Tag: Grand Prix

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Ferrari Formula 1 McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing

2010 Chinese Grand Prix in pictures

2010 Chinese GP

Rain in Shanghai ensured qualifying form was tipped upside down at yesterday’s 2010 Chinese Grand Prix. Jenson Button furthered his reputation as a rain master by winning his second wet race of the year. Teammate Lewis Hamilton was close behind as they crossed the line. MercedesGP driver Nico Rosberg continued his dominance over Michael Schumahcer to finish on the podium for the second race in succession.

Red Bull Racing have had a driver start from pole position every race this year. Unfortunately for them it hasn’t led to a race win for the pole man. Shanghai was no different, with both Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso getting past Sebastien Vettel off the line. Although, Alonso did jump the start and was forced to pit for a stop-go penalty. It was strategy and tyre choice, though, that undid Red Bull’s qualifying supremacy. Both drivers finished well below expectations—Vettel unable to follow his Malaysian GP victory with a podium and he finished in sixth, Webber further behind in eighth.

Four races in to the 2010 Formula One season and what do we make of Michael Schumacher’s comeback? It’s not gone to script, has it. Rosberg is to be commended for leading the way for MercedesGP so far in 2010. And while Schumacher has shown moments of raw pace, he is yet to string together the consistency required to see him challenging for a podium finish. Rosberg out qualified Schumi here in China, which means, for the first time, Schumacher has been out qualified by his teammate for four races in succession.

Quotes from drivers and team principals are now available on Formula1.com. You can also enjoy a total of 50 images from the Chinese GP here on AUSmotive, check them out 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

Felipe Massa debuts Ferrari 2009 F1 car

Felipe Massa debuts Ferrari F60 Formula One car

Most F1 fans will be up on the news that Ferrari launched their new 2009 F1 car, the F60, a few days ago. Video footage has recently surfaced showing Felipe Massa driving the F60 around Mugello. TheYouTube clip, along with a few photos, are shown below.

The cars looks will quite different in season 2009, with the return of slick tyres and radical changes to the aerodynamic regulations. Just check how narrow the rear wing looks on the F60 for an example. And, with the introduction of the KERS regenerative braking system all F1 teams are working their backsides off to make it to the starting grid for the Australian Grand Prix in late March.

Massa undertook a relatively light practice session of around 100km, and explained the steep learning curve ahead, “The car is completely different to what we were used to up to last year.

“Today was not the day to do 100 laps and post times because when the rules change so greatly from one year to another, like KERS, for example, you have a completely different feeling for driving the car. In the end, we used it a little to start with and gradually increased the power and this is very positive.

“At the moment, we are at the start of a different cycle in Formula One and it won’t be an easy experience,” he said.

Don’t forget the video footage can be viewed after the jump.

Source: FerrariWorld and GrandPrix.com.au

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Formula 1

Donington Park revival gets the rubber stamp

Donington Park

You may remember news from last July that Silverstone is to be stripped of its Formula One rights after the 2009 British Grand Prix. From 2010 the race is set to be held at Donington Park, after a new 10-year deal was struck with Bernie Ecclestone. However, the North West Leicestershire complex needs a radical revamp to bring it up to modern day requirements. The last Grand Prix held at the circuit was in 1993, won on a rain soaked afternoon by Brazilian legend Ayrton Senna in a McLaren.

The rubber stamp for the new works has just been granted and the £100M (AU$215M) project is about to begin. There are just 17 months to go until the 2010 British Grand Prix.

Owner of Donington Park, Simon Gillett, is raring to go, “It starts in earnest now, and time to start focusing on 2010 and delivering the best grand prix in the world. That is what I’ve always said we would deliver, and that is what we are going to do.”

Interestingly, part of the deal with Gillett and his local district council is to create a sucessful traffic management plan to allow for easy access for fans. The current site is not well served by public transport and this is something that will need to be resolved. If Gillett fails to appease the council they have the power to impose an injunction thereby stopping the race.

Gillett plans to implement various park’n’ride initiatives in the Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire areas to bring racegoers to Donington Park. He will also limit the amount of on site parking available.

As with most decisions made in F1 these days there seems to be a fair amount of backroom politics going on, so it will be interesting to see how smoothly this development runs over the next 17 months.

Source: TimesOnline

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Carmageddon Formula 1 Honda

Honda Racing F1 Team still for sale

Honda Racing F1 Team still for sale

Despite earlier reports that Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helú had saved Honda’s Formula One outfit, the British based team is still looking for a buyer.

Speaking to the Telegraph in the UK, Team Principal Ross Brawn said “We would love it if it were true, but it’s pure speculation from various members of the media. It’s just been one of those rumours which has developed a life of its own.”

However, Brawn remains hopeful a buyer is not far away, “There has been a huge amount of interest,” he said. “It’s now got to the stage where we need to filter out the serious from the not so serious. We’re all hopeful that something will happen.” It is believed two interested parties could be Indian industrialist Vijay Mallya and Prodrive’s Dave Richards, who now has more time on his hands after Subaru’s withdrawal from the WRC.

Brawn says the team is ready to start the season in late March, “We have enough funding to get us through to Melbourne and we still have a competitive package.”

Source: Telegraph.co.uk (Thanks to Lee for the tip.)

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz News

Lewis Hamilton wins dramatic title decider

Lewis Hamilton - 2008 F1 World Champion

In case you’ve been hiding under a rock you’ll have heard that Lewis Hamilton was crowned Formula 1 World Champion yesterday in the most dramatic of circumstances. Needing to finish the race in the top five to fend off the points challenge from a dominant weekend by race winner, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, Hamilton watched his title lead slip by when Sebastien Vettel relegated the Briton to sixth place with an overtaking move on the second last lap. This moment of high drama was only to be eclipsed by Timo Glock’s struggles in his Toyota on the last lap, which enabled both Vettel and Hamilton to pass and, crucially, slip Hamilton back into fifth position with just two corners remaining. And with that Lewis Hamilton won the 2008 F1 World Championship by the narrow margin of 5.4 seconds, the gap between himself and Glock back in sixth.

At the age of 23 years, 10 months and 26 days, Hamilton is the youngest champion in Formula 1 history. He is McLaren’s 12th drivers’ world title, the first since Mika Häkkinen’s back to back titles in 1998 and 1999.

Speaking after the race Hamilton was quick to acknowledge those who have assisted him throughout his career, “The most dramatic race of my whole life. It’s pretty much impossible to put this into words: I’m still speechless. It’s been such a long journey, but I’ve always had the support of my family, the team, our partners and the fans. We did a fantastic job throughout the whole year and, with all the sacrifices we made, I’m so thrilled to be able to win this for everyone.”

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Formula 1

Who will be 2008 F1 world champion?

This weekend marks the last race in the 2008 Formula 1 calendar. Can Lewis Hamilton (94pts) maintain his seven point lead and claim his first World Championship? Or will Felipe Massa (87pts), in front of his home crowd in Brazil, snatch glory for Ferrari again, just as Raikonnen did in 2007? A win for Massa will take his season points tally to 97. So, can Hamilton finish in fifth place or better and earn the four points he needs to secure the title? Will McLaren play it safe and try to guide Lewis to a reliable points finish. Or will Hamilton, a racer at heart, chase the ultimate success, victory in the last race to claim the championship? So many questions, but only one answer will matter. It’s a shame that we have to wait until 4am Monday (AEDST) to find out!

David Coulthard will start his 246th and final Grand Prix on Sunday, so it is fitting that he talks us through a lap of the Interlagos circuit (graphic sourced from Telegraph.co.uk).

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Formula 1 Random wallpapers

Random wallpaper: Spa-Francorchamps

Spa-Francorchamps Grand Prix circuit

To celebrate the Belgian Grand Prix here is a 1920×1200 pixel aerial photo of the awesome Spa-Francorchamps Grand Prix circuit. The current track is a fraction over 7km, but the original layout was over 14km in length. The Belgian Grand Prix was first held here in 1924 and the Eau Rouge–Radillon corners—part of the original layout—form one of the most famous sections of Grand Prix track in the world. Rivalled, perhaps, only by the Monaco street circuit. However, it is the Blanchimont corner on the back straight that drivers find the more fearsome corner, according to Wikipedia. More detail on the track can be found on the official Formula 1 website.

To download the 1920×1200 pixel version of this image, simply click on the image above.

Credit for the image goes to Chubbennaitor, sourced from Wikipedia.

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BMW Formula 1

A lap of Spa-Francorchamps with Robert Kubica

I’ve been waiting for BMW-web.tv to load this clip all week—now they have and it’s only a computer generated lap of Spa! They usually use real in-car footage. Never mind, it’s a great track any way you look at it. Mind, as a commentator BMW-Sauber’s Robert Kubica makes a great racing driver.

See you on the couch late into the night this weekend. Rain is predicted, as usual, the championship race is very tight, so we have the makings of a cracking race. Hold on tight!

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Formula 1

Donington Park to host British Grand Prix from 2010

Donington Park

The British Grand Prix will be held at Donington Park from 2010. Donington last held a Formula One race in 1993—the European Grand Prix—won by the late Ayrton Senna. Formula One Management President Bernie Ecclestone said, “Finally the uncertainty is over. A contract has been signed with Donington Park and the future of the British Grand Prix is now secure. We wanted a world class venue for Formula One in Britain, something that the teams and British F1 fans could be proud of. The major development plans for Donington will give us exactly that. A venue that will put British motor sport back on the map.”

Simon Gillett, Donington Park CEO, was interviewed on ITV1 before today’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone and said plans for the redevelopment of the track and facilities would be announced soon. He assured viewers the section from Redgate to McLean’s (see circuit map below) would remain untouched, although a new loop section was likely to be added to the infield of the track.

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Formula 1

Mark Webber on front row for British Grand Prix

Mark WebberAustralian Mark Webber has celebrated his contract extension with Red Bull Racing by setting the second fastest time in final qualifying at the 2008 British Grand Prix. Webber lapped the Silverstone circuit in 1:21.554, but was no match for McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen who blitzed the field winning his maiden pole position with a time of 1:21.049. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen qualified in third (1:21.706), ahead of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton (1:21.835) and BMW-Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld (1:21.873).

In the post qualifying interview Webber acknowledged Red Bull Racing, “It’s a credit to the team, they’ve worked hard. We’re based just down the road so it’s like a home Grand Prix for us.” This will be the first time since 2006 that Webber has started a Grand Prix on the front row—the first time for Red Bull Racing—and he knows the serious work lays ahead, “Only five per cent of the job is done, it could be wet, so there’s a long way to go.” The Australian’s Red Bull has been at the pointy end of the field all weekend and this was also the case in the third qualifying session, despite the blustery conditions making it difficult for all drivers, “I felt comfortable in the car and in my second run I got a lot better lap, Heikki got the pole and I’m happy for him.” News of Webber’s second qualifying position will no doubt create a lot of enthusiasm down under and he is raring to go, “I can’t wait for tomorrow, I wish the race started now!”

Webber has had a lot of success at Silverstone with good results in Formula Ford and Formula 3000. Let’s hope this trend continues with a trouble free run in tomorrow’s race.

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Formula 1

Melbourne to host Formula One Grand Prix until 2015

Melbourne Formula One Grand Prix

Victorian Premier, John Brumby and his Events team have struck a deal that will see Melbourne continue hosting a Formula One Grand Prix until 2015. Controversy over a full night time race appears to have been shelved, for now, with plans for the Melbourne race to start at 5pm for the next seven years. “It’s a five o’clock start. We’ve said that we would not support a night race, and we’ve held firm in that position,” Brumby said.

President of Formula One Management, Mr Bernie Ecclestone, said he was delighted the Grand Prix was continuing in Melbourne. “The Australian Grand Prix has always been a great show, with some of the biggest crowds in Formula One,” he said.

The crucial factor for Melbourne, or any Australian Grand Prix, has always been the early morning start for European television audiences, and it is understood negotiations for this new deal were intensive. Ecclestone commented, “I have wanted changes to the local race time so that we can increase the television audience in Europe and Asia. I’m satisfied that the decision to move to later start time for 2009 races is a win for television audiences in Europe and Asia, a win for Melbourne and a win for Formula One as a whole.”

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