Buzzin F1 – Formula One Blog

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton took the victory on Sunday at the Spa Formula 1 Grand Prix after dominating the race in the McLaren from the start.

In an incident packed race which saw the safety car deployed twice, rain was forecast and arrived causing drivers to scramble for the pits for a change of tyres.

Mark Webber had a disastrous start off the line as his anti-stall engaged leaving him down in seventh place by the second corner.  The Australian driver managed to get himself back in contention after moving his way back up to third place.  Fortunately for the Red Bull driver, a bad pit-stop for Robert Kubica in the Renault allowed Webber to take second place where he remained until the chequered flag.

Jenson Button had sat in second position for most of the first part of the race until he was hit by the second Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel.  A mistake by the German driver ended Button’s race after the Red Bull slammed into the side of the McLaren resulting in a drive-through penalty for Vettel who had managed to continue after the collision.  Vettel’s day continued to get worse when he suffered a puncture after coming into contact with Tonio Liuzzi in the Force India.

There was also a coming together on the first lap of the race between Fernando Alonso and Rubens Barrichello, the latter on his 300th Grand Prix starts was left to walk back to the pits on his celebratory weekend.

As the weather appeared to improve more rain was forecast  towards the end of the race giving the teams and drivers a dilemma with their choice of tyres.  As the rain began to steadily increase, the lead drivers tip-toed their way around the circuit while the back markers made a hasty retreat to the pit garages for intermediate tyres.

Hamilton was almost a casualty of the slippery conditions, running out of track and into the gravel trap as he lost all grip.  Fortunately he managed to keep the engine running on the McLaren and got back on track still holding onto the lead and back to his garage for new tyres.

The safety car was again on circuit following the incident with Fernando Alonso at the top of hill when his Ferrari was left stranded after hitting the barriers.

Hamilton crossed the line to take the chequered flag ahead of Webber in second and Kubica in third.  Felipe Massa finished in fourth place followed by Adrian Sutil in fifth, Nico Rosberg in sixth, Michael Schumacher in seventh, Kamui Kobayashi in eighth, Vitaly Petrov in ninth and Viantonio Liuzzi in tenth.

Antonio Liuzzi gained a place in the race after stewards penalised Jamie Alguersuari by adding 20 seconds onto his finish time for cutting the final chicane on lap 42 and was deemed to have gained an advantage.

Here are the results;

1. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 44 laps 1hr 29m 04.268s
2. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault +1.5s
3. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +3.4s
4. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +8.2s
5. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +9.0s
6. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +12.3s
7. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +15.5s
8. Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari +16.6s
9. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault +23.8s
10. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes +34.8s

Fastest lap:

Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 49.069s lap 32

After a month off from racing the F1 circus pulls into Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend. While the drivers may have had time to relax and ponder on the season so far, their respective teams will have been scratching their heads trying to find the mechanical edge over their rivals in the run in to the championship.

McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button are among those involved in what is essentially a five driver race for this years world title. Can they keep in touch and compete with the Red Bull cars and the Ferrari of Alonso?

Lewis Hamilton remains calm in his pursuit and is relishing the prospect of getting the second part of the F1 season underway. Following a relaxing time over the break, he, like everyone else involved is desperate to get behind the wheel and give his all.

Lewis Hamilton

The Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton has been fined for his car stunts in front of Australian fans outside of the Melbourne race circuit.

Just two days before the Australian Grand Prix in March, Hamilton performed a series of burnouts and other moves to impress his fan base ahead of the race, in a borrowed Mercedes until he was spotted by local police.

Although not present at the hearing, the F1 driver pleaded guilty to the charge of improper use of a motor vehicle and was fined 500 Australian dollars.

Nick Heidfeld

Nick Heidfeld has been released from his duties as reserve driver for the Mercedes Grand Prix team to join Pirelli, the 2011 F1 tyre supplier as their official driver.

Pirelli’s new testing programme began on Monday at Mugello with further development work days scheduled at Jerez, Monza and at the Paul Ricard circuit.

The team statement read;

“We can confirm that the team is pleased to allow Nick the opportunity to join Pirelli and contribute to their development work for the company’s imminent return to F1” said team principal Brawn.

“Nick is an extremely experienced driver and we are confident that his racing knowledge and technical feedback will prove extremely useful to Pirelli and therefore of benefit to the sport as a whole. Nick has been a real asset to Mercedes since joining our team this year, and we are pleased to see his career progressing”.

Norbert Haug added;

“It was clear from the beginning of our co-operation that Mercedes would release Nick from his obligations as soon as a promising opportunity as an active F1 driver developed.  This is now the case, and there could be no more experienced and knowledgeable driver in the cockpit to steer the tyre development for next season.

We thank Nick for his contribution to our team over the last nine months and wish him well with his new challenge. It would be great to see Nick in a competitive car in next year’s F1 World Championship, and I am sure his leading role in the new tyre development, in addition to his skills, puts Nick in a good position for the remaining seats in 2011.”

Formula One is a sport that garners much attention around the world, both from avid viewers and keen gamblers. Motorsport is just one area where sports betting has taken off and with the number of different markets for punters to bet on, it isn’t surprising.

While the simple bet on which driver will win the race is popular with many, the different options of F1 spread betting available, make this an intriguing avenue for many.

Sports spread betting has experienced a recent surge and F1 is just one sporting arena that has proved popular with spread betters. There are many people that have experienced spread betting and consequently haven’t turned back to fixed-odds markets. If you haven’t yet given it a go and have a preconception that’s it is complex, then you‘ll be pleasantly surprised.

Spread betting works from the basic concept that the bookie will make a prediction and it’s up to you to decide whether you think the actual result will be higher or lower. This prediction will form a range of outcomes or a spread. One spread could be the winning margin in seconds that a F1 driver will enjoy in a Grand Prix, with the prediction of somewhere between ten and 13 seconds stated.

It’s then left to you to decide whether you think the actual winning margin will be higher or lower. If you think it will be larger than 13 seconds then you can buy at 13. If you’re proved to be correct and the winning margin is in fact 20 seconds, then you will win seven multiplied by your stake. So if you bet £10 you would win £70 in this circumstance. Conversely if the winning margin was only five seconds, then you would lose £80.

By making a sports spread bet you have the opportunity to win plenty of money if the prediction made by the bookmaker is a long way off. However, it is always worth remembering that if you are incorrect in your bet, you can also lose a lot of money. Unlike fixed-odds betting you can lose more than your stake, something you should think about when having a flutter.

Spread betting is becoming more popular due to the large amount of markets that you can bet on. Within F1, as well being able to spread bet on the winner of the Grand Prix, there is also a best of the rest market and a number of specials, including a spread on the number of total classified finishers in a race. So you might just want there to be a few more retirements than usual.

F1 is one of more than a dozen sports on which you can conduct spread betting, with darts, golf and football among some of the others. It couldn’t be easier to get started either, as all you need to do is set up an online account and treat yourself to the Internet promotions that are on offer.

Spreading betting can result in losses that exceed your original deposit. Remember to bet responsibly.