Fernando Alonso

The historical event of the ‘Ferrari World Finals’ is to held this weekend in the Community of Valencia’s Ricardo Tomo Circuit in Cheste, a great honour to Spain as it is not usually held outside of Italy.

The fun starts on the 12th of November and runs until the 15th, consisting of all the competitions which Ferrari holds throughout the world.  It is the final competition in which all the teams which compete in the World FIA GT Championship.

It has been reported that Fernando Alonso will be attending the ‘Ferrari World Finals’ this weekend in Valencia, Spain, despite being contracted with the Formula 1 Renault team until the end of 2009.

It will be the Spaniard’s first public appearance with the Ferrari team although it is believed that he will be wearing everyday clothes rather than the team uniform, due to contractual agreements.

Here is a schedule for the weekend event;

* Schedule subject to possible modifications.

Nico Rosberg - Williams 2009

As the Formula One cars and drivers head to Monaco for one of the most demanding circuits on the calendar, rumours are yet again rife on whether Nico Rosberg will remain with the Williams team when his contract expires at the end of the season.

The 23-year-old German driver allegedly said after the Spanish Grand Prix, that he is looking at his options for 2010 but would be happy to stay with the team if they can continue to give him a good car or an even better one!

So far this season, Rosberg’s inconsistency in the races has puzzled not only his fans but also members of his team.

The Grove team are currently running eighth in the constructors’ championship ahead only of the Toro Rosso team and Rosberg himself is in tenth place in the drivers championship.

The Monaco streets of the circuit are open to the public on Friday and so the practice session takes place on Thursday, with the normal qualifying session on Saturday and the race on Sunday.

In last years race ,Rosberg qualified in sixth position at his home town, living only 100 metres away from the circuit.  Unfortunately he crashed out on lap 62 at Piscine, hitting both sides of the track and spreading debris across the circuit, bringing out the safety car.  The German was unhurt but was seen at both the track medical centre and at the local hospital before being given the all clear.

Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima qualified in thirteenth place and after an impressive drive finished in seventh place for the Williams team.

Rosberg has always held the Williams team in high esteem and it is with the very same team that his father Keke Rosberg won the championship back in 1982, but will that be enough to keep the young German’s enthusiasm?

He made his feelings perfectly clear at the beginning of the season that 2009 would be his decision year, to stay with Williams or to look at other teams.  Despite the new car showing some encouraging performances there still seems a long road ahead to get the team back to challenging some of the front runners.

Rosberg has shown much potential over the years but has he now lost that edge or is it solely down to the car he is driving, perhaps now is the time to find out as further developments are expected at the Monaco round to the FW31, hopefully giving the teams more points, as for Nico, we’ll just have to wait and see!

Mobil 1 lubricants have teamed up with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes to launch Will You Be The 1? an interactive, online game designed to provide the definitive Grand Prix test for any aspiring driver. Grand Prix driver Lewis Hamilton is the first to have played the game and has set a 10,147 points score to head the leaderboard. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and Mobil 1, the world’s leading engine lubricant, have combined their racing expertise and technical know-how to create the game.

The gamer at the top of the leaderboard at 23.59.59 on 4th June will also receive an exclusive trophy containing Mobil 1 oil from the very Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-23 car that helped Lewis Hamilton secure fifth place at the Brazilian GP and win the 2008 World Championship.

The four tests cover a wide range of skills essential for Grand Prix Racing driving including: Technical knowledge, which tests users knowledge of a Mercedes-Benz engine; Memory, which challenges competitors to recall race tracks from around the world; Reactions, where the Lewis-hopefuls drive a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes off the grid when the lights go green; and of course a Driving Challenge where players get to drive the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 on Lewis Hamilton’s Mobil 1 Supercircuit,  a selection of Lewis’ favourite corners from around the world.

Jenson Button - Brawn GP Team - Australia 2009

The first Formula One Grand Prix of the season got underway yesterday and what a fantastic result for the brand new Brawn GP team.

As Jenson Button got a great start from the off, Rubens Barrichello didn’t appear to have noticed that the race had started but soon had his sights set on the job ahead.

At the first turn Mark Webber in the Red Bull appeared to turn-in on Barrichello.  The BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld, the McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen and Adrain Sutil in the Force India car were also collected in the clash.  Heidfeld came into the pits with a rear right puncture, Webber came in for a for a new front wing while Kovalainen’s car limped around the circuit before he retired from the race.

Britain’s Jenson Button led the 58-lap Melbourne GP from pole position  pulling away from the rest of the pack and continued to make progress until lap 19 when the safety car was deployed after Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima hit the wall on exiting turn 4.

The McLaren of Lewis Hamilton had now moved into 11th place after qualifying in 18th, he benefited from the incident at the first corner and also by being one of the first to pit and refuel, taking on new prime tyres.

Williams driver Nico Rosberg, looked to be in with a podium finish until a very slow pit stop after a problem with the the left front wheel and then the  FW31 developed a problem late on in the race seeing him fall back into seventh place.

On lap 25, Renault driver Nelson Piquet went off into the gravel after locking his brakes and spinning the car leading to his retirement, while his team-mate Fernando Alonso finally finished in sixth place.

Felipe Massa and fellow Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen had a relatively quiet day with neither driver finishing the race and no points for the team.  Massa retired his car on lap 47 after developing a mechanical problem and Raikkonen who had previously made contact with a retaining wall retired after his final pit stop while under the safety car.

Rookie driver Sebastien Buemi in the Toro Rosso finished in seventh place earning his team some valuable points on his first outing, while his team-mate Sebastien Bourdais finished in eighth.

Barrichello didn’t have it quite so easy and was behind Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull and Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber.  Kubica began to put pressure on Vettel as his tyres improved but on lap 55 with only 3 laps left to run, Kubica was alongside Vettel when the two made contact, spinning them both.  Vettel minus a front wing tried to continue but crashed out almost immediately while Kubica did the same a little later, once again deploying the safety car.

After the race it was declared that Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team would be penalised for the crash with  Kubica and he was handed a ten-grid penalty for the next round of the championship in Malaysia next week.  The team were also fined $50,000 after it emerged that members of the team had radioed Vettel and instructing him to continue driving on three-wheels rather than retire his car.

A disappointing day for the Toyota team after third placed man Jarno Trulli had his position put back to twelfth after stewards decided that he illegally overtook Hamilton under the safety car.  The team are appealing the decision after Trulli explained that he had no choice but to overtake as Hamilton had slowed down leaving him to think he had a problem.  Both Toyota drivers had started from the pit lane after being excluded from the afternoon qualifying session where Timo Glock had finished in sixth and Trulli in eighth.

In a post qualifying inspection it was discovered that the TF109 contravened the the FIA technical regulations with their new rear wing.  The wing was deemed to be too flexible and the team agreed to modify the part overnight.   Not a great result for the Toyota team but an added bonus for the McLaren team and Hamilton who is now placed in third place.

Here are the results;

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Button        Brawn GP              (B)  1h34:15.784
 2.  Barrichello   Brawn GP              (B)  +     0.807
 3.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +     1.604
 4.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +     2.914
 5.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +     4.435
 6.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +     4.879
 7.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +     5.722
 8.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +     6.004
 9.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +     6.298
10.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +     6.335
11.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +     7.085
12.  Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +     7.374
13.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +     1 lap
14.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +    2 laps
15.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +    3 laps
16.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +    3 laps

Fastest lap: Rosberg, 1:27.706

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Massa         Ferrari               (B)    46
Piquet        Renault               (B)    25
Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)    18
Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)    1

Formula One’s newest superpower Brawn GP, born from the ashes of former constructor Honda, managed to field both drivers at the front of the grid after qualifying, and the positions held fast at the end of the thrilling race as the team showed they are serious contenders for this season’s crown.

“This is a fairytale ending for the first race,” said Button. “Some people may say it’s a pity the race finished under the safety car but I don’t care, I won the race and that’s all I care about.”

The Englishman led throughout after some stylish driving, yet expects Brawn GP to demonstrate further speed over the course of the championship:

“It wasn’t the perfect race and there’s room for improvement, but we got the win and hopefully this is the first of many. I can’t wait for Malaysia now.”

The race was full of spins, collisions and pile-ups from the green lights and many now believe F1 is back after a few seasons of tepid contests.

In other revelations, we saw just how off the pace the McLaren Mercedes proved to be in qualifying. With world champion Lewis Hamilton securing a mere 15th place on the grid, later put back to 18th  for alterations.

These are exciting times for F1, as we wait to see if Jenson Button can fulfil the potential once evident in the young driver, and if the prodigy that is Lewis Hamilton can demonstrate real driving talent in a car with far less promise than last season.

McLaren Test 2009

This week the Formula One teams have been testing in Portugal at the Autodromo International do Algarve, when the weather permitted.

On Monday there was heavy rain for the majority of the day in Portimao, hampering the testing session and only allowing the teams a minimum of time on track. Tuesday’s weather did not improve and the the track was deemed to be too dangerous, stopping the session an hour earlier than was scheduled.

Pedro de la Rosa was out testing the McLaren which was fitted with 2008-spec rear wing to increase the downforce on the slippery surface.  La Rosa, as with all the other drivers, battled with the weather conditions for a second day, although he did manage three long stints and finished in second place.

Toyota launched the new TF109 with the Japanese test driver at the wheel Kamui Kobayahi.  The team had booked exclusive track time for the new car which is featuring the new KERS system for the first time.  Jarno Trulli took the reins for day two of testing finishing the third fastest of the drivers.

The Williams team unveiled it’s latest car in the morning with test driver Nico Hulkenburg in the FW31, who was said to be satisfied with the initial progress.  The new car featured the ‘winter test livery’ as the 2009 livery is not set to be revealed until February.

The Scuderia Toro Rosso team kicked-off in style with Sebastien Buemi in the seat, setting the pace for the other drivers out on the sodden track on extreme wet tyres in the STR3.

Buemi was the fastest driver on both days of the first test session and despite the weather managed to evaluate three different types of tyre in one day.

Renault were another team officially launching their new car for the 2009 season, the R29 driven by Nelson Piquet on Monday and Tuesday.

Piquet’s car, allegedly stopped out on track at one stage of tuesday’s session and under the worsening weather conditions, only managed to complete nine laps.

The Ferrari team opted to test alone at Mugello but still couldn’t escape bad weather as Kimi Raikkonen took to the track in the F60 for the Monday and Tuesday sessions.

Meanwhile, the BMW Sauber team have been bathed in glorious sunshine as they ran their own test session at the Valencia circuit in Spain.

Robert Kubica in the all-new F1.09 spent most of second day on track testing tyre compounds and different brake set-ups.

Honda 2008

It has now been confirmed that the Formula One Honda team are withdrawing from the 2009 season as a result of the prevailing conditions in the automotive sales sector.

The announcement from the chief of the Honda Motor Company Takeo Fukui

“Honda Motor Co. has come to the conclusion that we will withdraw from all Formula One activities, making 2008 the last season for participation.  This difficult decision has been made in light of the quickly deteriorating operating environment facing the global auto industry, brought on by the sub-prime problem in the United States, the deepening credit crisis and sudden contraction of the world economies.”

The two drivers of the team, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello both now face an uncertain future.

Canadian Grand Prix

The Montreal mayor, Gerald Tremblay, believes it may be possible to hold the Canadian Grand Prix in 2009 after a meeting with Bernie Ecclestone in London.

Tremblay told reporters,

“We’ve had a constructive meeting.  We have a better understanding of the issue.  We still have a lot of work to do, to evaluate all the options, but it is still possible to hold the Grand Prix in Montreal in 2009 and subsequent years.”

Tremblay, along with the Quebec Minister of Economic Development, Raymond Bachand and the Federal Minister of International Trade, Michael Fortier, met with Ecclestone regarding the decision not to hold the GP in Canada after reports that the organisers of the event allegedly owe the FOM around $10million in outstanding fees, although it is claimed that the government in Canada are willing to pay the debt.  However, so far the Montreal authorities have denied the claims that they owe money from  the past three years grand prix.

Tremblay said on Radio-Canada, that it would be an enormous economic blow for Montreal to lose the GP which reportedly generates $75million in tourism.

The race’s immediate future will remain up for negotiation until the official 2009 calendar is approved by the World Sport Council later this year.

Canadian Grand Prix Circuit - Montreal

The World Motor Sport Council have issued the calendar for the Formula 1 Grand Prix for 2009 after a meeting on Tuesday and there is to be no Canadian round.

The Canadian Grand Prix was provisionally scheduled for the 7th June but now the Turkish Grand Prix has been moved forward to June from August.

This means there will be no Grand Prix in North America in 2009 which Montreal have hosted since 1987.

Here is the Calendar for 2009;

Australia            29 March
Malaysia             5 April
Bahrain              19 April
Spain                10 May
Monaco               24 May
Turkey               7 June
Great Britain        21 June
France               28 June
Germany              12 July
Hungary              26 July
Europe (Valencia)    23 August
Belgium              30 August
Italy                13 September
Singapore            27 September
Japan                11 October
China                18 October
Brazil               1 November
Abu Dhabi            15 November