BlogF1

Disasters of the world touch Formula One, none more so than those participating drivers who hail from the affected country. In Australia earlier this year, Mark Webber went to great lengths to visit the fire-damaged region of Victoria, the same state the Australian Grand Prix was being held in. It wasn’t long after Mark’s touching tribute to those who have been affected by the fires that Italy was rocked by an earthquake. In China this weekend, Formula One again supports and offers what it can to help those who have been left without homes, family and friends. Continue Reading

Giancarlo Fisichella, Formula One’s second most experienced driver behind Rubens Barrichello, has apologised to his team for the error he made during his pitstop earlier today in the race. The incident happened on lap 20 as Fisichella entered the pitlane for his first stop. The Italian driver missed his garage and waiting mechanics and had to be manually pushed back in order for the Force India to get enough lock to turn into the box. Needless to say, Fisichella is suitably embarrassed. Continue Reading

With a collaboration with McLaren and Mercedes-Benz, 2009 should see the Force India team improve in both pace and reliability over their dismal 2008 performance. Coupled with a continuation in drivers and team boss Vijay Mallya taking a more hands-on role within the team, the 2008 back row minnows could be about to launch themselves closer to the midfield. There are many obstacles in their way, not least experience, but the squad remain buoyed for the upcoming season. Continue Reading

Scuderia Toro Rosso are yet to receive the blueprints for their 2009 car, but both Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastien Buemi have been putting in some serious mileage in the 2008 post-season tests and also in the pre-2009 sessions. Driving a modified STR3 with less downforce and slick tyres, both drivers have been acclimatising themselves to how the new car may handle, and combined with Takuma Sato’s tests, the team have certainly been collecting a lot of information. Continue Reading

Although pictures of the car managed to find their way on to the Internet yesterday, today was the first time we could see the new VJM02 on track and compare the lap times set by the car to others who were also taking part in the group test at Jerez. With Sunday being the official launch day of the car, the team were speaking to the media about their expectations for 2009, and also 2010 as they get used to their collaboration with Mercedes-Benz and McLaren. Continue Reading

The seventy-sixth photograph to feature in BlogF1’s caption contest. You know the drill, think of something funny and witty to say and leave it as a comment below. I can’t believe I completely forgot to post Wednesday’s caption – I notice nobody reminded me! Well, if it’s any consolation, I enjoyed the short break I took from work work and blogging (which really isn’t work). So anyway, late as it is, here’s number 76. A football match from a few years ago involving F1FC – the drivers sometimes play to help raise money for charity as well as having a bit of fun. In the case of Felipe and Michael, maybe a bit too much fun… Continue Reading

In their latest guise, Force India took to the Australian grid earlier this year in a shower of glitz, glamour and gutsy goals. Eight months later, and very few of the goals have been met, but that doesn’t mean Force India have endured a bad year, far from it. In fact, the back-row minnows have, at times, looked pretty healthy in terms of pace. Unfortunately to the throng of fans the world over, the occasional upturn in pace doesn’t make a season, but things aren’t looking too bad for the Silverstone-based squad. Continue Reading

During yesterday’s pre-British Grand Prix test at Silverstone, Giancarlo Fisichella suffered a fairly sizable impact at the Becketts Complex in his Force India. While testing out some modifications to the car, it would seem as though the Italian was caught by a strong gust of wind that unstabilised the car and led to an impact with the barrier. Fisichella was taken to hospital for checks, and although the previous grand prix winner said he was fine, the medics paid particular attention to his wrists: Giancarlo did not take his hands off the steering wheel. Continue Reading

The second day of the Silverstone test has wrapped up and despite the odd shower, most teams had a reasonably productive day. Heikki Kovalainen went fastest in the McLaren MP4-23 and edged out the improved Toyota of Jarno Trulli. With test driver Kamui Kobayashi going fourth yesterday it would seem that Trulli and Glock’s recent results were not flashes in the pans, but actual improvement. Jarno was focused on set up work for the British Grand Prix and covered 95 laps. Continue Reading

The forty-fifth photograph to feature in BlogF1’s caption contest. You know the drill, think of something funny and witty to say and leave it as a comment below. Here’s a picture of Giancarlo Fisichella checking out the back of his Jordan after retiring from the 2002 Brazilian Grand Prix. A year later he would go on to score is maiden victory at the circuit, but in ‘02 he had no such luck. Continue Reading