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

He also gives his thoughts on the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix, including why qualification will be so important, what he thinks of the Barcelona track, and how confident he is of securing his first win of the season.

Added to that, Lewis will be giving the Inside Track on the relaunch of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 Player.

Christian Klien

Former F1 driver Christian Klien has joined the Hispania F1 team to be their second test driver and will begin his duties at this weekends Spanish Grand Prix.

The 27-year-old drove for the Red Bull team in 2006-2007 following his stint with the Jaguar team in 2004 alongside Mark Webber before moving onto be a reserve driver for the Honda and BMW teams.

The Austrian said;

“This role offers me the opportunity to rejoin the Formula One environment and drive again, which is naturally where my longer-term ambitions lie”

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.

Bernie Ecclestone

Despite the Formula 1 teams still stranded in China following the grounding of airlines amid the threat of volcanic ash after the recent Icelandic volcano eruption, Bernie Ecclestone has said that the Spanish Grand Prix will go ahead.

The Barcelona race due to take place on May 9, was faced with postponement or cancelled due to the disruptions, however, in the worse case scenario it could mean that the teams may have to fly directly to the Spanish circuit.

The chief executive of the Formula One Management (FOM), said to the Times newspaper;

“The main concern is getting the engines back because they have to be worked on.  I am sure everything will be alright. There is no question of cancelling the Spanish Grand Prix. Of course it is causing everybody problems, but we will find a way to get everyone home.”

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.

Felipe Massa - Ferrari

Michael Schumacher is undergoing a rigorous fitness regime in preparation for his come back to Formula One in Valencia on the 23 August, when he replaces the injured driver Felipe Massa for the Ferrari team.

Schumacher has said on his website www.michael-schumacher.de

“I’m currently in the midst of my preparations for the upcoming race. I already lost three kilograms even if it is also important to me for to build up muscles.  So all in all, the practice is going pretty well.  I only have to admit that my neck pinches a bit. We have to get a grip on that as my health is the priority — that’s the clear arrangement made with Ferrari and with my wife too.”

As Schumacher will not be able to test the F60 due to the ban on in-season testing, the 40-year-old has taken to the Lonato circuit in Italy in a kart.

Schumacher said;

“Karting has a very good training effect, that is why today I just jumped into a testing day of the Tony Kart team in Lonato.  There is nothing better for my preparations at the moment – in terms of steering wheel forces for example, karting is even more difficult than Formula One.”

He added;

“We had two very good karting days, arms, upper body, shoulders, neck — an excellent practice indeed.”

Meanwhile, Felipe Massa is making a remarkable recovery and after a series of tests in Sao Paulo hospital, has been told that there is no need for further surgery at this time.

The 28-year-old Brazilian, has now been told to rest at home and no time has been given of when he is likely to return to his seat in the cock-pit of the Ferrari.

Spanish Grand Prix 2009

Jenson Button once again took the victory for the Brawn GP team at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday followed by his team-mate Rubens Barrichello.

Button had beaten Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull to the pole position in the final moments of the Saturday qualifying session.

Barrichello had qualified in third ahead of the Ferrari of Felipe Massa, Mark Webber in the second Red Bull, Jarno Trulli in the Toyota and Spanish favourite Fernando Alonso in the Renault.

Barrichello took the lead as the cars got of the grid followed by Button and Massa while a mid-field collision took place behind them bringing out the safety car.

Trulli appeared to have run wide and hit the side of the Force India driven by Adrian Sutil, leaving the two Red Bull cars having no where to go as they to got tangled up in the carnage, ending their race.

Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren Mercedes was forced to take evasive action to avoid the collision and lost valuable ground as he had to take to the grass verge.

The safety car came-in on lap 6 as the race once again got underway and Alonso battled to get past Webber but Webber was holding his position leaving Alonso staring at the rear of the Red Bull.

Heikki Kovalainen retired his McLaren on lap 8 after suffering a gearbox problem on the previous lap which saw him slipping back down the grid.

Button in second place pitted on lap 19 along with Alonso, who had been running in sixth, while the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen slowed on track ending his race.

Barrichello pitted on the next lap and rejoined ahead of Nico Rosberg in the Williams who had yet to stop and by lap 28 had built up a gap of 11 seconds to Button.  However, Barrichello was expected to make an extra stop in his Brawn GP car which he did on lap 32 handing the lead to Button.

Button was leading the race ahead of Massa, Vettel and Barrichello now in fourth until the second and third place drivers both pitted on lap 44.

The Brawn GP pair were now leading the field of drivers at the Barcelona Circuit with Button having a 12 second gap on his team-mate before pitting for the final time on lap 49.

Despite building a gap of 15 seconds on his team-mate it wasn’t enough to keep the lead as Barrichello pitted for his final stop on lap 50.

Button was now leading Barrichello by 7 seconds, with Webber in third, Massa in fourth, Vettel in fifth and Alonso in sixth place.

On lap 57, Massa was told over his team radio to reserve fuel or risk not finishing the race and Vettel took full advantage of the situation, pushing the Brazilian harder, forcing him to use his precious fuel load and finally passing the Ferrari, who had no choice but to back off.

Button lapped the British driver Hamilton on lap 64 as Alonso passed the slowing Ferrari of Massa who finally took fifth place behind Button, Barrichello, Webber and Vettel.

Here are the results;

DNF

The BMW Sauber test driver, Christian Klien, has said that the current safety car rules are “really unfair” and many of the drivers feel the same way about the regulation that was introduced in 2007.

In a safety car situation, teams may not bring their cars into the pits until all the cars on the circuit are assembled behind the safety car and the stewards have declared the the pit lane open.  There will be a ten second penalty for drivers who transgress; any drivers already in the pits when the safety car is deployed will not be punished.

To prevent teams abusing this rule by having its cars refuse to join the queue behind the safety car and preventing drivers that urgently require a fuel stop from making one, another new rule states that cars being driven unnecessarily or erratically will be reported to the stewards.

However, the fact that the cars use much less fuel when running behind the safety car should keep them from running out of fuel while waiting for the pit lane to open.

The penalty will not apply if a driver only stops to change to wet or extreme weather tyres and not take on any fuel.

Klien said in a report “If you are out of petrol, then you have to go to the pits.”

Heidfeld’s race was ruined at Barcelona after he was penalised, and said “It was the choice between running out of fuel on the track or getting a stop-and-go penalty.”

It is claimed that the unfair rule is on the agenda for the fourth coming meeting of the Sporting Working Group, however, the Ferrari boss doubts there will be a change before the end of the season.

After Heikki spent the night in hospital, Whitmarsh was quoted as saying, “Heikki has had a full head scan and, thankfully, there was no bruising.  He will have a body scan but at the moment we are hopeful he will be at the next race in Turkey in two weeks.  He was lucid in hospital.  In fact, he was jolly, which is typical of Heikki.”

Whitmarsh confirmed the severity of the Barcelona crash and said that he had also had a look at the remains of the McLaren.  He added “When you see the state of the chassis it is a frightening thing to look at.”

Jackie Stewart, the former Formula One Champion said it was a miracle that Kovalainen managed to escape with only concussion from an impact that was measured by telemetry at 26G.

Mark Webber thinks that it is now the time to look at the run-off area at the Circuit de Catalunya’s high-speed Campsa corner.  He wrote in his column for the BBC that “The first thing to say is that the run-off on that corner is too tight and we need to have a look at it.”  He said that the he had inspected turn nine during a lap of the Barcelona layout on a scooter on Thursday afternoon, and it is “probably the worst section of the whole track” to crash.

In a report Kovalainen has said before being released from hospital “I have a slight headache and a stiff neck, but apart from that I am feeling well and in good spirits.  My focus is on getting better as soon as possible so I can pass the FIA medical inspection required to allow me to race in Turkey.”

When asked if he remembered the accident, he said “I don’t remember anything from the accident or what happened afterwards but would obviously like to thank all the circuit emergency staff, the FIA medical team at the track and the doctors at the hospital for all their efforts in looking after me.  Also thank you for all the messages I have received – they all mean a lot.”

He was asked what he thought might have caused the accident, and said “The team told me that the left front wheel rim might have broken which could have led to the sudden deflation of the tyre.  However, we have to wait for further inspections to be able to confirm the exact cause.  What is especially important is the fact that the monocoque withstood the heavy impact, so credit should also be given to everyone at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes for that.”