BlogF1

Honda driver Jenson Button has exceeded his own expectations when he competed in the Windsor Triathlon last weekend. The British driver has shown interest in the multi-disciplined sport recently and had a target time for completing the event of 2 hours, 30 minutes. As Button crossed the line in Windsor’s Great Park at the end of the 10km run, his time was 2 hours, 22 minutes and 43 seconds. Jenson’s physiotherapist, Mike Collier, also competed and followed his driver home twelve minutes later. Continue Reading

McLaren have announced the reason for Heikki Kovalainen’s big accident at the recent Spanish Grand Prix. The Woking-based squad, along with their wheel supplier have concluded there was a processing fault in the manufacturing of Kovalainen’s left-front wheel, which eventually failed. The accident saw Heikki skate across the gravel trap and impact a tyre wall at approximately 145mph. Although the impact briefly knocked Heikki out, his only injury was a concussion and earlier today the Finnish driver was given the all clear to race this weekend. Continue Reading

Following his sizable shunt at Circuit de Catalunya a couple of weeks back, Heikki Kovalainen has been given the all-clear to participate in this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix. Kovalainen’s McLaren suffered some kind of wheel failure and his car failed to turn in to T8 correctly. The ensuing ~145mph accident saw Heikki buried quite deep in the tyre barrier, the gravel trap failing to shed much speed off. Although Kovalainen was briefly knocked unconscious, by the the time the medics had freed him from the wreckage he was giving the thumbs to his supporters. Continue Reading

Heikki Kovalainen is expected to leave hospital this evening, having undergone tests to ensure he hasn’t suffered any head injuries or bone damage. Although the Finnish driver was briefly knocked unconscious following his impact with tyre barrier at Circuit de Catalunya, he has said to be in high spirits and is looking forward to a quick recovery in time for the Turkish Grand Prix on May 11th. Heikki will have to pass a mandatory test prior to being allowed to race in Istanbul, but the team are confident their driver will be perfectly fine to continue competing in a fortnight. Continue Reading

On lap 22 McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen appeared to suffer some kind of failure on his MP4-23. At turn 8 his car started to turn into the right-hander, but then straightened up and shot over the gravel and contacted the tyre-barrier. The impact speed looked high (140mph according to ITV) and Kovalainen did not immediately jump out of the McLaren. Continue Reading

With just under two weeks to go before the Bahrain Grand Prix, I felt it was time to do another summary of the news. There’s a lot to take in, even since Sunday when Kimi Raikkonen won in Sepang; this season is already shaping up to be busier than most. I wrote a long “News Round-up” article, but then realised there was too much to put in one posting. So instead I have broken them up. Therefore, this and the following three posts may seem to jump straight into the action without much faffing at the start. I’ll be interested to see if you guys prefer this method or not, but needless to say there is a lot to discuss. And it’s not even April yet… Continue Reading

The R25 was a championship winner, as was the R26, both chassis winning numerous races and claiming a drivers title each at the hands of Fernando Alonso. But after the Spaniards defection to McLaren in 2007, Renault produced a bit of a dog with the R27. When the Anglo-French team arrived at the first race, there were many unknowns. Fisichella had only won two races in the last two years and many doubted his ability to lead the team and rookie partner Heikki Kovalainen Continue Reading

Both Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen have been penalised on the Malaysian grid following the baulking of Nick Heidfeld at the end of qualifying. Both drivers remained on the racing line while the slowed considerably after completing their fast laps. Heidfeld, who was just starting his quick lap, was forced to weave in and out of other cars, compromising his line and ruining his lap time (videos here). The penalty for both drivers is five grid slots, demoting Hamilton to ninth and Kovalainen to eighth. Continue Reading

Continuing BlogF1’s guest post series, today I have a new Formula One blogger writing for you. Duncan recently started vee8 as a dedicated Formula One site, although he has been writing for years at his personal site, doctorvee. Being a regular commenter at BlogF1, I’ve come to realise that Duncan has a shrewd eye for detail and I’ve always admired his F1-related posts in the past. For today, we have the McLaren duo to discuss; how will Hamilton fair against his equally experienced team mate Heikki Kovalainen? Enjoy… Continue Reading

Some eagle-eyed readers may have noticeed that McLaren’s preview post, this very entry you’re reading, is out of sync with the previous. The previews were published in the reverse order of their constructor’s finishing place in 2007, which would mean McLaren should have been dealt with a long time ago. But as the Woking squad looked good, up until the Belgian Grand Prix at any rate, to finish in either first or second, I’ve chosen to post their entry as the penultimate in the series. And as the McLaren MP4-23 looks good to challenge for the 2008 title, it only seems right that they should be surrounded by the other top teams. So here, perhaps slightly late, is how I think McLaren’s title campaign is going to go this year. Continue Reading