Jenson Button MBE

This years British F1 Grand Prix takes place on the weekend of 9-11 July at the Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire despite the 2009 Grand Prix being hailed as the last before moving the location to Donington Park for 2010.

Donington Park, having failed to raise the required funds for the event, returned the Formula 1 race back to the newly improved circuit of Silverstone.

With Jenson Button being awarded an MBE recently from Buckingham Palace will his winning streak continue at the British Grand Prix for the McLaren team or could it be his team-mate and fellow Brit Lewis Hamilton that stands on the top step of the podium?

Last years British Grand Prix was won by the Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel who dominated the race from start to finish after starting on pole position.

Vettel was followed across the line by his team-mate Mark Webber for a Red Bull 1-2 finish and without any of the problems faced at this seasons last round, when Vettel took Webber out while the Australian, who is currently the championship leader was out in front at Turkey.

The Silverstone circuit has recently had a make-over with many of the new grandstands now completed as part of the multi-million pound investment to modernise the circuit.

Silverstone Circuits Limited along with its owners the British Racing Drivers’ Club unveiled the new circuit with a major new section of the track, tested out by David Coulthard in a Red Bull F1 along with Damon Hill who had a special passenger in his two -seater, His Royal Highness the Duke of York.

Also on circuit were the motorcycling father and son combination  Ron and Leon Haslam representing the worlds of MotoGP and World Superbikes.

The circuits new Stowe Complex, a collection of customer focused test track facilities is based along with hospitality units and Pit garages, has also now been officially opened and work on the new Silverstone Pit and Paddock complex is now well underway.

The majority of the circuit has remained the same under the new designs but now drivers will turn right at Abbey before heading into the new Arena Complex, rejoining the existing track at Brooklands where previously the drivers would have headed into Farm Straight, Bridge and Priory.

Silverstone claims to have created three new overtaking opportunities with the new layout which got the approval of David Coulthard after his first test session who said,  “I’ve raced at Silverstone since 1989 so I’ve seen many different tracks, configurations and this one is one of the best they have come up with.”

The British F1 GP is an event not to be missed, where you can watch some of the greatest Formula One drivers of our time in an exhilarating battle of speed and determination as the teams and compete for the 2010 Championship titles.

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Red Bull Racing 2010

The Formula One team Red Bull Racing, are taking to the streets of Belfast this weekend with the former F1 driver David Coulthard at the wheel.

Coulthard will be giving the crowd a demonstration of the cars power and control in front of Iconic City Hall in Northern Ireland, reaching speeds of up to 170mph.

The team garage will be set-up at the City Hall gates where fans are invited to experience the work that goes on behind the scenes of the Formula One series.

The run itself is expected to take place at around 8pm on Saturday March 20th with David saying;

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to visit Belfast and bring Formula One a bit closer to the people of the City. I know Belfast is renowned for its love of motorsports and I’m sure I’ll get an amazing welcome as always!”

Red Bull Racing 2009

It has been confirmed that the Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel, currently running in third in the Championship with 47 points, has signed to race for the team until the end of the 2011 season.

Mark Webber confirmed his drive with the team at the end of July and is currently in second place in the standings with 51.5 points, behind championship leader Brawn GP driver Jenson Button on 70 points.

The 32-year-old Australian, joined the Red Bull Racing team in 2007 alongside David Coulthard after his two-year contract with the Williams team ended.  In 2009, the 22-year-old German driver replaced Coulthard to race alongside Webber after two-years with their sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso.

Vettel has so far won the Chinese and the British Grand Prix while Webber took the victory at the German Grand Prix, both drivers have the option to sign for 2012.

Williams F17 Driven by Damon Hill

The Williams Formula One team, are this year celebrating 40 years in the business, and this weekend a special tribute to team boss Frank Williams is taking place at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

A total of 13 of the teams Formula One cars through the years, will be on display at the Festival ranging from the 1970 model up to the present day.  The 1980 winning World Championship Williams-Cosworth driven by Alan Jones will be included along with 1996 Williams-Renault driven by Damon Hill, which is to be taking part in the Goodwood hill-climb challenge.

A host of past drivers for the team will also be in attendance, including Damon Hill, Alan Jones, David Coulthard and Jacques Laffite as well as the present day drivers Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima.

On Sunday 5th July, the Williams cars and a selection of drivers, past and present, will gather in the Goodwood F1 Paddock Assembly Area to pay tribute to Frank Williams where Murray Walker is also to say a few words about the man and his achievements throughout his career.

Frank Williams has said;

“It will be great for me, and for all the people that have been a part of Williams, or supported the team over the years, to be there to see a broad selection of our cars, past and present”.

Other Formula One drivers expected to be making an appearance are Jenson Button, who is expected to be one of the drivers competing in the hill-climb.   Lewis Hamilton will be driving the McLaren MP4/4 and the MP 4/23, previous driven by the late, great Ayrton Senna.

Recently retired driver David Coulthard, will be taking out a Red Bull RB5  along with Mark Webber, while Eddie Irvine is expected to put on a show of one of his previous F1 Ferrari cars.  Timo Glock will drive the Toyota TF108 while Marc Gene will take out the Ferrari F2008.

Williams Toyota 2009

Three of the Formula One teams went to the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain this week to test, but are now requesting to prolong the two-week session after bad weather disrupted the running.

Ferrari, BMW Sauber and Toyota, were faced with a closed circuit on Wednesday when a huge sandstorm arrived bringing visibility down to zero and with the medical helicopter unable to fly, testing could not commence.

The teams opted for Bahrain after rain threatened the circuit of Jerez in Spain, but on Tuesday the problems began at Sakhir when fog stopped the session for two hours.

In the morning session on Wednesday the day began bright and sunny but within an hour-and-a-half, the sandstorm began and at 9.30am the medical services were grounded.

Timo Glock managed to complete just fourteen laps for the Toyota team before the session was stopped, Felipe Massa completed seventeen laps for Ferrari and Robert Kubica twenty-two laps for the BMW Sauber team.

On the third day of testing in Bahrain, conditions hadn’t improved and the session was closed before it had really got started.

Kimi Raikkonen was in the Ferrari seat today while Jarno Trulli took over from Glock in the Toyota and Kubica remained at the wheel of the BMW Sauber car.  However, all three drivers were only able to complete an installation lap before the circuit once again closed.

Meanwhile in Spain, the rest of the Formula One teams, minus the Force India Mercedes, were at the Jerez circuit testing, and apart from a rain shower mid-way through the opening day the drivers had a relatively dry session.

The Force India team will not be organising a formal launch for their 2009 car, the VJM02 due to global financial crisis it has been reported, although David Coulthard feels that this is the team that could be the ’shock of the season’:

Sebastien Buemi was the pace setter on day one although he is running the 2008 specification Toro Rosso, which does not feature the newer low downforce of the 2009 cars.

Sebastian Vettel was aboard the newly unveiled RB5 and completed 61 laps before having to return to the pit lane after developing a mechanical problem.  On the third day, Mark Webber took to the track for the first time this season, and although without his crutches, he was visibly limping and confessed to still having a 10 inch titanium rod in his leg following the broken leg he suffered during a cycling training session.

Test driver Nico Hulkenberg, was the Williams Toyota driver on the opening day, only two-tenths slower than Vettel and completing 82 laps for the team.  Kazuki Nakajima took over from Hulkenberg on day two, putting in an impressive 125 laps for the team who were focusing on tyres, and mechanical set-up work.

The McLaren Mercedes was being driven by Heikki Kovalainen who finished ahead of Renault driver Nelson Piquet in the new R29 on the opening day.  Kovalainen continued on day two of testing and was the fastest driver in a 2009 specification car on the track, completing 110 laps over the day.

For Piquet’s second day of testing the team were concentrating on reliability as well as trying out new developments.  On another sunny day at the circuit Fernando Alonso will take to the track and will continue with developing the cars set-up.

Testing is continuing at both venues.

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;

Eddie Jordan

According to reports, Eddie Jordan could be making a come-back in Formula One in 2009, as a broadcaster when the BBC take over the TV coverage.

The 60-year-old, is expected to be working alongside Martin Brundle and David Coulthard, although no confirmation has yet been given.

The Irish man sold the Jordan Team to the Midland Group in 2005, which has been sold on twice since and is now in the hands of the Force India team.

I reported on the story back in March 2008, when Eddie sold the factory he still owned part of the land it was situated on, he wanted to sell but the Force India team owners didn’t want too buy and so Jordan made his feeling known by dumping a load of concrete at the entrance while the team were away in Australia.  Nice too see Eddie hasn’t lost that sense of humour!

To see more of the original story use this link;

http://www.buzzinf1.co.uk/trouble-for-jordan-and-force-india/67#more-67

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton took the chequered flag yesterday for McLaren, after dominating the Chinese Grand Prix and now has a gap of seven points from his closest rival, Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.

Hamilton took the lead from the start of the race and soon built-up a gap of three seconds from second place man, Kimi Raikkonen.,

Ferrari driver, Raikkonen, chased Hamilton for the first stint of the race but couldn’t maintain the pace  and towards the end of the race he let his team-mate pass to compete for those all important championship points.

Fernando Alonso in the Renault started in fourth position on the grid and that’s exactly where he finished.  He had an ongoing battle with the second McLaren driver, Heikki Kovalainen, who eventually passed him but then suffered a front right puncture which finally ended his race.

Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber finished in fifth place ahead of his team-mate Robert Kubica, who is now out of the championship chase.

Timo Glock in the Toyota was awarded two points for his seventh place after running with a one-stop strategy, while his team-mate Jarno Trulli, who had qualified in seventh, went out on the first lap after hitting Sebastien Bourdais going into the first corner.

Second Renault driver Nelson Piquet, finished in eighth place followed by Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso in ninth and David Coulthard for the Red Bull team in tenth.

Rubens Barrichello in the Honda took an impressive eleventh place, and who is still waiting for a drive for 2009, while his team-mate Jenson Button finished in a miserable sixteenth place.

The Williams driver, Kazuki Nakajima, who was also on a one-stop strategy, finished in twelfth after qualifying down in seventeenth while his team-mate Nico Rosberg, who was on a two-stop strategy, could only manage fifteenth place.

Bourdais in the second Toro Rosso came in to take thirteenth after being pushed down the order after the incident with Trulli at the start of the race.

Mark Webber in the second Red Bull took fourteenth place followed by Rosberg, Button and Nakajima.  Webber’s problems had started when his car suffered an engine failure on Saturday morning putting him ten places further back on the grid due to the engine change penalty.

The Force India driver Giancarlo Fisichella was the last man over the line while his team-mate, Adrian Sutil retired earlier in the race.

Here are the results;

1 – Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/23-Mercedes) – 56 Laps 1.31′57″403
2 – Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2008) – 14″925
3 – Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F2008) – 16″445 Laps
4 – Fernando Alonso (Renault R28) – 18″370
5 – Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber F1.08) – 28″923
6 – Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber F1.08) – 33″219
7 – Timo Glock (Toyota TF108) – 41″722
8 – Nelson Piquet (Renault R28) – 56″645
9 – Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso STR3-Ferrari) – 1′04″339
10 – David Coulthard (Red Bull RB3-Renault) – 16″387
11 – Rubens Barrichello (Honda RA108) – 1′25″061
12 – Kazuki Nakajima (Williams FW30-Toyota) – 1′30″847
13 – Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso STR3-Ferrari) – 1′31″457
14 – Mark Webber (Red Bull RB3-Renault) – 1′32″422
15 – Nico Rosberg (Williams FW30-Toyota) – 1 Lap
16 – Jenson Button (Honda RA108) – 1 Lap
17 – Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India VJM01-Ferrari) – 1 Lap

Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton 1′36″325

DNF
Lap 49 – Heikki Kovalainen
Lap 14 – Adrian Sutil
Lap 4 – Jarno Trulli