19-Nov-08: Vettel Takes Red Bull to the Top on Final Test Day
This is F1 Minute and it’s the 19th November 2008.
Vettel led the way once again in Barcelona on the third and final day of testing. He was ahead of two Toro Rosso’s, with Bourdais just edging out Buemi. For the second day in a row Gary Paffet was best of the rest. De la Rosa was once again in the Force India and once again last.
Sutil has said he isn’t worried about his race seat going to the McLaren tester: “He’s a nice guy. He came from McLaren just to have an idea about the car, and everything else we will see in the next weeks. The team is happy with my performance and I have my contract here.” He did say that de la Rosa’s testing experience helped a lot with the feedback he gave to the team.
Sebastien Buemi is waiting to hear whether he’s done enough to secure a drive with Toro Rosso, and expects to hear the news soon. He said: “For the team, it’s really important to make a decision and to try to have a test before Christmas with the proper drivers for next year.” Apparently Bourdais has said the decision will purely be based on the driver with the biggest budget.
That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
18-Nov-08: Vettel Ahead For Second Day of Barcelona Test
Today is the 18th November 2008, and you’re listening to F1 Minute.
Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets at testing in Barcelona today, in his Red Bull. Yesterday’s leader Takuma Sato was close behind in second, with the other two Toro Rosso entrants Bourdais and Buemi settling in third and fourth. Gary Paffett in the McLaren was best of the rest with normal McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa in the Force India car. He ended the day last.
After seeing the potential 2009 BMW yesterday, tester Christian Klien has admitted that it’s not a nice looking car: “To me, for the moment, it’s the worst Formula One car I have ever seen. It just doesn’t fit together.” Kubica agreed that it looks a lot better from inside the cockpit.
Finally today, Bernie Ecclestone has resurfaced his idea of changing the current points system to a medal tally, to encourage drivers to fight for gold instead of settling for silver. He says that the FIA and teams are all for the idea.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
11-Nov-08: Toro Rosso Set Up Driver Shoot Out
Today is the 11th November and this is F1 Minute.
Toro Rosso have confirmed who they’ll be running at the test in Barcelona next week. With just two seats available and a raft of drivers interested in having a go, just three will get a chance at the Circuit de Catalunya. Sebastien Buemi is scheduled to drive for all three days at the test, with Takuma Sato getting a chance for a day and a half, and Bourdais getting the other day and a half. It seems pretty tightly organised, and I hope it goes to plan. It’s been ages since we saw a good shoot out for a race seat. Apparently Bruno Senna is still in the running, despite having a go in the Honda, and Autosport.com is reporting that Barrichello was also in discussions with the team, but needs to bring some sponsorship money with him.
Elsewhere, David Coulthard has raised doubts about Hamilton’s pledge of commitment to McLaren. Lewis said he wants to see his career out at the team, but DC says if McLaren become uncompetitive, he doubts that will remain the case.
That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
19-Oct-08: Hamilton Takes Dominant Victory in China
Welcome to F1 Minute, today is the 19th October 2008.
Hamilton has taken victory in Shanghai after a pretty much perfect weekend. He led the race from start to finish, and crossed the line almost 15 seconds ahead of nearest rival Felipe Massa. The Ferrari drivers performed a less than elegant swap in the closing laps of the race, as Raikkonen had led his team mate but couldn’t catch up to Hamilton’s storming McLaren. This now takes us into Brazil with Massa 7 points behind Hamilton.
There were only three retirees, Trulli had a first corner collision with Bourdais, and says this isn’t the first time it’s happened. Sutil’s race was over when his gearbox failed, and he pulled serenely off track, and Kovalainen suffered a puncture and then some kind of pneumatic problem that saw him return to his garage early.
Also today, the FOTA met to discuss their response to Mosley’s cost-cutting plans, and have hopefully come up with their own proposals. They will be presented to Max in a meeting on Tuesday.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
17-Oct-08: Hamilton Leads the Way in Free Practice
Welcome to F1 Minute for the 17th October 2008.
Lewis Hamilton got his weekend off to a good start by leading both Free Practice 1 and 2 at the Shanghai International Circuit. There were very few incidents of note, although Bourdais did get stuck in the gravel at Turn 1 during the second session, and Piquet imitated Hamilton’s gravel trap pit entrance incident, although managed to make it out safely.
Aside from that, the McLaren’s and Ferrari’s look as though they will be dominating the weekend, although Alonso did score the second fastest time in Free Practice 2, with Piquet just behind him.
Elsewhere today, the FIA have opened the tender process for a standard engine in F1 for the 2010 season and beyond. The statement from the governing body said the chosen third party would supply either a ready manufactured engine or the standard designs for teams to build their own. This doesn’t appear to be a popular decision already, but Bernie Ecclestone says he doesn’t think the manufacturers will stage a mass walkout because they’re simply trying to reduce costs.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
15-Oct-08: French Grand Prix Cancelled for 2009
It’s the 15th October 2008 and this is F1 Minute.
It seems only moments since Canada was left off the 2009 calendar, and now France, who had a slot on the season guide for next year, look like they’re pulling out. The FFSA, who organise the sport, have several options as to where the Grand Prix should be held next year, but with the current financial meltdown, the 10% increase in fees, and the fact that the event would most likely make a loss, they just don’t want to do it. They’ve said it would be better to sit out for one year, and come back when they’ve got some long term funding on board. Whether a replacement will be found, or if there will just be a gap in the calendar has yet to be seen.
Finally, I mentioned yesterday that Berger wouldn’t be drawn on whether Bourdais would be resigned for 2009, preferring to wait until the end of the season. Today, Bourdais himself has said that he can’t wait until December for a decision, otherwise he might be left with no other racing opportunities.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back again tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
14-Oct-08: Toro Rosso Won’t Announce Drivers Till Season End
Welcome to F1 Minute for the 14th October 2008.
Just a few weeks ago, it seemed really obvious that Bourdais was going to get the push from Toro Rosso and two new drivers would be stepping in to the team for 2009. Now, though, Gerhard Berger says that there’s no rush to announce a new lineup, and they’ll probably wait until after the season. He spoke out after the Japanese Grand Prix but wouldn’t be drawn on whether Bourdais’ recent improved performance could guarantee a renewal: “I don’t want to say anything at this stage because we have to sort out everything in a quiet way. But that’s exactly what we need to see him doing as he did today. It was a good result.” Berger also defended Bourdais and said he did nothing wrong in the Massa incident.
Meanwhile, BMW have said they will do all they can to back Kubica for the title, now he is only 12 points behind leader Lewis Hamilton. Whilst Mario Theissen says there’s nothing they can do to make the car faster, they won’t step back just yet.
That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
12-Oct-08: Second Consecutive Victory for Renault and Alonso
Welcome to F1 Minute for the 12th October 2008.
Alonso has taken a second surprise win in Japan, following his first victory of the season at the last race in Singapore. Both Ferraris and Hamilton ran wide at the first corner, which pushed them down the order, and allowed Alonso, Kubica and Kovalainen through into the lead. Massa tried to overtake Hamilton moments later, and spun the McLaren round. He received a drive through for this incident, whilst Hamilton was given a drive through for forcing Raikkonen off the road at the start.
After the penalties were taken, Hamilton and Massa were well down the order, and it looked to be a fight between Kimi and Heikki. However, Kovi’s engine blew up in a rare show of McLaren unreliability. Raikkonen kept his speed up but ended up third on the podium behind Alonso and Kubica.
Massa managed to claw his way back up to 8th, and after an incident with Bourdais as the Toro Rosso came out of the pit lane, found himself in 7th when the Frenchman was given a post-race 25 second penalty.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
27-Sep-08: Massa Gets Singapore Pole Position
This is F1 Minute and it’s the 27th September.
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.
26-Sep-08: Hamilton and Alonso Top Free Practice Timesheets
Welcome to F1 Minute for the 26th September 2008.
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.