16-Mar-08: Hamilton Turns Australian Pole into Victory
Hi everyone, it’s the 16th March and this is F1 Minute.
Lewis Hamilton got his championship challenge off to a great start by taking a lights to flag victory in Australia. Leading away from the grid, he managed to avoid the first corner carnage which saw Fisichella, Davidson, Vettel, Button and Webber all retire before they’d completed a single lap.
The retirements did not stop there. In one of the most incident packed races since Canada last year, only seven drivers actually made it to the chequered flag. Both Ferrari’s retired with engine trouble, Raikkonen’s non-finish compounding a bad day of mistakes trying to overtake other cars.
Timo Glock suffered a nasty accident when his Toyota was launched in the air over a bump in the service road. He is okay, a little bit winded at the time, and he left the circuit with a bandaged wrist.
The podium finishers were Hamilton, Heidfeld, and Rosberg. Bourdais picked up 8th place, despite retiring three laps from the end. Barrichello was disqualified, for exiting the pit lane through a red light, meaning Raikkonen did manage to pick up a single point.
That’s all for today, join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
31-Dec-07: Christmas Catchup - Toro Rosso, McLaren, Toyota
Today is the 31st December 2007 and this is F1 Minute.
There hasn’t been too much news over the Christmas period, it has mostly been teams and drivers talking about how confident they are for the new season.
Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost has said that he feels the biggest step forward for the team in 2007 was getting the right mix of personnel. With Vettel and Bourdais on board, he feels the team now gels and they can look forward to the future. Vettel, for his part, has said he doesn’t think starting this season with last year’s car will be too much of a hindrance for them.
Meanwhile, over at McLaren, Kovalainen has said he’s sure they can come up with a competitive and consistent car, despite the fact that the team now lack experienced drivers. Although McLaren said they would not be launching their 2008 car, they have now changed their mind and will be holding a launch on January 7th at the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart.
And finally, top sponsor Kingfisher have parted ways with Toyota, ending their contract early. This is not a big surprise, as the company are owned by new Force India boss Vijay Mallya.
That’s all for today, enjoy New Year’s Eve and join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.