Kamui Kobayashi

Kamui Kobayashi will make his full-time debut next season after it was confirmed that he will be driving for the Sauber F1 Team in 2010.

The Japanese driver drove as a replacement for the injured Toyota’s Timo Glock at the Brazilian Grand Prix of 2009, where he finished the race in tenth place and was later promoted to ninth.  After Glock was declared unfit for the following Abu Dhabi round of the championship, Kobayashi once again stepped into his shoes and took an impressive sixth place as he crossed the line, scoring his first championship points in only his second race.

The 23-year-old was expected to be given a full-time drive for the Toyota team in the 2010 championship until the teams withdrawal from the Formula One series.

Kobayashi said;

“Ever since the start of my career I have dreamed of racing in F1.  Now this dream has come true. I am very happy that my two races in 2009 have earned me a cockpit place.

I will do my very best for Peter Sauber’s team and I am proud to be able to carry on flying the Japanese flag in F1.”

Mark Webber - Brazilian Grand Prix 2009

The Red Bull driver Mark Webber took the chequered flag yesterday in the Brazilian Grand Prix as Jenson Button was crowned the 2009 Formula One World Champion.

Brawn GP driver Rubens Barrichello started the race from pole position followed by Webber,but after the first set of pit stops it was Webber that took to the front and dominated the race.  Barrichello had managed to create a gap of three-seconds but an early stop lost him the lead as he was passed by both Webber and the BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica.

At the beginning of the race the McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen made contact with the Ferrari of Giancarlo Fisichella at turn 1.  At the same time the Toyota driver Jarno Trulli attempted a pass on the outside of  Adrian Sutil but instead spun into the Force India with Fernando Alonso’s Renault getting collected as Sutil rejoined the circuit.

Kimi Raikkonen used his KERS system to move into third place as he passed Webber at the start of the race but made contact and damaged his front wing.  As the Ferrari returned to his pits for a new wing, Kovalainen exited in front of him with the fuel hose still attached causing fuel to leak and spray the Ferrari which burst into flames.  Raikkonen managed to keep going and rejoined the race without damage.

Rubens Barrichello led the race followed by Webber, Kubica and the Williams of Nico Rosberg.  Jenson Button in the second Brawn GP had moved into seventh place by lap 11 behind Timo Glock’s replacement driver Kamui Kobayashi in the Toyota.

Barrichello pitted from the lead on lap 22 as Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber pulled off track with a problem, apparently running out of fuel after the earlier incident with the fuel hose.  Button finally made it past Kobayashi, moving up into fourth place with Webber taking his pit stop on lap 27 from the lead.

On lap 28 Nico Rosberg retired to the garage after suffering a gearbox problem with the Williams car as Button pitted on lap 30.  On lap 31 the second Williams car of Kazuki Nakajima crashed into the tyre wall after losing his front wing after hitting the  back of the Toyota of Kobayashi.

By lap 41 it was Webber ahead of Kubica, Barrichello, Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren, Raikkonen, Button, Vettel and Sebastien Buemi in the Toro Rosso.

Webber took his second pit stop on lap 53 and rejoined ahead of Kubica as Button took his final pit stop on lap 56, exiting in front of Kovalainen until the McLaren passed him at turn 4.  On the following lap Vettel pitted and rejoined ahead of Kovalainen and Button to sit in fifth place.

On lap 60, Kovalainen made a surprising pit stop with Lewis Hamilton passing the Brawn GP of Barrichello on lap 62.  Barrichello appeared to have a problem with his car and was soon told over the team radio that he had developed a puncture after making contact with Hamilton earlier in the race.

On lap 65, Webber led Kubica, Hamilton, Vettel, Button, Raikkonen, Buemi and Barrichello. Felipe Massa was given the job of waving the chequered flag at his home circuit as Webber crossed the line, followed by Kubica in second and Hamilton in third.

Here are the results;

1. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 71 laps 1hr 32m 23.081s
2. Robert Kubica Poland BMW Sauber +7.6s
3. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes +18.9s
4. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +19.6s
5. Jenson Button Britain Brawn-Mercedes +29.0s
6. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari +33.3s
7. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari +35.9s
8. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Brawn-Mercedes +45.4s

Rtd. Kazuki Nakajima Japan Williams-Toyota 30 laps completed
Rtd. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota 27 laps completed
Rtd. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 21 laps completed
Rtd. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault-Renault 0 laps completed
Rtd. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 0 laps completed
Rtd. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota-Toyota 0 laps completed

Timo Glock - Toyota 2009

The Toyota team have announced that Timo Glock will not be taking part in the Brazilian Grand Prix after suffering a cracked vertebra in an accident in the qualifying session of the last round of the Formula One championship at Suzuka.

It was initially thought that Glock’s only injury was the cut he suffered to the back of his leg but after undergoing further tests in Germany the more serious injury was discovered, ruling him out of the next race. No decision has yet been made to whether the Toyota driver will return for the seasons finale at Abu Dhabi.

Team president  John Howett said;

“Obviously, everyone in the team is very disappointed and feels for Timo.  We wish him a very speedy recovery. Based on the initial diagnosis, we fully expected Timo to return in Brazil but, unfortunately, a different injury has been revealed which prevents that. He will remain in Germany to recover and we hope he can recuperate in time for Abu Dhabi, although at this stage the situation is not clear.

Kamui Kobayashi will be making his debut for the team at the Interlagos circuit this weekend, despite never having driven on the track before.  After finishing in sixteenth place in this seasons GP2 series, the Japanese driver is looking forward to his first F1 race and said;

“A few days ago I wasn’t even expecting to be racing this weekend so it’s impossible to set any targets.  I just want to do myself proud and complete the race without any problems; anything after that is a bonus.”

Australia has now been chosen as the second round, allowing the race to begin at 5pm to fit in with the television broadcasters who favour racing in ‘twilight’ rather than the dark.  However, the Singapore round will still be under full floodlights when it takes place in late September.

Although as yet no contract has been signed, the Canadian Grand Prix has been pencilled in for the 13 June, if the contract fails again this year the Turkey Grand Prix will be held later to compensate.

South Korea is a new circuit on the calendar, set to take place in mid-October with the final round being held in Brazil as usual but it will be held in November.

Here is the calendar;

Australia          March 28
Malaysia           April 4
China              April 18
Spain              May 9
Monaco             May 23
Turkey             May 30
Canada*            June 13
Europe (Valencia)  June 27
Great Britain      July 11
Germany            July 25
Hungary            August 1
Belgium            August 29
Italy              September 12
Singapore          September 26
Japan              October 3
Korea              October 17
Abu Dhabi          October 31
Brazil             November 14

*Subject to the completion of contract negotiations with Formula One Management. If these are not completed then the Turkish Grand Prix will be moved to 6 June.

Note: The race in Australia will start at 1700 local time, in Malaysia at 1600 local time, in Singapore at 2000 local time, and in Abu Dhabi at 1700 local time.

Formula One cartoon

For a completely relaxing holiday, have you considered Caribbean cruises?

Lewis Hamilton - F1 World Champion 2008

Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren became the Formula One’s youngest ever World Champion yesterday after finishing in fifth place at the Brazilian Grand Prix in only his second season in the sport.

His rival for the title, Felipe Massa in the Ferrari dominated the race after qualifying in pole position at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo.

As the cars lined-up on the grid ready for the start, the heavens opened and the start was delayed for ten-minutes, giving the teams time to decide on their tyre choices.

On the first lap, David Coulthard in the Red Bull was hit up the back sending him into a spin and was then hit by the Williams car of Kazuki Nakajima and was out of the running, a great disappointment for Coulthard on the very last race of his career.

The safety car was deployed until lap four and Giancarlo Fisichella in the Force India is the first man to pit for slick tyres as the track starts to dry out.

Massa was leading the race by nearly a second followed by the impressive Toyota of Jarno Trulli in second place until the Ferrari driver pitted on lap ten for new tyres.

On lap eleven, Trulli, Kimi Raikkonen and Hamilton all pitted, with Hamilton slotting back into the pack in seventh place but passed Trulli on the next lap to move him into sixth.

On lap seventeen, Hamilton passed Fisichella to take fifth place but he was being targeted by Timo Glock in the Toyota as Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso pits from second place.

On the second round of pit stops, Hamilton rejoined in sixth place behind Vettel and Heikki Kovalainen, his team-mate as Raikkonen pits.

Massa retook the lead followed by Vettel, Fenando Alonso, Raikkonen and Hamilton but Vettel needed to pit again moving Hamilton into fourth place, bearing in mind he only needs to finish in the top five.

In another dramatic twist to the finale, the rain started again with only eight laps of the race remaining and with only four laps to go, Raikkonen and Alonso both pit for intermediate tyres and are quickly followed by Hamilton and Vettel.

Massa came in on the next lap for his intermediates and with only two laps to go, Massa leads followed by Alonso, Raikkonen, Glock, Hamilton and right on his tail, Vettel.

Vettel then amazingly overtakes Hamilton moving him down into sixth place, but on the final lap, Glock seems to lose the pace and Hamilton passes him on the final corner of the final lap to win the championship.

Ferrari won the Constructor’s Championship although not much compensation for the distraught Massa who couldn’t possibly have done anymore.

Here are the results;

Retirements;

Finale - 2008 F1 World Champion - Brazil

Today, the new Formula One World Champion will be crowned at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo, Brazil and the battle will commence, as Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa fight for that number one spot.

Hamilton only needs to finish in fifth position today to guarantee him the crown but after the disaster of last year’s finally surely playing on his mind, will he be able to stay out of trouble.  Massa, of course needs no less than a win to stand any chance of his place at the top.

Ferrari driver,  Felipe Massa was cheered by a huge crowd of his home supporters yesterday as he took pole position for the finale in Brazil with a time of 1:12.368seconds.

Jarno Trulli in the Toyota had a very impressive qualifying session and came into to take second place on the grid, splitting the Ferrari drivers and pushing Kimi Raikkonen down to third place.

Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren could only manage fourth position, he didn’t seem comfortable on track, and it was only his final run when he finally found his pace.

The second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen will start in fifth place followed by Fernando Alonso in the Renault after setting the pace in the second and third practice sessions.

Sebastian Vettel in the Torro Rosso is and impressive sixth place ahead of Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber and Vettel’s team-mate Sebastien Bourdais.  Timo Glock in the second Toyota completed the top ten fastest drivers of the day.

Here are the results;

Pos  Driver        Team                 Q1        Q2        Q3       Laps
 1.  Massa         Ferrari              1:11.830  1:11.875  1:12.368  17
 2.  Trulli        Toyota               1:12.226  1:12.107  1:12.737  15
 3.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              1:12.083  1:11.950  1:12.825  19
 4.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     1:12.213  1:11.856  1:12.830  14
 5.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes     1:12.366  1:11.768  1:12.917  17
 6.  Alonso        Renault              1:12.214  1:12.090  1:12.967  18
 7.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1:12.390  1:11.845  1:13.082  20
 8.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           1:12.371  1:12.026  1:13.297  18
 9.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1:12.498  1:12.075  1:14.105  16
10.  Glock         Toyota               1:12.223  1:11.909  1:14.230  24
11.  Piquet        Renault              1:12.348  1:12.137            13
12.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault     1:12.409  1:12.289            13
13.  Kubica        BMW Sauber           1:12.381  1:12.300            13
14.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault     1:12.690  1:12.717            16
15.  Barrichello   Honda                1:12.548  1:13.139            14
16.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota      1:12.800                       9
17.  Button        Honda                1:12.810                       9
18.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota      1:13.002                       8
19.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari  1:13.426                       9
20.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari  1:13.508                       9

All timing unofficial

David Coulthard 2008

This weekend is the final Grand Prix of 2008 at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo, Brazil and it will also be the final race of David Coulthard who will retire at the end of the race.

Coulthard will be supporting a very special cause this weekend, and is dedicating the final race of his career to the ‘Wings For Life’ charity, who’s aim is to make spinal paralysis curable.

The Red Bull Racing Formula 1 car of Coulthard will be given worldwide coverage with it’s special livery and will help raise much needed funding for spinal cord research.

Coulthard said;

“I dedicate my last race to the vision of making paraplegia curable.  In Formula One, success is determined by a few seconds, in medicine people think in terms of years.  But in both disciplines, ambition and commitment are crucial factors that are needed in order to reach the finishing line as soon as possible.  Wings for Life helps to accelerate the breakthrough in spinal cord research.”

Rubens Barrichello will be racing on his home circuit in front of his home fans with the Brazilian born just 100 metres away from the track.

Barrichello has still not signed to race in Formula One for the 2009 season but has made it clear he does not want to stop racing.

The veteran driver has said that Honda intend to test other drivers in Barcelona, so at the moment his job is on hold, although he feels that his experience and qualities are what the team need but admitted to talking with other teams as well.

Of course, this Grand Prix will decide who will be the Champion of 2008, will it be Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren or Felipe Massa in the Ferrari.  Hamilton and Massa are facing the finale as just another race and will give it their best shot as always.

On a more light-hearted note, this is one of the best advertisements for Bridgestone Tyres I’ve seen, take a look;

Once again the drivers title will go down to the wire, but unlike last season when Kimi Raikkonen stole in at the eleventh hour, while the world was focused on the battle between Hamilton and Alonso, there will be no other driver waiting in the wings to steal the trophy this season.

Third place Robert Kubica, considered by many as the driver of the season and certainly a very fast racer, is out of contention for the title, but needs points to stay ahead of current world champion Raikkonen to retain his position in the standings.

Raikkonen ’s F1 results this season have been disappointing as reigning champion and he will certainly be looking to help team mate Massa to a top scoring position, as in the last race in China, when he allowed Massa to overtake him for second place.

Former World Champion Damon Hill has backed fellow Brit, Hamilton, to take the title at only his second attempt, saying that he has learnt from his mistakes and showed through his victory in China that he has the correct mindset to win the championship in Brazil.

Hamilton showed superb composure in Shanghai, taking pole position in qualifying and remaining in complete control throughout the race and is the obvious favourite to win the championship. Massa on the other hand relied on his team mates generosity in China, and only a win on his home track in Brazil will give him a chance in the title race. Even then Hamilton would only need to finish in fifth place to be champion.

In other Formula 1 news, the teams have agreed to cut costs for smaller teams competing in next seasons championship, with the cost of engines supplied to independent teams capped at €10million per year. Engines will be used for three meetings instead of two. The agreement will also see significant cost savings for 2009 and 2010. Full details are yet to be finalised.