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Brawn GP driver Jenson Button claims pole position for Monaco Grand Prix
May 23, 2009
Formula One drivers championship leader Jenson Button grabbed pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday with a perfectly timed hot lap in the final seconds of qualifying. The 29-year-old Englishman delivered a best time of 1min 14.902sec in his Brawn GP car on Saturday to secure his fourth pole in six races this year, and the seventh of his career. He outpaced nearest rival Kimi Raikkonen, of Ferrari, by 0.02sec in a dramatic conclusion to a keenly fought session. "I think Jenson is getting into the habit of saving the best for last," Brawn team chief Ross Brawn said. "He knew that was the lap where he had to produce it, and he's just driving exceptionally well at the moment." Button's Brawn teammate, Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, was third-fastest ahead of Sebastian Vettel, of Red Bull, and Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari. German Nico Rosberg was sixth-fastest for Williams, with Heikki Kovalainen seventh for McLaren-Mercedes ahead of Australia's Mark Webber in the second Red Bull, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, of Renault, and Japan's Kazuki Nakajima in the second Williams. McLaren No.1 Lewis Hamilton, who won in Monaco in 2008, crashed during the first session and will start 16th. Button has won four of the first five races to lead Barrichello by 14 points and Vettel trails Button by 18 points in third. Monaco Grand Prix: Final Qualifying Times 1. Jenson Button (GB) Brawn-Mercedes 1min 14.902sec 2. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1min 14.927sec 3. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn-Mercedes 1min 15.077sec 4. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault 1min 15.271sec 5. Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1min 15.437 6. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1min 15.455sec 7. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1min 15.516sec 8. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1min 15.653sec 9. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1min 16.009sec 10. Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota 1min 17.344sec |
Jenson Button continues Formula One domination with victory in Monaco
May 25, 2009
World championship leader Jenson Button made it five wins out of six races this season when he drove his Brawn GP car to a consummate triumph in the Monaco Grand Prix. The 29-year-old Englishman delivered a flawless performance as he and 37-year-old Brazilian team-mate Rubens Barrichello came home one and two for the second race in succession and third time this year. Starting from his fourth pole position of this fairy-tale season and the seventh of his career, Button pulled clear at the start and, apart from brief interruptions due to pit-stops, led all the way with a supreme performance of mature and well-judged racing. “Yeah, Monaco baby!'' he screamed on his car-to-pits radio after becoming the first man since German great Michael Schumacher in 2006 to complete a hat-trick of consecutive Grand Prix wins. His win lifted him to 51 points in the drivers' standings after six of the 17 races in this year's championship, giving him a 16-point lead over Barrichello and increasing the Brawn team's advantage at the top of the constructors' standings to more than 40 points. It was Button's first win in Monaco and he becomes the sixth British winner of the classic event around the streets of Monte Carlo. The Ferrari duo of Finn Kimi Raikkonen and Brazilian Felipe Massa maintained the Italian team's improvement following their appalling start to the year by coming home third and fourth. Australian Mark Webber finished fifth for Red Bull after his team-mate German Sebastian Vettel, 21, for once betrayed his relative inexperience by crashing, and German-born Finn Nico Rosberg, son of former champion Keke, was sixth for Williams. Two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso also drove a measured race to finish seventh for Renault ahead of Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais, who gave his countrymen something to celebrate by bringing his Toro Rosso car home for a point in eighth place. Defending world champion Briton Lewis Hamilton, who started from last on the grid, endured another torrid afternoon and finished 13th while his McLaren Mercedes team-mate Finn Heikki Kovalainen completed a disappointing weekend for them by crashing while running seventh. On a sunlit Mediterranean afternoon, a light breeze and blue skies made for an air temperature of 25 degrees, with a track temperature of 42 as the race began. At the start, Barrichello made an excellent getaway and took advantage of Raikkonen's surge in pursuit of a pass on pole-sitter Button. The Brazilian, third on the grid, followed his Brawn team-mate through Ste Devote and they were running first and second at the front. After six laps behind Vettel's Red Bull, Massa attempted to pass him and overran at the chicane where he bounced across the run-off kerbs allowing not only Vettel but also Rosberg to overtake him when he rejoined and slowed. Vettel, his tyres shot to pieces, was passed by Rosberg, Massa and Kovalainen before he pitted after 11 laps when Swiss Sebastien Buemi in his Toro Rosso crashed into Nelson Piquet's Renault. On fresh tyres, Vettel tried too hard to rejoin the fray at the front and he showed his inexperience when, after 17 laps, he slid off and crashed into the barriers at Ste Devote, his race over. Vettel said afterwards: “It's one race. It doesn't help if you don't score points when the others do, but it's a long way (until the end of the season) and there are a lot of races (left).'' Piquet, under pressure to keep his seat with Renault, was livid and said: “It was a stupid accident. These young drivers need to calm down, Buemi just slammed right into the back of me.'' Kovalainen, running seventh, crashed out after 53 laps when he lost control at the Swimming Pool exit and wrecked the front end of his McLaren. “That was my mistake, I lost the car and I crashed. It was my mistake, nothing else. I took the kerb too much, lost the rear and came over,'' Kovalainen said. Button was chased hard for one lap by Massa, before the Brazilian pitted again, after which it was business as usual with the two Brawns cruising home ahead of the two Ferraris. F1GP - Monaco Grand Prix Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 20 Jenson Button Brawn 01:40:44.2820 2 21 Rubens Barrichello Brawn 01:40:51.9480 3 4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 01:40:57.7240 4 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:40:59.3920 5 14 Mark Webber Red Bull 01:41:00.0120 6 16 Nico Rosberg Williams 01:41:17.8680 7 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 01:41:22.1210 8 11 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso 01:41:47.4240 9 19 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India 01:41:49.3220 10 10 Timo Glock Toyota +1 Lap 11 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +1 Lap 12 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren +1 Lap 13 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota +1 Lap 14 18 Adrian Sutil Force India +1 Lap 15 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams DNF 16 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren DNF 17 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber DNF 18 15 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull DNF 19 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault DNF 20 12 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso DNF Pos Driver Team Pts 1 Jenson Button (GBR) Brawn 51 2 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Brawn 35 3 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 23 4 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 19.5 5 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 14.5 6 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 12 7 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 11 8 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 9 9 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 9 10 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 8 11 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 7.5 12 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 6 13 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 4 14 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 3 15 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 2 16 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 0 17 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 0 18 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 0 19 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 0 20 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 0 Pos Team Pts 1 Brawn 86 2 Red Bull 42.5 3 Toyota 26.5 4 Ferrari 17 5 McLaren 13 6 Renault 11 7 Williams 7.5 8 BMW Sauber 6 9 Toro Rosso 5 10 Force India 0 |
German driver Sebastian Vettel wins British Grand Prix
June 21, 2009
Rising German star Sebastian Vettel maintained his challenge in this year's drivers' world championship when he cruised to a comfortable victory in the British Grand Prix. The 21-year-old tyro finished 15.188 secs ahead of Red Bull teammate Mark Webber to prove that the much-improved Milton Keynes-based team have the potential to challenge in the second half of the season. It was a repeat of their result in China in April. Vettel started from the fourth pole of his career and was never challenged as he pulled clear from the start and delivered a perfectly-judged drive to secure the third win of his brief career - and his first in dry weather. His two previous wins came in torrential rain in Italy last year and China earlier this season. This time he was able to reel off a series of fastest laps as he dominated proceedings under a partly-sunny sky. Webber came home second ahead of Brazilians veteran Rubens Barrichello in a Brawn and his compatriot, Brazilian Felipe Massa of Ferrari. German Nico Rosberg finished fifth for Williams ahead of world championship leader Jenson Button in his Brawn, Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari and German Timo Glock for Toyota. "Thank you guys," said Vettel to his team on the slowing down lap. "It is a dream coming true! We have won the British Grand Prix." Vettel's win cut Button's lead in the drivers championship - the Briton now has 64 points with Barrichello second on 41, Vettel 39 and Webber 35.5. In the constructors' championship, Brawn lead with 105 ahead of Red Bull on 74.5. After all the political chicanery for the previous three days, the race was a rather dull and predictable affair with a huge crowd, and a paddock packed with celebrities, treated to a demonstration drive by Vettel. In what is widely expected to be Silverstone's final British Grand Prix, 60 years after hosting the first world championship race in 1950, there was precious little for the home fans to cheer. Button started from sixth and struggled with his tyres as he battled to finish sixth while defending champion Lewis Hamilton gave everything in a spectacular and incident-filled outing, starting 18th and finishing 16th. Pos Driver Team Pts 1 Jenson Button (GBR) Brawn 64 2 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Brawn 41 3 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 39 4 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 35.5 5 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 21.5 6 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 16 7 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 15.5 8 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 13 9 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 11 10 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 10 11 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 9 12 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 6 13 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 4 14 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 3 15 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 2 16 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 2 17 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 0 18 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 0 19 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 0 20 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 0 Team Pts 1 Brawn 105 2 Red Bull 74.5 3 Toyota 34.5 4 Ferrari 26 5 Williams 15.5 6 McLaren 13 7 Renault 11 8 BMW Sauber 8 9 Toro Rosso 5 10 Force India 0 |
Mark Webber achieves first ever pole after more than 100 attempts
July 11, 2009
After more than 100 attempts, Australian driver Mark Webber has finally grabbed the first pole position of his Formula One career. Webber outpaced all of his rivals in qualifying for Sunday's German Grand Prix. The 32-year-old Red Bull driver made the most of changeable weather conditions to emerge in front with a best lap of 1min 32.230 secs. This lifted him clear of Brazilian Rubens Barrichello of Brawn GP, who was second fastest, as dry weather followed a rain-hit session. Championship leading Briton Jenson Button, in the second Brawn, was third fastest ahead of German Sebastian Vettel in the second Red Bull. "Great, thank you guys – awesome!" said Webber on his slowing down lap after being told that after 128 races he had topped the times to take the prime starting position for a grand prix. Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton was fifth for McLaren-Mercedes, proving that his team's efforts to improve their car were working at last after a series of desperately-disappointing performances. His teammate Heikki Kovalainen was sixth ahead of German Adrian Sutil of Force India, in their first top 10 position, Brazilian Felipe Massa and his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen with Brazilian Nelson Piquet 10th for Renault. After an early foray by Button, who was first out on track without clocking a time, the top 10 cars delayed until the final three minutes before attacking the clock to deliver their best laps. Barrichello was first to take top spot, but was soon overtaken by Hamilton in the final dramas. On another cool, overcast and sometimes wet day, Vettel was the first man out of the pit lane at the start of the session run in front of a big crowd of German fans congregated in the Eifel mountains. The young German's appearance heralded a rush of lap times from everyone, the weather clearly persuading all the teams that it was necessary to clock a fast early time before any heavy rain fell. The Red Bulls made the most of the brief respite from wet conditions when Vettel went top and he was soon followed by teammate Webber before the skies opened and the session was, effectively, curtailed. Webber ended Q1, the first mini-session, on top ahead of Alonso with Vettel third and Hamilton fourth in the resurgent McLaren, but it was "goodbye" for the bottom five. That meant the exit of Pole Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber, Swiss Sebastien Buemi of Toro Rosso, Italian Giancarlo Fisichella of Force India, German Timo Glock of Toyota and Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais in the second Toro Rosso. It was particularly bad news for the French driver who, according to the paddock rumour machine, was preparing for his last race with the team before being replaced. But it was disappointing also for the crowd to see Glock departing – one of five Germans in the 20-car field – and the BMW-powered car of Kubica failing to deliver a competitive performance. When Q2 began, the steady drizzle and the wet track conditions caught several drivers out as they slithered around on their slick tyres. Japanese Kazuki Nakajima in his Williams slid off the track, Hamilton brushed a kerb and Massa ran wide and off the track across grass. The field dived into the pits for intermediate tyres. With six minutes remaining, Barrichello chose to switch back to dry tyres and went out and clocked the fastest lap by almost four seconds – making the most of a brief dry window before rain returned. These capricious conditions caught several drivers and teams out when the rain returned and in the panic in the pit-lane Vettel managed to collide with Nakajima, both cars emerging without serious damage. Button, with a late lap, just squeezed through into the top ten with Hamilton as both Alonso and Raikkonen slipped off the slippery surface. In the end, the rain claimed the hopes of German Nick Heidfeld in his BMW, Alonso, fuming as he stepped out of his Renault, Nakajima, Italian Jarno Trulli of Toyota and German Nico rosberg of Williams. Starting grid 1. Mark Webber (AUS/RBR) 2. Rubens Barrichello (BRA/BRA) 3. Jenson Button (ENG/BRA) 4. Sebastian Vettel (GER/RBR) 5. Lewis Hamilton (ENG/MLA) 6. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/MLA) 7. Adrian Sutil (GER/FOR) 8. Felipe Massa (BRA/FER) 9. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/FER) 10. Nelson Piquet (BRA/REN) 11. Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW) 12. Fernando Alonso (ESP/REN) 13. Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/WIL) 14. Jarno Trulli (ITA/TOY) 15. Nico Rosberg (GER/WIL) 16. Robert Kubica (POL/BMW) 17. Sebastien Buemi (SUI/TOR) 18. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/FOR) 19. Timo Glock (GER/TOY) 20. Sebastien Bourdais (FRA/TOR) |
Australia's Mark Webber wins his first ever Grand Prix in Germany
July 12, 2009
Mark Webber secured his maiden Formula One victory and Australia's first since 1981 when he led teammate Sebastian Vettel home in a triumphant one-two for the Red Bull team in the German Grand Prix. Webber, in his 130th F1 race after eight years in the sport, started from his first pole position and overcame a drive-through penalty for a first lap collision on his way to a spectacular win at the circuit in the Eifel mountains. The 32-year-old driver from Queanbeyan, in NSW, came home 9.3 seconds clear of Vettel as he raced to a victory that threw the fight for the world championship wide open. Webber is third in the title race with 45.5 points behind leader Briton Jenson Button on 68 points and Vettel on 47. Brazilian Rubens Barrichello has 44 points and is fourth. The two Red Bulls finished first and second ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa of Brazil, who grabbed his first podium finish of the year, with German Nico Rosberg fourth for Williams. Button battled through to finish fifth ahead of teammate Barrichello, the Brawn pair resisting a late charge from two-times world champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Renault. Finn Heikki Kovalainen came home eighth for McLaren Mercedes. Defending world champion Briton Lewis Hamilton finished 18th and last after a hot-headed attack on the opening lap saw him involved in a collision with Webber's Red Bull that cost him a puncture. Webber bashed into Barrichello's car on the run from the start to the first corner, a collision for which he was punished with his drive-through penalty, but he overcame that with a dazzling drive to victory. Watched by his father Alan, a motorcycle dealer in Australia, Webber romped to a triumph that ended Australia's long wait for another winner since Alan Jones won at Las Vegas in the 1981 United States Grand Prix. As he completed his final lap, Webber screamed with joy: "Yeah, yeah, yeah." "Oh yes. You beauty! Yes." And his teamboss Christian Horner said: "Mark Webber - you are a Grand Prix winner. Well done. You did it." Last November, he broke his leg and a shoulder in a collision with a car while riding a bicycle in Tasmania. On a much warmer day, under a cloudy sky, the race started with high drama when Webber, from his first pole position, was marginally slower off the line than Barrichello and steered to his right to bump cars and push the Brazilian towards the barriers. It was a solid knock, but not enough to slow the Brawn car which pulled away to lead into the first corner ahead of the Australian while another spectacular incident saw Hamilton flying off the track. The defending champion, from fifth, applied his KERS to pass almost everyone into the Castrol S curve, but out-braked himself in a vain attack to stay on the circuit. In the process, he collided with part of the left-front wing of Webber's Red Bull and picked up a right rear puncture. This impetuosity, in effect, ended Hamilton's race as he was forced back to the pits, from 20th and last, for new rubber - swapping his super-softs for a harder compound. German Grand Prix Result Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts 1 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 60 1:36:43.310 1 10 2 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 60 +9.2 secs 4 8 3 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari 60 +15.9 secs 8 6 4 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 60 +21.0 secs 15 5 5 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 60 +23.6 secs 3 4 6 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 60 +24.4 secs 2 3 7 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 60 +24.8 secs 12 2 8 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 60 +58.6 secs 6 1 9 10 Timo Glock Toyota 60 +61.4 secs 20 10 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 60 +61.9 secs 11 11 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 60 +62.3 secs 18 12 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 60 +62.8 secs 13 13 8 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 60 +68.3 secs 10 14 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 60 +69.5 secs 16 15 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 60 +71.9 secs 7 16 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 60 +90.2 secs 17 17 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 60 +90.9 secs 14 18 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 59 +1 Lap 5 Ret 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 34 +26 Laps 9 Ret 11 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 18 Hydraulics 19 Driver Team Pts 1 Jenson Button (GBR) Brawn 64 2 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Brawn 41 3 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 39 4 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 35.5 5 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 21.5 6 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 16 7 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 15.5 8 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 13 9 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 11 10 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 10 11 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 9 12 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 6 13 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 4 14 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 3 15 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 2 16 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 2 17 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 0 18 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 0 19 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 0 20 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 0 Team Pts 1 Brawn 105 2 Red Bull 74.5 3 Toyota 34.5 4 Ferrari 26 5 Williams 15.5 6 McLaren 13 7 Renault 11 8 BMW Sauber 8 9 Toro Rosso 5 10 Force India 0 |
I have watched every formula 1 race since Mark Webber made his debut drive for minardi back in 2002. I'm so proud to see him win to prove what a great driver he is and to all the knockers that he can win. Go Mark Webber and continue to win many more races. cheers Dougie :)
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Webber to stay at Red Bull in 2010
Red Bull announced on Thursday that Mark Webber will continue to drive for the team next season. Webber, who won his maiden race in Germany earlier this month, will retain his seat alongside fellow incumbent Sebastian Vettel.
“I’m extremely happy that Red Bull and I have been able to agree to race together again next year,” said the Australian, who joined the team in 2007. “Even in the leaner and tougher years at the start of my relationship with the team, I’ve always enjoyed working with them, so now to go through this purple patch, which we hope will continue for a good while to come, makes the work even more enjoyable. “We’ve got a very exciting finish to this year’s championship, but I’m also looking forward to helping to develop and race the RB6 in the 2010 world championship.” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner added: “I’m delighted that we have re-signed Mark for 2010. He has continued to show huge commitment and determination this season, especially following his bike accident at the end of last year. His recent results show he is on the form of his life - most notably with his recent win at the German Grand Prix - and he has the motivation to deliver at the highest level. It was therefore a straightforward decision to extend the relationship. We believe that the driver line-up of Mark and Sebastian is one of the strongest in the sport.” Webber is currently third in the drivers' championship with 45.5 points, just 1.5 behind Vettel. Leader Jenson Button has 68. |
Lewis Hamilton back in winners' circle with Hungarian Grand Prix victory
July 26, 2009
Defending champion Lewis Hamilton returned to form with a vengeance Sunday when he ended a 10-race winless streak with victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix. The 24-year-old Englishman produced a flawless drive for McLaren Mercedes as the season's standard-setting teams Brawn GP and Red Bull struggled to produce their best on an incident-filled afternoon. Starting from fourth, he took third on the opening lap, passed Australian Mark Webber of Red Bull for second after five laps and then took the lead when Spaniard Fernando Alonso was forced to retire after his front right tyre flew off his Renault. German Sebastian Vettel who was second in the title race was involved in a first corner contact with Ferrari's Finn Kimi Raikkonen and retired after reporting his car was virtually undriveable while championship leader Jenson Button of Brawn GP struggled for performance and finished seventh. Hamilton said: “It's an incredible feeling after what feels like such a long time away. I'm just so proud of the guys. They never gave up, which is something very rare to see in a large group of people. “The car was so nice to drive and the team have done such a great job. We didn't expect to win - but the car felt fantastic. It's incredibly special to get back up here.” It was Hamilton's first win since last year's Chinese Grand Prix and the 10th win of his career. Hamilton won by 11.5 seconds ahead of Raikkonen with Webber third for Red Bull, two weeks after his maiden victory in Germany. Webber said: “It's a bit of a surprise - we expected to be a little bit quicker. It was a pretty difficult venue for us. We knew we didn't have the advantage we had in the last two races. I'm pretty happy all in all. We're still very much a force.” Raikkonen, under investigation for the incident at the start when he collided with Vettel said: “I didn't notice that I had touched somebody. I don't know what's going on. This is the first I've heard of it. “But it is nice to finish here on the podium and to bring some good and positive news to the team.” Pole-sitter and two-times champion Alonso was forced to retire after leading the opening laps when he lost his front right wheel in spectacular style - just 24 hours after Massa of Ferrari suffered serious head injuries when he was hit by debris during qualifying. Massa, 28, underwent surgery in a Budapest hospital on Saturday evening and a Ferrari statement on Sunday said he was stable and in an induced coma. Hamilton added: “Maybe I can speak for all of us, but today was a sad day given what happened with Felipe (Massa). We miss him, wish him well and we all wish him a speedy recovery.” Alonso said: “I had a great start and the team did a lot of work for that. But we had tyre problems and also the fuel pump. It could be something to do with the rim of a wheel. But it was great to lead the race again.” Button, who leads the drivers' championship on 70 points from Webber on 51.5 and Vettel on 47, said: “After four laps my rear tyres were destroyed. I don't know why. I don't think we can blame the weather. We've got to be looking in other areas. Our car is not driving as well as it did at the start of the season. There's obviously an issue. “I don't understand it. The other teams have improved for sure, but our car is just not what it was a few races ago anymore. I don't understand it and it is not running as it did at the start of the season.” Results 1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren) 306.630km in 1hr 38min 23.876sec (average: 186.973 km/h) 2. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) at 11.529sec 3. Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull) 16.886 4. Nico Rosberg (GER/Williams) 26.967 5. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/McLaren) 34.392 6. Timo Glock (GER/Toyota) 35.237 7. Jenson Button (GBR/Brawn) 55.088 8. Jarno Trulli (ITA/Toyota) 1:08.172 9. Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/Williams) 1:08.774 10. Rubens Barrichello (BRA/Brawn) 1:09.256 11. Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW Sauber) 1:10.612 12. Nelson Piquet Jr (BRA/Renault) 1:11.512 13. Robert Kubica (POL/BMW Sauber) 1:14.046 14. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/Force India) 1 lap 15. Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/Toro Rosso) 1 lap 16. Sebastien Buemi (SUI/Toro Rosso) 1 lap |
Renault banned from upcoming European Grand Prix in Valencia
July 27, 2009
Renault have been banned from the European Grand Prix in Valencia on August 23 by the International Motorsports Federation (FIA). The FIA took the drastic action after a wheel flew off the car of former world champion Fernando Alonso during Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix with the team accused of not respecting security rules. “Renault are suspended from the next event of the 2009 world championship,” said a FIA statement. The French outfit announced they would appeal the ban. “Renault F1, by this document, formally registers its intention to appeal against the decision by the officials,” Renault wrote in a letter to the FIA. Stewards summoned Renault officials to explain why pole-sitter Alonso's right front right wheel was incorrectly fitted and was allowed to leave the pits. Video and radio transmissions were studied, and found that Renault “knowingly” allowed the Spanish driver to rejoin the race with a loose wheel nut. “This resulted in a heavy car part (the aerodynamic wheel cover) detaching and the wheel itself detaching at turn nine,” the stewards' report added. Sunday's incident came just a week after 18-year-old driver Henry Surtees - the son of former F1 champion John Surtees - was killed when he was struck by a loose wheel during a Formula Two race in England. |
BMW announce it will quit Formula One at the end of 2009 season
July 29, 2009
Already hit by the departure of Honda, Formula One suffered another blow on Wednesday as BMW confirmed it would be quitting the sport at the end of the season. "The BMW Group will not continue its Formula One campaign after the end of the 2009 season,'' BMW chairman Norbert Reithofer said. "Of course, this was a difficult decision for us, but it's a resolute step in view of our company's strategic realignment,'' he said. "Premium will be increasingly defined in terms of sustainability and environmental compatibility. This is an area in which we want to remain in the lead. "We are continually reviewing all projects and initiatives to check them for future viability and sustainability. "Our Formula One campaign is thus less a key promoter for us.'' While rumours of the possible departures of Renault and Toyota have been flying around the paddock all season, that of BMW comes as a surprise. And it had looked as if the sport's future was assured when the FIA, motor racing's governing body, announced the completion of negotiations between the FOA (Formula One administration) and the 13 teams who will race in 2010. It had been thought that this Concorde Agreement, meant to link the two sides until 2012, also included the BMW Sauber team. The FIA said however they regretted the German team's decision and hoped the sport had seen the last departure of a major manufacturer. "The FIA regrets the announcement of BMW's intended withdrawal from Formula One but is not surprised by it,'' the FIA said in a statement. "It has been clear for some time that motor sport cannot ignore the world economic crisis. "Car manufacturers cannot be expected to continue to pour large sums of money into Formula One when their survival depends on redundancies, plant closures and the support of the taxpayer.'' BMW have been badly hit by the current economic crisis with profits tumbling by 89.5 percent in 2008 compared to 2007, and group sales dropping 19.5 percent in the first half of 2009. It is also believed the company found it hard to justify spending on Formula One following a poor campaign with drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica scoring just eight points this season to leave the team eighth in the nine-team constructors' championship. BMW arrived in Formula One in 2000 and in 2005 took over the Swiss team Sauber, to become the BMW Sauber stable which now employs 730 people. Its only Grand Prix win as BMW Sauber came when Kubica won in Canada in 2008, while he also achieved the team's only pole position in Bahrain, also in 2008. The team finished third last season behind Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes. Meanwhile, the FIA said they hoped there would be no more departures from the sport. "This is why the FIA prepared regulations to reduce costs drastically,'' the FIA said. "These measures were needed to alleviate the pressure on manufacturers following Honda's withdrawal, but also to make it possible for new teams to enter. "Had these regulations not been so strongly opposed by a number of team principals, the withdrawal of BMW and further such announcements in the future might have been avoided. "Nevertheless, as a result of a sustained cost-cutting campaign by the FIA, new measures are in the process of being agreed which should make it easier for new teams to enter and enable existing ones to participate on much-reduced budgets. "Hopefully it will be enough to prevent further withdrawals and provide a solid foundation for Formula One.'' |
Michael Schumacher makes sensational return to F1 for Ferrari
July 30, 2009
Seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher is making a sensational return to Formula One, Ferrari have announced. The German motor racing legend, who retired in 2006, will replace injured Felipe Massa in the European Grand Prix in Valencia on August 23, and possibly for the remainder of the season. "The Ferrari-Marlboro team plans to give Michael Schumacher Felipe Massa's car until the Brazilian returns to competition," Ferrari announced in a statement on its website carried by Italian news agency ANSA. The statement added: "Michael Schumacher says he is available and in the coming days he will pursue a specific programme of preparation at the end of which it will be possible to confirm his participation in the European Grand Prix." Schumacher, 40, commented: "Ultimately I like challenges and this is a great challenge." "The important thing is that Massa gets better," he continued, adding that he "just wanted to help the firm (Ferrari) when they needed it". Schumacher, who last test drove for Ferrari in April last year, was pleased, though, that the most recent update on the unlucky Brazilian was encouraging. "The most important thing first thank God, all news concerning Felipe (Massa) is positive," he was quoted as saying on the official Formula One website. "I wish him all the best again. I was meeting this afternoon with (Ferrari team chief) Stefano Domenicali and (Ferrari president) Luca di Montezemolo and together we decided that I will prepare myself to take the place of Felipe. "Though it is true that the Formula One chapter has been completely closed for me for a long time, it is also true that for reasons of loyalty to the team I cannot ignore this unfortunate situation. "But as the competitor I am I also very much look forward to facing this." News of his comeback to the sport he virtually made his own came 24 hours after the possibility had first been raised by his spokeswoman, Sabine Kehm. "The whole thing will be considered by Ferrari. If they approach Michael, then he will consider it," Kehm had told BBC Sport. She added: "Usually, I would say he's not interested because he's fine with his life and he doesn't miss anything but now the situation is so different - it's very hypothetical - and Michael doesn't want to step into that (discussion)." Schumacher, who is on Ferrari's pay roll as an advisor, will be filling in for Massa, who is recovering from surgery following his horrific high speed crash in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Only this month he had made it clear speaking at the German Grand Prix that he was not interested in making a full-time comeback. But the offer of a temporary return to the Ferrari cockpit obviously proved too much to resist for 'Schumi' who has recovered from a neck injury sustained in a motorcycle accident in February. |
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen claims Belgian Grand Prix
August 30, 2009
Finn Kimi Raikkonen rode his luck to claim Ferrari's first win this year when he held off a strong challenge rom Force India's veteran Italian Giancarlo Fisichella in a dramatic Belgian Grand Prix. It was the 2007 world champion's 18th career win but his first since the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix - a welcome fillip for the Ferrari team after a torrid year. The race was overshadowed by a multiple accident on the opening lap which wrecked the hopes of drivers championship leader Jenson Button and defending champion and fellow Briton Lewis Hamilton, of McLaren Mercedes, both of them crashed out. Fisichella, who had grabbed his Force India team's maiden pole position on Saturday, came home second, just nine-tenths of a second behind Raikkonen. He scored the team's first points and first podium. German Sebastian Vettel came home third for Red Bull to go third in the title race with 53 points behind Button on 72 and his Brawn GP team-mate Brazilian Rubens Barrichello on 56 with five races remaining. Pole Robert Kubica was fourth for BMW Sauber ahead of his team-mate German Nick Heidfeld with Finn Heikki Kovalainen sixth for McLaren Mercedes. Barrichello was seventh, nursing his car stricken by an oil leak over the closing laps, and German Nico Rosberg eighth for Williams. Red Bull's Mark Webber finished ninth to drop back to fourth in the standings on 51.5 points. After the extraordinary drama of Saturday's qualifying session, the 44-laps race managed to produce even greater spectacle on the opening lap. Pole-sitting Fisichella made a clean start, but behind him mayhem took place as the field escaped from the La Source hairpin and raced through Eau Rouge and up the hill towards les Combs. In an initial incident, Raikkonen's Ferrari collided with Kubica's BMW, but this was just an appetizer for what lay ahead when, seconds later, the two rookies - Frenchman Romain Grosjean of Renault and Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari of Toro Rosso - collided with Button and Hamilton. All four were removed from the contest in a cloud of debris close to the trackside barriers, the two luckless Englishmen climbing unscathed from their cockpits shaking their heads in disbelief. Button said: "I got a very good start. I got past Lewis, I made up four places. As we were going down the straight through turn five, Grosjean out-braked himself. It is so frustrating to be taken out like that.'' Hamilton shrugged off his fate, commenting: "It's just one of those days. "I got off to a really bad start, the anti-stall kicked in. I tried to recover but I got hit at the first corner and lost a bit of my front wing. Then I saw Jenson and backed off to avoid it all, but got hit from behind.'' The safety car was sent out until lap five when, on the resumption, Raikkonen's Ferrari powered past Fisichella and into the lead amid wildfire paddock rumours that the veteran Italian would be joining the Finn in the Ferrari team in time for next month's Italian Grand Prix. On lap 14, Raikkonen, Fisichella, Webber and Heidfeld all pitted with Webber pulling out in front of the German and having to allow him to re-pass him out on the track. It cost him a drive-through penalty as Vettel took over in the lead before he pitted after 17 laps, handing the lead to Rosberg. Raikkonen held second ahead of an inspired Fisichella until Rosberg pitted after 18 laps and the Finn regained control. Both Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso were then forced to retire after respectively a jammed fuel rig and tyre problem. After 31 laps, the front pair were back into the pits together again with Raikkonen and Ferrari emerging back in front but with Fisichella pushing hard in second place. The Italian driver's pace was amazing everyone and Ferrari were struggling to pull clear with Vettel, third, enjoying a relative return to form for Red Bull after two pointless races. All of this left Raikkonen, revelling in his form on one of his favourite tracks, holding on to his narrow lead from Fisichella over the closing laps. Belgian Grand Prix Results 1. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/FER) 1hr 23min 50.995sec 2. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/FOR) +0.939 3. Sebastian Vettel (GER/RBR) 3.875 4. Robert Kubica (POL/BMW) 9.966 5. Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW) 11.276 6. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/MLA) 32.763 7. Rubens Barrichello (BRA/BRA) 35.461 8. Nico Rosberg (GER/WIL) 36.208 9. Mark Webber (AUS/RBR) 36.959 10. Timo Glock (GER/TOY) 41.490 11. Adrian Sutil (GER/FOR) 42.636 12. Sebastien Buemi (SUI/TOR) 46.106 13. Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/WIL) 54.241 14. Luca Badoer (ITA/FER) 1min 42.177 Not classified: Fernando Alonso (ESP/REN) 18 laps Jarno Trulli (ITA/TOY) 23 laps Jenson Button (ENG/BRA) 44 laps Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/TOR) 44 laps Romain Grosjean (FRA/REN) 44 laps Lewis Hamilton (ENG/MLA) 44 laps F1 Drivers Ladder Driver Team Pts 1 Jenson Button (GBR) Brawn 72 2 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Brawn 56 3 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 53 4 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 51.5 5 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 34 6 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 30.5 7 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 27 8 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 22.5 9 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 22 10 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 17 11 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 16 12 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 16 13 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 10 14 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 8 15 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 8 16 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 3 17 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 2 18 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 0 19 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 0 20 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 0 21 Luca Badoer (ITA) Ferrari 0 22 Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) Toro Rosso 0 23 Romain Grosjean (FRA) Renault 0 Team Pts 1 Brawn 128 2 Red Bull 104.5 3 Ferrari 56 4 McLaren 44 5 Toyota 38.5 6 Williams 30.5 7 BMW Sauber 18 8 Renault 16 9 Force India 8 10 Toro Rosso 5 |
Brawn's Rubens Barrichello wins Italian Grand Prix
September 13, 2009
Veteran Rubens Barrichello produced a beautifully-measured drive from fifth place on the grid to win the Italian Grand Prix ahead of his Brawn GP team-mate Jenson Button. The 37-year-old Brazilian made the most of his one-stop strategy and a fine start to finish 2.8 seconds ahead of the 29-year-old Englishman and endorse his challenge for the drivers' world championship. Australian Mark Webber had a disastrous day, retiring on the opening lap after tangling with Robert Kubica's BMW, but retained fourth place in the championship. Button, winner of six of the seven opening races of the season, remains on top with 80 points, but Barrichello is now second with 66 points, having cut his teammate's advantage from 16 to 14 points with just four races remaining. Defending world champion Briton Lewis Hamilton, who started from pole, looked certain to come home third for McLaren Mercedes, but crashed heavily at the Curva di Lesmo on the final lap and failed to finish. This left local hero Finn Kimi Raikkonen to take the third podium place for Ferrari ahead of German Adrian Sutil of Force India, two times champion Fernando Alonso, who was fifth for Renault, and Finn Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren. German Nick Heidfeld finished seventh for BMW Sauber and compatriot Sebastian Vettel eighth for Red Bull. Barrichello's win was his second this season and 11th in his long 284 races career, lifting him into a strong position to catch Button in this unpredictable season. The Brawn pair now looking certain to deliver the constructors championship to their eponymous team-chief Ross Brawn in the outfit's first season. The Monza fans had seen Hamilton make a perfect start from his 15th pole position and led the field down and through the Rettifilio Tribune, Raikkonen storming past Sutil into second place and Barrichello advancing from fifth to fourth. Hamilton continued his fast opening surge with a series of fastest laps before he pitted after 15 laps with a lead of more than seven seconds. On lap 17 Sutil pitted from second behind Raikkonen who in turn came in after a further two laps. All of this early action meant the drivers on a two-stop strategy were in command with the two Brawn GP cars in control, Barrichello ahead of Button by 2.4 seconds, with Hamilton third. Debutant Vitantonio Liuzzi, on a presumed one-stop strategy in the second Force India, was fourth at this stage ahead of Raikkonen and Alonso. Hamilton struggled to keep pace with the Brawns before their pit stops and the Force Indias were also proving a match for the Ferraris until, lucklessly, Liuzzi suffered a mechanical failure on lap 22 and joined the growing list of retirements. Button was the first Brawn to pit from second and a 12-seconds advantage on Hamilton after 28 laps with Barrichello following a lap later. With all of the leaders having pitted once, Hamilton led Raikkonen and Sutil ahead of Barrichello and Button, but the Briton's advantage was only 5.6 seconds. Hamilton made his second stop after 33 laps when he led by more than 16 seconds, but he rejoined fifth behind the two Brawn men. The two leaders, Raikkonen and Sutil then came in together after 36 laps, the Force India driver arriving with such velocity that he sent one mechanic flying. He appeared to be unhurt. Raikkonen seemed to stall before rejoining, gifting Sutil an opportunity he was unable to take. This left Barrichello leading ahead of Button by 5.4 seconds with Hamilton third a further 2.9 seconds adrift with 15 laps to go, with those placings remaining until Hamilton's last lap disaster. Italian Grand Prix Results 1. Rubens Barrichello (BRA/BRA) 1hr 16min 21.706sec 2. Jenson Button (ENG/BRA) +2.866 3. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/FER) 30.664 4. Adrian Sutil (GER/FOR) 31.131 5. Fernando Alonso (ESP/REN) 59.182 6. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/MLA) 1min 0.693 7. Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW) 1min 22.412 8. Sebastian Vettel (GER/RBR) 1min 25.407 9. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/FER) 1min 26.856 10. Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/WIL) 2min 42.163 11. Timo Glock (GER/TOY) 2min 43.925 12. Lewis Hamilton (ENG/MLA) 1 lap 13. Sebastien Buemi (SUI/TOR) 1 lap 14. Jarno Trulli (ITA/TOY) 1 lap 15. Romain Grosjean (FRA/REN) 1 lap 16. Nico Rosberg (GER/WIL) 2 laps Not classified: Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA/FOR) 31 laps Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/TOR) 34 laps Robert Kubica (POL/BMW) 37 laps Mark Webber (AUS/RBR) 53 laps F1 Drivers Ladder 1 Jenson Button (GBR) Brawn 80 2 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Brawn 66 3 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 54 4 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 51.5 5 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 40 6 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 30.5 7 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 27 8 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 22.5 9 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 22 10 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 20 11 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 20 12 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 16 13 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 12 14 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 8 15 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 8 16 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 5 17 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 3 18 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 2 19 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 0 20 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 0 21 Luca Badoer (ITA) Ferrari 0 22 Romain Grosjean (FRA) Renault 0 23 Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) Toro Rosso 0 24 Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Force India 0 Team Pts 1 Brawn 146 2 Red Bull 105.5 3 Ferrari 62 4 McLaren 47 5 Toyota 38.5 6 Williams 30.5 7 BMW Sauber 20 8 Renault 20 9 Force India 13 10 Toro Rosso 5 |
Lewis Hamilton wins Singapore Formula One Grand Prix
September 28, 2009
Lewis Hamilton produced a masterful drive to win Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix ahead of Timo Glock and Fernando Alonso as Jenson Button got more points on the board to shore up his championship lead. Starting from first on the grid, Hamilton led from start to finish in difficult driving conditions to take the chequered flag in his McLaren, 9.6 seconds ahead of the Toyota. It was his second win of the season, after Hungary, and the 11th of his career. Spain's Alonso, who won in Singapore last year in controversial circumstances when Nelson Piquet junior deliberately crashed, brought some cheer to Renault with a hard-fought third to make the podium again. It left Germany's Sebastien Vettel to take fourth but it could have been much better. The Red Bull driver was second and in a close-fought battle with Hamilton, but after pitting for a second time on lap 39, exited too quickly and incurred a drive-through penalty. At least he finished one place ahead of championship leader Button, but with just three races left the gap between the two is 25 points and Vettel's chances of catching the Briton are disappearing. Button now has 84 points with his Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello 15 behind after finishing sixth under the lights in Singapore. Vettel has 59 points and teammate Mark Webber remains fourth with 51.5, the Australian failing to finish the Singapore race. Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren finished seventh and BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica was eighth. The Brawn pair now look certain to deliver the constructors' championship to their eponymous team-chief Ross Brawn in the outfit's first season, with one of them being crowned world champion. The front row of the grid was always going to be decisive on the bumpy Marina Bay street circuit, where overtaking is difficult, and Hamilton made the most of starting on pole. Driving with aplomb and assurance on a track that demands precision, nerve, and confidence, he came through the opening corner scramble in prime position. Nico Rosberg got past Vettel to be in second and Alonso had a storming start, powering to fourth from fifth. But by the end of the first lap, the Spaniard was down to sixth with Webber and Glock getting past him. Button was up one place to 10th and Barrichello was seventh. Webber was subsequently asked by his team to move aside and let Glock and Alonso back past him as his overtaking move on that opening lap was deemed to be illegal as he marginally left the track. Hamilton and Rosberg were trading fastest times but by lap 10 the Briton was 2.2 seconds clear and over 10 seconds ahead of fourth-placed Glock. Vettel was the first to pit from third on lap 17, followed by Rosberg and Hamilton four laps later. It was bad re-entry by Rosberg, who clumsily bounced over a painted line on his exit and was handed a drive-through penalty. Just minutes later and Force India's Adrian Sutil spun and then slammed into Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber as he attempted to get going again, leaving the track littered with debris and forcing the safety car out. When they resumed, Hamilton only had a 0.5 second lead ahead of Rosberg, then Vettel, Glock and Alonso. Barrichello was sixth and Button was up to eighth. When Rosberg went in to serve his penalty the top 13 all moved up a place with the German dropping down to 14th. It set the scene for a dramatic second half of the race. Hamilton and Vettel pulled away from the pack and with less than a second separating them it looked like an exciting finish. But Vettel pitted again on lap 39 and pushed too hard coming out, speeding in the pit lane to be slapped with a drive-through penalty, ruining his night. Singapore Grand Prix Results 1. Lewis Hamilton (ENG/MLA) 1hr 56min 6.337sec 2. Timo Glock (GER/TOY) +9.634 3. Fernando Alonso (ESP/REN) 16.624 4. Sebastian Vettel (GER/RBR) 20.261 5. Jenson Button (ENG/BRA) 30.015 6. Rubens Barrichello (BRA/BRA) 31.858 7. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/MLA) 36.157 8. Robert Kubica (POL/BMW) 55.054 9. Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/WIL) 56.054 10. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/FER) 58.892 11. Nico Rosberg (GER/WIL) 59.777 12. Jarno Trulli (ITA/TOY) 1min 13.009 13. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/FER) 1min 19.890 14. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA/FOR) 1min 33.502 Not classified: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/TOR) 14 laps Sebastien Buemi (SUI/TOR) 14 laps Mark Webber (AUS/RBR) 16 laps Adrian Sutil (GER/FOR) 38 laps Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW) 42 laps Romain Grosjean (FRA/REN) 58 laps F1 Drivers Ladder F1 1 Jenson Button (GBR) Brawn 84 2 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Brawn 69 3 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 59 4 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 51.5 5 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 40 6 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 37 7 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 30.5 8 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 26 9 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 24 10 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 22.5 11 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 22 12 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 22 13 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 12 14 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 9 15 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 8 16 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 5 17 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 3 18 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 2 19 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 0 20 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 0 21 Luca Badoer (ITA) Ferrari 0 22 Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Force India 0 23 Romain Grosjean (FRA) Renault 0 24 Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) Toro Rosso 0 Team Pts 1 Brawn 153 2 Red Bull 110.5 3 Ferrari 62 4 McLaren 59 5 Toyota 46.5 6 Williams 30.5 7 Renault 26 8 BMW Sauber 21 9 Force India 13 10 Toro Rosso 5 |
Formula One team Ferrari confirm three-year deal with Fernando Alonso
October 01, 2009
Spain's two-time Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso has joined Ferrari for three years, commencing in 2010. A Ferrari statement confirmed that Alonso, 28, will line up with Brazilian Felipe Massa with Giancarlo Fisichella in the role of reserve driver. "I'm very happy and proud to become a Ferrari driver. Driving the prancing Horse represents a dream for everyone who does this job and now I have the good fortune to be able to realise that,'' Alonso said. "Already in the summer he had reached an understanding for 2011 but then over the last few days the picture of the situation changed and we decided to bring forward the switch to Maranello by a year. "The last few years at Renault were fantastic, together we managed to win four titles (two drivers' and two constructors') and so far 21 Grand Prix races. "I wish the team all the luck possible and I hope we can put together some good results in the last races of this season. "After that all my energies will be focussed on next season: I'm sure that together with Felipe we'll be able to give great satisfaction to Ferrari and to their fans all over the world." The Ferrari statement did not reveal the value of the three-year deal although media reports have estimated Alono's salary at €25 million ($36 million) a season. After winning the drivers' championship with Renault in 2005 and 2006, Alonso spent an unhappy year with McLaren before returning to French constructor Renault last year. He will become the second Spanish driver to race for the prancing horse following Alfonso De Portago who competed for the Italians from 1956 to 1957. Alonso began his F1 career with Minardi in 2001 before moving to Renault as test driver the next season. In 2003 he became a Renault driver and secured his first pole and won his first race during his debut season for the French team. Speculation had been rife in the Formula One paddock of an impending move by Alonso to Ferrari with Raikkonen moving on to McLaren. Renault was expected to confirm that Polish driver Robert Kubica will lead its team in 2010. Raikkonen admitted it would be a wrench to leave Ferrari. "With common consent, we have agreed to terminate the contract binding me to Ferrari to the end of 2010, one year ahead of schedule,'' he said in the Ferrari statement. "I am very sad to be leaving a team with which I have spent three fantastic years, during which time I won plenty of races. "Together, we have won 50 percent of the world titles in that period and I managed to take the Drivers' title in 2007, thus achieving the target I had set myself at the start of my career. "I have always felt at home with everyone here and I will have many happy memories of my time with the team.'' |
Mark Webber reflects on another missed opportunity at Japanese GP
October 04, 2009
Australian Mark Webber was left to rue missing out on a taste of champagne Sunday after another difficult and pointless race saw him finish at the back of the field in Japan The Red Bull driver had the same car as his victorious teammate German Sebastian Vettel, but instead of jumping on the podium at the finish, he was left to reflect on another missed opportunity. "It would have been nice to have had some champagne today, which clearly I was in a position to do with the car I had - and the pace I showed in the race," he said. "It's not nice to not have any momentum at the moment, and all I can do is dust myself down and go to Brazil. "I'll be a furious man if I finish the season on 51.5 points - I can't get off that (number) now after accumulating so many (points) so fast. Seb has scored 20 in the last five races, and I've scored none." Looking back on a year that saw him emerge as a possible championship challenger and then fade away, he said: "It's clearly been a very good season for us. "A lot of the rules and regulations carry on to next year except the fuelling, so there's no reason why our car can't be good next year as well." His crash on Saturday meant he started Sunday's race from the pit lane. Then he experienced a series of misfortunes that put paid to any hopes of a decent finish. "The first lap, the head rest came loose, to a point that I had to pit straight away as the turbulence in the cockpit was way too much for me," he said. "The second lap, the same thing happened, so I pitted again. I went back out again, and on my first timed lap, I got a puncture on the front right. So I had to pit again. And then we started the race - on lap five. "But my pace was good with the fuel we had and I did everything that was asked of me in the race. But when you start four laps down, you don't get anything." Japan GP Results 1. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull) 1h 28 mins 20.443 secs. 2. Jarno Trulli (ITA/Toyota) at 4.877 3. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren) at 6.472 4. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) at 7.940 5. Nico Rosberg (GER/Williams) at 8.793 6. Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW Sauber) at 9.509 7. Rubens Barrichello (BRA/Brawn) at 10.641 8. Jenson Button (GBR/Brawn) at 11.474 9. Robert Kubica (POL/BMW Sauber) at 11.777 10. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Renault) at 13.065 11. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/McLaren) at 13.735 12. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/Ferrari) at 14.596 13. Adrian Sutil (GER/Force India) at 14.959 14. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA/Force India) at 15.734 15. Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/Williams) at 17.973 16. Romain Grosjean (FRA/Renault) at 1 lap 17. Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull) at 2 laps Retirements Sebastien Buemi (SWI/Toro Rosso) - lap 12 Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/Toro Rosso) - lap 44 F1 Drivers Ladder 1 Jenson Button (GBR) Brawn 85 2 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Brawn 71 3 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 69 4 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 51.5 5 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 45 6 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 43 7 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 34.5 8 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 30.5 9 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 26 10 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 24 11 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 22 12 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 22 13 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 15 14 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 9 15 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 8 16 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 5 17 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 3 18 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 2 19 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 0 20 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 0 21 Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Force India 0 22 Luca Badoer (ITA) Ferrari 0 23 Romain Grosjean (FRA) Renault 0 24 Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) Toro Rosso 0 Team Pts 1 Brawn 156 2 Red Bull 120.5 3 Ferrari 67 4 McLaren 65 5 Toyota 54.5 6 Williams 34.5 7 Renault 26 8 BMW Sauber 24 9 Force India 13 10 Toro Rosso 5 |
Congratulations to Mark Webber for winning his 2nd F1 race and what a 24 hours for Aussies in Motorsport Stoner & Webber Quinella. Also Congrats to Jenson Button on winning F1 championship. GO MARK WEBBER !!!!!!
Courtesy of Fox Sports.com.au Mark Webber wins Brazilian GP, Jenson Button secures first world title October 19, 2009 Australian Mark Webber has claimed the Brazilian Grand Prix, the second race win of his career, while Jenson Button sealed his first world title on in action-packed day in Sao Paulo. Webber, in a Red Bull, won comfortably ahead of Pole Robert Kubica in a BMW Sauber and third-placed outgoing drivers' champion Briton Lewis Hamilton in a McLaren Mercedes. German Sebastian Vettel, in the second Red Bull, was fourth ahead of Button with Finn Kimi Raikkonen sixth for Ferrari. Swiss Sebastien Buemi of Toro Rosso was seventh and the luckless local hero Rubens Barrichello, in the second Brawn, eighth after starting from pole position. He suffered from heavy traffic and then a late puncture that wrecked his hopes of glory. Button, who has led the championship all season after winning the opening Australian Grand Prix in March, had started 14th on the grid, but drove with courage and determination to achieve his goal and send the Brawn GP team into wild celebration. "We are the champions," Button sang out of key from his cockpit after crossing the finishing line and capturing the title with one race to spare. Later the 29-year-old told the BBC: "It's really amazing especially after the last few weeks. It was such an awesome race - I'm world champion baby! "When I first jumped in a car 21 years ago I never expected to be world champion - but we did it today." Button's success ensured also that the Brawn team, created out of the ashes of the defunct Honda team last winter, also clinched the constructors' world championship. "It's very special," said team boss Ross Brawn, who paid tribute to Button and also former company workers who were laid off in the team's reorganisation. "The work over the winter was sensational and I give all my thanks to all the people who couldn't be with us and who had to leave. "The second half of the season was hard but it was a great race today. Jenson knew what he had to do." While it was Button's season, it was Webber's day. His success didn't come without incident, however. Barrichello made a fine clean start to lead, but behind him Raikkonen attacked hard on super-soft tyres and KERS on his Ferrari, jumping to third through the Senna S curves before grazing Webber's Red Bull. Jarno Trulli of Toyota was also in the wars, colliding with Adrian Sutil's Force India. Both went off and took two-times world champion Fernando Alonso out with them in his Renault. Trulli was so furious he confronted Sutil as soon as they had climbed from their cars and the pair, with their racing uniforms and helmets on, were seen gesticulating and shouting as their cars were rescued. All this resulted in a safety car being required and Heikki Kovlainen of McLaren, who had spun on the opening lap, was swiftly into the pits, but exited prematurely with a fuel hose still attached to his car and petrol pouring from it. This flew into Raikkonen's car, which briefly burst into flames as the fuel hit the exhaust system. The safety car came in after five laps with Button benefiting from the mayhem and advancing to ninth from 14th. Given this encouragement, he then settled down to produce a series of aggressive laps and dashing passing moves as he swooped past Romain Grosjean's Renault for eighth and then Kazuki Nakajima's Williams for seventh. At the front, Barrichello led by 1.8 seconds ahead of Webber and the field closing up rapidly before the Brazilian pitted after 21 laps. This left Webber clear in front of the field and he made the most of it when Barrichello rejoined in heavy traffic in eighth place, one ahead of Vettel who overtook him. The first round of pit stops saw Button move up to second and briefly lead having passed the troublesome Kamui Kobayashi of Toyota. Webber pitted after 26 laps, but rejoined ahead of Button with his heavily-fuelled Red Bull. Button pitted after 30 laps and rejoined 11th. More drama came on lap 31 when Nakajima crashed off at the end of the straight, upset by the illegal weaving of Kobayashi. Vettel then pitted after 38 laps and came out behind Button who, thanks to the one-stoppers' stops, climbed to fourth by lap 45 when the order was Webber, Kubica, Barrichello, Button and Vettel. Button, however, needed to take a second pit stop and this came with 16 laps left. He moved up to sixth and within reach of seizing the title, a prospect that was enhanced with eight laps to go when Barrichello was forced to pit with a puncture to his left rear tyre, following a minor collision with Hamilton. With the carnage behind him, Webber kept his nerves in check to cruise over the line in first position. Brazilian GP Results 1. Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull) 1h32:23.081 2. Robert Kubica (POL/BMW Sauber) at 7.626 3. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren) at 18.944 4. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull) at 19.652 5. Jenson Button (GBR/Brawn) at 29.005 6. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) at 33.340 7. Sbastien Buemi (SWI/Toro Rosso) at 35.991 8. Rubens Barrichello (BRA/Brawn) at 45.454 9. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/McLaren) at 48.499 10. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Toyota) at 1:03.324 11. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/Ferrari) at 1:10.665 12. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA/Force India) at 1:11.388 13. Romain Grosjean (FRA/Renault) at 1 lap 14. Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/Toro Rosso) at 1 lap Retirements Fernando Alonso (ESP/Renault): accident 2nd lap Adrian Sutil (GER/Force India): accident 2nd lap Jarno Trulli (ITA/Toyota): accident 2nd lap Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW Sauber): accident 22bd lap Nico Rosberg (GER/Williams): mechanical problem 28th lap Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/Williams): accident 31st lap F1 Drivers Ladder Driver Team Pts 1 Jenson Button (GBR) Brawn 89 2 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 74 3 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Brawn 72 4 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 61.5 5 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 49 6 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 48 7 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 34.5 8 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 30.5 9 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 26 10 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 24 11 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 22 12 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 22 13 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 17 15 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 8 15 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 14 16 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 5 17 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 5 18 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 2 19 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 0 20 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 0 22 Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Force India 0 23 Romain Grosjean (FRA) Renault 0 24 Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) Toro Rosso 0 25 Luca Badoer (ITA) Ferrari 0 Team Pts 1 Brawn 161 2 Red Bull 135.5 3 McLaren 71 4 Ferrari 70 5 Toyota 54.5 6 Williams 34.5 7 BMW Sauber 32 8 Renault 26 9 Force India 13 10 Toro Rosso 7 |
Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber finish one-two for Red Bull in Abu Dhabi
November 02, 2009
Australian Mark Webber rounded out his best Formula One season by finishing second behind Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel at the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Red Bull pair took full advantage of the early retirement of pole-sitting Briton Lewis Hamilton with brake problems on his McLaren Mercedes to claim their fourth one-two result of the season. Webber endured a tense tussle with world champion Jenson Button over the closing laps but held on to secure his eighth podium finish of the season, which included wins in Germany and Brazil. It completed a remarkable year for the Australian after his pre-season preparations were hampered by broken leg sustained in cycling accident. "I just want to congratulate the team for their patience with me at the start of the year coming back from what happened," Webber said after the race. "It's been my best season and we (he and Vettel) have had sixteen podiums together so it's been good." The results confirmed that Vettel finished the season as runner-up in the drivers' championship behind Button, with Rubens Barrichello third and Webber fourth. Red Bull also proved they were more than worthy of finishing second to Brawn in the teams' championship. In a race that started in late afternoon sunshine, but finished under dazzling floodlights, Barrichello finished fourth in his expected last outing for Brawn. German Nick Heidfeld marked his last race for the departing Sauber BMW team, which is leaving Formula One, by taking fifth ahead of Japanese Kamui Kobayashi, who secured his first points in Formula One in a Toyota in only his second race after replacing the injured Timo Glock. Italian veteran Jarno Trulli finished seventh for Toyota and Swiss Sebastien Buemi, who was 21 on Saturday, took the final point in eighth place for Toro Rosso. Hamilton, who was smartly out of the blocks to establish a solid early lead, retired on lap 20 with McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh indicating his car appeared to have a brake problem. "I was struggling to stop the car," said outgoing world champion Hamilton. "The right rear brake wasn't working and it was too dangerous to continue," Hamilton said. F1GP - Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 15 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 01:34:03.4140 2 14 Mark Webber Red Bull 01:34:21.2140 3 22 Jenson Button Brawn 01:34:21.8140 4 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn 01:34:26.1140 5 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 01:34:29.6140 6 10 Kamui Kobayashi Toyota 01:34:31.7140 7 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 01:34:37.7140 8 12 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 01:34:44.6140 9 16 Nico Rosberg Williams 01:34:49.3140 10 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 01:34:51.5140 11 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren 01:34:56.1140 12 4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 01:34:57.7140 13 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams 01:35:03.2140 14 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 01:35:13.0140 15 21 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India 01:35:47.8140 16 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari +1 Lap 17 20 Adrian Sutil Force India +1 Lap 18 8 Romain Grosjean Renault +1 Lap 19 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren DNF 20 11 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso DNF Driver Team Pts 1 Jenson Button (GBR) Brawn 95 2 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 84 3 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Brawn 77 4 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 69.5 5 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 49 6 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 48 7 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 34.5 8 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 32.5 9 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 26 10 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 24 11 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 22 12 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 22 13 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 19 14 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 17 15 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 8 16 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 6 17 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 5 18 Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) Toyota 3 19 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 2 20 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 0 21 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 0 22 Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Force India 0 23 Romain Grosjean (FRA) Renault 0 24 Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) Toro Rosso 0 25 Luca Badoer (ITA) Ferrari 0 Team Pts 1 Brawn 172 2 Red Bull 153.5 3 McLaren 71 4 Ferrari 70 5 Toyota 59.5 6 BMW Sauber 36 7 Williams 34.5 8 Renault 26 9 Force India 13 10 Toro Rosso 8 |
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso wins opening Formula One Grand Prix in Bahrain
March 15, 2010 Fernando Alonso rolled back the years for Ferrari on Sunday, dedicating his Bahrain Grand Prix victory to the Italian giants' staff and fans who endured a miserable 2009 season. With Felipe Massa in second spot, it was Ferrari's first one-two in an opening race since 2004 in Australia where Alonso was third for Renault behind Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. The Spaniard's relentless precision and his sheer ambition on his debut have re-motivated the team and ignited Italian passions again following a memorable show that has wiped away all the bad memories of 2009. Last season it took Ferrari until the 12th of the 17 races to record a victory and they endured their worst start to a season in F1 history. No wonder Alonso dedicated his win to the long-suffering men and women back in Maranello - and loyal president Luca di Montezemolo. It was the team's first one-two since the 2008 French Grand Prix and a landmark triumph delivered in front of Schumacher who upset many Italians by coming out of retirement to race for German rivals Mercedes. The seven-time world champion finished sixth. "This is a very special day for me," he said. "But in the end it is the start, not the finish. Now is not the time to celebrate, but to push harder. "It is always great to be on top of the podium, but even more special with Ferrari. We have history behind the team and all the expectations a driver has when he drives for Ferrari. "There is no better way to start our relationship. This is the best team in the world, we worked hard all winter, the guys did a very good job in winter testing. "We have done nothing so far - we only won the first race, but to be first and second is the result that the guys in Maranello deserve because they have been working day and night to give us this fantastic car." Alonso added: "I always say the same thing, the first three or four races of the championship are not crucial for anything, you just need some solid points for the team, to get used to the regulations, the tyres, the races themselves. "There are now more points but this first part is not the crucial part of the championship." Massa, racing for the first time since his horror crash in Hungary last year, said: "It is just fantastic to be here with a competitive car and going through the whole race with good pace -- so thanks to God I am fine and thanks to everybody who was supporting me in a difficult time." F1 Drivers Ladder Driver Team Pts 1 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 25 2 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 18 3 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 15 4 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 12 5 Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes GP 10 6 Michael Schumacher (GER) Mercedes GP 8 7 Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren 6 8 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 4 9 Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Force India 2 10 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Williams 1 11 Robert Kubica (POL) Renault 0 12 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 0 13 Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) Toro Rosso 0 14 Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Williams 0 15 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 0 16 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 0 17 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Lotus 0 18 Pedro de la Rosa (ESP) BMW Sauber 0 19 Bruno Senna (BRA) HRTF1 0 20 Timo Glock (GER) Virgin 0 21 Vitaly Petrov (RUS) Renault 0 22 Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) BMW Sauber 0 23 Lucas di Grassi (BRA) Virgin 0 24 Karun Chandhok (IND) HRTF1 0 Team Pts 1 Ferrari 43 2 McLaren 21 3 Mercedes GP 18 4 Red Bull 16 5 Force India 2 6 Williams 1 7 Renault 0 8 Toro Rosso 0 9 Lotus 0 10 BMW Sauber 0 11 HRTF1 0 12 Virgin 0 |
Jenson Button wins Australian Grand Prix, Mark Webber ninth
March 28, 2010
A brave gamble paid off for Formula One world champion Jenson Button as he seized his second straight Australian Grand Prix - but for Mark Webber the hoodoo still haunts him. Button, driving in just his second race for new team McLaren, cruised to a 12-second win over Poland's Robert Kubica in a Renault with the Ferrari of Brazilian Felipe Massa third. Webber, who started from second place on the grid with his best chance for a hometown victory to date, clashed twice with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, limping home in a dismal ninth spot. His fifth on debut in 2002 remains his highest finish at home in nine starts, but he was defiant afterwards saying he "went down fighting." "I wanted to get on the podium...I hope the fans were impressed with the way I fought," Webber said. As the track began to dry the choice of tyres became critical as all teams started on intermediate wet weather rubber. Webber pitted later than his rivals and rejoined the field in sixth before tangling with Hamilton on lap 16 and dropping to eighth, his race effectively over. Any slim chance he had of making the podium evaporated when he and Hamilton again clashed on the second last lap. Hamilton was clearly not impressed despite Webber issuing a post-race apology. "I think that was one of the drives of my life, but unfortunately due to the strategy I was put further back than I deserved and then I was taken out by Mark Webber," the former world champion said. Hamilton said that second collision with Webber was not his fault and blamed the Australian for hitting him from behind, costing him a higher finish. "My move was not the trouble, I was not at fault and I could have cut back and got past Fernando Alonso, but Mark was not thinking clearly and he took us out," he said. "Really, it was not cool. I think we could have had a one-two today." Hamilton’s teammate Jenson Button survived a chaotic opening in steady drizzle when he clashed with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard spinning off seconds after the start. Button then rolled the dice and selected slick tyres, before driving to victory – though he originally thought the tyre decision was “catastrophic.” "It's a lot easier for the driver to feel the conditions and for me I didn't have a balance at all on the inters - I was really struggling and I lost a couple of places so I thought, let's get in and stick the slicks on," Button said. "There was a dry line, a few places were a little bit wet, but when I went into the pit lane I thought I'd made a catastrophic mistake because it was soaking wet in the pit lane. "But once I got it going and up to speed the pace was pretty good and I was able to put in some good laps and overtake three or four cars when they stopped and put their tyres on. "It was the right call and I'm very happy that made it," he said. Button steadily made his way through the field and inherited the lead when Vettel produced a rare unforced error and slid off on lap 26 while holding a five second lead. Button sent out a clear warning to the field after his victory. "It's a very special feeling and I feel that I'm just building in confidence and hopefully when we get to the next race we can do something similar because this was too good," he said. However the 5pm (EDT) start again came under scrutiny. Earlier in the week leading drivers complained about the glare from the setting sun last year, with Kubica calling the situation "extremely dangerous." But it was the lack of light which was the problem on Sunday, according to Button. "One thing that was pretty tricky in this race was the light," Button said "I had a clear visor on at the end of the race and I was struggling to see in the last few laps. "It seemed a lot darker than last year...that might be something we need to look at a little bit," he said. Australian Grand Prix Results 1. Jenson Button (ENG/MLA) 1hr 33min 36.531sec 2. Robert Kubica (POL/REN) +12.034 3. Felipe Massa (BRA/FER) 14.488 4. Fernando Alonso (ESP/FER) 16.304 5. Nico Rosberg (GER/MER) 16.683 6. Lewis Hamilton (ENG/MLA) 29.898 7. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA/FOR) 59.847 8. Rubens Barrichello (BRA/WIL) 1min 0.536 9. Mark Webber (AUS/RBR) 1min 7.319 10. Michael Schumacher (GER/MER) 1min 9.391 11. Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/TOR) 1min 11.301 12. Pedro de la Rosa (ESP/SAU) 1min 14.084 13. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/LOT) 2 laps 14. Karun Chandhok (IND/HRT) 5 laps Not classified: Timo Glock (GER/VIR) 17 laps Lucas Di Grassi (BRA/VIR) 32 laps Sebastian Vettel (GER/RBR) 33 laps Adrian Sutil (GER/FOR) 49 laps Vitaly Petrov (RUS/REN) 49 laps Bruno Senna (BRA/HRT) 54 laps Sebastien Buemi (SUI/TOR) 58 laps Nico Hulkenberg (GER/WIL) 58 laps Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/SAU) 58 laps Jarno Trulli (ITA/LOT) 58 laps F1 Drivers Ladder 1 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 39 2 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 37 3 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 37 4 Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren 35 5 Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes GP 35 6 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 31 7 Robert Kubica (POL) Renault 30 8 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 24 9 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 10 10 Michael Schumacher (GER) Mercedes GP 9 11 Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Force India 8 12 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Williams 5 13 Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) Toro Rosso 2 14 Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Williams 1 15 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 0 16 Pedro de la Rosa (ESP) BMW Sauber 0 17 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 0 18 Karun Chandhok (IND) HRTF1 0 19 Lucas di Grassi (BRA) Virgin 0 20 Bruno Senna (BRA) HRTF1 0 21 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Lotus 0 22 Timo Glock (GER) Virgin 0 23 Vitaly Petrov (RUS) Renault 0 24 Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) BMW Sauber 0 Team Pts 1 Ferrari 76 2 McLaren 66 3 Red Bull 61 4 Mercedes GP 44 5 Renault 30 6 Force India 18 7 Williams 6 8 Toro Rosso 2 9 BMW Sauber 0 10 Lotus 0 11 HRTF1 0 12 Virgin 0 |
Mark Webber finishes second at Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix
April 04, 2010
Australia's Mark Webber has rounded out a Red Bull one-two the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix, finishing second to German teammate Sebastian Vettel. Vettel took the chequered flag in dry conditions ahead Webber with Nico Rosberg in a Mercedes third. Reigning world champion Jenson Button, who won the second race of the season in Australia, finished eighth in his McLaren-Mercedes. As the anticipated tropical downpour failed to materialise, the 56-lap race was run in dry conditions that were clearly to the Red Bulls' liking as they streaked clear from the start to dominate an intriguing contest. Vettel took the lead on lap one when he outpaced his teammate and, apart from short periods during the pit-stops, stayed there to the chequered flag. It was his sixth career win and lifted him into contention for the title after he and Webber had suffered car failings and disappointment in the season opening Bahrain and Australia races. Vettel had pole for both of those races but failed to take advantage. "It was anything but comfortable," Vettel said of a race driven in dry conditions, but searing tropical heat. "I had a great start and a big battle with Mark and I just made it. We have big respect for each other and we had a great fight. It was so hot I was hoping it would rain. "It was a great race for us, for the team, and a great result for the team after the last two races when we just didn't get the results we wanted." Webber, clearly disappointed, stood with hands on hips on the podium, but shrugged aside his feelings. "I had some wheel-spin at the start and I didn't know where Nico (Rosberg) was either," he said. "We had a chat before it started and (team boss) Christian Horner said 'behave yourselves' which we did, but the spirit in this team is awesome. "It was a great fight and a one-two is sensational for the team after those first two races where we didn't get what we deserved." German Nico Rosberg, who started second on the grid behind Webber, came home third for the new Mercedes team, but his celebrated 41-year-old teammate Michael Schumacher retired having lost a wheel nut after only eight laps. Poland's Robert Kubica was fourth for Renault, another fine result after his second place in Melbourne, ahead of German Adrian Sutil of Force India. Sutil held off Briton Lewis Hamilton of McLaren in a close duel for much of the race. Hamilton finished sixth, after starting 20th, following an exhilarating drive through the field which left him fending off a chasing Brazilian Felipe Massa of Ferrari in the final laps. Massa was seventh, Button was eighth and Spaniard Jaime Alguerasurari ninth for Toro Rosso ahead of rookie Nico Hulkenberg in a Williams who claimed his first point in Formula One. Almost amazingly, after Saturday's tropical storms that disrupted qualifying, the race was run in dry conditions and searing heat. "Well done boys, thank you all, thank you boys," shrieked a relieved Vettel on his slowing down lap. "What a fantastic car." Two-times world champion Fernando Alonso pushed hard to claim points after starting close to the back of the field with Hamilton, Button and Massa, but his engine blew in the final laps. F1 Drivers Ladder 1 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 39 2 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 37 3 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 37 4 Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren 35 5 Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes GP 35 6 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 31 7 Robert Kubica (POL) Renault 30 8 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 24 9 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 10 10 Michael Schumacher (GER) Mercedes GP 9 11 Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Force India 8 12 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Williams 5 13 Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) Toro Rosso 2 14 Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Williams 1 15 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 0 16 Pedro de la Rosa (ESP) BMW Sauber 0 17 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 0 18 Karun Chandhok (IND) HRTF1 0 19 Lucas di Grassi (BRA) Virgin 0 20 Bruno Senna (BRA) HRTF1 0 21 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Lotus 0 22 Timo Glock (GER) Virgin 0 23 Vitaly Petrov (RUS) Renault 0 24 Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) BMW Sauber 0 Team Pts 1 Ferrari 76 2 McLaren 66 3 Red Bull 61 4 Mercedes GP 44 5 Renault 30 6 Force India 18 7 Williams 6 8 Toro Rosso 2 9 BMW Sauber 0 10 Lotus 0 11 HRTF1 0 12 Virgin 0 |
Jenson Button leads home McLaren one-two in Chinese Grand Prix
April 18, 2010
Defending champion Jenson Button delivered a perfectly-judged drive in treacherous wet conditions to win a dramatic Chinese Grand Prix ahead of his McLaren team-mate, Lewis Hamilton. The two British drivers delivered their first one-two of the season in sumptuous style to prove that though the Red Bull team may have the fastest car for qualifying, they retain great race performance. The two Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, who had scored a one-two in Malaysia two weeks ago, came home sixth and eighth. Button's triumph in a winning time of one hour, 46 minutes and 42.163 seconds was his second in four races since joining McLaren this season and the ninth of his career. His early decision not to pit for intermediate tyres, when others acted hastily during an early rainstorm proved decisive. It lifted him 10 points clear at the top of this year's drivers' championship ahead of Nico Rosberg, who finished third for the new Mercedes team. Rosberg's veteran team-mate and compatriot, 41-year-old seven-times champion Michael Schumacher, struggled home 10th to claim a single point. "Wow, what a victory! What a win!'' screamed Button over the team radio during his slowing-down lap. "We really earned that one. Well done everybody.'' "When the safety car came out to clear debris from the track, my heart was in my mouth. This victory is very special, it means a lot. It was a tough race and we made the right call,'' he said later. If Button demonstrated smooth style, perfect skills and great management of tyres, it was Hamilton who produced the thrills in a race punctuated by rain storms, accidents and two safety car periods by charging through the field in a flurry of passing moves. Hamilton was also involved in a dramatic pit-lane wheel-to-wheel racing duel with Vettel, an incident that was due to be investigated after the race by the stewards. "The team released me at what they thought was the right time. I got quite a bit of wheel-spin when I left and I noticed Sebastian was there and he pushed me a little to the right. But I think it was OK,'' he said. The two Red Bulls started from the front row of the grid, but lost their advantage almost immediately when, after Alonso had jumped the start, the first Safety Car call was followed by rain. Webber said Red Bull were unable to cope with the strategic and racing demands of the race. "We got blown away, so it was a very difficult Grand Prix for us. We just weren't quick enough, simple as that. We know we have to improve that,'' he said. "They were difficult, changeable conditions, but they are the same for everyone and the car, our car, is sensitive in these conditions. It is not going one way or the other for you... An interesting Grand Prix!'' "I think we know where we lost it and we have got to improve it. '' Red Bull have dominated qualifying this season in all four races and taken four pole positions, but their race results have not followed and they have won only once. The result gave McLaren their first one-two finish since the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in 2001. Button now leads the title race on 60 points ahead of Rosberg on 50 with Alonso and Hamilton equal third on 49. Result 1. Jenson Button (ENG/MLA) 1hr 46min 42.163sec 2. Lewis Hamilton (ENG/MLA) +1.530 3. Nico Rosberg (GER/MER) 9.484 4. Fernando Alonso (ESP/FER) 11.869 5. Robert Kubica (POL/REN) 22.213 6. Sebastian Vettel (GER/RBR) 33.310 7. Vitaly Petrov (RUS/REN) 47.600 8. Mark Webber (AUS/RBR) 52.172 9. Felipe Massa (BRA/FER) 57.796 10. Michael Schumacher (GER/MER) 1min 1.749 11. Adrian Sutil (GER/FOR) 1min 2.874 12. Rubens Barrichello (BRA/WIL) 1min 3.665 13. Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/TOR) 1min 11.416 14. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/LOT) 1 lap 15. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/WIL) 1 lap 16. Bruno Senna (BRA/HRT) 2 laps 17. Karun Chandhok (IND/HRT) 4 laps Driver Team Pts 1 Jenson Button (GBR) Lotus 60 2 Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes GP 50 3 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 49 4 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Lotus 49 5 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 45 6 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 41 7 Robert Kubica (POL) Renault 40 8 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 28 9 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 10 10 Michael Schumacher (GER) Mercedes GP 10 11 Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Force India 8 12 Vitaly Petrov (RUS) Renault 6 13 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Williams 5 14 Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) Toro Rosso 2 15 Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Williams 1 16 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 0 17 Pedro de la Rosa (ESP) BMW Sauber 0 18 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) Lotus 0 19 Karun Chandhok (IND) HRTF1 0 20 Lucas di Grassi (BRA) Virgin 0 21 Bruno Senna (BRA) HRTF1 0 22 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Lotus 0 23 Timo Glock (GER) Virgin 0 24 Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) BMW Sauber 0 Team Pts 1 Lotus 109 2 Ferrari 90 3 Red Bull 73 4 Mercedes GP 60 5 Renault 46 6 Force India 18 7 Williams 6 8 Toro Rosso 2 9 BMW Sauber 0 10 Lotus 0 11 HRTF1 0 12 Virgin 0 |
Formula 1? - The Official F1? Website
Faultless Webber wins with style in Spain Mark Webber drove the race of his life in Barcelona on Sunday afternoon, leaving Red Bull team mate Sebastian Vettel behind on the way to the third Grand Prix victory of his career. The Australian won the race to the first corner as Vettel tucked into second place ahead of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, and steadily set the pace as he pulled away. By the time they had all made their first pit stops, Webber was more than nine seconds ahead of Hamilton, who had outfumbled Vettel in the tyre changes. The German got held up waiting for Alonso to come by to his pit, and then Hamilton went one lap longer than Red Bull had expected. As Lewis rejoined, Sebastian was heading for the outside line into Turn One, but as Hamilton had to jink round one of the Virgins which was hugging the inside line to let them go, Vettel had to run wide into the run-off area and that cemented Hamilton’s position. As Webber controlled things at the front, Hamilton drove like a demon to keep Vettel at bay, while further back Alonso established himself in a comfortable fourth ahead of a three-way scrap for fifth between the rejuvenated Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes, McLaren’s Jenson Button (who had lost out to the German in the stops) and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. While there was always the threat that something might shake out of these various groups, there wasn’t much action as stalemates set in, and it was not until Vettel ran wide in the Turn Seven esses on the 54th lap that things came to life. The German pitted at the end of the lap for a fresh set of Bridgestone’s soft tyres, but thereafter never set the pace that might have been expected of fresh rubber, suggesting that his RB6’s handling problems were more serious than worn rubber. It transpired that the balance was never good, and that subsequently the brakes had lost their edge. He was lucky to drop only to fourth behind Alonso, and another slice of fortune awaited him as, 10 laps later, Hamilton’s left front Bridgestone gave up and sent him into the wall in Turn Three. That was a bitter blow for the Englishman, after a fantastic drive in which he had really taken the fight to the Red Bulls. Now Alonso was second, and as Vettel claimed the final podium position, Schumacher led a beaten Button home with Massa sixth. Adrian Sutil drove a great race for Force India to claim seventh after resisting huge pressure from Renault’s Robert Kubica, who lost out at the start in a collision which sent BMW Sauber’s Pedro de la Rosa to the pits with a tattered right rear tyre. Behind them, Rubens Barrichello put in a superb performance for Williams to move from 17th on the grid to ninth place, and Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari claimed a point at home despite a drive-through penalty for clobbering Karun Chandhok’s HRT in an odd accident in which the Spaniard passed the Indian but turned in well before he’d cleared his car. Chandhok subsequently lost his front wing but retired with associated damage after pitting for a replacement. With HRT’s Bruno Senna crashing in Turn Four on the opening lap, it wasn’t a great outing for the Spanish team. Renault’s Vitaly Petrov and BMW Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi finished 11th and 12th, separated by eight-tenths of a second after a race-long scrap, while Nico Rosberg was a lowly 13th after getting bundled back in the infighting on the first lap and later having a bungled pit stop which required his Mercedes to be pushed back to its pit for a wheel to be retightened. Hamilton was classified 14th ahead of Vitantonio Liuzzi, who had an oversteering afternoon in a Force India that stopped out on the track on the last lap. Then came Nico Hulkenberg who had several good fights before losing ground in the second Williams. Three laps down, Jarno Trulli took a narrow ‘new teams’ victory for Lotus with Timo Glock challenging him all the way for Virgin and finishing only 1.4s adrift. Team mate Lucas di Grassi was a further lap down, the final finisher in 19th. Sebastien Buemi had a poor start and was later given a drive-through penalty after Toro Rosso released him into Trulli’s path. He was the final retirement after Chandhok. De la Rosa didn’t make it either, thanks to the damage sustained early on; Senna crashed; and Heikki Kovalainen was denied a start after his Lotus developed mechanical problems on the grid formation lap. Thanks to the revised points system, Webber’s victory throws him back into contention again. Button still leads the drivers’ championship with 70 points, followed by Alonso on 67, Vettel on 60, Webber on 53, Rosberg on 50, and Hamilton and Massa on 49. McLaren still lead the constructors’ with 119, with Ferrari second on Ferrari 116 from Red Bull on 113, Mercedes GP on 72 and Renault on 50. |
Webber leads F1 Championship - Formula One - Fox Sports
Australian Mark Webber leads Formula One Championship after Monaco win May 17, 2010 A delighted, but modest Mark Webber paid rich tribute to his Red Bull team after leaping into serious contention for this year's drivers' championship with a dominant display in an incident-hit Monaco Grand Prix. The 33-year-old Australian led from his fourth pole to the finish and made light of four interruptions for the introduction of Safety Cars on his way to a second win after Spain last weekend. He finished, unchallenged, half a second ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel as the Red Bulls delivered their third successive one-two and fourth in six races this year, this time ahead of Pole Robert Kubica who was third for Renault. Webber's win lifted him to the top of the drivers' standings on 78 points, level with Vettel as the season continued to unfold as a Red Bull contest. It is the first time an Australian has led the championship since Alan Jones in 1981. “Unbelievable - thank you,” said Webber over the team radio after taking the chequered flag. “You deserve every bit of this. The car is fantastic.” It was the fourth win of his career and his second this year as he became the first Australian victor on the famous Mediterranean street circuit, bathed in more glamour than sunshine this time, since Jack Brabham won in 1959, on his way to the world title. “This is incredible, the greatest day of my life,” said Webber. “To win here is very special, this place is such a test for any driver - two hours means a lot of work too and today the track conditions changed, there were back markers and the Safety Cars. "I knew I had to get all the basics right - the stuff like the re-starts, tyre pressure and the rest of it - to make sure. I am honestly so ecstatic and it is very, very special to win here and join those guys like Ayrton Senna and the rest. Today, this is a real 'ripper' for me.” Defending champion Briton Jenson Button slipped off the top in his McLaren when his engine failed as he ran slowly behind a Safety Car on the opening lap. “I think it got a little bit hot on the way to the grid,” he explained. “We left a bung in on the left-hand side of the car that obviously you're meant to take out on the way to the grid. That's cooked the engine.” Vettel said: “I couldn't keep up with him today. He was gone too far away for me and I had to race to stay second this time.” Kubica added: “I tried to pass Sebastian, but I lost the place on the first lap and that was it.” Brazilian Felipe Massa came home fourth for Ferrari ahead of the 2008 champion Briton Lewis Hamilton in a McLaren with seven-times champion Michael Schumacher crossing sixth for Mercedes after a controversial move behind the Safety Car to pass Spaniard Fernando Alonso on the final lap. Schumacher was later given a 20-second penalty for the move and that dropped him to 12th in the official placings. That promoted Alonso to sixth ahead of Schumacher's Mercedes team-mate and compatriot Nico Rosberg with another German, Adrian Sutil of Force India, eighth. Webber was almost drawn into a late drama when he came into the Rascasse hairpin to find Italian Jarno Trulli of Lotus colliding with Indian Karun Chandhok of the Hispania team in spectacular fashion. “He flew in the air and I was just hoping there would be some room to go through on the inside and I would have some options,” said Webber. “Thankfully I did.” Chandhok said: “Jarno Trulli has just apologised to me - there was absolutely no way he could get through there. It's a real shame because I was driving my best race of the year so far and I was on track to be the best of the new teams. “His car just missed my head. I ducked down and it came over and hit the roll hoop.” While Trulli's crash may have been spectacular, it was no more horrifying than the two that saw the two Williams men eliminated earlier when they crashed out - German rookie Nico Hulkenberg in the tunnel and Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello at Massanet - in separate incidents. Both were huge accidents that caused great damage to the cars, ripping off wheels and wings. “After my pit stop, the car was not together, the steering wheel felt numb,” said Barrichello. “Something was not good until the crash. They are analysing what went on.” For Webber, there was no immediate analysis pending. “I predict a few sore heads in the morning,” he said. “You have to celebrate your wins and they don't come any better than this.” F1 Drivers Ladder Driver Team Pts 1 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 78 2 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 78 3 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 75 4 Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren 70 5 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 61 6 Robert Kubica (POL) Renault 59 7 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 59 8 Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes GP 56 9 Michael Schumacher (GER) Mercedes GP 22 10 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 20 11 Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Force India 10 12 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Williams 7 13 Vitaly Petrov (RUS) Renault 6 14 Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) Toro Rosso 3 15 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 1 16 Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Williams 1 17 Pedro de la Rosa (ESP) BMW Sauber 0 18 Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) BMW Sauber 0 19 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) Lotus 0 20 Karun Chandhok (IND) HRTF1 0 21 Lucas di Grassi (BRA) Virgin 0 22 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Lotus 0 23 Bruno Senna (BRA) HRTF1 0 24 Timo Glock (GER) Virgin 0 Team Pts 1 Red Bull 156 2 Ferrari 136 3 McLaren 129 4 Mercedes GP 78 5 Renault 65 6 Force India 30 7 Williams 8 8 Toro Rosso 4 9 BMW Sauber 0 10 Lotus 0 11 HRTF1 0 12 Virgin 0 |
Red Bulls collide, Hamilton wins - Formula One - Fox Sports
Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber crash during Turkish Grand Prix May 30, 2010 Red Bull's impressive start to the 2010 Formula One season blew up in their own faces at the Turkish Grand Prix - when they gifted a one-two triumph to hot rivals McLaren. Teammates Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel were left blaming each other after colliding during an ambitious overtaking manoeuvre, by Vettel, on lap 40 of the 58-laps race at Istanbul Park. Drivers' championship leader Webber, 33, led after starting from pole position until Germany's Vettel, 22, challenged him at turn 12. The pair collided and Vettel was forced to retire while Webber lost positions to eventual winner Briton Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 champion, and McLaren teammate and compatriot Jenson Button, the defending champion. Webber maintained that he was not to blame and said that the crash was caused by Vettel who turned right too early. "Seb had a good top-speed advantage and he went down the inside," said the Australian. "We were side by side and then it looks like he turned pretty quickly to the right and we made contact. I was just holding my line. "It wasn't a major contact, but at that speed there doesn't need to be much. Neither of us wanted to make contact, but it can happen sometimes when both are in front. It is never ideal but it happened." Vettel insisted that he was not at fault and that it was Webber who hit him. "Obviously, I think if you look at the pictures it was clear I had the inside," said Vettel. "I went on the inside, I was ahead and just going down to focus on the braking point and honestly, you can see he touched my right rear wheel and I went off." Webber finished third and now holds a five-point lead in the drivers' standings, while McLaren took over as leaders in the constructors championship after their one-two finish. "I still got a few points, but it wasn't the result either of us wanted," said Webber. It also confirmed a suspicion that the Red Bull team, for all their speed and brilliance in the pit-stops, remain brittle and unreliable under pressure - they have taken seven poles out of seven this year, but won only three of those races. Last year, they were also the fastest team with the fastest car, but failed to exploit that advantage due to technical and mechanical failings. This year, it looks now as if drivers' errors can be added to their self-inflicted wounds. Turkish Formula One GP - Result 1. Lewis Hamilton (ENG/MLA) 1hr 28min 47.620sec 2. Jenson Button (ENG/MLA) +2.645 3. Mark Webber (AUS/RBR) 24.285 4. Michael Schumacher (GER/MER) 31.110 5. Nico Rosberg (GER/MER) 32.266 6. Robert Kubica (POL/REN) 32.824 7. Felipe Massa (BRA/FER) 36.635 8. Fernando Alonso (ESP/FER) 46.544 9. Adrian Sutil (GER/FOR) 49.029 10. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/SAU) 1min 5.650 11. Pedro de la Rosa (ESP/SAU) 1min 5.944 12. Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/TOR) 1min 7.800 13. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA/FOR) 1 lap 14. Rubens Barrichello (BRA/WIL) 1 lap 15. Vitaly Petrov (RUS/REN) 1 lap 16. Sebastien Buemi (SUI/TOR) 1 lap 17. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/WIL) 1 lap 18. Timo Glock (GER/VIR) 3 laps 19. Lucas Di Grassi (BRA/VIR) 3 laps 20. Karun Chandhok (IND/HRT) DNF 6 laps DNF: Bruno Senna (BRA/HRT) 12 laps DNF: Sebastian Vettel (GER/RBR) 19 laps DNF: Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/LOT) 25 laps DNF: Jarno Trulli (ITA/LOT) 26 laps |
Australian Mark Webber re-signs with Formula One team Red Bull
June 07, 2010
Australian Mark Webber has extended his contract with the Red Bull team until 2011, ending speculation that he would sign with Ferrari. "It was an easy decision to remain with Red Bull Racing," the 33-year-old world championship leader said. "We began talking very early this year and were in a position to sign by the Barcelona Grand Prix." Webber added: "It's widely known that I'm not interested in hanging around in Formula One just for the sake of it and at this stage of my career I'm happy to take one year at a time. "I continue to feel very comfortable here - I have a fantastic relationship with the whole team and the factory at Milton Keynes feels like home. "It's incredible to be part of the team as it's moved forward from a mid-field competitor to one that is challenging for the championship. "I hope we experience more success together in the future and achieve our ultimate goal of winning the world championship." Red Bull's second driver Sebastian Vettel will also be under contract with the team until next year. Red Bull are currently second in the constructor's standings behind McLaren. |
McLaren one-two at Canadian GP - Formula One - Fox Sports
Lewis Hamilton leads McLaren one-two at Canadian Formula One Grand Prix June 14, 2010 Lewis Hamilton has taken the lead in the Formula One drivers' championship after he led teammate and fellow-Briton Jenson Button home in a dramatic one-two for McLaren at the Canadian Grand Prix. The 2008 champion benefited from a well-judged two-stop strategy after starting on the softer tyres, his smooth-driving teammate Button looked after his tyres well while rivals Red Bull duo Australian Mark Webber and German Sebastian Vettel struggled with tyre degradation. All eyes were on Hamilton to see how he coped with his tyres during the first stint of the race with Vettel behind him, in second place, after Webber was put back to seventh on the grid after changing his gearbox on Sunday morning. Webber was leading into the final stint of the race but suffered from tyre degradation and was eventually overtaken by Hamilton, then Alonso and Button who took second place from the Ferrari driver with twelve laps remaining. Double champion Alonso also benefited from starting with the softer tyres and claimed the final podium position ahead of Webber and teammate Vettel in fourth and fifth. German Nico Rosberg of Mercedes finished sixth followed by Poland's Robert Kubica of Renault. Toro Rosso driver Swiss Sebastien Buemi finished the race in eighth ahead of Force India drivers Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi and German Adrian Sutil in the final points-scoring positions. Hamilton's win means he now leads the drivers' championship on 109 points ahead of Button on 106. Webber dropped to third with 103 points. In the constructors' championship McLaren extended their lead over Rivals Red Bull to 22 points. Driver Team Pts 1 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 109 2 Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren 106 3 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 103 4 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 94 5 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 90 6 Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes GP 74 7 Robert Kubica (POL) Renault 73 8 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 67 9 Michael Schumacher (GER) Mercedes GP 34 10 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 23 11 Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Force India 12 12 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Williams 7 13 Vitaly Petrov (RUS) Renault 6 14 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 5 15 Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) Toro Rosso 3 16 Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) BMW Sauber 1 17 Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Williams 1 18 Pedro de la Rosa (ESP) BMW Sauber 0 19 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) Lotus 0 20 Karun Chandhok (IND) HRTF1 0 21 Lucas di Grassi (BRA) Virgin 0 22 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Lotus 0 23 Bruno Senna (BRA) HRTF1 0 24 Timo Glock (GER) Virgin 0 Team Pts 1 McLaren 215 2 Red Bull 193 3 Ferrari 161 4 Mercedes GP 108 5 Renault 79 6 Force India 35 7 Toro Rosso 8 8 Williams 8 9 BMW Sauber 1 10 Lotus 0 11 HRTF1 0 12 Virgin 0 |
Mark Webber wins Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone for Red Bull
July 12, 2010 Australian Mark Webber cruised to his third win of the Formula One season when he dominated the British Grand Prix for Red Bull at Silverstone. Webber, 33, made a dazzling start from second on the grid, and fought his way past Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel going into the first corner. "I was obviously keen to make it my corner and it worked out well for me," Webber said. "The car was faultless all day." Webber's fifth victory of his career was particularly sweet as he took the chequered flag after an in-team row over favouritism on Saturday, after Vettel was given a special front wing part taken from the Australian's car. "Not bad for a No.2 driver," Webber said to team chief Christian Horner over the radio afterwards. Webber said later that he had been furious with the team's actions. "I wasn't happy," he said. " I'm sure we'll have some decent chats. I don't think it should happen. "Honestly I would never have signed a contract for next year if I believed that was the way I thought it would be going forward." Horner told the BBC that Saturday's "difficult decision" had been made on the basis of the fact that Vettel was ahead in the championship at the time. "Mark is by my maths ahead on the points," he said. "If we ever found ourselves with one component, we'd act differently at the next race. "It's a very good problem to have, to have two such competitive drivers, and as a team we're doing our best to give them the same components week in, week out. "Whether it's Sebastian or Mark, the important thing was we had one of our cars winning. "Mark is a competitive animal, he's pushing very, very hard, and sometimes difficult decisions have to be made, but I think we did the best we could, we won the race, and Mark should be very happy with the work he did today." Webber's win lifted him back into contention for the drivers' world championship after a barren spell since winning the Monaco Grand Prix in May. Vettel reflected on his bad start, saying "I had lots of wheel spin, but that's life". "I had to let Mark pass," he said. "People then said Lewis (Hamilton) touched me. "I didn't feel anything ... I'm sure it wasn't his intention to give me a puncture but so early it was a big minus having the puncture." Hometown favourite Hamilton, the 2008 champion, finished second for McLaren ahead of Nico Rosberg in a Mercedes. Hamilton's McLaren teammate and fellow Briton, defending champion Jenson Button, finished fourth after starting 14th on the grid. Brazilian Rubens Barichello finished fifth for Williams ahead of Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi. Vettel finished seventh in the second Red Bull, after his first-lap pit-stop for a puncture, followed by fellow Germans Adrian Sutil of Force India and seven-time champion Michael Schumacher in the second Mercedes. Another German, rookie Nico Hulkenberg, finished 10th in the second Williams. F1GP - British Grand PrixPos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 6 Mark Webber Red Bull 01:24:38.2000 2 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren +1.3 secs 3 4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP +21.3 secs 4 1 Jenson Button McLaren +21.9 secs 5 9 Rubens Barrichello Williams +31.4 secs 6 23 Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber +32.1 secs 7 5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull +36.7 secs 8 14 Adrian Sutil Force India +40.9 secs 9 3 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP +41.5 secs 10 10 Nico Hulkenberg Williams +42.0 secs 11 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India +42.4 secs 12 16 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso +47.6 secs 13 12 Vitaly Petrov Renault +59.3 secs 14 8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari +62.3 secs 15 7 Felipe Massa Ferrari +67.4 secs 16 18 Jarno Trulli Lotus +1 Lap 17 19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus +1 Lap 18 24 Timo Glock Virgin +2 Laps 19 20 Karun Chandhok HRTF1 +2 Laps 20 21 Bruno Senna HRTF1 +2 Laps 21 17 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso DNF 22 22 Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber DNF 23 11 Robert Kubica Renault DNF 24 25 Lucas di Grassi Virgin DNF Driver Team Pts 1 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 145 2 Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren 133 3 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 128 4 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 121 5 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 98 6 Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes GP 90 7 Robert Kubica (POL) Renault 83 8 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 67 9 Michael Schumacher (GER) Mercedes GP 36 10 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 35 11 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Williams 29 12 Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) BMW Sauber 15 13 Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Force India 12 14 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 7 15 Vitaly Petrov (RUS) Renault 6 16 Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) Toro Rosso 3 17 Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Williams 2 18 Pedro de la Rosa (ESP) BMW Sauber 0 19 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) Lotus 0 20 Karun Chandhok (IND) HRTF1 0 21 Lucas di Grassi (BRA) Virgin 0 22 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Lotus 0 23 Bruno Senna (BRA) HRTF1 0 24 Timo Glock (GER) Virgin 0 Team Pts 1 McLaren 278 2 Red Bull 249 3 Ferrari 165 4 Mercedes GP 126 5 Renault 89 6 Force India 47 7 Williams 31 8 BMW Sauber 15 9 Toro Rosso 10 10 Lotus 0 11 HRTF1 0 12 Virgin 0 |
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