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Or at least, how their car handles the tyres. McLaren appear to be not doing very well in the tyre and wheel department at the moment. In fact, the last couple of seasons have seen quite a few retirements from the Woking-based squad due to tyre-related issues, and while they can’t all be put down the design of the car, one cannot help but wonder if the MP4-22 and MP4-23 isn’t so kind to its boots at its rivals are. Continue Reading

Much has been made recently of some drivers absence from the GPDA, most notably three of the top; Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa (who stood down recently) and Lewis Hamilton. Adrian Sutil is also yet to commit, but has escaped the wrath of Mark Webber and Jarno Trulli so far. However, because some felt that lower-paid drivers were funding the organisation which, in essence, helps out with the improvement of safety at races, many drivers were upset with higher paid drivers not contributing. Which is perhaps why Hamilton had stated earlier in the weekend that he has made a donation to the GPDA, reported to be way in excess of the normal £2,000 admission fee. 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

Continuing the feel good factor that Thursday has brought to Formula One, I can now report that McLaren, who are now located at the far end of the Spanish pit lane, invited their neighbours over for a cup of tea and a slice of cake. The neighbourly gesture was taken up by about 20 members of each team (Force India and Super Aguri) and Aguri driver Anthony Davidson took full advantage to see how the other half live. Continue Reading

With Formula One on a three week break at the moment, the teams have descended on Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya to rack up some miles in their cars. This test session is often considered to be the season’s most important, as teams that didn’t start well in the first few races now have some time to improve their motors before the European leg begins. But what would happen if testing wasn’t allowed? Would Formula One be more or less exciting? Continue Reading

Pedro De La Rosa and wife Maria have just become parents to their third child. Luna was born in Zurich with Pedro taking time off from his testing duties with McLaren to be with his wife and family. Luna is the De La Rosa’s third daughter, becoming sister to Georgina and Olivia. 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