20-Feb-10: Button On Top for Final Jerez Test

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Welcome to F1 Minute for the 20th February 2010.

Jenson Button was the fastest man out on track today, in the final day of testing at Jerez. There was absolutely no rain at all today, which was a nice change for the teams, and meant lots and lots of laps for all. Kubica and Kobayashi were second and third with 117 laps apiece, whilst the most laps went to Alguersuari who completed 139. The fewest went to Glock who finished second from last with only 28 laps. Virgin Racing had more problems with their hydraulics, and Glock caused one of the day’s red flags. The others were from Webber and Kobayashi.

Whilst I’m here for this special F1 Minute, it’s worth noting the rumours of US F1. There has been a lot of talk that they were about to call it quits, although nothing official. Now co-owner Ken Anderson has confirmed that they are in talks with the FIA to be allowed to miss the first four races of the season. They are lacking in funding, and Anderson believes they could be ready for Barcelona.

That’s all for now, I will be back on Monday with another F1 Minute.

12-Feb-10: Lotus Launch the T127 in London

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This is F1 Minute and it’s the 12th February 2010.

Lotus launched their new car today at an afternoon event in London. The T127 is a striking green and yellow, bringing forward the livery from the original Lotus team of the 50s and 60s. Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen were both present for the launch, as was CTO Mike Gascoyne. Mike said: “We are looking in really good shape. We have to improve the pace of our car and the results from the wind tunnel, but that will come with time.” They are due to star testing in Jerez next week.

Over in Jerez today, the rain came down once again. Alguersuari posted the fastest time before the bad weather began, and no one could top it, giving Toro Rosso the glory. Pedro de la Rosa was second for Sauber with Sutil third for Force India. Hamilton was slowest of the significant times, finishing 9th and about four seconds off the pace. Once again, though, it was Virgin at the bottom. They had a tough day, with di Grassi only hitting the track two hours before the end of the day, and even then he only completed 8 laps. Testing continues tomorrow, and I’ll bring you an extra F1 Minute of the action then.

Tweets of the Week – 7th February 2010

This week’s tweeting has been absolutely epic, with lots of insiders following testing and giving us great insight into what has been happening. We also had a couple of new team launches, so opinions were everywhere.

• A good feeling in the team after the first day of testing. Felipe’s first impressions are positive: a better beginning compared to last year. Inside Ferrari
• Williams are not launching as such, when the car rolls out at 10am, that will be its debut. Claire Williams
• STR5 was wheeled into pit lane at 9.05 and the photographers did their stuff. Special guest? Schumacher was having a good look at our car. Toro Rosso Spy
• My new car is just about to turn it’s first wheel in anger at Valencia… Wish I had a live feed!! Jenson Button
• Four kilometers of cueue to get into the circuit… It is Alonso mania at Valencia with more than 30,000 people attending the testing session. Inside Ferrari
• Already in barcelona! I really think we have a great car! This season will be exciting! Ou yesssssaaa! Jaime Alguersuari
• Mr Wirth’s Virgin car looks very IRL to me. Hope it doesn’t only turn left. Shakedown is at Silverstone and the pit exit’s a right! Will Buxton
• Forecast for Jerez is 60% chance of rain all four days. Not good news for Red Bull, Force I and Virgin who have first runs on new cars. James Allen
• Lots of tweets about Mercedes and Ferrari copying our chassis design. All rubbish: do they have propellers and a flamethrower? I think not… Red Bull F1 Spy
• Good that Anthony Davidson is back on the BBC in 2010. Last year I invested in a Kangaroo TV, so I could hear Ant and Crofty every session. Adam Cooper

22-Jan-10: Alguersuari Confirmed at Toro Rosso for 2010

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This is F1 Minute and it’s the 22nd January 2010.

Toro Rosso have finally confirmed that Buemi’s teammate for this year will be Jaime Alguersuari. He always claimed he would be there this year and he had a contract to that effect, but he was missed off the FIA entry list, to much confusion. Clearly, there was some kind of delay, but it’s all sorted now and the Toro Rosso line up is complete. That leaves just four seats available for the 2010 season.

Elsewhere, McLaren have announced they will be live streaming the launch of their new car on the 29th January, as it is unveiled at the Vodafone headquarters in Newbury. The launch and the following press conferences will all appear on the website and it all gets underway at 11 o’clock UK time.

Finally, Autosport is reporting that Alan Donnelly will have no role in F1 this year. He used to be a permanent adviser to the stewards, but now that system has been shuffled, he has been moved to a non-motorsport role.

That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.

Clipped Wings

The FIA released the official 2010 Formula One Championship Entry List today, in the process revealing the full team names of next years entrants, including the yet to be announced Virgin Racing.

Conspicuous by his absence was Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari, despite team mate Sébastien Buemi making the list. The team are yet to confirm their final 2010 line-up, but in the meantime Alguersuari is left out in the cold.

Credit: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

09-Nov-09: Toro Rosso Believe in Their Strong Line Up

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Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 9th November 2009.

I can’t work out whether Toro Rosso already confirmed their drivers, or if it has merely been suggested that the current pair will stay, but we now know for certain that is what’s going to happen for 2010. Team boss Franz Tost said: “I’m quite confident that from the middle of next year onwards we will have a good driver line-up, because then Alguersuari will know all the tracks, and Buemi is increasing his performance already. The last few races were quite good.” A glowing recommendation, indeed.

Elsewhere, Nico Rosberg is feeling pretty good about himself, and thinks that the season he has just completed really made him a more valuable driver. He said: “This season has been an important year for me, because I really saw it as a kind of stepping stone to have the chance to fight for race wins next year and even the championship.” He thanks Williams for their support, but he’s off.

That’s it for now, I’ll be back tomorrow for another F1 Minute.

01-Nov-09: Red Bull Take Abu Dhabi 1-2 Victory

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This is F1 Minute and it’s the 1st November 2009.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was not perhaps the roaring success we were hoping it would be but Red Bull took a strong 1-2 victory after Hamilton had to retire from the race. It looked as though Vettel would have taken the win anyway, having more fuel on board, but it was made much easier when his nearest rival retired.

The only other things of note in the race were the last few laps when Button closed right up on Webber for second place. He looked as though he might be able to get past but couldn’t make it stick and ran out of laps. Also, Alguersuari had a bit of a faux pas by heading into the pit lane but pulling into the Red Bull box rather than outside his own Toro Rosso garage. He didn’t stop, and the jack man dived out the way as he hastily left again. Embarrassment all round.

Finally, on a sad note, the owner of Donington Park Tom Wheatcroft passed away yesterday at the age of 87 after a long illness. Our thoughts are with his family.

That’s all for now, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.

Toro Rosso – GP Abu Dhabi, Sunday Race

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03) Pos. 8th
“Getting another point today, after also scoring in Brazil, is a nice way to end the season. The entire team has done a great job over the past four races and so I am looking forward to next year. At first, I was having trouble matching Rosberg’s pace, but I picked up more and more speed as the race progressed. I lost a bit of time behind Nakajima, but overall I think I did the best I could and it was a great race. My fight with Robert was quite fair, as I think I left him enough space.”

Jaime Alguersuari (STR4-01) Retired
“My start was not too bad, but I got a bit boxed in and on the first lap, I made a mistake at Turn 19, losing the rear of the car and going onto the grass, which is when I lost a few places. Then later, I had to stop with a gearbox problem as a couple of gears were disabled, so I decided to pit. But there was a misunderstanding because I came into the Red Bull Racing pit next door as my team was not expecting me. I therefore drove back onto the track and had to retire there when the gearbox broke.”

Franz Tost: “Another point. Buemi drove his best race of the season, getting a good start and after that the strategy chosen by the team also worked well to get him ahead of Rosberg. His fight with Kubica was an important and exciting moment as he managed to stay ahead. His lap times were very quick and Sebastien produced a very good performance. Unfortunately, we had a gearbox problem on Alguersuari’s car when two gears engaged at the same time, breaking the gearbox. It’s a shame the season is over, as in recent races the performance of the team, the car and the drivers increased. Now, I hope we can build a good car for next year and pick up in Bahrain where we left off here.”

Toro Rosso – GP Abu Dhabi, Saturday Qualifying

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)
“I was hoping for a little bit better after finishing seventh in Q2, but I am happy with our fuel load which should allow us to be flexible in terms of race strategy. The car feels very competitive, as indeed it has been for the past few races and scoring points is a realistic target for tomorrow.  The visibility is no problem so that should be fine for the race and the track is getting faster every time we go out on it.”
Third Practice Session: Best lap 1.40.934, pos. 4th, 22 laps
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.42.713, pos. 100h

Jaime Alguersuari (STR4-01)
“Taking into account that I was unable to do any laps this morning, because of a problem with the car, I think my performance in qualifying was quite positive, especially as I was not completely happy with the aerodynamic balance of the car. I was not expecting to make it to Q2 after not running in FP3 on a track that is new to everyone. Looking back at my season, I think that getting into Q2 again shows I am making progress, but I still have a lot to learn. I hope I can have a nice race to end the season tomorrow.”
Third Practice Session: No Time, pos. 20th, no laps
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.41.689, pos. 15th

Laurent Mekies (Chief Engineer): “A session with mixed fortunes: firstly Sebastien made it through to Q3 for the third time in a row and this is pretty much his level now, being a regular Q3 contender, which is a positive aspect. Managing the session was more difficult than usual, as both tyre compounds were very close in terms of performance, needing a longer run to get the best out of them. We did not help Jaime much today, as he did not take part in FP3 because of a problem on the car and then in the afternoon, we had a few glitches on his car. Therefore, overall, I think he did the best he could today and we hope that tomorrow we can be competitive again and bring home some points.”

Scuderia Amongst the Shadows

The racing action in Abu Dhabi has yet to be seen, but what we do know is it’s a photographer’s dream. Jaime Alguersuari steers the Toro Rosso around the Yas Marina Circuit. Buemi proved that the STR chassis can hold it’s own and next year, the team will be even more separated from Red Bull. They have been building up their design personnel, and I’m intrigued to see the results.

Credit: Paul Gilham/Getty Images

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