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/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”

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”

Both Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher lost control of their cars and slid deep into the gravel during the last 15 minutes of the final practice session before qualifying in two hours.

Lewis Hamilton took fastest lap from Romain Grosjean with just minutes left. At 1:25.681, Hamilton narrowly beat Grosjean’s time by .077 seconds.

Mark Webber was third fastest, with Jenson Button fourth. Rosberg and Schumacher finished fifth and sixth. Vettel still finished seventh.

Grosjean’s teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, only managed 12th spot.

Pedro de la Rosa continued to have no such luck, so it’ll be interesting to see how the 107% rule plays out during qualifying.

Additionally something to watch over the next few hours: Red Bull and Lotus have asked the FIA to reconsider Mercedes’ rear wing as legal. A formal protest could be lodged after qualifying if Charlie Whiting stays firm on the wing being legal.

Interestingly enough, both teams run Renault engines, and the fastest cars so far have been Mercedes powered.

photo credit: Flickr/Gil Abrantes

Romain Grosjean was fastest not only today, but also yesterday. Grosjean becomes the first driver during the entire pre-season test to be fastest twice. Lotus has fixed their suspension problems and have come back out swinging.

Jean-Eric Vergne, who had been fastest before Grosjean set fast laps towards the end of the day, ran into problems right before the lunch break, when the Toro Rosso caught on fire and brought out a red flag.

Both these drivers are now finished for the testing period, with Kimi Raikkonen in for Lotus tomorrow, and Daniel Ricciardo in for Toro Rosso. Additionally, it was revealed that Kimi Raikkonen will be the “star in a reasonably priced car” in this season’s Top Gear finale. I can’t wait for that.

Sebastian Vettel finished third for the day, improving his time in the afternoon. Fernando Alonso was fourth.

Heikki Kovalainen managed fifth for Caterham while running on the supersoft tires. Kamui Kobayashi finished the day sixth; his Sauber team ran into some problems which prevented him from running in the afternoon. Nico Hulkenberg also missed out on the afternoon with issues in the Force India car, and he finished seventh.

Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, and the combined Williams duo of Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado finished the day in the eighth through eleventh spots.

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.

If you’re not busy in mid-February, you might want to look into a few days in Las Vegas.

The Mandalay Bay Casino and Resort is holding a 3 day long “F1 Comes to Vegas” event February 17-19. On the 18th and 19th, Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean will do some demo runs down the streets of Las Vegas.

Other events include a Lotus car show, autograph sessions, and the chance to ride in a 3 seater F1 car that can hold 2 passengers.

You can purchase tickets and find a whole schedule of events and other information here.

Tickets for the fan village for the demo runs and other activities are $30 for adults, good for one day only. Or for $125, you can buy a VIP ticket for both days that includes the chance to win the ride in the F1 car, champagne brunch both days, and obviously because it’s Vegas, an open bar the whole time.

UPDATE: This article seems to get a lot of visits from Google, and I have not kept up to date with what is going on, as I had no intention to go. From the looks of things on various forums, it’s pretty up in the air and at this point in time I would NOT gamble my time and money on it, unless you REALLY want to go to Vegas.

Lotus says they are not participating in an event. The promoters of this event say the team is announcing something in the coming days. The information that was once on the site related to the Lotus F1 team, including a party with Kimi Raikkonen. This has all vanished from the site.

The event has also moved to the Palms and Rio hotels instead, and now the website claims “The Formula 1 team” which anyone can tell you is not a team.

Avoid.

Photo from Flickr user nhayashida.

Lotus Renault really likes these inopportune announcement times for their drivers. If I wasn’t a night owl, I wouldn’t have this up till the late morning like with the Raikkonen announcement.

This means Vitaly Petrov decided not to stay with the team and both he and Bruno Senna will need to be looking for seats elsewhere.

Romain Grosjean was considering giving up trying to get into Formula 1 if he did not get a seat for 2012. He had just recently tested for the BMW DTM team.

The signing also confirms another year of sponsorship with Total, so you can easily figure out that there is some driver sponsorship money involved.

Here is the official announcement from Renault, where Grosjean, an important guy at Total, team principal Eric Boullier, and team chief money supplier Gerard Lopez all compliment each other on this wonderful news.

“To be racing alongside a former world champion and someone who is hungry and returning to Formula 1 will be a great experience, and I’m sure will help raise my level of performance too,” says Grosjean. By hungry you mean for ice cream, right?

The team look to be starting anew after a rather disasterous finish to their season.

Romain Grosjean drove for the team in 7 races previously in 2009 after Nelson Piquet Jr. admitted to crashing on purpose during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. He was this year’s GP2 champion.

Photo from Flickr user jimmymac333.

Kubica at the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix

Robert Kubica will not be ready to start the 2012 season with Lotus Renault, it was announced today. Kubica informed the team, who released a statement.

The team remains fully behind the Polish driver, who suffered extensive injuries in a rally crash in February. Kubica hit a barrier at a high speed and was trapped in the car for over an hour before he was extricated. He had suffered a partial amputation of his forearm, several fractures on his right arm and leg, and lost a significant amount of blood. His first surgery took over seven hours, and he has had many subsequent surgeries.

Recovery is going well: Kubica has full function of his leg and can move his arm and elbow easily, but he is not 100% just yet.

Lotus Renault is already in talks with Kubica’s management to get him signed for the 2013 season. For 2012, they will be ready to put him in a simulator and a test car when he’s is good to go.

The team can also move forward now with making its lineup for 2012 in the meantime. It is rumored that Romain Grosjean will replace Bruno Senna.

Vitaly Petrov remains under contract despite his emotional outburst against the team after the last race, as he should be. Team principal Eric Boullier said the matter is settled, and Petrov is only human.

Photo from Flickr user Gregory Moine.

Sorry for the lack of posting, I’ve been in the midst of a move. I woke up on Friday to find AT&T already shut off my internet at my old place, and the modem at my new place wasn’t working. Saturday was of course actually moving day, and yesterday was clean up the old place and fight with my laptop because it doesn’t want to acquire the IP address to connect to the internet day. Still a lot to do, but I must get back to what’s important, too: F1 of course!

Pirelli news first! The tire supplier for Formula 1 wants to change their color coding system for the tires in order to make it easier for fans. To them I say: THANK YOU. The combination of either silver/white and even white/yellow for the tires for a race makes it so hard to tell who is running what tire.

Pirelli is looking to change not only the colors but also the pattern of the color. As you can see in the picture from their Facebook page, the tires say “P Zero” and have a colored line around the tire. They may be looking to the fans for help in deciding how to label the tires for next season. I’d go with text all the way around the tire in red, yellow, green, blue, but I’m not sure where that would leave the intermediate and rain tires. There’s definitely a puzzling road ahead.

Pirelli has also announced the compounds to be used at the upcoming Japanese and Korean Grands Prix. For the race at Suzuka, the compounds will be the medium and soft. The track in Korea will see the soft and supersoft tires in use.

Bernie Ecclestone revealed today that Bahrain fully paid for their Grand Prix this year, despite the event’s cancellation. He says the “Bahrainis” did not want the money back when it was offered to them, and that they think things will be okay for next season’s April race. I totally question this generalized use of “Bahrainis” since there is still unrest in the country. I don’t think every citizen of Bahrain thinks things are just fine and dandy and ready for a race.

Bernie also says he’s highly considering a race in South Africa, followed by Mexico.

Several reserve and test drivers had test sessions with teams last week, most notably Sergio Perez. Although he’s obviously a current driver, his participation in Ferrari’s Driver’s Academy program meant he got to test the 2009 Ferrari car in Fiorano on Thursday. Perez impressed all the top folks over at Ferrari…watch out, Felipe.

Other tests include Canadian driver Robert Wickens running for Virgin in Vairano, Romain Grosjean testing an old Renault in Valencia, and his fellow GP2 driver Max Chilton running a straight line test for Force India in the UK.

It looks like several teams have updates for their cars for this weekend’s race on the streets of Singapore. Team Lotus will be running a new floor on their car, along with bigger front brake ducts to help keep the brakes cool on the challenging circuit. HRT also has an updated floor, plus some new aerodynamic upgrades. Williams has upgraded their front wing and diffuser and will be testing them out for the first time in Friday’s practice sessions.

Lastly, the reserve drivers will be participating in a fashion show this weekend in Singapore. Let’s hope none of them crash the clothing or take any male model’s positions at other races. As Will Buxton said on Twitter earlier: Who will perfect blue steel?

My money’s on Nico Hulkenberg. (Except I didn’t see his name on the list but I’m going with him. Deal with it.)