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

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

Fernando Alonso - Ferrari 2010

Fernando Alonso crossed the line to take the chequered flag at the F1 German Grand Prix yesterday after Felipe Massa was forced to follow orders from his team, and moved across to let him pass.

The Ferrari team have been fined $100,000 due to a breach in regulations with the case now being referred to the FIA World Motorsport Council for further consideration.

Massa shot past Sebastian Vettel at the outside of turn one while his team-mate took the inside line and was forced wide by the Red Bull as the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton slotted into fourth place.

At the end of the first lap Sebastian Buemi was back in the pits for a new rear wing while Adrian Sutil was also in for a new nose cone.  Jarno Trulli was forced to retire from the race after suffering a gearbox problem on the Lotus as the Force India cars were seen re-entering after it was discovered that the drivers had both been given each others tyres.

Lewis Hamilton had managed to get ahead of Mark Webber after passing him on the inside of the hairpin on the opening lap with Jenson Button sitting in sixth place.

As the race settled down and the front runners had made their first stops it was clear that Massa was struggling on his new harder compound tyres as he was put under pressure from Alonso who attempted a pass on lap 20.  Massa then put in a number of quick laps, creating a 3 second gap before the second Ferrari driver responded and was back on his tail.

It looked that Massa was going to take his first win since his horrific accident 12-months before until he was radioed by his race engineer Rob Smedley informing the Brazilian that “Fernando is faster than you, confirm that you understand”.

On lap 49, Massa was seen to slow down, allowing Alonso to pass him before his engineer once again came on the radio to apologise, making it obvious to all that this had been team orders.

Alonso crossed the line to take the flag, 4 seconds ahead of his unhappy team-mate followed by the Red Bull of Vettel in third.

The two McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button finished in fourth and fifth places respectively ahead of Webber who had suffered with an oil problem the entire race.

Robert Kubica was in seventh position followed by the two Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher finished in eighth and ninth place while Renault driver Vitaly Petrov completed the top ten drivers of the day.

Here are the results;

1. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 67laps 1hr 27m 38.864s
2. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 04.1s
3. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +00m 05.1s
4. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 26.8s
5. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 29.4s
6. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault +00m 43.6s
7. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +1 lap
8. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +1 lap
9. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +1 lap
10. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault +1 lap

all results unofficial

Mark Webber - Red Bull's No.2 Driver

Mark Webber is now lying in third place in the F1 championship standings after crossing the line to take the chequered flag at yesterdays British Grand Prix at the newly modernised Silverstone circuit.

Webber was still smarting from the team decision to give his Red Bull team mate the newly developed front wing off of his car just before the start of the qualifying session after the one fitted to Sebastian Vettel’s car broke during the morning session, leaving the German driver to go on and secure pole position.

The Australian driver led the race from the very first corner as he squeezed his car in front of his team-mate Vettel, who in turn touched wheels with the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton, damaging the rear wheel of the Red Bull and was forced to return to the pits for new tyres.

Webber set fastest lap after fastest lap ahead of Hamilton and third place man Robert Kubica in the Renault, Nico Rosberg for Mercedes and Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari.  Alonso and team-mate Felipe Massa appeared to make contact as they battled for position resulting in the Brazilian driver heading back to the pits after a puncture.

Kubica retired from the race after suffering a driveshaft failure on his car leaving Rosberg the chance at the third step of the podium while a challenging Jenson Button stayed on his tail after moving up from fourteenth place on the grid to fourth.

The safety car was deployed on lap 28 of the race after Force India driver Adrian Sutil ran into the back of Pedro de la Rosa in the BMW Sauber as they headed down the pit straight, littering the circuit with debris.  The incident played nicely into the hands of Vettel who began to work his way back through the field despite making contact with Sutil after finally getting past without either drivers suffering any problems.

Webber, who had created a gap of over 7 seconds on Hamilton until the safety car, finished the race 1.3 seconds ahead of the McLaren driver who was followed by Rosberg and Button.

In fifth place was the Williams driver Rubens Barrichello ahead of the BMW Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi and Vettel who finished in an impressive seventh place from the back of the field.

Adrian Sutil crossed the line in eighth place followed by Michael Schumacher in ninth and the second Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg in tenth.

It was a disastrous weekend for the Ferrari team after Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa’s starting incident and then later Alonso was given a drive-through penalty for taking a short cut when overtaking Kubica on lap 17.  His penalty coincided with the deployment of the safety car which moved him from 4th place back to 15th and out of the points.

The Toro Rosso of Jaime Alguersuari suffered brake failure just 7 laps from the end of the race while Lucas di Grassi failed to finish the race due to an hydraulics problem in the Virgin car.

Here are the results;

1. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 52 laps 1hr 24m 38.200s
2. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes +1.3s
3. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +21.3s
4. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +21.9s
5. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth +31.4s
6. Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari +32.1s
7. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +36.7s
8. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +40.9s
9. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +41.5s
10. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth +42.0s

all times unofficial

Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing 2010

The Red Bull driver Sebastain Vettel took victory yesterday at the European Grand Prix in Valencia, Spain while Mark Webber walked away from an horrendous accident.

Vettel who started from pole position dominated the race from the start followed by Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren and the second Red Bull of Mark Webber as they headed into the first corner.  Webber was soon moved back to five position as he was passed by both the Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.

The Australian soon slipped further back to ninth before getting it all wrong on lap 10 when he dropped into the slipstream of Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus.  Webber clipped the back of the Lotus, launching his Red Bull into the air and landing on the roof before flipping back over and going at full speed into the tyre wall.  Webber miraculously walked away from the high-speed crash as the safety car was deployed.

The usual mad dash for the pit lane followed the accident leaving Michael Schumacher to lead the Grand Prix followed by the second non-stopper Kamui Kobayashi.

As the safety car entered the pits it was Vettel still in the lead followed by Hamilton, Kobayashi, Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello, Robert Kubica, Sebastien Buemi, Adrian Sutil, Nico Hulkenburg and Alonso.

On lap 21 of the race it was announced that Lewis Hamilton was under investigation by the stewards for passing the safety car.  The McLaren driver pitted on lap 28 to serve his drive-through penalty and rejoined the circuit still in second place.

Timo Glock was forced to make an unscheduled stop when he developed a puncture after coming into contact with the HRT car of Bruno Senna, who also ended up returning to the pits for a new nose cone.  Glock was later issued with a 20 second penalty for ignoring waved blue flags.

It was then announced that nine cars were under investigation for speeding behind the safety car Button, Barrichello, Hulkenberg, de la Rosa, Petrov, Sutil, Liuzzi, Buemi and Kubica. All nine drivers have since been given a five-second penalty added onto their finishing times although it didn’t make much difference to the outcome of the positions.

Nico Hulkenberg was forced to retire with only 7 laps of the race to run after developing a perished rear tyre that damaged the rear bodywork of the Williams.

Vettel crossed the line ahead of Hamilton, Button, Barrichello, Kubica, Sutil, Kobayashi, Buemi, Alonso and de la Rosa completing the top ten drivers.

Here are the results;

1. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 57 laps 1hr 40m 29.571s
2. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes +5.0s
3. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +12.6s*
4. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth +25.6s*
5. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +27.1s*
6. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +30.1s*
7. Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari +30.9s
8. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari +32.8s
9. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari +36.2s*
10. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +44.3s

Lewis Hamilton - Canadian Grand Prix 2010

Lewis Hamilton crossed the line in the McLaren to take the chequered flag at the Canadian Grand Prix despite being penalised and reprimanded for running out of fuel at the end of his qualifying session on Saturday.  Hamilton was fined $10,000 after stopping on track with an empty tank and a precedent was set to ensure that this is not a regular occurrence.

The Red Bull driver Mark Webber had qualified in second place but was penalised for replacing the gear box on his car and moved down the grid five places.

Lewis Hamilton took the lead at the beginning of the race ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button as a collision between Felipe Massa’s Ferrari and the Force India of Vitantonio Liuzzi occurred.

Within 7 laps of the race most of the front runners were in the pits swapping from the soft to the harder tyre options leaving Vettel in the lead followed by his team-mate Mark Webber. The whole race was to be decided on tyre choices with the Red Bull team drivers choosing different options as the race progressed.  While Vettel chose the option tyre Webber stayed on the primes with the hope of building enough of a lead so as not to lose the lead when he needed to re-pit for his option tyre.  Webber’s hopes were dashed when he was passed one lap before his scheduled stop by Hamilton.

Alonso was sitting in second place in his Ferrari until lap 56 when he was passed by the second McLaren of Jenson Button after getting held up by Karun Chandhok in the Force India.

Robert Kubica was forced to take three stops during his race due to tyre wear and almost collided with the Mercedes of Michael Scumacher emerging from the second stop.  Both cars were jostling for the place over the kerbs in turns three and four, compromising both cars and resulting in Schumacher finishing down in eleventh place.  Kubica was later reprimanded for his dangerous driving when he cut across the track in front of Adrian Sutil to take the entry lane of the pits.

Hamilton took the chequered flag ahead of Button with Alonso in third place.  Vettel finished in fourth place followed by his team-mate Webber in fifth and Nico Rosberg for Mercedes in sixth, Robert Kubica in seventh, Sebastien Buemi in eighth, Liuzzi in ninth and Adrian Sutil in tenth.

Felipe Massa was given a 20-second penalty after the race for speeding in the pit lane after an unscheduled stop when he tangled with Michael Schumacher at the final chicane resulting in a damaged front wing.

Here are the results;

1. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 70 laps 1hr 33m 53.456s
2. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +2.2s
3. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari +9.2s
4. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +37.8s
5. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault +39.2s
6. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +56.0s
7. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +57.3s
8. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
9. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
10. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +1 lap

all times unofficial

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton won his first Grand Prix of the season this weekend as he crossed the line ahead of his McLaren team-mate Jenson Button.

The Red Bull driver Mark Webber had dominated the race until lap 41 when his team-mate Sebastian Vettel turned his car into the side of Webber causing both drivers to run off track.

Vettel began chasing Webber down on lap 38 while under threat from the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton.  Webber had turned his engine down in a bid to reserve fuel but Vettel saw the chance to pass his team-mate through turn 9 and moved to the left to go around the outside of Webber.  Webber was holding his position while Vettel moved to the right resulting in contact between the two and ended the chance of a win for Webber and the end of the race for Vettel.

It appeared that the McLaren duo had been handed the race on a plate despite both drivers being told to reserve fuel as the rain began to fall onto the circuit.  On lap 48, Button was challenging Hamilton for the lead but the front man was holding his position as Button attempted a move on the outside and the two touched wheels.

Hamilton crossed the line to take his first win of the season with his team-mate close behind while Webber had enough time to return to the pits for a new front wing and nose cone and still get out in front of Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes for the third step of the podium.

Nico Rosberg followed in fifth position close behind his team-mate with the Renault driver Robert Kubica finishing in sixth place ahead of Felipe Massa in the Ferrari.

Fernando Alonso finished in eighth place after touching wheels with the Renault of Vitaly Petrov on lap 54 resulted in a puncture for the Russian and moved him back to fifteenth place.  In ninth place was the Force India of Adrian Sutil ahead of Kamui Kobayashi in the BMW Sauber for tenth.

Here are the results;

POS	DRIVER	NATIONALITY	ENTRANT	LAPS	TIME/RETIRE
1.	Lewis Hamilton	Britain	McLaren-Mercedes	58	1h28m47.620
2.	Jenson Button	Britain	McLaren-Mercedes	58	2.645
3.	Mark Webber	Australia	Red Bull-Renault	58	24.285
4.	Michael Schumacher	Germany	Mercedes GP	58	31.110
5.	Nico Rosberg	Germany	Mercedes GP	58	32.266
6.	Robert Kubica	Poland	Renault	58	32.824
7.	Felipe Massa	Brazil	Ferrari	58	36.635
8.	Fernando Alonso	Spain	Ferrari	58	46.544
9.	Adrian Sutil	Germany	Force India-Mercedes	58	49.029
10.	Kamui Kobayashi	Japan	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	58	1m05.650
11.	Pedro de la Rosa	Spain	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	58	1m05.944
12.	Jaime Alguersuari	Spain	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	58	1m07.800
13.	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Italy	Force India-Mercedes	57	1 Lap
14.	Rubens Barrichello	Brazil	Williams-Cosworth	57	1 Lap
15.	Vitaly Petrov	Russia	Renault	57	1 Lap
16.	Sebastien Buemi	Switzerland	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	57	1 Lap
17.	Nico Hulkenberg	Germany	Williams-Cosworth	57	1 Lap
18.	Timo Glock	Germany	Virgin-Cosworth	55	3 Laps
19.	Lucas di Grassi	Brazil	Virgin-Cosworth	55	3 Laps
20.	Karun Chandhok	India	HRT-Cosworth	52	6 Laps, Fuel Pump
R	Bruno Senna	Brazil	HRT-Cosworth	46	Fuel Pressure
R	Sebastian Vettel	Germany	Red Bull-Renault	39	Accident
R	Heikki Kovalainen	Finland	Lotus-Cosworth	33	Hydraulics
R	Jarno Trulli	Italy	Lotus-Cosworth	32	Hydraulics
FASTEST LAP:
	Vitaly Petrov	Russia	Renault	57	1:29.165

Sebastien Vettel - Red Bull Racing 2010

Following last weekends Monaco Grand Prix, the joint championship leader, Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel has fuelled rumours that he could be heading for a drive with the Ferrari team next season.

The German driver has made no secret of the fact that his ultimate aim would be to one day drive for the Ferrari crew although his team-mate Mark Webber and winner of Sunday’s race has also been linked to be the replacement for Felipe Massa’s seat in 2011.

Webber crossed the line to take the chequered flag for the second time in two weeks at the Monaco Grand Prix for the Red Bull team, followed by team-mate Vettel in second.

The incident packed race saw the safety car deployed four times after several accidents during the 78 laps but Mark Webber managed to stay ahead and focused after each slot to make it another Red Bull one-two.

The first yellow flag was seen being waved from lap 1 of the race after Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg crashed his car into the barrier of the tunnel causing the first deployment of the safety car.  Hulkenberg dropped back at the start of the race after suffering problems with his clutch on the formation lap.  It was later reported that his car had encountered a front wing mounting failure which will be investigated by the team.

Current F1 World Champion Jenson Button was out of the race by lap 3 after qualifying in eighth place on the grid.  Apparently a cooling cover had been left on the left-hand side pod and wasn’t spotted until the McLaren had already entered it’s grid position.  Following the deployment of the safety car, the McLaren engine began to overheat causing a small fire and ending Button’s race as he was forced to switch off his car.

The safety car entered the pit lane on lap 7 and the restart was underway with Webber again leading the race followed by Vettel and Robert Kubica in third.

Fernando Alonso was forced to start from the pit lane in his Ferrari after hitting the barriers in practice.  The Spaniard made a mistake at Massanet, only 20 minutes into the final practice session, damaging the chassis which meant that the car would not be available to him for qualifying on Saturday.

Alonso made an early pit stop as the race got underway, having passed Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok, Lucas di Grassi was defending his line and kept Alonso behind him until he made a mistake on lap 10, allowing the Ferrari to slip past.

Pedro de la Rosa retired his BMW Sauber on lap 24 after a long pit stop saw smoke billowing from the back of his car and he was pushed into his garage.

Lap 28 was the end of the race for the Virgin driver Lucas di Grassi and on lap 32 the safety car was once again on track after Rubens Barrichello crashed out and was stranded in the middle of the circuit at Massenet.  The Brazilian had been running in tenth place when he suffered a failure at the rear of his Williams, sending him into a spin and into the barrier and leaving him with front and rear wings missing and a broken suspension.

The race was again underway on lap 34 but was deployed again on lap 43 after it was reported that a drain cover was loose at turn 3.  After a brief investigation it was decided that it was safe to continue and the safety car came in the following lap.

Bruno Senna parked his HRT F1 in his pit garage on lap 63 of the race while on lap 66, Heikki Kovalainen suffered a problem with his gearbox resulting in a long pit stop while the crew battled to try and get him back on track.

On lap 74, the safety car was deployed yet again after a huge incident at La Rascasse as Jarno Trulli’s car went over the top of Chandhok’s as both cars fought for the line.  Trulli had tried to put his Lotus up the inside of the HRT of Chandhok but the two touched wheels resulting in the Lotus jumping over the HRT as Chandhok was seen trying to protect his head.

With only two laps of the race remaining it looked as if the drivers would finish the Monaco Grand Prix behind the safety car but it exited the track just before the final lap to see Webber cross the line to take the greatest victory of his career.

Michael Shumacher was given a 20 second penalty after the race after it was deemed that he had broken regulations by overtaking.  The rules state that the drivers must take the chequered flag in the order they have been running in if the safety car has been deployed.

Here are the results;

1. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 78 laps 1hr 50m 13.355s
2. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +00m 00.4s
3. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +00m 01.6s
4. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 02.6s
5. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 04.3s
6. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 06.3s
7. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +00m 06.6s
8. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +00m 06.9s
9. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes +00m 07.3s
10. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari +00m 08.1s

11. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari +00m 09.1s
12. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +00m 25.7s
13. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault +5 laps [DNF]
14. Karun Chandhok India HRT-Cosworth +8 laps [DNF]
15. Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Cosworth +8 laps [DNF]

Rtd Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Cosworth 58 laps completed
Rtd Bruno Senna Brazil HRT-Cosworth 58 laps completed
Rtd Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 30 laps completed
Rtd Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari 26 laps completed
Rtd Lucas di Grassi Brazil Virgin-Cosworth 25 laps completed
Rtd Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth 22 laps completed
Rtd Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari 21 laps completed
Rtd Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 2 laps completed
Rtd Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 0 laps completed

Fastest lap:

Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1m 15.192s lap 71

all results unofficial

Mark Webber - Red Bull Racing 2010

The Australian F1 driver Mark Webber took his Red Bull across the line yesterday to claim victory at the Spanish Grand Prix after qualifying in pole position.

Webber was followed by the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso who gained a place on the podium after Lewis Hamilton suffered a puncture on the McLaren with two laps of the race remaining.

Sebastian Vettel completed the podium in third place in the second Red Bull despite an unexpected second pit stop after developing a problem with his front right wheel.  During the early stages of the race, Vettel had been keeping pace with his team-mate but a problem in the pits with the first set of stops he dropped back into third place behind Hamilton.

Michael Schumacher came in fourth for the Mercedes team after holding back a charging Jenson Button in the McLaren who could not find a way past the defensive driving style of the German.

The Ferrari of Felipe Massa took fifth position despite running into the back of the HRT F1 of Karun Chandhok while attempting to lap him.  After damaging the front wing of the Ferrari, Massa and the team decided to keep the car out on track, seeing the Brazilian not only keeping pace with the front runners but actually improving on his lap times.

In seventh place was the Force India driver Adrian Sutil ahead of Robert Kubica in the Renault, Rubens Barrichello in the Williams and the Toro Rosso of Jaime Alguersuari in tenth.  The Spanish driver managed to score points at his home race despite having to serve a drive through penalty after cutting across the circuit in front of Chandhok and taking off his front wing, ending the Indian’s chance of a finish.

Nico Rosberg had a dismal race in his Mercedes, finishing in thirteenth place and a lap down on the front runners.  As the race got underway, Rosberg was forced onto the grass by a charging Kubica, pushing him back down the field and then suffered wheel balance problems throughout the race.  At his first pit stop, the German had to be pushed back to his pit box after one of the wheel nuts on his front-right wheel failed to tighten losing him more time.

Sebastien Buemi also had a disastrous race in the second Toro Rosso car, making contact with the BMW Sauber of Pedro de la Rosa at the start of the race and then receiving a drive through penalty.  The Swiss driver retired later in the race after developing an hydraulic problem.  De la Rosa also retired from the race after the contact with Buemi resulted in a rear puncture which caused damage to the floor of his car.

Bruno Senna in the second HRT F1 was out of the race after just one lap following a driver error and sticking his car into the barriers at turn 4.

Heikki Kovalainen didn’t make it to the race after his Lotus failed to fire up on the grid and he was seen being pushed back to the pit garage as the rest of the field prepared for their warm-up lap.

Here are the results;

1. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 66 laps 1hr 35m 44.101s
2. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 24.0s
3. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +00m 51.3s
4. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +01m 02.1s
5. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +01m 03.7s
6. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +01m 05.7s
7. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +01m 12.9s
8. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +01m 13.6s
9. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth +1 lap
10. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap

all results unofficial

Michael Schumacher - Mercedes F1 2010

Michael Schumacher is to have a radically re-vamped Mercedes F1 for the coming Spanish Grand Prix after it was claimed that the car that he has been driving since the opening of the 2010 series had not been designed to his driving style.

A longer wheelbase has been introduced for the newly designed version of the Mercedes which will in fact move the front wheels further forward, which in turn, determine the weight balance of the car that the team had got wrong according to Ross Brawn and improve down-force.

The Mercedes will not be having a new chassis as has been reported but the one previously used during testing after it was reported that the one Schumacher has been racing in was damaged and repaired but was not working to its fully capacity along with a major new aerodynamic revamp.

The host of changes to the former seven-times champions Mercedes is hoped to improve his F1 comeback after scoring just 10 points since his return to the sport in March.

The team-mate of Schumacher, Nico Rosberg has meanwhile finished twice on the podium this season leaving him in second place in the driver standings.