First laps in the new R29

Mon 19 Jan, 05:37 PM

Renault officially launched its 2009 season today as the new R29 was unveiled to the world’s media at the Algarve Motor Park near Portimao in the south of Portugal.

Both the team’s race drivers, Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet, were on hand this morning to take the covers off their new challenger as they joined Managing Director Flavio Briatore for a photo call with the R29 in front of the team’s pit garage. They were joined by Frenchman, Romain Grosjean, who was announced as the team’s third driver for 2009, and the latest recruits from Renault’s Driver Development Programme: Davide Valsecchi from Italy, Charles Pic from France and Marco Sorensen from Denmark.

With radical revisions to the sport’s technical regulations introduced this year, the R29 incorporates a new design philosophy and looks very different from its predecessor.

Great attention has been paid to maximising the new rules and the team is optimistic about its chances for the year ahead, as Flavio Briatore explained: “We began our preparations for the R29 project early and I am proud of what the team has achieved. There are lots of new things to deal with this year, which could shake things up, but we intend to continue fighting at the front. We will now concentrate on our final preparations for the start of the season so that we can arrive in Australia hopefully fighting for the podium.”

Both Alonso and Piquet were happy to get their hands on the R29 so early in the year. Having followed the car’s progress closely over the winter, they paid tribute to the work done by the staff in the factories in Enstone and Viry. “The team has had a very busy development programme to allow us to be ready for the first January test with the new car,” said Alonso. “Now we are all looking forward to seeing the result of all that effort on the racetrack.”

Team President Bernard Rey also confirmed the commitment of Renault to the sport ahead of the new season. “This team is the proof of the ability of the Renault Group to obtain results and success at the very highest level,” said Rey. “The team will therefore be supported by the whole Group throughout the challenges that lie ahead this year.”

After the photo call, the R29 made its track debut as Nelson kicked off the team’s winter development programme at the Algarve Motor Park. “It feels great to be in the R29, even though the weather was not great,” said Piquet after his first day in the car. “Today was all about adding miles to the car, collecting data and learning as much as we could. Hopefully the rest of the week will allow us to build on the progress we have made today.”

The car featured a fresh new livery in the colours of the team’s principal partner ING, as well as 'eye-catching' Total branding following confirmation of a new three-year technical partnership with Total Group.

"We're very pleased to continue our sponsorship and Technology Partnership with ING Renault F1 Team," said Total CEO Christophe de Margerie. “It's a great partnership for Total group to be aligned with Renault in a legacy of excellence, as well as providing a good global venue for our brand presence. For Total, another key benefit – apart from winning Formula 1 races with a truly outstanding motorsports team – is to use our on-track research and testing to develop and deliver new and more efficient products that benefit everyday drivers under the most demanding driving conditions."

The team will remain in the Algarve until Thursday to continue with its testing programme. Piquet will be in the R29 for a second day tomorrow before handing it over to Alonso for the final two days.

McLaren present the MP4-24

Fri 16 Jan, 11:15 AM

With an unprecedented series of rule changes introduced ahead of the 2009 season, the new Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 represents a significant departure from its world championship-winning predecessor.

Incorporating new bodywork regulations and the much-heralded return of slick tyres, the team's new challenger not only looks radical but also incorporates a host of new innovative features under the skin, such as a sophisticated kinetic energy recovery system (KERS).

While still retaining the distinctive family look established with both the MP4-22 and MP4-23, this year's car is visually very different from its predecessors as a result of two main factors:

AERODYNAMICS

This year's aerodynamic regulations were framed by the FIA and the Overtaking Working Group (helmed by McLaren Mercedes engineering director Paddy Lowe, Ferrari's Rory Byrne and Renault's Pat Symonds) which met throughout 2007 in order to address the issues affecting passing in Formula 1.

The OWG's influence can be most clearly seen around the front wing, which has been widened, and the rear wing - which is now more compact. Other factors affecting aerodynamics include the banning of ancillary appendages, the addition of driver-adjustable front-wing flaps and a heavily revised diffuser.

KERS

The MP4-24's KERS device has been developed in collaboration with McLaren and Mercedes- Benz HighPerformanceEngines, which has been developing and refining the system for almost two years. The device enables the car to recover energy under braking, store the energy for a lap and release it when the driver presses a button on the steering wheel.

With a fully optimised KERS device's output capped at 400kJ (discharging 80bhp boost for 6.7s per lap), the development team's primary focus has already shifted to further improving the unit's integration within the chassis in order to minimise performance loss elsewhere within the package. An optimised KERS package can be expected to deliver a 0.3-0.5s gain per lap.

WINTER TEST PROGRAMME

With in-season track testing now prohibited, the MP4-24 will undergo an intensive winter programme at the following venues prior to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 29:

Jan 19-22 Portimao Group test one

Feb 10-13 Jerez Group test two

Mar 1-4 Jerez Group test three

Mar 9-12 Barcelona Group test four

Week 12 Private test ahead of transportation to Melbourne

Ferrari run the new F60

Mon 12 Jan, 03:21 PM

Ferrari on Monday became the first team to reveal its 2009 car.

The 'F60', named in celebration of the fact the Italian marque is the only to have contested all sixty seasons in the sport's history, was launched with a low-key event at Ferrari's Maranello headquarters.

Explaining the name, team boss Stefano Domenicali said: "It was our desire to combine the history of F1 and the fact that Ferrari has always been present."

The car was originally scheduled to be track debuted at nearby Fiorano, but Felipe Massa instead took to the cockpit of the F60 for the first time at Ferrari's other circuit, Mugello.

Massa said he was pleasantly surprised about the appearance of the F60. "With all the new regulations I was expecting something else, like ten years ago with huge wings, but I was surprised."

"I find the new F60 to be nice, small like a F3 car but nice looking," the Brazilian said.

Following an initial shakedown lap, the new car was back on track with Massa at the wheel and is 'happy and excited to take the Ferrari out for its first ride.'

Honda pulls out of Formula One

Eurosport - Fri, 05 Dec 16:57:00 2008

Honda Motor Co has announced that it is pulling out of Formula One motor racing, although next year's Japanese Grand Prix at the Suzuka circuit will still go ahead as planned.mid slumping car sales triggered by the worldwide downturn, Honda are no longer willing to bankroll the Formula One team and its estimated annual budget of $500 million.

Honda Motor Co Chief Executive Takeo Fukui told said a return to the sport could take time, and that there were no plans to continue as an engine supplier.

"This difficult decision was taken recently and was made in light of the quickly deteriorating operating environment facing the global auto industry," Fukui said.

"Honda must protect its core business activities and secure the long term as widespread uncertainties in the economics around the globe continue to mount.

"We will enter into consultation with associates of Honda Racing F1 and its engine supplier Honda Racing Development regarding the future of the two companies. This will include offering the team for sale."

Fukui, who told Reuters this year that he would "spend a trillion yen" if he could to make Honda a Formula One winner, said there would be no speedy return to the sport.

"At this stage we have no plans to return to F1. We have no plans to supply engines to other teams," he said. "We do not want to be half in and half out of the sport."

Honda would in any case have little time to find a buyer with the 2009 season starting in Australia on March 29.

"We would love to be able to continue in Formula One but we're simply not able to in the current financial climate," Fukui said.

"At testing in Barcelona last month we were still positive about racing in F1 next season.

"But we have to use our resources sensibly. As far as potential buyers go, our criterion would be that they continue to employ the hundreds of engineers who work for the Honda team."

Honda, like all of its rivals suffering from a sharp fall in global car sales, saw its sales in the United States, its biggest market, slump 32 percent last month.

"Pulling out of F1 will have a big impact in terms of cutting overall costs," said Fukui. "The most important thing for Honda is to see where we are in the next three to five years."

With Formula One's power-brokers desperately seeking cost-cutting measures to ensure its own survival, Honda's departure will have serious implications for the glamour sport.

It also leaves Britain's Jenson Button without a drive for 2009, although some teams have yet to confirm their lineups.

Brazilian Bruno Senna, the 25-year-old nephew of the late triple world champion Ayrton, had also been tipped to take the place of compatriot Rubens Barrichello at Honda next season.

Honda's exit leaves the multi-billion dollar sport facing a depleted grid of 18 cars if no buyer can be found in the extremely tight time-frame available.

It will also prompt fears that other major manufacturers, with their factory production suspended and thousands of staff laid off, could follow Honda's example.

Honda and Toyota Motor Corp have been the big spenders in Formula One in recent years.

Ross Brawn, the former Ferrari technical director who won multiple world championships with Michael Schumacher, was hired to run the Honda team at the end of last year.

Despite its huge resources, Honda had a dismal 2008 season and was pinning its hopes on next year's new rules levelling the playing field.

Button, a winner for Honda in Hungary in 2006, scored just three points and Barrichello took 11. The team finished ninth overall.

Honda's best finish in the constructors' championship was fourth, in 1967 and 2006, although they powered McLaren and Williams to a string of titles in the 1980s and 1990s.

The last team to leave Formula One was Honda-backed Super Aguri, the tail-enders who folded for financial reasons in April.

The sport's governing body said on Friday that Cosworth would provide Formula One teams with a low-cost engine option from 2010.

FIA president Max Mosley said the body was in exclusive negotiations with Cosworth, Xtrac and Ricardo Transmissions (XR) to provide a complete powertrain (engine and gearbox).

"We can get the cost down from the current £200 million ($293.4 million) plus [per team] down to about £30 million at which point the income from television and the income from sponsors covers it and you don't need these huge subsidies from the car industry," Mosley said.

McLaren to unveil car next month

Eurosport - Tue, 02 Dec 13:13:00 2008

The car Lewis Hamilton will use to defend his Formula One title next year will be unveiled by McLaren on January 16 at their Woking factory.

McLaren are the third team to announce a launch date.

Toyota will be revealing their new car on January 15 while BMW-Sauber take the wraps off theirs in Valencia on January 20.

While McLaren and Mercedes engineers busily prepare for the 2009 season in Woking, Brixworth and Stuttgart and the test team readies two cars for December outings at Jerez and the new Autodromo Internacional do Algarve circuit in Portugal, Hamilton and team-mates Heikki Kovalainen, Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett will head to western Finland for a five-day pre-season training camp at the Kuortane Sports Institute.

The centre has helped train some of the world's top athletes and Hamilton acknowledges that, not only does it provide the McLaren team with a useful distraction from the usual pressures of F1, but it also acts as a useful team-building exercise with mechanics and engineers joining the drivers for group exercises and tests on the Kuortane campus.

"Travelling to Finland for our winter training camp is one of the best weeks of the year for me," the Briton admitted.

"It feels like you're miles from anywhere and totally cut off from the outside world. It allows me to focus solely on my training, which is great.

"It's certainly not an easy week. Finland in the winter is cold and icy and we're pushed hard for day after day. We spend the first part of the week doing tests to monitor our core strength and flexibility and spend the rest of the time building on specific exercises that will help us once we're back in the car.

"After Brazil, it's good to get a proper rest because it's the one time of the year when you can relax your training a little - but Finland is when it all starts again in earnest."

Webber "back for start of season"

Eurosport - Mon, 24 Nov 15:38:00 2008

Surgery to pin the broken right leg of Australian Formula One driver Mark Webber has been a success, his spokesman said on Sunday.

Red Bull driver Webber, 32, was riding a mountain bike when he collided with a four-wheel drive while competing in his own multi-sport charity event in Tasmania on Saturday.

Geoff Donohue, spokesman for the Mark Webber Pure Tasmania Challenge, said Hobart Private Hospital doctors had inserted rods to mend the breaks in his lower right tibia and fibula.

It was not known at this stage when Webber would be able to leave hospital, he added.

"He's feeling sharp and spritely, all things considered," Donohue said.

Police said no charges would be filed over the accident.

Donohue said Webber was expected to fully recover in time for the start of the Formula One season in Melbourne on March 29 but he is likely to miss the start of the testing in Europe.

"He may miss some early testing in the car - it's a setback but it's a minor setback," Donohue said.

Rossi: I could have been F1 star

Eurosport - Fri, 21 Nov 11:20:00 2008

MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi has said he could have been a good Formula One driver if he had made the switch three years ago.

Rossi tried out Ferrari's 2008 F1 car at the Mugello circuit as a gift from the Italian team after his eighth motorcycling world title.

He had serious tests for Ferrari in 2005 and 2006 but decided to stick with two wheels.

"With a lot of work I could have become a good F1 driver. It is hard to say if I would have become a winner or not, but the potential was there," he said after a strong test.

Rossi managed a fastest lap of one minute and 22.5 seconds, less than two seconds behind recent times recorded by Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen on the same track.

Wearing his distinctively-coloured helmet, he was roared on by around 1,000 fans and could have gone faster had his 51-lap run not been cut short by an approaching thunderstorm.

The chances of Rossi ending up in Formula One look to have gone but the 29-year-old has talked about the possibility of moving into rallying permanently when he finishes with MotoGP.

The Italian was second in the Monza rally last weekend and is due to race in the British round of the World Championship next month.

Ferrari's seven-times champion Michael Schumacher has entered occasional motorcycle races since retiring in 2006 while rally champion Sebastien Loeb tested for the Red Bull Formula One team in Spain this week.

Glock excited about 2009

Eurosport - Sun, 16 Nov 17:39:00 2008

After impressing many over the course of his maiden full season of Formula one competition, Timo Glock has promised to do even better in 2009 - when he hopes Toyota will suffer fewer 'cold spells'.

The German overcame a trying start to the campaign - failing to register any points at all for the first six races, whilst team-mate Jarno Trulli tallied nine - to get his challenge firmly on-track in the Canadian Grand Prix with a strong fourth place finish, and indeed over the second half of the campaign he actually out-scored the experienced Italian 18 points to 11.

That saw Glock end proceedings with 25 points to his name - beating his pre-season goal by a quarter - just one spot behind Trulli in the drivers' standings in tenth, and with former triple F1 World Champion Niki Lauda enthusiastically singing his praises as the 'best rookie so far'.

"I am really happy," acknowledged the 26-year-old in an interview with the official Formula 1 website. Glock had previously participated in four races for Jordan back in 2004, becoming one of the elite group of drivers to have scored on their grand prix debut, also in Montreal.

"To exceed my target of 20 points and finish on the podium in my first full season of Formula One is a great achievement. I have worked well with the engineers, with the mechanics and with Jarno, so I have a very positive feeling in the team.

"The first four races were quite difficult and I wasn't sure if I could make my target. In F1 it is difficult to change the car from one race to another; it takes some time until you get the car working in your direction, and that was even tougher because it was my first full season of racing in F1.

"I had to develop myself a bit as well and that takes a bit of time, but after Canada things turned around for me. I got even more integrated into the team, we developed the car together and we were quite strong. I made a good step at Hockenheim, where our race pace was strong, and from then on I was competitive everywhere."

Indeed he was, and Glock made full use of his increased confidence to qualify five times inside the top ten over the final eight outings, with the undoubted highlight fifth spot in the grid in the Hungarian Grand Prix - what he would superbly convert into his first-ever rostrum finish. From that point onwards, he proved to be every bit a match for Trulli, particularly on race day.

"Budapest was really special," the 2007 GP2 Series Champion reflected, "and to finish on the podium in my first full season of Formula One was just great. Of course I [had] hoped to do that, but it was an incredible feeling when I achieved it, so I will always remember that day.

"Jarno is so experienced in Formula One and it was just my first season, so I expected to be playing catch-up in the first few races. The important thing for me is that in the second half of the season we were evenly-matched and from Hungary onwards I actually scored more points than him, so I am very pleased. We have worked really well together and have a great relationship, so I think we have helped the team improve quite a lot this season."

That much is indisputable, and even if the big-budget Japanese outfit ultimately came up short in its bid to resist Renault's threat for the coveted fourth spot in the constructors' rankings - one that for much of the campaign Toyota had made its own, but which it surrendered late on, partly as a legacy of the TF108's poor performance in cold and damp conditions - Glock is adamant that the Cologne-based outfit is now firmly back on-track again following its 2006-07 slump.

"The TF108 has been very competitive pretty much everywhere," he underlined, "but the one issue we had was in cold conditions, when we couldn't get the best out of the tyres. This hurt us in Italy and Belgium in particular. Our reliability has been pretty good, but we aim for 100 per cent reliability and we know that we lost points on a few occasions because of technical problems that led to retirements.

"During the season it was clear we had a good chance to finish fourth in the constructors' championship - and that became our target for the final races. We were beaten by Renault who were really strong at the end, so we are not happy with that aspect of our season, but you will see happy faces in Cologne, firstly because we are always optimistic and secondly because the results this season have been such a significant improvement on 2007.

"In general, I think our development was pretty good throughout the season, especially when you consider the package we introduced at Magny-Cours. From that moment we moved up a level and we were fighting with the top teams regularly, scoring podiums and a lot of points. We made a good step with our last upgrades towards the end of the season, but so did Renault.

"The target was to return to the podium and score a significant number of points. Considering our 2007 results, these were quite high targets, but we achieved them and that is thanks to the hard work of everyone at the team.

"Formula 1 never stops, so we are already thinking about 2009. The team has been working hard developing the TF109 and I am really excited to see how that turns out. We have some winter testing coming up so there is not a long break, but we are pushing as hard as possible - we won't be relaxing just because we have finished this season.

"There is such huge potential at this team. We have a competitive budget and we have a lot of really good people, so I really believe we can achieve great things."

What the drivers said

Eurosport - Sun, 02 Nov 21:27:00 2008

Reaction from the drivers following Lewis Hamilton's world-title winning performance at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)

"Honestly, I did not know if we had when I crossed the line. I was thinking 'shoot!' I am just not sure - have I done enough? Did we get it?

"And they told me and I felt just ecstatic. We had made it. You can forget everything else that has happened before now. This is the best and it was the toughest race of my life.

"I have to thank everyone, my Dad, my family, my fans and supporters back home and the team. It would be great to do it again in the future, but I am not sure if my heart can take that final lap all over again."

Felipe Massa (Ferrari - pictured)

"It has been such an emotional day for me, I drove a perfect race and everything went to well.

"Then the rain came at the end again and I knew what was happening. We thought it was going to happen and it almost did, then I saw Lewis passing Timo Glock and I suddenly had such a lot of emotions.

"I was so emotional, but I am proud of the team, of my team, my family, the people here today and the whole season and the championship. It is one more day of my life, Lewis has won it and I am going to learn from this."

Timo Glock (Toyota)

"I was on dry tyres at the end of the race when it was raining quite badly and it was just impossible on the last lap. I was fighting as hard as I could but it was so difficult to just keep the car on the track and I lost positions right at the end of the lap. Finishing in the top six is a decent result for me because I'd been struggling with the car earlier in the weekend but we were very close to fourth place so I am a bit disappointed."

"It's the end of my first season with Toyota and I'm happy with it as a whole. It was not easy for me early on but we improved the car a lot and I also improved myself during the year. Since Hockenheim it's been positive for me; beating my target of 20 points and finishing on the podium as well is a good achievement. Now we have to work even harder for next year to make another step forward."

Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso)

"It was a difficult and chaotic race and it's great to end the season on a high with this fourth place," he said. "I didn't make any mistakes and I feel we deserved this result, even if I was hoping for a podium. It was great to be racing against Massa, Alonso and Hamilton. Great fun!

"Towards the end, I was concentrating on staying on the track and I didn't know where I was in terms of position and I just tried to pass Lewis like any other guy and I succeeded. I passed Timo just at the last corner, as he was struggling on dry tyres. Lewis was behind me at that moment, but as I wasn't sure where I was after the final pit stop for rain tyres, I was definitely not aware that I might be influencing the world championship.

"It was hard to know who was a backmarker or not and as it got darker and darker it was even difficult to know who the cars in front of you were. The important thing is that I scored five points. It's been a fantastic season."

"I am very happy with this second place. The conditions were difficult but we were able to take advantage of them. We did our maximum, the team made the right decisions at the right times, and I managed to keep Raikkonen behind me until the finish. It's a fantastic result for the team and a great way to end the season.

Nelson Piquet (Renault)

"I don't really know what happened: if I was touched or if I simply lost control of the car, but I couldn't see that much and I lost the rear of my car in turn 3. It's really frustrating not to complete my home Grand Prix because a lot of things happened in the race and we could probably have taken advantage of them. But we should not look back and I want to thank the team for their support this weekend."

Adrian Sutil (Force India)

"I think it was a good finish for this season - at least we could see the chequered flag. We had two cars behind us too, which was a good effort. It was quite difficult at the beginning to get the strategy right with the tyre choice. We started on the intermediates and then went back to drys and it worked out quite well for us. On the first set we had a lot of graining but the second was quite alright. We gambled at the end with the extreme wets as it was very dark and looked like it would rain very heavily. The rain didn't come soon enough though and we struggled, but overall we did the maximum we could."

Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India)

"It was an exciting race, with so many things happening. It was a good decision to go to the dry tyres after the Safety Car came out and then it was looking very good. This part of the race was fantastic, even though it was very difficult through the first part of the circuit. Turns one and two were particularly bad, almost undriveable, but the rest of the circuit wasn't too bad as there was a dry line. The lap time was getting much better, then for a while I was in the first three and was keeping a good pace."

"Unfortunately in the first pit stop I had a problem with the clutch and dropped right back. In both stops there was no clutch and I lost a lot. In the rain at the end we tried to gamble with the extreme tyres as there was nothing to lose. Despite the result though it was an incredible start to the race and we can be pleased with the performance."

Mark Webber (Red Bull)

"The car was pretty difficult to drive today. We had a long middle stint, but the pace wasn't there and I struggled. We knew some of the problems we had from practice and we tried to cater for those in the race, but in the end most of them were still there. It's disappointing to finish ninth."

David Coulthard (Red Bull)

"I'm pretty gutted, it's not how I wanted to end my career. I took a cautious approach into Turn one and left plenty of space for the car on the inside, but unfortunately I think Rosberg hit me though Turn two, which spun me round. I thought it would be okay, but then Nakajima ran into the front of my car and took off the front corner. I felt good on the warm up laps going to the grid, I had no problem with it being wet and I wanted to get to the chequered flag. I was going to do some doughnuts for the crowd, which is something you normally get fined for, but it didn't work out."

"I can't complain though, I've had a good career, so thank you to everyone who has supported me. Thank you also to the efforts of every member of the Red Bull Racing team for the last four years, which have been a lot of fun, I look forward to continuing to work with them in the future. I've been overwhelmed by the level of support I've had from the paddock this weekend, it means a great deal to me that so many people have taken the time to say 'nice career and good luck with the future'. And, in the absence of a World Championship, I think if I can leave with that, then that's a good ending."

Hamilton wins Formula One crown

Eurosport - Sun, 02 Nov 20:47:00 2008

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton roared into the record books as Formula One's youngest champion when he snatched the title in last lap drama at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The 23-year-old, needing only a fifth place finish in the season-ending race to become Britain's first champion since Damon Hill in 1996, was seconds from failure for the second year in a row as Ferrari rival Felipe Massa swept to victory.

Hamilton entered the last lap in sixth place after a late shower forced a change to wet weather tyres and saw Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso overtake the McLaren.

With the title disappearing as fast as Massa's Ferrari approached the chequered flag, Hamilton had Toyota's Timo Glock to thank after the German stayed out on dry tyres and was unable to hold on to his fifth place.

Hamilton powered past as the final corner approached.

"Amazing, I can't even get my breath back," said the astonished Briton, who embraced his father and brother before being mobbed by the team.

Massa, Hamilton's sole title rival, won his home race for the second time in three years to chalk up a record 16th constructors' title for the Italian team.

Hamilton, who missed out by a single point to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in Brazil last season, ended the 18-race season one point clear of Massa.

"He scored more points than me, he deserves to win the title," said the disappointed race winner. "I know how to win, I know how to lose.

"This is another day of my life that I'm going to learn a lot from."

At 23 years and 301 days old, Hamilton broke the age record set by former McLaren team mate Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard who won the first of his two titles with Renault in Brazil at the age of 24, one month and 27 days.

Hamilton's title was the first for Mercedes-powered McLaren since Finland's Mika Hakkinen in 1999.

Massa, the first driver since Ayrton Senna in 1989 to miss out on the title after winning more races than anyone else, led from pole position after a start delayed for 10 minutes by a sudden downpour while the cars were waiting on the grid.

The safety car was then deployed for two laps after a collision that sent Britain's David Coulthard crashing into retirement after 15 seasons in Formula One.

The Scot's Red Bull tangled with the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima and Renault's Nelson Piquet, who was also eliminated from the race.

Alonso took second place in the race, with Raikkonen joining him on the podium to seize third place overall from BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica on race wins.

Massa: No pressure on me

Eurosport - Sun, 26 Oct 12:51:00 2008

Felipe Massa has said the pressure is off for next Sunday's season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix because he knows exactly what he has to do to snatch the title from British rival Lewis Hamilton.

The Ferrari driver is seven points behind McLaren's 23-year-old driver, who only needs to finish fifth at Interlagos to become the sport's youngest champion, having won in China last weekend.

However, Brazilian Massa believes his task is more straightforward as he bids to clinch his first World Championship on his home track in Sao Paolo.

"It's true I have a tougher job than Lewis in terms of the points situation, but my own objective for the weekend is much more straightforward than his," Massa told the Scuderia's official website.

"I only have to focus on winning the race on Sunday afternoon, hopefully with my team-mate (Kimi Raikkonen) second behind me.

"The only thing I am thinking about is winning. After that, the matter is not in my hands and we will have to wait and see exactly what and how much we have won."

Massa has been on pole in Brazil for the past two seasons, winning in 2006 and finishing second last year after allowing Raikkonen to go past and win to become champion by a point.

Hamilton threw away his chance of the title in that race.

"It is impossible to predict what will happen at the Brazilian Grand Prix but I think our car has always been very good at this circuit. Another plus for me is that I will have a huge following here in my home town," Massa said.

"For sure, Lewis will try and put pressure on me, but I have zero pressure, because I have nothing to lose.

"I have my people behind me and all the pressure will be on him, especially when you think about what happened at this race last year. I can't wait for the final Sunday of the season."

Massa banking on home advantage

Eurosport - Sun, 19 Oct 14:28:00 2008

Felipe Massa hopes home advantage will help him in the final round of his Formula One title fight with Lewis Hamilton in Brazil next month.

The Ferrari driver finished a distant second behind Hamilton's McLaren in the Chinese Grand Prix and now trails the championship leader by seven points with only 10 remaining to be won in the season finale.

The 27-year-old Sao Paulo driver, who is chasing his first world title, said he had been well beaten by Hamilton and called on his team to provide him with a more competitive car for Interlagos.

Even then, the title will be out of his hands with 23-year-old Hamilton needing only to finish fifth in Brazil to become the sport's youngest champion.

"For sure we are in a difficult position but we know many things can happen in one race," said Massa, whose team mate Kimi Raikkonen made up a seven point deficit in Brazil last year to beat Hamilton to the title.

"We just need to keep our head up. It is not finished yet. We've got to concentrate on our job and try to win the race and then what happens, happens.

"We're still fighting for the drivers' championship ... we're going to everything we can to achieve our target."

Massa has been on pole in Brazil for the past two seasons, winning in 2006 and finishing second last year after allowing Raikkonen to go past and win.

"Always when you play at home you play better," he said.

"I've had a very good experience in Brazil in the last two years so hopefully I can repeat and have a great experience again."

"I'm very optimistic, and we need to be, everybody in the team."

Ferrari had won three of the four previous races at the Shanghai circuit before this year and had been expected to be strong again this year.

Hamilton, however, was much quicker all weekend and Massa said it would need a great deal more than wishful thinking to beat him on November 2.

"Hoping is always important but then you need a good car and I think we can have a better car in Brazil than we had today," he said.

"Today it was very difficult to follow this guy and fight with him."

Immaculate Hamilton on brink of title

Eurosport - Sun, 19 Oct 22:09:00 2008

Britain's Lewis Hamilton has moved to the brink of the Formula One title by winning the Chinese Grand Prix ahead of Felipe Massa.

The McLaren driver led from start to finish, producing a superbly controlled display, but Massa kept the championship race alive by finishing second, 14.9 seconds adrift.

Hamilton leads the drivers' standings by seven points, with 94 to Massa's 87 ahead of the final race of the season at the Brazilian's home track of Interlagos. BMW's Robert Kubica has been mathematically eliminated from contention.

If the 23-year-old finishes fifth or better, he will become the youngest Formula One champion even if Massa wins.

However, he took the same lead into the final race of 2007 at the same track, and ended up surrendering the title to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

"All weekend we've had God on our side, and the team have done a phenomenal job," said a jubilant Hamilton.

"The car has taken a big step forward, it has felt fantastic all weekend and I owe so much to the guys.

"It was quite straightforward actually. I managed to do everything right on the formation lap. I got a great start, probably one of the best we have had. I got to turn one first, took the first few corners easy and then started to create a gap."

Massa said: "Lewis was stronger today. It was not a good result for the drivers' championship, but not so bad for the constructors and that is good for the team."

While the previous race in Japan provided non-stop drama, this was a processional race - but Hamilton's supporters will not mind given the recent criticism of his aggressive driving style.

The only mild controversy came from Ferrari, whose outgoing world champion Raikkonen slowed to let Massa through into second late on.

Although there were no 'team orders', the intention of the move was clear, and Massa takes two extra points into the final showdown on November 2.

Hamilton appeared unfazed by Raikkonen's decision to allow Massa through, saying: "It was inevitable Kimi would let Felipe past."

Raikkonen said of the arrangement: "I knew what to expect and what we wanted. I'm driving for the team. It's normal in this situation."

Ferrari struggled to match Hamilton's pace all weekend, even after selecting a softer tyre compound for the first stint.

Things were not so straightforward for Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, who retired with brake problems and also suffered a puncture.

Renault's Fernando Alonso took fourth place and his team-mate Nelson Piquet Jr took a point in eighth place.

BMW duo Nick Heidfeld and Kubica took fourth and fifth respectively, with Toyota's Timo Glock seventh.

Britons David Coulthard and Jenson Button finished out of the points in 16th and 18th places respectively.

Alonso seeks to help topple Hamilton

Eurosport - Mon, 13 Oct 16:47:00 2008

Fernando Alonso has said he will do what he can to help Ferrari's Felipe Massa beat Lewis Hamilton to the Formula One title after winning the last two grands prix for Renault.

"Yes, without doubt. If I can help, I will help Massa," the double world champion told Spanish newspapers after Sunday's victory in Japan.

Alonso, whose win at Fuji came two weeks after his surprise triumph in Singapore, fell out with championship leader Hamilton in an ill-fated 2007 season alongside the Briton at McLaren.

The Spaniard, who has been persistently linked to an eventual move to Ferrari, could become a factor in this year's title showdown if he continues to challenge for the podium in the remaining two races.

The 27-year-old has now scored more points (35) than any other driver in the six races since the German Grand Prix in July. Hamilton has taken 26 and Massa 25 in the same period.

Hamilton is five points clear of Brazilian Massa, whose team-mate and world champion Kimi Raikkonen is now out of contention, with only this weekend's race in China and the season-ender in Brazil still to come.

Massa, a favourite to win his home race in Sao Paulo, ideally needs a Ferrari one-two in Shanghai with Alonso rounding out the podium to make the necessary inroads into Hamilton's tally.

BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica is the third man left in the title hunt, 12 points off Hamilton - and before the race criticised the Briton's driving style.

Raikkonen returned to the podium on Sunday for the first time since Hungary in August, ending a run of four races without a point, but many Brazilians suspect he may not be Massa's strongest ally on the racetrack.

Alonso and resurgent Renault may be of more assistance.

"We are now maybe just behind Ferrari and McLaren and this is completely amazing," said the Spaniard, whose team were struggling just to score points at the start of the year.

In the same news conference at Fuji, his enduring hostility towards McLaren and Hamilton was evident when the top three drivers were asked whether it was right for the Briton to have been handed a drive-through penalty for his start.

"I agree," Alonso said immediately, while Kubica and Raikkonen both said they did not have a clear enough picture to comment.

"I don't know what he did," the race winner said later. "But it's good he's punished anyway."

Hamilton lead cut as chaos reigns

Eurosport - Mon, 13 Oct 11:13:00 2008

Felipe Massa reduced the deficit on Lewis Hamilton in the World Championship title race to five points as the Briton failed to score in an incident-strewn Japanese Grand Prix.

Renault's Fernando Alonso made it two wins out of two with a fantastic drive as both Hamilton and Massa suffered drive-through penalties for mistakes early in the race - the second of which saw them collide.

BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica took second and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen also finished on the podium before Massa was promoted to seventh, earning two points, after Sebastien Bourdais was issued a post-race 25-second penalty for a coming together with the Brazilian.

Kubica is seven points behind Massa in the standings and a revitalised contender for the drivers' crown with two races to run.

Hamilton was penalised for forcing Raikkonen - who had started the better of the front-row drivers - off the tarmac at the first corner as David Coulthard flew into a tyre barrier and Kazuki Nakajima also came to a halt.

Hamilton and McLaren's other competitor Heikki Kovalainen also left the track and the former rejoined behind his team-mate, with Kubica and Alonso leading the race.

Massa was behind Hamilton and looked to attack on the second lap but was overeager in cutting a wide left-hander: he made up enough ground to clip Hamilton's back wheel and spin him out on the track, leaving him stranded until the entire field had passed safely - and earning Massa that later penalty.

Alonso, who took victory in the last round in Singapore, was relentless after assuming first place following the first round of pit-stops and never looked in danger of relinquishing the net lead.

His team-mate Nelson Piquet Jr - who inadvertently facilitated the Spaniard's victory in the night race when his smash brought out the safety car - drove brilliantly at Fuji to take fourth place at the end, with Toyota's Jarno Trulli, Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber of Red Bull also taking points after Bourdais's penalty.

Kovalainen retired after 15 laps with engine failure while Massa and Hamilton, 13th and 14th after serving their punishments, looked to make up places. However Hamilton, who had been forced to pit on the second lap for a new set of tyres, was less successful than Massa.

With 17 laps of the 67-lap race remaining Bourdais emerged from the pits alongside Massa and they touched wheels; the Frenchman, holding the inside of the track, continued on as Massa spun out. He was able to continue with little trouble, but race stewards saw fit to penalise multiple ChampCar champion Bourdais later, pushing him down to 10th.

As Hamilton struggled to make headway, eventually finishing 12th, Raikkonen bore down on second-placed Kubica. The Pole defended with zeal - even forcing Raikkonen off the track at one point - inside his faltering BMW as the Finn found another of his sporadic moments of form to attack repeatedly.

The challenge died off in the final laps and Piquet, by then quicker than the Ferrari, could have snatched a podium finish had he not made a small error that cost him vital late seconds.

Alonso was visibly ecstatic as he recorded a second straight win late in a season where he has competed in a largely uncompetitive car.

Alonso wins drama-filled F1 Singapore GP

SINGAPORE (AFP) - Spain's Fernando Alonso won his first race in a year at the Singapore Grand Prix Sunday, taking the chequered flag in a drama-filled inaugural night race as a comical error cost Felipe Massa> dearly.

It was the Renault driver's first victory since the Italian Grand Prix last year and capped a remarkable weekend that saw him top two of the free practice sessions but start 15th on the grid after a mechanical problem in qualifying.

He claimed his 20th career triumph by 2.95 seconds over Germany's Nico Rosberg in a Williams and Britain's world championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

Toyota driver Timo Glock was fourth with Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel following up his win in Italy this month with fifth. BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld took sixth.

"It is fantastic, I am extremely happy. I can't believe it right now and it will take a few days to realise what we have done," said Alonso.

"Winning had seemed impossible all season but we have been competitive all weekend. The car was super."

The race was a new experience for every driver on a street circuit under powerful spotlights and it turned out to be one of the most exciting of the season.

Despite dark clouds lurking, Singapore's notorious tropical downpours stayed away and the whole race was run in dry, but hot and humid conditions.

Rosberg scored his best ever finish and was over the moon.

"The car felt pretty good and we knew we could be strong on this track and for once the luck went with us," he said.

Similarly, Hamilton was happy to get points while Massa didn't.

"I enjoyed driving here and I'm pretty happy," he said. "It was a tough weekend but we got some good points."

Ferrari's Massa started from pole but a disastrous mistake cost him the race and valuable points in his push for the world title.

His 13th place finish means he lags seven points behind Hamilton with just three Grand Prix left at Japan, China and Brazil.

The Brazilian was in the pits on lap 15 when he was given the green light and drove off with the fuel hose still attached to his car, leaving one of the pit crew floored and subsequently carted off in a neck brace.

Massa ended up sitting in his Ferrari at the end of the pit lane as the crew ran after him and managed to pull the hose free, but it ruined his chances. He was given a drive through penalty and rejoined in 18th place.

It was a miserable night for Ferrari with defending world champion Kimi Raikkonen ramming his car into the barriers with just four laps left.

"We could have finished first and second and it could have been different," said Massa, but he refused to blame the crew member who gave the green light too early.

"We are all human beings, everyone makes mistakes. I am not the sort of person who goes to a guy and fights with him."

The Massa drama occurred after the cars came in when Nelson Piquet careered into a wall, causing massive damage to his Renault.

He climbed out unscathed but the safety car was deployed.

Massa was leading at the time with Hamilton second but at the restart, Rosberg was in front and Alonso fifth.

But Rosberg was subsequently slapped with a 10-second stop-go penalty for coming into the pits before it had opened after the Piquet crash.

The complicated scenario saw Toyota's Jarno Trulli in the lead on lap 28 but without having pitted with Alonso second, Rosberg third and Hamilton sixth.

With Trulli taking his first pit stop soon after Alonso amazingly found himself in front just after the halfway mark.

He came in for his second pit stop on lap 41 and emerged just ahead of David Coulthard and Hamilton.

Remarkably, when Coulthard pitted soon after, he too drove off with the fuel pipe attached, knocking over a mechanic who was stretchered off.

There was more action to come.

Alonso was cruising with a 23-second lead when Adrian Sutil shunted his Force India into the wall, bringing the safety car out again and wiping out the Spaniard's advantage.

When they restarted with seven laps left it was a sprint to the finish and the two-time world champion made no mistakes.

Hamilton appeal rejected

Eurosport - Tue, 23 Sep 16:46:00 2008

Lewis Hamilton said he was disappointed but not depressed after a court rejected McLaren's appeal to have the Formula One leader reinstated as Belgian Grand Prix winner.

The decision left the 23-year-old Briton just one point clear of Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa with four races remaining.

The governing FIA said in a statement that the court of five judges had "concluded that the appeal is inadmissible" after Hamilton gave his version of events at the hearing in Paris on Monday.

"Article 152 of the International Sporting Code states that drive-through penalties are 'not susceptible to appeal'," the FIA added.

Hamilton, who was demoted from first to third at Spa-Francorchamps in the September 7 race after cutting a chicane, will now start Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix with 78 points to 77 for Massa.

Had McLaren's appeal been successful, Hamilton would have had a seven point advantage.

"People will probably expect me to be depressed about today's result, but that isn't me," he said in a McLaren statement.

"All I want to do now is put this matter behind me and get on with what we drivers do best - racing each other. We're racers, we're naturally competitive, and we love to overtake.

"Overtaking is difficult, and it feels great when you manage to pull off a great passing manoeuvre. If it pleases the spectators and TV viewers, it's better still. So I'm disappointed, yes, but not depressed."

A Ferrari spokesman said the Italian team would not be commenting on the verdict.

The race at Spa was a thriller but the excitement fell flat when stewards later ruled that Hamilton had gained an advantage by cutting the Bus Stop chicane while duelling with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen for the lead in the closing stages.

They imposed a retrospective drive-through penalty, translated into 25 seconds added to Hamilton's total time, which dropped him from first to third.

Massa, who had finished second, was awarded his fifth win of the season instead.

Hamilton, who had handed back the position gained before overtaking Raikkonen again into the next corner, told the court in Paris he felt he had acted according to the rules.

McLaren had also pointed out to the court that race control had twice given Hamilton the all-clear at the time.

"We are naturally disappointed with today's verdict, and to have received no ruling on the substance of our appeal," said McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh.

"No-one wants to win grands prix in court but we felt that Lewis had won the Belgian Grand Prix, on track, in an exciting and impressive manner.

"Our legal team and witnesses calmly explained this, as well as our belief that the appeal should be admissible, to the FIA International Court of Appeal," he added.

Hamilton arrived in Singapore on Tuesday, where he chatted and joked with fans while watching youngsters drive an F1 simulator in one of the city-state's plushest shopping centres.

Dressed in a grey suit, the driver told the crowd he was fully focused and looking forward to the sport's first night race.

Vettel makes history at Monza

Eurosport - Sun, 14 Sep 14:37:00 2008

Germany's Sebastian Vettel stunned Formula One as the sport's youngest race winner at the age of 21 with victory for Toro Rosso at the team's home Italian Grand Prix.Vettel, also the youngest driver to start a Grand Prix from pole position, gave his Ferrari-powered team their first win with a remarkably assured drive through the spray and slippery conditions.

It was a stunning result for Formula One's smallest team, formerly tail-enders Minardi, who are co-owned at least until the end of next year by Red Bull energy drink billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz and Austrian Gerhard Berger.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who started 15th after losing a gamble with the weather in qualifying, retained his championship lead by a single point after overtaking a string of rivals to finish seventh.

Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa, Hamilton's closest rival, failed to make the most of starting nine places ahead of the Briton and finished sixth in a wet race that began behind the safety car.

With four races remaining, Hamilton has 78 points to Massa's 77 and Robert Kubica's 64 for BMW-Sauber, pending an appeal into the result of the Belgian Grand Prix where the championship leader was demoted from first to third for cutting a chicane.

Kubica, himself only 23, took third place at the circuit where he took his first podium in 2006.

At 21 years and 74 days old, Vettel became Germany's first race winner since Ferrari's seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher retired in 2006.

Renault's double world champion Fernando Alonso, who held the previous record for the youngest race winner after chalking up his first victory in Hungary in 2003 at 22 years and 26 days, finished fourth.

Germany's Nick Heidfeld was fifth for BMW-Sauber while Australian Mark Webber collected the final point in eighth place for Red Bull.

Hamilton stripped of Belgian GP win

Eurosport - Sun, 07 Sep 21:52:00 2008

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was stripped of victory in a thrilling Belgian Grand Prix after stewards decided he had gained an advantage by cutting a chicane during a last-gasp duel with Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton was given a 25-second time penalty by race officials which saw him demoted to third and victory handed to second-placed Felipe Massa, allowing the Ferrari driver to cut the Briton's lead in the championship to just two points.

Brazilian Massa crossed the line second but won the maximum 10 points ahead of Germany's Nick Heidfeld, the BMW-Sauber driver promoted to second. Hamilton won six points to move to 76 in the championship to Massa's 74.

World champion Raikkonen had led until rain began to fall and Hamilton, the 23-year-old championship leader who had started on pole position, reeled in the Ferrari and powered past on the penultimate lap.

The action did not stop there, with the desperate Raikkonen fighting back to retake the lead before losing control on the slippery surface and smashing into a wall while Hamilton went wide over the grass.

The two rivals had already banged bodywork, skidded and narrowly avoided other cars before stewards decided that Hamilton's late maneouvre had broken the rulebook.

"It was an experience and a half," said Hamilton before the stewards gave their verdict. "It was just mix and match. I was just praying for rain. I wanted it to come because I knew how to deal with it.

"It was one of the most exciting races of my career. I love having battles."

It was a stunning turnaround to an afternoon that, until two laps from the end, looked sure to revive Raikkonen's championship hopes with a fourth Belgian Grand Prix win in succession.

Starting in fourth place, the Finn made a determined move on Massa after running wide at the tight first corner.

The two Ferraris ran side by side up the hill through Eau Rouge before Raikkonen, whose engine had blown in the previous race in Valencia, scythed past and took the chase to Hamilton.

Hamilton then locked his right front tyre and spun at La Source at the start of the second lap, with Raikkonen seizing the advantage.

Renault's double world champion Fernando Alonso was fourth with Germany's Sebastian Vettel fifth for Toro Rosso.

Poland's Robert Kubica was sixth, a result that elevated him to third in the championship with 58 points, with France's Sebastien Bourdais considerably enhancing his prospects of staying at Toro Rosso next season with seventh.

Mark Webber of Australia took the final point for Red Bull after Germany's Timo Glock also picked up a 25-second penalty.

McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen, who had started in third place, missed out in 10th place after capping a string of errors with a drive-through penalty.

Massa wins amid controversy

Eurosport - Sun, 24 Aug 17:33:00 2008

Felipe Massa won a controversial European GP ahead of Lewis Hamilton, as the Brazilian's Ferrari team were punished following a pit-lane incident.

In the first race at the Valencia street circuit, the Brazilian was released from his second pit stop into the path of Force India's Adrian Sutil and he was fined 10,000 euros.

The verdict will come as a relief to Massa, who could have been subjected to a time penalty or a 10-place grid penalty for the Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps.

However, it was ruled that Massa gained "no sporting advtantage" from the incident, although Ferrari had acted in an unsafe manner.

In his post-race press conference, Massa said Sutil should have made way for him: "I think it was not very clever from his side, because even if he gets out in front of me he needs to let me by, so I think it was a shame."

Massa otherwise drove a perfect race, leading throughout after starting on pole position.
On an eventful day for Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen began to leave the pits with his fuel hose still attached and struck a mechanic, who was taken to the circuit's medical centre for treatment.

A team spokesman said the mechanic's injuries were "not too bad" and there would be a further update on his condition later on Sunday.

Minutes later the defending world champion retired with a blown engine and has fallen to third in the drivers' championship.

The Finn looked desperately out of sorts, even before those incidents, running well off the pace. Ferrari must be sorely tempted to throw their efforts behind Massa's championship challenge.

Hamilton, by contrast, drove a serene second place and increased his points lead to six, with 70, to Massa's 64 and Raikkonen's 57.

Fighting what he described as "health problems" Hamilton could not match Massa's pace but his second place never looked in danger.

The only downside for the Briton came on the podium, when the Spanish fans jeered him vociferously - a hangover from 2007 and his bitter rivalry with then-team-mate Fernando Alonso.

Third-placed Polish BMW driver Robert Kubica claimed his fifth podium finish of the season, the first in five races.

Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen of Finland came home fourth ahead of Italian Jarno Trulli in a Toyota and 21-year-old German Sebastian Vettel who was sixth for Toro Rosso.
Timo Glock of Germany was seventh for Toyota and another German Nico Rosberg eighth for Williams.

The race was run in hot sunshine but produced few thrills for the 115,123 spectators packed into the grandstands around the Mediterranean harbour.

In a major disappointment for Spanish fans, their double world champion Fernando Alonso was forced to retire after the opening lap when his Renault and the Williams of Japan's Kazuki Nakajima collided.