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.
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.
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.
It’s looking likely that Toyota’s line up for next year will still feature both Trulli and Glock, although no official announcement has been made yet. President of Toyota Motorsport John Howett has hinted at such a lineup, well, he’s basically confirmed it: “As we stand here today, we intend to keep both drivers. And I don’t think that’s ever been in any doubt to be honest.”
Whilst we’re on the subject of Toyota, they hosted a meeting at their motorhome in Hungary, for representatives of all the teams to discuss KERS. It looks like more than half of teams want to delay the introduction of the new technology for a year. Four teams voted against the delay, including BMW, Honda and Williams. These are all teams who have invested heavily in the new systems already.
BMW Team Principal, Mario Theissen, says: “There were three aspects discussed in the meeting - two of them openly, which is safety and financial implications. And the other one, underlying the picture, is competitiveness…“
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
This is F1 minute and today is the 22nd July 2008.
All ten teams turned up in Jerez for the first day of testing this morning, and by the afternoon, Vettel was top of the leaderboard. He beat Paffett in the McLaren and Badoer in the Ferrari. The only other racing driver out there was Trulli who finished 7th. The day was not without it’s mishaps though.
BMW were testing out their new KERS, but when a mechanic touched the car, he received an electric shock. He fell to the ground, and later went to the medical centre but was unharmed. BMW were understandably cautious, and Klien didn’t complete any timed laps in the car. The team have also now decided to halt testing the system for now.
Elsewhere today, Toyota have confirmed that Glock will be back in action on Thursday, and Glock himself says: “It was a really hard impact and my back hurt immediately after I got out of the car but now it is fine. Actually, it looked worse on TV than it really was.”
That’s all for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
McLaren continued their domination in Germany today, with Kovalainen posting the fastest time in Free Practice 3.It was a close one, with Massa just seven hundredths of a second behind and Hamilton back in third. Sutil had a bit of an incident, sliding into the gravel, although he did manage to save it.
Having led all three Free Practice sessions, it was hardly surprising to see a McLaren on pole, this time Hamilton getting the better of the rest of the field. Massa came a close second, with Kovalainen behind. Notably, the next pair of Trulli and Alonso were a surprise, especially as Raikkonen could only struggle into sixth.
Elsewhere today, Formula 1 teams have given the Singapore circuit the go ahead after a successful lighting test took place last week. Eight of the ten teams were represented at the inspection, no McLaren or Ferrari, and apparently all previous fears about the lighting for the night race have now been put to rest.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
Welcome to F1 Minute for the 4th July 2008, coming at you from the grounds of the Silverstone Circuit. We’re here for all three days so let me fill you in on what happened today.
In Free Practice 1, the two notable events were interconnected. Alonso’s Renault engine blew up, leaving oil all over the track. Moments later, Massa’s Ferrari hit the slippery surface and spun 180 degrees before smashing into the barrier. It was a heavy crash but he climbed from the car unscathed. Because of the excess oil on the track, and the limited running that took place after the red flag, Massa managed to hold on to the fastest time, despite not taking any further part in the session.
In FP2, Glock broke down, pulling his Toyota to the side of the track. Just as soon as his car was recovered, Trulli sent his Toyota into the barriers as well. If that wasn’t enough excitement Nakajima also had an incident that saw him return to the pits minus a front wing. Both Hondas and Toro Rosso were notably high up the timesheets in FP2, whilst Kovalainen reigned supreme.
That’s all for today, join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
Kovalainen was fastest on Day 2 of the test in Silverstone, with Trulli and Rosberg behind him, and Massa all the way down in 7th. There were several red flags today, one of which caused by Fisichella, who crashed after being caught in a gust of wind. He was taken to the medical centre and then a nearby hospital for checks on his wrist. He is okay, though.
Elsewhere, the FIA have been busy, with the World Council meeting in France. Firstly, they released a statement officially announcing they would review how F1 is governed. They also promoted their new feeder series for F1 called Formula 2, and they decided that they’d only raise the entry fee costs to F1 for teams by the rate of inflation.
Finally, they released a provision calendar for 2009, which sees the races starting and ending much later in the year, France is included, whilst the US is not, and the season closer will be in Abu Dhabi, the only new addition. Notably Turkey has been returned to its slot further down the calendar.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
You’re listening to F1 Minute and it’s the 22nd June.
Felipe Massa took the win in France, after Raikkonen’s Ferrari developed a mechanical problem. Part of the exhaust became loose and was dangling off the car for at least half the race. It finally fell off a few laps from the end, but not before melting a giant hole in the bodywork. Raikkonen still managed to finish in second, though. Rounding out the podium was Trulli, who is no doubt thankful to have provided the tribute for Ove Andersson that Toyota so badly wanted.
Elsewhere, Button was the only retiree, after a first lap tangle with Bourdais that damaged his front wing, whilst Hamilton pushed through the traffic as much as he could, but was on the receiving end of another penalty - this time a drive through, for taking a position by running off the track.
Alonso was having a strong afternoon, battling with Webber mostly, right until the end when Piquet managed to get past him. This will have boosted Piquet’s confidence after a run of bad luck.
It didn’t rain as was predicted, although there were two brief showers, and I mean very brief, that barely affected the action at all.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
McLaren and Ferrari continue to dominate, as Raikkonen led the way during Free Practice 1 and Hamilton topped the time sheets during FP2. There were several incidents during the day. At one point the track was red flagged as a drain cover had worked itself loose and water was leaking onto the circuit. Both Renaults touched the barriers at the same place, but at different times, with Alonso having to go back to the garage for a new rear wing. Also, Coulthard and Heidfeld both suffered mechanical breakdowns, whilst Trulli was another victim of the barriers.
Max Mosley turned up for his first Grand Prix appearance since his private life scandal broke. He visited the FIA motorhome for some meetings, then returned to his private offices, and made no comment to the waiting media.
Elsewhere today, Bernie Ecclestone has apparently said there is no place for the British Grand Prix on the calendar from 2010. As ever, Bernie is saying the GPDA need to meet the upgrade requirements before anything can be decided.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.