Button Seals Memorable Season

The FIA Gala in Monaco provided the grand finale for a dramatic season in the FIA Formula One World Championship. The winning trophies were presented to Jenson Button and Ross Brawn for the drivers’ and constructors’ titles respectively, whilst Sebastian Vettel and Rubens Barrichello took the stage to collect their second and third place trophies.

It was a season of records for all of those on stage. Having won six of the first seven races of the championship, Brawn became the first team to claim the Constructors’ title in its debut season.

Vettel, at age 22, became the youngest Drivers’ Championship runner-up in Formula One history. Rubens Barrichello, at age 37, attained his fourth top-three finish in the Formula One Drivers’ Championship, whilst maintaining his position as the most experienced driver in F1 history, having competed in 288 races and counting.

Jenson Button said:

“I am honoured to be here in Monaco this evening to collect the Drivers’ Championship trophy and to see my name engraved alongside the famous racing legends of the past. Motor racing has been a part of my life since my father bought my first go-kart at the age of eight and to have achieved my dream of becoming World Champion makes me incredibly proud.

“This has been a fantastic year for myself and Brawn GP. Just 23 days before the start of the season, we didn’t even know if we would be at the first race and now I am the World Champion with the team winning the Constructors’ Championship. Everyone at the team deserves our success so much.

“I would like to say a very big thank you to everyone at Brawn GP and at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines for all of their hard work and commitment and for producing such a great car. It has truly been a fantastic year and I am very proud of the success that we achieved together.”

Brawn Team Principal Ross Brawn said:

“This has been an incredible year for Brawn GP. To live the trauma of the winter months and make it to the grid for the first race and then to achieve eight Grand Prix victories and the Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships in our first year was inconceivable before the season started.

“On behalf of the team, it is a great honour to receive the Constructors’ Championship trophy this evening and I look forward to taking the trophy back to Brackley to share with our team. I would like to thank Jenson and Rubens for the spirit in which they fought for the Drivers’ Championship this year, all of our staff at the factory in Brackley for their hard work and dedication, and Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart and Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth for the support that they have given us since the start of the year and the superb engine that they provided.

“Our team has now formed a partnership with Mercedes-Benz for the future through the investment in the team by Daimler AG and Aabar. Our new position as the Mercedes works team will revive the brand’s iconic Silver Arrows heritage and we are all looking forward to representing Mercedes-Benz at the pinnacle of global motorsport and the challenge of defending our title next season.”

Sebastian Vettel said:

“It is a great honour for me to be here in Monaco at the FIA Gala to receive this award. Of course, as a sportsman, coming second is never your target, but we can be happy with what is nevertheless a great result. For the team, it was a fantastic season – its best ever – and the credit goes to everyone at Red Bull Racing, both at the race track and back in the factory. We are very proud of what we have achieved and it will motivate us to try and do even better next year.”

Rubens Barrichello said:

“It was a great season for everyone at Brawn GP. We had a really fun year together that will remain in our memories forever and it’s good to be here this evening to see Ross collect the Constructors’ Championship trophy on behalf of the team.

“I’m really pleased to have played my part in securing the title for the team with the two wins in Valencia and Monza and the podium and points finishes in what has been one of my strongest seasons in Formula One. The team were superb all year, producing and developing a car which gave me the opportunity to return to winning ways, and maintaining their belief through the difficult times. We fully deserve our Championship success and it was a real privilege to be part of such a strong team.”

10-Dec-09: Teams Begin to Plan for Group Launch

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This is F1 Minute for the 10th December 2009.

The teams are definitely planning to go ahead with their joint launch, and Valencia is the destination of choice. Attending the Motorsport Business Forum in Monaco, Mercedes GP CEO Nick Fry said: “I wouldn’t wish to spill the beans on what we are going to do, but it is going to be hugely innovative. It is going to be a clear demonstration of how we are going to be working together. We are not all going off and doing our own individual launches, so we can do something that is a lot more customer friendly.”

Elsewhere the FIA have proposed a new points system to try and address the expansion in the grid. With 13 teams now, the points haul for winning could go up to 25 points, then 20, 15 and 10 for fourth, followed by 8-6-5-3-2 and one point for the tenth placed car.

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

09-Dec-09: Abu Dhabi Request Final 2010 Grid Slot

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Welcome to F1 Minute for the 9th December 2009.

Organisers of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix have appealed to the FIA for yet another calendar change that would see them granted the final race of the year once more. Initially, they had the last calendar slot, but then Brazil was given the November 14th season closing position instead. CEO Richard Cregan said: “The final meeting is this week and we will know after that where we are on the calendar. Fingers crossed we will get the last race but I don’t know what the situation will be. I think that either way we are going to be happy.”

Elsewhere, the Motorsport Business Forum in Monaco has many top F1 personnel talking about the sport and how it can improve. Today they were talking about media, and Lotus chief Tony Fernandes said: “I look at the future of where F1 could go if managed correctly. It is a massive sport that is as yet untapped. We haven’t touched the whole world yet, through online. I left the music business because it didn’t want to embrace the internet…”

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

Not Your Stepping Stone

Nico Rosberg takes part in a fashion event during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend. Today, Nico revealed that he thinks this season has upped his value as a driver and made him more worthy of driving a championship winning car. Unfortunately, of course, that is not with Williams.

Credit: Glenn Dunbar/LAT Photographic

21-Oct-09: Monaco Grand Prix Moved Forward a Week

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Welcome to F1 Minute for the 21st October 2009.

A while ago, I reported on the teams concern over the 2010 calendar, with some of the races too close together. The FIA confirmed today that they are moving the Monaco Grand Prix to the 16th May, which is forward by one week. This means they have the regular fortnight gap to be able to get to Turkey, rather than the back to back it was scheduled to be originally.

Meanwhile, Webber is feeling super confident for next year, after the team’s and more importantly his own improvements throughout this season. He says: “Up until Singapore there were only a couple of points between Sebastian and I so there is absolutely no reason at all why I can’t fight for the championship next season. I am disappointed that my championship bid faded, but as always you need to put a whole season together.” He’s sure that a consistent year will help them bounce back from this seasons defeat.

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

Kubica Confirmed

Robert Kubica is photographed ahead of the Monaco GP. Renault announced today that they have signed the Pole up for the 2010 season. Kubica was previously with the team as part of their young driver programme, and he is looking forward to returning.

Credit: BMW AG

Toyota – Turkish Grand Prix Debrief – Q+A with Jarno Trulli

What is your reaction to the Turkish Grand Prix weekend?
We are back on track and it was good to be fighting at the front of the grid again. To return to the top five immediately after what happened in Monaco is great and it is a credit to the team, who have worked really hard to improve our performance. We were not far away from the fastest car; there is still a small gap which we will work to close but we are moving in the right direction.

How did the team achieve such a big change of fortunes after Monaco?
Basically it has been achieved through a lot of hard work after Monaco, by everyone in the team. Monaco is a one-off race and we felt sure our problems would not be repeated in Turkey but we didn’t leave this to chance. We had a few upgrades, with changes to the front and rear wings, which brought additional performance. Overall we improved in many areas, including the start which was fantastic for me on Sunday. Timo and I have worked together with the team to understand where we can improve and the result we had in Turkey was a nice reward for our effort.

Did the car immediately feel competitive in Turkey?
Normally you have a good idea straight away in first practice if you are competitive and in Turkey I was pretty happy from the beginning. We were clearly competitive and I knew immediately we would be in the top 10. We continued to get more performance out of the car in practice and in qualifying we were not far from pole position, even if the tyre situation was a little unusual.

What was the situation with tyres in Istanbul?
Normally the softer tyres clearly give better performance over one lap but in Turkey there wasn’t so much difference between the compounds in qualifying. We used the hard and soft tyres in each session to make sure we had everything covered but the lap times were very similar. In the race it was quite straightforward and both tyres worked well. I used the soft tyres for a short final stint but I actually set my fastest race lap on the hard compound; it was fourth fastest overall which shows we were genuinely very competitive.

How was the race for you?
It was an exciting race for me because I was fighting on every lap. I had a great start and managed to overtake two cars into the first corner, so I was in third. But I was having trouble with the brakes locking and it was impossible to keep (Mark) Webber behind. After that I got into a good rhythm and I was battling hard with (Nico) Rosberg; I was ahead but he was pitting two laps later than me so took the position at the first stops. But I didn’t give up. I knew I had to stay as close as possible to him during the second stint because we had more fuel on board. I was trying to make every lap like a qualifying lap and I stayed close, so when we both made our final pit stops I got out ahead. A lot of the credit has to go to the pit stop crew who did an amazing job to help me finish fourth.

What are your thoughts on the season so far?
It has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride but right now I believe we are definitely heading in the right direction. The fact we are third in the Constructors’ Championship shows how good our car is but the grid is very close in terms of lap times at the moment. We must develop as fast as possible to not only keep our current level but also put pressure on the teams ahead of us. Having new aerodynamic rules for this season means there is huge room for improvement during the season so our challenge is to continuously get more and more performance from our car.

Are you confident of being competitive again at Silverstone?
I am an optimistic person so I am full of hope for the British Grand Prix. We think Silverstone will suit our car pretty well and, from what we saw in Turkey, we are at a good level. Of course, we need to continue to improve and we have a small gap on the fastest cars, but the team is working on that. Personally I don’t have a lot of good memories from Silverstone for various reasons but I am determined to change that.

Force India – Giancarlo FIsichella: ‘We could have scored points for sure’

Giancarlo Fisichella put in a superb performance for Force India in Monaco, earning 13th on the grid and eventually finishing ninth. He was tantalisingly close to the points after Sebastien Bourdais successfully held him off in the closing stages. Fisi was one of several drivers in the field to start with a full fuel tank and run an ultra long first stint and a one-stop schedule. It worked well as at the end he had a Williams, a McLaren, a BMW, and both Toyotas behind him. We asked him for his thoughts on the race.

Q: Ninth was a great result for you and the team in Monaco, but eighth would have been even better! How do you feel about the weekend?
‘It was a great result to be 13th in qualifying with both cars in Q2 and especially in the race it was great to be fighting for the points, and be quicker than Toyota and BMW – quite unexpected. It was a good race, and a tough race physically. I pushed quite a lot, I didn’t make any mistakes, and I was taking care about the tyres. We really achieved the maximum. But we could have scored points for sure, because I lost a position just at the start of the race. Otherwise, we were in the points.’

Q: You had a few battles with other cars. How was this?
‘In the opening stages I had a lot of fuel on board, but the car was quite consistent. Usually you’re fighting with the car, but it was this time it was very good, so I could push. Then later on I had a similar pace to Bourdais, who was just ahead of me. It was important to take care of the tyres, but sometimes I was catching him and I was trying to push again make some pressure. He cut the chicane a couple of times, but it was not enough unfortunately and we just missed the point by under two seconds.’

Q: Would a point have meant a lot to you?
‘Of course! It would have been a fantastic result, like winning a race. But anyway, I think ninth was a good result. For sure it was encouraging, but let’s see at the other races.’

Q: Any thoughts on Istanbul?
‘I like Turkey. It would be nice to repeat our performance there. I don’t know if it’s possible, but if we get some other bits on the car, maybe we can do it.’

Q: You had a very short race last year – are you hoping to get a little further this time?
‘I did about 300 metres. So hopefully, yes!’

Force India – Race – Monaco GP

The Force India Formula One Team enjoyed its most competitive race performance to date in today’s Monaco Grand Prix. Giancarlo Fisichella finished a fighting 9th position, just 1.8secs from eighth and and one point, and the final driver to be on the lead lap at the end of the race. Adrian Sutil passed the flag in 14th place.

2009 Monaco Grand Prix Race Report

Adrian Sutil (car 20, VJM02/01):
14th:        1:41:31.730    (+ 1 lap)

Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21, VJM02/04):
9th:        1:41:49.322    (+ 65.040 secs)

Giancarlo drove a faultless race to gain four places on his starting position. From the early stages of the race he participated in a close-fought battle with Sebastien Bourdais for the final points’ scoring position. Giancarlo, who started the race on the harder Bridgestone tyre compound, closed to within one second of the Frenchman during his first stint and remained within two seconds for the remainder of the race. The tight street circuit however provided scant opportunity to overtake and Giancarlo crossed the line in his slipstream.

Adrian started the race on the supersoft tyre option, but excessive graining in the early stages of the race forced an early pit stop on lap 11 to change to the harder compound. He dropped to the rear of the field and unfortunately then got caught with blue flags and traffic. Despite keeping pace with Hamilton in front of him, following his second stop on lap 49 he fell further behind to finish 14th overall.

Adrian Sutil (car 20)
We had started on a one-stop strategy, which would have been OK but we used the supersoft tyre from the start and they grained up very quickly. I had to pit and lost a lot of time there. That was it really – it was hard to come back from this. In the end I was doing some quick laps and had quite a good pace, so there are some positives and we can be happy at some aspects. There is more to come from us for sure.

Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21)
Ninth position is a great result for the team. The pace was very good and consistent and I felt I was driving well, taking care of the tyres and putting in some fast laps at the same time. I just lost a position at the start and perhaps it was this that cost me the point in the end, but we have to be happy about today. It was a great step forward, to get two cars into Q2 and then to get within two seconds of a point. We need to keep pushing and be there all the time now.

Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal
This has been a very encouraging weekend all round. We got two cars into Q2 and finished within a whisker of the points; and all on merit. We’ve incremented our performance and raced it well this weekend, and we know we have more upgrades in the pipeline, which is a great motivating factor. I would like to say thank you to both drivers for keeping focussed and pushing so hard and to the entire team at the track and at the factory for keeping the momentum going. If we continue on the path we have now laid before us, I am certain we’ll achieve the success we all deserve.

Brawn GP Celebrates with Bulichella Wines

The Brawn GP Formula One Team celebrated victory at the 2009 Monaco Grand Prix with organic wines produced on the Bulichella estate in Tuscany, Italy.

Jenson Button led from pole position in Monte Carlo last weekend to drive an assured race around the streets of the Principality and secure his fifth victory of the 2009 Formula One season. Team-mate Rubens Barrichello brought his Brawn-Mercedes car home in second place to achieve the teams third one-two finish of the year.

The Bulichella estate in Suvereto in the beautiful Italian region of Tuscany produces wines from Sangiovese grapes in a totally organic environment. The particular wines supplied to the team are the red wines Rubino and Coldipietrerosse and the white wine Tuscanio.

For further information on the Bulichella estate, please visit www.bulichella.it

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