BlogF1

The eighty-ninth 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 decided that posting a photo to caption last week would have been a little inappropriate given the news that occurred on the same day, so this week’s image to add a line to is early to make up for it. Here’s Kimi Raikkonen enjoying a nap on the end of the pitwall back in his McLaren days. Continue Reading

Do you remember when all-and-his-mother were saying how good Lewis Hamilton will be for Formula One, that the young Briton will inspire countless others, become a great role-model and help lift the sport to new highs? Well to a degree, I feel Hamilton has achieved this goal put on him by others, but I also feel that some of the McLaren driver’s rivals are doing a far better job of raising Formula One’s global profile amid controversy and gloomy forecasts. Continue Reading

BMW have endured a miserable Bahrain Grand Prix, qualifying in thirteenth and fourteenth and spending the vast majority of the race running around at the back. It is the second race in succession that the Swiss-German squad have failed to score any points, and with the shift in domination leaning towards Brawn, Red Bull and Toyota, BMW cannot afford to lose too much ground to the front-runners. Updates for the F1.09 are apparently arriving in time for the Spanish race in a fortnight, but it could already be too late. Continue Reading

Poor Adrian Sutil. What does the man have to do to score a point in Formula One? The German driver has come so close on occasion to achieving the impossible that surely he deserves just a little bit of luck. Each time though there is always something or someone who ends his race early, and today it was Sutil himself who got caught out by the perilous conditions, throwing his Force India off the track like it was a toy car on a Scalextric track. Adrian was touring in P7 at the time and looking good for the remainder of the race. Continue Reading

Just as I did following the Malaysian Grand Prix two weeks ago, I once again feel compelled to discuss the hopeless start to Ferrari’s 2009 championship campaign. As reigning constructors champions, with one of the largest budgets in the sport and with the skill and experience within the squad, one has to seriously wonder what on earth is going on at Maranello. Tactical errors were avoided during Kimi Raikkonen’s and Felipe Massa’s races today, but the severe under-performance from the F60 is very worrying. Continue Reading

The KERS device used by Ferrari has seen its fair share of problems since before the season commenced, and following a spate of issues in Malaysia two weeks ago, Gestione Sportiva took the decision to remove KERS from the F60s for this weekend’s race in China. It was hoped that by removing the new technology the cars would become more reliable and with the saved weight, performance would be improved by allowing more ballast to be placed in the car at the driver’s wishes. Continue Reading

The 2009 Formula One season is only two races old, but for a team that is so used to success, Ferrari must be feeling a little off-colour right now. The Scuderia are yet to score any points, instead the majority going to Brawn and Jenson Button. This isn’t the usual schedule of events, and while Brawn deserve all the success from winning both races in convincing style and strategy, one cannot help but wonder what is happening to Maranello’s beloved team. Continue Reading

The second 90 minute practice session ended earlier this morning at unlike the first run, it wasn’t Williams who captured the top spots. Instead Ferrari found themselves leading the timing sheets and Kimi Raikkonen going fastest of all. Felipe Massa was only 0.1s down and the final order was much more mixed up than previously, with some teams unexpectedly doing better than others. Red Bull Racing found some pace and Kovalainen improved after a disastrous showing in the pre-lunch session. Continue Reading

The second day of the Barcelona test wrapped up earlier this afternoon and Kimi Raikkonen returned his Ferrari to the top of the timing sheet, ahead of a very fast Kazuki Nakajima and an impressive run from Rubens Barrichello in the new Brawn BGP 001. McLaren continued to worry with Heikki Kovalainen only managing ninth, the MP4-24 possibly struggling and 1.6s shy of Raikkonen’s dominating pace. Not all may be as it seems though. Continue Reading

Kimi Raikkonen set the benchmark during today’s test at Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit. The Finnish driver topped the tables in the new F60, leading Jarno Trulli by 0.128s. The day wasn’t entirely perfect for the 2007 world champion though, as a cooling problem with the new KERS device meant Raikkonen had to spend three hours in the garage while the mechanics tried to find and resolve the problem. However, Kimi did manage 103 laps which was an afternoon well spent. Continue Reading