Buzzin F1 - Formula One Blog

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!