I was actually surprised with that result. We generally don’t have the same pace as the Red Bulls and the Ferraris so I was really surprised when I came through.

I saw that I was P4 but I didn’t know that there was loads of people behind me. I am absolutely overwhelmed with that position, I think that’s great for us, a great starting point and I hope tomorrow we can just either keep that position or take one more tomorrow.

We have got a lot of downforce to find, but I know the guys back at the factory are pushing very hard, and this is much better position to start from than we did last year so I can only be grateful and just keep working with the guys to push us forward. Lewis Hamilton.

It was getting better every run I did and I was getting more comfortable with the car. I really struggled with the fronts locking this afternoon – very different to this morning.

Through quali it was getting better and better and then in the last run something was a bit wrong. Something felt wrong, so we are going to have a look at the car now and see what that is. I’m surprised I was eighth actually because it was struggling around the last lap.

I think Red Bull are very, very fast and even the Ferraris couldn’t stay with them in qualifying.

My first run in Q2, I was in traffic and the second one was a bit better. It was getting better and better every lap so I was reasonably happy but yeah, at the end it wasn’t so good and something just feels a little bit wrong so we need to look at that. Jenson Button.

Lewis Hamilton will start tomorrow’s Bahrain Grand Prix in fourth, while Jenson Button could only manage eighth in qualifying.

Original article by BlogF1.

Bahrain 2010: Mixed Emotions In The McLaren Garage

The part in question is actually a driver-operated function that essentially closes off a vent while the car is moving at high speed. This helps the rear wing ’stall’ and improves the straight-line speed of the car. According to the regulations, movable aerodynamic devices are outlawed (aside from the adjustable front wing flaps). However, McLaren have some how managed to circumvent the rules and during the design process of the component, they maintained communication with the FIA who gave the all-clear to develop and build it.

Although most teams have remained quiet over the matter, Renault have spoken out alongside Red Bull Racing and have criticised the FIA for allowing such a device.

It is fundamentally clear that the McLaren wing design is totally illegal – and they have driven a cart horse through the sprit of the rules and regulations.

They have opened up another arms race; it’s going to cost everybody a lot of money. The governing body needs to be a lot stronger with these things.

I think that it is ridiculous in this era where we are all trying to save money. We are restricted by the number of people that we can bring to the track, with mechanics working ridiculous hours at night to prepare the car.

Now we have just opened another arms race that will cost us all a lot of money. It’s just a nonsense. I think the governing body needs to be more responsible in decisions like this. Bob Bell.

Like last year, the opening round of the season usually sees controversy as the teams arrive with their cars in full race-spec. In 2009 it was Brawn who came under fire with the ‘double diffuser’. The diffuser was eventually deemed legal and the other teams had to quickly develop a similar part just to keep up with the eventual world champions. In the past, McLaren have shown innovation, particularly with their third pedal which controlled a brake to one of the rear wheels. This was sensationally revealed to the world after respected F1-photographer Darren Heath took an unsuspecting shot of the foot-well of the McLaren and noticed the strange configuration.

Other teams are now looking at developing a similar part, which up until this weekend was generally kept well-hidden by McLaren.

We will have to get on and make our own version of it now. It wasn’t clear what the situation was, but we have had clarity from the FIA about how they want to treat it, so we are all off running in that direction. Ross Brawn.

Lotus technical chief Mike Gascoyne believes the system is illegal and refutes the FIA’s claim that the driver cannot be considered a moveable part of the car.

I still believe it’s a moveable aerodynamic device because the configuration of the aerodynamics are changing. Whether the driver is doing with it his knee or not, they [the aerodynamics] are not the same all the time so therefore it must be a moveable aero device.

We know what the rules are… but it is a pretty silly interpretation.

Everyone is going to go and do it, no one will have an advantage, we will go and spend loads of money – and for what? It will be worth two or three tenths, everyone will go and get it – so it is a complete waste of time. Vintage F1! Mike Gascoyne.

Along with Mike Gascoyne, Renault team principal Bob Bell believes this so-called ‘F-Duct Vent’ system will cause an arms race in the sport, and goes against the spirit of the regulations at a time when all involved are trying to save money and keep the sport as fair as possible.

While no official protest has been lodged, it isn’t out of the question that a team could. If McLaren perform particularly well during Sunday’s race, and rival team’s believe the McLaren has a significant straight-line advantage, then this issue could be dragged on. At the moment though, the MP4-25 is legal and will contest the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Original article by BlogF1.

Renault Critcise FIA & McLaren Over F-Duct Vent System

The checks come after Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner expressed concerns about the layout of the MP4-25’s airbox, engine cover and rear wing assembly, suggesting to the British press that the wing may have been designed to stall under high speeds, giving the McLaren a straight-line advantage.

McLaren seemed to not be overly bothered about the questioning from other teams and stated that the FIA were involved early on in the design process of the part, suggesting that the team were aware they are likely to be running close to the edge of the rules. However, having followed procedures correctly, exercising due diligence in communicating with the FIA and inviting the sport’s governing body to inspect the car, McLaren have successfully passed scrutineering and will take part in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Original article by BlogF1.

McLaren Pass Scrutineering Checks: Rear Wing Deemed Legal

Despite this protest though, McLaren are confident the rear wing adheres to the rules and even consulted with the FIA during the initial stages of the design. To perhaps ensure there isn’t another ‘double-diffuser’ saga and to clarify the component’s legality, McLaren have invited the FIA to check the wing. Charlie Whiting was meant to visit the team late last week but delays in his travel schedule now mean the inspection will take place in Bahrain later this week.

The wing is different and innovative. But we have been in contact with Charlie over a period of several months to check that it complies with regulations. We have been assured that it does. Martin Whitmarsh.

We have no concerns with it, but we have been invited by the team to view the car so Charlie is going down to have a look. FIA Spokesperson.

Neither McLaren nor the FIA seem overly concerned about the matter, which will likely mean the part being declared legal and Red Bull Racing once again having to re-design parts of their car in order to keep up, just as they did in 2009 when Brawn’s ‘double-diffuser’ was deemed acceptable after much protest.

Original article by BlogF1.

McLaren Invite FIA To Inspect Rear Wing

While you cannot say the management relationship between Lewis and his father has been unsuccessful – a Formula One drive with a top team and a championship in his second season – Lewis has often found himself at the mercy of the global media in situations that could have been avoided.

There have been some curious decisions made at Team Hamilton, notably the time when Lewis took an active role in a play, and of course my personal favourite when Lewis agreed on international television to compete with Jenson Button in a triathlon, only to have his father rescind the agreement hours later.

However, the delicate art of managing a sportsperson, their professional schedule as well as the promotional events and downtime is not an easy or enviable task. This was made more demanding when you consider what McLaren had endured during Hamilton’s initial years at the team, with controversy being attracted to McLaren like a moth to a lightbulb.

With Anthony starting the GP Prep Academy and having just been granted official approval from Bernie Ecclestone and FOM, the father-son team have professionally separated and while a new manager is sought for Lewis, McLaren will support their driver. Hamilton Jr has stated that this is not the first time this subject has been raised, but in the past Lewis said he didn’t feel comfortable with other people safeguarding his interests. Being a more mature driver, and also being his “own man now”, Lewis feels it is time to move forward as well as enjoy a more personal relationship with his father.

We looked at it and I just never felt comfortable with anyone else. At the time I loved my dad being my manager and taking care of things, because I trust him.

Other managers you hire as employees, but my dad is my dad. I know he does things for only the right reasons, and I can just trust him with my full heart.

But all of this time we were discussing bringing someone else in, we never quite had the confidence to do it. I think we’re now at the point where we are looking to take that step – and I think it is a positive step.

I’m 25. I am my own man now, I’ve been in F1 for quite a while now and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my dad. He’s done a fantastic job. But he’s done that job. Lewis Hamilton.

Anthony will continue managing the interests of other drivers, notably Paul Di Resta who has been testing the Force India car recently. On top of this, Anthony will be running GP Prep, an academy designed to offer young drivers the opportunity to drive a Formula One car during a series of private test sessions.

Original article by BlogF1.

A Management Change At Team Hamilton

It would be great for all if Vijay Mallya’s squad can continue their form over the winter and into the new season, but this is a tall order. The Silverstone-based team are up against the well-funded Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull squads. However, if one thing can be learned from last season, it is that you should never rule out the smaller outfits, and more importantly, the talented people who work for them.

Force India continue their relationship with McLaren and Mercedes-Benz, the power plant proving to be worthy of its place in the back of many cars on the grid. Even Red Bull Racing were after a Norbert Haug-looking signature on a contract. But the association with McLaren also provides a gearbox and technical support, which has undoubtedly helped the squad push forward and ahead of the midfield.

The third car from Force India (the second designed under complete control of Mallya) is an evolution of the 2009 VJM02, although the team insist they have made big strides with the rear, developing the diffuser being a key area. The externals show a higher nose and shark-fin engine cover, a revised front wing, smaller and curvier sidepods and no Newey-dip.

The livery adorning the car is pretty much identical to last year’s, which is no bad thing – I quite like the green and orange mix and depicts the team’s Indian roots. In terms of sponsors, it is always good to see a variety of logos on the car, especially as Force India are one of the lesser-funded teams. Unfortunately, it is also worthy of note that most of the companies shown on the car’s bodywork are owned by or related in one way or another to Vijay Mallya. Still, money is money, as they say.

Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi continue to pilot the Force India, and while consistency can prove helpful in team stability and chassis development, one has to start considering whether Sutil is worthy of his contract. In 2009, Giancarlo Fisichella finally found his groove with the VJM02 and started to show some promise with the car. And although Sutil had some flashes of brilliance, he all-too-often binned it.

Sitting opposite the German is former Red Bull racer Vitantonio Liuzzi – a driver whom I’ve often presumed fashion took precedence over race craft. While Liuzzi maybe a hit with the fans, his results haven’t always been quite so enlightening. However, having only driven a handful of races in 2009, Liuzzi could be given the benefit of the doubt, and retaining a full-time drive in 2010, the Italian driver whom so many speak highly of will be under the spotlight. 2010 will his time to shine, if he can.

It would be a great story if Force India can maintain their momentum from last year and take the challenge to the big four. I fear though that when all the teams get underway in Bahrain, Mallya’s squad will be back in the midfield again.

Force India’s car designation system refers to the initial of the original three team owner’s forenames, Vijay Mallya, Jan Mol and Michel Mol, the final number being an incremental numbering system that for 2010, has reached 3. Hence, VJM03.

Original article by BlogF1.

Meet The Cars: Force India VJM03

An interesting difference between the launch of the 25 and most others before it, is that the wraps were taken off not in McLaren’s impressive Technical Centre in Surrey, but instead at the UK headquarters of its primary sponsor, Vodafone. Although not a million miles from Woking, Newbury seemed a bit of an anti-climax, and one can read into this that the team didn’t want to be surrounded by their history and instead wanted the 2010 challenger to be born away from all this – a fresh new beginning, perhaps.

Either way, the choice of venue for the launch is irrelevant, and what really matters is the car itself. Like the Ferrari before it, the MP4-25 sports a longer wheelbase, a revised nose and front wing, tighter sidepods and an impressive engine cover that makes full use of the popular shark-fin design, first introduced by Adrian Newey to the Red Bull Racing RB4.

The tiny sidepods indicate McLaren have again got the cooling sorted, and many times in the recent past we have seen the car wait on the grid or in a gravel trap for extended periods of time with the engine still running. Normally, a Formula One car – which is designed to be moving and sucking up air – would overheat in a matter of seconds of being stationary, but for some reason, McLaren and Mercedes-Benz have this issue sorted.

The engine cover is perhaps the most pronounced difference between this and McLaren’s previous cars. The team did once try the shark-fin cover, running a version of it around Hockenheim in 2008, but alas it did not make it to the final race car. However, for 2010 the team have adopted the device with gusto and combined with the additional length of the car, the shark-fin looks impressively huge, swooping over the rear of the car and heading towards the rear wing.

The front nose is a little higher than we saw on the MP4-24, and the whole section appears much tighter and less bulbous. There isn’t much in the way of a Newey-dip as we have seen from other teams, and looking at the side view of the car, the exhausts appear to be more on the side of the engine cover, as opposed to on the top as placed on the 25’s predecessors. Thinking out aloud for a moment, this may help with getting heat into the rear tyres, although most drivers who complain of cold rubber are usually having trouble with the front pair, a Formula One car being rear-wheel driven.

The car’s livery remains pretty much the same as before, utilising the silver/chrome finish that makes McLarens so distinctive among their rivals. The splashes of red indicating the ongoing relationship with Vodafone and the black separation line which was incorporated into the team’s logo many years ago when West took over from Marlboro as title sponsors before leaving the sport when tobacco advertising was banned.

All in all, the MP4-25 looks good, has the sport’s two most celebrated drivers piloting it this year and should – in theory – be a challenger for the titles.

McLaren’s car designation system refers to the team’s original names, which depending on which story you believe, either refers to McLaren Project 4, or Marlboro Project 4. These initials are followed by an incremental numbering system that for 2010, has reached 25. Hence, MP4-25.

Original article by BlogF1.

Meet The Cars: McLaren MP4-25

Given a choice of McLaren or Brawn for 2010, the answer is probably McLaren, and therefore Jenson Button has made a wise move. Brawn came from nowhere less than twelve months ago to storm to victory through the year and take both titles, but a fairytale story always has an ending. Comparing the resources of both teams, and combined with the historical facts, you would surely have to place your eggs in the Woking basket.

For evidence of McLaren’s great skill in development, you just have to look at the respective performances of both teams during 2009. Brawn started off very strong, but faded considerably and struggled to get themselves out of the non-winning rut. Conversely, McLaren started out at the beginning of the season in a less-than-favourable position, but dedicatedly developed their way into a race winning position. This, I am sure, will be carried over to 2010.

Of course, Mercedes have now purchased a majority stake in Brawn, and with that comes significant funding and undoubtedly security and expertise. Experience is already there as Ross Brawn has once again proven that he can win world championships, and the elder gentlemen and women from the Honda days know what they are doing. But McLaren have been doing it for longer.

So it is my belief that Button has made the correct choice, but it still remains my belief that he won’t take the 2010 title, and from there, it will become increasingly harder to take any more.

The McLaren family seems to be centred around Lewis Hamilton in the sister car, and having already taken one title for his beloved team, it is understandable that the general leaning within the crew is towards Hamilton’s garage. Although they may give each driver equal opportunity, equal equipment and insist on no team orders until necessary (one driver being out of a championship-winning position), there is still that Lewis is our man ethos. One cannot blame a team for this, it is natural human behaviour to lean towards the proven winner whom you know inside-and-out.

McLaren have run two world champions in their cars before, and although this has given the team immense success in the late ’80s, the rivalry between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost did at times get played out in front of the fans on the race track. It was clear that there was little love between the two great drivers and while that may have been acceptable in an era when it is said that men were men and boys were boys, in today’s overly-corporate world, sponsors will be wanting a happy family to promote their brands. I’m not suggesting I agree with this, merely that it is a reality.

We saw a little of this in 2007 with the pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Although Hamilton was yet to win his title (the ‘07 season being his debut) the rookie’s ability behind the steering wheel soon started to make headlines. Alonso, already a double champion, probably felt slightly on edge about the unexpected competitive nature of his team mate, and soon enough, sparks flew from the McLaren camp. And much like when Senna and Prost collided at the Suzuka chicane, Hamilton held up Alonso in the Hungarian pitlane, impeding his team mate during qualifying.

Since then Hamilton has matured, as he showed the world in 2009 with some gritty drives in a car that wasn’t always a comfortable winner. In front of the media he seemed more relaxed – or at least, after the first couple of races he did – and Hamilton showed that he could work with his team and come across to all as a generally calm and focused driver. However, Hamilton’s team mate of the past two years has failed to push him like Alonso did in 2007. That element of pressure from Heikki Kovalainen’s side of the garage failed to materialise and it is a key force for any driver. You will always want to beat your team mate, but teams know it should never be easy. Kovalainen was a bit too easy for Hamilton.

Jenson Button, while a great driver and someone who has finally proven his worth in Formula One, will struggle to ultimately beat Hamilton. And if the pair somehow end up at the final race still both within shout of the title, I would feel safer putting money on the driver who is not defending his title. Having said that, Button will apply substantial pressure on Hamilton. Like in 2007, the younger Briton will be paired with a much more experienced pilot, and right now Jenson will be on Cloud-9 and will carry the number 1 on his car. Hamilton will have to make do with number 2.

As we saw in 2007, and look back even further at the late-80’s and early-90’s, team mate rivalry can win many titles, but it can also lose you some. In 2007 it was Kimi Raikkonen who crept through to finally take the title, driving McLaren’s nemesis, a Ferrari.

I feel that the pairing will prove to be very successful for McLaren, and the team should and likely will take some constructor’s titles with the British duo. But with regards to driver’s titles…

…well, you already know how I think this is going to play out for Button. Perhaps it is time I hand this over to the capable hands of you.

Original article by BlogF1.

Jenson Button Has Won His First And Last World Championship

Jenson Button has reiterated that he wants to drive a competitive car next year, although Ross Brawn’s team have given no indication that the 2010 progress has been compromised by the dedication needed for the successful 2009 campaign. However, in recent years we have seen a troubled season follow a very successful season with Ferrari triumphing in 2008 in the constructors, only to struggle with the 2009 F60.

As I’ve said many times before, Jenson wants to drive a car which is capable of winning the next world championship.

We’ve been talking about possible terms for 2010 with Brawn for months and we’re not being difficult or unreasonably expensive in our demands for Jenson. In fact we’ve given up quite a lot of negotiating ground in our discussions with them.

I think it’s also important that Jenson wants to feel valued in whatever situation he finds himself next season. He needs to explore all the feasible options. Richard Goddard, Button’s Manager.

The McLaren car may look very tempting for Button at the moment, and the team are proven winners in the sport with a long and successful history. The Woking team will continue with the Mercedes-Benz engine, the very same that helped propel Button to multiple wins in 2009. The team are highly organised, very dedicated and managed to turn around what was a terrible car at the beginning of the season to a race winner.

However, while driving for the famous McLaren name will appeal, particularly if a long-term deal can be struck, Button would have to face partnering fellow Briton Lewis Hamilton. For the team, this isn’t the best situation as squads prefer to have drivers of different nationalities. This helps the team appeal to a wider range of sponsors which is ultimately hoped to bring in more money and therefore a larger budget to develop the car with.

From a driver’s standpoint though, going up against Lewis Hamilton may not be the wisest career move. Hamilton is very much the number one at the team, and although recently this has come about due to his dominance over team mate Heikki Kovalainen, when Fernando Alonso sat in the sister McLaren, fireworks were whizzing and banging all year. Needless to say, the relationship soured.

And that point brings me neatly onto drivers who switch teams after winning the drivers title. History tells us that sometimes it can prove to be an inspired move, but other times it also proves to be an unmitigated disaster.

In 2006 Fernando Alonso took his second successive title with the resurgent Renault team, the fruits of his labour finally paying off. His performances for the Anglo-French squad were inspiring and the Spaniard seemed very much at home with the Enstone-based team. However, in late 2005 Alonso announced his move to McLaren and shocked the Formula One world by seemingly turning his back on the team that he had been so successful with.

Of course, Alonso’s 2007 campaign didn’t go ultimately well, with controversial moments a’plenty centred around Alonso’s relationship with the team and team mate. Despite this though, the switch could be argued as one of the more inspired moves. The McLaren MP4-22 was a race winner and both drivers narrowly missed out on the title. Both Alonso and Hamilton collected 109 points each throughout the year, while eventual champion Kimi Raikkonen stole the show with 110 – it was one of the closest championships on record.

Due to other events that occurred away from the actual event of racing on the track, McLaren failed to seal the 2007 constructors title having been disqualified. The point remains though, that Alonso made the right call in terms of car competitiveness. The highest placed Renault driver of 2007 was Heikki Kovalainen, who amassed 30 points by the time the final race was over.

In 1996, Damon Hill was ejected from the Williams team as the bosses favoured Heinz-Harald Frentzen to partner Jacques Villeneuve. Although Hill’s move from the team wasn’t of his own wishing, the Briton still switched squads immediately after winning the drivers title.

Hill was an in-demand driver at the time and although getting on in terms of age, still had plenty to offer. I remember exactly where I was when I heard which team the champion had chosen, and it wasn’t who many of us were expecting. Eddie Jordan’s team were courting the first championship-winning son of a championship winner, but when the announcement came, it was Arrows who made the headlines. More so because the small team had never won a race before and had spent much of their time towards the rear of the grids.

The 1997 campaign was difficult for Hill and although the car improved massively and a near-win in Hungary lifted spirits, Damon had finally decided that perhaps Jordan was a better move and switched prior to the 1998 season. Although Hill’s move from Williams to Arrows was courageous, it ultimately was not successful.

Just one year prior to Damon’s team move there was another that also grabbed headlines the world over. Michael Schumacher had burst on to the racing scene and had taken the 1994 and 1995 drivers titles, albeit in contentious circumstances. The second championship for Schumacher also brought with it the constructors title for his team, Benetton. However, in 1995 Michael decided that he wanted to drive for one of the sports more famous and prestigious names, Ferrari.

Now, if we regard only the 1996 season, Schumacher’s move was a complete disaster. Ferrari had completely redesigned the car in anticipation of the arrival of the world champion and Schumacher’s season spent behind the F310 will be one he may want to forget. The German still managed three victories, one of which came at the saturated Spanish Grand Prix and is often regarded as one of the sport’s greatest drives. Although the actual move was a disaster, we cannot really consider it to be one over the longer term though, simply because Schumacher went on to take five further titles with Ferrari and dominate the sport for many years.

Of course, there are many more champions who have sought greener grass after being awarded the drivers title, some of whom found greater success while others found more time to polish the trophy they received the year previous. If Jenson has been offered a drive at McLaren, it will take a lot of thought and deliberation before a decision can be reached. Needless to say though, the Formula One world waits with abated breath.

Original article by BlogF1.

Speculation Rife Over Jenson Button’s Future

As reported in the Daily Telegraph this morning, current engine supplier to Brawn – Mercedes-Benz – might be about to buy into the team, furthering the company’s interest in the sport and adding to their portfolio of customers. Mercedes currently own 40% of the McLaren Formula One team, and their association with the Woking-based squad goes right back to 1995. Elsewhere on the 2009 grid, the car manufacturer also supplies engines and technical expertise to Force India, a team that ran very well in the recent Belgian Grand Prix.

It would seem the Mercedes-Benz engine is the most desired at the moment, and murmurings are afoot that Red Bull Racing are keen to rid their cars of the Renault V8 in favour of German engineering. This however goes against the FIA policy of only allowing two customers for each manufacturer (Brawn received special dispensation this year by unanimous agreement from all other competitors). And should Red Bull opt out of a Mercedes deal, Williams are said to be poised and could step in.

However, while Mercedes are powering all-and-sundry, it seems they want to increase their presence ever further in the sport, not seemingly content with supplying three teams, the possibility of a fourth as well as providing all official safety and medical cars to the sport. The Daily Telegraph are suggesting that Mercedes want to buy into the Brawn team.

If true, this would be good news for Brawn as it would help to secure the long-term future of the squad. It would ensure the team kept the Mercedes engine and would probably also mean receiving extra items like the KERS device that Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen have been using to great effect thus far in 2009.

What this speculation also suggests is that Mercedes actually make money out of their part-ownership and engine supply with McLaren. Mercedes would not want to buy further into the sport if it wasn’t already doing well. If Mercedes were losing money with McLaren, Force India and Brawn, they would be looking to scale back their operation, just as many other manufacturers are doing at the moment in the troubled economic climate. But to further invest strongly suggests that Mercedes do reasonably well out of the sport.

However, what appears to be the case and perhaps what actually is the case may differ. Earlier in the year, Daimler Board Member, Helmut Lense, stated that Mercedes should end its Formula One operations to help the company stem losses that almost all motor manufacturers are going through at the moment. While the company as a whole is losing money, it seems strange they are now rumoured to looking for further investment. Unless of course, and more than likely, the full picture is still hazy to all those standing outside the boardroom.

Original article by BlogF1.

Are Mercedes-Benz Looking At Buying Into Brawn?

The shake-up in the rules for 2009 has seen a shake-up in the usual order of the teams as well, with Brawn rising from the desperate ashes to lead both titles from the start of the year. Likewise, Red Bull have got their act together and are catching up the Brackley team with some pace. Williams however, are still somewhere on the edge of, well, I’m not entirely sure.

In free practices this season, the FW31 has been electric, and while Nico Rosberg has often found himself at the top of the timing sheet, Kazuki Nakajima hasn’t been too far behind, credit to the Japanese pilot. However, in qualifying and races, the Williams’s progress has often stalled, leaving the drivers to recover what they can from a bottom top-ten to mid-field position. On occasion Rosberg has managed to haul the car into the realms of the top four or five, but consistency is not on his nor the team’s side.

Williams currently rest in P6 in the constructors title, recently overtaken by McLaren thanks to Lewis Hamilton winning in Budapest. With the MP4-24 looking genuinely better, it would perhaps be unrealistic to expect the Grove-based squad to retake this position. However, both squad’s might be able to pass Toyota, who like Williams, seem to have their good days and their bad.

This still only puts them in P5 in the championship, and the car still doesn’t look like a winner. Conversely, the driver’s championship looks good for Rosberg at the moment, but after a quick perusal at those drivers around him and the picture suddenly looks a little bleaker. Currently in P5, Rosberg will likely lose out to Lewis Hamilton and even possibly Kimi Raikkonen by the end of the year. And with only a difference of 3 points, Jarno Trulli remains a threat.

Therefore, if Williams cannot substantially better the situation this year for their lead driver, or offer any concrete progress for next year’s FW32, Rosberg may well look elsewhere for a drive. But who might be able to give him that winning motor, and would they want to employ him?

Recently, BMW were rumoured to have Nico on their shopping list, but the news of the team withdrawing at the end of the season has paid an end to any switch from Grove to Hinwil. And after the Swiss-German team’s performance this year, BMW would have been a gamble.

Red Bull Racing are sewn up with Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, and Scuderia Toro Rosso would be a poor move for the German. As would Force India, so I think we can rule these teams out. Also, I think any of the three or possibly four new teams would be a dicey move for 2010, so let’s rule those out as well.

That leaves Renault, Toyota, Brawn, McLaren, Ferrari and Nico’s current home, Williams. Renault are a possibility and I have a vague memory of Flavio Briatore offering Rosberg some praise. Renault are in a quandary at the moment with their drivers, and if they aren’t, they really need to be. Nelson Piquet surely needs to be given the elbow, and if Renault cannot dramatically improve, double world champion Fernando Alonso will be hot-stepping over to a rival team as soon as he can. Presuming of course, the contract hasn’t already been signed.

However, I don’t think Renault would be a good fit for Rosberg, they are currently performing worse than his current stable and potentially partnering Alonso could hurt Rosberg’s career. The long-term commitment is also an issue, and it would appear that Nico seems to do well in a family environment like Williams. Although there is no evidence to compare, it is just an impression I get. Toyota too would be similar in my mind. Although they currently are ahead of Williams, the FW31 is arguably a better car at the moment.

So now we’re down to the big two, staying put or the current championship leaders. And I believe this is pretty much the case for Rosberg at the moment. And if I’m totally honest, I think it can be nailed down even further. I think Rosberg is currently weighing up the loyalty issue which means staying with the team that gave him his break (and his father a world championship), or switching allegiances to McLaren.

Ferrari are happy with Felipe Massa, and perhaps to a slightly lesser extent, Kimi Raikkonen as well. And if Kimi were to leave or get elbowed, Fernando Alonso would be in red overalls before you could even blink. As for Brawn, I don’t think they’ve even thought about 2010 yet in terms of drivers. Jenson Button will likely stay on, and Rubens Barrichello will be replaced with a younger model. Certainly, that could be Rosberg, but I just don’t see it.

McLaren cannot be overly happy with Heikki Kovalainen. The Finn has won a race since joining the team, and his performance in Hungary was mildly acceptable considering it took him several races to even complete one lap. But for a team that won the driver’s title last year, they should be expecting more from their pilots. It may not please Lewis Hamilton entirely, but he needs to be pushed, and Kovalainen simply isn’t doing that.

So I believe Rosberg is currently weighing up the decision between remaining loyal, and a potential race-winning car in 2010. It’s a really tough decision as well, because being partnered to Hamilton will not be easy for the German. At Williams, he is the lead driver, but unless Nico can blast Lewis out of the water from the first race onwards, he will end up being the number two. And let’s all be honest, as good as Rosberg is, I don’t think he’s as good as Hamilton.

What would you do if you were Rosberg? Do you disagree with my summation of his options? The comments are open, so please let me know what you think…

Original article by BlogF1.

Where Should Nico Rosberg Go In 2010?

The start saw some questionable driving from Kimi Raikkonen, who nudged across on Sebastian Vettel, the Red Bull pilot looking very close to having been knocked by the Ferrari. Vettel feels they did make contact and puts the blame for his retirement squarely on the Finnish champion’s shoulders. Vettel’s front left suspension was damaged, and it finally gave way around the halfway mark, forcing the German to retire.

I had a collision. I made contact in first corner with Kimi. I was on the inside, had a clean run to accelerate and then his car came sideways and yeah, we touched. He crashed into my car, so…

It can happen, but in the end I mean it was the reason why the first pitstop already was bad. And then at some point the front left suspension gave up and we had to retire the car. Sebastian Vettel.

Kimi Raikkonen is under investigation for his actions at the start, and the stewards stated early in the race that it would be looked into once the grand prix had concluded, so we could still see a change in the finishing order.

From the start, Rubens Barrichello appeared to go backwards, and Jenson Button didn’t fare much better. As mentioned, Raikkonen had a great getaway from the line, and Lewis Hamilton was challenging Mark Webber around the first tour.

Adrian Sutil pitted and retired his Force India car on the second lap, the VJM02 apparently suffering from a water pressure failure that essentially meant his car was boiling itself. And while Button was attempting to recover from his poor start by slicing his way pass Kazuki Nakajima, Lewis Hamilton made his move on Mark Webber to take P2 from the Australian.

Fernando Alonso was still out in front and starting to edge out a lead, thanks to his light Renault, the Spaniard was able to pull out a few tenths each lap. However, as soon as Hamilton had cleared Webber, the Briton started to reign in the lead. It wasn’t long until Hamilton was tucked up in the turbulent air of Alonso’s R29, but from here Lewis could do very little. Knowing the double world champion would have to pit much earlier than himself, Hamilton just kept his composure and waited patiently behind Alonso.

On lap twelve, Alonso duly pitted with terrible graining on his right rear tyre, and this freed Hamilton up and gave him a clear track on which to attack. However, instead of the cameras all pointing towards the McLaren pilot, they instead were forced to stay with Alonso. It appeared that the front-right wheel bin – an aerodynamic device that is essentially like a wheel trim – was spinning with the wheel as the Spaniard left the pits. The frisbees, as they are affectionately known as, is not supposed to rotate with the wheel, because that would make it a movable aerodynamic part which is against the regulations.

As the wheel bin was spinning, it apparently undid the nut on the actually wheel, and it wasn’t long before we could all see the tyre on Alonso’s Renault wobbling. Sure enough, it eventually flew off, and thankfully came to rest without hitting anyone or anything. Alonso crept back to the pits with three wheels on his motor and had another set of tyres fitted. After a few more laps, Fernando decided to call it a day, and the Spaniard retired his car on lap seventeen.

Replays of the incident suggest the wheel-man who was in charge of fitting the wheel and tyre to Alonso’s car had not raised his arm prior to the lollipop man releasing Alonso back out into the pitlane. It would seem, upon initially viewing, that the error lies with the lollipop man for failing to check that all the tyres were on safely, indicated by a raised arm and not by one person still in contact with the car as it powers away.

With Alonso out of the race, and Hamilton striding around the Hungaroring in a confident P1, the race was his to lose. It wasn’t just Fernando though who was having issues in the pitstops, as Webber was delayed slightly as the lollipop holder wanted to release his driver before the fuel nozzle had been removed from the car. A twitch from the lollipop is all the drivers need to signal them to drop the clutch, but thankfully Webber quickly backtracked and stopped the RB5 before anybody was dragged to the ground. When the Australian was finally released, he almost came out in to the path of Kimi Raikkonen, Webber being forced to brake again in order to avoid a collision.

It would appear the Webber/Raikkonen pitlane incident is not being investigated because they avoided contact, and also Webber was penalised anyway by having to back out of the throttle, and therefore he lost the position to the Finnish driver.

Nico Rosberg made his pitstop shortly after Webber’s, and upon rejoining the race, he and Webber found themselves fighting for the same bit of tarmac. Webber made a move on Rosberg around the outside of the second corner and reclaimed his position back.

On lap thirty-one, Vettel retired his RB5, shouting down the radio that his car is broken and that he can no longer control it. The German had made a pitstop prior to retiring where the team had a good look at all four corners. The Red Bull appeared to be dragging his rear on the ground, and the team later confirmed it was the front left suspension that had given way following the knock from Raikkonen earlier in the race.

Sebastien Buemi was enjoying a good race until he found himself pointing the wrong way and very quickly went backwards. The Swiss pilot soon found himself behind his rookie team mate, who himself was having a great debut. Admittedly due to pitstops, the second Spaniard in the race got as high as P12 at one point, although Alguersuari would then make his own visit to his garage. Still, Jaime finished his first race, had no problems in the pitlane and also beat his team mate. A solid start for the driver most felt was too young and inexperienced. To compete with lap times similar to those around him is certainly a job well done for the Scuderia Toro Rosso rookie.

Towards the end of the race, it was all about tyres and whether or not the leading drivers would be able to hang on long enough. The leading McLaren’s set of Bridgestones looked pristine as Hamilton toured the track, while those behind appeared to be struggling more. Hamilton has always had a bit of a reputation for shredding up his rubber boots, but today he managed the tyres well and therefore won the race when others were slipping around with graining problems.

The day did not go Jenson Button’s way, but two points is better than zero. The fact that Red Bull did not win is the Briton’s only consolation, and as the Brawn pilot said himself, the team need to look into and understand why the car simply did not perform on Sunday. Toyota collected a few points with both drivers scoring, Timo Glock in P6 and Jarno Trulli in P8, finishing the race with a Trulli-train snaking behind him.

Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen can be pleased with their P4 and P5 finishes respectively. Although I’m sure Kovalainen would have wanted more, the double points for McLaren will help them immensely. The retirements of Vettel and Alonso made the race interesting, and of course, having another winner only further opens up the championships. Raikkonen finishing in P2 will be a boost for Ferrari, and Red Bull scored with Webber in P3.

Formula One now heads into a four week break where the factories are forced to close down for a minimum of two weeks. Our thoughts are with Felipe Massa, who couldn’t take part in today’s race following his accident in qualifying yesterday. During the race, Ferrari released a statement explaining that the Brazilian driver had another CT scan and again, it shows that Massa is okay, but will remain in an induced coma for another day or two to help with his recovery.

• The live race notes can be viewed here: Hungary 2009: Live Race Notes
• The race result can be viewed here: Hungary 2009: Race Result
• The pitstop and tyre strategies can be viewed here: Hungary 2009: Pitstop & Tyre Strategies
• The fantasy racers round-up can be viewed here: Hungary 2009: Fantasy Racers Update
• The Renault penalty post can be viewed here: Hungary 2009: Renault Have Been Suspended From The European Grand Prix
• The penalty updates post can be viewed here: Hungary 2009: Penalty Updates

Original article by BlogF1.

Hungary 2009: Lewis Hamilton Returns McLaren To Top With Victory

Original article by BlogF1.

Chris Goodwin Shakes Down The McLaren MP4-4

Original article by BlogF1.

Lewis & Heikki Race London Taxis

Also, comments may not be moderated for the next three days. I apologise in advance, but I’m out of the country. I’m gonna guess and say that I will have Internet access where I am, but I do not intend to spend the rest of the week glued to a monitor (and my phone is being turned off). If your comment goes to moderation, I do apologise, and I will sort it out once I return.

Oh, McLaren’s Twitter account is here, and mine is here. BlogF1 does have a dedicated account as well, but it only really gets updated when a new post is published.

Original article by BlogF1.

Caption Contest: #94

It’s one of the sport’s ultimate what ifs, and it is very hard to judge a driver who hasn’t actually proven themselves one way or the other, but to speculate is interesting, and that is exactly what this post is about. Of the drivers competing in 2009, do any deserve a better car, a greater chance of proving themselves…

Nico Rosberg

Being the son of a former world champion will always bring with it a great expectation. Keke was a fine driver who showed consistency like few others. Nico though has had a harder time of it. Like his father, Nico was given his break by Williams, but unfortunately the timing was quite different. In 1982, Keke joined the team on the back of their two consecutive constructors titles. It wasn’t all smiles and praise as the team started to endure mixed results, but Keke won his world title in his first campaign with Williams, and showed tenacity while the squad slipped down the rankings.

For Nico, he joined Williams when they were already quite firmly in a slump, which may have been his saving grace as with it comes understanding. In a clearly uncompetitive car, Rosberg Jr has shown he has talent, and a strong run of points finishes towards the tail end of 2007 were impressive. Even more impressive were his two podiums in 2008. Finishing second in the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix is surely both actually and emotionally Rosberg’s greatest result thus far, completing a race where all about him others were falling off the road and retiring.

2009 has once again proving to be a bit of a let down so far. The car is okay, as is the engine, but through a combination of errors from both team and driver, Nico has so far failed to stand on the podium, despite the FW31 looking very competitive in free practices. The experience of Williams should be guiding Nico to greatness, but alas it looks to be the other way around at the moment, with Rosberg guiding the team.

Does Nico have the talent to compete with the best? Lewis Hamilton seems to think so, and Rosberg’s championship winning GP2 season was impressive. The German pilot out-scored Heikki Kovalainen to take the title, and although both pilots equalled each other on wins in 2005, Nico managed 4 poles and 5 fastest laps to Heikki’s 2 poles and 1 fastest lap. Kovalainen is currently sitting in a McLaren and not enjoying his 2009 Formula One campaign, nor did the Finn do spectacularly well last time around. Would Rosberg do any better though?

Heikki Kovalainen

Speaking of Heikki, does he deserve a better car than he is currently driving? The McLaren MP4-24 is far from an all-conquering machine, and team mate Lewis Hamilton has been getting increasingly frustrated with it this year, telling the media that the team have not given him a machine which he can defend his title with. The Briton has scored some points though and looked, on occasion, quite competitive.

Conversely, Heikki has barely finished a race this season, failing to even get around the opening lap in the first two races. He has scored with the 2009 McLaren, but currently sits on half the points of his team mate. Previously, Kovalainen couldn’t match Hamilton in 2008 and while the Briton took the world championship, Heikki finished in seventh on just over half the points of his team mate. It wasn’t a great performance, but there were glimmers of hope. In 2007, Kovalainen’s debut year, the Finn got off to a slow start, but by the time the drivers had completed the final race, Heikki had comprehensively beaten his much more experienced team mate Giancarlo Fisichella.

Previous to Formula One and as mentioned in relation to Nico Rosberg, Heikki did well in GP2 and missed out on the 2005 title by just 15 points. Finishing second is still a good performance, but one has to wonder why this hasn’t translated into Formula One. Would Kovalainen blitz the field if he was given a decent car? Does he have enough talent, or was 2005, [2006 spent testing] and 2007 the peak of his motor racing career?

Sebastien Buemi

Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi has proven to be a bit of a surprise this year. Being the only rookie in the field, Buemi has already shown up his multiple ChampCar champion team mate Sebastien Bourdais, and brought the Scuderia Toro Rosso home in points-paying positions twice already. In the opening round Bourdais scored, but unfortunately for him, Buemi scored better. At the third round in China, Buemi scored again, and currently sits on three points. It is, by all measures, a good start to his debut campaign.

Prior to Formula One, Buemi didn’t look particularly special, finishing in sixth in his first full GP2 season. Over the winter the Swiss driver competed in the GP2 Asia series and managed to finish second after one win and a string of second places. Compared to Rosberg and Kovalainen in 2005 though, Buemi looks vaguely average.

However, to finish in the points in a Scuderia Toro Rosso is not bad. Although the car is often said to be similar to the race-winning Red Bull, it is actually quite a different motor, being powered by a different engine and managed by a different team of people. Thus far, and while eating humble pie, I have to say that Buemi doesn’t look too bad of a driver and in a couple of years will deserve a shot in a better car. But what say you? Is Buemi any good, or are his results so far completely fluke?

Adrian Sutil

Having competed in Formula One since 2007, Adrian Sutil has endured the worse of all the cars currently mentioned. The Spyker wasn’t up to much and although the Force India he now drives is an improvement, it is still hogging the back row of the grid. However, on occasion Sutil has driven the wheels of the car and positioned himself in places that really he shouldn’t be in.

We all remember the 2008 Monaco Grand Prix where Sutil managed to haul himself up to fourth and was defending his position to the reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen. Unfortunately, Raikkonen crashed into Sutil and his race was over. It wasn’t the only time a Ferrari came into contact with Sutil’s Force India that year as the Scuderia’s pitstop technique often resulted one of their drivers pulling out in front of Sutil. It became almost comical due to the amount of times it happened.

Again this season Sutil has put in a couple of fine performances, finishing in ninth from sixteenth in the season’s opening round, and running in sixth in China before losing the tail of his car and clouting the barrier. However, the fact that the German is able to get his car into these positions shows maturity and skill on his part. Is it enough though. What would happen if Adrian found himself in a Brawn or Red Bull? Would he be winning, or would it be too much for him?

Original article by BlogF1.

Who Deserves A Better Shot At The Big Time?

Original article by BlogF1.

Caption Contest: #89

This means that the disqualification from the Australian Grand Prix stands, and no further punishment will be handed out to the team or drivers providing no further evidence or misdemeanour comes to light. The suspension will last for twelve months, during which time McLaren really do not want to breach article 151c of the regulations (bringing the sport into disrepute). Had the WMSC decided not suspend the sentence, McLaren would have been banned from competing in the Spanish, Monaco and Turkish grands prix.

Having regard to the open and honest way in which McLaren Team Principal, Mr Martin Whitmarsh, addressed the WMSC and the change in culture which he made clear has taken place in his organisation, the WMSC decided to suspend the application of the penalty it deems appropriate.

That penalty is a suspension of the team from three races of the FIA Formula One World Championship. This will only be applied if further facts emerge regarding the case or if, in the next 12 months, there is a further breach by the team of article 151c of the International Sporting Code. FIA Statement.

Martin Whitmarsh, who took over the team principal role from Ron Dennis prior to the start of the 2009 World Championship commencing, appeared in Paris alone and the meeting with the WMSC only lasted for about an hour. Last week Whitmarsh also sent a letter of apology to the FIA for the conduct of his team during the stewards meetings and following investigations, and the FIA clearly took this into consideration when finalising their verdict.

I would like to thank the FIA World Motor Sport Council members for affording me the opportunity to answer their questions this morning. We are aware that we made serious mistakes in Australia and Malaysia, and I was therefore very glad to be able to apologise for those mistakes once again.

I was also pleased to be able to assure the FIA World Motor Sport Council members that we had taken appropriate action with a view to ensuring that such mistakes do not occur again. Martin Whitmarsh.

Whitmarsh went on to say that he hopes this will be the end of the matter. Although once again, McLaren have been involved in an incident that has garnered media attention the world over and painted a poor impression of Formula One as a whole. With great racing on the track though and a championship that looks set to be a supreme and honest fight all season, hopefully the behaviour of David Ryan and Lewis Hamilton in Australia can be put to the back of minds while the twenty participating drivers duke out on the tarmac.

Original article by BlogF1.

McLaren Receive Suspended Three Race Ban From WMSC

Hamilton led comfortably and even a late surge from the BMWs of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica couldn’t displace the Briton. It is unusual to see the Swiss-German team so high up the tables in a practice session; Mario Theissen preferring to hide pace of his team until later in the weekend. However, with perhaps not the greatest of cars in comparison to others, both BMW pilots utilised the 90 minutes of running well and finished just 0.3s shy of the leading McLaren, albeit on the soft compound.

Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello weren’t as close to the top of the table as they are used to, and Button suffered an upshift problem with his gear box. So far the box hasn’t been replaced and Brawn will want to avoid changing it as the result would be a 5 grid slot penalty. Both Ferraris showed signs of some improvement, with Felipe Massa finishing in P8 and Kimi Raikkonen in P10, although Raikkonen was lucky to escape a meeting with the barrier after he lost the F60 on the exit of T2.

Uncharacteristically, Fernando Alonso was well down the order, as were both Toyotas. This allowed the Force India cars to move up, with Adrian Sutil ending his morning in P14 and Giancarlo Fisichella in P16. The times set for the bottom ten were very close and should hopefully mean a close qualifying session tomorrow. Mark Webber and Kimi Raikkonen also set identical lap times to within a thousandth of a second, the Australian being ahead due to to setting the time first.

Bahrain 2009 Friday Free Practice One		Lap Time Fastest Time Set	Laps Set Number Laps Set
1.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	1m33.647s	19 Laps
2.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	1m33.907s	17 Laps
3.	Robert Kubica BMW	1m33.938s	17 Laps
4.	Nico Rosberg Williams	1m34.227s	24 Laps
5.	Jenson Button Brawn	1m34.434s	15 Laps
6.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	1m34.502s	24 Laps
7.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn	1m34.531s	18 Laps
8.	Felipe Massa Ferrari	1m34.589s	17 Laps
9.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	1m34.827s	21 Laps
10.	Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari	1m34.827s	19 Laps
11.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	1m34.880s	24 Laps
12.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	1m34.938s	21 Laps
13.	Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault	1m34.974s	21 Laps
14.	Adrian Sutil Force India	1m35.021s	18 Laps
15.	Jarno Trulli Toyota	1m35.036s	22 Laps
16.	Giancarlo Fisichella Force India	1m35.042s	16 Laps
17.	Timo Glock Toyota	1m35.333s	20 Laps
18.	Fernando Alonso Renault	1m35.348s	24 Laps
19.	Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m35.353s	22 Laps
20.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m35.369s	15 Laps

Original article by BlogF1.

Bahrain 2009: Friday Practice One

Robert Kubica was trialling the system on Friday, BMW wanting to see the effect it has on the heavier driver’s car. The Swiss-German team had been running KERS on Nick Heidfeld’s machine since the season start in Australia, and the German’s second place finish in Malaysia proving the F1.09 isn’t a bad car. However, the Polish race winner decided not to continue with the energy recovery device and it has been dettached from the BMW.

Also removing KERS are both Renaults, the Enstone-based team having already decided prior to arriving in Shanghai that Fernando Alonso will not run it. Now the team have removed the device from Nelson Piquet’s car as well. This leaves just the McLaren team and Nick Heidfeld with the extra horsepower at the touch of a button. Judging the pace of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen in free practice at the start of qualifying, you would have to say that Woking have got it right. And as previously mentioned, Heidfeld appears to be comfortable with the technology as well.

However, the complete removal of the device from two championship winning teams does not paint a healthy picture for the technology the FIA are so keen to promote. It would seem that the KERS isn’t always appropriate, and Monaco immediately springs to mind as a circuit where perhaps the boost in power won’t be entirely necessary.

Shanghai though does have some fast sections and corners that require a decent exit speed to carry down a straight. From what the teams are saying though, KERS isn’t that useful in China. Considering Robert Kubica was knocked out of Q1 though, you would have to question that thinking.

Original article by BlogF1.

Shanghai 2009: Only Three KERS-Equipped Cars In China

Elsewhere in the tables, the Red Bulls were split with Mark Webber going fifth quickest and Sebastian Vettel only going twelfth. The Renaults were also split with Fernando Alonso completing nineteen laps to ninth and Nelson Piquet Jr. ending up in the final position, over 0.7s shy of his team mate.

Nico Rosberg ran well in seventh as did the Toyotas, although Timo Glock skated over the grass on more than one occasion. Both Scuderia Toro Rossos looked good in the first practice, and Force India also capitalised on the low running of the second Renault, the second Williams of Kazuki Nakajima and both BMWs.

Ferrari languished closer to the bottom of the tables along with the BMW pilots, and it would seem that removing the KERS from the Ferrari F60 has had little effect. The BMWs often run heavy in practice, so it isn’t a total surprise to see them nearer the tail of the timing sheet, and Robert Kubica managed to lap within 0.01s of Nick Heidfeld with the KERS firmly attached to the F1.09.

Shanghai 2009 Friday Free Practice One		Lap Time Fastest Time Set	Laps Set Number Laps Set
1.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	1m37.334s	22 Laps
2.	Jenson Button Brawn	1m37.450s	18 Laps
3.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn	1m37.566s	19 Laps
4.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	1m37.672s	23 Laps
5.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	1m37.752s	20 Laps
6.	Jarno Trulli Toyota	1m37.764s	19 Laps
7.	Nico Rosberg Williams	1m37.860s	24 Laps
8.	Timo Glock Toyota	1m27.710s	24 Laps
9.	Fernando Alonso Renault	1m38.089s	19 Laps
10.	Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m38.195s	24 Laps
11.	Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari	1m38.223s	23 Laps
12.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	1m38.274s	20 Laps
13.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m38.307s	26 Laps
14.	Adrian Sutil Force India	1m38.319s	18 Laps
15.	Felipe Massa Ferrari	1m38.418s	20 Laps
16.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	1m38.456s	21 Laps
17.	Giancarlo Fisichella Force India	1m38.460s	19 Laps
18.	Robert Kubica BMW	1m38.463s	21 Laps
19.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	1m38.730s	25 Laps
20.	Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault	1m38.825s	20 Laps

Original article by BlogF1.

Shanghai 2009: Friday Practice One

McLaren have stated that David Ryan, the team’s Sporting Director at the time, asked Hamilton not to mention the fact that the team had asked him to allow Trulli to repass after the Italian Toyota driver fell off the track momentarily. However, Trulli did make his way pass the McLaren and finished the race in third place. An initial investigation found Trulli to be in the wrong and the driver was handed a hefty penalty, although at the time, Jarno professed he had little choice but to repass because Hamilton had slowed significantly and moved away from the racing line.

Toyota started to appeal the steward’s decision, but given the controversial nature of the results anyway (due to the ongoing diffuser issue), Toyota backed down and withdrew their appeal. However, audio evidence from McLaren’s pit-to-driver radio later revealed that the team had been in contact with Lewis during the incident and had asked him to slow down and allow Trulli to pass. Since this information was not given to the stewards at the time Trulli has now been reinstated and Hamilton disqualified. However, there is a larger issue now that needs addressing and it is this that has caused the FIA to consider bringing further action against McLaren.

An extraordinary WMSC meeting has been scheduled for April 29th, 2009, where McLaren representatives will be required to attend in Paris at the FIA’s headquarters. The official charge is that McLaren have breached Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, which details how teams cannot partake in any “fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally”.

The FIA have charged McLaren with five counts of breaching Article 151c.

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has been invited to appear before an extraordinary meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Wednesday, 29 April, 2009, to answer charges that, in breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, it

• on 29 March, 2009, told the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix that no instructions were given to Hamilton in Car No. 1 to allow Trulli in Car no. 9 to pass when both cars were behind the safety car, knowing this statement to be untrue;
• procured its driver Hamilton the current World Champion, to support and confirm this untrue statement to the stewards;
• although knowing that as a direct result of its untrue statement to the stewards, another driver and a rival team had been unfairly penalised, made no attempt to rectify the situation either by contacting the FIA or otherwise;
• on 2 April, 2009, at a second hearing before the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix, (meeting in Malaysia) made no attempt to correct the untrue statement of 29 March but, on the contrary, continued to maintain that the statement was true, despite being allowed to listen to a recording of the team instructing Hamilton to let Trulli past and despite being given more than one opportunity to correct its false statement;
• on 2 April, 2009, at the second stewards’ hearing, procured its driver Hamilton to continue to assert the truth of the false statement given to the stewards on 29 March, while knowing that what he was saying to the stewards was not true. FIA Press Release.

On Friday 3rd April, while at the Malaysian Grand Prix, McLaren’s team principal Martin Whitmarsh suspended David Ryan, and since then the two parties have separated. McLaren made a statement earlier today that they had received the summons to the WMSC meeting at the end of the month and that David Ryan no longer works for any of the McLaren group of companies.

McLaren acknowledges receipt of an invitation to appear at an FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris on April 29, received this afternoon.

We undertake to co-operate fully with all WMSC processes, and welcome the opportunity to work with the FIA in the best interests of Formula 1.

This afternoon McLaren and its former sporting director, Dave Ryan, have formally parted company. As a result, he is no longer an employee of any of the constituent companies of the McLaren Group. McLaren Statement.

Also on Friday, Lewis Hamilton gathered the press in the media centre at Sepang and offered an apology to the FIA, his team and the fans. Hamilton professed he is not a liar and stated that he was following instructions from one member of the McLaren team.

It has since been discussed all over the Internet how this will impact McLaren’s and Hamilton’s reputations, and of course, the saga from 2007 has been raised once again. Back in ‘07, McLaren banded together and held strong; a philosophy often taken by sporting teams of winning together, and losing together. However, the way McLaren have handled this particular incident is quite different, with the team singling out one person and immediately removing that person from the equation (the team). Perhaps it is the new team principal’s way of doing things, perhaps it was just seen as the better course of action to take.

Undoubtedly this will have a negative impact on the team, and although some will say (myself included) that McLaren pay Hamilton, therefore he should do what they say and it is also up to the team to be correct and truthful, this will also have a negative impact on Hamilton. After all, a lie is a lie. During his apology at Sepang, Lewis stated that he felt like quitting the sport over what had happened, which perhaps sounds a little drastic and melodramatic, does perhaps offer some redeeming value in his reputation. Unfortunately though, while I am absolutely certain this is not the first nor will be the last time a driver or team have lied to the FIA, the fact they have been so publicly caught and shamed by it will only damage the core trust placed in them by motor sporting bodies as well as McLaren’s rivals and supporters.

Possible sanctions that could be imposed on McLaren should they be found guilty of these charges range from complete disqualification from the 2009 World Championship (drivers and constructors) as well as monetary fines, to a mere slapping of the wrists and suspended sentences. It is my opinion though, given how strictly the FIA have dealt with cases like this in the past, that McLaren will be lucky if they are contesting both titles for the remainder of the season. While it is highly unlikely that Hamilton will be thrown out of the drivers – his appeal to fans is too great – the team could very easily be disqualified from the constructors battle, just as they were in 2007.

So what do you think? Should McLaren face further charges/penalties, or is it enough that Hamilton was disqualified from Australia and both driver and team shamed in the international media? How would you deal with this particular case?

Original article by BlogF1.

McLaren Summoned To Extraordinary WMSC Meeting

While McLaren professed that they have not intentionally mislead the FIA Stewards in the investigations that followed Lewis Hamilton’s passing of Jarno Trulli under the safety car, the FIA believe they did and have strongly voiced this in the past two days.

Initially, Jarno Trulli received a penalty following the contravention of the sporting regulations, but as new evidence was presented, the stewards re-opened the investigation and ultimately decided to reinstate the Toyota driver, and disqualify Hamilton. It would appear that team-to-driver radio communication was not initially listened to, and McLaren state that they believed it had already been offered to the stewards.

Whether or not this is the case, McLaren’s and Hamilton’s reputation will have taken a hit over this and the team have decided to take action against those involved with dealing with the FIA over this incident.

In my 20-odd years working for McLaren, I doubt if I’ve met a more dedicated individual than Davey. He’s been an integral part of McLaren since 1974 and has played a crucial role in the team’s many world championship successes since that time.

However, his role in the events of last Sunday, particularly his dealings with the FIA stewards, has caused serious repercussions for the team, for which we apologise. Therefore, I suspended him this morning and he has accepted this. Martin Whitmarsh.

The FIA had the following say…

During the hearing, held approximately one hour after the end of the race, the Stewards and the Race Director questioned Lewis Hamilton and his Team Manager David Ryan specifically about whether there had been an instruction given to Hamilton to allow Trulli to overtake.

Both the driver and the team manager stated that no such instruction had been given.

The race director specifically asked Hamilton whether he had consciously allowed Trulli to overtake. Hamilton insisted that he had not done so. FIA Statement.

A transcript of the communication between McLaren and Lewis Hamilton during the final lap of the race clearly shows the team asking Hamilton to let Trulli through while they contact Charlie Whiting, the FIA’s Race Director, for clarification.

Lewis Hamilton has since held a short press conference in the Sepang Media Centre where he apologised to the FIA and to the stewards, insisted that only he and Dave Ryan were involved and that it was Ryan who had asked Lewis to not mention the fact that they had requested the position be relinquished to Trulli.

Every time I have been informed to do something I have done it. This time I realise it was a huge mistake and I am learning from it. It has taken a huge toll on me. I apologise to you guys, I didn’t speak to you yesterday, but there was a lot to take in and a lot to deal with. I am here to apologise to everyone and I assure you it won’t happen again. Lewis Hamilton.

The FIA may still take further action against McLaren, but for now, let’s hope the matter in the past and we can move forward to the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Original article by BlogF1.

McLaren Suspend Dave Ryan Over Australia Disqualification

During the final safety car period last Sunday evening in Melbourne, it appeared that after Jarno Trulli had a minor excursion off the track, Lewis Hamilton passed the Toyota as he is allowed to do. However Trulli then somehow managed to find himself back in front of the British driver, which under the rules is not usually permitted. After the race though, new evidence came to light that explains why Trulli finished in third place.

Initially, Jarno Trulli was deemed incorrect and was given a post-race 25-second penalty. The penalty, which was generally seen as being quite harsh as the race finished one corner after the safety car came in, meaning the pack were tightly bunched, was protested immediately by Toyota. Earlier in the week though, Toyota backed down and said they had withdrawn their appeal.

At Sepang though, both drivers were ordered to the steward’s office and the matter was once again discussed, this time with audio footage of the car-pit radio from the #1 MP4-24; Lewis Hamilton’s.

Jarno Trulli has stated that Hamilton slowed excessively and thinking there was a problem with the McLaren, Trulli took the position. This is allowed, as Hamilton had passed Trulli when he went off track. Hamilton moved offline and backed-off the throttle. Once Trulli had overtaking, he apparently then slowed himself and was happy for Lewis to retake the position once back up to speed. Hamilton did not retake the position.

Lewis Hamilton stated that he slowed under direction of the team to let Trulli repass, and that he was reading something on his steering wheel display that demanded a fair amount of concentration. Some Formula One insiders questioned this as they believe the display would have been cleared at that point of the lap.

The Stewards having considered the new elements presented to them from the 2009 Australian Formula One Grand Prix, consider that driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes acted in a manner prejudicial to the conduct of the event by providing evidence deliberately misleading to the Stewards at the hearing on Sunday 29th March 2009, a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code.

Under Article 158 of the International Sporting Code the driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes are excluded from the race classification for the 2009 Australian Grand Prix and the classification is amended accordingly. FIA Statement.

Jarno Trulli has now been reinstated in his original third place, and Lewis Hamilton has been disqualified from the event. So not only is the McLaren not performing as well as its predecessor did (McLaren are now equal on points with Ferrari, 0), but now the reputation of the team and driver are under question.

I am happy because I just wanted some justice, and I am happy I got it. I am happy for myself, for the team – and I have to thank the FIA because it does not happen very often that they reconsider something.

It must have been really hard for them, but they had common sense to really try and understand what was going on. I have been always honest and it has paid off. Jarno Trulli.

McLaren has said that they mistakenly thought their radio transmissions had already been reviewed, and also stated they will not appeal the steward’s decision.

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes understands that the Stewards made their decision on the basis of reviewing radio transmissions between the driver and the Team.

The Team mistakenly believed that the radio transmissions had been reviewed by the FIA on Sunday 29th March 2009, and consequently did not believe it was necessary to discuss them with the Stewards on that date.

Nonetheless, the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Team now regrets that it did not do so, accepts the Stewards’ decision and will not appeal. McLaren Statement.

Of course, should the FIA deem the diffuser on the Brawn BGP-001 as illegal on the 14th April, then Jarno Trulli could see himself promoted to winner, therefore gaining the team’s very first victory. It is just such a shame that the result of the first race was decided not on the track, but in the offices four days later.

Original article by BlogF1.

Lewis Hamilton Stripped Of Australian Grand Prix Podium

This added time puts Trulli outside of the points and promotes Lewis Hamilton to third, Timo Glock to fourth, Fernando Alonso to fifth, Nico Rosberg to sixth, Sebastien Buemi to seventh and team mate Sebastien Bourdais to eighth.

Jarno Trulli is now, by my reckoning, in twelfth place, although the Toyota team have said they will appeal the stewards decision. Unfortunately for the Cologne-based team, this does look on the face of it to be clear cut. It is hard to see how the decision can be appealed unless Toyota really do believe Trulli had the right to re-pass Hamilton.

Also receiving a penalty following the race is Sebastian Vettel. After his incident with Robert Kubica, Vettel’s Red Bull car sustained a fair amount of damage; the front-left wheel was hanging off. However, Vettel continued under the control of the safety at the mandatory reduced pace, which meant his car was just about holding together. Cruising around with three wheels though isn’t the wisest of decisions and the rules state that if the car has received damage, it should be either pulled off to the side of the track or brought back to the pitlane.

Vettel finally admitted defeat and retired his car, but only after completing a couple of laps. For his error, Vettel has been fined $50,000, and more painfully, the Red Bull driver will be demoted ten grid slots and next weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

Original article by BlogF1.

Australia 2009: Trulli & Vettel Penalised

It would seem that Toyota have breached the rule regarding flexibility in wings, and the rear wing on the TF109 has been or has the potential to move.

The Stewards have received a report from the Technical Delegate that the upper rear wing elements of cars No. 9 and 10 are showing extreme flexibility in contravention of Article 3.15 of the 2009 Formula One Technical Regulations.

The Stewards have heard the explanation from a representative of Panasonic Toyota Racing and have examined the cars in question.

The Stewards concur with the opinion of the Technical Delegate and find the cars contravene the requirements of Article 3.15 of the 2009 Formula One Technical Regulations.

It is the Stewards decision that cars number 9 and 10 be excluded from the Qualifying Session Official Classification. FIA Statement.

Article 3.15 of the Technical Regulations states:

With the exception of the cover described in Article 6.5.2 [the fuel connector cover] (when used in the pit lane), the driver adjustable bodywork described in Article 3.18 [permitted movable front wing element] and the [air] ducts described in Article 11.4, any specific part of the car influencing its aerodynamic performance:
– must comply with the rules relating to bodywork ;
– must be rigidly secured to the entirely sprung part of the car (rigidly secured means not having any degree of freedom);
– must remain immobile in relation to the sprung part of the car.

Any device or construction that is designed to bridge the gap between the sprung part of the car and the ground is prohibited under all circumstances.

No part having an aerodynamic influence and no part of the bodywork, with the exception 3.13 above, may under any circumstances be located below the reference plane. FIA Technical Regulations – 18/03/2009.

In short, this means the rear wing is not allowed to move or flex in any way. According to the FIA, Toyota’s does. This puts Toyota at the back of the grid after qualifying well in P6 for Timo Glock and P8 for Jarno Trulli. At the moment, this promotes Felipe Massa to P6, Kimi Raikkonen to P7, Mark Webber to P8, Nick Heidfeld to P9, Fernando Alonso to P10 and similar along the grid.

However, the grid could change yet again because Williams have protested the legality of the Ferrari and Red Bull cars. This protest comes after Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault protested the legality of the Williams diffuser (along with Brawn’s and Toyota’s) yesterday. It is thought that Williams’s protest centres around some aerodynamic part of the F60 and RB5 cars.

And finally, Lewis Hamilton has also gone to the back of the grid after having to get a new gearbox fitted to his McLaren MP4-24. Originally qualifying in P15, Hamilton couldn’t take part in Q2 as his car lost all drive. The team had hoped it was something other than the gear box knowing the ensuing penalty would only make Hamilton’s Australian Grand Prix go from bad to worse. Unfortunately, it has done just that. According to the team, fourth gear was to blame.

Grid penalties are awarded to drivers in the order they were handed out, but it is unknown to me if Hamilton’s gearbox was changed before or after the FIA deemed the Toyota’s illegal. It more than likely was, and therefore Hamilton will start in P18 while Glock and Trulli take P19 and P20 respectively. Of course, Hamilton could end up starting higher than his original qualifying place if Ferrari and Red Bull promote him to P14.

Update

Williams has now withdrawn it’s protest against Ferrari and Red Bull Racing.

Original article by BlogF1.

Australia 2009: Hamilton & Toyota Sent To Back, Ferrari & Red Bull May Follow

Should there be a problem with the gear box and need replacing, Lewis Hamilton will be docked further positions on the grid as per the regulations. However, if the team can fix the problem on the McLaren, then Hamilton will start tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix in fifteenth.

As the team started qualifying, it was noted that they went out on the softer of the tyre compounds while other squads went out on the harder less-grippy tyres. This implies that those on the harder tyre are confident of pace and don’t feel the need to waste a soft set, but McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh was quoted as saying by the BBC that the team were on a “damage limitation” exercise.

Original article by BlogF1.

Lewis Hamilton Exits Qualifying Early

Despite not setting the track alight on the first day of his final test, Heikki Kovalainen was buoyed by the improvements made to the McLaren MP4-24. Previously, team mate Lewis Hamilton appeared to struggle in the 79s bracket, encouraging the wagging of tongues up and down the pitlane as well as in the media. The problems that are apparently facing McLaren so late in the build up to the season is certainly the talking point of the moment.

By Thursday though, the squad had found something that worked on the modifications made to the car and the young Finn finally looked to be on top of the machine. Kovalainen lapped the Jerez circuit 85 times on Wednesday, and 84 times earlier today.

Kazuki Nakajima followed suit almost identically to his rival. Wednesday saw little in the way of pace, but by Thursday the Japanese driver was on top of his car, the Williams FW31, and Kazuki finished the day ahead of Kovalainen.

Without other teams on track it is still very hard to judge the pace of these two machines, and the improvement in times that both drivers saw may be very easily put down to improvements in track conditions more than anything else. They could both be lapping in the midfield, they could both be up there with Ferrari having found something great in the final two days. To put it simply, we just don’t know. At times, Williams and McLaren have looked strong, although in recent group tests, they have looked mediocre at best.

Jerez Test Day Four Results Table		Lap Time Fastest Time Set	Laps Set Number Laps Set
1.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	1m18.202s	85 Laps
2.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	1m20.023s	103 Laps
Jerez Test Day Five Results Table
1.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	1m17.494s	102 Laps
2.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	1m17.946s	84 Laps

Original article by BlogF1.

Jerez Test Days Four & Five: Kovalainen & Nakajima Share Fastest Laps

Original article by BlogF1.

John Watson, Onboard At Brands Hatch

Original article by BlogF1.

Hamilton/Abbey/Airfix TV Advert