Italian GP FP2: Lewis Hamilton fastest as Alonso hits trouble

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was fastest in the 2nd free practice session at Monza, leading his team-mate Jenson Button to a solid one-two. There was trouble for Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and current Championship leader, as his car suffered from gearbox and brake problems.

The standing driver Jerome D'Ambrosio (replacing Romain Grosjean) got to grips with his Lotus racing car, and managed 13th place. The highlight of the session came when Kimi Raikkonen got a bit too aggressive with the kerbs on the 2nd corner of the track and got airborne. No significant damage was done and Kimi was able to return to the pits.

The final (3rd) free practice session will start today, before the ever crucial qualifying for Italian GP 2012.

Here are the top 5 from yesterday's FP2...

- Lewis Hamilton
- Jenson Button
- Fernando Alonso
- Felipe Massa
- Nico Rosberg

Read More

Hamilton to Mercedes? : Silly season 2012 in full swing!

Lewis Hamilton may be switching to Mercedes next season, thereby ending his 6 year long stint with McLaren, even since he joined back in 2007. That is the rumor circling around in the paddock nowadays.

Initially started by BBC co-presenter, and former Jordan boss, Eddie Jordan, the rumor has spread like wild fire and is now being talked about throughout the F1 fraternity. It is interesting to remember that Hamilton's 5 year deal is due to end at the close of the current 2012 season. Hamilton's recent performances have been pretty solid, with a few mishaps and accidents, but many experts believe it's the lack of communication between the drtiver and the team that could eventually lead them both to split.

Lewis Hamilton has always been a straight talker and rarely decides to shy away from speaking his mind. The McLaren team on the other hand maintains a very corporate and professional look in their way of doing business on and off the track.

If Hamilton does decide to switch, it is very likely that Schumacher will be the one to leave the team and Formula 1. Regarding the matter, this is what Eddie Jordan had to say...

“I believe Hamilton and Mercedes have already agreed personal terms and a deal could be imminent,”

Read More

Jérôme d’Ambrosio stands in for Grosjean at Monza

It's Official. Jerome d' Ambrosio will be standing in for the French driver Romain Grosjean in next week's Italian GP at Monza.

This was confirmed today by the Lotus team, after the one race ban that was handed to Grosjean with regards to the first lap incident in Belgian GP. Romain Grosjean was blamed for starting the chain of events that led towards championship contenders like Alonso and Hamilton retiring on the first lap. Other drivers that were affected in the crash were Sergio Perez, Kamui Kobayashi, and Pastor Maldonado.

Naturally, Ambrosio, now 26, is pumped up by the opportunity and is looking forward to racing after a long time in F1. He lets his feelings out by saying...

“My desire for 2012 has always been to get back into the seat of a Formula 1 car, so I am grabbing this opportunity with both hands,”

Read More

Beglian GP Friday FP2: A Complete Washout

Team Marussia F1 are celebrating their 50th grand prix entry and what better to do it than take the first place in the second session of Free practice. No, you're not reading this wrong. Charles Pic was some of the few drivers who actually went out and did some running on the extremely wet Spa Francorchamps track.

Over the course of the complete 90 minutes of the session, not even a single competitive time was set. Drivers went out in the dying minutes of the session to trundle around and do some practice starts.

The weather forecast seems to indicate a dry spell on Saturday, with a strong chance of rain again during Sunday's race. This will put huge pressure on the teams to figure out their car handling and setup during the crucial Free practice 3 session tomorrow.

Here are the top 5 standings from the FP2 session.

1. Charles Pic Marussia 02:49.354
2. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 02:49.750
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 02:50.497
4. Paul di Resta Force India 02:51.333
5. Pastor Maldonado Williams 02:51.660

Read More

Robert Kubica Return: Alonso is very uncertain

Robert Kubica is still in recovery mode after his horrific crash back in 2011 in a rally car, which almost took his life and left him hospitalized for weeks.

His good friend, Fernando Alonso meanwhile is quite uncertain if Kubica will ever be able to return to a full time ride in Formula 1.

"It’s very hard to say whether Robert will return to 100 percent fitness and be able to race again in Formula 1,"

Alonso also said that he keeps regular contact with his friend, and how Robert tells him he misses the life of F1. It is interesting to note that before Kubica's crash, he was widely tipped to replace Massa for the second Ferrari seat, which would have made him team-mates to Fernando Alonso. 

Read More

Rubens Barrichello: "Returning back to F1 still a possibility"

Rubens Barrichello is refusing to let go of any hopes of returning to F1 in the future, particularly with his former team Williams F1.

Rubens said...

"I think there is still a way back, I'm not using IndyCar as a last resort,"

Barrichello added that Williams F1 needs him back to tame their young (and careless) drivers. He of course was pointing towards the fiery Pastor Maldonado, who's been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons. 

Barrichello also added that driving the Williams this season would have been a lot more fun than the previous years and that he always knew this year's challenger would been far much better and be able to give results. He said his heart bleeds to think he could have done so much better and it's a shame he was dropped at the end of 2011. 

Barrichello is currently racing in IndyCar with KV racing and sits in 15th position in the championship with a total of 164 points. 

Read More

Lewis Hamilton 'very close' to a new McLaren contract

Lewis Hamilton is 'very close' to a new McLaren contract that could see him cement his position with the team on a long-term contract. That is the story surfacing from the world of F1 while we wait for the Belgian GP on September 2012.

Lewis Hamilton is currently in his 6th season in Formula 1 when he joined back in 2007 with the McLaren Mercedes team.

Managing Director of McLaren Jonathan Neale meanwhile claims that Hamilton and McLaren are currently in serious negotiations about a future contract and we might hear some news in the coming days. Here's what he had to say...

“We are closer and of course we are in dialogue, For obvious reasons I can't speculate more at the moment. We are working very hard to find a common ground.”

It is however unclear if an official public announcement will be made in the current summer break.

Read More

Rush Movie release expected in September 2013

Rush, the movie about Former F1 champion Niki Lauda and his fight with fellow racing driver James Hunt in the 1976 Formula 1 championship season, is expected to hit the cinemas in September 2013.

The movie is directed by Ron Howard, and will try to cover the incidents leading to Niki Lauda's fiery crash that almost took his life and James Hunt subsequently winning the title.

The character of James Hunt is being played by Australian star Chris Hemsworth (known for Thor), while Lauda is being played by Daniel Bruhl (Inglorious Basterds). The movie is being filmed in various locations including UK, Austria as well as Germany.

Read More

Jenson Button's restaurant 'Victus' shuts down

It's the Formula 1 summer break, and the news from the F1 world is slightly on the 'thin' side.

However, in some non-racing related news, the 2009 F1 champ Jenson Button's restaurant has to be shut down after almost an year since it was opened up.

Button co-owned the restaurant named as 'Victus', with his partner and former F1 driver Richard Goddard. Sadly, due to undisclosed reasons, the restaurant is to be closed for business.

Here's the reason given by Mr. Richard Goddard...

“Unfortunately the business was launched in an economy which then continued to slide and just hasn’t stopped, with people simply not having the disposable income needed to spend in restaurants.”

Meanwhile, Jenson Button is currently spending his F1 break in Philippines, with his girlfriend Jessica Michibata.

Read More

HRT boss says the car is at half of it's potential

HRT boss Luis Perez-Sala while talking about the first half of the season remarked that their 2012 challenger is probably at 50% of it's true potential, and more performance could be extracted particularly from the aerodynamics side.

"I'd say we're at 50 per cent of its potential and we can still extract another 50 per cent, mainly in aerodynamics."

It must be remembered that HRT missed the pre-season testing completely and were also not able to qualify for the first race of the season in Australia. It has been a tough season for them ever since, and they have so far scored no points in the constructors championship at all.

However, the HRT team boss is optimistic about a point scoring position and says that new updates planned for the Singapore GP might improve their pace.

It is interesting to note that their direct competitors, Marussia F1 have also not been able to score a single point in the championship thus far.

Read More

"We don't want to rush into a decision regarding Schumacher" - Ross Brawn

Mercedes F1 team will be not be rushed into a decision regarding Schumacher's contract for 2013, according to team principal Ross Brawn.

Ross Brawn says that it's a really important matter for everyone involved and will be decided when the time is right. He added, "I don't want to increase speculation by commenting on where we are."

Michael Schumacher returned to the sport in 2010, and now his contract runs out at the end of 2012. So far, no decision has made and Schumacher himself has been pretty quite about it.

So far this season, Schumacher's luck hasn't been so good, with him only scoring 29 points compared to team-mate Rosberg's 77, and the latter even winning a race.

Read More

Ferrari not a good option right now for Vettel - Jackie Stewart

If Vettel chooses to switch teams and move from Red Bull to Ferrari at the end of this season, it would be a big mistake, according to 3 times F1 world champion Sir Jackie Stewart.

"I wouldn't do that at this time", said Sir Jackie, mentioning that Alonso is way too strong at the moment and has 100 % backing of the whole team. Two young world champions at Ferrari would just not work.

Interestingly, Sebastian Vettel's contract at Red Bull ends at the end of the 2014, while Alonso has signed up for a long term deal which could see him continue to drive a scarlet Ferrari until the end of 2016. So for Vettel to move to Ferrari, he will have to break his current contract and that's not always a good thing for an F1 driver,

Sir Jackie Stewart is also of the opinion that Vettel should stick with Red Bull and only think of moving to another team if he has a really bad year with them. So far, Vettel is 3rd in the championship, with a total of 42 points behind the leader, Fernando Alonso.

Read More

Tense environment between Marussia F1 drivers

The latest news from the Hungarian GP paddock suggested that all is not well at the Marussia F1 garage, with drivers Timo Glock and Charles Pic not having the best of times.

The tension increased after an angry reaction from Timo Glock about the Pic's rash driving qualifying. It is also  interesting to note that Glock was out-qualified for the first time this season in Hungary by his team-mate.

Timo Glock alleges Charles Pic to have slowed him down on his qualifying lap, and points out it's no good speaking with Pic about it because he doesn't understand English.

Maybe he doesn’t understand the English over the radio, It’s pointless. This has now happened two or three times, so it’s something the team needs to solve.”

Frenchman Charles Pic finished the Hungarian GP in 20th place, one place ahead of his German team-mate Glock.

Read More

Lewis Hamilton takes victory at Hungary

Lewis Hamilton held back a late charge by Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen to win his 3rd Hungarian GP and his 19th victory of his career. Raikkonen's team-mate Romain Grosjean completed the podium as the driver's championship leader Alonso settled for a lonely 5th place. The Red Bull duo of Vettel and Webber could only manage 4th and 8th respectively.

The F1 circus now goes on a month long mid-season break and will return with the ever so tough and driver's favorite Spa-francorchamps in September.

The title fight is still wide open with Kimi Raikkonen now announcing his intention very firmly indeed. The Lotus team have been working extremely hard on the car and both drivers have had strong results. With things improving as they are, it won't be long until we see a Lotus driver on the top step of the podium.

After the race, Alonso was a bit surprised that he was still leading the championship and urged his fans that it could be a tough final part of the season as his Ferrari seems to be losing pace with respect to the competition.

So, we meet again in September (2nd to be exact) for the Belgian GP 2012. 

Read More

"Alonso among the best drivers in F1 history" - Andrea Stella

Alonso is among the best drivers in F1 history. That is according to his race engineer, Andrea Stella.

Andrea Stella didn't want to do comparisons between each and every successful F1 driver, but he did say this.

I just think that, when Fernando performs at these levels, there are just a few drivers in history who can stand the comparison.

Andrea also praised Alonso's skill when the track was wet and said that he performs his best in almost all types of conditions. Germany was yet another proof that Alonso is right on the top of his game and it's going to be hard for other drivers to stop him now.

Fernando Alonso currently leads the F1 driver's championship comfortably from Red Bull driver Mark Webber. Alonso is now the only driver this season to have won 3 Grand Prixs.

Next up, the F1 circus heads to the twisty circuit of Hungary.

Read More

Raikkonen delighted with podium, but wants a victory

It was a strong run for Kimi Raikkonen in the German GP. He finished on the podium after the FIA stewards declared Sebastian Vettel's overtake on Jenson Button as illegal.

If not for his poor qualifying effort, Raikkonen could have had a strong chance for a race victory and that showed in his comments after the race with the press.

"It's nice to have another podium, but obviously we would rather get it on the track. Having said that I think we did the best we could from the position we started.

Raikkonen with his consistant form in recent races is now 4th in the drivers championship with a total of 98 points. Kimi says it's been half season so far.

"If you had told me in January that we would be fourth halfway through the season, I think I would have been pretty pleased.

But having that, Kimi believes the team can win a race this season and will push hard for the victory in the remaining second half.

Read More

Alonso dominates in Germany, furthers his lead in the championship

Fernando Alonso won his third race of the season in what turned out to be a 'controlled' race for the 2 times world champion. Fending off Sebastian Vettel for the first half of the race, and then successfully tackling Jenson Button in the latter part, Alonso managed to cross the chequered flag with relative ease and finesse.

The fight for second place came down to a battle between Button and Vettel, in which the German apparently overtaking Button on the penultimate lap.

Vettel's overtake was deemed illegal by the FIA stewards after the race, thereby demoting Vettel to 5th place, resulting in Button promoted to 2nd while Kimi Raikkonen taking the final place on the podium.

Meanwhile, the 100'th race for Lewis Hamilton didn't prove enjoyable when he retired with a technical fault before languishing a lap down after hit by a tire puncture at the start of the race. The race was a one to forget to Alonso's team-mate Felipe Massa as well, as he was also a victim of a first lap incident, which forced him to pit for a new nose and losing a lot of positions which he never recovered.

The F1 circus now moves towards Hungary next week with Alonso in a dominating position in the championship.

German GP 2012 - Top 10

1. Fernando Alonso
2. Jenson Button
3. Kimi Raikkonen
4. Kamui Kobayashi
5. Sebastian Vettel
6. Sergio Perez
7. Michael Schumacher
8. Mark Webber
9. Nico Hulkenberg
10. Nico Rosberg

Read More

Fernando Alonso on Pole in a wet German GP Qualifying!

Yet again, Fernando Alonso destroyed the competition in a wet qualifying session here in Hockenheim, Germany. This is 2nd consecutive pole position after what was a similarly dominating performance in Silverstone.

Sebastian Vettel managed to grab the 2nd place with Webber claiming the 3rd place which he will have to forfeit to Schumacher because of his gearbox change penalty. Rosberg and Grosjean are the other two drivers who will be demoting down the grid due to penalties.

Here are the top 5 for tommorow's German GP 2012.

1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:40.621
2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 01:41.026
3. Mark Webber Red Bull 01:41.496 (Penalty)
4. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 01:42.459
5. Nico Hülkenberg Force India 01:43.501

Read More

New Upgrades for McLaren and Lotus in Germany

It was a rain-soaked first practice session at Hockenheim on Friday at the German GP, and the focus of attention were two teams in particular. McLaren and Lotus.

New sidepods for the McLaren 2012 challenger have brought up the hopes for the team and in the hands of drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, they expect a return back to the sharp end of the grid.

The new sidepods are not the only upgrade for the McLaren car, because they have also brought a brand new rear wing for this race.

The first practice session the McLaren boys leading the pack, but it's still early in the weekend to suggest the changes and their affects on the car.

Hamilton put it like this...

“I just hope these upgrades can get us back on track, We want to be fighting for wins and top points positions again.”

The other news doing the rounds in Germany this weekend is the new and unique 'Super DRS' of the Lotus E20. The team is optimistic about the new upgrade and hopes it will help them challenge for the top positions come qualifying time on Saturday.

Read More

Bruno Senna wins the 'Lorenzo Bandini Trophy'

There is yet another addition to the 'Lorenzo Bandini Trophy' list in addition to Formula 1 drivers like Fernando Alonso, David Coulthard, and Robert Kubica to name a few.

The latest recepient of the prestigious award is current Williams F1 driver Bruno Senna.

Senna collected his trophy by driving through the beautiful Italian towns of Faenza to Brisighella. This famed award was initiated back in 1992 in honor of Ferrari driver who lost his life in the 1967 Monaca GP.

Senna described his emotions by saying that it was an honour for him to receive such a distinguished award.

He also expressed optimism about his future by saying...

“I've seen some of the names who have won this in the past and what they have gone on to achieve in their careers, so let's hope this is just the start of greater things for me too.

Read More