BlogF1

In a well fought battle between McLaren and Ferrari, Brazil’s Felipe Massa has won the Bahrain Grand Prix to bring himself into contention for the 2007 World Championship. From pole position, Felipe led a slightly slower starting Lewis Hamilton through the first corner, leaving Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso to duke it out for the remaining places. The pair passed each other several times during the first lap, but it was Fernando who managed to run ahead of his chief rival. Continue Reading…

1. Massa - Ferrari
2. Hamilton - McLaren
3. Raikkonen - Ferrari
4. Heidfeld - BMW
5. Alonso - McLaren
6. Kubica - BMW
7. Trulli - Toyota
8. Fisichella - Renault
Continue Reading…

Well, not quite, but Ferrari today have signed a contract with ALDAR - a property development company - to design and build a theme park on the site of 2009’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The park will sit within the Yas Island project where the Grand Prix circuit is currently being built, and it is expected to open its doors to the public some time in 2008. According to some sources, construction has already begun on the site of the park, although I imagine this is more to do with the whole island project at the moment. Continue Reading…

Circuit designer and engineer Hermann Tilke has been interviewed by the Bahrain police after he was caught speeding on the motorway on Friday evening. Apparently travelling at 150kph on the 100kph limited road, Tilke was taken to the police station and grilled for two hours, but later released without charge after officials realised who he was. Continue Reading…

1. Massa - Ferrari - 1m32.652s
2. Hamilton - McLaren - 1m32.935s
3. Raikkonen - Ferrari - 1m33.131s
4. Alonso - McLaren - 1m33.192s
5. Heidfeld - BMW - 1m33.404s
6. Kubica - BMW - 1m33.710s
7. Fisichella - Renault - 1m34.056s
8. Webber - Red Bull Racing - 1m34.106s
Continue Reading…

Honda have spent much of their time in Bahrain in front of cameras and microphones denying all sorts of rumours that have been sparked during the week between Malaysia and Bahrain. Nick Fry has been pushed to the fore to explain some of the reasons behind the uncompetitive pace of the new Honda RA107, and to also explain why Ross Brawn has been linked to the squad while the Brit is on a years sabbatical from Ferrari. Continue Reading…

The first of the Friday Free Practice sessions saw Ferrari lead McLaren to the top of the timing sheet, Kimi Raikkonen getting the better of his team mate and Lewis Hamilton his. Raikkonen put his foot down early in the 90 minute session setting a series of blistering times to conquer the circuit this morning, leaving Felipe Massa in the sister Ferrari more than 0.5s behind. A further half second behind was Britain’s man of the moment Hamilton, who encouraged by his Malaysian form went faster than his more experienced team mate Fernando Alonso, albeit only by 0.05s. Continue Reading…

When Fernando Alonso darted across the Sepang finish line last weekend, lots of people behind the scenes were busy preparing the podium celebrations. Parc Ferme was ready to accept the 22 cars, and the scales were primed to check each of the top three drivers before they head up to spray the champagne. It is normal - in fact, required - in these cases for the organisers to display the three flags of the nations of the podium drivers, in Sepang’s case; Spain, Britain and Finland. It is also normal to hear the winning drivers national anthem, followed by the constructors national anthem and then some Vivaldi to get the party started. Those of us who watched the podium celebrations after Alonso’s thrashing of Ferrari last Sunday saw the Spanish flag raised behind him. We heard the Spanish anthem, and we heard God Save The Queen for McLaren. So why are Germany kicking up a stink at the moment? Continue Reading…

The very self-critical Heikki Kovalainen has talked about his cautious first lap at the Malaysian Grand Prix, citing his memory of Melbourne as the reason for his lacklustre start. While team mate Giancarlo Fisichella shot off the start line in typical Renault fashion, Heikki took a little longer to move through the field, and feels that he didn’t want to throw the race away in the first corner. However, his first points have come as a welcome relief and should keep the fiery words of Flavio Briatore at bay a little while longer. Continue Reading…

McLaren team boss Ron Dennis has praised his two racing drivers after they succeeded in finishing in first and second places at today’s Malaysian Grand Prix. It is the first time since Dennis took over the team in 1981 that the squad has introduced an all-new driver lineup for the start of a season, and so far the reigning world champion and the quick rookie are working well. Fernando leads the drivers title and McLaren lead the constructors as they head into round three in Bahrain next weekend. Sepang was the woking-based teams first win in the last 20 attempts, having endured a dry spell in 2006 with Kimi Raikkonen, Juan Pablo Montoya and Pedro De La Rosa. But with their new car and new team, the silver arrows are flying and motivation is at a high. Fernando is driving well and Lewis Hamilton is pushing the Spaniard even further. Continue Reading…