Massa has scored pole position for the very first F1 night race at Singapore, beating Lewis Hamilton by six tenths of a second. Hamilton pulled out an impressive lap at the end of qualifying, especially considering the fact that he almost didn’t make it through to Q3. His first lap in the second session went wrong, and he had to abort it, and his second lap saw him tenth. Once again, he had to abort the third, and thankfully for him no one managed to push him out. Alonso finished 15th in that session, as he had to retire his car moments after hitting the track.
In team mate comparisons, Vettel pulled out an impressive 7th to Bourdais’ 17th, and Button finished in 12th to Barrichello’s 18th. Fisichella finished last having only managed to complete two laps due to a gearbox problem from Free Practice 3.
We also learned today that Kovalainen is using up his free engine joker for this race, and will therefore start with a fresh motor.
That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
We saw our first Singapore track action today and it was unbelievably beautiful. The lighting seemed to work according to plan, and it was down to the drivers to get to grips with the circuit. Free Practice 1 saw Mark Webber crash into the barriers, and Rubens Barrichello suffer the same fate. Trulli spun round on the main straight, and decided it was safer to travel several car lengths the wrong way and u-turn into the pits, rather than swing round on the straight. The stewards disagreed, though, and after the event reprimanded him and fined him 10,000 Euros.
Hamilton led the first session and much of the second, until Alonso pipped him at the very last moment. FP2 was a quieter affair, with Glock knocking his front wing off against the wall, and a near miss between Bourdais coming out of the pits and Heidfeld on a flying lap. Webber missed a lot of the running but did get some laps in, whilst Fisichella retired halfway through with a gearbox problem.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
From an unexpected pole position to a superb victory, Sebastian Vettel has become the youngest ever F1 race winner by taking his maiden win in Italy.
The race got underway with a safety car start due to the weather conditions, but it was only a couple of laps before racing began proper. Vettel pulled out an early lead, whilst team mate Bourdais was a lap down having stalled on the grid.
The first few laps were amazingly clean, with very few incidents. In fact, the race itself only saw one retiree in the form of Fisichella. He collided with Coulthard during an overtaking manouvre that dislodged his front wing. The wing went under the car and the Force India headed straight into the tyres.
Hamilton one-stopped his way up the field, but made another bad tyre decision by taking on extreme wets when the rest of the field had inters. He had to pit an extra time, but finished a respectable 7th, just behind Massa. Raikkonen woke up towards the end of the race and finished 9th.
Congratulations to Vettel, and the other podium finishers Kovalainen and Kubica. I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
Free Practice 3 was wet, and very little meaningful running took place, although Hamilton and a few brave drivers did take to the track. When qualifying began, it was still raining, but the first session looked like things were going to plan, as both Honda’s, Nakajima and Sutil were all knocked out. Finally, after proclaiming it their target all year, Force India got through to the second session with Fisichella at the wheel. McLaren appeared to make a bad decision in Q2, sending Hamilton out for one lap on intermediate tyres. He returned to the pits for extreme wets, but couldn’t get a lap time together, and finished that session at the back, starting 15th on the grid, just behind Raikkonen.
In Q3, Massa and Kovalainen were the soul representatives of the top two teams, but it was Toro Rosso who made it work. Vettel took an early lead, when conditions were less wet, and as it began to rain once more, no one could beat it. The Italian squad start their home race from their first pole position.
That’s it for today, join me again tomorrow with all the info from what’s bound to be an incredible race.
You’re listening to F1 Minute and it’s the 5th September 2008.
The Belgian Grand Prix weekend got underway today with two free practice sessions, one led by Massa and the other by Alonso.
Free Practice 1, Massa was fastest ahead of Raikkonen and then Hamilton. It stayed dry for most of the session, although the track started out wet after overnight showers. There were no major incidents but Trulli had some electronic problems and Kubica moaned to his team for pretty much the entire morning.
Free Practice 2 saw some rain, and some incidents. Webber, Fisichella, Raikkonen, and Piquet all came off track, with the first two unable to continue. Alonso was fastest ahead of Massa and Kovalainen.
After both sessions, drivers were allowed to practice starts from the grid. In FP1, Bourdais couldn’t take part because his car came to a stop at the end of the pitlane, and in FP2 Kubica couldn’t take part because he stalled it. How embarrassing.
That’s everything for today. Join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
Sad news to begin with, ex-F1 champion Phil Hill has died aged 81. Hill is the only native-born American to have won the title, and did so in 1961 driving for Ferrari. He won three Le Mans races, and started 48 F1 races, winning just three of them. He retired in 1967. Hill died yesterday due to complications from Parkinson’s Disease.
Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo issued a statement after hearing the news, saying: “I, as well as all employees of Ferrari, am extremely saddened by the news of the passing of Phil Hill, a man and a champion who gave so much to Ferrari and who has always greatly represented the company’s values inside and outside the racing track.”
Finally, a quick update on the test at Monza, Hamilton has finished the final day with the fastest time, followed by Raikkonen and then surprisingly, Fisichella in the Force India.
That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
You’re listening to F1 Minute and today is the 16th August 2008.
If you happen to be anywhere near Rotterdam this weekend, you might be lucky enough to catch sight of an F1 car on the streets. Toyota, Force India and Renault have all taken a break from their Valencian preparation to head to the Netherlands for the Bavaria City Racing festival.
Trulli will be giving the fans a demonstration in his Toyota, whilst Fisichella, Sutil and Renault test driver Yamamoto all take their respective cars on a trip through the streets as well. With team mate Trulli in the Netherlands, Glock has travelled to California to take part in some Historic Automobile Races at Laguna Seca. Nice work if you can get it.
Meanwhile, the F1 news doesn’t stop. Rumour has it that Nelson Piquet is having to wait until September this year before finding out whether he has a race drive for 2009 or not. The Renault driver is one in a long line of people having to wait until Alonso makes his move for next season, before finding out his own future.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
Today is the 14th August 2008, and this is F1 Minute.
A few snippets of news today, starting with Mark Webber who says that Red Bull are targeting fourth in the constructor’s championship by the end of the season. They’ve struggled slightly recently, but Mark believes they can get back on form: “It’s a significant target and it would be nice to get it. Dietrich Mateschitz is very keen to finish fourth and there’s always pressure. We know what we have to try to achieve, but I don’t think he’s going to sack everyone if we finish fifth instead.”
Also today, my favourite story for a long time, it’s emerged that Kimi Raikkonen is to be honoured on some Finnish stamps. They are to celebrate the Finnish Postal Services 370th birthday, and Raikkonen will get his very own copy of them at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Finally, Fisichella still says he is happy with Force India, despite the fact that he’s heading towards his first pointless season of his career, and says he looks forward to next year’s car instead.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
You’re listening to F1 Minute for the 21st July 2008.
Following his heavy crash at Hockenheim, yesterday, Timo Glock stayed in hospital overnight for observation but was released today. He is fine, and returns now to rest up ahead of the test at Jerez this week. Toyota general manager Pascal Vasselon has spoken to Timo: “We have already talked to him on the phone. It may not be possible, but he is already thinking that he wants to drive in the test at Jerez. So he is fine.” At the moment, the cause of the crash is still unknown.
Also, following the race yesterday, the stewards announced that Fisichella had been given a 25 second penalty, due to unlapping himself from behind the safety car when he technically wasn’t allowed to. This puts the Force India down from 14th place to 16th.
Finally, after back to back wins from Hamilton, ex-champion Niki Lauda has spoken out, and changed his mind about the Brit: “It was a great race from him in Germany and if If he continues like this, he will be unbeatable.”
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
This is F1 Minute and today is the 10th July 2008.
The third and final day of the test at Hockenheim came to a close with Felipe Massa the fastest man. Button was in second, and Kovalainen third. There were three red flags throughout the day, one caused by Fisichella – who suffered quite a crash – Nakajima, and Alonso. Fisichella lost control of his car and smashed into a nearby wall, he was unharmed but there was significant damage to the Force India.
Elsewhere, Donington Park have revealed their plans for improving the circuit for when the British GP descends in 2010. They are lengthening the track to get it to the required standard, introducing a new facility for race control and the media, and updating the pit complex so the teams will feel quite at home.
Finally, renowned F1 photographer Bernard Cahier has passed away at the age of 81. He had worked in motorsport since the 50s and was instrumental in organising the structure of F1 media.
That’s all for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.