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  1. Akram_saheed
    When Sebastian Vettel qualifies at the front, there is nothing that can stop the German from grabbing the top step on the podium. Out of 88 race starts he has with Infiniti Red Bull Racing - from Australia 2009 to Singapore 2013 - he has 22 lights to flag victories and three Grand Chelem titles (currently tied with Nelson Piquet) - meaning he has qualified in pole, won the race after leading every lap of the race and set the fastest lap of the race in the same weekend. Still his record is one more than Juan Manuel Fangio who has five world championships under his belt, but one less than the legendary Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. Even Fernando Alonso, Niki Lauda and Stirling Moss only have one each and interestingly James Hunt and Kimi Raikkonen have none. As the Singapore Grand Prix concluded - minutes before 10:00pm - with fireworks lighting up the already colourful and vibrant Marina Bay CBD area with stunning backdrop from the Singapore Flyer to Marina Bay Sands and ANZ to Maybank towers and hysterical cheers from the attendees - Vettel recorded his third consecutive win this season, his third consecutive win at the street circuit and his seventh podium overall. The question remains if there is anything that could stop the German driver. Unless Adrian Newey is removed, I doubt so. The problem with F1 right now is not about the lack of overtaking or people getting bored with the same person winning - it's just that rival teams have yet to produce their own Adrian Newey including legendary ones like Scuderia Ferrari and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. McLaren seem to be a little off pace this year while only one of the two Ferraris seem to be interested in any actual racing. Over the past two years, the sport has evolved from who is winning and fighting for the championship to who had the best recovery or who managed to finish third after a strenuous battle. As stated earlier, as soon as Vettel qualifies on the front grid - you can prepare tomorrow's sports headlines today. Even yesterday at the sixth SingTel Singapore Grand Prix, Vettel won the race after qualifying in pole with a record setting time of 1:42.841 - which is even faster than Kimi Raikkonen's lap record. Not even the tropical climate of heat and humidity or the intervention of the safety car - courtesy of Daniel Ricciardo's Toro Rosso - could hinder or delay the triple world champion from claiming another this season. After 61 laps, Vettel won by a staggering 32.6 seconds over title contender, Fernando Alonso in the Prancing Horse, who leaped from seventh at the starting grid while Kimi Raikkonen catapulted to third from starting 13th on the grid
  2. PetrolHead
    30 years after his father claimed victory, Nico Rosberg took the highest step of the podium at the Monaco Grand Prix - fighting off stiff competition from title defender Sebastian Vettel. Rosberg - a resident of Monaco - managed to fend off Vettel till the end while Webber completed the podium despite sustained pressure from Hamilton. A pit stop strategy worked well for the Red Bull team to leap ahead of Hamilton, during the first safety car period - trigged by Massa at lap 30 who managed to replicate a crash similar to Saturday
  3. PetrolHead
    Like Jeremy Renner's character from the Academy Award winning film - The Hurt Locker - the Red Bull and Mercedes AMG racing teams were clouded in tension as their drivers were getting increasingly frustrated by team orders and driver rivalry. More than skill or strategy - frustrations between team mates and radio messages spilled out the plot of the Malaysian Grand Prix from the end of the middle stint. In the Mercedes AMG camp, Nico Rosberg missed a podium appearance by obeying instructions to not challenge his team mate and personal friend - Hamilton - from Team Principle Ross Brawn. The eventful and tense Malaysian Grand Prix could have ended in disaster for the Austrian-U.K. racing team. Defending champion Vettel ignored team orders - which post-race claimed he was unaware of, and 'stole' a rightful win away from Webber by racing him unexpectedly. At that stint of the race Webber was 'coasting' his car to the end of the race and wasn't prepared for an attack by his team mate. Vettel's radio message from his team could not have been sharper or clearer to the millions of motorsport enthusiasts the world over as he crossed the finishing line, "Great job Sebastian, it looked like you wanted it more. But still there'll be some explaining to do." The green room and podium were showing a multitude of emotions as all three winners felt glum, gloomy, anger, frustration, disappointment and remorse. Despite all the tension, the race staged its fair share of incidents - starting with Alonso whose race ended at the end of the first lap, after his mildly damaged front wing broke off completely and sent him skidding into a gravel trap. Force India retired both their cars after a pit stop error involving a wheel nut. Button retired as well while his team mate Perez contributed two points to the team by bringing home his McLaren in ninth. Nostalgia hit third place winner Hamilton during a pit stop as he 'accidentally' pulled in at his former team - McLaren's - pit box. The McLaren crew were all set to receive Button before Hamilton came in on lap seven. Fortunately Hamilton completed his pit-stop in the right garage and resumed his fight for the lead. Last week's race winner Raikkonen and the Lotus team in general seemed to lack pace despite finishing a respectable seventh behind his team mate. Massa on the other hand finished a credible fifth in the sole prancing horse after a weak start and a surprisingly unimpressive middle stint. At the end of the race Vettel leads the drivers' championship at 40 points while Kimi Raikkonen and Mark Webber trail the German at 31 and 26 points respectively. On the constructors championships, Red Bull is leading at 66 points while Lotus and Ferrari are currently tied at 40 points as the F1 circus heads to China in three weeks.
  4. PetrolHead
    The 2012 F1 season concluding Brazilian Grand Prix was met with rain, crashes, and suspense. While Vettel managed to finish a best of six in a damaged car, the results were good enough for him to clinch the much anticipated third world title. Red Bull had all the reasons to celebrate, after clinching the constructor's championships last weekend at Austin and grabbing the drivers championships through Vettel at Brazil. More than becoming the world's youngest triple world champion - by just three points over Alonso - Vettel also joins an elite club whom have claimed three titles consecutively. It was high octane drama from the first lap, heading down into turn four, it was disaster for Vettel who spun around, incurred damaged and thrown to last place after getting tagged by Bruno Senna's Williams. At this point the championship battle was in Alonso's favour who drove flawlessly till the end. Over the course of the next 71 laps, it was an intense battle with the much expected rain making appearances in varous intensities and leaving the pit crew scrambling for perfect tyre strategies. The under appreciated Nico Hulkenberg of Force India drove well with slick tyres on damp conditions. The German lead the race over Button for several laps before a questionable pass on Hamilton went all wrong exiting Hamilton from his final race with McLaren and earning a drive-through penalty in the process. Jenson Button regained the lead and stayed comfortably. Behind him was the RB8 piloted by Vettel managed to get up to sixth place after overtaking Schumacher on the 64th lap. At that moment the points situation became 281 to 278, just enough for him to win the championship. There was a final drama to be played out when Paul di Resta crashed his Force India heavily in the final sector on the 69th lap, bringing out the safety car two laps to the end of the race. As the safety car pulled in before the 71st lap was over, FIA history books were re-written. At just 25-years old, Vettel became the youngest triple world champion and joins Juan Manuel Fangio and Vettel's racing hero, Michael Schumacher as the only drivers in the long history of Formula One to score a hat trick of championships. Schumacher finished seventh on his 306th and final race as he retires for the second and last time from Formula One. Vettel might be a champion by statistics, but fans claim Alonso deserves more for he took a difficult and inferior Ferrari and pulled it to second in the championships. During post race, the unfazed and cold stare from Alonso could only mean one thing - this is not over. Congratulations Vettel and Red Bull Racing, hang in there Alonso, good luck on your future endeavours with Mercedes Hamilton and a sincere thank you Schumacher, for without you Formula One would not be where it is today.
  5. Rigval
    And so Sebastian Vettel was crowned this year's Formula 1 driver's champion after winning the Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix in Suzuka recently. He only needed 1 point to win and came in third behind race winner Jenson Button and second place Fernando Alonso. This is his second championship in a row and it also makes him the youngest driver ever to win back to back championships. His performance was, as usual, immaculate and somehow he makes winning so very easy. Of course some people may say that it is down to the car. Red Bull's engineers really constructed a fabulous race car this season but one must note that there are two drivers per team and Vettel seems to be able to out drive and out pace his team mate Mark Webber most of the time. So you've got to hand it to him for actually being bloody talented in the first place. Now add the fact that there are former world champions racing against him this strengthens his case even more. We have two time champion Fernando Alonso (who drove a fantastic race this time around), one time champions Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button and also multiple world champion Michael Schumacher rounding up the list of champions. What Vettel is doing is quite incredible as someone so young can drive so maturely and fabulously quick in all the races to date. The 2011 F1 races will continue, but since we already know who the driver's champion is should we continue watching upcoming races? While the constructors championship is still an open book (but with Red Bull far ahead), does it warrant us to continue watching F1 or just wait till next year? The next race is something new, the Korean GP, on the 16th of October. Results 01. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1h30:53.427 02. Alonso Ferrari + 1.160 03. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 2.006 04. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 8.071 05. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 24.268 06. Schumacher Mercedes + 27.120 07. Massa Ferrari + 28.240 08. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 39.377 09. Petrov Renault + 42.607 10. Rosberg Mercedes + 44.322 11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 54.447 12. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:02.326 13. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:03.705 14. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:04.194 15. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 1:06.623 16. Senna Renault + 1:12.628 17. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1:14.191 18. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 1:27.824 19. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 1:36.140 20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps 21. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps 22. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps 23. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps DNF Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 35 photo credit: planetf1
  6. Rigval
    The 2011 Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix concluded with Sebastian Vettel coming in first and he is almost assured to be crowned this year's F1 champion. Discussing Vettel's win over in Singapore is somehow pointless as he drove exceptionally well and the Red Bull F1 car in winning form. This year is his and there is nothing we can do about it but enjoy the performance. Now if you've been following this year's F1 like I have been you'd have noticed that the media has been trying hard to create waves elsewhere as Vettel's winning ways are killing headlines. In a way that is. Imagine the same headline 'Vettel Wins!' throughout the season with only the venue changing. So they try turning something into nothing. It must be hard for them to cook up stories as they've recently decided to crucify Lewis Hamilton because of his antics in the Singapore GP. What happened over in Singapore (somewhere behind the winning Sebastian Vettel) was Hamilton driving the tyres out of his McLaren and rear ending Fillipe Massa of Ferrari. This had caused a furious Massa trying to make his way towards Hamilton in the pits. This had also caused the media speculating that the drivers were ganging up on Hamilton stating that he had made dangerous moves on other drivers in Malaysia, Monaco, Montreal, UK Hungary, Belgium and a few others. Honestly, he was racing and trying his hardest to overtake everyone in front of him. I think the media is making a big fuss out of nothing. It also seems that some media people want races to be without incidents or without aggressive drivers. Maybe the cars would have neon signs that state 'Please move over I am faster than you, you slowcoach'. Too much hot air is being blown onto this issue. Oh yes. I have not reported on the 2012 Singapore GP as yet. Aside from Vettel winning again (and again, and again) it was quite good. Hamilton crashing in Massa meant that the drivers are indeed racing. The track is super tight as usual and there is no room for error. The Singapore GP is indeed taxing on the drivers as they mostly see barriers, tall fencing and lights. How most of them can keep their concentration lap after lap in a totally cooped up environment is totally commendable and truly awesome. photo credit:planetf1
  7. Rigval
    The 2011 Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix was another one of those action packed races this season where Sebastian Vettel won. Yes, that chap may still be knocking the socks off the other contestants but it isn't a dull one horse race at all. He may be impervious at this moment but I don't really care because after the recent mid-season break we're actually seeing some movement from the other teams. Ferrari and McLaren seem to have gotten their form back as Jenson Button came in second for McLaren and Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari Vettel drove impeccably and even did a brilliant overtaking move against Alonso early on in the race. But what really got me extremely enthralled with the Italian Grand Prix was Michael Schumacher's ultra defensive (or aggressive
  8. Rigval
    Now we all know that Sebastian Vettel is currently winning lots of races with Red Bull in F1and this has somehow caused a Red Bull-Infiniti cars tie up. While having an actual car manufacturer (Nissan via Infiniti) as a marketing partner is all fine I find it amusing that the first car to use the reigning World Champion's name is an SUV. The Sebastian Vettel inspired Infiniti is the Sebastian Vettel Infiniti FX50 Concept that will be previewed at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show shortly. The Sebastian Vettel Infiniti FX50 Concept is an SUV. It was based on the FX Limited Edition of 2010 and has a different grille, a different carbon fiber spoiler (supposedly based on the F1 car), a rear wing instead of roof rails and other carbon fiber bits here and there. Chances are that this concept car will be produced as a marketing tool for Infiniti and to some extent Red Bull/Vettel. Of course Sebastian Vettel is actually Infiniti's global ambassador and drives a normal FX50 on the road because of this. But an SUV as a first car? Can't he get the Infiniti luxury coupe instead as the first car with his name on it? The SUV compared to his Formula 1 car is as different as night and day or heaven and hell. It may look aggressive, but the bottomline is that the SUV is tall and huge. He should get a coupe instead. Remember Michael Schumacher? When he was with Ferrari his name was plastered on small, nippy Fiats that could actually handle and drive well
  9. Rigval
    The recent Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix was interesting. I suppose the weather helped again as it rained and we got to see defending World Champion Sebastian Vettel as well as previous World Champions Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso losing it with either a spin or having some off the track incidents. We also got to see a level headed ex-world champion Jenson Button winning the race in a McLaren. Lady luck must have been with him as the Hungarian Grand Prix was mainly led by Lewis Hamilton who drove the other McLaren. Now other than that this race marked Button's 200th race and incredibly his 11th race win. I suppose this basically means that Formula 1 is tough as this chap has been racing for so long and actually won the driver's championship once yet he only has eleven wins around his belt. It must be as he has to fight four other world champions out there (the chaps mentioned above and Michael Schumacher too). Anyway, it rained and as usual that sort of weather makes racing so unpredictable. Aside from the spins and slips by the race leaders and challengers, one other reason Jenson Button won was his decision not to come in of intermediate tires when everyone seemed to want to use them. He opted for the prime tires in a slightly damp track and kept it on the track when others seemed to be slip-sliding all around him. From what I have seen, the Red Bull cars are still the cars to beat on race day but when the weather comes into play, tire strategy, patience and skill comes into play. One other incident that is actually worth writing about is the fact that Nick Heidfield's Renault actually caught fire in the pits (at around lapd 20). This happened as the Renault was stationary for quite a while and upon exiting the pits, his car caught fire. Heidfield managed to scramble out of the car and the car experienced a small explosion while the track marshalls were trying to put the fire out. One marshall was hit by flying shards of carbon fiber and it was a nearly a safety car incident. It wasn't, but if the safety car was brought out, the outcome of the race may be altered. Anyway, as I posted earlier, mid-season is usually when Formula 1 gets interesting. No one knows what will happen after this upcoming 4 week break from racing. The next race is scheduled on the 28th of August at Spa, Belgium. Results 01. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1h43:42.337 02. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 3.588 03. Alonso Ferrari + 19.819 04. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 48.338 05. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 49.742 06. Massa Ferrari + 1:17.176 07. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 08. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 09. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap 10. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 11. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 12. Petrov Renault + 1 lap 13. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 2 laps 14. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 2 laps 15. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 2 laps 16. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 2 laps 17. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 4 laps 18. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps 19. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 5 laps 20. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 5 laps Retirements Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 56 Schumacher Mercedes 27 Heidfeld Renault 24 Trulli Lotus-Renault 18 photo credit:planetf1
  10. Rigval
    As the Formula 1 Grand Prix crosses the mid-season mark things have gotten even more interesting. Lewis Hamilton of McLaren has won the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring F1 circuit ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Red Bull's Mark Webber in third. Championship leader Sebastian Vettel came in fourth, his lowest finish of this season. Does this win by Hamilton and the second place by Alonso show progress by both McLaren and Ferrari as well as a slowdown in development by leader Red Bull? I have no idea. But it is interesting. Both Ferrari's and McLaren's resurgence seemed to have two races prior to this as the very dull European Grand Prix at Valencia. Both teams came in second and fourth respectively and what this shows is that every time the racing returns to Europe, major (or minor) changes occur. Teams would usually wait to deploy their latest mechanical and aerodynamic changes to the cars during this period. Teams who somehow seem to crawl suddenly gain a lot more speed. It also sometimes shows that in Formula 1, you cannot slow down development even though these days FIA comes out with tons of new rules and regulation to keep racing in check. Those that have been following Formula 1 would notice that the tire changes actually crucial. It was so crucial in this last race where Felipe Massa and Sebastian Vettel waited till lap 59, the penultimate lap before pitting for new tires. Things were down to the wire and during this last pit-stop, Vettel managed to exit earlier than Massa who was in front before the pit-stop and claimed a strongly fought fourth place. A few years ago this would never have happened in Formula 1. Racing is good these days. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso both drove maturely and deserved their podium finished. And for us fans it is even better as Red Bull isn't winning all the time. Results 0. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1h37:30.334 02. Alonso Ferrari + 3.980 03. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 9.788 04. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 47.921 05. Massa Ferrari + 52.252 06. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1:26.208 07. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap 08. Schumacher Mercedes + 1 lap 09. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 10. Petrov Renault + 1 lap 11. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 12. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 13. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 14. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 15. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 16. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 17. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps 18. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps 19. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps 20. Chandhok Lotus-Renault + 4 laps Retirements Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 44 Button McLaren-Mercedes 42 Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 23 Heidfeld Renault -Massa Leads Vettel- photo credit: planetf1
  11. Rigval
    [extract] It rained during the British Formula 1 Grand Prix at Silverstone on the 10th of July. This basically meant that racing was at its finest (subjectively speaking that is). Ferrari managed to break its dry spell in this wet race with Fernando Alonso taking the win with the usual suspects, Sebastian Vettel coming in second and his Red Bull counterpart, Mark Webber taking third. It is Ferrari
  12. Rigval
    [extract] If you
  13. Rigval
    The Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix in a nutshell - Deja Vu. This is what Formula 1 is all about these days. Or worse than that Formula 1 is Groundhog Day. You know that Bill Murray movie where the hero re-lives one day of his life over and over again? Well, in this 2011 Formula 1 version we get the same person winning over and over again regardless of what transpires throughout the race weekend. Yes, Sebastian Vettel wins again. This is even with Mark Webber taking pole position during qualifying (with Vettel starting from second place), with Vettel not having KERS during the later part of the race and a very on-form Lewis Hamilton breathing down his rear diffuser right till the very end of the race. Lewis Hamilton must have been pretty pleased with the setup of his McLaren as the car was basically the better one but I suppose starting in third behind Vettel (and Webber) in their very optimized Red Bull-Renaults is still an uphill climb. I suppose getting a close look at the rear of Vettel's car is all that one can do these days. I suppose Mark Webber is one of the losers in the Spanish Grand Prix. He started out first but ended up fourth. This I believe was down to bad luck, or if one believes in Groundhog Day nothing he does will make him come in ahead of his team mate. Coming out from the pits behind the slower Ferrari of Fernando Alonso is bad luck. Speaking about Ferrari, at least they're finishing in the top 5 for the last two races. They still have got to improve if they want a whiff of some trophies. And speaking of an ex-Ferrari driver, one 42 year old male adult who goes by the name of Michael Schumacher, he's doing pretty well by coming in sixth after starting in tenth. He basically came in ahead of his younger team mate Nico Rosberg who was slightly unlucky this time around with a failing rear wing (F1 cars these days seem to have failures in funny places) and a faulty radio. I suppose if you just ignore the fact that in nearly every race Sebastian Vettel wins Formula 1 is actually fun as a lot of things are indeed happening from the second position downwards. Results 01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h39:03.301 02. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 0.630 03. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 35.697 04. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 47.966 05. Alonso Ferrari + 1 lap 06. Schumacher Mercedes + 1 lap 07. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap 08. Heidfeld Renault + 1 lap 09. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 11. Petrov Renault + 1 lap 12. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 13. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 14. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 15. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 16. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 2 laps 17. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 2 laps 18. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps 20. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps DNF: Massa Ferrari 60 Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 49 Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 29 photo credit: planetf1
  14. BenCee
    With four races of the 2011 Formula One season gone, there is a clear trend emerging. Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel has won three of the four races so far, and all signs indicate that there will be more to come for the defending World Champion. For followers of the sport since the turn of the millennium, the sight of a German running away with the title seems all too familiar This season promised to deliver even more thrills and spills from 2010, which in itself was a relatively exciting season. The introduction of the new adjustable rear wings, or Drag Reduction System as the FIA terms it, as well as the new, fast-wearing Pirelli tyres have undoubtedly contributed to far more overtaking action than we've seen in recent times. The action-packed races we've seen so far bear testament to that theory. Despite that however, World Champion Vettel somehow seems to rise above it all, and dominate this year's proceedings. With the exception of the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, where he lost to McLaren's Lewis Hamilton on a flawed tyre strategy, the young German have managed to escape all the chaos and drama, and stamped his mark firmly on the championship. Personally, I think it would be a shame if, despite all the new additions and technologies to the sport, Vettel continues to win races with such efficiency. But for all we know, we could be seeing yet another Formula One legend in the making. Let's hope someone gives him a good fight on the way there though.
  15. Rigval
    [extract] Let
  16. Rigval
    Lewis Hamilton claimed victory at the China Formula 1 Grand Prix held on the 17th of April 2011. It was quite a feat as just before the race the McLaren mechanics were hard at work repairing Hamilton's car which suffered a fuel leak. It was a major victory of sorts as this is the 3rd race of the 2011 season and finally someone has ended Sebastian Vettel's run of victories. He came in second nonetheless ahead of Red Bull's other driver, Mark Webber who himself drove a fabulous race. He started from 18th on the grid and made it to 3rd on the second last lap of the race. Now for those that thought F1 lacked overtaking, this one had a lot of it. But before we talk about overtaking, let's talk about the start of the race. The grid's top 10 were Vettel, Button, Hamiton, Rosberg, Alonso, Massa, Alguersuari DiResta, Buemi, and Petrov. As stated Lewis Hamilton managed to get onto the start line 35seconds before the pitlane was deemed closed. What we were told in the commentary was that he actually started with some body parts still not fitted onto his car. At the start, there was no major accidents. No bits of carbon or wings or tires here and there. It was pretty decent with pole position holder Vettel botching up his start a little and allowing Jenson Button pass as well as a very aggressive Lewis Hamilton. Vettel was third at the end of the first lap with Nico Rosberg of Mercedes GP and the two Ferraris of Alonso and Massa following closely. Michael Schumacher must have been on form at the start as he went from fourteenth to ninth. Mark Webber who started at 18th actually opted to start with the harder Pirelli tires. By lap 9 he was even overtaken by the Sauber of Sergio Perez and at lap 10 he pitted to go with the softer choice that all the front liners used at the start. However, his move must have actually paid off as he could then choose the softer compound throughout the race. A 3rd placing from a start at 18th due to the choice of tires. Actually tires made a whole lot of different at the China GP. Those that did 3 stops were better than those that did 2 stops. On Lap 30 Hamilton passed Alonso (who was on a 2 stop strategy) on Turn 14 of the circuit and later stated that he had never never overtaken anyone there before unless it was a backmarker. The softer Pirellis were to choice instead of the harder Prime tire. Surprising, but it caused a lot of upset, especiallyy with the Ferraris. In simple terms, the lighter 3 stopping cars actually did far better lap times and even by their third stop, the driver up front could be so far ahead of a 2 stopper like Alonso. However, Fernando Alonso also added that their 2 stop strategy wasn't totally Ferrari's undoing but the Ferrari's aren't up to par as yet. But say what you want as Vettel was on a 2 stop strategy and he basically suffered. Actually more incidents happened at the China GP. It had all the drivers on their toes with a whole lot of overtaking involved. Lewis Hamilton took 1st place ahead of the two Red Bulls. Jenson Button had to be content with 4th after being out driven at the last moment by a flying Mark Webber. Mercedes GP did well with Nico Rosberg into taking 5th. Felipe Massa of Ferrari in 6th with Fernando Alonso in 7th. Michael Schumacher in 8th and Lotus Renault's Petrov was around 30 seconds behind in ninth. A dry race with overtaking. It must have been down to the Pirelli tires. It looks like the moral of the story is that you actually need tires that aren't so consistent (or can I say, crappy tires) to have added excitement in F1. The next race is on 8th of May at Istanbul Park, Istanbul, Turkey. Race Results 01. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:36:58.226 02. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull +5.198 03. Mark Webber Red Bull +7.555 04. Jenson Button McLaren +10.000 05. Nico Rosberg Mercedes Grand Prix +13.448 06. Felipe Massa Ferrari +15.840 07. Fernando Alonso Ferrari +30.622 08. Michael Schumacher Mercedes Grand Prix +31.026 09. Vitaly Petrov Renault +57.404 10. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber +1:03.273 11. Paul di Resta Force India +1:08.757 12. Nick Heidfeld Renault +1:12.739 13. Rubens Barrichello Williams +1:30.189 14. Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso +1:30.671 15. Adrian Sutil Force India +1 Lap 16. Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus +1 Lap 17. Sergio Perez Sauber +1 Lap 18. Pastor Maldonado Williams +1 Lap 19. Jarno Trulli Team Lotus +1 Lap 20. Jerome d' Ambrosio Virgin Racing +2 Laps 21. Timo Glock Virgin Racing +2 Laps 22. Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT F1 Team +2 Laps 23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT F1 Team +2 Laps DNF 24. Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso +47 Laps photo source:planetf1
  17. Rigval
    The 2011 FIA Formula 1 Grand Pirx began at Melbourne, Australia on the 27th of March with a victory to reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel and his team, Red Bull Racing. He started from pole and basically took the lead from the start with a minor challenge from Lewis Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes who came in second in front of Vitaly Petrov of Renault. This race started without much excitement and suspense with only Rubens Barrichello losing it on the gravel on turn 3 and then Michael Schumacher suffering from a puncture. This race also marks the first race in which Pirelli is the tire supplier and I have to say that the tires weren't as bad as they were reported to be during pre-season tire tests. And back to super senior Schumacher, the punctured tire due to being tagged by J. Aguersuari during the first few corners caused damage to his car's floor causing him to retire after around 20 or so laps. There was some surprise to see Lewis Hamilton coming in second when it seemed that the McLaren was slightly down in lap times during initial tests. He manged to keep Vettel in sight and exchanged fastest laps times with Vettel throughout the race. Of course it still wasn't enough for him to actually get absolutely close for neck to neck racing. But this is only the first race and things change really quickly in Formula 1. There was a slight problem for Hamilton during the race though, the front skid plate at the bottom of his car came loose and started scraping the tarmac. One important ruling after completing the race is that the skid plate has a certain level of thickness left in them and if it got too thin, the FIA stewards would have deemed the car was running lower than the prescribed ride height. So far, no news on this would mean that Hamilton is secure in his second place. For me the man who had a heck of a race must have been Fernando Alonso of Ferrari. At the end of the first lap he was placed 9th. He managed to claw right up to 4th position at the end of the race with a pit stop jump in position over Red Bull's Mark Webber. He was only a second adrift of 3rd place Petrov and if the race went a few laps longer could have taken that position. The other Ferrari driver, Filipe Massa finished in 9th. I suppose this was a decent start for most of the teams. Red Bull's victory is not surprise with Alonso of Ferrari stating that Vettel's driving was from another planet. What surprised me was the performance of the Lotus Renault. It also marked Petrov's first podium finish and a first podium finish for the Renault-Lotus team-up. It also looks like THIS Lotus team is the one I'd put my money on instead of the one that's now called Team Lotus, run by AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandez. Oh yes, there was a disqualification for the Sauber team. Both cars were deemed to have run illegal rear wings causing a change in the final race results. Quite sad news as one Sauber finished 7th. I suppose sometimes the teams try too hard to interpret the rules and it falls flat on their faces. This race also marks more use of the KERS energy recovery system for that extra push during overtaking and down on the straights as well as the use (by some of the teams) of something called the DRS or drag reduction system, which to my understanding is pretty simple technology. This is one of the big changes in Formula 1 this year whereby the cars can have an electronically movable rear wing that (obviously) reduces drag and theoretically will assist overtaking during the course of a race. The DRS utilized the on track electronic timing system at designated points on the circuit, when the trailing car is within one second of the car in front the system will be armed and the driver will have access to the DRS. He will not however be able to use the system until another designated point of the track around 600 metres before the next corner. The last point is subject to ongoing adjustment as the system is bedded in. There will be markings on the circuit to indicate the points where the timing assessment is made and where the driver may use the system to assist spectators and TV viewers. All for the sake of entertainment I suppose. Whatever the case, the F1 circus moves over the Sepang, Malaysia. Race weekend is on th 8th, 9th and 10th of April 2011. Results 01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h29:30.259 2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 22.297 3. Petrov Renault + 30.560 4. Alonso Ferrari + 31.772 5. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 38.171 6. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 54.300 7. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1:05.800 8. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:16.800 9. Massa Ferrari + 1:25.100 10. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 12. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 13. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 14. Heidfeld Renault + 1 lap 15. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 16. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps Not classified/retirements: Glock Virgin-Cosworth 50 Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 49 Rosberg Mercedes 22 Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 19 Schumacher Mercedes 19 Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 10 Revised results 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 3. Vitaly Petrov Renault 4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 5. Mark Webber Red Bull 6. Jenson Button McLaren 7. Felipe Massa Ferrari 8. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 9. Adrian Sutil Force India 10. Paul di Resta Force India 11. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso 12. Nick Heidfeld Renault 13. Jarno Trulli Lotus 14. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin Not classified/retirements/disqualified: Sergio Perez Sauber 58
  18. Rigval
    Formula 1 has a new world champion in the shape and form of Sebastian Vettel. The Red Bull driver, who seemed to have started the 2010 Formula 1 season on a high, then faltered mid-season and then making a strong comeback even with a fabulous mid-season charge by Double World Champion, Fernando Alonso. Whatever the case, Formula 1 has a new World Champion and it was decided at the last race of the 2010 calendar, in Abu Dhabi last Sunday. I'd also have to add that it must be terribly disappointing for Alonso, who entered this race as championship leader. Finishing 7th basically scuppered all hope of winning the title. It is so frustrating watching the Alonso's race as he was basically behind Renault's Petrov, who somehow managed to hold up a two time world champion for almost two-thirds of the whole race
  19. Rigval
    Somehow Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull seems to start in pole position but fail to capitalize on this. At the Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix last Sunday, his team mate, Mark Webber was instead the victor. With Lewis Hamilton of McLaren crashing out of the race, it looks like the championship chase is still an open book too. The race basically got on to a usual 'follow the leader' kind of opening lap but there was an incident that shook things up a little in lap 17. The Petronas Mercedes of Nico Rosberg lost a wheel right (below) after he pitted for a tire change. Upon pulling out the tire started detaching itself from the car and nearly hit some other team's pit crew. He was in sixth before the incident. Pit lane incidents seem to be in abundance in Hungary, Robert Kubica of Renault was released too early by his lollipop man and he ran into Force India's Adrian Sutil just as he was about to enter the pit entry box. Due to this the Force India car couldn't continue but Renault was able to send Kubica out again where the race stewards slapped on him a 10-second stop-go penalty for an unsafe release from the pits. There was a safety car incident that also allowed Lewis Hamilton to take the lead, but on lap 24 his transmission gave way on turn three. This makes it the second retirement suffered by the McLaren driver. This and another incident played things out to Mark Webber who was by this time running in fourth position. The incident in question is when the race stewards decided that Sebastian Vettel had to receive a 5 second drive through penalty for exceeding 10 cars lengths behind the safety car. Being the race leader at one point of the race, he had backed up the pack of cars too far from the safety car which was about to pull in to the pit lane. Mark Webber also emerged the victor due to staying out longer as everyone pitted due to the safety car. Pulling fast laps somehow ensured that when he pitted for the second time, he still had a good 20seconds lead over the number two, Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari (which seem to be quietly performing after last week's team orders fiasco). Results 1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1h41:05.571 2. Alonso Ferrari + 17.821 3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 19.252 4. Massa Ferrari + 27.474 5. Petrov Renault + 1:13.100 6. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth + 1:16.700 7. De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 8. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 1 lap 9. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 10. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 11. Schumacher Mercedes + 1 lap 12. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 13. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 14. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth + 3 laps 15. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth + 3 laps 16. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps 17. Senna HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps 18. Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth + 4 laps 19. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps Did not finish Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 25 lap Kubica Renault 25 Rosberg Mercedes 17 Sutil Force India-Mercedes 17 Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2 photos: planetf1
  20. Rigval
    After becoming airborne in the European GP due to a massive crash with a Lotus, Red Bull's Mark Webber wins this edition of the British Formula 1 Grand Prix held last Sunday. This time, aggressive driving and a bit of luck, his tussle with his team mate, and pole position holder, Sebastian Vettel, somehow caused Vettel to go a little wide and got a puncture. That gave him the lead over Lewis Hamilton of McLaren by the first few corners, who ended the race in second. Third place went toward Nico Rosberg, driving the Mercedes. Ferrari had an early incident with Massa colliding with Alonso and Massa suffering a puncture too. The race pace of the Red Bull is as good as the pace it had during qualifying. Webber managed to pull a lead over Hamilton and this somehow held even though there was a Safety Car incident, due to Pedro de la Rosa's front wing debris on the track after a small accident. The drive of the day could be handed to Jenson Button of McLaren though as he started all the way down in P14 and worked his way through the field. His storming effort, like a knife through nice soft butter, was effectively held back by Nico Rosberg. Button's 4th place must have felt like a bigger victory altogether. The biggest loser in this British GP is Fernando Alonso. He was given a drive through penalty due to overtaking Robert Kubica of Renault wrongly. This was as all four wheels of his Ferrari was off the track and this constitutes an offence. I suppose Alonso's argument was that Kubica had defended his position aggressively and that caused him to veer off the track. The race stewards thought otherwise and gave his that penalty. He started in 3rd and finished 14th due to this. Mark Webber's win was not without any incidents off the track. It seems that Red Bull had handed Webber's new specification front wing to his team-mate, Seb Vettel, even though the wing was already fitted on his car. It is safe to assume that he wasn't very pleased with the incident. When he won, his response on the radio to team principal Christian Horner was
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