F1 – Webber claims maiden F1 victory

My race report from the 2009 German Grand Prix can be found at:

http://www.inthenews.co.uk/sports/sport/general-sport/webber-claims-maiden-f1-victory-$1310736.htm

I’m on inthenews.co.uk

 I covered today’s German Grand Prix qualifying for inthenews.co.uk. To read my report click on the link below. 

 

http://www.inthenews.co.uk/sports/sport/general-sport/webber-snatches-thrilling-pole-$1310596.htm

F1 – Hamilton tops the times in P2 at the Nurburgring

 

Hamilton set the fastest time of the second practice session at the Nurburgring

Lewis Hamilton surprised everyone by setting the quickest time in the second practice session for the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. 

 The reigning World Champion who, unlike his team-mate is running in the latest spec of the McLaren MP4-24, planted himself at the top of the timesheets on his final run of the session ahead of Sebastien Vettel’s Red Bull.

 After setting the quickest time in morning practice, Mark Webber looked to be on form again at the beginning of P2 but the Australian fell away as the track rubbered in after a quick rain shower and could only manage the fourth quickest time.

Jenson Button’s name appeared at the top of the times on more than one occasion as well, but, although the Brit struggled to get heat into his Bridgestone tyres, he still ended up in a respectable third place.

But, compared to his Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barichello, Button had a easy time of it, as the Brazilian and his engineers tried desperately hard throughout both of today’s practice sessions to cure a lack of front-end grip - both Brawns suffered with similar problems at the British Grand Prix also. The problems experienced by Barichello are reportedly down to the relatively low ambient temperatures of Germany and Britain, compared to other countries Formula 1 has visited so far this season.     

Nick Heidfeld gave his home crowd something to be cheery about too, as he showed some promise by posting consistently quick lap times in his BMW Sauber on super soft tyres, ending the session in fifth just behind the Red Bull of Webber.

A last ditch attempt by Vettel to move himself up the timesheets and above Hamilton wasn’t enough to dislodge the McLaren driver, although the young German will be confident about his chances of securing a second consecutive pole position in tomorrow’s qualifying session and of replicating his dominate performance of three weeks ago at Silverstone, in Sunday’s race. The Red Bull seems to enjoy the lower temperatures far more than the Brawn, but rain is forecast for Sunday and threatens to  upset things for the young German who will be keen to clinch his third race victory of 2009 in front of his home crowd.

Hamilton on the other hand remains realistic but has higher hopes for Sunday’s race than for previous grands prix, as he believes he can achieve a top ten finish or possibly even challenge for points.

F1 – No major upgrades for McLaren in Germany

 

Hamilton fought hard at the tail end of the field at Silverstone and is expecting more of the same from MP4-24 at the Nurburgring

Reigning world champion, Lewis Hamilton has conceded that the German Grand Prix will not be easy for McLaren, as no major updates will be added to the car. 

 

After a dismal season so far, Hamilton is expecting MP4-24’s aerodynamic inefficiencies to continue at Mercedes’ home race. 

The lack of pace experience by Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen is said to be caused by a mysterious and complex phenomenon where the airflow stalls as it passes over the bodywork of the car. The list of possible causes is infinitely long so there is no quick fix.

As a result, both McLaren drivers haven’t scored a single point in the last four races and the team is languishing down in sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship; a contrast to their position this time last year.

In an article on Yahoo News, the Brit has clearly come to terms with his car’s lack of pace; “While are aren’t expecting any major upgrades for this weekend, I’m still looking forward to the race.”

“It’s a fantastic circuit, a little older than a lot of the current tracks we currently visit and with quite a different feel to what we’re used to: it’s fast and flowing with some good spots for overtaking,” he said.

F1 – Alguersuari named as Red Bull reserve driver

 

Alguersuari takes over the Red Bull reserve role from Brendon Hartley

From the German Grand Prix onwards, Jaime Alguersuari will take up the highly sought-after supporting role at both Red Bull Formula 1 outfits, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso.

 

The Spaniard who won the British Formula 3 title last season at his first attempt and followed that up by securing a drive in the Formula Renault 3.5 series, will take over the reserve driver role from his former Formula 3 team mate Brendon Hartley.

The ambitious 19-year old has experienced a rapid rise up the ladder and has faced tough criticism from people who believe he has progressed so quickly because of his father’s influence in international motorsport; Jamie Alguersuari Sr runs the World Series by Renault, in which Jamie Jr is currently driving for the Carlin Motorsport team.   

But Alguersuari is keen to prove his detractors wrong and is already looking to the future.

“My main objective for 2010 is to race with Toro Rosso,” Alguersuari told Diario AS. “The next season will be the riht moment for F1.”

“The one who has to drive is me. My father has been very important in my life, but it is not possible to deceive Red Bull or anyone else who has supported me,” he added. 

Hartley had to step down from his role when he didn’t receive his Super license on time and retired Red Bull driver, David Coulthard was named as his replacement until the Spanish Grand Prix in May. Alguersuari was awarded a Super license along with his Formula 3 title.

British Grand Prix 2009 – Friday

At a packed Silverstone circuit, the two Red Bull’s of Sebastien Vettel and Mark Webber dominated both Friday practice sessions.

The tiresome politics between FOTA and the FIA doesn’t seem to have dampened spirits or discouraged people from attending the event and showing their support to Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.

In the second practice session of the day, Webber set a quick lap early on and managed to hold on to the top spot for most of the session until his car slowed to a halt at Stowe corner with unspecified mechanical issues. 

But, at the end of the day it was Webber’s team-mate, Vettel who had his name at the top of the time-sheets.

Championship leader, Jenson Button, having won six out of seven races this season didn’t even manage to breach the top ten, languishing down in 14th place at the end of P2 along with the Ferrari and McLaren pairings.

Hamilton accepts

I want to start this post by congratulating Jenson Button on another impressive win at what was a, well, processional Turkish Grand Prix.

Although the two Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were quick, the Brit was on another planet in his Brawn and I think he completely overshadowed his closest championship rivals and his team mate Rubens Barrichello, who retired ten laps from the end with gearbox troubles.

McLaren’s woes continued this weekend, only managing a 13th and 14th respectively at the end of the race, the Woking-based team having not made any progress with MP4-24 since the Monaco Grand Prix two weeks ago.

But one thing that has altered somewhat is Lewis Hamilton’s mood. 

Happily for the Hamilton haters, the reigning world champion was distinctly downbeat at the Spanish Grand Prix, clearly frustrated by his car’s lack of pace and grip and possibly disillusioned with sport after the ‘lying scandal’, which tainted the start of his 2009 campaign. One word answers and a glazed expression was the best any journalist could hope for.  

But in interviews with the BBC during their coverage of the Turkish Grand Prix, there was a noticeable shift in Hamilton’s mood. It appeared that he has finally come to terms with the fact that he isn’t in a position to defend his title or even score points regularly. 

A cheery Hamilton effectively wrote off his chances of fighting with the Brawns and the Red Bulls for race wins this season but he confidently predicted that McLaren will be back on form in 2010 when F1 teams will run under revised rules and regulations which are aimed at cutting costs, but which have yet to agreed upon by the FIA, FOTA and FOM.

I believe this year will be a learning curve for Hamilton who, up until now, has really only experienced success. It seems that Lewis has come to terms with this and I think he will enter next season a stronger, more mature competitor.

The FIA: One rule for one, one rule for another

I just read an article on the ITV-F1 website about the controversial stewards decision to give Lewis Hamilton a 25-second time penalty for cutting the final chicane during last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.

One of the stewards who made the decision replied to what has been written in the newspapers over the last week about there being a conspiracy against McLaren. He insists that there is no such thing and that they FIA were completely unbiased when deciding how to punish the Brit.

I know that some of you might think I’m biased towards Hamilton and McLaren, being British and all, but I would be furious if any driver was penalised for something this ridiculous, especially if the decision could have an impact on the outcome of this year’s world championship. 

But, for some reason, I still have this nagging doubt in my mind about how unbiased the FIA are, and I think it’s time for some changes. In the article I read, it was announced that Niki Lauda and Sir Jackie Stewart “have called for Formula 1’s officiating system to be overhauled and permanent stewards appointed.” This sounds like a pretty good idea to me, because how can the sport be completely fair, if different people, with different opinions and views, enforce the rules every time Formula One travels to a new Grand Prix? How can the decisions be consistent?

I think the FIA should seriously consider this as an option for the 2009 season. It would be such a shame if this epic season wasn’t decided on the track, but rather by by some randomly selected men in suits watching TV screens.

Hamilton penalty is outrageous

I am completely outraged by the stewards decision to hand Lewis Hamilton a 25-second time penalty for “cutting” the Bus-Stop chicane during the final laps of the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps.

 Both Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton were investigated by the race stewards for seperate incidents, but I felt neither driver deserved a penalty. For a start, Hamilton was forced to cut the chicane to avoid a collision with Raikkonen’s Ferrari.

Secondly, on the approach to the start/finish line, immediately after the incident in question, Lewis was told to back off and let Raikkonen passed, which he did. Lewis allowed Raikkonen to take the lead before making a completely seperate move up the inside of La Source. Clearly the stewards felt Hamilton didn’t fall back enough to negate the advantage he supposedly got from cutting the chicane.

But the problem I have is that the speed traps on the start/finish straight showed that Hamilton was travelling six kilometres per hour slower than Raikkonen, which means he got no unfair advantage over the reigning world champion by of cutting the chicane.

Also, after the race, Felippe Massa complained of having no grip in the wet weather conditions whatsoever, forcing him to crawl around the circuit at a snail’s pace. We have seen the Ferrari’s struggle in these circumstances on many occasions in the past and it’s a fact that the McLaren is able to retain tyre temperature more effectively in the rain than their rival, therefore, wasn’t it inevitable that Hamilton would take the lead from the Finn by either braking later into a corner or accelerating out of corners?

Lastly, I am bemused as to how the stewards feel they can justify handing out a penalty for this incident, when Massa and Ferrari got away with a 10,000 Euro fine for an unsafe release from the pits, especially when Bruno Senna in GP2 was given a drive-through penalty for the exact same offence during the Sprint race at Spa? I think the people making the decisions in Formula One should review their system for making such calls, because they are clearly inconsistent.

Am I wrong?

Does Ferrari’s Penalty Fit the Crime?

Ferrari were handed a 10,000 Euro fine, but is that enough?

The European Grand Prix wasn’t the most thrilling race ever, but the final result was surrounded by controversy. Felipe Massa cruised to victory and was joined on the podium by his championship rival Lewis Hamilton, and Robert Kubica, who is now pressurising Kimi Raikkonen for third in the world championship.

But Massa’s win was in question after Ferrari released the Brazilian from his second pit-stop in the path of Adrian Sutil. The pair avoided any collision, and in a statement the stewards announced that they would delay their investigation until after the race. It has since been decided to hand Ferrari a 10,000 Euro fine for their mistake, meaning the Ferrari driver, who is now second in the standings after today’s race, will retain his win.

In my opinion, Ferrari should be penalised with a 10-second time penalty or a ten-place grid drop at the Belgium Grand Prix. Mark Brundell, in his post-race analysis on ITV, disagrees, as he thinks Ferrari shouldn’t receive a penalty as no accidents were caused. But, surely creating a risk like Ferrari did, is enough to warrant a tough penalty?