photo credit: Flickr/Ezio Armando

Fox rant: they totally sped the race up, did anyone else notice? I am usually pretty sensitive to movement on TV and I just noticed the race seemed WAY more chaotic than it should have been, plus the cuts in commentary seemed edited. It was just weird. Thankfully towards the end it seemed like the cars were moving at their actual speed.

So, we finally have a two-time winner in home country hero Fernando Alonso. Alonso started 11th and managed to finish first after both Sebastian Vettel and Romain Grosjean suffered alternator problems. His move up the grid was not as impressive as Mark Webber finishing fourth, given the fact there was clearly a problem with Renault powered cars.

Okay I don’t like Alonso.

On the plus side, this was actually an interesting race in Valencia since not every car finished. Hell, not every car even started. Timo Glock did not race because of his stomach bug.

Lewis Hamilton was knocked out in the very last lap by Pastor Maldonado. Hamilton would not give up the position to Maldonado and squeezed him out.

Jean-Eric Vergne and Heikki Kovalainen collided, as did Kamui Kobayashi and Bruno Senna (and later Massa), as did Vitaly Petrov and Daniel Ricciardo, and so on. So there were cars taken out, which sadly makes this race more interesting.

Maldonado and Vergne both received penalties. Vergne has a 10 spot penalty and a $25,000 fine for the next race. Maldonado was penalized 20 seconds this race, dropping him down to 12th. He had finished 10th, and Hamilton had been unable to continue. Fair enough.

Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher joined Alonso on the podium.

Jenson Button managed to finish in the points, although it was just 8th. Both Force Indias finished in the points, as did Nico Rosberg, Sergio Perez, and Bruno Senna.

Senna had to serve a drive-through penalty after Kamui Kobayashi smashed into the back of his car. It did not look like Senna’s fault whatsoever, especially given Kobayashi later also hit Felipe Massa.

Next time around we head to the UK for a race that sucks less.

Results
01. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari
02. Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus F1
03. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes
04. Mark Webber, Red Bull
05. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India
06. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
07. Paul di Resta, Force India
08. Jenson Button, McLaren
09. Sergio Perez, Sauber
10. Bruno Senna, Williams *
» Continue reading “Alonso Becomes First Two Race Winner This Season”

photo credit: Flickr/Sara Terrones

There have now been seven different winners in this completely crazy season of Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton finally got his first win at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Before the start though, there was one grid penalty…guess who. Pastor Maldonado needed a gearbox change thanks to the damage from his qualifying spin. He started 22nd because of it.

Sebastian Vettel led the race until the pit stops started.

There wasn’t much in the way of collisions or other problems…unless you are HRT. Neither car was able to finish, despite things looking good for de la Rosa this time around. Jean-Eric Vergne had to come through the pits for a drive-through after speeding in the pit lane.

This was also not a great race for Jenson Button, who continued to struggle, or Michael Schumacher, who had to retire after his DRS wing became stuck open. In a great turn of events, it wasn’t so bad for Romain Grosjean for once.

Felipe Massa looked to be doing much better than he has, until he spun around and ended up in 12th. It was a non-eventful race for him after that point.

Fernando Alonso looked to have it in the bag after Hamilton had to make another pit stop. Towards the end of the race, the Ferrari driver began to slow dramatically and ended up in fifth place. Romain Grosjean, Sergio Perez, and Sebastian Vettel were all able to get by him. Vettel’s chances to be on the podium were lost after his very late pit stop.

Tires once again played a massive role in the race, but thankfully the wear didn’t turn the race into a snorefest. There were some great battles, and Vettel’s pass on Alonso at the end was fantastic.

Results
01. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren
02. Romain Grosjean, Lotus F1
03. Sergio Perez, Sauber
04. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull
05. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari
06. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
07. Mark Webber, Red Bull
08. Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus F1
09. Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber
10. Felipe Massa, Ferrari

» Continue reading “Seven Races, Seven Winners: Lewis Hamilton Wins In Montreal”

photo credit: Flickr/Mypoorbrain

Pastor Maldonado managed to pull off a win at Circuit de Catalunya today, despite Fernando Alonso’s best efforts to win his home Grand Prix. Alonso took the lead in the first corner, but was not able to hold on to it.

Maldonado is the first Venezuelan winner of a Formula 1 Grand Prix, and this is also Williams’ first win since 2004.

Sadly, it has not been that great of a day after all for Williams. About 90 minutes after the race ended, fuel exploded causing a fire, and several team members from Williams, Caterham, and Force India had to be treated for burns and smoke inhalation.

The race also did not go so well for Bruno Senna. Michael Schumacher crashed right into the back of him around turn 1. Senna had moved over in what looked like a block, but the stewards apparently didn’t find that to be the case. Schumacher has been given a five spot grid penalty for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Kimi Raikkonen finished third, although he was right on Alonso’s tail at the end of the race. Romain Grosjean finished fourth, and Kamui Kobayashi stormed his way to fifth, which included a brilliant pass on Jenson Button.

Sebastian Vettel managed to finish sixth, despite being handed a drive-through penalty for failing to slow down for yellow flags near the Schumacher-Senna incident. Felipe Massa also received the penalty for failing to slow, but he only managed to finish 15th.

Lewis Hamilton, who had to start at the back of the grid after being excluded from qualifying, finished in the points in 8th, and one place ahead of his teammate.

Results
01. Pastor Maldonado, Williams
02. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari
03. Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus
04. Romain Grosjean, Lotus
05. Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber
06. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull
07. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
08. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren
09. Jenson Button, McLaren
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India

» Continue reading “Pastor Maldonado Wins Spanish GP”

photo credit: Flickr/Jose Mª Izquierdo Galiot

Williams chairman Adam Parr will be leaving the team effective this Friday. Frank Williams, obvious founder of a team named Williams, had said Parr would be his natural successor.

Parr will be replaced by Nick Rose. It is not immediately known what Parr will do next but he did say he wants to spend more time with his family.

There is speculation that Ecclestone wanted Parr out as part of the creation of a new Concorde Agreement. Parr is a business man with no background in racing. Most would probably not consider that a problem, considering Parr’s ridiculously awesome work to get such backing out of Venezuela.

But it doesn’t seem to make sense considering the team’s good showing so far this season, which is why the speculation kind of makes sense…I suppose we may never know.

Sauber is hoping their podium finish will attract financial backing. The team does not have much backing, which also leads to many, many jokes about money saving measures. (I have to give it up to I believe it was redbullf1spy for tweeting “does Sauber make Perez pay for his own tires?” regarding the way Perez can make the things last.)

Pat Fry, technical chief at Ferrari, says the win on Sunday does not ease up the work the team still has with the F2012. There are still big gains that need to be made on the car before they can consider themselves to be championship contenders.

Bruno Senna feels like pressure has been lifted after his excellent finish at Sepang. Who could blame him? If it wasn’t for Sergio Perez’s fantastic drive, I think more people would be talking about him. But of course, that’s silly of me to expect since there’s still a legion of fools out there who think he’s just in F1 because of his name.

Note: he has skill that actually does not just come from having an uncle named Ayrton Senna.

Join me tomorrow if something exciting happens, as I have to report to jury duty, and actually if anyone involved in Formula 1 even sneezes, it’d be far more exciting.

photo credit: Flickr/Vi Khoa Duong

The car that looked to be struggling came out on top in a race that included nearly an hour wait while it poured down rain. Fernando Alonso won a very exciting race, while teammate Felipe Massa once again is nowhere near a points position…hmm…

It started to rain about 15 minutes before the race started, so teams put their cars onto intermediate tires. Around lap 5, after Romain Grosjean beached his Lotus in gravel, teams started switching to full wets. On the first lap, Michael Schumacher, Romain Grosjean, and Bruno Senna spun.

And once everyone was on wets, there was lightning and thunder, which means safety car on lap 7. Jean-Eric Vergne stayed on the inters, however.

Basically if anything happened, you couldn’t exactly even see it.

Lap 9: once the safety car got boring as hell, it was time to just red flag the race for the time being. And because the Canadian GP was so awesome last year, the FIA decided to ruin all the fun so races can only be 4 hours long.

This race was already bumped up to 4pm local time from 5pm after the 2009 fiasco, and I just don’t get it. Do they not understand tropical climates? Here in Atlanta, especially during the summer, pop up storms are not uncommon…so obviously when you’re 3 degrees north of the equator, they’re more frequent and year round.

This is two times in four years. All it really needs is just to be moved up at least an hour more.

Rant over. I am a cranky person who has to be up until past 7am because of this and I only took a nap for an hour earlier.

So red flag. What’s exciting during a red flag? People in grandstands doing the wave, a bird standing in the grass looking ticked off, ice cream discussions, farmers market jokes after teams set up canopies over the cars.

Finally, it was announced the race would restart at 5:15 with parade laps behind the safety car to get a dry line going.

Pedro de la Rosa received a drive through penalty for team personnel on track right before the restart.

Lap 13: Safety car in, some cars went in to switch to intermediates, including Jenson Button, while Lewis Hamilton stayed out.

Cars on the inters were faster, so cars that stayed on the wets started coming in…but not Sergio Perez, who took the lead as cars swapped positions for a good two laps. Lewis Hamilton pitted, and McLaren royally screwed up the pit stop.

With an HRT in his way, Jenson Button’s front wing was damaged, so the screw up didn’t really matter. And in the end, Fernando Alonso took the lead from Perez.

Jenson Button at the back of the pack started setting fastest laps, maybe looking like he did in Montreal last summer….only several laps later to say he has no grip. Things never really improved for him.

The only thing interesting with cars still on inters was the battle for fourth among Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel, and Kimi Raikkonen. Vettel was able to pass Rosberg with DRS, as was Raikkonen on the next lap.

And on lap 24, Fernando Alonso said it’s raining in turn 4. Jenson Button needed to pit for a new set of tires again.  Alonso continued to set fastest laps from the lead.

Rosberg started dropping dramatically down the grid, and eventually pitted when 16th to get new tires.

With the track drying, it started to get iffy for continuing on intermediates, but of course more rain was expected on track. (Note: it never showed up, of course.)

Sergio Perez started to reel in Alonso, setting fastest lap nearly every time around. It was absolutely fantastic, he started lapping a second quicker than Alonso’s Ferrari. And meanwhile in P17, Massa nearly drove Button off track several times.

Toro Rosso put Daniel Ricciardo on medium slicks, while Jenson Button’s engineer said rain was approaching. Ricciardo’s time was quick, which led to Massa being put on the medium tire too…and then on Button’s radio it was time for slicks too.

Can you say strategic nightmare?

On lap 40, Alonso went in for slicks while Perez stayed out. Ricciardo set the fastest lap. Perez went in on lap 41 for hard tires, and came back out just behind Alonso.

On lap 48, Vettel had a puncture, but was close enough to the pit entrance. And what happened? Karthikeyan again has no concept of space for cars faster than him.

On lap 49, Perez was right behind Alonso. And then Perez took a bit of an off and lost all the time he gained, probably thanks to an engineer having to distract him from just going.  It was no problem for Alonso from there.

With two laps to go, Pastor Maldonado continued to have a horrible time trying to finish as his engine overheated. And on the last lap, Vettel is told to pit…and then stay out…and then yell at him to stop because it’s an emergency.

And thankfully the checkered flag flew…2 hours, 48 minutes after the start.

So..I said Sergio was the drive of the day last race, and he sure as hell is the drive of the day this time around. If only his engineer hadn’t come on over the radio!

» Continue reading “Fernando Alonso Wins The Bizarre Grand Prix of Malaysia”

First race of the season over!

Jenson Button passed teammate Lewis Hamilton right around the first turn and held on to the race lead from then on.

There were several injuries to cars around the first corner, including Bruno Senna, who was able to continue, and Nico Hulkenberg, who was not. Shortly afterward, his teammate Pastor Maldonado took out Romain Grosjean, who had started so well.

Michael Schumacher lost control of his car and dropped out of the race.

Both Caterhams went out around the same time. Vitaly Petrov stopped on the front straightaway and brought out a safety car. Shortly after, Heikki Kovalainen came in with steering problems.

Hamilton had held on to second until this point, when Sebastian Vettel got in front of him. Hamilton was not able to gain enough time on Vettel even with DRS and KERS.

That was not the end of all the fun.

With ten laps left, Felipe Massa completely screwed up Bruno Senna’s Williams. Senna was somehow able to get his car back out, but Massa’s had to be put in the garage..which took them a bit of time for some reason. Race control is going to investigate the ~incident~ after the race.

On the last lap, Maldonado completely lost it and hit the wall, definitely destroying some other drivers’ points finishes, namely Nico Rosberg, who ended up finishing outside the points paying positions.

Sergio Perez started 22nd, but finished 8th, making him definitely the drive of the day. This time it’d be great if that awesome race isn’t negated.

1. Jenson Button, McLaren
2. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull
3. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren
4. Mark Webber, Red Bull
5. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari
6. Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber
7. Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus
8. Sergio Perez, Sauber
9. Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso
10. Paul di Resta, Force India
11. Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso
12. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
13. Pastor Maldonado, Williams
14. Timo Glock, Marussia
15. Charles Pic, Marussia
16. Bruno Senna, Williams
Not classified: Felipe Massa (accident damage), Heikki Kovalainen (steering), Vitaly Petrov, Michael Schumacher, Romain Grosjean (accident damage), Nico Hulkenberg

photo credit: Flickr/Thomas Davey

Q1: Narain Karthikeyan and Pedro de la Rosa both failed to qualifying with the 107% rule. As far as I’m concerned, they don’t belong on the grid, but I’m not Charlie Whiting.

Kimi Raikkonen did not make it out of Q1. He was timed to cross the line for a hot lap just as the clock hit zero, but a slight off meant no such luck. Both Catherham and Marussia cars did not make it either.

Several drivers set fast laps, including ones you would not expect: both Williams were on top, Jean-Eric Vergne in his Toro Rosso (second fastest time in the end), and Kamui Kobayashi in the Sauber in the end. Felipe Massa barely made it out of the session.

Knocked out, P18-22: Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus; Heikki Kovalainen, Caterham; Vitaly Petrov, Caterham; Timo Glock, Marussia; Charles Pic, Marussia

Q2: The McLaren cars quickly took the top two spots in the second session.

Fernando Alonso beached his car in the gravel after putting a wheel in the grass…causing a red flag with just under 8 1/2 minutes left.

Once time got started again, the two Mercedes took the top spots.

Both Ferraris were knocked out.

Knocked out, P11-17: Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso; Fernando Alonso, Ferrari; Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber; Bruno Senna, Williams; Paul di Resta, Force India; Felipe Massa, Ferrari; Sergio Perez, Sauber.

Q3: No idea how I am supposed to sleep after this one. What looked to be a set 1-2 for McLaren first looked like it wasn’t going to happen, as Schumacher and Grosjean both took P2. But in the end, McLaren held it.

1. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren: 1:24.922
2. Jenson Button, McLaren: 1:25.074
3. Romain Grosjean, Lotus: 1:25.302
4. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes: 1:25.336
5. Mark Webber, Red Bull: 1:25.651
6. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull: 1:25.668
7. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes: 1:25.688
8. Pastor Maldonado, Williams: 1:25.908
9. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India: 1:26.451
10. Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso: no Q3 time set » Continue reading “Qualifying Recap: McLaren 1-2 For First Race Of The Season”

photo credit: Flickr/Pau Pitarch

During the first practice session, McLaren ruled the field with a 1-2 finish.

Meanwhile, Felipe Massa finished with a trip to the gravel after he touched the grass.

The grass was wet. Surprise!

The session started off a bit damp, but teams finally started to head out on intermediates as the track dried out. Finally with about 30 minutes left, teams started switching to slicks and times were set.

Mercedes looked to be fastest of all thanks to the rear wing design, but McLaren ended up on top. Jenson Button was the fastest of the two, with Lewis Hamilton just .245 seconds behind. Michael Schumacher was third fastest, with Nico Rosberg ending up down in sixth in the end.

Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, .8 seconds off Button’s pace…and far quicker than teammate Massa’s 18th fastest time.

Mark Webber was fifth quickest, with reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel only pulling off the 11th fastest time of the morning.

Things did not go very well for HRT, with both Narain Karthikeyan and Pedro de la Rossa unable to set any time. Karthikeyan tried, completing 3 laps overall, but the engine overheated on him out on track.

Full times and results here.

photo credit: Flickr/98octane

With the first practice session just over two days away, not much is going on beyond guessing what might happen at the first race of the season. (Answer: NOBODY KNOOOOOOWS)

But, every year at this time, Bernie Ecclestone always has plenty of ideas to keep things moving, beyond suggesting an Australia night race.

First up, Bernie says he wouldn’t be opposed to the concept of a budget cap. If you recall correctly, when Max Mosley was FIA President, the budget cap was rejected and instead the Restricted Resources Agreement became a thing.

Ecclestone thinks a budget cap would be a step in the right direction, considering teams seem too optimistic about current economic situations. The teams need to take off their “rose colored glasses” and buckle up on their budgets to control costs.

Large teams are always inherently opposed to spending limits given their larger sums of money compared to teams like HRT that struggle to finish a car before the season begins.

Ecclestone suggests trying to control the bigger teams’ spending so the smaller ones do not feel the need to spend and spend in an attempt to be on the same level as them.

The Marussia team says they support the idea of the budget cap. CEO Graeme Lowdon thinks that cost control would also help innovation and clever ideas flourish, compared to being able to spend mindlessly.

Ferrari has also brought back the talk of customer cars, using the excuse “it could help Italian drivers.”

But Luca di Montezemolo’s wording is a bit…strange.

“I have an idea: giving a minor team a Ferrari from the previous year and forcing them to field a young Italian. That would be fantastic…”

Forcing. Here, you can buy this car from us, but you’re going to have to use this Italian.

McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh and Marussia’s John Booth both oppose the idea of customer cars.

Whitmarsh says that constructors each making their own car is what sets Formula 1 apart from other forms of motorsport. Booth says it wouldn’t be as fair to everyone on the grid as cost control. If everyone could go out and buy last year’s Red Bull car, you can bet they would.

And so, the battle over spending rages on.

photo credit: Stefan Schlautmann/Flickr

So, I thought I had posted on here that I was going to be on a ridiculous trip from Saturday to today, but apparently I did not.

I was on a ridiculous trip from Saturday to today. I just drove back from Tampa and I am trying not to fall asleep at the keyboard. I have a sunburn.

Remember how Red Bull and Ferrari were going to show up to the last test a day late and test on Monday? Turns out they can’t. March 5, the Monday in question, is part of the “blackout” period before the beginning of the season.

This also means that Lotus cannot get in any extra testing. They have fixed their suspension problem, by the way.

In not so happy fixing news, the new Marussia car did not pass its final crash test, and will miss all testing. HRT finally passed all their tests, and they hope to test for at least two days this weekend.

And since we are almost only 2 weeks away from the actual season, it’s time for Dumb Stuff Bernie Says!

As usual he’s out to get Melbourne to keep hosting the race, and instead make it a night race. Every. Year. He also says Mark Webber will be the one to have the best chance to oust Vettel. Apparently he missed three-quarters of Webber’s starts last season.

Tomorrow starts the final tests. It’s almost go time.