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

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.

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.''

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."

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

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

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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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.

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)