BlogF1

A mixed result from the Fantasy Racers competition this time around, with some teams doing well and making up places while others doing less well and losing ground. No changes were made to the teams after Bahrain but after the Fins and Italians retired en masse (or finished in last place) perhaps I should have created a team centred around Britain, Brazil, Germany and Australia. Although I dread to think what the name would be… Continue Reading

The pitstops and tyre strategies proved interesting for the Spanish Grand Prix, with eventual race winner Jenson Button being switched to a two-stopper despite the team’s simulations indicating that three stops was the faster option. Rubens Barrichello remained on a three-stopper and finished the race in second. All drivers started on the soft compound apart from Giancarlo Fisichella and Sebastian Bourdais, who tallied four stops during the race. Most teams opted for a two-stop race, although Kazuki Nakajima joined Barrichello with three visits to his team. Continue Reading

Jenson Button has made it four wins from five races as the Brawn driver lead team mate Rubens Barrichello over the line for a one-two and an extended lead in both championships. The race started poorly for Button as Barrichello managed to grab the lead into the first corner, and while Barcelona often results in a processional event, the 2009 race proved interesting for the most part, from lights out to chequered flag. Continue Reading

Jenson Button is on pole, Sebastian Vettel is alongside. The German is lighter, but the Briton has more experience; who will get down to the first corner in the lead? Or will a KERS-equipped Felipe Massa pass Rubens Barrichello in third and leap both the front runners as well? The Spanish Grand Prix is due to commence at 1300 BST and below will be posted my notes from the race. These notes help me when writing the race report later in the afternoon, and they will be updated live as the events unfold in Spain. Continue Reading

The top ten finishers have had their cars weighed and the rest of the pack have declared their fuel levels for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix. From the weights of the cars we can work out how much fuel each car is carrying simply by deducting the minimum car-and-driver weight (605kg) from the total figure, and from this we can work out how many laps of gas they are each holding in their tanks. From this, we can allow one laps worth of fuel for grid forming and one more as a margin, and we can predict when the drivers will stop. Continue Reading

A great qualifying session has once again resulted in a Brawn driver at the front, and although Rubens Barrichello pushed hard during all three stages, it was Jenson Button who finally came out on top with a last gasp corker of a lap. Alongside the Briton is this season’s only other race winner so far, Sebastian Vettel, who will want to edge his RB5 ahead of the Brawn BGP 001 through the first corner. Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa make up the next row while Mark Webber and Timo Glock complete the third row. Continue Reading

Jenson Button has clinched pole position for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix, but it was closer than he would have liked and the chasing Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel looks to be on good form in P2. Rubens Barrichello had the upper hand on his team mate prior to the final qualifying run and is perhaps overdue for a victory in the race winning Brawn BGP 001. Felipe Massa will want to capitalise on his Saturday performance to finally get some points in the championship and Fernando Alonso will have the Spanish fans behind him all the way. Continue Reading

Jenson Button has claimed his third pole position of the season on a last lap flyer that almost didn’t happen thanks to the Brawn team cutting it very fine with the time. However, in a car that Button hasn’t been fully comfortable with all weekend, the Briton managed to pull a good lap out of the bag and clinched the top spot by just 0.133s. Sebastian Vettel lines up alongside Button on the grid with Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa qualifying in third and fourth respectively. Continue Reading

The live updated results from qualifying are posted below, as the twenty drivers fight it out for pole position around Spain’s Circuit de Catalunya. With many teams sporting new parts on the cars, the grid could be a little different to the previous four, but looking at the times set in the first free practices, it would appear the status quo has remained with Brawn still performing well at the front. Continue Reading

The fifth round of the 2009 formula One Championship is underway with qualifying from the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. Being the first European race of the season, most teams have added new parts to their cars as the race for development begins in earnest. Will it make a difference to the order of the cars, or will Brawn, Red Bull and Toyota continue their form. Below are the notes from the qualifying session, updated live as the fight for pole position unfolds. Continue Reading