terms of pace," Webber said. "I was trying to keep up with Fernando as I knew he was (on less fuel) and I put in some laps that were right on the edge before the first stop. "It's good for the team to get some more points today. "It was a tough week in the build-up to this race, in terms of effort from the factory and the boys at the track, and three points is not to be sniffed at." Massa and Ferrari took charge of this year's championship with their third double of the season. The 27-year-old Brazilian's third win this year and eighth of his career lifted him back on top of the drivers' title race and increased Ferrari's lead in the constructors' championship after eight of this year's 18 Grands Prix. Massa, the fourth different leader of the championship in four races, is now on top with 48 points in the drivers' table, ahead of Poland's Robert Kubica on 46. Raikkonen, who finished second, is third with 43 ahead of Briton Lewis Hamilton on 38. F1GP - French Grand PrixPos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:31:50.245 2 1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +17.9 secs 3 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota +28.2 secs 4 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren +28.9 secs 5 4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +30.5 secs 6 10 Mark Webber Red Bull +40.3 secs 7 6 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault +41.0 secs 8 5 Fernando Alonso Renault +43.3 secs 9 9 David Coulthard Red Bull +51.0 secs 10 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren +54.5 secs 11 12 Timo Glock Toyota +57.7 secs 12 15 Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso +58.0 secs 13 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +62.0 secs 14 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda +1 Lap 15 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams +1 Lap 16 7 Nico Rosberg Williams +1 Lap 17 14 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso +1 Lap 18 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India +1 Lap 19 20 Adrian Sutil Force India +1 Lap 20 16 Jenson Button Honda Retired |
Melbourne secures GP to 2015
July 04, 2008
AUSTRALIA has secured the rights to host the F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne until 2015, with a new evening start to reach a greater television audience overseas, officials said Friday. The race at Melbourne's Albert Park will start 90 minutes later at 5:00 pm (0600 GMT) from next year after a new contract was signed with Formula One bosses overnight, Victorian Premier John Brumby said. “Next year's later start time will mean even greater television audiences in the United Kingdom, Asia and European markets, which means more exposure for 'brand Melbourne' than ever before,” Brumby said. The new timing is an apparent compromise following pressure from F1 chiefs for Australia to hold the race at night to suit European TV audiences. The event had been in danger of being handed to Russia, India or Korea. The Victorian state government had said it would do “whatever is fair and reasonable” to keep the event after its current contract expires in 2010, but had repeatedly refused to introduce a night race. The government said installing the necessary lighting would cost too much. The new deal includes an agreement that no artificial lighting will be used for the race for the term of the contract. Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone said he was delighted with the new arrangement. “I have wanted changes to the local race time so that we can increase the television audience in Europe and Asia,” he said in a statement. “I'm satisfied that the decision to move to a later start time for 2009 races is a win for television audiences in Europe and Asia, a win for Melbourne and a win for Formula One as a whole.” Despite the benefits of tourism and publicity for Melbourne, the Formula One race has been a costly financial exercise for Victoria. The Melbourne race cost the state almost 35 million Australian dollars (33 million US) of taxpayer money in 2007 and has been budgeted for more than 40 million dollars this year. But Brumby said the Grand Prix, which this year attracted more than 300,000 people over the four-day event won by Lewis Hamilton, was value for money. “The Grand Prix has been an outstanding event for Victoria over a long period of time and has helped put Melbourne on a global stage,” he said. “Retaining the event is important to Victoria's ongoing growth and prosperity.” Peter Goad, who heads the Save Albert Park group which wants the race relocated from the suburban park to a permanent track, said the contract extension was “irrational.” “It's wrong politically... economically and environmentally,” Goad told national news agency Australian Associated Press. “It's a waste of money and the worst thing about it all is that it flies in the face of current thinking about climate change.” Melbourne has hosted the Australian Grand Prix since 1996. |
Hamilton streets Silverstone field
July 07, 2008
From Silverstone, England LEWIS Hamilton delivered a masterful drive in wet conditions in front of a vociferous home crowd to win the British Grand Prix and reignite his world title challenge. Persistent rain saw nearly all the drivers spin at some stage of the race, and though BMW's Nick Heidfeld produced a good drive to finish second and Rubens Barrichello was third, no one could come close to Hamilton who won his home race by a staggering 68.5 seconds. An emotional Hamilton heralded his third win of the season and the seventh of his Formula One career as "by far'' his best ever. "It was one of the toughest races I have ever done. I was thinking as I was driving, 'If I win this it will definitely go down as the best race I have ever done','' said Hamilton, who became the first Englishman to win at Silverstone since Johnny Herbert in 1995. The British McLaren driver produced an excellent start and a superbly aggressive opening stint to take the lead early on, before going on to close the race out maturely. "Coming into the last lap I could see the crowds standing up and I was just praying I would finish. You could not imagine the emotions that were going on inside me,'' he added. The victory brings 23-year-old Hamilton his first points since winning at Monaco back in May and moves him up into a three-way tie at the top of the world championship. Hamilton now shares top spot with the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen, who finished fourth at Silverstone, and Felipe Massa, who took no points from a nightmare race. Heikki Kovalainen was fifth in the other McLaren, Fernando Alonso took sixth and Jarno Trulli and Kazuki Nakajima were the others to pick up points. After solid rain throughout the morning, conditions brightened up somewhat for the race but a wet track and gusting winds still made for troublesome start conditions. Hamilton made the best start of all, shooting around the outside to squeeze into second from fourth on the grid and briefly touching wheels with pole-sitter Kovalainen. Mark Webber, his Red Bull starting from second, suffered an early spin and ended up right at the back of the field. Kovalainen led his teammate and Raikkonen after the first lap but Hamilton immediately began to apply serious pressure on the leader, forcing him to defend desperately over the next four laps. Such a sustained attack proved impossible to repel and Hamilton slipped past Kovalainen to take the lead on lap five. As the home crowd cheered their hero, another Brit, David Coulthard, collided with Sebastien Vettel's Toro Rosso and both drivers ended up in the gravel and out of the race. It was an unfortunate way for Coulthard to finish his final British Grand Prix - the Red Bull veteran having announced his retirement earlier this week. Kovalainen slid into a spin on his tenth lap and allowed Raikkonen through into second where he would steadily cut the gap to Hamilton until the first round of pit stops. On lap 21 of the 60 lap race Hamilton and Raikkonen entered the pits together with the Briton emerging, by a whisker, with his lead intact. Raikkonen's pit crew controversially decided not to change tyres, a decision that saw the world champion lose significant time to the leader and also to those behind. As Raikkonen's tyres continued to deteriorate he fell further and further off the pace and after finally cutting his losses and taking new tyres he had fallen to 11th place. The rain began to fall solidly just after the halfway point of the race and Hamilton, Raikkonen and Renault's Nelson Piquet each aquaplaned off the track - the first two temporarily and Piquet for good. As havoc reigned, BMW's Robert Kubica span off and out of the race and was soon joined by Jenson Button. Honda's Barrichello was now fitted with the extreme wet tyres and lapping way faster than anyone else, he worked his way up into third place behind Hamilton and Heidfeld who had steadily manoeuvred into second. The leader stopped for a second time on lap 37 but, with the rain beginning to clear, prudently not opted for extreme wet tyres. With 10 laps to go, Hamilton had opened up a lead of over a minute and he went on to lap everyone behind third-placed Barrichello in a supreme display of dominance. Raikkonen staged a late charge to take fourth while Heidfeld and Barrichello cruised to welcome podium finishes. "I love the wet weather conditions,'' said Barrichello. "It was a perfect race, everything went for me. It was just magic. I have this great feeling it is like I am young, I smile at the problems we encounter and just work harder. "I just love the sport and love the speed, I cannot live without it.'' F1GP - British Grand PrixPos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:39:09.440 2 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +68.5 secs 3 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda +82.2 secs 4 1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari + 1 Lap 5 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren +1 Lap 6 5 Fernando Alonso Renault +1 Lap 7 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota +1 Lap 8 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams +1 Lap 9 7 Nico Rosberg Williams +1 Lap 10 10 Mark Webber Red Bull +1 Lap 11 14 Sebastian Bourdais Toro Rosso +1 Lap 12 12 Timo Glock Toyota +1 Lap 13 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari +2 Laps 14 4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber Retired 15 20 Adrian Sutil Force India Retired 16 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India Retired 17 9 David Coulthard Red Bull Retired 18 16 Jenson Button Honda Retired 19 6 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault Retired 20 15 Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso Retired Grid but no points for Webber From correspondents in Silverstone, England July 07, 2008 AUSTRALIA'S Mark Webber suffered a disappointing, wet and ultimately pointless British Grand Prix after starting from an impressive second on the grid. The New South Wales-born Red Bull driver had achieved the team's best qualifying result on Saturday but an opening lap spin dropped him to the back of the field. He eventually finished 10th, way behind Britain's Lewis Hamilton who won his home race by over a minute. "Unfortunately I dropped it on the entrance to Becketts corner on the first lap," Webber said. "I was quite close to Kimi Raikkonen into the corner and just got on the white line. I lost the car on the exit and had to let the field go past, so it was clear to spin back round. "After that it was about making the right call for the right conditions. It was a difficult day to go car racing and it just didn't go our way today. "The guys did a good job all week and it's a shame we couldn't convert our good qualifying performance.'' Webber's Scottish teammate David Coulthard had an even worse day, the veteran causing a race-ending accident during the first lap of what would be his last British Grand Prix. He said: "The visibility was incredibly bad as you can imagine. I'm extremely disappointed for this to happen at my last British Grand Prix.'' To make matters worse for Coulthard, who will retire at the end of the season, the other victim in the crash was German Sebastien Vettel of Red Bull's sister team Toro Rosso. Coulthard said: "There was a clear gap down the inside, but unfortunately it was closing as I made the move. "I'm sorry for Sebastian that we made contact and went into the gravel. I'm sorry for Red Bull too, as it was two cars out in one hit.'' |
Webber to get new team partner
July 18, 2008
HIGHLY-rated German prodigy Sebastian Vettel will replace veteran Scot David Coulthard at Red Bull Racing next season, the Formula One team said. On the eve of his home German Grand Prix, Vettel beamed with pleasure as the news was confirmed and then declared himself entirely at ease with suggestions that he is 'the new Michael Schumacher'. Coulthard announced at Silverstone two weeks ago that, aged 37, he had decided he would retire from racing in F1 at the end of the season. Vettel will take his place alongside Australian Mark Webber. "You can imagine I'm very pleased and I'm very looking forward to next year," said Vettel, who is currently with Red Bull's stable-mate team Toro Rosso. "It's a step up - it has always been my target and obviously it's a pleasure. "I've been working with Red Bull for a very long time - since 2000 when I was go-karting - I could never imagine to race in F1. At that time they didn't have an F1 team. "Now, they have two and it is a dream to race for them. And obviously to drive for Red Bull Racing next year is another dream come true. "Obviously, I've been part of the Red Bull family. I think that I've shown potential if you look at the development of the results in the last couple of years. My target is clear, I want to progress, to move forward, and I think I have the opportunity here so there was no doubt." Vettel has scored points finishes at both the Monaco and Canadian grands prix this year. On comparisons with Schumacher, he said: "You can't say that what people say is in your mind. For me, I don't care. I have my own target. Every single lap in every single race I want to do the best I can. "If someone says you're good, maybe you're happy, but it doesn't help you for the next lap. If they say you're bad, if they have the right criteria and there's a bit of truth, maybe you can learn. "But in the end it's important not to care too much what people say or you will lose your way." |
Hamilton wins German Grand Prix
From correspondents in Hockenheim, Germany
July 20, 2008 BRITISH driver Lewis Hamilton opened a clear lead in this year's drivers' championship by winning the German Grand Prix in thrilling style. The 23-year-old Englishman, in his McLaren Mercedes-Benz, dominated the early stages and then, after being upset by two safety car interventions and some cautious team strategy, proved he could overtake anyone with a dazzling display of passing moves in the final laps. To make up for time lost in the pits when he made an out-of-synch late stop, he showed his true speed by overtaking both Felipe Massa in a Ferrari and then Nelson Piquet in a Renault to regain the lead. “I would have much preferred to have come in earlier (for my second pit stop) but the way it worked out I knew I had a lot of work to do. They let me stay out and I just had to push hard, as hard as I could,” said the Briton. “I really pushed, right over the limit, but it was not enough and then I had to fight my way back. So a big thank-you to my McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, who saw I was faster and did not make life more difficult. “I had two great fights with the other guys, it was very fair and it was exciting.” Hamilton took the chequered flag 5.5 seconds ahead of Piquet who claimed the first podium of his career while Massa was third. Piquet, whose father won three world titles, admitted that even when he briefly led the race in the closing stages it would have been a huge job to stay in front. “When I was leading, I knew Lewis would come by quickly and I knew Felipe wasn't that much quicker than me. If I'd taken too many risks (trying to hold Hamilton off), Felipe might have overtaken me,” said the rookie. “So I decided I had to save second place rather than end up in third or fourth and not be so happy.” Meanwhile, Massa bemoaned the pace of the Ferrari. “I just did not have the pace. I looked at the speed of my car and I was on the hard tyres because the soft was so difficult to drive, and I just couldn't have the pace,” said the Brazilian. Hamilton now leads the standings with 58 points from Massa, on 54, whose Ferrari team-mate, defending drivers world champion Finn Kimi Raikkonen, is seven points adrift after finishing a disappointing sixth. “It's not exactly what we were hoping for,” said Raikkonen. “It was pretty difficult all the way through. Then in the end the car was a bit better but it was very difficult for the whole weekend. We need to look and find an improvement. “I don't know whether it the set-up or what, but we had difficult handling all weekend and it was harder in the race in the beginning.” Hamilton had dominated the first half of the race after powering away from the ninth pole position of his career. The Geneva-based driver had built-up a lead of around 12 seconds by lap 36 when German Timo Glock crashed out in his Toyota. Glock lost control of his car at the last corner when the right rear tyre suddenly deflated sending him spearing into the wall. The German, 26, slid backwards down the home straight before his wrecked car finally came to a stop. Glock was clearly dazed after he got out of the Toyota and was later taken to the medical centre and then a local hospital for a check-up, although his condition was described as 'fine'. Hamilton was kept out on the track as all his main rivals made their final pit-stops under the safety car. The Mercedes-powered driver dropped to fifth when he was forced to make his final pit-stop, but soon passed Kovalainen for third spot. Hamilton then hunted down Massa overtaking his rival on lap 57 as he forced him wide at the chicane to take second with Nick Heidfeld having pitted for BMW. Massa attempted to fight back a couple of corners later, but was again forced into the dirt. Hamilton made the same move on Piquet at the hairpin turn three laps later to regain a deserved lead before cruising to victory in the closing seven laps. German Nick Heidfeld finished fourth for BMW Sauber ahead of Kovalainen, Raikkonen, Pole Robert Kubica in the second BMW and German Sebastian Vettlel for Toro Rosso. F1GP - German Grand Prix Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:31:20.874 2 6 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault +5.5 secs 3 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari +9.3 secs 4 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +9.8 secs 5 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren +12.4 secs 6 1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +14.4 secs 7 4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +22.6 secs 8 15 Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso +33.2 secs 9 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota +37.1 secs 10 7 Nico Rosberg Williams +37.6 secs 11 5 Fernando Alonso Renault +38.6 secs 12 14 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso +39.1 secs 13 9 David Coulthard Red Bull +54.9 secs 14 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams +60 secs 15 20 Adrian Sutil Force India +69.4 secs 16 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India +84 secs 17 16 Jenson Button Honda +1 Lap 18 10 Mark Webber Red Bull Retired 19 12 Timo Glock Toyota Retired 20 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda Retired F1 Drivers Ladder Driver Team Pts 1 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 58 2 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 54 3 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 51 4 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 48 5 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 41 6 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 28 7 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 20 8 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 18 9 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 13 10 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Honda 11 11 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 10 12 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 8 13 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 8 14 David Coulthard (GBR) Red Bull 6 15 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Toro Rosso 6 16 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 5 17 Jenson Button (GBR) Honda 3 18 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 2 19 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 0 19 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 0 19 Anthony Davidson (GBR) Super Aguri 0 20 Takuma Sato (JAP) Super Aguri 0 F1 Team Ladder Team Pts 1 Ferrari 105 2 BMW Sauber 89 3 McLaren 86 4 Toyota 25 5 Red Bull 24 6 Renault 23 7 Williams 16 8 Honda 14 9 Toro Rosso 8 10 Force India 0 11 Super Aguri 0 |
Massa revives title bid with win
August 25, 2008
FELIPE Massa won European Grand Prix for Ferrari on the new street circuit around the harbour in Valencia and revived his challenge for this year's drivers' championship. The 27-year-old Brazilian came home ahead of championship-leading Briton Lewis Hamilton in a McLaren-Mercedes with Poland's Robert Kubica third for BMW Sauber. Massa's win lifted him up to second in the drivers' championship with 64 points, six fewer than Hamilton on 70, with six of this year's 18 races remaining. Australia's Mark Webber was 12th. Massa's fourth win this season helped him wipe away the disappointment of his enforced retirement, while leading, with three laps remaining in the Hungarian Grand Prix three weeks ago. The win was the ninth of his career and was achieved in exemplary fashion as he drove from pole position to the chequered flag without a worry apart from a problem at his second pit-stop. "I am so glad, so happy, after such a bad result in Hungary and the way it ended there,'' said Massa. "Everyone did a fantastic job for me and it is a great result for the team. To take pole, to win the race and to clock the fastest lap, you cannot ask for more than that after such a bad experience in Budapest.'' But Massa was dragged into a retrospective controversy when he was asked about his second pit-stop which saw him rejoin the fray following an 'unsafe release' from the pits. "I don't know anything about it,'' he said. "As far as I am concerned I did nothing wrong. It is more about Adrian Sutil than me.'' In the incident, Sutil was released before Massa who came out alongside him in the pit lane and had to ease off when they approached a wall. Race stewards held an inquiry into the incident which could have seen Massa have his victory taken away from him but in the end the Ferrari man escaped with a caution and a €10,000 (A$17,000). In a second incident, a Ferrari mechanic was injured during Finn Kimi Raikkonen's bungled second pit stop. This also was announced as being under investigation. Hamilton said he was glad to collect his eight points and remain on top in the title race. "We have great reliability and a great package and no worries about any of that,'' he said, adding that he felt pain from his neck throughout the race. "I woke up early on Saturday morning and had a spasm in my neck,'' Hamilton explained. "At one point, I did not think I would recover and be able to race, but I had injections and I made it. "I felt it during the race and it was tough for me, but I don't think I lost any time. The team had Pedro (De la Rosa, the reserve driver) waiting to race and of course he wanted to because he is Spanish. "I felt bad from the start of the weekend, with low energy, fevers every day and the spasms in my neck. Luckily I have a great doctor and trainer and we got through it.'' Kubica said he had suffered problems as well when a white plastic bag flew across the track and under his car, causing him to lose his steering controls briefly. "It came back after a little while, but I lost confidence and it affected me,'' he said. "We got this third because of our great qualifying performance on Saturday.'' In another incident, Massa's Ferrari teammate defending champion Finn Kimi Raikkonen was involved in a disastrous pit stop that left a mechanic injured two laps before his engine blew and forced him to retire. Hamilton's McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen of Finland came home fourth ahead of Italian veteran Jarno Trulli in a Toyota and 21-year-old German Sebastian Vettel who was sixth for Toro Rosso. Timo Glock of Germany was seventh for Toyota and another German Nico Rosberg eighth for Williams. F1GP - European Grand PrixPos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:35:32.339 2 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren +5.6 secs 3 4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +37.3 secs 4 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren +39.7 secs 5 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota +50.6 secs 6 15 Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso +52.6 secs 7 12 Timo Glock Toyota +67.9 secs 8 7 Nico Rosberg Williams +71.4 secs 9 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +82.1 secs 10 14 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso +89.7 secs 11 6 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault +92.7 secs 12 10 Mark Webber Red Bull +1 Lap 13 16 Jenson Button Honda +1 Lap 14 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India +1 Lap 15 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams +1 Lap 16 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda +1 Lap 17 9 David Coulthard Red Bull +1 Lap 18 20 Adrian Sutil Force India Retired 19 5 Fernando Alonso Renault Retired 20 1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Retired F1GP Ladders F1 Drivers Ladder F1 Team Ladder Updated AUG 2008 Driver Team Pts 1 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 70 2 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 64 3 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 57 4 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 55 5 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 43 6 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 41 7 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 26 8 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 18 9 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 18 10 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 15 11 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 13 12 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Honda 11 13 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 9 14 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Toro Rosso 9 15 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 8 16 David Coulthard (GBR) Red Bull 6 17 Jenson Button (GBR) Honda 3 18 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 2 19 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 0 19 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 0 19 Anthony Davidson (GBR) Super Aguri 0 19 Takuma Sato (JAP) Super Aguri 0 Updated AUG 2008 Team Pts 1 Ferrari 121 2 McLaren 113 3 BMW Sauber 96 4 Toyota 41 5 Renault 31 6 Red Bull 24 7 Williams 17 8 Honda 14 9 Toro Rosso 11 10 Force India 0 10 Super Aguri 0 |
Hamilton stripped of victory
September 08, 2008
FORMULA One was plunged into new controversy when race stewards at the Belgian Grand Prix stunningly stripped Lewis Hamilton of a brilliant victory. The stewards' decision, which will be seen by many as part of a conspiracy to rig the results to ensure a close fight in the title race, came long after the race when they hit the Briton and his McLaren team with a 25-second penalty. Their decision came in relation to a move in the final stages of the race when after attempting to pass Ferrari world champion Kimi Raikkonen, who was leading, he was forced off the circuit and cut out the 'Bus Stop' chicane. Hamilton recognised immediately that he had done this - and gained an advantage by going ahead of the Finn - so he slowed to allow his rival to re-pass him and lead as they completed the lap in teeming rain. When they began racing again, 23-year-old Hamilton passed Raikkonen and went on to win after the Finn slipped on the rain-drenched surface and crashed out. Hamilton was relegated to third and the race victory was handed to Ferrari's Brazilian driver Felipe Massa who had struggled to keep pace with the Briton and Raikkonen. McLaren said they would appeal the decision. "We have studied the details and put them before the FIA stewards," said a team statement. "They show that after cutting the chicane Lewis lifted off, he was 6km/h slower than Kimi. After conceding the lead to Kimi, Lewis repositioned his car on the right and beat Kimi on the brakes going into the hairpin." Hamilton insisted that he did not deserve to be stripped of his victory. "I left him (Raikkonen) enough room, yet he picked up more pace going into the corner, and drove me as wide as he possibly could," said Hamilton before the sanction was announced. "This is motor racing and if there's a penalty, then there's something wrong because I was ahead going into that corner, so I didn't gain an advantage from it. "We were still able to race at the next corner and I gave him his spot back, and I think it was fair and square, so I think it would be absolutely wrong. But you know what they (the stewards) are like, so we will see." Critics and paddock observers were swift in their condemnation of a decision that reeked of potential favouritism for Ferrari and seemed entirely unjustified following the most exciting race of the year. Last year, the sport's ruling body, the International Motoring Federation (FIA) was accused of a 'witch-hunt' against McLaren and this spectre was raised again by their stewards action at the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit. In the immediate post-race euphoria, there were no calls for an investigation by any driver or team, but the stewards announced they would be making an official investigation. The decision to hit Hamilton with a 'drive-through' penalty worth 25 seconds wrecked the value of the race as a spectacle and at the same time devalued Massa's win to nothing more than a hollow sporting victory gifted to him. It will be seen by most observers as another move by the FIA artificially to keep alive the championship and make it closer by hitting McLaren with a sanction. At the previous race in Valencia, Ferrari escaped any punishment for taking advantage at a controversial pit-stop when most observers expected Massa, who escaped sanction, to be given a 'drive-through' penalty. The shock decision, which demoted Hamilton to third place behind Massa and BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld, left the British driver with just a two-point lead over Massa in the championship with only five races left. Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso from Spain came home fourth for Renault ahead of German Sebastian Vettel in a Toro Rosso and sixth-placed Pole Robert Kubica in the second BMW. In another late development, Timo Glock of Toyota was demoted a place to ninth, with Mark Webber of Red Bull promoted to eighth, following a 25sec penalty for not taking notice of yellow flags. F1GP - Belgian Grand Prix Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:22:59.394 2 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +9.3 secs 3 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren +10.5 secs 4 5 Fernando Alonso Renault +14.4 secs 5 15 Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso +14.5 secs 6 4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +15.0 secs 7 14 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso +16.7 secs 8 10 Mark Webber Red Bull +42.7 secs 9 12 Timo Glock Toyota +67.0 secs 10 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren +1 Lap 11 9 David Coulthard Red Bull +1 Lap 12 7 Nico Rosberg Williams +1 Lap 13 20 Adrian Sutil Force India +1 Lap 14 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams +1 Lap 15 16 Jenson Button Honda +1 Lap 16 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota +1 Lap 17 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India +1 Lap 18 1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari DNF 19 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda DNF 20 6 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault DNF Driver Team Pts 1 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 76 2 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 74 3 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 58 4 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 57 5 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 49 6 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 43 7 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 26 8 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 23 9 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 19 10 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 15 11 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 13 12 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Toro Rosso 13 13 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Honda 11 14 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 9 15 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 8 16 David Coulthard (GBR) Red Bull 6 17 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 4 18 Jenson Button (GBR) Honda 3 19 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 0 19 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 0 19 Anthony Davidson (GBR) Super Aguri 0 19 Takuma Sato (JAP) Super Aguri 0 Team Pts 1 Ferrari 131 2 McLaren 119 3 BMW Sauber 107 4 Toyota 41 5 Renault 36 6 Red Bull 25 7 Williams 17 8 Toro Rosso 17 9 Honda 14 10 Force India 0 10 Super Aguri 0 |
Wet Vettel shines to take pole
September 14, 2008
GERMAN Sebastian Vettel became the youngest driver in Formula One history to claim pole position when he topped the times during a rain-battered qualifying session for the Italian Grand Prix. But world championship leader Lewis Hamilton had a nightmare afternoon, getting his tyre choice all wrong in his McLaren and will start in 15th place, nine spots behind title rival Felipe Massa in a Ferrari. Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, of Finland, was second fastest and will share the front row with Vettel, who also delivered a first pole for his Toro Rosso team. Australian Mark Webber was third fastest for Red Bull as the rain teemed down at Monza and Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais fourth in the second Toro Rosso, proof the team had judged the conditions perfectly. Vettel, 21, was delighted with his performance. “It is just fantastic that this has happened. I can't believe it myself. Before the session, I said that with all the rain I could go for the pole and I was only joking. “I really did not expect it and it is amazing. This is a dream come true. It is such a great day for us and for the team,” said Vettel. “We have made such huge progress in the last couple of years. But there was so much water out there and at the Ascari chicane it was just so difficult not to go off.” “Now everyone will know there are two Italian teams in Formula One - one big one called Ferrari and us, we are also an Italian team, but a bit smaller!” But Vettel refused to get carried away with his achievement, saying he needed more than rain to help him hang on to his place and grab his first win in Sunday's big race. “Obviously, if it is raining it is better to be at the front in a wet race because you can see, you have the best view and then you have a chance. “I don't want to talk like that because if we finish in the points it will be fantastic, and if we finish on the podium it would be incredible. Anything can happen, so I must keep my feet on the ground.” Vettel bettered the record of two-time world champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who grabbed his first pole at the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix aged 21. The young German made the most of heavy and incessant rain in Saturday's qualifying to seize the grid position on a day when championship-leading Briton Lewis Hamilton could only manage 15th in the drenched conditions. Hamilton, who was controversially stripped of victory at last week's Belgian Grand Prix, admitted he had blundered over tyre choice. “It was a joint decision to go out on wet-weather tyres at the start of Q2 - partly mine and partly my engineers',” said Hamilton. “We thought it was the right way to go at the time because it was getting drier, but the grip level was poor so I came in and switched to extremes. “By the time I got out, it had begun to rain and I just missed the window when the track was at its fastest.” German Nico Rosberg was fifth fastest for Williams ahead of Brazilian Massa, who was sixth for Ferrari. His team-mate, defending world champion Kimi Raikkonen of Finland, was down in 16th place behind Hamilton. “It was such a very difficult qualifying session, for everyone,” said Massa, who is seeking his first points position finish in his sixth attempt at the Italian Grand Prix. He has never previously finished better than eighth. “But, overall, I am reasonably happy. I am ahead of my main rivals in the fight for the championship and, therefore, I still have a good grid position.” Italian Jarno Trulli was seventh for Toyota ahead of two times champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Renault, German Timo Glock for Toyota and another German Nick Heidfeld for BMW Sauber. |
Alonso wins first night GP
September 29, 2008
SPANIARD Fernando Alonso snapped a year-long win drought to take the Singapore Grand Prix, winning a drama-filled first night race as a comical error cost Felipe Massa dearly. It was the Renault driver's first victory since the Italian Grand Prix last year and capped a remarkable weekend that saw him top two of the free practice sessions but start 15th on the grid after a mechanical problem in qualifying. He claimed his 20th career triumph by 2.95sec over German Nico Rosberg in a Williams and British world championship leader Lewis Hamilton in third. Toyota driver Timo Glock was fourth with Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel following up his win in Italy this month with fifth. BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld took sixth. "It is fantastic, I am extremely happy. I can't believe it right now and it will take a few days to realise what we have done," said Alonso. "Winning had seemed impossible all season but we have been competitive all weekend. The car was super." The race was a new experience for every driver on a street circuit under powerful spotlights and it turned out to be one of the most exciting of the season. Despite dark clouds lurking, Singapore's notorious tropical downpours stayed away and the whole race was run in dry, but hot and humid conditions. Rosberg scored his best ever finish and was over the moon. "The car felt pretty good and we knew we could be strong on this track and for once the luck went with us," he said. Similarly, Hamilton was happy to get points while Massa didn't. "I enjoyed driving here and I'm pretty happy," he said. "It was a tough weekend but we got some good points." Ferrari's Massa started from pole but a disastrous mistake cost him the race and valuable points in his push for the world title. His 13th place finish means he is now seven points behind Hamilton in the championship hunt with just three Grand Prix left at Japan, China and Brazil. The Brazilian was in the pits on lap 15 when he was given the green light and drove off with the fuel hose still attached to his car, leaving one of the pit crew floored and subsequently carted off in a neck brace. Massa ended up sitting in his Ferrari at the end of the pit lane as the crew ran after him and managed to pull the hose free, but it ruined his chances. He was given a drive through penalty and rejoined in 18th place. It was a miserable night for Ferrari with defending world champion Kimi Raikkonen ramming his car into the barriers with just four laps left. The Massa drama occurred after the cars came in when Nelson Piquet careered into the wall, causing massive damage to his Renault. He climbed out unscathed but the safety car was deployed. Massa was leading at the time with Hamilton second but at the restart, Rosberg was in front and Alonso fifth. But Rosberg was subsequently slapped with a 10-second stop penalty for coming into the pits before it had opened after the Piquet crash. The complicated scenario saw Toyota's Jarno Trulli in the lead on lap 28 but without having pitted with Alonso second, Rosberg third and Hamilton charging in sixth. With Trulli taking his first pit stop soon after Alonso amazingly found himself in front just after the halfway mark with a 4.9 second lead over Rosberg. Alonso came in for his second pit stop on lap 41 and came out still ahead, marginally ahead of David Coulthard and Hamilton. Remarkably, when Coulthard pitted soon after, he too drove off with the fuel pipe attached, knocking over a mechanic who was stretchered off with an injured ankle. There was more action to come. Alonso was cruising with a 23 second lead when Adrian Sutil shunted his Force India into the wall, bringing the safety car out again and wiping out the Spaniard's advantage. When they restarted with seven laps left it was a sprint to the finish and two-time world champion Alonso made no mistake, writing his name in the record books as the first winner of a Formula One night race. F1GP - SIngapore Grand Prix Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:57:16.304 2 7 Nico Rosberg Williams +2.9 secs 3 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren +5.9 secs 4 12 Timo Glock Toyota +8.1 secs 5 15 Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso +10.2 secs 6 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +11.1 secs 7 9 David Coulthard Red Bull +16.3 secs 8 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams +18.4 secs 9 16 Jenson Button Honda +19.8 secs 10 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren +26.9 secs 11 4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +27.9 secs 12 14 Sebastian Bourdais Toro Rosso +29.4 secs 13 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari +35.1 secs 14 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India +43.5 secs 15 1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari DNF 16 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota DNF 17 20 Adrian Sutil Force India DNF 18 10 Mark Webber Red Bull DNF 19 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda DNF 20 6 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault DNF F1 Drivers Ladder Driver Team Pts 1 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 84 2 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 77 3 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 64 4 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 57 5 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 56 6 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 51 7 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 38 8 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Toro Rosso 27 9 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 26 10 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 20 11 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 20 12 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 17 13 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 13 14 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Honda 11 15 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 9 16 David Coulthard (GBR) Red Bull 8 17 Sebastian Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 4 18 Jenson Button (GBR) Honda 3 19 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 0 20 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 0 21 Takuma Sato (JAP) Super Aguri 0 22 Anthony Davidson (GBR) Super Aguri 0 Team Pts 1 McLaren 135 2 Ferrari 134 3 BMW Sauber 120 4 Renault 51 5 Toyota 46 6 Toro Rosso 31 7 Red Bull 28 8 Williams 26 9 Honda 14 10 Force India 0 11 Super Aguri 0 |
Alonso wins Japanese Grand Prix
October 12, 2008 FERNANDO Alonso took full advantage of the mistakes and misfortunes of others to claim his second successive victory when he won the Japanese Grand Prix. The Spaniard made the most of incidents and errors that wrecked the day for championship contenders Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa as he steered his Renault to the 21st win of his career, following his victory in Singapore. He came home 5.2 seconds clear of second placed Pole Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber with defending drivers champion Finn Kimi Raikkonen third for Ferrari. Brazil's Nelson Piquet was fourth in the second Renault ahead of Italian Jarno Trulli of Toyota and the two Toro Rossos of Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais and German Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton failed to score a point for McLaren Mercedes after a drama-filled afternoon following a poor start from pole position and some impetuous moves. He eventually finished 12th. But his main title rival Brazilian Felipe Massa of Ferrari also struggled through collisions, errors and penalties on his way to finishing eighth to claim a single point. This reduced Hamilton's lead to six points with two races remaining in China and Brazil. Hamilton's teammate Finn Heikki Kovalainen retired with a blown engine in the early stages. In the constructors' championship, Ferrari jumped back into the lead with a six points cushion over McLaren. When the lights went out, the start produced chaotic drama as Hamilton made a slow getaway and struggled to keep up with Raikkonen who pulled clear to lead as they surged towards the first corner. Hamilton responded immediately by switching to the inside and attempting to pass the Finn under braking, but he was unable to make the corner and went off across the run-off area. In the packed field behind him, there were bumps and collisions that led to Briton David Coulthard in his Red Bull and Japan's Kazuki Nakajima in a Williams going off, the Scot crashing heavily into the barriers. Hamilton's rush inside Raikkonen had taken the Finn off the track with him and this led to a stewards' investigation that resulted in a drive-through penalty for the championship leader. As the field settled, Kubica was leading ahead of Alonso before further incidents arrived on lap two when Hamilton, in sixth, attacked and passed Massa who ran off the track and then collided with the Englishman's McLaren. Massa's Ferrari spun Hamilton's car to a halt and left him stranded as the field streamed through with the Briton forced to wait and rejoin last with wrecked tyres. Like Hamilton, Massa's actions were investigated and the stewards gave him a drive-through penalty. The incident also caused Hamilton to pit immediately for tyres. As all this took place, the race unfolded with Kubica leading Alonso towards the first pit stops when the Spaniard took control. Alonso delivered a rapid burst to establish his position before he pitted and once the lead had been passed to Trulli and then Bourdais, it was Piquet out in front. On lap 28, Piquet finally made his first stop and Alonso regained the lead with a 7.8 seconds advantage. By lap 30, Alonso was pulling clear and Massa was 12th and Hamilton 14th. After his impetuous start, Hamilton was a long way from scoring any points and his only consolation was that Massa also struggled, although the Brazilian worked his way through the field to earn a valuable point. F1GP - Japanese Grand Prix Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 01:30:21.892 2 4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +5.2 secs 3 1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +6.4 secs 4 6 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault +20.5 secs 5 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota +23.7 secs 6 14 Sebastian Bourdais Toro Rosso +34.0 secs 7 15 Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso +39.2 secs 8 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari +46.1 secs 9 10 Mark Webber Red Bull +50.8 secs 10 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +54.1 secs 11 7 Nico Rosberg Williams +62.0 secs 12 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren +78.9 secs 13 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda +1 Lap 14 16 Jenson Button Honda +1 Lap 15 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams +1 Lap 16 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India DNF 17 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren DNF 18 20 Adrian Sutil Force India DNF 19 12 Timo Glock Toyota DNF 20 9 David Coulthard Red Bull DNF Driver Team Pts 1 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 84 2 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 78 3 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 72 4 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 63 5 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 56 6 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 51 7 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 48 8 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 30 9 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Toro Rosso 29 10 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 20 11 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 20 12 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 18 13 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 17 14 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Honda 11 15 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 9 16 David Coulthard (GBR) Red Bull 8 17 Sebastian Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 7 18 Jenson Button (GBR) Honda 3 19 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 0 20 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 0 21 Takuma Sato (JAP) Super Aguri 0 22 Anthony Davidson (GBR) Super Aguri 0 Team Pts 1 Ferrari 141 2 McLaren 135 3 BMW Sauber 128 4 Renault 66 5 Toyota 50 6 Toro Rosso 36 7 Red Bull 28 8 Williams 26 9 Honda 14 10 Force India 0 11 Super Aguri 0 |
Massa takes title race to wire
October 19, 2008
BRITAIN'S Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday but was denied the world championship by title rival Felipe Massa, who finished second. McLaren's Hamilton led throughout for a straightforward win but he remains just seven points ahead of Massa, taking the championship to a dramatic final race in Brazil next month. "A fantastic race, the car was a dream to drive for me,'' said Hamilton. "All weekend we had God on our side as always and the team did a perfect job. The car's been fantastic all weekend.'' Ferrari's outgoing champion Kimi Raikkonen was third after conceding second place to Massa late on. Two-time former world champion Fernando Alonso of Renault was fourth. BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld finished fifth ahead of his teammate Robert Kubica, the only other title contender, who finished sixth to end his slim championship hopes. Hamilton, 23, is bidding to become both the youngest and the first black driver to win the world title after throwing away a commanding lead in the standings in his rookie season last year. "This is a completely different situation to last year,'' said Hamilton, who now has 94 points and Massa 87 after coming home nearly 15 seconds clear. "Brazil will be very different this time.'' The Briton, who has faced strong criticism of his aggressive racing, will have silenced some of his detractors with this convincing display of smooth front-running. He avoided the fireworks seen at the start of the Japan Grand Prix last week in a clean start from pole position, followed by Ferrari's Raikkonen and Massa. Hamilton reeled off a succession of fastest laps to establish a lead that he extended with comfort as Ferrari seemed to struggle with the softer tyres in the first sector of the race. By the time the leaders began making their first pit-stops, Hamilton led by more than four seconds ahead of Raikkonen followed by Massa, Alonso and McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen. Massa was the first to pit, but continued with his choice of softer tyres, after 14 laps. He was joined by Alonso and then Hamilton and Raikkonen came in after lap 15. This left Kovalainen, celebrating his 27th birthday, in the lead for a brief period before he also pitted and Hamilton took command again with Raikkonen second but stuck behind Toro Rosso's heavily-laden Sebastien Vettel. Out after a swift stop in which he reduced his front wing setting slightly to counter over-steer, Hamilton flew and delivered several rapid laps that extended his advantage to more than seven seconds. When Vettel pitted, Raikkonen pressed on to cut into Hamilton's lead, but Massa, third, was unable to make much impression. Hamilton's advantage was cut from 7.2 seconds to 6.4 seconds over three laps to lap 28. But he pulled some of that back before the second round of stops led by Alonso on lap 36. Hamilton led by 8.9 seconds when he and Raikkonen pitted together at the end of lap 38. By then, unfortunately for McLaren, Kovalainen had already been forced to come in with a front right wheel puncture that effectively ended his hopes of a good finish. On exit, Hamilton led ahead of Heidfeld's BMW Sauber with Raikkonen third, a buffer that was sure to delay Ferrari's charge in the closing laps. Hamilton remained unchallenged at the front with a 13-seconds lead and it was left to the Ferrari team to swap places after 49 laps when Raikkonen slowed enough to let Massa pass him on the back straight. For Massa, who had struggled to stay third, this gifted him two additional points in his title bid and means he can still win the championship in front of his home fans in Brazil next month. "Lewis was stronger today,'' Massa conceded. "It was not a good result for the drivers' championship, but not so bad for the constructors and that is good for the team.'' F1GP - Chinese Grand Prix Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:31:57.403 2 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari +14.9 secs 3 1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +16.4 secs 4 5 Fernando Alonso Renault +18.3 secs 5 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +28.9 secs 6 4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +33.2 secs 7 12 Timo Glock Toyota +41.7 secs 8 6 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault +56.6 secs 9 15 Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso +64.3 secs 10 9 David Coulthard Red Bull +74.8 secs 11 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda +85.0 secs 12 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams +90.8 secs 13 14 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso +91.4 secs 14 10 Mark Webber Red Bull +92.4 secs 15 7 Nico Rosberg Williams +1 Lap 16 16 Jenson Button Honda +1 Lap 17 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India +1 Lap 18 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren DNF 19 20 Adrian Sutil Force India DNF 20 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota DNF Driver Team Pts 1 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 94 2 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 87 3 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 75 4 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 69 5 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 60 6 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 53 7 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 51 8 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Toro Rosso 30 9 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 30 10 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 22 11 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 21 12 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 19 13 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 17 14 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Honda 11 15 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 9 16 David Coulthard (GBR) Red Bull 8 17 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 4 18 Jenson Button (GBR) Honda 3 19 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 0 20 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 0 21 Takuma Sato (JAP) Super Aguri 0 22 Anthony Davidson (GBR) Super Aguri 0 Team Pts 1 Ferrari 156 2 McLaren 145 3 BMW Sauber 135 4 Renault 72 5 Toyota 52 6 Toro Rosso 34 7 Red Bull 29 8 Williams 26 9 Honda 14 10 Force India 0 11 Super Aguri 0 |
Lewis Hamilton claims world title
November 03, 2008
LEWIS Hamilton became the youngest Formula One drivers' world champion when he finished fifth in a dramatic rain-hit Brazilian Grand Prix, clinching the title on the final lap. Hamilton, driving with great control and judgement, and aided by luck, avoided the problems that wrecked his bid to become the first rookie champion last year as he steered his McLaren-Mercedes to glory after a tense contest and an extraordinary final lap. Only on that amazing final lap did Hamilton regain the place he needed when Timo Glock lost 18 seconds in his Toyota and slipped behind him. The title had seemed until that moment to be going to hometown hero Felipe Massa, who won the race run in unpredictable wet and dry conditions, but Hamilton's all important fifth place pushed him up to 98 points with Massa on 97. "I'm speechless," Hamilton said on ITV television after the race. "That was so pretty close. You guys (his McLaren team) have done an amazing job all season. This is for you and my family. It's pretty much impossible to put into words. "It's been such a long journey - all the sacrifices we've made, I'm so thrilled to do this for everyone. It was one of the toughest races of my life." Asked how he felt as he crossed the line, Hamilton said: "I thought 'Do I have it?'. They told me and I was ecstatic. I must thank God.'" Hamilton's triumph made him first Briton to take the world title since Damon Hill in 1996 and the first McLaren champion since Mika Hakkinen in 1999. He is Britain's ninth champion. As well as being the youngest champion, Hamilton also became the first black Formula One title holder on a stirring afternoon in front of an impassioned 100,000 crowd at the Interlagos circuit. Hamilton, 23, drove a measured and calculated race to try to avoid trouble in his McLaren-Mercedes as he claimed the title at the end of only his second season. He allowed Massa in his Ferrari to run away at the front and claim his sixth win this year and the 11th victory of his career. Massa was followed home by two-time world champion Fernando Alonso in a Renault and third-placed Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who denied Hamilton the world championship in Sao Paulo last year. German youngster Sebastien Vettel was fourth for Toro Rosso, after passing Hamilton in the final laps, with Hamilton fifth, just, after his late recovery when Glock slowed down and finished sixth. Hamilton's McLaren teammate, Heikki Kovalainen, finished seventh. The start was delayed by 10 minutes after a heavy rainfall as the cars assembled on the grid. This enabled all the teams to switch from dry tyres to intermediate wet weather tyres. Further rain was forecast for midway through the race. After a further flurry of activity and amid great excitement and anticipation, with the noisy 100,000 crowd showing passionate sport for Massa, the race finally began. As the lights went out, the cars at the front made a clean departure in order, Kovalainen protecting Hamilton's position. But there was a minor multiple accident at the rear, which saw David Coulthard, in his final race before retiring from Formula One, and Nelson Piquet jnr, eliminated after crashing. Coulthard, in his Red Bull, was caught in an Williams sandwich, German Nico Rosberg hitting him and then Japanese Kazuki Nakajima collecting him as he flew off the track. Piquet in his Renault went off in a separate accident. This accident brought out the safety car for three laps before the racing began in earnest, Massa streaking clear at the front and Hamilton biding his time in fourth place. Vettel and Alonso were the first of the leading men to dive into the pits to switch from wet to dry tyres as the circuit conditions improved, veteran Italian Giancarlo Fisichella having shown the way in his Force India. Fisichella was soon swiftly carving through the field as the rest followed his example, and he rose from 19th on the grid to fifth. Massa went in for fresh tyres after 10 laps, with Kovalainen, and Jarno Trulli in his Toyota, Raikkonen and Hamilton entered a lap later. Their stops were swift and clean but, by delaying two laps after their rivals, they were all at a disadvantage. Hamilton rejoined in seventh place and he struggled at first to regain his rhythm before he passed Trulli and chased after Fisichella. At this stage, Raikkonen was holding up the field behind him to allow Massa to pull clear at the front. On lap 18, however, Hamilton surged past Fisichella with a bold move at the end of the straight into the downhill turn one. This put him back in fifth, the position that was enough for him to take the title. Massa enjoyed a dominant spell at the front before he pitted for the second time after 38 laps, handing the lead to Alonso who, in turn, pitted after two more laps, giving Raikkonen the leading position. Hamilton also pitted after lap 40. By the time the leading group had completed their stops, and the order had settled again, Hamilton was back in fifth behind Massa, Vettel, Raikkonen and Alonso, with Mark Webber sixth. When Vettel pitted again, after 50 laps, Hamilton moved up to fourth - leaving McLaren to cross their fingers that their car and engine could complete the distance without mishap. Vettel chased him hard before a rain shower with six laps remaining threw the final laps into chaos, leaving the teams and crowd in suspense as the leaders dived into the pits to change their tyres again. Glock, on dry tyres that were worn, stayed out and moved up the field ahead of Hamilton pushing him down to fifth in a fight with Vettel, who passed the Briton with two laps to go. This left the Englishman chasing hard, and he regained the place he needed only when Glock's tyres slowed him so much that he could not withstand his rivals - and Hamilton passed him in the second half of the final lap to finish fifth. But this move came so late that most spectators and the Ferrari team believed that Massa was champion when he crossed the line their man - but their party ended when someone pointed at the monitor screens. Hamilton could hardly believe it, and there were tears in both families and both camps just half a minute later. The previous youngest champion was Alonso, who was 24 years, one month and 27 days old when he won the title in 2005. Hamilton was 23 years, nine months and 26 days old as he drove to glory on Monday (EDT). Massa had been hoping to be the first Brazilian champion since Ayrton Senna in 1991. F1GP - Brazilian Grand Prix Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:34:11.435 2 5 Fernando Alonso Renault +13.2 secs 3 1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +16.2 secs 4 15 Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso +38.0 secs 5 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren +38.9 secs 6 12 Timo Glock Toyota +44.3 secs 7 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren +55.0 secs 8 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota +68.4 secs 9 10 Mark Webber Red Bull +79.6 secs 10 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +1 Lap 11 4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +1 Lap 12 7 Nico Rosberg Williams +1 Lap 13 16 Jenson Button Honda +1 Lap 14 14 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso +1 Lap 15 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda +1 Lap 16 20 Adrian Sutil Force India +2 Laps 17 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams +2 Laps 18 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India +2 Laps 19 6 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault DNF 20 9 David Coulthard Red Bull DNF |
F1 driver Mark Webber seriously hurt
November 22, 2008 02:55pm
AUSTRALIAN Formula One racer Mark Webber has been seriously injured when he was hit by a car while competing in his multisport challenge in Tasmania. Webber, who drives for F1's Red Bull team, was cycling along Fortesque Bay Road, near Port Arthur on the Tasman peninsula, when he and a Nissan X-Trail vehicle collided, Tasmania Police Sergeant Jon Ford said. Sgt Ford said Webber was competing in his own charity event, the Mark Webber Pure Tasmania Challenge, a 250km challenge using mountain bikes, kayaks and trekking, when the accident happened abotu 12.40pm (AEDT). "As a result of the collision, the rider, Mark Webber, suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries," Sgt Ford said. "He was attended at the scene by paramedics attached to the event before being airlifted to the Royal Hobart Hospital." Sgt Ford said the event was being raced on open public roads and it was not known whether the stage along Fortesque Bay Road was cordoned off specifically for the racers. The male driver of the Nissan X-trail escaped injury but no further details were known about the motorist, he said. Webber was competing on the penultimate day of the five-day challenge, which also includes abseiling and whitewater rafting. |
Honda exit casts dark cloud over Formula One future
December 06, 2008
HONDA'S shock withdrawal from Formula One raises fresh fears over the future of the multi-million dollar sport struggling to keep afloat in the current economic downturn. Honda Motor president Takeo Fukui made the announcement at an emotional press conference in Tokyo on Friday, apologising to fans, staff, drivers and F1 authorities. "This is a complete withdrawal. The future is a blank sheet,'' he said. "Five years from now, I think history will show we made the right decision.'' The decision shocked the sport which had already seen backmarkers and fellow Japanese team Super Aguri go the wall earlier this year. It also sparked new calls for the glamour sport to slash its mind-boggling budgets while the remaining Japanese team, Toyota, hurried out a statement pledging their future to the championship. "This difficult decision has been made in light of the quickly deteriorating operating environment facing the global auto industry, brought on by the subprime problem in the United States,'' Fukui added. Honda Racing CEO Nick Fry, however, said he was hopeful that new owners would be found in time for the team to be on the grid for the start of next season in Australia on March 29. "In the last 12 hours we've had three serious people come to us and suggest they would like to buy the team, so we're still hoping to be there in Melbourne,'' Fry told the BBC. Drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello were out of contract at the end of the season, but Honda, whose annual F1 budget was believed to be in the region of US$400 million (A$617 million), had been expected to retain them both for 2009. However, Friday's announcement means they are without a team which could spell the end of the road for Barrichello, the most experienced driver in Formula One history having raced in 271 Grand Prix, winning nine. "It's just as much of a shock for me as it is for everyone else,'' said 28-year-old Button, who claimed Honda's only GP win at Hungary in 2006 and visited the team's HQ at Brackley in England where around 500 people are employed. "We need to stay positive and as one team because if we are not, no one will be interested in taking it over.'' Honda first competed in F1 in 1964 and has since clocked up three Grand Prix wins as a full works team. Its engines have also been behind dozens of victories by stars such as world champions Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. The team finished ninth in the constructors championship this season with 14 points. Barrichello achieved the team's best result with a third-place finish at Silverstone. F1 is generally feeling the pinch with this year's Australian Grand Prix going US$27 million into the red and France axing its race over money worries. Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone, asked whether F1 was in crisis, replied: "Formula One is in no bigger a crisis than any other company throughout the world - the world is in crisis at the moment. "But the world won't stop, that's for sure.'' However, Max Mosley, the head of the sport's ruling body, the FIA, insisted Honda's withdrawal dramatically illustrated the need for changes, including the introduction of a cheaper, standardised engine. "If the teams don't notice now what's happened, you have to abandon all hope for them,'' said Mosley, who dismissed the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) efforts to cut costs. "The moment where we can make really massive reductions is from 2010, but we have to get through 2009 first. "We have got to get the costs down not by 10 or 20 percent, but down to 10 or 20 percent of what they are now. I would expect a team to be able to run in the Ł30-40 million (A$68-90 million) bracket.'' Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said he was saddened by developments. "Unfortunately these things can happen in difficult times like these,'' said di Montezemolo. "Over the years, we have seen several constructors coming and going in Formula One.'' Meanwhile, Toyota, who haven't won a Grand Prix since joining the sport in 2002, insisted that they are fully committed to the sport. "Toyota is currently committed to succeeding in Formula One and to reducing our costs,'' said a statement. "We are contributing to the FOTA activities which will achieve significant cost reductions whilst maintaining the spirit of the sport.'' It is not the first time Honda has quit F1. It withdrew in 1968 to focus on developing compact passenger vehicles. The Japanese firm returned to the F1 stage as an engine supplier from 1983 until 1992, when race regulation changes and a ban on the use of turbo systems prompted Honda to withdraw again from the competition. In 2000, Honda made yet another comeback by partnering with BAR, supplying engines and jointly developing the vehicle body. The company took full control of the team from the 2006 season. |
Mark Webber voices concerns over 'boring' F1 changes
December 24, 2008
MARK Webber has admitted some races this year were so boring even the most ardent fan would have nodded off. And the Australian is not convinced that rule changes for 2009 aimed at making the sport more competitive will have the desired effect. Webber described the 2008 season overall as a good one for F1, crowned by the nail-biting climax in Brazil when McLaren's Lewis Hamilton clinched the world title with an overtaking move at the final corner. But he intimated officials had still not hit on a formula which would provide genuinely close racing. "There are many changes next year - slick tyres on the cars and the aerodynamic regulations are very aggressive - and we haven't seen changes like them for many years," Webber told the BBC. "The main thought behind them is to make overtaking easier. A few races this season could have put even the most hard-core fan to sleep, such was the lack of overtaking, so changes were necessary. "It's hard to predict exactly what effect they will have." |
Mexican billionare Carlos Slim reported to be rescuing Honda
December 28, 2008
MEXICAN billionaire Carlos Slim, the world's second-richest man, has rescued the Honda Formula One team, Italian newspaper La Stampa has reported. “The saviour has arrived: Carlos Slim, 67 years old, the second richest man in the world,” the newspaper reported. “The news is not official as all the details have yet to be formalised. But two things are certain - the team has been saved and the drivers will be Jenson Button and rookie Bruno Senna in place of Rubens Barrichello.” Honda, believed to have an annual racing budget of around $US400 million ($587.37 million), announced earlier this month that they were pulling out of Formula One as a result of the global financial meltdown. La Stampa, which did not identify the source of its story, added that Bruno Senna, the nephew of triple world champion Ayrton Senna, is sponsored by Embratel, part of Slim's Telmex group. Honda first competed in F1 in 1964 and wons three Grands Prix, including Jenson Button's in Hungary in 2006. The manufacturer's engines were also been behind dozens of Williams victories by stars such as Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. The team finished ninth in the constructors championship this season with 14 points. Honda Motor also supplied engines and other technical support to Formula One team Super Aguri, which quit due to financial problems in May. |
Mark Webber enjoys big freeze in bid for fitness
February 05, 2009
FORMULA One star Mark Webber has subjected himself to biting temperatures as low as -90 degrees Celsius in a bid to speed up his recovery from injury. The Australian is convinced the radical healing process - involving cryogenic treatment - has put him ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation. Webber, 32, broke his leg in a collision with a car during his Tasmania charity challenge cycling event last November. He has been racing to be fit for pre-season testing but is confident he will be fully prepared to drive in next month's season-opening Grand Prix at Albert Park. The late launch of the new Red Bull car, slated for release in Jerez, Spain, next week, has given him some extra time to prepare to test his leg in the cockpit. Webber believes his new recovery program will be instrumental in helping him catch up on lost time. "The results over the last few weeks have been incredible," Webber told the Red Bull Racing website. "We had a really good week last week, so we're really positive ... dare I say it, we're probably a little bit ahead of schedule." Webber has to endure freezing temperatures in a special cold chamber for set periods of time under the plan. "I've been doing it for three weeks now," he said. "You go from a normal, ambient room temperature into a chamber of -50F (-45C) for about 30 seconds and then for another three minutes into -130F (-90C). "It's very good for your general well-being, your immune system and apparently it's good for cellulite. Not much of a worry for me ... but it's very good for the whole body." However, he admits the final test of his fitness will be when he drives the car. "Driving is not like playing tennis," he said. "A tennis player can practise before actually playing a game. "I need to get in the car and go and do it to find out about things like the vibration jolts. Although I may do some karting beforehand." Webber also strongly rejected reports he would not be completely ready to drive at Albert Park. "I've really worked hard to get in this position," he said. "There's been some stuff in the press that I won't be 100 per cent fit for Melbourne which pissed me off. "I will be 100 per cent ready to do my job." |
Australia's Mark Webber driving again for Red Bull after leg fracture
February 12, 2009
MARK Webber returned into the Red Bull Formula One car for tests having recovered from a broken leg sustained less than three months ago. "I am very relieved," the Australian said after a morning session of 48 laps in Jerez de la Frontera. Webber broke his right leg last November 22 when he collided with a car while riding a bike in his own charity event in Tasmania. He is ahead of schedule in the healing process but still requires light painkillers. "I will be 100 per cent fit for the start of the season on March 29 in Melbourne," he said. Red Bull unveiled their 2009 car on Monday in Jerez. Webber's new team-mate is promising German Sebastian Vettel who said on Tuesday that he liked the new car. Team owner Dietrich Mateschitz outlined the aims for the season during a visit to the track on Wednesday. "We want to be ahead in midfield and get close to the two or three top teams. "Anything worse than fourth or fifth place does not meet the aims of Red Bull racing," Mateschitz said. |
Williams Formula One team suffer multi-million-pound sponsor blow
February 26, 2009
Williams Formula One team have suffered a huge financial blow when one of their major backers pulled the plug on a deal worth around Ł10 million ($A22 million) a year. The BBC said that the ailing Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will end its agreement as a direct result of the economic downturn. On Thursday, the RBS is expected to report a loss of up to Ł28 billion, a record in British corporate history. Team principal Sir Frank Williams, whose group has been a permanent fixture on the grid for 30 years, said they would battle on. "RBS has been a great partner for this team and we are grateful for the way that they have handled this difficult situation,'' he said. "We are in a strong position to ride out the inevitable challenges of the next two years.'' The partnership with between Williams and RBS, which began in 2005, will now conclude when the current contract finishes at the end of the 2010 season. The move is part of RBS proposals to cut its funding of British sport by half by 2010. The bank also says it plans to review its sponsorship deals with individuals such as tennis star Andy Murray. "We recognise that we are now operating in a very different economic environment and have been reviewing all of our activities since October,'' Dr Andrew McLaughlin, RBS group director, told the BBC. "It is imperative that we respond to the reality of the situation we face and that we do so in an orderly way that respects the commercial agreements we have in place and the implications for our partners and the jobs they support.'' Williams’s title sponsor is telecommunications firm AT and T. Last month, the RBS said it would extend its sponsorship of the Six Nations rugby union championship for a further four years in a deal worth Ł20 million. Williams has won seven drivers titles in its history, but the last was delivered by Jacques Villeneuve in 1997. In 2008, the team celebrated its 500th Grand Prix, but finished in eighth place in the championship. |
Australian Formula One star Mark Webber will race with titanium rod in leg
March 22, 2009
Australian Formula One star Mark Webber has revealed he will race in the Melbourne Grand Prix with a titanium rod in his leg. In a brave comeback from injuries suffered in a horror accident late last year, Webber said he would drive with "metalwork" inside his mending leg to keep his dreams of winning his home grand prix alive. Webber said fighting his way back from a broken leg and shoulder suffered in a freak collision in Tasmania in November was the hardest thing he had ever done. But the setback had motivated him to be fit in time for the Melbourne Grand Prix at all costs. Webber had screws removed from his leg and shoulder days before stepping into his car for practice last month but said the rest would have to wait. "I've still got a bit of metalwork in there," he said. "That will stay in there for the season now, I'm not in a position to take it out until the end of the year. "Even then it still might not be ready in the off-season, so I've got to keep an eye on that." Despite his rocky road to recovery, Webber declared himself fit and ready for his first race since he was hit by a car while riding a bike. "I'd never really been injured in my life and I'm a pretty active bloke so the injuries slowed me down quite a lot," he said. "It was constantly challenging because I was on crutches and I had a broken shoulder as well so there was lots of little hurdles along the way that were with me every part of the day. But they're well and truly gone." Webber also revealed he drew inspiration from Australian MotoGP legend Mick Doohan during the darkest hours of his rehabilitation, describing his ability to overcome injury as "phenomenal". Webber flies into Australia on Sunday, spending time with his family in Queanbeyan before arriving in Melbourne. Despite his injury battle, he said the thought of not competing in Melbourne never crossed his mind. "I was always going to be there for Melbourne," he said. |
Going to be a great day, looking forward to seeing him go around again.
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Mark Webber crashers more than my computer! Go Raikkonen. Although I'd must admit I'd love to see Webber win one, and if it was the Aussie GP even better, wouldnt that be somehting?
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Williams prove the surprise of F1 practice session, Mark Webber improves
March 27, 2009
Formula One's latest controversy turned serious on Friday when all but one of the top seven cars in practice for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix ran with bodywork considered illegal by most teams. Only Mark Webber drove with conventional rear underbody sections on his Red Bull. The Australian was fourth quickest but quickly declared he would be nowhere near that fast in qualifying. Williams, Toyota and Brawn GP are the three teams using the contentious rear diffuser, said to give them an advantage in terms of grip and airflow. Williams driver Nico Rosberg dominated both 90-minute practice sessions, leading the timesheets throughout. The Brawn of Rubens Barichello was second ahead of the Toyota of Jarno Trulli with Webber fourth in the day's second session. Jenson Button's Brawn finished fifth while the Toyota of Timo Glock was sixth and Kazuki Nakajima's Williams seventh. Red Bull boss Christian Horner led a protest to the FIA against the use of the radical diffuser but early on Friday morning race stewards ruled it legal, allowing the cars to race. This means the issue will go to the FIA's court of appeals and it could be months before the results of the Australian Grand Prix are finalised. Webber said no one would know the real affect of the diffusers until race day. "No one here knows the ultimate pace until we get going on Sunday and even then we might see some teams not show their full pace on Sunday if they've got something up their sleeve so I think they will be very keen to keep this advantage if they can, legality-wise, which so far they seem to have done," Webber said. "But I don't fear there will be two different championships in the race. "I think it will still be a competitive grand prix and that should not get in the way of what the ruling is. "The drivers, as you know, can't do much about this stuff, it's up to the boffins to sort it out." Defending champion Lewis Hamilton confirmed the trend of disappointing pre-season test results for McLaren by finishing a lowly 18th in practice, one spot behind teammate Heikki Kovalainen. "Obviously we are not as quick as we would love to be but we are working very hard," Hamilton said. "In general it's a good car, it's just a general lack of grip everywhere pretty much, it's not particularly in one area of the track, it's everywhere. "The guys back at the factory are working very hard to rectify that but it's no quick fix," he said. There will be another practice session Saturday morning before qualifying in the evening. |
Brawn GP grab the front row, but Hamilton and Toyota penalised
March 28, 2009
British driver Jenson Button amazed with pole position for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix but the rear of the grid is almost as interesting after penalties to world champion Lewis Hamilton and both Toyota drivers. Hamilton had the 15th fastest time in Saturday qualifying but was penalised five spots because a broken gearbox caused him to miss the middle session. That meant last grid position until a slight reprieve to 18th on Saturday night when the Toyotas of Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock were banished to the back. Their cars were found to have rear wings that were too flexible - Glock dropped from sixth position and Trulli from eighth. That was good news for Mark Webber, the Australian improving two places to eighth grid position in his Red Bull. Button is joined on the front row by Brawn team-mate Rubens Barrichello followed by Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel and BMW's Robert Kubica. Nico Rosberg's Williams moved to the fourth row with Felipe Massa's Ferrari then his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen alongside Webber. Just a few months ago Button and Barrichello looked likely to be out of a job as Honda quit racing due to the global economic crisis. But they earned a last minute reprieve when technical guru Ross Brawn line-up finance to run the team under his name. Throughout pre-season testing the Brawn cars set the pace as hope began to rise from the ashes of the Japanese car maker's outfit. "The last five or six months for both of us have been so tough because from going from not having a drive or any future in racing to putting it on pole here is just amazing," Button said. "This is where we deserve to be I think after the tough times I've had. "It's been a long time since we've had a car that's been competitive. It was 2006 when I put it on pole here so it's been very tough. "There are a lot of people who stand by you, which is fantastic, but there are obviously a few people who don't, and they forget and they don't believe. "But the important thing is the people in the team believe and that's all we care about - and they've proven it with this car. "I think we've done a good job this weekend so far considering the amount of mileage we've had in the car. "This is a great moment but obviously not the most important moment of the weekend," Button said. Brawn, whose white cars arrived in Melbourne without sponsors, lured last minute backing from Virgin. Company boss Sir Richard Branson paraded down pit lane to announce his support on Saturday and the cars emerged for qualifying sporting his red logo. Barrichello said the new money was critical if Brawn were to maintain their position at the head of the field throughout the season. "I was very glad to see Virgin signing us this morning because it now means we have the attitude on the team to carry on," Barrichello said. "That could have been the problem during the year. I think this car will be very, very good for the first four races but definitely we need to have things coming in to keep on going." Vettel was delighted after a dismal practice session on Friday when he encountered a mechanical problem in the first session then made a mistake and spun out in the second. "This is for sure a good starting point but (for) points tomorrow we will have to work hard," he said. Vettel echoed several drivers who were concerned about visibility in the setting sun during a twilight race. "It was tricky, for instance you go down the main straight, the sun is very low, you cannot see the white line for instance when you exit the pits so you just keep right and hope you are far enough to the right. "The same if you go to turn three with the trees, it's quite tricky as you have a lot of shadows there," he said. Starting Grid 1st row Jenson Button (GBR/Brawn-Mercedes) Rubens Barrichello (BRA/Brawn-Mercedes) 2nd row Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull-Renault) Robert Kubica (POL/BMW Sauber) 3rd row Nico Rosberg (GER/Williams-Toyota) Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari) 4th row Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull-Renault) 5th row Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW Sauber) Fernando Alonso (ESP/Renault) 6th row Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/Williams-Toyota) Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/McLaren-Mercedes) 7th row Sebastien Buemi (SUI/Toro Rosso-Ferrari) Nelson Piquet Jr (BRA/Renault) 8th row Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/Force India-Ferrari) Adrian Sutil (GER/Force India-Ferrari) 9th row Sebastien Bourdais (FRA/Toro Rosso-Ferrari) Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 10th row Timo Glock (GER/Toyota) Jarno Trulli (ITA/Toyota) |
Australian F1 Grand Prix
F1 Australian GP Top 3 29/03 - Top 3 Odds updated at 18:48:47 Select ONE driver to finish on podium 17:00 Sun 29 Mar 2009 Sportsbet No. Selection (default) Price Amount Total 32037 BUTTON Jenson 1.22 $ 32038 BARRICHELLO Rubens 1.35 $ 32034 VETTEL Sebastien 2.65 $ 32025 KUBICA Robert 2.75 $ 32035 ROSBERG Nico 2.75 $ 32024 MASSA Felipe 3.25 $ 32023 RAIKKONEN Kimi 3.75 $ 32030 GLOCK Timo 5.00 $ 32029 TRULLI Jarno 5.00 $ 32033 WEBBER Mark 5.00 $ 32027 ALONSO Fernando 7.00 $ 32021 HAMILTON Lewis 13.00 $ 32026 HEIDFELD Nick 13.00 $ 32036 NAKAJIMA Kazuki 15.00 $ 32022 KOVALAINEN Heikki 23.00 $ 32028 PIQUET Nelsinho 51.00 $ 32032 BORDAIS Sebastien 67.00 $ 32031 BUEMI Sebastien 67.00 $ 32040 FISICHELLA Giancarlo 81.00 $ 32039 SUTIL Adrian 81.00 $ F1 Australian GP Quinella 29/03 - Quinella Odds updated at 20:36:15 First and Second in any order 17:00 Sun 29 Mar 2009 Sportsbet No. Selection (default) Price Amount Total 32091 Raikkonen/Button 15.00 $ 32092 Raikkonen/Alonso 251.00 $ 32093 Raikkonen/Massa 51.00 $ 32094 Raikkonen/Barrichello 26.00 $ 32095 Raikkonen/Hamilton 401.00 $ 32096 Raikkonen/Kubica 101.00 $ 32097 Raikkonen/Vettel 101.00 $ 32098 Raikkonen/Heidfeld 501.00 $ 32099 Raikkonen/Glock 201.00 $ 32100 Button/Alonso 31.00 $ 32101 Button/Massa 11.00 $ 32102 Button/Barrichello 1.60 $ 32103 Button/Hamilton 41.00 $ 32104 Button/Kubica 11.00 $ 32105 Button/Vettel 11.00 $ 32106 Button/Heidfeld 51.00 $ 32107 Button/Glock 23.00 $ 32108 Alonso/Massa 201.00 $ 32109 Alonso/Barrichello 51.00 $ 32110 Alonso/Hamilton 751.00 $ 32111 Alonso/Kubica 201.00 $ 32112 Alonso/Vettel 201.00 $ 32113 Alonso/Heidfeld 1001.00 $ 32114 Alonso/Glock 401.00 $ 32115 Massa/Barrichello 21.00 $ 32116 Massa/Hamilton 301.00 $ 32117 Massa/Kubica 81.00 $ 32118 Massa/Vettel 81.00 $ 32119 Massa/Heidfeld 401.00 $ 32120 Massa/Glock 151.00 $ 32121 Barrichello/Hamilton 81.00 $ 32122 Barrichello/Kubica 21.00 $ 32123 Barrichello/Vettel 21.00 $ 32124 Barrichello/Heidfeld 101.00 $ 32125 Barrichello/Glock 41.00 $ 32126 Hamilton/Kubica 301.00 $ 32127 Hamilton/Vettel 301.00 $ 32128 Hamilton/Heidfeld 1001.00 $ 32129 Hamilton/Glock 601.00 $ 32130 Kubica/Vettel 81.00 $ 32131 Kubica/Heidfeld 126.00 $ 32132 Kubica/Glock 151.00 $ 32133 Vettel/Heidfeld 401.00 $ 32134 Vettel/Glock 151.00 $ 32135 Heidfeld/Glock 601.00 $ 32136 Combinations Not Quoted 2.50 $ F1 Australian GP Winning Team 29/03 - Winning Team Odds updated at 20:19:41 Team of winning car 17:00 Sun 29 Mar 2009 Sportsbet No. Selection (default) Price Amount Total 32089 Brawn 1.40 $ 32082 Ferrari 7.00 $ 32087 Red Bull 9.00 $ 32083 BMW Sauber 11.00 $ 32088 Williams 11.00 $ 32085 Toyota 13.00 $ 32084 Renault 31.00 $ 32081 McLaren 34.00 $ 32086 Toro Rosso 201.00 $ 32090 Force India 251.00 $ F1 Australian GP Top 8 29/03 - Top 8 Odds updated at 20:01:04 Select ONE driver to finish in Top 8 17:00 Sun 29 Mar 2009 Sportsbet No. Selection (default) Price Amount Total 32057 BUTTON Jenson 1.16 $ 32058 BARRICHELLO Rubens 1.18 $ 32045 KUBICA Robert 1.30 $ 32044 MASSA Felipe 1.30 $ 32043 RAIKKONEN Kimi 1.30 $ 32054 VETTEL Sebastien 1.30 $ 32055 ROSBERG Nico 1.33 $ 32050 GLOCK Timo 1.45 $ 32049 TRULLI Jarno 1.55 $ 32047 ALONSO Fernando 1.85 $ 32046 HEIDFELD Nick 1.90 $ 32053 WEBBER Mark 2.00 $ 32041 HAMILTON Lewis 2.75 $ 32056 NAKAJIMA Kazuki 2.75 $ 32042 KOVALAINEN Heikki 3.00 $ 32048 PIQUET Nelsinho 7.00 $ 32051 BUEMI Sebastien 11.00 $ 32052 BORDAIS Sebastien 13.00 $ 32060 FISICHELLA Giancarlo 15.00 $ 32059 SUTIL Adrian 15.00 $ ^ Top F1 Australian GP Winner 29/03 - Winner Odds updated at 20:39:53 Pays on Podium (over the Line) Position 17:00 Sun 29 Mar 2009 Sportsbet No. Selection (default) Price Amount Total 32017 BUTTON Jenson 2.10 $ 32018 BARRICHELLO Rubens 3.50 $ 32014 VETTEL Sebastien 11.00 $ 32005 KUBICA Robert 12.00 $ 32004 MASSA Felipe 15.00 $ 32003 RAIKKONEN Kimi 15.00 $ 32015 ROSBERG Nico 16.00 $ 32010 GLOCK Timo 31.00 $ 32007 ALONSO Fernando 34.00 $ 32009 TRULLI Jarno 34.00 $ 32013 WEBBER Mark 34.00 $ 32001 HAMILTON Lewis 51.00 $ 32006 HEIDFELD Nick 67.00 $ 32002 KOVALAINEN Heikki 126.00 $ 32016 NAKAJIMA Kazuki 126.00 $ 32008 PIQUET Nelsinho 301.00 $ 32011 BUEMI Sebastien 401.00 $ 32012 BORDAIS Sebastien 501.00 $ 32020 FISICHELLA Giancarlo 501.00 $ 32019 SUTIL Adrian 501.00 $ |
Button wins Australian Grand Prix capping incredible debut for team Brawn
March 29, 2009
Briton Jenson Button won the Australian Formula One Grand Prix as his fledgling team Brawn GP debuted in remarkable one-two style. Button survived an incident-filled race at Melbourne's Albert Park to convert pole position into just his second grand prix victory in 154 starts. The 29-year-old was never headed in the 58-lap race, beating teammate Rubens Barrichello and Toyota's Jarno Trulli. Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton finished fourth in his McLaren. The race finished behind the safety car after Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel and BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica first collided, then crashed separately, when running second and third respectively with three laps remaining. Australian Mark Webber had a nightmarish start to his home town race. He was caught up in a first corner skirmish with several other drivers, causing substantial damage to his Red Bull car and forcing him into an early pit stop which wrecked his hopes of earning championship points. Webber emerged from the pits a lap down. But he eventually finished 13th - the last of the cars to survive the race. F1GP - ING Australian Grand PrixPos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 20 Jenson Button Brawn 01:34:15.7840 2 21 Rubens Barrichello Brawn 01:34:16.5910 3 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 01:34:17.3880 4 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 01:34:18.6980 5 10 Timo Glock Toyota 01:34:20.2190 6 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 01:34:20.6630 7 16 Nico Rosberg Williams 01:34:21.5060 8 12 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 01:34:21.7880 9 11 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso 01:34:22.0820 10 18 Adrian Sutil Force India 01:34:22.1190 11 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 01:34:22.8690 12 19 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India 01:34:23.1580 13 14 Mark Webber Red Bull +1 Lap 14 15 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull +2 Laps 15 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +3 Laps 16 4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +3 Laps 17 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari DNF 18 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault DNF 19 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams DNF 20 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren DNF |
Webber's firsr corner crash one of the most frustrating moments of his career
March 29, 2009
The first corner carnage that ruined Mark Webber's Australian Grand Prix was one of the most frustrating and disappointing things to happen in his motor racing career. The Australian had shown speed through practice and qualifying and his Red Bull car started the Formula One season-opener from eighth on the grid. But any hope of bettering his fifth place finishes in 2002 and 2005 were gone inside the opening 10 seconds of Sunday's race. Webber was caught in a first-corner sandwich between Brawn GP's Rubens Barrichello, BMW-Sauber's Nick Heidfeld and Heikki Kovalainen's McLaren, and his car emerged sliced and diced. "It's one of the most frustrating and disappointing things that's happened to me," Webber said immediately after the race. "All the people come to see you at your home track, you're hoping for a good race for them, and that happens on the first lap. "These things (cars) don't do demolition derbies too well." Webber was forced into a pit stop for running repairs which put him a lap down, though he did keep circling to eventually finish 13th. But the damage had been done to his car - losing downforce and making handling cumbersome for the remaining 57 laps. Webber felt Barrichello, who went on to finish second to Brawn GP teammate Jenson Button, was to blame on first impression. "I thought it was all okay until Rubens arrived but I haven't seen it, so it's hard to tell. The damage to the car was done from that point," Webber said. "I lost virtually all downforce after that." But Barrichello blamed another car for nudging him into the 32-year-old Australian. Webber, who went into his home GP still recovering from a broken leg and shoulder competing in an off-season adventure race in Tasmania, looks to be facing a challenging year. While he limped around Albert Park, Webber's German teammate Sebastian Vettel showed rocket-like speed throughout to sit second until he crashed spectacularly with three laps left. Vettel's tangle with third-placed Robert Kubica's BMW-Sauber brought out the safety car to close an eventful GP. Vettel - 11 years Webber's junior and clearly F1's coming man - showed enough speed to raise the bar for both his Red Bull team and his Australian teammate. But the youngster still finished one place behind the veteran. |
Brawn GP axe 270 jobs shortly after maiden Grand Prix victory
March 30, 2009
Less than 24 hours after their Australian Grand Prix fairytale, Formula One newcomers Brawn GP have sacked more than 270 workers. Brawn GP chief executive Nick Fry confirmed one-third of the F1 team's workforce would be cut - announcing the mass sackings at their factory in England amid the euphoria of Briton Jenson Button's victory in Melbourne. "It's about 270 (job losses)," Fry told the BBC. "We are about 700 people at the moment and we talked to the staff about going down to about 430, which is where we were in 2004. "It's very unfortunate that we've got to do that but it's the change of technical regulations and obviously we are now a private team." Brawn GP arose from the ashes of the now-defunct Honda - the team's spot on the F1 grid saved at the last minute by a management buyout. But after inheriting a huge staff and needing fewer workers because of this year's change in F1 rules banning mid-season testing, Fry said the job cuts were inevitable. It has shattered the feel-good factor around the team's remarkable one-two finish in their debut Grand Prix, with Button leading home Brazilian Rubens Barrichello. The team also signed Richard Branson's Virgin Group as a major sponsor in Melbourne at the weekend. Despite their Albert Park win and the promise of a new world order in the sport as Ferrari and McLaren struggled to keep pace with them, Brawn GP will also have to sweat it out until April 14 to find out if their controversial rear diffusers are legal. F1's governing body, the FIA, will hear appeals from Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault over the diffusers used by Brawn, Williams and Toyota. Stewards in Melbourne ruled they were legal ahead of the season-opening Grand Prix, allowing their use until the appeal is heard. But if the FIA appeals court rules against the technology, Brawn face having their Australian GP victory struck out, as well as losing any points they earn at the Malaysian GP this weekend. Not that it bothers Button, who believes his car is legal. "That's nothing we can change as drivers," Button said. "We're here to put on a show, and also to get the best out of the equipment on offer, which is exactly what we did over the weekend. "We will continue to do so over the next few races or for the whole of the season, and we have to see what happens. "At the moment, I'm enjoying this victory because it is a victory, and I think it should stand." Honda, which quit the sport in December, also joined in the congratulations for Brawn GP's debut win. "We are incredibly delighted that our teammates, with whom we worked until last season, have started from extremely difficult circumstances to earn this victory," Honda said in a statement. Mark Webber's Red Bull team head to Malaysia licking their wounds after a tough start to the year. Webber was caught in a multi-car shunt on the first corner in Melbourne, putting him a lap down, though he kept circling to trail the field in 13th place. And young gun Sebastian Vettel faces a 10-place penalty on the Malaysian grid for causing the late-race collision with BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica as the pair duelled for podium finishes. He also was fined $72,000. |
Jenson Button wins Malaysian Grand Prix after race is abandoned
April 05, 2009
Jenson Button has won a chaotic Malaysian Grand Prix for a second straight victory after the race was abandoned on 32 laps when a ferocious storm lashed the Sepang circuit. Nick Heidfeld in his BMW Sauber came second, benefiting from pitting only once to Button's four times in a race that became a lottery. Timo Glock in a Toyota was third. It was finally halted after 32 laps as rain pelted down, lightning flashed around the circuit and visibility deteriorated, the first time since Brazil in 2003 that a race has been called off due to weather. Formula One supremos must take some of the blame after pushing for a 5:00pm local time start instead of its regular 3:00 pm slot to satisfy European television audiences. With tropical Malaysia routinely getting wild storms, it was clear that if one hit during the 56-lap race they would have trouble finishing with daylight disappearing. Toyota's Jarno Trulli came fourth, Rubens Barrichello in the other Brawn was fifth and Mark Webber in the Red Bull was sixth. World champion Lewis Hamilton picked valuable points by coming seventh with Nico Rosberg filling out the top eight. However, the drivers and constructors only get half the usual number of points with the race halted at less than three-quarter distance. With black clouds threatening rain, the race got off to a sensational start with pole-sitter Button half asleep as the lights turned green. The Briton, who won last week in Melbourne, went to the first corner in fourth behind Rosberg, Trulli and Fernando Alonso. Undeterred, Button soon woke up and sped past Alonso before the opening lap was over and started closing on the leaders. "My start was pretty bad. I don't think I'd got enough heat in the tyres and had a lot of oversteer," said Button, who began on pole and now has 15 points in the drivers' standings ahead of his teammate on 10. "But I went back to fourth, got up to third, eventually got back up to the front and I was pretty happy with that, our pace was pretty good." "Choosing the tyres was very difficult, because normally here when it rains it pours, but it didn't to start with," he said. "We went for the full wet tyre and it destroyed itself, and then I saw Timo (Glock) flying up behind us with the inter, so we put the intermediates on. "Just as he came by I saw his tyres were bald and it was raining out the back, so he was struggling quite a lot and had to pit. "I got one lap in on the inter at a reasonable pace and was able to get in and put the wet tyre on and get back in front." Barrichello, who started ninth with a five-place grid penalty for changing his gearbox, stormed up to fourth and the top four started to pull away. By lap eight, they had a 13-second gap on fifth-placed Alonso, clearly benefiting from their controversial rear diffusers. Only Williams, Toyota and Brawn have them fitted and they have been the subject of protests by BMW Sauber, Ferrari, Renault, Red Bull who claim they are contrary to the rules, generating more down force. While the the top four were flying, there was disaster for the troubled McLaren team with Heikki Kovalainen careering onto the gravel on the opening lap and crashing out. Robert Kubica in his BMW Sauber also had a race to forget, stalling on the grid and only completing one lap. Leader Rosberg made his first pit stop on lap 15 and came out fourth. Trulli followed a lap later, along with Button and Barrichello. They all elected slick tyres despite the threat of rain and when the dust settled Button was leading ahead of Rosberg, Trulli and Barrichello. It was a mistake as the rain started to fall just minutes later and they were forced back in to get their wets, but all emerged in the same 1-4 formation. Button was firing, pulling 18 seconds clear of Rosberg by lap 27 but Glock, running on intermediate tyres, was clocking four seconds a lap faster and rapidly making inroads. The leaders soon realised that's what they needed too and all went into the pits again but as soon as they came out it started raining again, so back in they went. As the conditions worsened, the safety car was deployed and the red flag was raised. The race was finally abandoned 50 minutes after it was first stopped. F1GP Ladders F1 Drivers Ladder Updated APR 2009 Driver Team Pts 1 Jenson Button (GBR) Brawn 15 2 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Brawn 10 3 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 8.5 4 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 8 5 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 4 6 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 4 7 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 3.5 8 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 2 9 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 1.5 10 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 1 11 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 1 12 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 0 13 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 0 14 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 0 15 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 0 16 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 0 17 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 0 18 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 0 19 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 0 20 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 0 Updated APR 2009 Team Pts 1 Brawn 25 2 Toyota 16.5 3 BMW Sauber 4 4 Renault 4 5 Williams 3.5 6 Toro Rosso 3 7 Red Bull 1.5 8 McLaren 1 9 Force India 0 10 Ferrari 0 |
Ron Dennis quits as McLaren Forumla One chief executive
April 16, 2009
Ron Dennis has quit as chief executive of McLaren, handing over to team principal Martin Whitmarsh, the Formula One team. Ron Dennis has quit as chief executive of McLaren, handing over to team principal Martin Whitmarsh, the Formula One team said. Dennis is to focus on the automotive side of the company, with the aim of launching a new McLaren sports car in 2011. The 61-year-old, who has been involved with Formula One for 43 years, took over as McLaren Racing boss in 1981, but handed that responsibility to Whitmarsh earlier this year. Although Dennis attended the season-opening Australian Grand Prix last month, he then chose not to attend the subsequent race in Malaysia, the first time he had not been present for many years. McLaren, home to world champion Lewis Hamilton, were recently embroiled in a damaging controversy after being accused of giving false information to race stewards about Hamilton's tactics in the Melbourne Grand Prix, which resulted in a penalty for Toyota's Jarno Trulli. "I passed the role of team principal to Martin on January 16, the day of the launch of our new Formula One car," Dennis said. "That day I was asked many times whether I would attend the 2009 Australian Grand Prix. My answer was 'yes'. "I duly attended it - albeit not as the person in charge of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. It was, I admit, a strange feeling. "The next race, the Malaysian Grand Prix, I watched on TV in the UK - an activity I found surprisingly easy. "I'd expected to be more emotional about it, after an unbroken run of attending so many grands prix for so many years." Dennis has endured a stormy relationship with Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone and FIA president Max Mosley and admitted he didn't go out of his way to cultivate good relations with the sport's bosses. "I admit I'm not always easy to get on with. I admit I've always fought hard for McLaren in Formula One," he said. "I doubt if Max Mosley or Bernie Ecclestone will be displeased by my decision. But no-one asked me to do it. It was my decision. "Equally, I was the architect of this restructure of the McLaren Group. Again, no-one asked me to do it. It was my decision. "I feel enormously enthused about the prospects for the McLaren Group and for McLaren Automotive, and have no qualms about leaving Martin to report to the board regarding matters connected with Formula One." |
Sebastian Vettel grabs pole for Chinese Grand Prix with Mark Webber third
April 18, 2009
Sebastian Vettel grabbed Red Bull's first pole position when he clocked a late fastest lap to top the times in a gripping qualifying session for the Chinese Grand Prix. The 21-year-old German, who joined the team from sister outfit Toro Rosso after earning his first career win at last year's Italian Grand Prix, went out late and nailed it in the final seconds. Resurgent two-times world champion Fernando Alonso from Spain took second for Renault in a car fitted overnight with new floor parts and a new diffuser, his team having worked until 5am to complete the job. "I am very, very happy," Vettel said, a popular driver in the paddock who combines a cheeky sense of humour with a serious approach to racing. "For me, this is unbelievable. We had a few problems with the car this morning and we were running a bit late like we did in Melbourne. "But it seems the less I run in free practice, the better I am in qualifying. This is great." Australian Mark Webber was third in the second Red Bull ahead of Brazilian Rubens Barrichello in the leading Brawn, with his teammate Briton Jenson Button fifth after taking pole in Australia and Malaysia. Italian Jarno Trulli took sixth place for Toyota with German Nico Rosberg seventh for Williams and Finn Kimi Raikkonen eighth for Ferrari. Defending world champion Briton Lewis Hamilton was ninth for McLaren Mercedes while Switzerland's Sebastien Buemi took 10th for Toro Rosso. On a bright day with sunshine, qualifying began with a familiar 2009 story as the two Brawn car roared to the top of the timesheets. But Q1 was a less happy mini-session for the BMW Sauber team and the luckless Robert Kubica from Poland who failed to make the cut. He was 18th fastest and a weekend of experiments with KERS continued disappointingly. Also out went the two Force Indias of German Adrian Sutil and Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, along with Brazilian Nelson Piquet of Renault and Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais of Toro Rosso. In Q2, there was more confirmation that the field was tightening up and some improvements at Ferrari and Renault as the two Red Bulls topped the times. Vettel was quickest with teammate Webber second ahead of Barrichello and Button, third and fourth. All of the cars were running with the lightest possible fuel loads. This session saw Kubica's BMW teammate German Nick Heidfeld fail to make the cut as he qualified 11th ahead of Finn Heikki Kovalainen in his McLaren Mercedes. Brazilian Felipe Massa of Ferrari will start 13th, German Timo Glock in a Toyota was 14th and Japan's Kazuki Nakajima in a Williams was 15th quickest. Starting grid1st row Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull-Renault) Fernando Alonso (ESP/Renault) 2nd row Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull-Renault) Rubens Barrichello (BRA/Brawn-Mercedes) 3rd row Jenson Button (GBR/Brawn-Mercedes) Jarno Trulli (ITA/Toyota) 4th row Nico Rosberg (GER/Williams-Toyota) Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) 5th row Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) Sebastien Buemi (SUI/Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 6th row Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW Sauber) Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/McLaren-Mercedes) 7th row Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari) Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/Williams-Toyota) 8th row Sebastien Bourdais (FRA/Toro Rosso-Ferrari) Nelson Piquet Jr (BRA/Renault) 9th row Robert Kubica (POL/BMW Sauber) Adrian Sutil (GER/Force India-Mercedes) 10th row Timo Glock (GER/Toyota) Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/Force India-Mercedes) Glock was handed a five-place grid penalty for changing his gearbox and starts from the last row. |
NSW Fixed Odds
China F1 GP
F1 China GP Quinella 19/04 - Quinella Odds updated at 22:19:45 First and Second in any order 17:00 Sun 19 Apr 2009 Sportsbet No. Selection (default) Price Amount Total 32071 Button/Barrichello 3.25 $ 32072 Button/Raikkonen 34.00 $ 32073 Button/Massa 67.00 $ 32074 Button/Kubica 81.00 $ 32075 Button/Hamilton 23.00 $ 32076 Button/Alonso 10.00 $ 32077 Button/Trulli 19.00 $ 32078 Button/Rosberg 26.00 $ 32079 Button/Glock 67.00 $ 32080 Barrichello/Raikkonen 51.00 $ 32081 Barrichello/Massa 101.00 $ 32082 Barrichello/Kubica 126.00 $ 32083 Barrichello/Hamilton 34.00 $ 32084 Barrichello/Alonso 17.00 $ 32085 Barrichello/Trulli 31.00 $ 32086 Barrichello/Rosberg 41.00 $ 32087 Barrichello/Glock 101.00 $ 32088 Raikkonen/Massa 51.00 $ 32089 Raikkonen/Kubica 401.00 $ 32090 Raikkonen/Hamilton 151.00 $ 32091 Raikkonen/Alonso 81.00 $ 32092 Raikkonen/Trulli 151.00 $ 32093 Raikkonen/Rosberg 251.00 $ 32094 Raikkonen/Glock 401.00 $ 32095 Massa/Kubica 501.00 $ 32096 Massa/Hamilton 301.00 $ 32097 Massa/Alonso 151.00 $ 32098 Massa/Trulli 301.00 $ 32099 Massa/Rosberg 401.00 $ 32100 Massa/Glock 501.00 $ 32101 Kubica/Hamilton 401.00 $ 32102 Kubica/Alonso 201.00 $ 32103 Kubica/Trulli 401.00 $ 32104 Kubica/Rosberg 501.00 $ 32105 Kubica/Glock 501.00 $ 32106 Hamilton/Alonso 51.00 $ 32107 Hamilton/Trulli 101.00 $ 32108 Hamilton/Rosberg 126.00 $ 32109 Hamilton/Glock 301.00 $ 32110 Alonso/Trulli 41.00 $ 32111 Alonso/Rosberg 67.00 $ 32112 Alonso/Glock 151.00 $ 32113 Trulli/Rosberg 126.00 $ 32114 Trulli/Glock 51.00 $ 32115 Rosberg/Glock 401.00 $ 32116 Combinations Not Quoted 1.25 $ F1 China GP Winner 19/04 - Winner Odds updated at 22:12:15 Pays on Podium (over the Line) Position 17:00 Sun 19 Apr 2009 Sportsbet No. Selection (default) Price Amount Total 32017 BUTTON Jenson 3.25 $ 32014 VETTEL Sebastien 4.00 $ 32018 BARRICHELLO Rubens 5.00 $ 32007 ALONSO Fernando 8.00 $ 32013 WEBBER Mark 9.00 $ 32009 TRULLI Jarno 15.00 $ 32001 HAMILTON Lewis 17.00 $ 32015 ROSBERG Nico 21.00 $ 32003 RAIKKONEN Kimi 26.00 $ 32010 GLOCK Timo 51.00 $ 32004 MASSA Felipe 51.00 $ 32006 HEIDFELD Nick 67.00 $ 32005 KUBICA Robert 67.00 $ 32002 KOVALAINEN Heikki 81.00 $ 32011 BUEMI Sebastien 151.00 $ 32016 NAKAJIMA Kazuki 151.00 $ 32008 PIQUET Nelsinho 201.00 $ 32012 BORDAIS Sebastien 401.00 $ 32020 FISICHELLA Giancarlo 751.00 $ 32019 SUTIL Adrian 751.00 $ F1 China GP Top 3 19/04 - Top 3 Odds updated at 21:01:24 Pays on Podium (over the Line) Position 17:00 Sun 19 Apr 2009 Sportsbet No. Selection (default) Price Amount Total 32034 VETTEL Sebastien 1.50 $ 32037 BUTTON Jenson 1.55 $ 32038 BARRICHELLO Rubens 1.70 $ 32027 ALONSO Fernando 2.50 $ 32033 WEBBER Mark 2.50 $ 32029 TRULLI Jarno 3.00 $ 32021 HAMILTON Lewis 4.00 $ 32035 ROSBERG Nico 4.00 $ 32023 RAIKKONEN Kimi 6.00 $ 32030 GLOCK Timo 11.00 $ 32026 HEIDFELD Nick 11.00 $ 32024 MASSA Felipe 11.00 $ 32025 KUBICA Robert 13.00 $ 32022 KOVALAINEN Heikki 17.00 $ 32031 BUEMI Sebastien 26.00 $ 32036 NAKAJIMA Kazuki 31.00 $ 32028 PIQUET Nelsinho 51.00 $ 32032 BORDAIS Sebastien 61.00 $ 32040 FISICHELLA Giancarlo 81.00 $ 32039 SUTIL Adrian 101.00 $ F1 China GP Top 8 19/04 - Top 8 Odds updated at 20:56:27 Pays on Podium (over the Line) Position 17:00 Sun 19 Apr 2009 Sportsbet No. Selection (default) Price Amount Total 32057 BUTTON Jenson 1.22 $ 32058 BARRICHELLO Rubens 1.25 $ 32047 ALONSO Fernando 1.33 $ 32049 TRULLI Jarno 1.35 $ 32054 VETTEL Sebastien 1.35 $ 32041 HAMILTON Lewis 1.40 $ 32053 WEBBER Mark 1.40 $ 32043 RAIKKONEN Kimi 1.50 $ 32055 ROSBERG Nico 1.60 $ 32046 HEIDFELD Nick 2.10 $ 32042 KOVALAINEN Heikki 2.10 $ 32044 MASSA Felipe 2.25 $ 32051 BUEMI Sebastien 2.50 $ 32050 GLOCK Timo 3.00 $ 32045 KUBICA Robert 3.00 $ 32056 NAKAJIMA Kazuki 3.50 $ 32048 PIQUET Nelsinho 6.00 $ 32052 BORDAIS Sebastien 7.00 $ 32059 SUTIL Adrian 9.00 $ 32060 FISICHELLA Giancarlo 10.00 $ ^ Top F1 China GP Winning Team 19/04 - Winning Team Odds updated at 18:53:46 Team of winning car 17:00 Sun 19 Apr 2009 Sportsbet No. Selection (default) Price Amount Total 32069 Brawn 2.25 $ 32067 Red Bull 2.50 $ 32064 Renault 7.50 $ 32065 Toyota 11.00 $ 32068 Williams 13.00 $ 32062 Ferrari 17.00 $ 32061 McLaren 19.00 $ 32063 BMW Sauber 31.00 $ 32066 Toro Rosso 101.00 $ 32070 Force India 251.00 $ |
Mark Webber finishes second as Red Bull claim one-two in Chinese GP
April 19, 2009
Sebastian Vettel won the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday ahead of Australian teammate Mark Webber, handing Red Bull Racing their first Formula One victory. Webber achieved his best ever result in Formula One by finishing second in a rain-soaked race in Shanghai. Championship leading Briton Jenson Button finished third for the Brawn GP team ahead of his teammate, veteran Brazilian Rubens Barrichello. After qualifying third-fastest, Webber - who had to recover from a broken leg in the off-season - finished almost 11 seconds behind his teammate to achieve only his third podium placing in seven years in Formula One. He finished third at the Nurburgring in the German Grand Prix in 2007 and achieved the same result in Monaco in 2005 when racing for Williams. "They were tough conditions so it's extremely rewarding," Webber said, celebrating the result with his father, who flew in from Australia to join him. "It's the best result of my career and I'm hoping to go one step better in the future. "But it's an incredible result for Red Bull ... it means a huge amount to us all. "I like to share my results with the team. Our team has been through a lot, a lot of results slipped through our fingers." The second placing moved him to fifth on the 2009 drivers standings, 11.5 points behind leader Button, who commended Red Bull after the race. "We couldn't challenge these two guys today, who were immensely quick,'' Button conceded. After finishing 13th in the season opener in Melbourne and sixth in Malaysia, Webber is now in a strong position to enjoy his best season in the sport after many frustrating campaigns. His German teammate Vettel, the 21-year-old who claimed his maiden win for the Toro Rosso team in similar weather at last year's Italian Grand Prix, dominated from pole position in Shanghai. It endorsed his status as the sport's new young rising star - his pole and victory at Monza last year made him the youngest driver in F1 history to achieve such feats. "I am extremely happy," Vettel said after the race. "The team did a really, really good job in preparing the car. "We found the problem. That speaks for the quality of the team." There were encouraging signs that McLaren are starting to find their feet with Finn Heikki Kovalainen and defending world champion Briton Lewis Hamilton finishing fifth and sixth. Germany's Timo Glock was seventh for Toyota and Swiss rookie Sebastien Buemi, just 20, came home eighth to claim the final point for Toro Rosso. But Ferrari again failed to score for the third time this season -- now their worst start to a racing year since 1981. Brazilian Felipe Massa retired with mechanical problems and Finn Kimi Raikkonen came in a midfield position without threatening to pick up any points. And there was disappointment for Force India which looked on course for its first ever Formula One point with Adrian Sutil in sixth with five laps to go, but the German lost control of his car and crashed out. The race was started under a safety car and there were two further spells of safety car intervention due to the dreadful weather and a spate of accidents and collisions. The championship continues in Bahrain next weekend. F1GP - Chinese Grand Prix Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 15 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 01:57:43.4850 2 14 Mark Webber Red Bull 01:57:54.4550 3 20 Jenson Button Brawn 01:58:28.4600 4 21 Rubens Barrichello Brawn 01:58:47.1890 5 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren 01:58:48.5870 6 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 01:58:55.3510 7 10 Timo Glock Toyota 01:58:57.9610 8 12 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 01:58:59.9240 9 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 01:59:07.7940 10 4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 01:59:15.2350 11 11 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso 01:59:17.6410 12 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 01:59:19.3190 13 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 01:59:30.3380 14 19 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India +1 Lap 15 16 Nico Rosberg Williams +1 Lap 16 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault +1 Lap 17 18 Adrian Sutil Force India DNF 18 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota DNF 19 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams DNF 20 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari DNF F1 Drivers Ladder Driver Team Pts 1 Jenson Button (GBR) Brawn 21 2 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Brawn 15 3 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 10 4 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 10 5 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 9.5 6 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 8.5 7 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 4 8 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 4 9 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 4 10 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 4 11 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 3.5 12 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 3 13 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 1 14 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 0 14 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 0 14 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 0 14 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 0 14 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 0 14 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 0 14 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 0 Team Pts 1 Brawn 36 2 Renault 19.5 2 Red Bull 19.5 2 Toyota 18.5 4 McLaren 8 5 BMW Sauber 4 5 Toro Rosso 4 8 Williams 3.5 9 Ferrari 0 9 Force India 0 |
Luckless Mark Webber says his Bahrain Grand Prix is "screwed"
April 26, 2009
Australian Formula One driver Mark Webber says his Bahrain Grand Prix has been "screwed" following an incident in qualifying on Saturday. Webber was blocked by German Adrian Sutil approaching the final corner of his flying last lap in the day's opening qualifying session. Sutil claimed innocence but was judged by stewards to have "unnecessarily impeded another driver" and penalised three grid places, relegating him from 16th to 19th. "I didn't know Mark Webber was on a flying lap. I was trying to leave space for Alonso, there was a little misunderstanding," Sutil said. It meant Webber, who was left with the 19th fastest time from an earlier lap, will start in 18th on the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver was fuming after the qualifying session. "It was the worst corner to be nailed on and, for me, it is an absolute disaster," Webber, who finished second in last week's Chinese Grand Prix, said. Force India driver Sutil later apologised to Webber for his role in the incident. "It was a big confusion. I thought he was just on an 'out-lap' so it is my fault," he said. "I am going to see him now, absolutely, to say sorry." The day was a much better one for Toyota's Jarno Trulli, who claimed pole position with a scorching final lap in the third qualifying session. The Italian veteran will line-up alongside Toyota teammate Timo Glock in a one-two for the Japanese manufacturer. Webber's teammate Sebastian Vettel, who won the Chinese GP, will start third, with championship leader Jenson Button of Brawn GP in fourth position. For Trulli, it was the fourth pole of his career. Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton was fifth for McLaren Mercedes ahead of Brazilian Rubens Barrichello in the second Brawn, two-times champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Renault and Brazilian Felipe Massa, for Ferrari. German Nico Rosberg was ninth for Williams and Finn Kimi Raikkonen 10th for Ferrari, a result that gives the team a chance of ending their worst start to a season since 1981. On another bone dry and very hot day, the air temperature was 38 degrees Celsius and the track temperature was 51 degrees as qualifying began and the drama unfolded. In the opening part of the session, the McLaren Mercedes were swiftly out and into their rhythm using the super-soft tyres while others - notably Brawn and Toyota - were more cautious in their choice of rubber - a recipe that ensured last-minute tension as they pushed for a time in the closing minutes. In the scorching conditions it was predicted that the drivers would lose two or even three kilos in weight during the session through dehydration. The McLarens were overhauled by the two Toyotas as the session unfolded and then Vettel, the 21-year-old German who won last Sunday's maiden victory for Red Bull in China. Bahrain GP Grid 1. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota 2. Timo Glock, Germany, Toyota 3. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Red Bull 4. Jenson Button, Britain, Brawn GP 5. Lewis Hamilton, Britain, McLaren 6. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Brawn GP 7. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault 8. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari 9. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Williams 10. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Ferrari 11. Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, McLaren 12. Kazuki Nakajima, Japan, Williams 13. Robert Kubica, Poland, BMW Sauber 14. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW Sauber 15. Nelson Piquet Jr., Brazil, Renault 16. Sebastien Buemi, Switzerland, Toro Rosso 17. Giancarlo Fisichella, Italy, Force India 18. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull 19. x-Adrian Sutil, Germany, Force India 20. Sebastien Bourdais, France, Toro Rosso x-denotes penalised three grid places for blocking another driver in qualifying. |
Jenson Button wins Bahrain Grand Prix
April 27, 2009
Jenson Button has consolidated his lead in this year's title race with a masterful triumph for Brawn GP in a closely-contested and supremely-tactical Bahrain Grand Prix. The 29-year-old, who won in Australia and Malaysia and finished third in last weekend's rain-soaked race in China, came home 7.2 seconds ahead of German Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull, the victor in China. A delighted Button, who had set off from fourth on the grid, said: "Phew! That was a tough race, not at all easy. The team did a brilliant job. We haven't had the pace here that we showed we had at the first two races so it was important in other ways. "For me, the first pit stop was very important and luckily I made it work thanks to getting into third place at the end of the first lap. From there on, it was tough, but it was really enjoyable. A more satisfying win than any other because it proves we are here to stay now." Vettel said: "This is a good point for the team. I was very surprised when Lewis (Hamilton) came up beside me on the first lap and later on I just did not have the tyres to attack and do any better." Italian Jarno Trulli, who started from pole for Toyota, finished third ahead of defending world champion Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren Mercedes and Brazilian Rubens Barrichello of Brawn. In sixth was Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who finally claimed points for Ferrari, so ending their hugely-disappointing start to this season and avoiding the ignominy of recording their worst start in history. Trulli said: "I'm a little bit disappointed. I wanted to get the first win for Toyota. We had a long second stint on hard tyres. Then eventually, Sebastian took the position after the last stop. He was on hard tyres, so I pushed, but I couldn't get past him." Hamilton, having completed his best race so far this year, said: "I'm delighted, considering we started fifth. We had a great start, but it was so hard to keep up with the Red Bull and the Toyotas and Brawn. It was impossible. We've got to keep pushing but this is good for the team." Button's win, conjured up by team chief Ross Brawn who produced a commanding strategy from the pit wall, confirmed his place at the top of the drivers world championship with 31 points, 12 points clear of teammate Barrichello. This was the first 'normal' dry race of 2009 after three contests overshadowed by the use of safety cars and rainstorms and proved how fast the leading teams - Brawn and Red Bull and Toyota - are this season. Created out of the ruins of the defunct Honda outfit, Brawn are on top of the constructors title race with a clear advantage of 50 points to Red Bull's 27.5. On a bone dry and very hot day, with the air temperature reaching 37 degrees and the track at 51-degrees Celsius, the race was preceded by concerns on the grid that many of the cars may find the heat too much. Brawn in particular were worried by their fluid temperatures and sections of the Brawn cars' bodywork were cut away at the rear before the race, according to Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley. Ferrari president Luca di Montezemelo was a nervous figure in the team garage and he remained in the shade while rock music stars Eric Clapton and Robert Plant rubbed shoulders with HRH the Crown Prince of Bahrain on a crowded pre-race grid. Williams team founder Sir Frank Williams was also present for the first time at a race this season and also the Virgin head Sir Richard Branson, a major sponsor of the Brawn team. When the lights went out Trulli led into the first corner with Hamilton, making good use of his KERS, wriggling through from fifth to take third. The champion then briefly snatched second on the opening lap, but ran wide and slipped back to third before being relegated to fourth when he was out-braked superbly by Button at the first turn of the second lap. Button had the lead after lap 11 but when he and Hamilton pitted after 15 laps Vettel took over in front with Raikkonen, at this stage, lying second. Vettel then pitted and Raikkonen followed after 22 laps, leaving Button out in front and stretching his lead. After 37 laps, Button, Trulli and Hamilton all pitted together leaving Vettel out in front. Vettel returned ahead of Trulli after his second stop but Button, out in front again, was not to be denied his moment in the sun. F1GP - Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 20 Jenson Button Brawn 01:31:48.1820 2 15 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 01:31:55.3690 3 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 01:31:57.3520 4 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 01:32:10.2780 5 21 Rubens Barrichello Brawn 01:32:25.9610 6 4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 01:32:30.2390 7 10 Timo Glock Toyota 01:32:31.0620 8 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 01:32:40.9570 9 16 Nico Rosberg Williams 01:32:46.3800 10 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault 01:32:53.3310 11 14 Mark Webber Red Bull 01:32:55.8230 12 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren 01:33:06.0060 13 11 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso 01:33:06.9870 14 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari +1 Lap 15 19 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India +1 Lap 16 18 Adrian Sutil Force India +1 Lap 17 12 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso +1 Lap 18 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +1 Lap 19 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +1 Lap 20 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams DNF Overall StandingsDrivers 1. Jenson Button (GBR) 31.0pts 2. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) 19.0 3. Sebastian Vettel (GER) 18.0 4. Jarno Trulli (ITA) 14.5, 5. Timo Glock (GER) 12.0 6. Mark Webber (AUS) 9.5 7. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 9.0 8. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 5.0 9. Nick Heidfeld (GER) 4.0 10. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) 4.0 11. Nico Rosberg (GER) 3.5 12. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) 3.0 13. Sebastien Buemi (SUI) 3.0 14. Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) 1.0 Constructors 1. Brawn 50.0pts 2. Red Bull 27.5 3. Toyota 26.5 4. McLaren 13.0 5. Renault 5.0 6. BMW Sauber 4.0 7. Toro Rosso 4.0 8. Williams 3.5 9. Ferrari 3.0 |
McLaren receive suspended three-race ban
April 29, 2009
McLaren were on Wednesday handed a suspended three-race ban for bringing the sport into disrepute, announced motorsport's governing body, the FIA. Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes-backed British-based team were in the dock on five counts of misleading stewards at the season-opening race in Melbourne. The FIA said in a statement that, at an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council, McLaren had "admitted five charges of breaching article 151c of the International Sporting Code relating to events at the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix". "Having regard to the open and honest way in which McLaren Team Principal, Mr Martin Whitmarsh, addressed the WMSC and the change in culture which he made clear has taken place in his organisation, the WMSC decided to suspend the application of the penalty it deems appropriate," the FIA said. "That penalty is a suspension of the team from three races of the FIA Formula One World Championship. This will only be applied if further facts emerge regarding the case or if, in the next 12 months, there is a further breach by the team of article 151c of the International Sporting Code." In Melbourne, Toyota's Jarno Trulli slid off the track when the safety car was out and was passed by Hamilton who then let the Italian re-overtake. The stewards in Australia promoted Hamilton to third, ruling that Trulli had illegally overtaken the world champion after being told by Hamilton and McLaren's sporting director Dave Ryan that there had been no instructions to let Trulli pass. At a second meeting Hamilton and Ryan stuck to their story, only for it to later emerge that Hamilton had in fact let Trulli pass, on instructions from his team. The fall-out for McLaren has already been extensive, with the widely respected Ryan sacked, and Ron Dennis stepping aside as team boss, to be replaced by Whitmarsh. Hamilton, who issued a public apology after the incident, has escaped punishment from the FIA. The Briton, whose title defence has got off to a wretched start, has harvested just nine points from the first four races of the season, 22 points adrift of his compatriot Jenson Button of the Brawn team. The next race is the Spanish Grand Prix on May 10. |
Angry Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen hints at quitting F1 over cap plans
May 09, 2009
Ferrari F1 ace Kimi Raikkonen says he could quit the sport over controversial plans to introduce a budget cap and a two-tier championship. The sport's ruling body, the International Motoring Federation (FIA), has announced it plans to impose a voluntary cap in 2010 - a decision that has created serious unrest among the teams. It is believed they are planning to boycott a May 29 deadline for entries to be made for next year's championship as they press for further discussions. Raikkonen, whose contract expires in 2010, says if the proposals are carried through it may drive him out of F1. “This is not F1 anymore. That's why there is a question mark. We'll see what happens,'' the Finn said in a BBC interview. “There are a lot of question marks and nobody seems to know what kind of rules we are going to get,'' said Raikkonen, who won the world championship in 2007. He added: “I'm happy where I am now, I have a contract for next year then it's more or less my decision what I want to do. “We'll see how it goes and how F1 is going. There are a lot of question marks. Nobody seems to know what kind of rules we are going to get. “I will definitely finish my contract but I'm not in a hurry and we'll wait and see.'' When asked if Ferrari would still contest F1 if a budget cap were introduced, Raikkonen said: “I don't know. There are a lot of question marks and I'm not the guy to answer those.'' “There needs to be a reasonable budget for everybody,'' he added. “It would be nice to get close racing; we are getting there now but it still needs to improve. “But it's hard to put the bigger and smaller teams on the same level as it's very difficult to make everybody happy.'' |
Jensen Button leaves it late to grab pole for the Spanish Grand Prix
May 09, 2009
Championship leader Jenson Button grabbed pole position for the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix in his Brawn GP with a dramatic last-gasp final lap in a thrilling qualifying session. Button, who has won three of the four races this year, clocked a time of 1min 20.527sec in the third qualifying session to claim the No.1 spot on the grid ahead of German Sebastian Vettel, in a Red Bull. Mark Webber was fifth in the other Red Bull, the Australian having run second fastest in both earlier sessions. As fellow Briton and reigning champion Lewis Hamilton failed to make the last 10 cut for the third qualifying session, Button's third pole so far this year proved that he and Brawn remain the outfit to beat in the 66-lap race at the Circuit de Catalunya. Vettel, 21, who has emerged this season as a champion of the future, was second ahead of Button's Brawn team-mate Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa. Massa's Ferrari team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen, made a shock early exit when he was knocked out in the first part of the session . Sixth fastest was German Timo Glock followed by Toyota team-mate Italian Jarno Trulli. Two-times champion Fernando Alonso of Spain was eighth for Renault ahead of German Nico Rosberg in a Williams and Poland's Robert Kubica in a BMW Sauber. Starting grid 1. Jenson Button (ENG/BRA) 2. Sebastian Vettel (GER/RBR) 3. Rubens Barrichello (BRA/BRA) 4. Felipe Massa (BRA/FER) 5. Mark Webber (AUS/RBR) 6. Timo Glock (GER/TOY) 7. Jarno Trulli (ITA/TOY) 8. Fernando Alonso (ESP/REN) 9. Nico Rosberg (GER/WIL) 10. Robert Kubica (POL/BMW) 11. Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/WIL) 12. Nelson Piquet (BRA/REN) 13. Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW) 14. Lewis Hamilton (ENG/MLA) 15. Sebastien Buemi (SUI/TOR) 16. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/FER) 17. Sebastien Bourdais (FRA/TOR) 18. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/MLA) 19. Adrian Sutil (GER/FOR) 20. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/FOR) |
Brawn GP's Jenson Button wins Spanish Formula One Grand Prix
May 11, 2009
Jenson Button won his fourth Formula One race of the season by taking the Spanish Grand Prix as Australia's Mark Webber claimed his second podium finish of the year. Button's two-stop strategy proved decisive as he became the ninth straight winner from pole position at the Circuit de Catalunya, even after Brawn teammate Rubens Barrichello, the eventual runner-up, overtook him out of the start. "I crossed the line first and this is a race where I didn't really think I was going to," Button said. Barrichello's extra pit stop allowed Button to make up the difference, and the Briton won by 13 seconds to extend his championship lead over his teammate to 14 points after five races. "I had the race in my hands and I was quite surprised when they told me they were switching Jenson to two (stops)," Barrichello said. "I would like to understand why they changed that." Webber finished third ahead of Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel, who trails Button by 18 points in third overall. Webber improved to fourth place, 25.5 points behind the leader. Webber overtook Vettel in the closing laps after Vettel had finally passed Felipe Massa with four laps remaining following a battle between the two drivers throughout the 66-lap race. Massa would eventually finish sixth - behind Renault's Fernando Alonso - as Ferrari remained without a podium finish for its longest opening period of a season since 1993. F1GP - Spanish Grand PrixPos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 20 Jenson Button Brawn 01:37:19.2020 2 21 Rubens Barrichello Brawn 01:37:32.2580 3 14 Mark Webber Red Bull 01:37:33.1260 4 15 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 01:37:38.1430 5 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 01:38:02.3680 6 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:38:10.0290 7 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 01:38:11.5140 8 16 Nico Rosberg Williams 01:38:24.4130 9 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren +1 Lap 10 10 Timo Glock Toyota +1 Lap 11 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +1 Lap 12 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault +1 Lap 13 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams +1 Lap 14 19 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India +1 Lap 15 4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari DNF 16 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren DNF 17 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota DNF 18 12 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso DNF 19 11 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso DNF 20 18 Adrian Sutil Force India DNF |
brawn are getting all the luck,,i think vettel has had the car to win the last 2 races but has been either held up or unable to pass and botched his start in spain....reckon webber is a strong bet to win monaco if he gets through qualy unscathed.
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