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.
Today is the 7th September 2008, and this is F1 Minute.
The story of Spa is one of the first lap and the last lap. As the lights went out, Raikkonen had a great start and jumped into second behind Hamilton. Kovalainen had a poor start and dropped from third to 13th. Raikkonen managed to overtake Hamilton and dominated the race from there.
There were only two retirements during the race, Piquet spun out and crashed into the barriers, and Barrichello pulled into the pits with a gearbox problem.
As the last laps got underway, it began to rain, and Hamilton had closed up the gap to the Ferrari considerably. The pair were battling corner to corner, one second Lewis was in front, the next it was Kimi, until ultimately, Raikkonen spun in the wet and hit the wall. Hamilton and Massa crawled round the last lap in the wet on the wrong tyres and McLaren got the victory.
It has been reported that the stewards are investigating an incident between the pair where Lewis had to give a place back to Kimi, but as yet, we don’t know.
Therefore, I will be back later with another F1 Minute.
Well, the result is in, and Max Mosley has won his court case against the News of the World. The High Court decided that Mosley’s privacy was invaded, and he deserved a £60,000 settlement in damages. Mosley has said he is delighted with the result and the money will go to the FIA Foundation.
Now, in real F1 news, Webber topped the timesheets in Jerez today, ahead of Piquet for Renault and Raikkonen in the Ferrari. Piquet did manage to bring out a red flag after hitting the wall, and de la Rosa, Glock and Barrichello also saw red flags. Glock was returning to action today after his accident and thankfully didn’t crash, but simply stopped out on track.
Also, we don’t appear to have had any KERS related incidents today, but fears about the safety of it continue. Webber has said that he doesn’t want to look into the technology too much as it makes him nervous, and the drivers are happy to let the engineers sort it out. From his position within the GPDA, he said they won’t be getting involved just yet.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
Today is the 18th July 2008 and this is F1 Minute.
Lewis Hamilton topped both Free Practice sessions in Hockenheim today, the first one being a McLaren one-two, and the second seeing Hamilton ahead of Massa. Notable events included Kubica smashing into the wall in FP1, he emerged unscathed and the mechanics worked furiously to get his car out in the afternoon. Also, Glock had an airborne moment in his Toyota, and landed with a serious bump.
Elsewhere today, Ross Brawn has said that he expects Button and Barrichello to remain with the team next year. Although negotiations are still ongoing, and Brawn doesn’t believe it is of high priority at the moment, he said: “I don’t think there will be any dramatic change. It’s unfair to criticise the drivers as we haven’t provided them with a good enough car.”
Finally, Anthony Hamilton has sparked a new raft of speculation by having a not-so-secret meeting with Stefano Domenicali. Pictures have emerged of the two chatting, and whilst that’s all we know, it doesn’t stop the Hamilton to Ferrari rumours from starting afresh.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
Hamilton has topped the timesheets for the second consecutive day at testing in Hockenheim. Rosberg was second for Williams, and Raikkonen third in the Ferrari. There were three red flags throughout the day, caused by Sutil, Barrichello and Alonso. The weather was slightly improved from yesterday, although there was a shower in the morning.
During the session, a photographer crossed the track, without an official tabbard on, to take pictures from an out of bounds area. The FIA recalled all the photographers and their tabbards and banned them from taking pictures until they had all sat through a briefing. They were then given new tabbards and allowed back to their posts, although the original photographer is under investigation.
Finally today, Coulthard has said that he has no plans to race in any other series after he retires from Formula 1 at the end of the season. He’s not ruling it out but says his thoughts remain within the F1 world for now.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
Autosport.com is reporting that the Singapore Grand Prix timetable has been revised, after fears throughout the paddock that the Practice sessions weren’t going to be useful to night running. The original schedule had the first practice session of Friday and Saturday in daylight, but that has now been revised so they start later. The change means that the gap between sessions is reduced.
Barrichello became the most experienced F1 driver this weekend but now the celebrations have died down, he has revealed that the next target is to reach 300 starts. This would mean his staying in the sport for another two years,
Despite leading the driver’s championship and defending his world title, Kimi Raikkonen isn’t completely satisfied with his performance so far this year. He’s admitted that qualifying is the worst part of his race weekend, and is something that needs some serious work. He lined up 4th on the grid in Turkey, and says that was partly because of fuel, and partly because the lap just wasn’t good enough.
That’s all for today. Join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
Max Mosley has spoken out in his first interview since the News of the World expose, and defended his right to have a private life. He’s said that for every letter he’s had telling him to resign, he’s had seven telling him to stay, and it’s for those people that he intends to fight his corner. He has admitted, though, that if he does survive the vote in June and remains president of the FIA, he won’t seek another term in 2009. The best part of the interview, however, was Mosley referring to his wife’s reaction, saying she was “not best pleased.” The first vocal supporter of Max has spoken out. It’s ex-Ferrari chief Jean Todt, and he says he’s amazed at the reaction to Mosley’s private life.
Elsewhere in the sport, Barrichello has set the date for Turkey to be his record-breaking 257th Grand Prix start, although there is some discrepancy over the actual number of races he has taken part in. Honda decided a lack of any definitive answer means that Turkey will do as the race to celebrate.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
Welcome to F1 Minute, these are your headlines for the 2nd April 2008.
McLaren boss Ron Dennis has delivered a speech at the Motor Sport Business Forum in Bahrain, and shared his views on the future of the sport. Addressing the expansion of the calendar, Dennis said he welcomes the idea of F1 becoming more and more global, but he doesn’t want to see more than 20 races per season. He said that the winter off-season needs to be preserved, because the anticipation is all part of the fun. Also during his speech, Dennis mentioned the constant rule changes, saying although he supported the ideas behind them, a bit of stability is needed to actually help save costs.
In other news today, the 2008 Toro Rosso car has made it’s track debut in a shakedown in Italy. Red Bull junior driver Brendan Hartley was behind the wheel. The car will return in the Barcelona test this month.
Finally, Barrichello has said that his career is not over yet, he still believes he has another couple of seasons left, and wants to get to 300 GP starts.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
It seems everyone has something to say following the manic race in Australia this weekend. First up, Ross Brawn is confident that Honda will be able to get points finishes regularly, despite Button being knocked out in the first lap and Barrichello being disqualified. The entire team is buoyed up by the improved performance from last year.
On that subject, Barrichello is calling for the pit signalling to be changed. He said: “I never saw a red light. I will never see it and I don’t pretend to see it. They are in the wrong places and by the time you see it, it is too late. You have already gone past it.”
Ron Dennis has spoken of Kovalainen’s mistake during the closing laps, where he pushed the pit speed limiter button and allowed Alonso to regain his position. Dennis said Heikki shouldn’t beat himself up too much, no one is judging him for what happened.
Two quick snippets, Massa refuses to take the blame for the incident with Coulthard saying the Scot should go back and rewatch the footage, whilst Glock is confident he will be okay to drive in Malaysia.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.