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Ferrari Formula 1 Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Renault

2010 Singapore Grand Prix in pictures

2010 Singapore GP

Fernando added to his Italian Grand Prix win to make it a double with victory in Singapore. By doing so he has put himself right at the pointy end of the driver’s title race; he’s now second. Sebastien set the field alight during practice but faltered during qualifying and played second fiddle to Alonso for the rest of weekend, despite having the faster car. But for a couple of Safety Car periods these guys would have led the field home with a minute to spare, they were streets ahead.

Mark struggled during the weekend and started from fifth, but a pit stop gamble after the first Safety Car period inside five laps saw him claw his way into third place after the lead cars completed their stops. After the second Safety Car period Hamilton, in fourth, made a ballsy move to overtake Mark. It almost came off, too, but there was contact between the two and Webber walked away with the luck, while Hamilton was forced to take an early shower for the second race in a row.

Aside from that, the action was a bit light on, save for a few hit and giggle incidents towards the back of the field. Perhaps the only other aspect of this race worth noting is the ease with which Schumacher gets pushed aside by his peer group these days. It indicates the seven time champion continues to struggle with the pace of current day F1 cars.

Recapture the vibe with over 70 images after the break.

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Formula 1 Lotus Red Bull Racing

Mark Webber’s spectacular crash at the European GP

Mark Webber's crash at European GP

BREAKING NEWS: Mark Webber has crashed out of the European Grand Prix at Valencia after a spectacular incident with the Lotus of Heikki Kovalainen. The contact with Kovalainen happened on lap 9 of the 57 lap race. Importantly, both drivers walked away with no injuries and have been released from the trackside medical centre.

After a poor start from second on the grid Webber had dropped back to ninth place by the second lap. Webber’s Red Bull team brought him in for an early pit stop in a bid to escape traffic; the Valencia track is notoriously difficult to pass.

Webber’s bad day continued with a less than perfect pit stop after the crew had problems changing his front left wheel. However, things were about to get much worse. After rejoining the race Webber found himself fighting with Kovalainen for track position. The Finn swerved to defend his place and the rapidly closing Webber was left with nowhere to go except up. And up, and up!

Webber’s car flipped and landed on its roof before crashing into a tyre barrier at high speed. It was an incident reminiscent of Webber’s crash during practice at Le Mans in 1999.

After the break you can see a series of screen grabs of the incident, including the view from Mark’s in-car camera. There’s an animation showing the incident, as well as footage from Webber’s Le Mans crash.

UPDATE: Webber’s teammate Sebastien Vettel won the race ahead of the McLaren duo of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. A full race image gallery will be online in the next 24 hours.

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Ferrari Formula 1 Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Renault

2010 Canadian Grand Prix in pictures

2010 Canadian Grand Prix

The 2010 Canadian Formula One Grand Prix saw a second consecutive one-two victory for the McLaren team. Lewis Hamilton started from pole and, despite a margin of just over two seconds from second placed Jenson Button, he won the race in reasonable comfort in the end. That doesn’t tell the whole story, though.

After qualifying on the soft “option” tyres it was expected Hamilton would come under pressure from the two Red Bull Racing cars, with both Webber and Vettel on the harder, more durable “prime” tyres. As it was Webber was penalised five grid places after having a gearbox change following qualifying.

But the real story of the race was the rate at which the tyres wore across the board. The prime tyres wore out quickly, as expected. However, the prime tyres also wore much quicker than predicted which meant most teams made two pitstops for a second set of prime tyres.

With no mechanical failures or accident carnage at the head of the field it was a reasonably close and exciting race. In the end, Hamilton won the day ahead of teammate Jenson Button and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton now leads the drivers standings on 109 points. Button is in second (106pts) and after relinquishing his title lead Mark Webber is close behind in third place (103pts). McLaren maintain their lead in the constructors race with 215 points ahead of Red Bull (193pts) and Ferrari (161pts).

Over 60 photos from Montreal are all yours after the jump and simply click on the pics you like to load a 2000px super image.

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Ferrari Formula 1 Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Renault

2010 Turkish Grand Prix in pictures

2010 Turkish Grand Prix

There’s been plenty of talk about this race, thanks to the Vettel-Webber incident. Maybe it’s now time to take Vettel on his word when he says, “There is no fight. This is something that happens. We do not need it but there is nothing we can do now.”

Similarly, Christian Horner has told Autosport he is going to bash the heads of Vettel and Webber together and make sure they bury the hatchet before the next race, “The most important thing, and I have had this situation before with drivers in different formulas, is to get issues out into the open, deal with them and that is exactly what we will do here.

“There is no animosity between the drivers. They are both competitive. They are both hungry animals, and it is down to us to ensure that they learn from this and it doesn’t happen again.”

Oh, that’s right, in case you missed it, Lewis Hamilton won the race and pictures of him and plenty of others can be seen after the jump.

Who else is looking forward to the Canadian Grand Prix in two weeks time? I can’t wait to see what happens next.

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Lotus Motorsports Video

Green hell

Green hell

Ever wondered what you would do if your car caught fire and you didn’t know until it was almost too late. Imagine some Benny Hill music with this clip from last weekend’s Nürburgring 24 hour race and you could almost consider it amusing at first. That is, until you put yourself in the shoes of the driver, Evo journo Richard Green. This is one lucky escape and thankfully Green suffered no lasting effects from his dramas. The same can’t be said for the Lotus Exige, though, which ended up a molten mess.

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Ferrari Formula 1 Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Renault

2010 Monaco Grand Prix in pictures

2010 Monaco Grand Prix

No doubt Mark Webber is still beaming after his Monaco Grand Prix victory. A win in Monte Carlo is something all Formula One drivers cherish and to see an Australian dominate the race made for one very welcome procession.

Webber clearly places this win very highly, “It’s a special day, the greatest day of my life I suppose. As a Formula One driver you really hope that you win races and if you have a choice then the blue riband event is very, very special for any driver. To join Ayrton Senna and the likes round here is a very special thing.”

More quotes from Webber, as well as podium drivers Sebastien Vettel and Robert Kubica, can be read at Formula1.com.

The Aussie currently sits atop the World Championship leaderboard, thanks to two successive wins, but he’s not getting ahead of himself just yet, “To get 50 points from the last two races is awesome, but there is a long, long way still to go. We’ve got so many different conditions and tracks coming up – there are many exciting times to come; I’m looking forward to it.”

The one-two result now puts Red Bull Racing in the lead of the constructors’ title race, as well.Red Bull now has 156 points, 20 ahead of Ferrari and 27 clear of McLaren.

A gallery of Red Bull Racing photos can be seen after the jump. More pics from the other teams to follow.

UPDATE 18 May: Images from Renault, Ferrari, Mercedes GP, Force India, Lotus, Williams, Virgin Racing and Sauber now available below.

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Ferrari Formula 1 Lotus Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Renault

2010 Malaysian GP in pictures

2010 Malaysian Grand Prix

After an unfulfilled Australian Grand Prix local hope Mark Webber felt he had something to prove in Malaysia. Webber dared to dream by making what proved to be an inspired tyre choice during a rain sodden qualifying that allowed the Australian to claim pole position. Could he win his third Formula One race?

No, sadly. An overly cautious start by Webber left the door open for a fast charging Sebastien Vettel to take the inside line into turn 1 and that was pretty much that. Webber’s cause wasn’t helped by a clumsy pit stop from his Red Bull team and the young remained unchallenged on the way to his German his sixth race win. Webber strolled home in a comfortable second place and, finally, Red Bull Racing delivered a result befitting their early season pace. In a minor consolation for Webber he set the fastet lap of the race on lap 53.

Nico Rosberg, who started from P2 on the grid, finished the race in third place, and in doing so earned the first podium finish for the newly formed Mercedes GP team. A nice collect for the bookies, there no doubt, with the early season money surely resting on Schumacher.

Following a dreadful qualifying for McLaren and Ferrari leaving all four drivers starting from P17 or behind, they were able to restore some pride, with Lewis Hamilton the pick crossing the line in sixth place. Hamilton was followed by current championship leader Felipe Massa and his McLaren teammate Jenson Button. Fernando Alonso finished outside of the top 10 and failed to add to his 2010 season tally. A full list of results is available at Formula1.com.

After the jump you will see more than 85 images from Sepang, all (except a couple of the Lotus pics) accessible in 2000px wallpaper-friendly sizing by clicking on the photo you want.

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Ferrari Formula 1 Lotus Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Renault

2010 Australian GP in pictures

2010 Australian Grand Prix

It’s safe to say that the final result in the 2010 Australian Grand Prix is not on the majority of Australian F1 fans were hoping for. Local boy Mark Webber had his best chance yet to win his home race. He qualified on the front row, alongside pole sitter and teammate Sebastien Vettel.

However, through a combination of poor tyre strategy and some over exuberance on his own part, Webber’s race ended in tears after a coming together with Lewis Hamilton with two laps to go while fighting for minor placings. Finally, Webber regathered himself to stumble home in ninth place.

Just as in Bahrain, Vettel looked like he was just out for a lazy Sunday drive. He held a comfortable lead until his front left brake rotor exploded and sent him crashing out.

This left Button in the lead after he put his fortunes in the hands of an early switch to slick tyres on lap six. A move that eventually took the reigning champ from zero to hero. From then on it was a case of managing tyres and through a combination of cooler weather and a smooth driving style Button was able to complete the race on the softer compound tyres.

So, then, it has taken Button just two races to get the better of Hamilton. And do you think the 2008 World Champion was happy about that fact? Not on your life. It had Hamilton blowing smoke of a different kind with stern questions asked of his team and the tyre strategy his team employed. Apparently he deserved better.

Well, that’s enough commentary, let’s look at some pics. After the jump you can feast your eyes on over 50 of the best images from the Australian Grand Prix weekend. Teams featured include Red Bull Racing, Renault, Ferrari, MercedesGP, Williams, Lotus and Virgin Racing. See a pic you like, then simply click on it to load a 2000px super image.

Next weekend it all starts again, with the Malaysian Grand Prix from Sepang. Can Red Bull Racing finally find some luck and land a win that their current early season pace would indicate they deserve?

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Formula 1 Lotus

It was a marvellous day

Ayrton Senna

Yesterday would have been Ayrton Senna‘s 50th birthday. A fact that came to my attention via autosport.com who honoured the day with an image gallery of Senna’s career. To complement those images there is a YouTube clip after the break featuring Senna talking about his maiden F1 victory, the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix. Senna marked his arrival as a Grand Prix winner in true domineering style, by also claiming pole position and the fastest lap of the race.

Life in F1 was so much simpler then, as the footage shows. And a few years later you were either in the Alain Prost corner, or the Ayrton Senna corner. I was, and am, still very much in the Prost corner, ‘The Professor’ remains my favourite driver of all time. That said, I still recall the sadness I felt as I watched Senna’s accident on 1 May 1994—a date forever etched in my mind—and later learned of his untimely death.

Approaching sixteen years since his passing it is clear Senna still holds the respect of his peers, a fact highlighted by being voted the best driver of all time in a poll of over 200 former and current F1 drivers. May he rest in peace.

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Formula 1 Lotus

VIDEO: Lotus T127 launch & shakedown

Lotus Cosworth T127

Lotus Racing have provided some behind the scenes footage of the launch of their new Lotus Cosworth T127. There’s three clips in all and they can be seen below. The first Lotus in Formula One since the mid 90s was first revealed on Friday. It will be driven by Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli.

For more on Lotus Racing make sure you bookmark their website.

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Formula 1 Lotus

Lotus unveils 2010 F1 car

Lotus Cosworth T127

Overnight Lotus Racing unveiled their 2010 Formula One racecar, the Lotus Cosworth T127.

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer, spoke at the launch and here’s a bit of what he had to say, “The last few months have been some of the most challenging of my career, but it’s been a challenge the whole team and I have thrived on since we first started work on the car up in Norfolk.

“I’m delighted that we’ve reached this point, and now we have a beautiful car that gives us a great base to work from for the season ahead and a fighting chance of going racing in the right way, with a winning mentality. The hard part starts now, and I know everyone in the team and I are up for whatever lies ahead.”

More images available after the break.

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Formula 1 Lotus

2010 Lotus F1 car captured ahead of official reveal

2010 Lotus F1 car

Autosport.com have published what they are describing as the first image of the new Lotus F1 car. The photo was captured on Tuesday during the team’s shakedown at Silverstone. Speaking on twitter, Team Principal, Tony Fernandes stated, “Shakedown started. Quite a few tears.”

According to the Lotus website, the first Lotus F1 car of the 21st century is due for an official reveal at Jerez on Friday. More images and news as it becomes available.

[Source: Autosport.com | Thanks to Chris for the tip]