Mark Webber - Red Bull Racing 2010

The Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber, crossed the line to take the chequered flag yesterday while his team-mate Sebastian Vettel received a drive-through penalty.

Vettel looked to be on winning form once again at the Hungarian Grand Prix until he was given the penalty for not leaving enough distance between himself and the leading driver Webber during the safety car period.

As the race got underway it was Vettel that took to the front at the first corner, split from his team-mate Webber by the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso.  As Vettel continued from his fantastic start Jenson Button slipped further back moving from eleventh on the grid to fifteenth by the end of lap 1.

The safety car was deployed on lap 15 of the race after debris was seen sitting in a dangerous place on the circuit, leading to the usual rush of cars to the pit lane for a change of tyres.

The McLaren team were the first in with Button gaining five places after his stop and Hamilton getting the jump on the Ferrari of Felipe Massa.  Hamilton retired his McLaren on lap 24 of the race after developing a gear-box problem.

There was carnage in the pit lane as drivers scrambled to get in and out in record time, leading to an accident that’s been expected for a long time.  Robert Kubica was given the sign to leave the pit box as the Force India of Adrian Sutil was entering his, resulting in a retirement for Sutil.  Kubica also retired from the race following a stop-go penalty eight laps later.  The Renault team were handed a $50,000 fine for the unsafe release of their driver after the race.

The Mercedes team were also fined $50,000 for an incident which occurred around the same time, again in the pit lane when their driver Nico Rosberg lost a wheel exiting the pit lane after a wheel nut came loose.

Webber took the option of not stopping along with the other drivers in the hope that he would be able to make enough of an advantage on get out in front when he did eventually pit and it worked perfectly.

There was more controversy further down the field when the Williams driver Ruben Barrichello made a move to pass his former Ferrari team-mate Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes.  Following a radio message from Barrichello claiming the Schumacher was leaving the door open then slamming it shut at the last minute, Rubens eventually made a move to pass the German on the inside.  Schumacher tried to squeeze the Williams out but instead nearly forced Barrichello into the concrete pit wall.  Barrichello claimed in was one of the most dangerous situations he has ever found himself in and the move has landed Schumacher with a ten place grid penalty at the next Grand Prix in Belgium.

Webber crossed the line to take the win followed in second place by the Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso and a furious-looking Sebastian Vettel in third.

Felipe Massa finished in fourth place ahead of an impressive Vitaly Petrov in the Renault in fifth place and Nico Hulkenberg for Williams for sixth.  Pedro de la Rosa came in seventh followed by Jenson Button in eighth, Kamui Kobayashi in ninth and Rubens Barrichello in tenth.

Here are the results;

1. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 70 laps 1hr 41m 05.571s
2. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 17.8s
3. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +00m 19.2s
4. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 27.4s
5. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault +01m 13.1s
6. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth +01m 16.7s
7. Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari +1 lap
8. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +1 lap
9. Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari +1 lap
10. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth +1 lap

Looking ahead to this weekends race in Hungary, Button talks about the slow and mentally exhausting Hungaroring track where he hopes to put his championship chances back on course with a podium finish.

Sebastien Buemi - Toro Rosso 2009

It has now been confirmed by the Toro Rosso team, that Sebastien Buemi will be given a second season with them after signing his contract for 2010.

Buemi out-qualified his team-mate Sebastien Bourdais in his first race in Formula One at the Australian Grand Prix of 2009, finishing the race in eighth place, which later became seventh after Lewis Hamilton was disqualified.

In the third race of the season at the Chinese Grand Prix, he again finished in eighth position despite starting the race from tenth on the grid.  Things were relatively quite for a period as the rookie driver struggled to handle the pace but all that changed again at the Brazilian Grand Prix where he achieved seventh.

At the final round of the 2009 season in Abu Dhabi, he again scored eighth position and was awarded a drive for the team in the 2010 season.

It is expected that the Swiss driver will be joined by Jaime Alguersuari, who joined the team midway through the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where after qualifying in last place due to a mechanical problem he ended the race one place ahead of Buemi.

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.

Lewis Hamilton - Hungary Grand Prix 2009

Lewis Hamilton dominated the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, to claim his first win of the season for the McLaren Formula One team.

The British driver started from fourth place on the grid while Spanish driver Fernando Alonso, had put the Renault on the number one spot in Saturday’s qualifying session.

As the race got underway it was Alonso who led the Red Bull Racing car of Mark Webber and Hamilton as Adrian Sutil returned to the pits with what looked like a mechanical problem in the Force India.

On lap 5, Hamilton passed Webber going into turn two and began to chase the Renault of Alonso, however, the McLaren driver bided his time knowing that Alonso would be pitting shortly which he did on lap 13.

Alonso rejoined the circuit ahead of his team-mate Nelson Piquet but within seconds, the spinner off the front right wheel of the Renault fell off followed by the entire wheel on the following lap, seeing the Spaniard three-wheeling back to the pits.  Alonso rejoined the circuit behind Hamilton and then let Webber although as he was already a lap down running in 18th place, he retired the R29 on the following lap.

Renault have since been banned from the European Grand Prix, subject to appeal, after it was decided that the team had permitted Alonso to exit the pit-lane when the R29 car was unsafe for competition.  Officials were called to the race control where they checked video and radio transmissions, and it was discovered that the Renault team “knowingly” allowed Alonso to rejoin despite knowing that he had a loose wheel-nut, with Alonso unaware of any problem.

Webber and Raikkonen both pitted on lap 20, running in second and third respectively, but after a slow stop from the Red Bull team, Raikkonen passed Webber in the pit lane.  This incident also went under investigation as it appeared that the Red Bull team released their driver into the path of the Ferrari, who had to avoid collision, but this again went without any action being taken.

Raikkonen confessed after the race that he was unaware that he was under investigation for the incident at the start of the race.  From seventh on the grid, the Ferrari driver appeared to bump wheels with Hamilton, putting him off line as he made a move on the Red Bull of Mark Webber, causing him to make contact with the Red Bull of Vettel.  Fortunately, it was decided that there was no problem with the move.

Hamilton took his first pit stop on lap 20 as Timo Glock, in the Toyota passed Webber.  Rosberg pitted and rejoined in the Williams behind Glock but in front of Webber until the Australian retook the position going into turn two.

On lap 28, Sebastian Vettel in the second Red Bull pitted with a problem while in eighth position, he was sent back out with a new front wing after a long stop but it didn’t help the situation and the German driver retired from the race on lap 30.

Hamilton had increased the gap considerably by now ahead of Raikkonen in second and Webber in third, who was being challenged for his position by Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren and Rosberg.

Nico Rosberg took fourth position for the Williams team followed by Heikki Kovalainen in fifth and Timo Glock in sixth.   Jenson Button in the Brawn GP car finished in eighth place ahead of Jarno Trulli in the second Toyota, Kazuki Nakajima in the second Williams and Rubens Barrichello in the second Brawn GP to complete the top ten drivers.

Here are the results;

1. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 70 laps 1hr 38m 23.876s
2. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 11.5s
3. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault +00m 16.8s
4. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota +00m 26.9s
5. Heikki Kovalainen Finland McLaren-Mercedes +00m 34.3s
6. Timo Glock Germany Toyota-Toyota +00m 35.2s
7. Jenson Button Britain Brawn-Mercedes +00m 55.0s
8. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota-Toyota +01m 08.1s

Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1m 21.931s lap 65

(all results are unofficial)

Felipe Massa

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, is said to be making good progress and today it was reported that his life is no longer in danger.

Massa was hit by a spring that is believed to have fallen off the Brawn GP car of Rubens Barrichello, after his F1 suffered a rear suspension collapse.  The debris bounced off the circuit and hit Massa on the left side of his crash-helmet causing concussion which saw the Brazilian driver running off circuit and ploughing into the tyre wall at up to 120mph.

The 28-year-old, underwent surgery to remove parts of his skull that had been fractured and put into an induced coma at the hospital in Hungary.

A doctor confirmed that Massa is not yet speaking but can move his arms and feet, he added that the driver has suffered damage to his left eye but did not know the extent as yet.

The Brazilian has now been described as in a stable condition and will remain in an induced coma to protect the brain injury.

Fernando Alonso - Renault 2009

The Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, is tonight in intensive care after being hit on the head by flying debris during today’s qualifying session, causing him to crash heavily into the tyre wall.

The Brazilian driver is to undergo surgery tonight after a statement was issued;

“After the accident during the qualifying session of the Grand Prix of Hungary, Felipe Massa was airlifted to the AEK hospital in Budapest.

Felipe was conscious at the arrival at the hospital and his general conditions remain stable.

Following a complete medical examination it emerged that he had suffered a cut on his forehead, a bone damage of his skull and a brain concussion.  These conditions need to be operated on after which he will remain under observation in intensive care.”

It is believed that the part which hit Massa, was from the Brawn GP car of Rubens Barrichello after the team were heard over the radio reporting the collapse of the rear suspension.

After a delay of the Q3 while Massa’s Ferrari was removed from the circuit, the session got going but ended in absolute confusion when the timing computer system failed, with the drivers waiting to see who had qualified where.

Fernando Alonso in the Renault was given pole position ahead of the Red Bull Racing pair, Sebastian Vettel in second and Mark Webber in third.

Lewis Hamilton qualified the McLaren in fourth place followed by Nico Rosberg in the Williams in fifth and the second McLaren on Heikki Kovalainen in sixth.

Kimi Raikkonen finished seventh in the Ferrari ahead of Jenson Button in the Brawn GP,  the second Williams driven by Kazuki Nakajima and Massa had qualified his Ferrari in tenth, but will be taking no further part this weekend.

Here are the results;

1. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault-Renault 1m 21.569s
2. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1m 21.607s
3. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1m 21.741s
4. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 21.839s
5. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota 1m 21.890s
6. Heikki Kovalainen Finland McLaren-Mercedes 1m 22.095s
7. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 22.468s
8. Jenson Button Britain Brawn-Mercedes 1m 22.511s
9. Kazuki Nakajima Japan Williams-Toyota 1m 22.835s
10. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari no time Q3

11. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 21.002s
12. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota-Toyota 1m 21.082s
13. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Brawn-Mercedes 1m 21.222s
14. Timo Glock Germany Toyota-Toyota 1m 21.242s
15 Nelson Piquet Jr Brazil Renault-Renault 1m 21.389s

16. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 1m 21.738s
17. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Force India-Mercedes 1m 21.807s
18. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1m 21.868s
19. Robert Kubica Poland BMW Sauber 1m 21.901s
20. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 22.359s

all times unofficial

Lewis Hamilton - McLaren 2009

Lewis Hamilton drove the McLaren to the top of the time-sheets today ahead of his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, who had previously been leading in both sessions.

Kovalainen had been fastest in the morning session and looked as if he would dominate the second until Hamilton took the top spot towards the end of the 90 minute slot.

The Williams of Nico Rosberg took third ahead of Mark Webber for the Red Bull team in fourth.  Webber sat out the end of the session after his car developed hydraulic problems.

The second Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima, finished in fifth place followed by the second Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel in sixth.

Rubens Barrichello finished in seventh in the Brawn GP car ahead of Jarno Trulli in eighth after developing an electrical problem on his Toyota.

Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber took ninth position followed by the second Toyota of Timo Glock completing the top ten drivers.

Kimi Raikkonen finished in eleventh for the Ferrari team ahead of Fernando Alonso for Renault in twelfth and Jenson Button in the second Brawn GP car, down in thirteenth place.

In fourteenth was Robert Kubica in the second BMW Sauber with Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari in sixteenth, and Nelson Piquet in the second Renault, in what could be his final grand prix with the team if rumours prove to be true.

The two Force India cars of Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella, finished in seventeenth and eighteenth respectively followed by Sebastien Buemi and rookie driver Jaime Alguersuari in the two Toro Rosso cars.

Alguersuari, the 19-year-old Spanish driver, made no major mistakes on his track debut, making steady progress as the session ran.

Here are the results;

Combined Practice Results;

1. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 22.079s
2. Heikki Kovalainen Finland McLaren-Mercedes 1m 22.126s
3. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota 1m 22.154s
4. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1m 22.369s
5. Kazuki Nakajima Japan Williams-Toyota 1m 22.426s
6. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1m 22.550s
7. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Brawn-Mercedes 1m 22.641s
8. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota-Toyota 1m 22.663s
9. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 1m 22.690s
10. Timo Glock Germany Toyota-Toyota 1m 22.751s
11. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 22.763s
12. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault-Renault 1m 22.793s
13. Jenson Button Britain Brawn-Mercedes 1m 22.806s
14. Robert Kubica Poland BMW Sauber 1m 22.870s
15. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 22.855s*
16. Nelson Piquet Jr Brazil Renault-Renault 1m 22.927s
17. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1m 22.978s
18. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Force India-Mercedes 1m 23.029s
19. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 23.176s
20. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 23.942s

* denotes driver setting time in first of two sessions

Toro Rosso

The Formula One Toro Rosso Team, have now confirmed that Jaime Alguersuari will be racing for them from the next grand prix in Hungary alongside Sebastian Buemi, replacing Sebastien Bourdais.

The 19-year-old, will make history as the youngest driver to take part in a Formula One Grand Prix as he steps into the cockpit at the Hungaroring on Friday.

Alguersuari, became the youngest winner of the British F3 series in 2008 before it became evident that he was being groomed to take part in the F1 series.  Jaime said;

“I would like to thank Red Bull for giving me this great opportunity to race in F1.  Ever since I started racing, this has been my dream and, thanks to the Red Bull Junior Programme, I will now realise my ambition of lining up on a grand prix grid.

I am aware that I’m facing a very tough challenge, because coming into F1 is never easy, but coming into F1 in the middle of a season is even harder – and doing so without any testing is really difficult. But already I feel that I am getting great support from the team, who have quite a reputation for looking after rookie drivers.”

The rumours surrounding the rally driver Sebastien Loeb joining the team have not gone away however, and it is still believed he may take his seat in the Toro Rosso at the end of the season when the teams and drivers head to Abu Dhabi.

Lewis Hamilton

It looks like Lewis Hamilton, the McLaren driver, can only blame himself for the punctures that have blighted him last season and this.

The analysis from the Bridgestone boss, Hirohide Hamashima,

“A flat spot makes you more vulnerable to a puncture because it makes the tyre thinner in that area and therefore you have less protection against debris damage.”

Hamilton appears to be a master of flat-spotting his tyres, which has been witnessed by many of us on several occasions, so it would seem that his aggressive driving manner is not conducive to the Brigestone tyres, not sure how they are going to solve that problem!

Timo Glock is too stay with the Toyota team for the 2009 season adding to his celebrations of taking second place at this weekends Hungarian Grand Prix.

Glock already had an existing contract to stay with the team until 2009 and possibly even 2010, which he signed last November.

According to reports, Fernando Alonso is about to sign a $15 million deal to join the Honda team for 2009.  It is believed that Rubens Barrichello would be the man to make way for Alonso.

It would however, have to be a short-term contract with the Honda team as Alonso, who has made it quite clear in the past, intends to race for Ferrari when a seat becomes available.