Vettel got off to a flying start and took the lead on the first lap and went on to win his 10th race this season.

With both the Driver’s and the Constructor’s Championship already won this season Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull still have one record still in their sights.  Vettel has already been likened to fellow countryman Michael Schumacher and if he can win the remaining three races in India, Abu Dhabi and Brazil he will equal Schumacher’s record 13 wins in a single season.

Over the past few seasons the FIA have attempted to address criticism aimed at F1 being dull and races becoming predictable with less overtaking and thrills.  But next season it will be up to the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso and McLaren and Ferrari to catch the 24 year old Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team.

Jenson Button came second and is the only driver who can mathematically stop Vettel retaining the 2011 Formula One Drivers’ Championship, though realistically that is not going to happen.

F1 Singapore Grand Prix
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1 1:59:06.757 25
2  Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 3 1:59:08.494 18
3 Mark Webber  Red Bull-Renault 2 1:59:36.036 15

Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull’s dominance of this year’s F1 season has been phenomenal.  The victory in Singapore was his ninth in 14 races this season.  He is now 124 points clear of second place Jenson Button with a maximum 125 points available with five races remaining. With his inevitable victory to come in the next few weeks, Vettel will be the youngest driver to retain the F1 Drivers’ Championship; and in doing so there is talk of Vettel dominating the sport in much the same way fellow German Michael Schumacher did before him.  And though Jenson Button has had a great season, both Button and Lewis Hamilton are not able to compete on a level playing field all the time the Red Bull cars are out performing their McLaren’s.

FIA Formula 1 2011 Drivers’ World Championship

1   Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) 309
2   Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 185
3   Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 184
4   Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) 182
5   Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 168
6   Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 84
7   Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) 62
8   Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP) 52
9   Vitaly Petrov (Renault) 34
10 Nick Heidfeld (Renault) 34

The next race is the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka on 9th October.

Former world champions Niki Lauda and Jackie Stewart have recently piped up that Lewis Hamilton is driving in a dangerous and life threatening way, but I disagree.

The chiefs of F1 are aware that the sport can be over regulated and dull, so needs excitement and drivers who are willing to take risks.  But Lewis Hamilton’s style of driving is nothing new.  It’s not that long ago that Michael Schumacher was being criticised for exactly the same driving style which also resulted with a larger percentage of collisions as he squeezed every driver, at every corner, in every race.

Furthermore, the great Ayrton Senna was also chastised for his aggressive racing style.  Now Senna is heralded as one of the best F1 racing drivers of all time.  But his great rival Alain Prost and other contemporaries raised complaints at the time suggesting he was driving dangerously and created accidents by attempting to overtake when other drivers would hold back.  The same is said of Lewis Hamilton. Statistics show he manages to overtake more than any other driver so it isn’t a surprise that he is involved in more accidents.

That aggressive style of driving is great to watch and I believe should be promoted on the race tracks of Formula One.  However, it may be my age or the fact that I have become a grumpy old man, but there appears to be a distinct increase in impatient and dangerous drivers on our roads today; something I feel has been increasing year on year.  Is it because our lives are becoming faster and we find ourselves in a constant rush to get from A to B to C, or is it more to do with the importance drivers place upon themselves while remaining oblivious to all else that is going on around them?

As far as I’m concerned F1 is a very dangerous sport and by its very definition I expect to see exciting, sometime dangerous manoeuvres by highly skilled drivers.  The very opposite of what I want to see on motorways and highways but unfortunately I see far too often.  No wonder there is an increase in advertising for no win no fee solicitors to cope with the demand of road accidents.  The most common discomfort in minor vehicle accidents is whiplash and some lawyers solely deal with whiplash compensation.

If you are unfortunate enough to be involved in a vehicle accident there is plenty of information on the internet to help, guide and advice you on what you should do and what you are entitled to.  A compensation calculator will give you an indication of what you can claim for, if you are the innocent party and involved in an accident.

Road accidents and car crashes are a part of everyday life, whether or not your name is Lewis Hamilton!

The Montreal circuit is known for serving up exciting formula one grand prix races but no one was quite ready for this astonishing race.

The rain came down and threatened to spoil the whole event as spectators were first denied the excitement from the start.  No rush for the first corner, as the Montreal Grand Prix was started with the safety car.  But as the safety car moved over Lewis Hamilton tried one of his familiar over-taking manoeuvres and ran into and span Mark Webber’s car off the track.  Fortunately, both cars were able to continue.  Webber appeared to see Hamilton and move over giving Hamilton enough space to pass. Hamilton also had a light collision with Michael Schumacher before a crash with Jenson Button had Lewis Hamilton retire from the race with a tyre and rear suspension problem on lap 8.

And then the rain came down even heavier.  The safety car was called upon again and it was decided the race should be stopped due to the poor visibility from the spray.

After a long delay the race was restarted. Sebastian Vettel, who had led the race from the start, looked like claiming yet another victory in this season’s F1 championship.  Jenson Button survived collisions with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso and entered the pits six times, five for tyre changes and once to serve a drive-through penalty for driving too fast behind the safety car.  The safety car restarted the race four times in all.  After three restarts and 30 laps remaining, Jenson Button looked completely out of contention in last place.

But Vettel made a mistake and was amazingly out manoeuvred and beaten to the flag by Jenson Button who had come from last to first place as he passed the championship leader with half a lap to go to win the Canadian Grand Prix – a race and victory that will be remembered for a very long time.  Sebatian Vettel was second and Mark Webber third. The victory sees Jenson Button move into second place in the F1 2011 Championship.

F1 2011 Championship

1   Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull-Renault 161 points
2   Jenson Button (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 101
3   Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull-Renault 94
4   Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 85
5   Fernando Alonson (Spain) Ferrari 69
6   Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 32
7   Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Renault 31
8   Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Renault 29
9   Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes GP 26
10 Nico Rosberg Germany (Mercedes) GP 26

So what of Lewis Hamilton?  Is he a dangerous driver or just frustrated with not having a car to match his ability?  Some commentators would argue that though Sebastian Vettel is a worthy champion, Hamilton is the best driver in the world.  Furthermore, statistics show that no one overtakes as much as Lewis Hamilton which probably accounts for the amount of collisions he is involved in.

Would Lewis Hamilton be even more prolific than Vettel this season if he was driving a Red Bull?

The newly named Team Lotus are among those who have confirmed their drivers for tye first time, announcing that will be retaining the services of both of last years competitors, veteran driver Jano Trulli alongside Heikki Kovalainen.

Sauber have also announced both drivers for 2011 when new boy Sergio Perez will join the more experienced Kamui Kobayashi.

Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes will retain the same driver line ups as last season, while of the other established teams Renault have confirmed Robert Kubica only at this stage and Williams have retained the most experienced driver on the circuit, Rubens Barrichello for their challenge next year.

The Full 2011 Drivers  line up so far:
Red Bull
1 Sebastian Vettel
2 Mark Webber

McLaren
3 Jenson Button
4 Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari
5 Fernando Alonso
6 Felipe Massa

Mercedes GP
7 Michael Schumacher
8 Nico Rosberg

Renault
9 Robert Kubica
10 TBA

Williams
11 Rubens Barrichello
12 TBA

Force India
14 TBA
15 TBA

Sauber
16 Kamui Kobayashi
17 Sergio Perez

Toro Rosso
18 TBA
19 TBA

Team Lotus
20 Jarno Trulli
21 Heikki Kovalainen

Hispania
22 TBA
23 TBA

Virgin Racing
24 TBA
25 TBA

Fernando Alonso - Ferrari 2010

Fernando Alonso won the Singapore Grand Prix yesterday after dominating the race from pole position in the Ferrari.

As the race got underway it was Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull that took to the front but he was quickly knocked off the front spot as he was forced out by Alonso.

The safety car was deployed on lap 3 of the race after Nick Heidfeld hit Tonio Liuzzi from behind leaving the Force India car stranded on the circuit in a dangerous place.  The usual scramble for the pit lane began although the top four drivers remained on track staying on soft tyres.

The safety car was deployed for the second time when Kamui Kobayashi slammed his BMW Sauber into the barrier at the exit of turn 18.

As the safety car left the track, Lewis Hamilton attempted to make a move on Mark Webber in the Red Bull going into turn 7.  It looked as if Hamilton would make it through but cut across the front of Webber who had nowhere to go and the two touched.  Hamilton was out of the running and the incident was investigated by the stewards who decided it was a racing incident and no further action would be taken.

A similar incident then took place between Nick Heidfeld and Michael Schumacher, resulting in the retirement of the Sauber driver and once again although the accident was investigated no action was taken.

With just two laps of the race remaining Sebastien Buemi hit the back of the Lotus driven by Heikki Kovalainen causing it to spin.  As the Lotus limped around the final sector of the lap it burst into flames and after crossing the start/finish line, Kovalainen jumped out of his stricken Lotus, grabbed a fire extinguisher and doused the flames himself as he waited for the marshalls.

Alonso crossed the line to take the chequered flag just 0.2 seconds ahead of Vettel with Mark Webber in the second Red Bull in third.

Jenson Button finished in fourth place ahead of Nico Rosberg in fifth, Rubens Barrichello in sixth, Robert Kubica in seventh, Felipe Massa in eighth, Adrian Sutil in ninth and Nico Hulkenberg in tenth.

Here are the results;

1. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 61 laps 1hr 57m 53.579s
2. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +00.2s
3. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault +29.1s
4. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +30.3s
5. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +49.3s
6. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth +56.1s
7. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +1m 26.5s
8. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +1m 53.2s
9. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +2m 12.4s*
10. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth +2m 12.7s**

all results unofficial

Fernando Alonso - Ferrari 2010

Fernando Alonso crossed the line to take the chequered flag for the Ferrari team yesterday in front of the famous Tifosi fans at the Italian Grand Prix.

It was the McLaren driver Jenson Button that took the lead as the lights went out at the Monza circuit from second on the grid. Felipe Massa tried to slot into second place, racing side by side with the British driver, compromising his team-mates line which resulted in the Spaniard hitting the rear of Buttons’ car.  His team-mate Lewis Hamilton got it all wrong when he got tangled up with the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa, making contact which broke the steering arm of the McLaren and ended his race.

Nico Rosberg moved up to fourth place while the the two Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber moved down the field to sixth and ninth respectively.

The Force India driver Adrian Sutil was forced to pit following an incident later in the lap which looked as if it had payed off as he made his way through the back markers but following his second stop Sutil soon dropped back down the order.

Kamui Kobayashi was starting his race from the pit lane following gearbox problems but after only a few laps he was forced back to his pit garage and retired from the grand prix.  Bruno Senna was another retiree later in the race after suffering from a mechanical failure.

Webber passed Michael Schumacher on lap 6 and sailed past his team-mate Sebastian Vettel on lap 19 after the German was heard on the radio to his team complaining of a suspected engine problem.  After losing a lot of ground the pit crew had seemed to have made the required adjustments to the Red Bull and once again Vettel was back up to speed.

Button could not shake off the Ferrari of Alonso and was one of the first to stop on lap 37 for new tyres, followed a lap later by the Ferrari’s of Alonso and Massa. It all played into the hands of the Spaniard who managed to get ahead of the British driver and take the lead to the delight of the Ferrari home crowd.

Alonso crossed the line to win the Italian Grand Prix ahead of Button in second and the second Ferrari of Massa in third.  Vettel took the fourth position ahead of Nico Rosberg and the second Red Bull of Mark Webber in sixth.  Nico Hulkenberg finished in seventh place for the Williams team followed by Robert Kubica in eighth, Michael Schumacher in ninth and Rubens Barrichello in the second Williams in tenth.

The Hispania F1 team received a fine following the race after Sakon Yamamoto was released from his stop while a member of the team was still working on the car.  The mechanic was hit by the right rear wheel of the car and was rushed to the medical centre before being taken to hospital but was released without serious injury.  The team were fined a total of $20,000 for an unsafe pit release.

Here are the results;

1. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 53 laps 1hr 16m 24.572s
2. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +2.9s
3. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +4.2s
4. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +28.1s
5. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +29.9s
6. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault +31.2s
7. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth +32.8s
8. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +34.0s
9. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +44.9s
10. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth +64.2s

all results unofficial

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