Felipe Massa - Karting 2009

The Ferrari driver Felipe Massa will back on track this weekend as he takes part in the charity karting event, the ‘International Challenge Of The Stars’.

The annual event takes place in Brazil, for the fifth consecutive year, seeing some of top drivers from a range of  motor-sports on track including; Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Nelson Piquet Jr., Vitantionio Liuzzi, Antonio Pizzonia, Tony Kanaan and Christian Fittipaldi.

Massa has been organising the event since 2005, but this years event is taking place on a brand new circuit at the Brazilian city of Florianopolis.

Last weekend, Michael Schumacher and Nelson Piquet Jr. were taking part at another karting event in Las Vegas, the SKUSA SuperNats Kart with Piquet finishing in eighth place overall, just behind Schumacher.

This is the first organised event that Massa has taken part in since his horrifying accident in July at the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying session, where he suffered a fractured skull.

The event can also be seen live on British Eurosport 2 on Saturday November 28 from 6pm and from Sunday November 29 from 1pm.

Flavio Briatore

Today the Renault F1 team appeared at the FIA World Motor Sport Council hearing in Paris to face charges concerning the deliberate crash of Nelson Piquet at the Singapore Grand Prix 2008.

The Renault team were given a two-year ban, suspended until 2011 with the statement from the FIA stating;

“The World Motor Sport Council considers Renault F1’s breaches relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to be of unparalleled severity.  Renault F1’s breaches not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jr. himself.  The World Motor Sport Council considers that offences of this severity merit permanent disqualification from the FIA Formula One World Championship.  However, having regard to the points in mitigation mentioned above and in particular the steps taken by Renault F1 to identify and address the failings within its team and condemn the actions of the individuals involved, the WMSC has decided to suspend Renault F1’s disqualification until the end of the 2011 season. The World Motor Sport Council will only activate this disqualification if Renault F1 is found guilty of a comparable breach during that time.

In addition the World Motor Sport Council notes Renault F1’s apology and agrees that the team should pay the costs of the investigation. It also accepts the offer of a significant contribution to the FIA’s safety work”.

Flavio Briatore has been banned from the sport for an indefinite period;

“As regards Mr. Briatore, the World Motor Sport Council declares that, for an unlimited period, the FIA does not intend to sanction any International Event, Championship, Cup, Trophy, Challenge or Series involving Mr. Briatore in any capacity whatsoever, or grant any license to any Team or other entity engaging Mr. Briatore in any capacity whatsoever. It also hereby instructs all officials present at FIA-sanctioned events not to permit Mr. Briatore access to any areas under the FIA’s jurisdiction.  Furthermore, it does not intend to renew any Superlicence granted to any driver who is associated (through a management contract or otherwise) with Mr. Briatore, or any entity or individual associated with Mr. Briatore. In determining that such instructions should be applicable for an unlimited period, the World Motor Sport Council has had regard not only to the severity of the breach in which Mr. Briatore was complicit but also to his actions in continuing to deny his participation in the breach despite all the evidence”.

Pat Symonds, was given a five-year ban;

As regards Mr. Symonds, the World Motor Sport Council declares that, for a period of five years, the FIA does not intend to sanction any International Event, Championship, Cup, Trophy, Challenge or Series involving Mr. Symonds in any capacity whatsoever, or grant any license to any Team or other entity engaging Mr. Symonds in any capacity whatsoever. It hereby instructs, for a period of five years, all officials present at FIA-sanctioned events not to permit Mr. Symonds access to any areas under the FIA’s jurisdiction. In determining that such instructions should be effective for a period of five years the World Motor Sport Council has had regard: (i) to Mr. Symonds’ acceptance that he took part in the conspiracy; and (ii) to his communication to the meeting of the World Motor Sport Council that it was to his “eternal regret and shame” that he participated in the conspiracy.

Fernando Alonso attended the meeting today and was thanked for his cooperation in the enquiries by the World Motor Sport Council, who stated that the Spaniard was in no way involved in the Renault breach of regulations.

Nelson Piquet Jr. had been given immunity in relation to the incident for volunteering his evidence in the case.

Flavio Briatore Congratulating Fernando Alonso In Monaco 2009

It has been confirmed that both Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds have both left the Renault F1 Team today and have said that they will not be contesting the charges of the fixed crash at the Singapore race, where they are accused of ordering driver Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash.

In a statement issued the team said;

“The ING Renault F1 Team will not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix,” the team said in a statement;

“It also wishes to state that its managing director, Flavio Briatore, and its executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, have left the team.

Before attending the hearing before the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris (on September 21), the team will not make any further comment.”

Both of the accused are due to face the Governing body’s World Motor Sport Council on Monday 21st September, to answer charges of bringing the F1 sport into disrepute, which if found guilty could force the Renault team out of the series.

Nelson Piquet Jr.

Nelson Piquet is adamant that he was instructed to crash his Renault Formula One car at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix, in order to help his team-mate Fernando Alonso’s race strategy.

Piquet allegedly claims that he agreed to the crash at a pre-race meeting between himself, Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds, as he believed it was within his interests to do so.

Today a copy of the statement sent to the FIA back in July , said to be from Nelson Piquet Jr. appeared on a website.  The statement claims that Briatore even told the Brazilian driver, which corner to crash on to cause the safety car deployment.

The hearing for the case is set to take place on September 21st in Paris, with Bernie Ecclestone already warning that if found guilty, there would be serious consequences for both Piquet and the Renault team.

Bavaria City Racing 2009 - Rotterdam - Fernando Alonso - Renault

The Formula One Renault team, have today announced that Nelson Piquet Jr. has now been released from his contract with the team with Swiss-Frenchman Romain Grosjean taking his place in the cockpit for the remainder of the season.

The 23-year-old is the teams third driver and drove a Formula One car for the first time at the UK round of the 2008 World Series by Renault weekend in June, demonstrating the R27.

Grosjean said;

“I am very proud that the Renault F1 Team has given me the chance to become a race driver.  I’m looking forward to driving the R29 and helping the team get the best results possible. It’s also an honour to be Fernando’s team-mate and to make my Formula One debut alongside a double world champion is especially motivating.”

After winning the French Formula Renault title in 2006, Grosjean became part of the Renault ’s Driver Development programme (RDD).

Flavio Briatore, team manager said;

“We are happy to give Romain the chance to start racing with the team.  He is an impressive young talent and we expect him to show his skills driving alongside Fernando as we take an aggressive approach to the second half of the season.”

On Sunday the team took the streets of Bavaria in Rotterdam, delighting the crowds with a demonstration of the R28 with Fernando Alonso and Adam Khan at the wheel.

The Dutch Prime Minister was taken around the street circuit by Alonso in a Renault Clio Sport before the Spaniard gave an impressive display of a one-handed donut before throwing his gloves to the fans.

I'm telling my dad!

Nelson Piquet Jr., has confirmed that he is to lose his Renault seat before the end of the season and he is not prepared to go quietly.

His fury was evident in the statement released yesterday as he blamed Flavio Briatore for being his “executioner” during the worst period of his life.

In the statement, Piquet Jr. says;

“I have received notice from the Renault F1 team of its intention to stop me from driving for them in the current F1 season. I want to say thanks to the small group who supported me and that I worked together at Renault F1, although it is obviously with great disappointment that I receive such news. But, at the same time, I feel a sense of relief for the end of the worst period of my career, and the possibility that I can now move on and put my career back on the right track and try to recover my reputation of a fast, winning driver. I am a team player and there are dozens of people I have worked with in my career who would vouch for my character and talent, except unfortunately the person that has had the most influence on my career in Formula 1.

The path to F1 was always going to be tricky, and my father and I therefore signed a management contract with Flavio Briatore, who we believed was an excellent option with all the necessary contacts and management skills. Unfortunately, that was when the black period of my career started. I spent one year as a test driver, where I only did a handful of tests, and the next year started as a race driver with Renault. After the opening part of the season, some strange situations began to happen. As a beginner in F1, I could only expect from my team a lot of support and preparation to help me in getting up to the task. Instead, I was relegated as “someone who drives the other car” with no attention at all. In addition, on numerous occasions, fifteen minutes before qualifying and races, my manager and team boss (Briatore) would threaten me, telling me if I didn’t get a good result, he had another driver ready to put in my place. I have never needed threats before to get results. In 2008 I scored 19 points, finished once on the podium in second place, having the best debut year of a Brazilian driver in F1.

For the 2009 season Briatore, again acting both as my manager and team boss of Renault F1, promised me everything would be different, that I would get the attention I deserved but had never received, and that I would get “at least equal treatment” inside the team. He made me sign a performance-based contract, requiring me to score 40% of Fernando Alonso’s points by mid-way through the season. Despite driving with Fernando, two-time world champion and a really excellent driver, I was confident that, if I had the same conditions, I would easily attain the 40% of points required by the contract.

Unfortunately, the promises didn’t turn into reality again. With the new car I completed 2002km of testing compared to Fernando’s 3839km. Only three days of my testing was in dry weather – only one of Fernando’s was wet. I was only testing with a heavy car, hard tyres, mostly on the first day (when the track is slow and reliability is poor), or when the weather was bad. Fernando was driving a light car with soft tyres in the dry, fine conditions. I never had a chance to be prepared for the qualifying system we use. In Formula 1 today, the difference between 1st and 15th position is sometimes less than a second. It means that 0.2 or 0.3s can make you gain eight positions.

In addition to that, car development is now happening on a race-to-race basis due to the in season testing ban. Of the first nine races that I ran this year, in four of them Fernando had a significant car upgrade that I did not have. I was informed by the engineers at Renault that in those races I had a car that was between 0.5 and 0.8s a lap slower than my teammate. If I look at Germany (where I out-qualified my teammate despite that), if I had that advantage in qualifying I would be fifth and not tenth. If we had that difference in the race, I would have finished ahead of my teammate, which I did in Silverstone, despite him having upgrades that I did not have.

I believe without doubt in my talent and my performance. I didn’t get this far by getting bad results. Anyone who knows my history knows that the results I am having in F1 do not match my CV and my ability. The conditions I have had to deal with during the last two years have been very strange to say the least – there are incidents that I can hardly believe occurred myself. If I now need to give explanations, I am certain it is because of the unfair situation I have been in the past two years. I always believed that having a manager was being a part of a team and having a partner. A manager is supposed to encourage you, support you, and provide you with opportunities. In my case it was the opposite. Flavio Briatore was my executioner.

Being under pressure is not new to me. I have had criticism throughout my career, and have also had a lot of expectations put on me due to my name. Up until now I always met those expectations – surpassed them even. I have never before felt the need to defend myself or fight back from rumours and criticism because I knew the truth and I just wanted to concentrate on racing – I didn’t ever let it affect me. Fortunately, I can now say to those people who supported me through my career that I’m back on the good tracks and considering the options for a new start in my F1 career in a fair and positive way”.

It is rumoured that the test driver for the Renault team Roman Grosjean, is to be the replacement driver although this has yet to be confirmed.

However, it is now being suggested that Nelson Piquet Senior, is about to rescue the failing BMW Sauber team in partnership with Peter Sauber.

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)

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

Nelson Piquet Jr.

According to a Brazilian TV network, Nelson Piquet Junior, has ended his racing career with the Renault team who claim that he is to be replaced by reserve driver Romain Grosjean.

When asked if the rumours were true or if Piquet would be in the cockpit at the Hungary Grand Prix, Flavio Briatore answered “We don’t know yet”.

Allegedly, the Brazilian driver’s contract stated that by midway through the season he should have achieved at least 40% of his team-mates points total.  Piquet hasn’t scored a single point this season while his team-mate Fernando Alonso is running in ninth place in the championship with 13 points.

Although there is still no confirmation, it looks likely that the days of Sebastien Bourdais are numbered with the Scuderia Toro Rosso team.

It is rumoured that the British F3 Champion Jaime Alguersuari is set to take his seat and would also be the youngest Formula One driver in history at the age of just 19.

Alguersuari, allegedly gave an interview on Spanish radio station ‘Radio Catalunya’, in which he said of Bourdais;

“He is 30, he has a daughter, has won four championships in the American Champ Cars, won F3000 here in Europe and, honestly, is a highly-trained driver,”

But it seems that this year he has not given it everything, as he should have. I truly believe that the decision by Red Bull is just, but it is never nice to see someone taken away after half a season”.

It is believed that Alguersuari will be in the cockpit alongside Sebastien Buemi at the next round of the Formula One Championship which takes place in Hungary on 26th July.