Mark Webber aiming to be fit in time for new F1 season
December 1, 2008
If you are like me you may have missed the news about Mark Webber breaking his leg after being hit head-on by a car while riding in his own charity event. The accident took place in Tasmania on a remote gravel road. Webber was thrown to the road, breaking his tibia and fibula bones in his lower right leg. The accident took place on November 22.
Slightly more than a week after his accident, Webber is saying that he believes he will have recovered from his broken leg in time to start testing with his Red Bull F1 racing team in February.
“I’m aiming to drive the car at the first test,” Webber told the BBC.
“whether that is possible, I don’t know, but if I have to wait another week or 10 days for the sake of the whole season, then I will.”
The new Formula 1 car for Red Bull is set to make its first on-track appearance on February 10. The 2009 F1 season kicks off with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, 27-29 March.
Hamilton takes F1 championship in dramatic Brazilian Grand Prix
November 3, 2008
What a race!! Just 20 seconds from the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix it appeared that Felipe Massa would be the 2008 Formula 1 world champion. His rival Lewis Hamilton had a few minutes ago slipped into 6th position. That was enough for Massa to take the title.
As rain fell Hamilton’s prayers were answered as Timo Glock suddenly lost pace on the track and allowed the young Brit to sneak back into the championship winning 5th position that he needed.
Massa did all he could do and crossed the finish line in first place, the Ferrari pit at first thought they had the title but then realised Hamilton had got up into 5th place to take the F1 drivers championship. In the presentation it was a bitter sweet moment for Massa. He was champion at his home grand prix but he missed the big prize by the closest margin.
The Toyota’s were 17 seconds slower than the cars around them on the crucial last lap. You have to ask why? Had the tyres gone off that much in the rain? Was the fuel about to run out? Or did Toyota want Hamilton to take the title.
There you have it. Hamilton appeared to be heading for another heart breaking loss of the world championship. Massa had crossed the line with Hamilton in sixth. He thought he had the championship. In a moment of high drama Glock dropped back and Hamilton got into the magical 5th position.
Hamilton’s father was speechless after the race.
Going back to the start of the race it was rain that played havoc. A short sharp rainfall delayed the start and forced the teams to go for wets. The race got underway and then the key decision was when to change tyres.
As the race went on Massa was comfortable in first and Hamilton was settled inside the top five. With about 10 minutes to go some light rain fell. In came some of the teams including Ferrari and McLaren to change tyres.
A charging Sebastian Vettel pushed past Hamilton to push the Brit into sixth place. The McLaren camp look stunned. The title was gone. But then the dramatic finnish unfolded and within minutes all had changed and Hamilton snatched the title in perhaps the most dramatic conclusion to a formula 1 championship.
Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton who now becomes the youngest F1 champion. Ferrari took the constructors title.
Massa sets himself up for a grandstand finish in F1 championship
November 2, 2008
Felipe Massa has taken his third consecutive pole at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Two years ago he won the race, a result he is wanting to repeat to have a chance to claim the 2008 F1 drivers championship. His championship rival, Lewis Hamilton was in fourth place after Jarno Trulli qualified second fastest and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen took third.
Massa took pole with a time of 1:12.338, well ahead of Trulli’s 1:12.737. Hamilton recorded 1:12.830. Hamilton and Massa had gone quicker in Q2. Heikki Kovalainen was actually quickest on the day however it is the time in the third qualifying session that counts. Kovalainen lapped in 1:11.768 in Q2, so it shows that the McLaren’s do have pace around the Sao Paulo track.
The championship now comes down to the final race. Hamilton knows what is required to take the championship for formula one. Fifth place or better will give him the title. Anything less leaves the door open for Massa. Hamilton said this year he feels more relaxed thinking that this is just another race. Last year he built up the occasion too much and failed as the weight of expectation was too much to handle.
Like last year, Hamilton holds a seven point margin over Massa. The Ferrari driver is driving in his home country and delighted himself, the team and the thousands of Brazilian fans at the track when he claimed pole. Massa is attempting to be the first Brazilian since Ayrton Senna in 1991, to win the f1 drivers championship.
In claiming pole position Massa became the first man ever to set three consecutive poles at Interlagos.
F1 fans are now counting the hours until the deciding race. I can’t wait.
Leave a comment below about your thoughts.
Hamilton wins Chinese Grand Prix
October 19, 2008
Lewis Hamilton has edged closer to claiming the 2008 f1 drivers championship. He has gone from pole position in the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai to win comfortably from his closest title contender Felipe Massa. The winning margin was 14.9 seconds. 2007 f1 champion Kimi Raikkonen was third and Fernando Alonso in fourth.
The results from the Chinese Grand Prix leave Hamilton 7 points ahead of Massa going into the final race of the season to be held in Brazil in two weeks time. The 7 point advantage is the same as Hamilton took into the final race last season. On that occasion Raikkonen beat both Alonso and Hamilton to the title.
For Massa you could not think of a better situation. He will be racing for the championship in his home grand prix. If he wins and Hamilton is 7th or worse he could repeat last years win dramatic ending by Raikkonen to win the drivers championship for Ferrari. The odds are once again with Hamilton, you would hope he has learnt from last year.
The 2nd and 3rd placings for the Ferrari drivers in the Chinese Grand Prix sees the team take an 11-point lead into the final race as they try to wrap up the constructors’ championship.
Who is your tip to win the drivers championship for 2008 in formula one?
Can Hamilton claim the F1 championship in Shanghai?
October 19, 2008
Last year in the formula 1 driver’s championship with just two races left Lewis Hamilton held a commanding 17 point lead. Many expected the Brit would win the championship from such a position. As it panned out Kimi Raikkonen made a storming finish to end the season with two victories and snatched the crown from the hands of Hamilton
In 2008 Hamilton once again leads the drivers championship with just two races to complete in the season. This time he has a five point advantage over Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and a 12 point lead over BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica. The championship is up for grabs for those drivers.
Like in 2007 Hamilton has claimed pole position for the Chinese grand prix. Last year the weather played a part in the race. Perhaps when he should have pitted and changed tires McLaren elected to leave him out on the track. When he finally was heading to the pits his tires were so worn that he spun off into a gravel trap.
Hamilton will be looking to learn from that experience last year. He just needs to claim six points more than Massa to wrap up the 2008 drivers championship. That means his target in China is third place if Massa is out of the points. Hamilton knows what has to be done and he believes he is stronger after having gone through the drama’s of last season. You have to remember it was his rookie season in 2008.
Alonso wins second straight f1 grand prix
October 12, 2008
Renault’s Fernando Alonso has won his second straight formula one grand prix after taking the chequered flag in the Japanese grand prix. The win comes after he won the historic night Singapore grand prix last round.
The championship race got a bit more interesting as Massa gained ground on points leader Hamilton. It was only one point following an eigth place result, but it edges the Ferrari driver to six behind the McLaren driver. Hamilton was out of the points in 12th spot.
Robert Kubica who took second place in the grand prix is still a chance to win the drivers championship as he is now 12 points adrift with two races to go. Raikkonen took third place in his Ferrari. The points won by the two Ferrari drivers sees the team take top spot in the constructors race. They lead with 140 to McLaren’s 135.
The Japanese grand prix was one to forget for Hamilton as he lost places at the start and then spun his car to drop way back in the field. It was pretty much over from that point. To make matter worse Hamilton was given a drive-through penalty on lap 17 for forcing another car from the track.
Massa was also given a drive-through penalty for an incident with Hamilton. After Massa and Hamilton took their drive-through penaltys they were in 14 and 15th respectively.
Massa was to later be involved with an incident with Bourdais and is under investigation.
The end of the day sees a good result for the former champion Alonso. The next race will be next weekend at the Chinese grand prix to be held in Shanghai.
The drivers championship race has come down to three drivers with Hamilton, Massa and Kubica chasing the title. Hamilton is out in front on 84, Massa 78 and Kubica 72.
Who is your tip to take the crown?
Pit tangle costs Massa in Singapore Grand Prix
September 29, 2008
Felipe Massa has seen his chances of winning the formula one drivers championship slide in the Singapore f1 grand prix thanks to a tangled fuel hose.
The ferrari driver was leading the race when a crash by Piquet on lap 14 saw the safety car come out. In the rush that followed in the pits Massa was held up by the sloppy pit work. Massa saw green in his car howeve the fuel hose was still attached, he drove off and knocked over a mechanic as the hose tore loose. After rejoining the race at the end of the field he was later further hampered with a 10 second stop go penalty.
In the end it was Hamilton who took advantage of Massa’s misfortune. Hamilton scored six valuable points thanks to a third place finish while Massa did not collect any points coming home in 13th position. Raikkonen also missed out on the points after he crashed out of the race on the 58th lap while battling Glock for fourth place .
The surprise winner in the first ever night Grand Prix was Renault’s Fernando Alonso, thanks in part to his team mate Nelson Piquet. It was Piquet’s crash that changed the race dramatically. In the reshuffle that followed the safety car period the pit lane action Alonso found himself in a good position.
After the first safety car period Hamilton was in fourth behind David Coultard. Hamilton was frustrated by the pace of the Red Bull driver as he was losing a second a lap. This cost him any chance of winning unless those in front failed. In the end his two main rivals completed the race out of the points so third place was good enough on the night.
Alonso will now go down as the winner of the first night grand prix. It is his first victory since Monza in 2007. Rosberg took second which is a career best result for him.
Hamilton leads the drivers championship by seven points with three races remaining. McLaren has also gone to the lead in the constructors race. The next formula one grand prix will be in Japan on the weekend of 10-12 October.
Massa claims first ever night grand prix pole in Singapore
September 28, 2008
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa has claimed pole positon for Sunday’s historic night Singapore Grand Prix. He described the lap that he recorded the fastest time as a ‘perfect lap’. He was thinking to himself as he approached the final turn do I go for it or ease off. He decided to keep the foot down.
The time Massa recorded is well ahead of second placed Lewis Hamilton. Massa grabbed pole with his lap time of 1m 44.801s ahead of Hamilton’s lap of 1m 45.465. The current world champion, Kimi Raikkonen was took third with a time of 1m 45.617s. Raikkonen was troubled by an electronic problem so may have been able to go quicker.
It is thought Massa had a lighter fuel load when he set his fast time. Massa goes into the Singapore grand prix just one point behind Hamilton in the driver’s championship.
Hamilton was on the edge of missing the final 10 shootout as he placed 10th in the previous session. Mark Webber and David Coultard were both on the track after Hamilton and could have edged him out of the top ten.
The Singapore grand prix starts at 8.00pm local time and is the first ever formula one grand prix to be driven under lights.
Hamilton Belgian formula one GP result stands
September 24, 2008
Lewis Hamilton has failed in his bid to have the penalty from the Belgian Grand Prix overturned. The FIA’s International Court of Appeal has handed down its decision stating that the McLaren appeal was inadmissible.
As a result of the ruling there will be no change to the points in the driver’s championship in formula one heading into the Singapore gp. Hamilton leads the championship and is one point ahead of Filipe Massa.
Hamilton was appealing the steward’s decision to deal out a post race drive-through penalty of 25 seconds which saw his first place result at Spa drop to third after he received the penalty for cutting the chicane. The penalty was applied even though Hamilton allowed Raikkonen to re-take the lead after Hamilton had gone to the lead by taking a straight line through the chicane.
The Court rejected McLaren’s right to appeal, citing Paragraph 5 of Article 152 of the International Sporting Code, which states: “Penalties of driving through or stopping in pit lanes together with certain penalties specified in FIA Championship regulations where this is expressly stated, are not susceptible to appeal.”
“People will probably expect me to be depressed about today’s result, but that isn’t me,” Hamilton said in a statement. “All I want to do now is put this matter behind me and get on with what we drivers do best: racing each other.”
Hamilton gets his chance to race again this weekend as the grand prix circuit makes its debut in Singapore. The Singapore grand prix follows the recent trend of more races in Asia. The Singapore f1 race is the first of three consecutive Asian grand prix. Following Singapore the drivers go to Japan and China before the f1 season concludes in Brazil.
The Singapore race promises to be an exciting event as it will be the first street race in Asia and also the first ever night race in the history of formula one. I am looking forward to watching the cars wind their way through the streets of Singapore. The circuit is 5.067kms. The race starts at 20:00hrs on Sunday in Singapore.
Vettel claims first GP win for himself and team
September 15, 2008
Sebastian Vettel driving for the Toro Rosso team has grabbed his first victory in formula one. He had earlier in the weekend become the youngest driver to claim pole position in a gp. He then took advantage of starting from pole and pulled off the first grand prix win for Toro Rosso.
It was a great win considering the difficult conditions. The rain was pouring down early on however as the race went on it eased allowing drivers to change to standard wets. Vettel bolted from pole position as he had the best visibility. He created a nice gap between himself and Heikki Kovalainen in the early stages.
McLaren’s Kovalainen took second position. He said after the race that Vettel was just too fast for him. In third position was BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica. The team could be reasonably happy with their driver’s results as Nick Heidfeld came in 5th.
The championship leader Lewis Hamilton dropped a point to Felipe Massa as he completed the race in p7 while Massa was in P6. It was a good effort by Hamilton considering he started from 15th on the grid.
Hamilton now leads the drivers championship by just one point. The Brit has 78 points to Massa’s 77. Kubica is third on 64 with the current champion Kimi Raikkonen left with plenty of work to do in fourth with 57 points.
There are now just four rounds of the 2008 formula one grand prix season left to drive. The next race will take place in Singapore on 28th September. This is followed by the Japanese grand prix on October 12. The following weekend sees action in Shanghai. The final race will be in Brazil on November 2.
