Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso, was again top of the time-sheets yesterday in Jerez for the second day of testing.

The McLaren was being driven by Pedro de la Rosa, who took over from Gary Paffett to set the second fastest time of the day.

Kimi Raikkonen was third in the Ferrari ahead of the Williams driver Nico Rosberg.  Mark Webber in the Red Bull was in fifth followed by Alex Wurz in the Honda, who were also testing a new exhaust package.

Jarno Trulli in the Toyota was in seventh place followed by Tonio Liuzzi, the Force India test driver in eighth.

Nelson Piquet was in ninth place for the Renault team ahead of Christian Klien in the BMW Sauber.

The BMW Sauber mechanic injured with the KERS system on Tuesday, is now at home resting after being admitted to hospital.  He had initially returned back to work after receiving the electric shock from the BMW, but later complained of dizzy spells.

A Statement from the BMW Sauber team said,

“The mechanic who was involved in the KERS incident yesterday underwent additional medical tests in the Jerez hospital last night and today.

He was subsequently released by the doctors who were happy with the results of their tests.  The mechanic is on his way back to Switzerland this evening.”

The conditions are extremely hot in Jerez with temperatures in the high 30’s and a track temperature of 55 Celsius, with testing continuing today and Friday.

The Formula One car’s and drivers are at Jerez in Spain this week for a four-day test starting today, and Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time.  The only team that were absent on day one of testing were the Force India crew.

He was more than three-tenths faster than the McLaren test driver Gary Paffett with the Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer in third.

Most of the teams seemed to be running with their test drivers on the opening day of testing and the Williams were no exception as their driver Nico Hulkenberg was in fourth.

The two Renault test drivers, Sebastien Buemi and Roman Grosjean were both out on track with Buemi in the Red Bull in fifth place and Grosjean in sixth.

More problems occurred for the Red Bull team today with their new KERS system.  KERS stands for Kinetic Energy Recovery System.  The system enables the regeneration and storage of braking energy which is then used as an extra source of power under acceleration to complement the output of the V8 engine.

Last week the local fire department were called to the team’s headquarters when they were testing the system, and were surrounded by smoke and fumes.

Today, Christian Klien was at the wheel of a modified 2007 BMW Sauber fitted with an early KERS system, and after three laps returned to the pits.  The mechanic that pushed the car back into the garage, was thrown to the ground after receiving a shock from the car.

A statement was issued to say that the he had to visit the medical centre but suffered only slight injuries to his hand and a graze to his arm.  A spokesman added,

“Because the team is still investigating the incident, the car did not run in the afternoon.”

Jarno Trulli in the Toyota was testing the new Bridgestone slick tyres in preparation for the 2009 season.  He was also running with a low downforce package.  Timo Glock will be test driving on Thursday after being given the all clear after his dramatic crash on Sunday.

Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren took the victory yesterday at the German Grand Prix after leading from the first corner at the Hockenheim circuit.

The race ran smoothly until lap thirty-five, when Timo Glock in the Toyota, who had moved-up into eighth place, had a massive crash on the exit of the final corner.  The Toyota suffered a rear suspension failure as he went over the kerb and was sent flying into the pit wall.

The safety car was deployed as Glock was taken to hospital where he remained for the night under observation but is expected to leave there this morning.  Of course, this led to almost everyone heading to the pits as soon as the lane was opened.

Hamilton decided not to pit and tried to build a lead on the other drivers, but emerged from refuelling behind his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, Felipe Massa and Nelson Piquet.

Hamilton was let past by Kovalainen and was soon right on the tail of Massa before slipping up the inside of the Ferrari.  Three laps on and Piquet was given the same treatment as Hamilton took his place back at the front of the pack.

Nelson Piquet in the Renault took a fantastic second place after recent reports that he was under pressure to perform and to prove he deserves his place in F1.  It seemed that the one-stop strategy plus the deployment of the safety car, worked in the favour of the youngster who had only qualifyied in seventeenth position.

Massa finished in third place after never quite finding the pace at the Hockenheim circuit in the Ferrari followed by Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber in fourth.

Kovalainen in the second McLaren finished in fifth place ahead of the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen in sixth and Robert Kubica in the second BMW Sauber in seventh.

Jarno Trulli span his Toyota in the final laps to hand Sebastian Vettel the eighth and final points scoring position.   Nico Rosberg in the Williams, also benefited from a spin, from Fernando Alonso in the second Renault.

Mark Webber developed a problem with the Red Bull car while sat behind the safety car, when the Renault V8 began to expel smoke and after a further few laps was seen parked-up on the grass verge.  It was thought to be caused by debris that had collected in and damaged the oil cooler.

Giancarlo Fisichella in the Force India, was handed a 25-second penalty at the German Grand Prix after unlapping himself before he was allowed to, which moved his final position from fourteenth to sixteenth.

Here are the results;

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1h31:20.874
 2.  Piquet        Renault               (B)  +     5.586
 3.  Massa         Ferrari               (B)  +     9.339
 4.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +     9.825
 5.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    12.411
 6.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +    14.403
 7.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +    22.682
 8.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +    33.299
 9.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +    37.158
10.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    37.625
11.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +    38.600
12.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +    39.111
13.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +    54.971
14.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari   (B)  +    59.093
15.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)  +  1:00.003
16.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari   (B)  +  1:09.488
17.  Button        Honda                 (B)  +     1 lap

Fastest lap: Heidfeld, 1:15.987

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Barrichello   Honda                 (B)    52
Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)    41
Glock         Toyota                (B)    37

Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren secured his pole position today ahead of tomorrow’s German Grand Prix in the final seconds of qualifying with a lap time of 1:15.666.

Felipe Massa in the Ferrari had to settle for second place after Hamilton knocked him off the top of the time-sheets, followed by Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren.

The Toyota driver Jarno Trulli, finished in an impressive fourth position ahead of Fernando Alonso in the Renault and Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari in sixth.

Robert Kubica finished in seventh place for the BMW Sauber team followed by Red Bull driver Mark Webber in eighth and Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso in ninth. David Coulthard will start from tenth place in the second Red Bull.

Here are the results;

Pos  Driver        Team                 Q1        Q2        Q3       Laps
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     1:15.218  1:14.603  1:15.666  13
 2.  Massa         Ferrari              1:14.921  1:14.747  1:15.859  16
 3.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes     1:15.476  1:14.855  1:16.143  17
 4.  Trulli        Toyota               1:15.560  1:15.122  1:16.191  21
 5.  Alonso        Renault              1:15.917  1:14.943  1:16.385  19
 6.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              1:15.201  1:14.949  1:16.389  19
 7.  Kubica        BMW Sauber           1:15.985  1:15.109  1:16.521  20
 8.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault     1:15.900  1:15.481  1:17.014  20
 9.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1:15.532  1:15.420  1:17.244  22
10.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault     1:15.975  1:15.338  1:17.503  20
11.  Glock         Toyota               1:15.560  1:15.508            17
12.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           1:15.596  1:15.581            14
13.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota      1:15.863  1:15.633            16
14.  Button        Honda                1:15.993  1:15.701            15
15.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1:15.927  1:15.858            15
16.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota      1:16.083                      10
17.  Piquet        Renault              1:16.189                       7
18.  Barrichello   Honda                1:16.246                      10
19.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari  1:16.657                      10
20.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari  1:16.963                      10

Lewis Hamilton was the fastest man on the track for McLaren in both free practice sessions today ahead of the German Grand Prix on Sunday.

The two Ferrari drivers, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen were second and third respectively followed by the second McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen.

The afternoon session was at least on a dry track after a wet start to the morning free practice saw a few near misses.

Robert Kubica lost control of the BMW Sauber in the morning session on a wet track and hit the barrier, fortunately the damaged left side of the car was repairable and he was back out in the afternoon session to take ninth place.

Sebastien Bourdais in the Toro Rosso had a problematic day on the track after his car just stopped out on circuit.  In the afternoon practice he was again compromised on track time after suffering gear box problems and leaving him down in eighteenth place.

Mark Webber in the Red Bull car, finished in a respectable fifth place ahead of Fernando Alonso in the Renault and Nico Rosberg in the Williams.  David Coulthard rounded off the top ten fastest drivers of the day ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying for the German Grand Prix.

Here are the results:

Pos  Driver        Team                     Time
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:15.025
 2.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)  1:15.722  + 0.697
 3.  Raikkonen     Ferrari             (B)  1:15.760  + 0.735
 4.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:15.990  + 0.965
 5.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:16.017  + 0.992
 6.  Alonso        Renault             (B)  1:16.230  + 1.205
 7.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:16.355  + 1.330
 8.  Kubica        BMW Sauber          (B)  1:16.363  + 1.338
 9.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber          (B)  1:16.377  + 1.352
10.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:16.378  + 1.353
11.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:16.422  + 1.397
12.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)  1:16.530  + 1.505
13.  Button        Honda               (B)  1:16.542  + 1.517
14.  Barrichello   Honda               (B)  1:16.677  + 1.652
15.  Piquet        Renault             (B)  1:16.734  + 1.709
16.  Glock         Toyota              (B)  1:16.781  + 1.756
17.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:16.829  + 1.804
18.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:16.860  + 1.835
19.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:17.008  + 1.983
20.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:17.047  + 2.022   

It has been confirmed today that Sebastian Vettel will be driving for Red Bull Racing from the start of the 2009 season.

The 21-year-old German, will be replacing David Coulthard who announced recently that not only is he retiring from the Formula One at the end of the season but also that he is to become a father for the first time.

Here is the statement issued by the Red Bull team today:

“We are delighted that Sebastian will be joining us next year.  With David Coulthard announcing his retirement as a Formula 1 driver a fortnight ago at the British Grand Prix, after careful consideration, it seemed natural to announce his replacement here at Sebastian’s home race in Hockenheim.  As he was already part of the Red Bull family, choosing Sebastian as Mark Webber’s teammate was not a difficult decision.  However, we have always stated that our aim is to have the strongest available driver line-up and Vettel’s selection also matches these criteria.

Having only turned 21 at the last race and with only 17 Grand Prix starts to his name, he is still on a learning curve, but it is clear that he has plenty of ability and speed.  We are confident that Red Bull Racing will make the most of these attributes and believe that, in Mark and Sebastian, we have a very competitive driver line-up for 2009.”

Sebastian Vettel said,

“I am very proud to be joining Red Bull Racing and it’s always good to have an early decision on what you are doing next year.  As a driver your target is always to be with the most competitive team possible and, over the past couple of years, Red Bull Racing has proved it has great potential, so this is a good move for me.  I have been part of the Red Bull family for a long time and with it’s Junior Team since 2000.  Throughout my career, they have offered me great support and now, to drive for their senior F1 team is a dream come true and I am looking forward to having a great season next year, even if I still have a lot to learn about F1.

Apart from Red Bull, I must also say a big thank you to Scuderia Torro Rosso, where I feel very much at home.  They have been my ‘family’ for over a year and I would like to thank Franz (Tost) and Gerhard (Berger) for the opportunity they gave me and thank the entire team for all their efforts.

Having got this announcement out of the way, I can concentrate on racing for Torro Rosso over the second half of the season.  I will try and repay them by doing my very best to get some good results, to add to those we have achieved so far.”

Hockenheim is hosting the Formula German Grand Prix this year instead of Nurburgring after undergoing considerable modifications in recent years.

The Williams team have recently tested at the Hockenheim track where they worked on the set-up of the FW30, as well as aero level testing, brake package evaluations and tyre compounds.

The team took the FW29 to Russia last weekend for the Moscow City Racing event and Nico Rosberg was at the wheel putting his car through it’s paces in front of thousands of Russians. Rosberg said,

“To drive through Red Square and around the Kremlin was an experience I’ll never forget.”

It is the home race for Rosberg so he is expecting great support from the many German fans that flock to the circuit. However, the 23-year-old, feels that it will be difficult to get into the points this weekend, but that won’t stop the team giving it there all.

Rosberg has also been in the news amid rumours of his future with the team despite signing a contract for 2009. However, the young driver pointed out that the contract he signed is similar to a football players,

“It’s like in football; take (German player Lukas) Podolski, He signed a contract for next season at FC Bayern - but will he be there?”

Rosberg pointed out that his main objective is to become a World Champion, if that is with Williams or another team it remains to be seen.

Rosberg added,

“I know that next year I will not win the title with Williams, but I do hope for a big step forward. With the new regulations, particularly the cutting back of the aerodynamics, it means everyone starts from scratch basically. Without that, I would have my doubts.”

For Kazuki Nakajima it will be another new experience after only ever racing on the track in F3 although the testing should have given the driver an insight into how differently the cars react on the circuit.

The 67 lap race will see most of the drivers on a two stop strategy, however the weather can play a major part during the race and already the predictions are changeable conditions.

This weeks Grand Prix is at the Hockenheim circuit in Germany after being missed off the calendar in 2007.

The Honda team will be introducing more improvements with their aerodynamics as well as improved mechanical and engine performance.

For Rubens Barrichello, the circuit holds good memories as he took his first Formula One victory at the track in 2000. However, the track was redesigned in 2002 by Hermann Tilke, who improved safety conditions and also shortened the circuit.

Barrichello still feels it is a good circuit, and that overtaking is still possible under heavy braking, and as the weekend has already been predicted to have changeable weather conditions it should be an exciting race.

For Timo Glock in the Toyota, it will be a very special weekend at his home circuit. The 26-year-old, who is in his first full season in Formula One, was born only a short distance away from the track and this will be his first German Grand Prix.

As a GP2 driver in 2006, Glock had a win and a third place at the track making it not only his home circuit but his favourite. He said,

“Every time I have been to Hockenheim I have had really good races and I’ve won a few times. It’s one of the best races of the year for me, not just because it’s my local track but also because I have been strong there.”

Out of nine races, Glock has only scored five points but that is mainly down to bad luck. He should have got points in his debut race of Australia but was denied a finish and then in Bahrain a gearbox problem ended his chances of scoring any points.

Jarno Trulli confessed to actually preferring the old track but added that the new design makes the circuit more interesting with overtaking opportunities.

Trulli is optimistic about this weekends Grand Prix and feels that the team have a good chance of scoring points after testing improvements on the car at the recent three days at Hockenheim.

With the newly designed circuit, the downforce level is now medium to medium-high and the braking energy is in the middle of the range. The teams need to keep an eye of tyre blistering here due to the above average temperatures on track.

Felipe Massa in the Ferrari, finished top of the time-sheets at the end of the Formula One testing session at Hockenheim, followed amazingly by Jenson Button for the Honda team.

The three-day test session at the Hockenheimring in Germany ended on Thursday and Giancarlo Fisichella for the Force India team was in the driving seat replacing Adrian Sutil, who had spent the previous two days testing on track.

Fisichella suffered a fuel system failure in the morning session and then crashed heavily in the afternoon when he lost the rear through the stadium complex.  He was unhurt but there was considerable damage to the Force India.

The Toyota team were trying out a new anvil wing engine cover at the Hockenheim test on Thursday as Jarno Trulli took over from team-mate Timo Glock.

The new engine cover was first seen by Red Bull Racing at the beginning of the season and has since been used by Renault, Force India and Toro Rosso. The McLaren team were also trying out there version at the test session.

Lewis Hamilton tested the engine cover on Tuesday in the McLaren and topped the time-sheets at the end of a day marred by rain showers.

On Wednesday, Hamilton was testing without the shark fin cover and ended the day six-tenths of a second faster than previous day.

The Honda team started the first day of testing with test driver Alex Wurz at the wheel in the gusty, wet conditions.  The team will be running with a new package at the German Grand Prix with aerodynamic, engine and mechanical improvements.

Rubens Barrichello was in the driving seat for test day two, continuing the evaluation of the new package,  however, he suffered problems under braking and and later a gearbox problem.  On day three, Jenson Button took the Honda seat and ended the day in second place.

Kimi Raikkonen, the Ferrari driver, has been slated ever since the Silverstone Grand Prix for pushing over a photographer on the grid line.

The Ferrari team have defended the World Champion over the incident with photographer, Paul-Henri Cahier, who was seen being pushed by Raikkonen and falling backwards.

The photographer was trying to get a close-up of Kimi but was standing on the drivers kit bag. Raikkonen reacted by giving Cahier a push which sent him sprawling backwards, although in my opinion I don’t think it is what the Ferrari man had intended.

At the end of the day, Raikkonen is there to do a job, although you could argue that so is the photographer, however, as usual, the whole incident has been blown out of all proportion.

The photographer, who has been taking pictures of the Formula One sport for forty years, claimed he didn’t get as close to Kimi as was suggested and that Raikkonen’s behaviour was the rudest he has seen among F1 Champions. Never tangled with Montoya then!

It is understood that Cahier does not intend to take any action of the incident with Raikkonen.

Maybe Kimi had already been told by the team that he had to ‘push hard’ today!