Let it sink in: Eddie Jordan was actually right.

And so were the first reports, for the most part. Lewis Hamilton will drive for Mercedes next year, but Schumacher has not announced his retirement, and from the looks of it doesn’t even want to retire.

Sergio Perez has already signed with McLaren to replace Hamilton, leaving an open seat at Sauber for next season.

Additionally, Jaime Alguersuari tweeted a few days ago that we will find out where he’s driving soon, which could possibly be that Sauber seat. Peter Sauber reportedly has said he will seek out Schumacher for the team if he’s available.

Welcome, silly season.

The FIA has confirmed the 2013 calendar, although the Grand Prix of America set to run in New Jersey next summer remains provisional.

A calendar was released last week during the Singapore Grand Prix, but some slight changes have been made. The Korean and Japanese Grands Prix have switched spots. The German Grand Prix’s weekend was changed, as was the Belgian race.

2013 Calendar

03/17 – Grand Prix of Australia
03/24 – Grand Prix of Malaysia
04/14 – Grand Prix of China
04/21 – Grand Prix of Bahrain
05/12 – Grand Prix of Spain
05/26 – Grand Prix of Monaco
06/09 – Grand Prix of Canada
06/16 – Grand Prix of America *
06/30 – Grand Prix of Great Britain
07/14 – Grand Prix of Germany
07/28 – Grand Prix of Hungary
08/25 – Grand Prix of Belgium
09/08 – Grand Prix of Italy
09/22 – Grand Prix of Singapore
10/06 – Grand Prix of Korea
10/13 – Grand Prix of Japan
10/27 – Grand Prix of India
11/03 – Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi
11/17 – Grand Prix of USA
11/24 – Grand Prix of Brazil

First I want to completely apologize for going AWOL. I haven’t been feeling well for ages for a variety of reasons and I was pretty annoyed with Formula 1 at that.

But things are getting hilarious, as you can see.

A number of British newspapers are reporting that it’s only a matter of hours until Michael Schumacher retires and Lewis Hamilton replaces him at Mercedes next season. McLaren supposedly offered him the same amount of money, possibly even more, but if you’ve ever seen Hamilton’s twitter account, then you can understand how this might be a possibility.

Mercedes would allow Hamilton’s management company to be able to get him more endorsements, so a couple extra million pounds is nothing when personal endorsements are in the mix.

The deal is supposedly for three years at £15 million a year, with the opportunity for Hamilton to receive win bonuses.

The Telegraph claims that Sauber driver Sergio Perez will take Hamilton’s place at McLaren. Another possibility is Paul di Resta, currently racing for Force India. Perez is part of the Ferrari Academy, which makes me question the chances, whereas di Resta raced for Mercedes in DTM, and well, you probably know McLaren uses Mercedes engines.

Morning comes in probably 5 hours over there in Stuttgart, so this should be good!

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”

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”

Tomorrow I think I’ll touch on how obnoxious it is to hear blase journalists and people like Alain Prost say the unpredictability and close racing is bad. GET. OVER. IT. Sorry we don’t all get to travel to Monaco and get paid for it. Jeez.

First of all, the two drivers involved in yesterday’s antics in practice ended up dead last on the grid. Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Perez ended up starting P23 and P24 respectively after gearbox changes.

Mark Webber managed to win from pole today in Monaco, as the rain everyone kept talking about never happened during the race.

One driver, Jean-Eric Vergne, did attempt the gamble on intermediates at the end of the race, which led to him falling out of the points positions.

The first corner of the first lap was chaotic, with Romain Grosjean spinning out and causing a safety car to be brought out so his car could be removed from the track. It was the only time the safety car was needed all race.

Maldonado made his win in Spain look like a total fluke this weekend as he hit the wall on the first lap, taking himself out of the race before it even started.

Kamui Kobayashi and Pedro de la Rosa both had to retire after being involved in these incidents. De la Rosa’s wing was taken out in Maldonado’s crash, and Kobayashi went airborne in the Grosjean incident, and later had to retire because of suspension damage.

Michael Schumacher was also involved in the Romain Grosjean incident, but was able to continue on until problems with fuel pressure took him out of the race.

Jenson Button and McLaren’s woes continued. Button could not get around Heikki Kovalainen’s Caterham. Button eventually had to retire towards the end of the race after a spin in his attempts to pass the Finn.

Kovalainen was almost in the points, but lost a few places after an incident with Sergio Perez, who also had a horrible day. Perez impeded Kimi Raikkonen on his way to the pits, causing Raikkonen to lose a position. Perez was given a drive through penalty for the late turn towards the pits.

Sebastian Vettel led the race for a good amount of time as he started on the soft tire. Red Bull were hoping for rain, which never came, but Vettel was able to maintain fourth place.

Lewis Hamilton didn’t enjoy himself much either, after complaining something hit his head near the pit boards, and also whining about not being kept up to date about drivers pitting. Both Fernando Alonso and Vettel were able to come back out of the pits ahead of Hamilton.

Webber makes an unprecedented sixth different winner in as many races. He is also one of the few drivers to win at Monaco from pole. This is however, the second win for Red Bull this season, so they easily have the lead in the Constructor’s Championship now.

Next race is in Montreal, which means I won’t fall asleep towards the end. Although I didn’t miss much of anything, it seems. Webber was able to hold on to his lead, despite having a train of cars behind him. Nico Rosberg was also on the podium once again, joined by Alonso.

Results after the cut: » Continue reading “Mark Webber Wins Monaco GP, Becomes Sixth Different Winner This Season”

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”

Should have waited just a little bit longer, apparently.

The stewards have decided to completely exclude Lewis Hamilton from qualifying. He loses his pole position, and has to start from the very back of the grid.

The reasoning? This is a breach of the technical regulation of not having enough fuel in the car. From Twitter, I’ve gathered that he had 1.3 liters left, and someone said 2 would probably be needed to get to parc ferme. The FIA was still able to get a sample.

This to me seems beyond harsh. If there’s a way to appeal it, I’d bet on McLaren doing so. It seemed a lot more reasonable to just take away pole position and say he had no Q3 time and start him 7th, but apparently not.

Kate Walker tweeted a photo of the FIA’s statement.

The FIA did not accept Sam Michael’s argument that a team member not adding enough fuel is considered force majeure. Not having enough fuel basically did give Hamilton an advantage. Still, this is pretty over the top considering all the other penalties given out this season alone, and considering Karthikeyan gets to race with that slow time.

And in any case, congratulations on the pole position, Pastor Maldonado. Weird way to get it, but still an honor!

Seriously. Maldonado. P2.

He was P1 until Lewis set a blistering fast lap. He was also the fastest in the first two sessions of qualifying! Meanwhile his poor Williams teammate, Bruno Senna, could only manage P18 after a spin into the gravel in Q1.

Lewis Hamilton may not even actually start on pole for the third time this season. I’ve held off on writing this because it’s still on the stewards. His McLaren stopped on track and did not return to parc ferme under its own power as is required by the regulations.

A liter of fuel must also be on board for sampling purposes, and it is considered unacceptable for a driver to just stop in order to save the fuel. It could mean that Hamilton had less fuel on board than the other cars in Q3, and therefore he would have an advantage over them.

McLaren was previously penalized for stopping on track after qualifying to save fuel. A team must be able to prove there was actually a technical problem.

In Q1, Narain Karthikeyan failed to set a time within the 107% rule, but will be allowed to race because he set better times during practice.

I’ve already mentioned that Senna’s spin ended his hopes for getting out of Q1, and all the usual suspects were also knocked out.

Q2 was full of surprises. Starting 11th and 12th? Jenson Button and Mark Webber. Felipe Massa will start 17th. Both Toro Rosso and Force India cars were also knocked out.

Q3 featured a last minute battle for the top spot. Sebastian Vettel set the first top lap, but will only start 8th in the end. Although, according to the timing he didn’t set a time. Michael Schumacher will start behind him, alongside Kamui Kobayashi.

Entire grid (for now)
01. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren
02. Pastor Maldonado, Williams
03. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari
04. Romain Grosjean, Lotus
05. Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus
06. Sergio Perez, Sauber
07. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
08. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull
09. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes
10. Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber

» Continue reading “Lewis Hamilton And Pastor Maldonado On Front Row For Spanish GP”

Nico Rosberg got off to an early lead, especially with everyone held up by Michael Schumacher. Thankfully pit stops kept the race from looking like a Schumi train.

However, one of the front wheels on Schumacher’s car was not properly attached and he was soon out of the race after his pit stop.

At the start, Jenson Button zoomed ahead to P3 at the start of the race. Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel continued to fall further behind everyone.

Massa had the lead as he hadn’t pitted, so Nico Rosberg once again regained his lead with both McLarens behind him.

Each round of pit stops brought on excitement. Kimi Raikkonen easily won in the first round when he just flew by Daniel Ricciardo on cold tires, and even battled for position with Lewis Hamilton down the pit lane.

Sergio Perez tried to hold off Lewis Hamilton about halfway through the race, but repeatedly locked up his tires and needed to pit.

And then there was a 5 car battle for fifth place…because of Felipe Massa. Mark Webber, bored with everything, attempted a take off with his car and had it up on the back two wheels. Thankfully he did not get flipping.

Leaders kept switching. Jenson. Nico. Lewis. Jenson. Nico. Lewis. And once again there’s a screwed up pit stop, this time for Jenson Button and he joined the Massa train to the vortex of boring.

But while SPEED was in commercials, Massa pitted, or just vanished; not sure, they never said.  (Just kidding, he was down in 14th at the time.)

But that didn’t make the fight for second through ninth any less competitive. If you just looked at the front of this race for anything, you would be incredibly bored. But when the other points positions got moving, they really got moving.

Grosjean, Maldonado, and Perez had a crazy fight that eventually was ruined by Alonso. Or, he just won it all because he’s Alonso…although he was only back there because he went off (which SPEED never showed).

Webber and Hamilton battled for 5th place, but Webber held it. Vettel nabbed second from Raikkonen, and Raikkonen went off, losing third place to Jenson Button with Hamilton right behind him.

AND BASICALLY I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING BECAUSE RAIKKONEN JUST ENDED UP EIGHTH. FROM SECOND.

And someone he just tumbled the hell down to 12th with both Saubers nearly hitting him going by. The team blamed the marbles but that does not make any sense.

Jenson took second place from Sebastian with four laps to go. Vettel ended up losing positions to Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber as well.

Rosberg’s win was the first for Mercedes in forever but obviously they didn’t have a team for a lot of that time, blah blah blah.

Only one car didn’t finish the race, and nobody crashed into each other badly! Hooray!

» Continue reading “Chinese GP Recap: Nico Rosberg Finally Wins A Race”

Nico Rosberg has finally managed to take pole position after many seasons of coming so close and yet never getting there. Because of Lewis Hamilton’s gearbox switch penalty, the first row will be all Mercedes, with Michael Schumacher starting second. Hamilton will now start seventh, behind Mark Webber and his teammate, Jenson Button.

It’s the first pole position for Mercedes since 1955.

Sauber once again had a strong showing, and Kamui Kobayashi will start third. Sergio Perez will start in the eighth spot.

It was not a good qualifying session for Sebastian Vettel, who could not make it out of Q2. For some reason, this surprises everyone to the point of obnoxiousness. If it’s so hard for you to tell one season from another, perhaps you should find other ways to amuse yourself on ocassion.

Times in Q2 were incredibly close together, making it quite obvious there was going to have to be at least one big name knocked out. Both Williams and both Force India cars were also out after this session.

HRT was well within the 107% rule for once, although Pedro de la Rosa was reprimanded for blocking, as was Williams driver Pastor Maldonado.

Race begins at 3am, I am going back to sleep. Full grid follows!
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
2. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes
3. Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus F1
5. Jenson Button, McLaren
6. Mark Webber, Red Bull
7. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren
8. Sergio Perez, Sauber
9. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari
10. Romain Grosjean, Lotus F1
» Continue reading “Nico Rosberg Takes Pole For Mercedes In China”