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VETTEL TAKES THE CHOCOLATES IN BELGIUM

29. August 2011

Sebastian Vettel has rediscovered his winning form to kick start the second half of 2011 with a win in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa. The German traded position at the top of the field on numerous occasions throughout the race, but allowed strategy to have him exit the pits after his final stop in the [...]

MAD MARKO MAULS MARK AGAIN

1. August 2011

Red Bull Racing advisor and President of the International Mark Webber appreciation society, Dr Helmut Marko has claimed that Mark Webber will "probably retire in 2012". Speaking in an interview with Australian television station ONE HD on the future of young Australian Daniel Ricciardo, Marko let slip about Webber's future. "As with the other Australian, he is probably going to retire in 2012," Marko said. "We need to find one of our juniors who can replace Mark Webber." The reference to Webber as "the other Australian" is consistent with Marko's known dislike of Webber. Marko said in the interview that Red Bull expected Daniel Ricciardo to improve in the Hispania Racing Team drive if he's to step up to a Toro Rosso or Red Bull in the future.

ON THE BUTTON IN HUNGARY

1. August 2011

Jenson Button has commemorated his 200th Grand Prix start with a scintillating win of strategy in Hungary overnight. The Briton, who won his first Grand Prix at the Hungaroring in 2006, came from negotiated a green circuit and two rain sessions to take his 12th career victory and second of the season. 'For some reason I like these conditions, don't ask me why', said Button after the race. 'All round, an amazing weekend'. 'A great call by the team to put me on the prime tyres when they did.' 'I think we're going into the break on nice high.' He led home championship leader Sebastian Vettel who, despite not taking victory for the past four rounds, has extended his championship lead to 85 points over teammate Webber. 'I couldn't push as hard as I would like to', commented Vettel. 'Second today was an important step. Nevertheless, I think the win was in reach today and we didn't get it'. 'It's clear now that they [McLaren] have done a step forward and we need to make sure we come back.' Fernando Alonso completed the podium with a strong third place finish, confirming Ferrari's return to form is able to persist through all conditions.

LIUZZI JOINS IMPRESSIVE GOLD COAST LINE UP

28. July 2011

Current Formula One driver Tonio Liuzzi will join Le Mans stars Sebastian Bourdais and Stephane Sarrazin, Indycar drivers Will Power, Ryan Briscoe, Helio Castroneves and Dario Franchitti on the streets of Surfers Paradise for the second Gold Coast 600 in October. The event, which replaced the popular Champcar race, will see International drivers team with Australian and New Zealand's best in the 640 BHP pushrod V8 Supercars. The impressive driver line up is another feather in the cap for V8 Supercars and their visionary Chairman and colourful Broadway Impresario Tony Cochrane. Cochrane threw the Queensland Government a life line after the collapse of the A1GP series, promising to turn the domestic V8 series round into an event of genuine International interest. With this driver line up he seems to have already achieved this. “We are delighted with the final field of international drivers that we have so far and we still have a couple of surprises to come,” said Cochrane. “To be honest, the interest has been that strong that we could have filled 60 spots on the grid with international drivers and that is a great sign for the event and its future." Cochrane admitted that while many of the drivers might not be household names in Australia, they are all high-profile drivers in their own countries and their involvement in this event will help create so much more international interest for the Gold Coast and Queensland. “It is safe to say everyone will know who they are by the time they leave here." he said.

HAMILTON TAKES VICTORY IN GERMAN THRILLER

25. July 2011

Lewis Hamilton has taken his second win of the year and one of the most satisfying of his career in an electrifying Grand Prix at the Nurburgring overnight. The Briton leapt from second off the line to take first place from polesitter Mark Webber, who suffered yet another of his pedestrian starts. The battle for first was [...]

WEBBER ON POLE FOR GERMAN GP

24. July 2011

Mark Webber has taken his third pole position of the season to start from P1 for the second consecutive race at the Nurburgring. Webber set his lap within the first five minutes, which saw Alonso and Hamilton swap fastest times before the RBR-7 put four-tenths between the Australian and his nearest competitor. "The form's been getting a little bit better over the last couple of races," said Webber post-qualifying. "The boys did a great job with the car. They had some pretty late nights in the lead up to this event. "If someone was to get me, they'd deserve it because I couldn't have gotten much more." Despite starting from pole twice this season, Webber has failed to lead a single lap so far in 2011, often conceding his position off the line. "I'll be in there [tomorrow] pushing very, very hard, don't worry," he said confidently. The first stint of Q3 saw Sebastian Vettel follow him closely, slotting in behind his teammate by little more than a tenth, keeping Fernando Alonso's Ferrari at bay by a further 0.4 seconds. It was Hamilton, however, who throw his unlikely hat into the ring to compete for pole during the Q3's second stint, posting a time faster than anyone in the first sector. "It was one of the happiest and most comforting laps I've ever had, it's just incredible" commented a joyful Hamilton. The Englishman, however - who spent most of the weekend talking his chances down - fell painfully short, with less than one-tenth separating him from Webber, not that he seemed to mind. "That was a good lap," he said over team radio as qualifying finished. "That was a wicked lap." "We definitely underestimated how good the car would be when we went to light fuel," he added in the post-qualifying press conference. "A huge congratulations to my team, a fantastic effort. I'm really happy I could put it up here for them." Hamilton's last-ditch efforts meant that Vettel was relegated beyond the first row of the grid for the first time this season, breaking a fourteen race streak.

GRAND PRIX COSTS $50 MILLION BUT IS SYDNEY READY TO POUNCE ?

23. July 2011

The 2011 Australian Formula One Grand Prix cost Victorian taxpayers in excess of $50 million to run, the Victorian State Government announced today. Meanwhile, an independent costing report has estimated the immediate economic benefits to range between $32 million and $39 million and created 350 jobs. Despite this, Victorian tourism minister Louise Asher defended her government's subsidy of the race. 'You have to look at the whole year, at ongoing branding of Melbourne,' she said earlier today. This year's expense was a $700,000 increase on last year's estimated $49.3 million loss.

AUSTRALIAN GP: EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN

21. July 2011

Classic touring cars of the 1970's and 80's will be a feature of next year's Australian Grand Prix meeting at Albert Park. Organisers of the Grand Prix are hoping that the popularity of the classic Commodores, Falcons, Sierras, and Nissan GTRs, will drag fans through the gates for the race in late March 2012. Australian Grand Prix Corporation CEO Andrew Westacott made the announcement at the Australian premiere of the award winning documentary Senna, which was held at Melbourne's Crown Casino. The decision to run the classic touring cars comes after the success of the Formula 5000s that have run at Albert Park for the last few years as well as the large crowds at the Phillip Island Historic meeting held the week before the Grand Prix. Mr Westacott also announced the return of the Carrera Cup, and of course the popular V8 Supercars. Other support events are expected to be announced in the coming months. In an attempt to attract more women into the event, Mr Westacott also announced a "Ladies Lounge" to be held at the point restaurant at Albert Park. "The Ladies Lounge will be held on the Saturday and Sunday of the event and will allow fans to get dressed up and experience the fun of the Grand Prix while relaxing and soaking up a stylish." Mr Westacott said. Grand Prix organisers will be hoping that the new announcements will halt the slide in attendance at the Grand Prix which continues to come under pressure from sections of the public and mainstream media. The contract for the event is scheduled to finish in 2015.

WEBBER & MASSA SET EARLY BRITISH GP PACE

9. July 2011

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa has set the fastest time on the opening day of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Massa was quickest with a time of 1 min 49.967 seconds to edge out the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi. The McLaren pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were next followed by the Force India cars of Adrian Sutil and Paul DiResta. The Red Bulls struggled in the wet conditions with Mark Webber managing only 14th and Sebastien Vettel further down the field in 18th place. Young Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo performed well, despite finishing back in 23rd position Ricciardo outpaced his more experienced teammate Tonio Liuzi by almost half a second.

McLAREN TAKES A VIRGIN

5. July 2011

Virgin Racing has confirmed a technical partnership with frontrunner McLaren alongside the purchase of former technical partner Wirth Research Technology. The moves, which came at undoubtedly considerable cost, signify the team's intent to move up the field, with their season's progress thus far being below expectation. Virgin are currently last in the constructors' championship. The McLaren tie-up will see the pseudo-Russian team gain access to their facilities in Woking as well as a number of McLaren's technical crew. 'Our Technical Partnership with McLaren is very exciting indeed,' said Andy Webb, CEO of Virgin Racing. 'We can benefit enormously from McLarenís far-reaching techniques and capabilities and I have no doubt that this partnership will see us take the technical steps necessary to make a significant leap forwards.' McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh wishes them well.

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Archive | F1 RSS feed for this section

VETTEL TAKES THE CHOCOLATES IN BELGIUM

MAD MARKO MAULS MARK AGAIN

ON THE BUTTON IN HUNGARY

LIUZZI JOINS IMPRESSIVE GOLD COAST LINE UP

HAMILTON TAKES VICTORY IN GERMAN THRILLER

WEBBER ON POLE FOR GERMAN GP

GRAND PRIX COSTS $50 MILLION BUT IS SYDNEY READY TO POUNCE ?

AUSTRALIAN GP: EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN

WEBBER & MASSA SET EARLY BRITISH GP PACE

McLAREN TAKES A VIRGIN

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