Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button gave a strong start to McLaren in the Spanish Formula1 (F1) Grand Prix at Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. Both the drivers topped the charts in the first practice session here in Spain. Lewis Hamilton topped the first practice session followed by team mate Jenson Button.
Mercedes, who have come up [...]
Friday, December 31, 2010
F1 has ?best field ever? ? Stewart | F1 Fanatic round-up
Jackie Stewart praises the current field of drivers as the best ever in F1.
Turkish GP: Hamilton gains victory by Red Bull collision
May 30 '10
Lewis Hamilton won today's Turkish Grand Prix with a bit of a luck from the collision of the Red Bull mates, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton's first win of the season. His team mate Jenson Button finished second and Mark Webber who was leading the race before the incident, finished third.
The McLaren duo of Hamilton and Button, who were running first and second after the incident between the Red Bull drivers, were racing against each other despite warnings from their crew about ?critical? fuel shortages.
According to F1Fanatic, The McLaren drivers could scarcely believe their fortune but Button, now up to second, fancied his chances of a third win. He drew alongside his team mate on the outside of turn 12 and scrambled past.
That left Button on the outside of the last corner and Hamilton used his momentum to get back alongside. The pair touched wheels as they dived into turn one side-by-side and Hamilton seized the lead back."
Details of the race below, thanks to the Formula 1 broadcaster and journalist, James Allen's tweets.
Video of the incident between Webber and Vettel
According to iTV, "Winning this race would be about seizing the precious moment. Vettel felt his had come when he got a run on Webber exiting ?Faux Rouge?, the right-hand kink in the back straight.
It was a squeeze but he got alongside and had the inside line for turn 12. He was slightly ahead too, and clearly felt he had earned the right to drift over for a slightly less compromised line.Webber didn?t see it that way. Perhaps hoping to pinch his team-mate in order to get a run on him through the second part or even the exit of the left-right-left combination, he held his line.
The Red Bulls touched and Vettel spun down the road, almost collecting Webber in the run-off area before marching away from his wreck while giving the universally accepted hand signal for ?crazy?."
Michael Schumacher finished a strong fourth in his Mercedes ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg in fifth. Kamui Kobayashi scored his first points of the season and also his team's. Both the Saubers finished the race for the first time this season.
Hamilton?s first win of the season moves him up to third place in the driver's standings (84 pts), Webber retains the lead (93 pts). Button moves to second (88 pts). Vettel, who jointly led the championship heading into this race, falls to fifth (78 pts). McLaren lead the constructor's championship, ahead of Red Bull and Ferrari.
Turkish Grand Prix Race times
1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 58 laps 1hr 28m 47.620s
2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +00m 02.6s
3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault +00m 24.2s
4. Michael Schumacher Mercedes-Mercedes +00m 31.1s
5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes-Mercedes +00m 32.2s
6. Robert Kubica Renault-Renault +00m 32.8s
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 36.6s
8. Fernando Alonso Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 46.5s
9. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes +00m 49.0s
10. Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari +01m 05.6s
11. Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari +01m 05.9s
12. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari +01m 07.8s
13. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
14. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth +1 lap
15. Vitaly Petrov Renault-Renault +1 lap
16. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
17. Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth +1 lap
18. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth +3 laps
19 Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth +3 laps
20. Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth +6 laps
Rtd Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 46 laps completed
Rtd Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 39 laps completed
Rtd Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 33 laps completed
Rtd Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 32 laps completed
Fastest lap:
Vitaly Petrov Renault -Renault 1m 29.165s lap 57
Images (C) Daylife, F1Fanatic
Vittorio Brambilla Toni Branca Gianfranco Brancatelli Eric Brandon
Hamilton decision-making under the microscope
 Lewis Hamilton has come in for criticism |
Lewis Hamilton voted best driver of 2010 | 2010 F1 season review
F1 Fanatic readers have voted Lewis Hamilton the best driver of 2010.
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IRC: Caffi unfazed by Monte debut
Caffi unfazed by Monte debut By Matt Beer Tuesday, December 28th 2010, 12:33 GMT Former grand prix driver Alex Caffi says he is relaxed about making his top-line rallying debut in the 2011 Monte Carlo Rally. The sometime Osella, Scuderia Italia and Footwork Formula 1 racer is driving a DP Autosport-run Skoda Fabia on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge's famous season-opener next month Related posts:- LMS: Primat makes rally debut in Sweden Primat makes rally debut in Sweden By Steven English Monday,...
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British GP: Vettel takes pole as Red Bull dominate
July 10 '10
Sebastian Vettel grabbed pole position for the second year in a row at Silverstone, as the Milton Keynes-based team secured its fifth front-row lockout of the season. Vettel beat his team mate Mark Webber by 0.143s. Fernando Alonso will start tomorrow's race on second row of the grid for Ferrari.
Jenson Button in his McLaren had a disastrous session. He will start his home grand prix from 14th place after missing the cut for the top-10 shootout.
In Q1
Heikki Kovalainen was the best of the new team drivers in 19th. His Lotus team mate Jarno Trulli will start from 21st position. Seems like the Virgins have made a step forward with the new updates as Timo Glock managed to split the two Lotuses.Sakon Yamamoto who will take the place of Bruno Senna in HRT for the British Gran Prix, was last of all. He was half a second down on his team mate Karun Chandhok.
Driver from the established team unable to get into Q2 was Jaime Alguersuari who qualified 18th.
Drivers eliminated in Q1
18. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 32.430s
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1m 34.405s
20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m 34.775s
21. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1m 34.864s
22. Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1m 35.212s
23. Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1m 36.546s
24. Sakon Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1m 36.968s
In Q2
Local hero, Jenson Button could only manage 14th fastest time in his McLaren. Button radioed in that he was struggling with low grip at the rear.
McLaren was on the back foot going into qualifying after having to shelve the exhaust-blown diffuser it tried in Friday practice, which it found upset the MP4-25?s balance. Thus the team abandoned the key element of its planned car upgrade and reverted to the old specification rear end on the MP4-25.
Somewhat bewildered by the sudden downturn in performance Button said, ?This morning the car felt really good. I personally think there?s something wrong, the car was undriveable. That?s it really. I don?t know if I?ve lost rear downforce since this morning, but it?s pretty undriveable. This weekend has been tricky, but that wasn?t normal.?
Also failing to make it beyond Q2 was Adrian Sutil who has for most part been a regular in the final Q3 shootout, but alas not at Silverstone on the doorstep of the Force India team?s headquarters. His team mate Vitantonio Liuzzi fared worse and will start from 15th on the grid.
Vettel was quicker in the first knockout session while Webber had the edge in Q2.
Drivers eliminated in Q2
11. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m 31.399s
12. Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 31.421s
13. Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1m 31.635s
14. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m 31.699s
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1m 31.708s
16. Vitaly Petrov Renault-Renault 1m 31.796s
17. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 32.012s
In Q3
It was the battle of the Bulls for the top position and Vettel got the better of it. This result put Red Bull on pole for the ninth time out of ten Grands Prix this season.
Webber was the first to set a Q3 time and logged a 1m29.758s, easily the fastest lap of the new Silverstone layout up to that point ? but moments later Vettel stopped the clocks in 1m29.695s.
Webber was unable to respond on his second run so Vettel?s pole was secure, but that didn?t stop the young German shaving another few hundredths off his own benchmark just to emphasise who had the upper hand.
His final time of 1m29.615s represented an average speed of 147mph for the revised 3.7-mile circuit, almost identical to the average he recorded on the previous layout in last year?s low-fuel Q2 session.
-iTV
Fernando Alonso finished third for Ferrari and will share second row of the grid with his nemesis Lewis Hamilton.
Pedro de la Rosa qualified an excellent ninth, his first top-10 grid placing of his F1 comeback season. He qualified ahead of Mercedes' Michael Schumacher.
Only a mishap (such as a broken nosecone which Sebastian Vettel suffered in practice) is likely to prevent a Red Bull victoryTop ten drivers in Q3
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m 29.615s
2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m 29.758s
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 30.426s
4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m 30.556s
5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 30.625s
6. Robert Kubica Renault-Renault 1m 31.040s
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 31.172s
8. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m 31.175s
9. Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 31.274s
10. Michael Schumacher Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 31.430s
Full Qualifying Times
Images(C) daylife, sutton-images, BBC
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tony Fernandes: ?We?re not silly and emotional and childish about it??
Tony Fernandes has changed his mind on using black and gold next year after the new Lotus Renault GP team announced that it would also follow that route. He says that the team will stick with green and yellow, as … Continue reading 
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Petrov Secures Seat For 2011 and 2012 at Lotus Backed Renault Team
Russian driver Vitaly Petrov, who had an up-and-down season with Renault in 2010 has cleared up all speculation about his future following an announcement that he has secured a two yar race seat deal with the Lotus Renault team. He raced with Renault last season, and will continue alongside popular Polish driver Robert Kubica as [...]
Chico Serra Doug Serrurier Johnny ServozGavin Tony Settember
Tom Walkinshaw - an obituary
Tom Walkinshaw, who has died of cancer aged 64, was one of the most powerful personalities in motorsport for nearly 30 years and, latterly, an influential figure in English rugby.
Walkinshaw's famous TWR racing team won championships in touring cars and sportscars, as well as claiming the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1988, giving Jaguar its first win in the race for more than 30 years in the process.
But Formula 1, motorsport's pinnacle, proved a tougher challenge. Although the Scot was instrumental in the success of the Benetton team with Michael Schumacher from 1992-4, his attempts to conquer it with his own team eventually led to his downfall and exit from top-level motor racing.
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When Walkinshaw joined Benetton in 1991, after nearly two decades of often controversial successes in touring cars and sportscars, his reputation preceded him.
He was known as an uncompromising and controversial character whose granite jaw reflected his determination - he pushed things to the limit, didn't mind who he upset to get his way and used his imposing physical presence to its full effect.
Walkinshaw was not a tall man but he was immensely broad and stocky, and he was not afraid to employ his physical strength to his own ends.
At a sportscar race once, he sought out a journalist to whose reporting he had taken exception, dragged him across the pit lane and hung him over the pit wall as cars passed by at nearly 200mph while he verbally harangued him.
But Walkinshaw had brains as well as brawn. He was a very competent racing driver in touring cars in the 1970s but he was a far better team boss.
One of the people he employed at Jaguar was Ross Brawn, later to transform Ferrari into the most efficient winning machine in F1 history, but then an ambitious young designer.
Walkinshaw took him on to apply F1 expertise to sportscars and the result was a game-changing car that won the world sportscar championship.
With that conquered, only F1 remained and the flamboyant new Benetton team boss Flavio Briatore, an intimidating character himself, decided that Walkinshaw and Brawn were the men he needed to turn Benetton from also-rans to winners. Walkinshaw was installed as engineering director, Brawn as technical director.
It didn't take long for Walkinshaw's ruthlessness to emerge.
He had witnessed Schumacher's talents driving for Mercedes in sportscars and when the 22-year-old German made an electrifying F1 debut for Jordan at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, Walkinshaw told Briatore this was the driver they needed. By the next race in Italy Schumacher was in the cockpit of a Benetton, the fact that he had binding contract with Jordan a minor inconvenience.
Together, Benetton and Schumacher made a formidable team and success was not long coming - by 1994 they were world champions. But, just as in the other categories in which Walkinshaw had competed, the whiff of controversy followed him to F1.
Benetton were accused of cheating. They were found to have illegal driver-aid software in their cars, but were not punished because the sport's governing body, the FIA, could not prove it had been used. Then, after a refuelling fire during the German Grand Prix, Benetton were found guilty of taking a filter out of their fuel hose without authorisation.
Benetton's 1994 pit fire led to the end of Walkinshaw's career with the team
They blamed it on a "junior member of staff", but the rumour was that Walkinshaw had authorised it.
Benetton agreed with the FIA to part company with certain unidentified staff as an act of good faith. It was an open secret that a deal had been brokered behind closed doors that Walkinshaw would leave the company at the end of the year.
He moved first to run Benetton-linked Ligier, before in early 1996 taking over Arrows.
Such was the regard in which Walkinshaw was held that he was expected to make a success of a team that had never won a race in its 20-year history.
He pulled off a coup by convincing world champion Damon Hill to join the team for 1997 but the car was uncompetitive. Hill took a somewhat freak second place in Hungary but left the team at the end of the year.
From then on, it was largely all downhill, despite a few flashes of hope, namely when investment bank Morgan Grenfell bought into the team in 1998 and Walkinshaw signed a high-profile sponsorship deal with mobile phone network Orange in 2000.
Generally, his Arrows years were a struggle against the odds, and they ended in 2002 with the ignominy of a High Court battle with Morgan Grenfell and a damning judgement, in which Mr Justice Lightman described proposals Walkinshaw had made trying to ensure the survival of the team as "underhand and improper, indeed downright dishonest".
Why did it go wrong for him in F1?
Some said Walkinshaw too often had his eye off the ball, concentrating on his other business interests, such as his TWR engineering group and Gloucester Rugby Club, to the detriment of his F1 team.
Walkinshaw found money and new partners hard to come by, despite his long history in the car and motorsport industries - or perhaps because of it, some believed.
Walkinshaw was a hard-nosed businessman and sportsman, always viewed as the ultimate survivor, the man who could be guaranteed to pull off the last-minute saving deal.
But his failure with Arrows spelt the end of his association with top-level motorsport, although he did continue to run a touring car team in Australia.
He turned his business acumen and tough negotiating skills to a new role in rugby.
Related or not, the collapse of Arrows coincided with Walkinshaw's tenure as chairman of Premier Rugby, the top-flight clubs' umbrella body, from 1998-2002.
Later, he led the clubs' team negotiating with the Rugby Football Union over the release of England players, the details of which are now enshrined in an eight-year agreement that has largely ended what for a while were very bitter wrangles over the management of the men playing for the national side.
As chairman of Gloucester, he is remembered fondly for pumping in lots of money and keeping the team at the forefront of the game, even if he never quite achieved his ambitions either domestically or in Europe.
Walkinshaw was a complex figure who aroused mixed emotions but, although he had a dark side, plenty of people will remember him as a warm-hearted and generous man.
BBC F1 analyst Martin Brundle, whose long relationship with Walkinshaw included winning Le Mans and the world sportscar title, says: "He was a mentor to me.
"I wrote to him and asked him for a drive when he didn't know me from Adam and he gave me a chance. If he hadn't done that, I'd still be selling Toyotas in West Norfolk, for sure. He was an entrepreneurial racer and a great tactician."
And Hill, now president of the British Racing Drivers' Club that owns Silverstone, adds: "He was a very big-hearted guy who put everything he had into motor racing in all its forms. He loved motorsport and he liked business, too.
"Tom had competitive spirit and there were a lot of good things about him. He genuinely wanted to compete. He wanted things to turn out right.
"I certainly believed in Tom and his sincere desire to build a team. But it didn't work out.
"He was a major player in motorsport for a long time and that will be his testimony."
TOPCAR Porsche Cayenne Vantage 2 in the metal
Tuning package includes an extensive aerodynamic kit as well as power upgrades up to 750 horsepower (559 kW / 760 PS) on the Porsche Cayenne.
Leslie Thorne Bud Tingelstad Sam Tingle Desmond Titterington
Jeep truck rumors false - report
According to a recent report, Jeep has no plans to launch a pickup anytime soon. 
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Pretty in Pink: Ferrari California gets cotton candied
It seems more and more people are finding new and interesting ways to bring out their personality in their vehicles, but while earlier we displayed a Lamborghini Gallardo whose owner thought Grigio Antares was the way to go, this car owner thought a little more on the bright side for her Ferrari California.
Okay, so we don’t really know if the car owner is a woman, but we could only hope that a woman is behind covering the beautiful sports car in the sissiest of colors around: bright cotton candy pink. If this owner was trying to make a statement then she definitely succeeded. We just don’t know if we like what she’s saying. There’s just something about covering up a 4.3L V8 engine producing 460hp with a whole lot of pink that just doesn’t feel right.
The bad part is, this vehicle isn’t the only one that has gotten hit with the pink stick. Paris Hilton’s car is well-known as the very pink Bentley Continental GT and we have even seen a pink Maserati GranCabrio. Of course, our favorite is still the pink Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 SV because, well, that car could look good in just about anything.
Pretty in Pink: Ferrari California gets cotton candied originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 29 December 2010 18:00 EST.
D?Ambrosio Confirmed As Marussia Virgin Driver For 2011
Jerome D’Ambrosio has been confirmed as the second driver at the Marussia Virgin Racing team for the 2011 season. The Belgian driver, who tested with both Virgin and Renault at the recent rookie tests in Abu Dhabi, will take over the race seat from ousted 2010 driver Lucas di Grassi. �D’Ambrosio clearly did enough to [...]
2012 Ford Focus to feature torque vectoring control
With a North American launch looming, Ford has announced the 2012 Focus will feature standard torque vectoring control. 
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Turkish Grand Prix 2010 Race gallery
Lewis Hamilton won the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix with a bit of a luck from the collision of the Red Bull mates, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton's first win of the season. His team mate Jenson Button finished second and Mark Webber who was leading the race before the incident, finished third
Credit : Daylife, F1Fanatic
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Nico Hulkenberg trying to secure F1 future
Nico Hulkenberg admits he is focused on trying to find a team for next year's Formula One season.
The German was driving for Williams last season and secured his maiden pole position at the Brazilian Grand Prix, the penultimate race in the championship, before learning he had lost his seat over the final weekend at Abu Dhabi.
His drive at Williams has been taken by GP2 title winner Pastor Maldonado and ...
Turkish Grand Prix 2010 Race gallery
Lewis Hamilton won the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix with a bit of a luck from the collision of the Red Bull mates, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton's first win of the season. His team mate Jenson Button finished second and Mark Webber who was leading the race before the incident, finished third
Credit : Daylife, F1Fanatic
Markus Winkelhock Reine Wisell Roelof Wunderink Alexander Wurz
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