Mark Webber has taken his first win of the season at Interlagos overnight, winning his second Brazilian Grand Prix. Webber started second on the grid for the final race of the season, but was gifted the lead on lap 30 after gearbox issues forced Sebastian Vettel to let his team-mate pass. The win secured the Australian third [...]
Continue reading...Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Spanish driver Daniel Juncadella has won the biggest event of his career so far with victory in the Macau F3 Grand Prix on Sunday. Juncadella was running fourth early in the race but a safety car restart on lap five, moved the young Spanish driver into position to challenge for the lead. He took the top place from pole-sitter Marco Wittmann after another safety car restart on lap 10. From there, Juncadella extended his advantage over second placed Felipe Nasr of Brazil, until a third and final safety car period on the penultimate lap guaranteed him the victory. “I didn’t really expect to win but this feeling is amazing,” said the Prema driver. “I still can’t believe it. On the last lap when we were behind the safety car, I have never cried that much in my life.” Wittmann, who had started from pole position and had built up a 2.7 seconds advantage before the second safety car period, dropped down to fifth at one stage after being overtaken at the restart – he recovered to finish third.
Continue reading...Sunday, October 30, 2011
Sebastian Vettel has written his name in the Formula One history books once again, winning the first ever Indian Grand Prix at Greater Noida. Vettel led from pole to flag, never at any point under pressure from his racing peers, eventually building a gap of over six seconds between himself and the rest of the field. The German also set a new record for number of laps led in a Grand Prix, taking the title from previous record holder Nigel Mansell from the 1992 season. And, as if his dominance was being at all questioned, he set the race's fastest lap on his final circulation of the circuit: at 1 minute, 27.249 seconds. 'Obviously it was a very good race for us,' said Vettel, stating the obvious. 'I enjoyed the time in the lead very much.' 'Overall obviously a fantastic performance. Thanks to the whole team. 'All in all it was fantastic. I'm very proud to be the first winner in India.' Jenson Button finished best of the rest, and subsequently strengthened his claim for the same title in the year's Drivers' Championship.
Continue reading...Saturday, October 8, 2011
Sebastian Vettel is just one day away from claiming his second World Championship after claiming pole position ahead of tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix. The German needs only one point to become the sport’s youngest ever World Champion. ‘What a qualifying,’ exclaimed Vettel. ‘It was a tough qualifying, but I enjoyed it a lot.’ ‘Yesterday I went off in [...]
Continue reading...Sunday, September 11, 2011
Speculation that Red Bull's dominance over pole position this season would come to an end in Italy proved wrong, with Sebastian Vettel taking his least-predictable P1 of the year at Monza. The German, who almost lost his car as he slid through the Ascari chicane, recovered to bank an unbeatable lap time of 1m 22.275 seconds. 'We thought it would be much closer than that,' said Vettel. 'We are quite quick throughout all three sectors, so we just had to put it together.' The German was stuck in traffic as all cars but Senna left the pitlane at once, but mistakes by Hamilton, Button's decision to abandon his fast lap, and teammate Mark Webber unable to extract the same pace from the Red Bull meant that he kept the RBR7's 100 per cent pole record for 2011 alive. 'We were not expecting, not thinking of being on pole by that margin,' he continued. 'This year, I have to say the car is very good here. The balance is perfect.' The pace promised by McLaren in the lead up to the Italian Grand Prix was only good enough P2, with Hamilton pipping teammate Button to the front from by half a tenth. 'Sebastian was mega quick today. It looked like we'd be quite competitive in the weekend, but that last lap was untouchable for me,' elaborated Hamilton. 'I didn't have another half a second in the bag. We perhaps could have got another couple of tenths out of the car.' Button noted that despite Red Bull running a seemingly lower downforce package than McLaren, they still managed to move faster in the high speed turns.
Continue reading...Monday, August 1, 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.
Continue reading...Sunday, July 24, 2011
New Zealand driver Mitch Evans looked set to become the first double GP3 race winner of 2011 until a 10 second stop-and-go penalty mid way through the race. The drama began when light rain started to fall as the 30 drivers lined up on the grid. At the front of the field Evans and Antonio Felix [...]
Continue reading...Saturday, July 23, 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.
Continue reading...Monday, June 27, 2011
Sebastian Vettel led home the longest field in Formula One history to claim his sixth victory of the season in a largely uninspiring European Grand Prix. The German, now well accustomed to the sensation, dominated from pole to flag in flawless style as Red Bull's closest rivals in McLaren and Ferrari failed to make in impression on the leader. 'I tell you I enjoyed it so much,' he said. 'When it's just between you and the car... for some reason I enjoy this track.' 'We managed to put everything together for a faultless weekend. 'From beginning to the end, fantastic.' The most Vettel had to battle with was traffic as he set about lapping a full-length field, with all 24 cars finishing to make it the greatest number of drivers to complete a race. Fernando Alonso did well, however, to prove Ferrari's progress thus far this season to finish a confident second after a number of position changes with Australian Mark Webber, who managed third. 'It was an interesting race, for the fans and for the people watching on the TV, to see the fight with Webber all the way through,' reflected the home crowd favourite. 'The teams did a very good strategy by keeping the car out a few laps longer on the soft tyre. 'In the end I think the second place is the maximum we can have.' Webber held on to second place on the first lap after a spritely start from Felipe Massa, but eventually succumbed to a combination of KERS problems and Alonso's pace on the soft tyre. His gearbox would prevent him from challenging the Spaniard later in the race. 'I think we should have [been able to score a Red Bull one-two], but in the end we didn't,' conceded Webber. The fight between the two culminated in the final pit stop, which saw Webber gamble on an early switch to the prime compound. His pace on the opening few laps saw Alonso maintain his place after his stop, while a gearbox fault saw any chance of a fight back neutralised. 'It was my fault to miss second today. It was not really known how the medium tyre would perform on the out lap. '[But] I think it was my best race of the year, to be honest.'
Continue reading...Thursday, June 23, 2011
The FIA is set to delay the introduction of a revised engine formula until 2014 after a meeting of the Formula One commission in London overnight. Originally due to come in to force in 2013, the engine regulations will be put on hold for a year, with the formula changing from the planned 1.6 litre turbocharged four cylinder engines to a turbo V6 of the same capacity. 'We have had fruitful discussions with all the stakeholders following the last World Motor Sport Council meeting in Barcelona,' said a spokesperson for the FIA. 'We are very happy with the solution.'
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Monday, November 28, 2011
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