image credit: Lotus F1 Official Site

If you’ve been paying attention to anything involving Finns in sports lately, you’ll notice Angry Birds are EVERYWHERE. From Heikki’s helmet, to the IIHF World Championships’ mascot Hockey Bird, Rovio’s bird characters will be found.

A couple days ago, it was revealed that Rovio is making a Heikki version of Angry Birds. There’s not much known yet, but it will be released in about a month.

Don’t think the game makers were leaving out Kimi Raikkonen. Actually, the Ice Bird in the newest game, Angry Birds Space, was inspired by the world champion known as the Iceman.

But that’s not all, Rovio is sponsoring Raikkonen’s team, Lotus F1, for the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix. Lotus is celebrating their 500th Grand Prix, and Rovio is celebrating their 1 BILLIONTH game download. Angry Birds will be the team’s “official angry partner” for the iconic race, complete with the adorable branding above.

There will also be a Lotus F1 version of the game that can be reached through the team’s Facebook page beginning on Wednesday.

If you choose to watch this video, don’t have the sound up too loud. Definitely don’t have the sound up too loud if you’re sharing the room with some crazy birds who then go crazy for the noise.

photo credit: Flickr/stratman2

Q1: Nico Rosberg topped the timesheets in the final practice session, with Red Bull and Lotus right behind, and Ferrari not so much.
Early in the first session, fastest times were exchanged among Mercedes, McLaren, and Lotus drivers. AT the very end, Mark Webber took the top spot from Michael Schumacher. HRT actually is within the 107% rule.
Knocked out, P18-24: Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso; Vitaly Petrov, Caterham; Heikki Kovalainen, Caterham; Timo Glock, Marussia; Charles Pic, Marussia; Pedro de la Rosa, HRT; Narain Karthikeyan, HRT
Q2: After five minutes, only Kimi Raikkonen and the Saubers had posted any times. And then Pastor Maldonado went into the gravel and damaged his car. Raikkonen held onto the time on top followed by both McLaren drivers, both Red Bull drivers, and both Mercedes drivers.

Knocked out, P11-17: Pastor Maldonado, Williams; Felipe Massa, Ferrari; Bruno Senna, Williams; Paul di Resta, Force India; Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso, Nico Hulkenberg, Force India; Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber

Q3: Kimi Raikkonen headed out first, followed by Mark Webber. Jenson Button and then Lewis Hamilton were fastest of all. Lewis stayed on top the entire time, with Michael Schumacher starting third. Sebastian Vettel could only manage sixth. Both Kimi Raikkonen and Heikki Kovalainen receive 5 grid spot penalties, so Vettel will actually start fifth.

1. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren: 1:36.219
2. Jenson Button, 1:36.368
3. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes: 1:36.391
4. Mark Webber, Red Bull: 1:36.461
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus: 1:36.461 *
6. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull: 1:36.634
7. Romain Grosjean, Lotus: 1:36.658
8. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes: 1:36.664
9. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari: 1:37.566
10. Sergio Perez, Sauber: 1:37.698 » Continue reading “Malaysian GP Qualifying: McLaren Starting 1-2 Yet Again”

photo credit: Flickr/Gil Abrantes

Lotus had their first and last day of testing this week, pulling out due to a critical error with their chassis. This was the first running of the second E20 chassis, and the team plans to take the time to find what exactly has gone wrong.

The team says the problem applies to both cars, which will have to be modified. The team did not name what exactly the problem is, but said the first chassis looked to have the problems after tests were run at it back in Enstone.

Romain Grosjean was able to complete seven laps before Lotus called it a week. Grosjean said the car felt strange to drive before the team abandoned the test.

Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets for the day, first taking the top time from Nico Hulkenberg before going even quicker later in the day. Vettel’s fastest lap was a 1:23.265 out of the 79 laps he completed.

Many teams went with long runs. Charles Pic completed 121 laps for Marussia, but was the slowest of the 11 cars present at the test.

Heikki Kovalainen had a rough day in the Caterham. After nine laps, a broken rod left him stranded out on track. He was able to return in the afternoon to complete an overall 31 laps.

Lewis Hamilton was third fastest for the day, completing 114 laps in the McLaren.

The new Mercedes was sixth for the day, with Michael Schumacher at the wheel for 51 laps total.

Let’s face it: during the summer break, news is seriously lacking. If you’re an American fan, you’re finding that all there is to do is tell people which month you’d think is better for the US race next year on Twitter. Wow. Great.

Everything else is particularly not newsworthy. Oh, great, the Hungaroring people want to repave it. That’s great.

So what are drivers up to on their vacations? Some of their tweets have given a bit of insight, take Jenson Button:

aka HUNGOVER

What can we deduct are Jenson’s vacation plans? Mai tais. Lots and lots of mai tais.
Keep on celebrating!
Heikki Kovalainen is spending his break being a troll. First, he “overtook” Michael Schumacher for the first time this year…on a flight back to Geneva.
Today, it’s this:

Heikki will soon be starring in Discover commercials alongside Peggy. Give it time. In the meantime, he plans to play golf for days, so those playing with him better watch out…if he shows up to the course with a fire extinguisher, it’s best you assume you won’t be doing well.

» Continue reading “F1 Drivers’ (Not So True) Summer Plans, Part 1″

This weekend Formula 1 heads to the marvelous Nürburgring in Germany. Pirelli will be trying out a new version of their soft tire compound at the Friday practice sessions. Right now the company does not plan to immediately introduce it, and will work with teams based on how they feel about it. Apparently it will be a bit harder than the current soft tire.

There will be another FOTA Fan Forum this season, this time in Milan at Pirelli’s headquarters, obviously taking place before the Italian Grand Prix. Stefano Domenicali, Nico Rosberg, and Jarno Trulli will be taking part in the panel. Unlike the previous forums in Canada and the UK, this one take place in Italian, but translation into English will be available. If you’re interested and will be in Italy for the Grand Prix, head over to FOTA’s site for details on how to get in!

In other FOTA news, James Allison, Renault’s technical director, has been named head of the FOTA technical group.

Williams’ new chief engineer Mike Coughlan is being sued by Michael Waltrip Racing along with the Williams team. Apparently, Coughlan signed a contract through November 2012 with MWR to work with the NASCAR team but broke the deal in April and joined Williams in June. To be honest, I don’t understand why you would even make a fuss over this dude considering his involvement in Spygate back in 2007, but that’s just me.

Heikki Kovalainen gave a verbal hug of encouragement to his team, saying they should be proud of their accomplishments, despite the high goals they had for this season. They are not quite midpack yet, but they are well on their way if they keep improving.

- First up, it’s official: blown diffusers are go for the rest of the season. This mess will never be mentioned again, and you can probably bet blown diffusers will not exist for 2012. Of course, in case you aren’t done with the madness, you are more than welcome to read the FIA’s Q&A on the issue.

- Adam Parr, chairman at Williams, says that Formula 1 needs to embrace social media. There are a couple teams and drivers that have a very good presence online, especially on Twitter. A couple days ago, Heikki Kovalainen was looking for a way he could chat with his fans other than via Facebook. Lotus Renault is one of my favorite teams to follow. Red Bull Racing has a good online community and their Facebook page is decent, as is McLaren Mercedes.

One of the biggest problems though is of course, ancient Bernie Ecclestone who, when interviewed, seems to think the internet only consists of videos and the only use F1 could have for the internet is video. This will probably take a bit of time.

- There’s a Formula 1 invasion coming to Russia ahead of the future race in Sochi. Jenson Button will be behind the wheel of McLaren’s 2008 car in Moscow and Russia’s own Vitaly Petrov will be showing off last year’s Renault in Sochi this weekend.

- Mark Webber appears to be set to sign for 2012 with Red Bull, again killing all my hopes and dreams of a Vettel-Raikkonen lineup. Oh wait, Dr. Helmut Marko already told me that was ridiculous like five times. Sigh.

- Finally a Robert Kubica update! He hopes to be back on the Formula 1 grid for 2012. He says he’s still a bit weak physically, but of course that’s what rehabilitation is for. He also notes that there has been no mental impact from his February rally crash that left his right hand severed. Bravo, Robert, stay strong and get back to the track!

The FIA better watch their backs. If anything happens to a Red Bull tomorrow, I don’t imagine Christian Horner could be a very friendly guy.

Here’s how everything has gone down in the past day. If your head hurts after reading this, you understood.

Blown diffusers were supposed to be banned this race. All teams were going to be allowed 10% of engine throttle when braking. Yesterday, both Renault and Mercedes were given exceptions based on how their engines work. Renault was told their engines could use 50% throttle, as they say it is necessary for engine reliability. Mercedes had been given a concession that allowed them to run on half the engine’s cylinders.

Today, suddenly the exception given to Renault engines was taken back half an hour before this morning’s practice session. There was a meeting held between practice and qualifying, but the decision stands. However, the exception made for Mercedes engines still stands. Surprise, the claim is Renault asked too late. If Red Bull wasn’t powered by Renault, I’m sure it would have been just fine.

Anyway, Sebastian Vettel was fastest in the final practice session. It was still a bit rainy, but much better than yesterday. Vettel was fastest with a 1:31.401, with Fernando Alonso right behind him…just .063 seconds back. Mark Webber, Felipe Massa, and Pastor Maldonado round out the top five.

Click below to read about qualifying and find out who will be starting on pole!

» Continue reading “British GP Blown Diffuser Blowout, Saturday Practice, Qualifying”

Some teams might not want the rain to go away, but with Red Bull’s overall showing, I bet they want it gone.

First Practice

The first driver out on track was Jerome D’Ambrosio…at 20 minutes into the session. There were spins, as there always are in the wet. Kamui Kobayashi’s was the worst, as he put his Sauber into a wall.

Mark Webber was first overall in this session, his 1:46.603 lap was the fastest in the typically British weather. Of course, one of the first things anyone wants to say is, “blown diffusers, WHAT?” but considering Christian Horner attacked the changes today and Renault is somewhat angry about it, I am thinking this is going to suck for Red Bull Racing.

Michael Schumacher finished second, half a second behind Webber. Rubens Barrichello, Sergio Perez, and Felipe Massa round out the top five. Daniel Ricciardo finished dead last, but completed 24 laps, compared to an average of about 18 by the front runners.

Second Practice

Guess what? More heavy rain! Glad I went back to bed, as it was 51 minutes into the 90 minute session before anyone braved heading out on track to get things done.

Sauber was able to get Kobayashi’s car back together, and he was out for this session, finishing third.

Felipe Massa finished on top with a time of 1:49.967 once conditions started to slightly improve. His time was .777 seconds faster than second place Nico Rosberg. Kobayashi, Lewis Hamilton, and Jenson Button make up the rest of the top five.

Where’s Red Bull, you may be wondering, considering Webber’s earlier dominance. Heikki Kovalainen was faster than both of them. Mark Webber finished 14th, Sebastian Vettel finished 18th (he did only complete 4 laps compared to Sebastien Buemi’s 21). Not a good sign, although Fernando Alonso was also below Kovalainen, finishing 15th.

Hopefully that’s it for the rain, although I’m sure plenty of drivers would appreciate it for the race.