Jenson Button wins in soggy Sepang

Jenson Button won a shortened 31 lap Malaysian Grand Prix from Nick Heidfeld and Timo Glock on a day when heavy rain forced the race to be halted well ahead of the scheduled 56 laps.

Monsoon rains are common-place late in the afternoon and it was therefore of little surprise that the weather created problems and much confusion for the Formula One circus.

Until the very heavy rain began to fall, the second round of the championship proved to be a thriller with Nico Rosberg storming into the lead from fourth position on the grid at the start and controlling the race in his Williams Toyota from Jarno Trulli’s Toyota until the first round of pitstops.
Button meanwhile bided his time during the first stint well aware he had more fuel on board than his rivals and as the others pitted, picked up the pace to ensure he exited the puts following his first stop in the lead.

Light rain began to fall on lap 22 with Kimi Raikkonen already having gambled and switched to full wet tyres some three laps earlier. The gamble did not pay off for Raikkonen as he burned through the tyres on the dry circuit, but all of the front runners soon began to pit as light rain started to fall.
Timo Glock had not made the best start to the race and had dropped towards the bottom of the top ten but he and the Toyota team opted to switch to intermediate tyres and not the full wets.

This decision paid off as he carved his way through the field to run third when the really heavy rain fell.
While Glock made progress through the field the other drivers opted to change from full wet tyres to intermediate tyres but the switch was only suitable for a few laps as by lap 28 the heavy rain forced them all back onto the full wet tyres, shuffling the race order behind Button yet again.
Conditions then deteriorated significantly forcing first the safety car out and then the red flags bringing a halt to proceedings for over 50 minutes before the result was declared.

As Formula One Management fumbled around before making a decision to declare the race, it became clear that Nick Heidfeld had worked his way up to second position in his BMW Sauber having made just the one pitstop compared to the three or four made by the rest of the field. A gamble from the team certainly paid dividends after a difficult weekend to date.

Jarno Trulli finished fourth in the second Toyota losing time in the wet conditions, while Rubens Barrichello was fifth when the race came to its premature conclusion.

Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton had a fantastic battle ahead of the red flag with Webber much faster in the twisty mid-field and Hamilton leaning on KERS heavily to retake the position on the long Sepang straights on at least three occasions. Webber finished in sixth position ahead of the defending champion.

After his fast start Nico Rosberg lost ground in the pit stop shuffle and finished eighth for Williams while Ferrari leave the second round of the championship still without any points with Massa ninth and Raikkonen parking his F60 when the red flags came out with an unidentified KERS issue.

Sebastien Bourdais like Raikkonen was early to switch to wet tyres and he finished tenth in his Toro Rosso ahead of Fernando Alonso who had a spin in the wet and dropped out of the points. Kazuki Nakajima finished 12th in the second Williams ahead of Nelson Piquet in the second R29.

Kimi Raikkonen was classified 14th ahead of Sebastian Vettel who spun out of the points in his Red Bull Renault. Sebastien Buemi was 16th in the second Toro Rosso ahead of the Force India Mercedes duo of Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Robert Kubica retired his BMW Sauber almost as soon as the race began with an engine problem while Heikki Kovalainen’s rotten start to the season continued as he lost control of his McLaren Mercedes and spun out of the race on the first lap.

And so after a thrilling 30 laps of action, the Malaysian Grand Prix ended in confusion with even the drivers unsure of where they had finished.

Formula One lacked any real sense of communication leaving fans world-wide unsure of if the race would start again or not and even after 50 minutes of waiting, the results were uncertain until the top three took to the podium.

Heading to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix, Button’s perfect start to the season remains intact as he leads the championship with 15 points, courtesy of half points awarded from this race, from Barrichello on 10, Trulli on 8.5, Glock on 8 and Alonso on 4.

[ Source : F1-live.net ]

Qualifying for the 56-lap Malaysian Grand Prix proved to be a thrilling affair as the threatening rain held off leaving the front-runners in a frantic battle for the pole position.
For the second straight Grand Prix it was Jenson Button who got the job done for Brawn Mercedes as he stopped the clocks in 1:35.181s, less than a tenth clear of the hard-charging Jarno Trulli. As Button celebrates yet another success for the new Brawn GP team, Trulli will be a little frustrated to lose out on the pole position by the slightest of margins.

Sebastien Vettel was third fastest in his Red Bull Renault three-tenths off the ultimate time but of course takes a ten position grid penalty into the Grand Prix courtesy of his incident with Robert Kubica in Australia.

Rubens Barrichello recorded the fourth fastest time but like Vettel drops down the order with a grid position penalty. The Brazilian veteran therefore lines up eighth due to a gearbox change on the Brawn Mercedes this morning.

With Vettel and Barrichello both dropping back, Timo Glock will line up third in the second Toyota ahead of Nico Rosberg in the leading Williams Toyota. Rosberg in particular will be a little frustrated with the qualifying pace once again after showing so well in practice.

Mark Webber was seventh fastest in the second Red Bull but starts fifth ahead of Robert Kubica in the leading BMW Sauber.

Over at Ferrari it was an evening of drama as Felipe Massa fell at the first hurdle and Kimi Raikkonen scraped into the final round of qualifying in his F60.
After setting the ninth fastest time in the final round of qualifying, Raikkonen lines up seventh while Massa is just 16th. Qualifying would prove to be a disaster for the Brazilian Ferrari star who completed just one run in the first round of qualifying on the option tyre and paid the price as he found himself bumped down and out of the running. Massa now faces a very tough task from the back end of the field tomorrow afternoon.

Renault has not looked particularly strong at Sepang but at least Fernando Alonso salvaged a ninth position on the grid for the Anglo-French team. Nelson Piquet meanwhile continued his second year struggle with the squad and will start back in 17th.

Nick Heidfeld did not make the final round of qualifying in his KERS-equipped BMW Sauber and will start the race from tenth position ahead of Kazuki Nakajima in the second Williams Toyota. Nakajima has shown flashes of pace in practice, but is struggling to get the best from the FW31 package when it counts in qualifying.

McLaren Mercedes freely admit that the MP4-24 package is not particularly competitive and it is therefore of little surprise to see Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen fail to make the top ten shoot-out. The 2008 champion will start 12th ahead of the unfortunate Vettel and McLaren team-mate Kovalainen.
Sebastien Bourdais led the way at Toro Rosso Ferrari as he made it into the second round of qualifying and will start 15th ahead of Massa and Piquet. Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil were 18th and 19th for the Mercedes-powered Force India team while rookie Sebastien Buemi lines up 20th and last after going off track in his final run in the Toro Rosso.

Qualifying has provided us with a pretty interesting grid, but the question remains whether anyone can halt the Button-Brawn steamroller.

Source : F1-live.net

Buttons wins for Brawn in Melbourne!

After the excitement and drama of qualifying, the 58-lap Australian Grand Prix lived up to all expectations as Jenson Button recorded his second career victory and the first for the brand new Brawn Mercedes team.

Out of the ashes of the Honda team, Brawn GP stunned its rivals as soon as they took to the tests tracks in Spain for pre-season testing. The form continued into practice and the team aced the front row in qualifying in Melbourne.

Race day saw Button make a perfect start to lead the first lap by five seconds as Rubens Barrichello slipped down the field as his anti-stall device kicked in. As the drama played out in the closing stages, Rubens Barrichello inherited second position to make it a famous Brawn GP one-two result.

While Button was rarely troubled at the front of the field, the battle for second position looked set to go down to the wire a Sebastian Vettel defended his position from the charging Robert Kubica. A small error on his worn option tyres from the Red Bull Renault driver at the first turn saw the German racer lose momentum allowing Kubica’s BMW Sauber alongside heading into turn three.

Vettel, obviously keen to retain the position was not going to give in without a fight but then went in too deep eliminating himself and Kubica within sight of the chequered flag.

This allowed the recovering Barrichello through into second position for a dream Brawn Mercedes result and cost Red Bull Renault at least six valuable championship points.

Following the disappointment post-qualifying yesterday, Jarno Trulli put in a great drive from the pit lane to finish third in his Toyota, while team-mate Glock took the chequered flag in fifth position after a long battle with double world champion Fernando Alonso. While the TF109 has proven rapid all weekend there was sting in the tail for the team for the second straight day…

Following the chequered flag and the podium celebrations, Trulli was found guilt of passing Lewis Hamilton whilst behind the safety car. The Italian veteran was handed a 12 second penalty dropping him from third position to 12th.

Hamilton started the 58-lap race from 18th position following his gearbox issues in qualifying and made great progress on the option tyre in the opening laps. As Ferrari, Vettel and Kubica slipped up the 2008 race winner and defending champion found himself in a sensational fourth position at the flag and then third in the record books.

Above picture taken from f1-live.net

Above picture taken from f1-live.net

Articles and pictures sources are taken from F1-live.net

For full information about the race go to f1-live.net

Picture taken from F1-live.net

Position on Melbourne F1 this sunday!

Picture taken from F1-live.net

It seems like F1 has been suffering the wrong kind of turmoil for the past few years: big and little teams failing; espionage; driver spats; owner-and-FIA spats; record penalties and fines; sex scandals; and regulations being changed like diapers – just to name a few things. The 2009 season has started off in a bit of turmoil as well, with six teams’ car designs protested against.

But all of that has been overshadowed by the right kind of turmoil, which happened during qualifying for the Australian GP. Jensen Button and Rubens Barrichello fought it out for the front row, with Button taking pole position on the last possible lap of qualifying, Vettel in the Red Bull taking third. And Button didn’t just get pole, he slapped a leash on it and took it home: Rubens is three tenths behind, Vettel more than a half second.

And the big boys? Massa and Raikkonen are 6th and 8th for Ferrari, Kovaleinen in 12th and Hamilton at the back of the grid because of a gearbox change, where he’ll join both Toyota cars, which were disqualified for flexing rear wings. When the lights go out at 3 a.m. EST, we could see the beginning of a most thrilling season.

Singapore GP organisers, in association with local newspaper Today, offered fans an opportunity to name three corners of its Marina Bay street circuit. Following its inaugural night race last year, the need to attach names to certain portions of the track arose, hence the contest which was open to participants around the globe.

The three corners in question were Turns 1, 7 and 10. Each proposed name had to respect certain guidelines, such as promoting a local aspect or having an F1-related theme; ease of pronunciation was an important factor as well.

Turn 1, the first corner and scene of crucial moments at any Grand Prix, will be called “Sheares” in relation to the Benjamin Sheares Bridge named after Singapore’s second President and under which the track passes.

Turn 7, which offered much action and several overtaking manoeuvres last year, will now be known as “Memorial” due to its proximity to the imposing monument honouring civilian World War II victims.

Turn 10’s triple apex and cumbersome kerbs, which proved a difficult section to navigate – and caught out Kimi Raikkonen and Giancarlo Fisichella during the 2008 Singaporean round – was awarded a catchy name: “Singapore Sling.

”
While the Sheares and Memorial names for Turns 1 and 7 promote local aspects, in Turn 10’s case the jury opted for something rather descriptive for the Singapore Sling chicane.
“It says more about the turn,” explained Simon Rock, one of the judges, to the Todaynewspaper. “Drivers have to be careful here, but it can serve as a slingshot if they tackle it well.”
Colin Syn, deputy chairman of the Singapore GP and also part of the jury, added that”getting to the eventual winners was a tough task” as the panel of six judges went through 1,400 entries before deciding on the winning trio.

Arthur Lim won the top prize which consists of a trackside hotel room during September’s Singapore Grand Prix, a pair of grandstand tickets and a visit to the pitlane. Runners-up Chan Kwan Yew and Foo Say Boon will also receive tickets and a pitlane tour.

Source: F1-lve.net

Image taken from Renaultf1.com

Image taken from F1-live.net

Sypnopsis

Many mourn the loss of the superb Adelaide street circuit to Formula One, but Melbourne ran its first Formula One race in 1996. With this maiden race, also came the shift of the Australian race from the end to the beginning of the F1 calendar.

The Melbourne track, is contained in a park, the layout smooth and flowing, with no 90 degree street corners to break the speed. It runs clockwise around a lake, and the scenery is breathtaking, the circuit well liked by the drivers.

Damon Hill, still all charged up from his victory in the closing race of the 1995 season, continued where he left off at the inaugural event in 1996 after his new Williams team-mate, Jacques Villeneuve, was forced to slow at the end of the race with engine problems.

1997, Melbourne’s’ second year, Villeneuve looked was firm favourite to win again for Williams, after dominating qualifying by a massive margin. However, he was taken out on the first corner by Eddie Irvine, and so David Coulthard raced on to McLaren’s first win since Adelaide in 1993 and the first with Mercedes power.
The 1998 Grand Prix was dominated by McLaren Mercedes but ended under a cloud. Once again Coulthard looked set to win, after team-mate, Mika Hakkinen, lost time in the pits. Learning of the Finn’s predicament, Coulthard controversially slowed to let Hakkinen regain the lead and thus honouring a gentleman’s agreement the two had made before the race. Fans left bemused.

1999 saw Eddie Irvine take his first ever win for Ferrari while the Italian team were on top again in 2000, this time a one-two with Michael Schumacher claiming his first ever Australian win and then new team-mate Rubens Barrichello.

The 2001 event was marred by the tragic death of a safety marshal after a collision between the BAR of Villeneuve and the Williams of Ralf Schumacher. Michael Schumacher went on to take his second victory in the land down under, making it a hat trick in 2002. Being at the start of the season, the track is well known as a debut for many rookies, and local driver Mark Webber was immortalized when he crossed the line in his debut race in fifth place last year.
Coulthard took what was his final F1 race win in Australia in 2003 while Michael Schumacher was back in control in 2004 leading home team-mate Rubens Barrichello in what would be another dominant season for Ferrari and Michael’s seventh championship success.

Heavy rain fell during qualification for the 2005 event ensuring those that had been fortunate to qualify early on in the 60-minute session would start up front. Starting from Pole Position Giancarlo Fisichella got his career at Renault off to the perfect start as he took the chequered flag ahead of Barrichello who has worked his way up from 11th position on the grid.

Due to the timing of the Commonwealth Games, Melbourne lost its slot of being the first race of the season in 2006 to Bahrain. Still, the race was one with its fare share of drama as pole-sitter Jenson Button’s race ended in a cloud of smoke and flames at the very final turn while second placed Raikkonen recovered from a broken wing in the early stages. Through it all came Fernando Alonso to take victory once again for the Renault team.
The 2007 event returned to its traditional slot at the head of the calendar as Kimi Raikkonen made an impressive debut for Ferrari by taking the victory as team-mate Felipe Massa suffered mechanical problems in qualifying. Lewis Hamilton marked his Formula One debut with a strong race to third position, losing out to new McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso in the second round of pit stops.

The 2008 event saw Lewis Hamilton dominate while the Ferrari team suffered a terrible start to its season with mistake from both Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa ahead of two engine failures. While Hamilton kept his cool through the safety car periods, Nick Heidfeld was a solid second for BMW Sauber while Nico Rosberg secured his first podium position in the Williams Toyota and Sebastien Bourdais points in his debut with Toro Rosso Ferrari. Only eight drivers finished the incident filled race.

Australia F1 GP Winner

For more information go to : F1-live.net

Source:

The French carmaker Renault, who contests the Formula One World Championship with a team based at Enstone, will receive a government cash injection amid the global financial crisis. 

As well as Peugeot-Citroen, Renault is to receive three billion Euros, in exchange for the manufacturers’ pledge to keep factories open and workers in jobs, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced. 

“This is not a gift. It is not a subsidy. It is a loan offered at an interest rate of six percent,”Sarkozy insisted. 

The loans run for a five year period. Shares in both companies were sharply up on the news. 

Source : f1-live.net

According to Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport, Fernando Alonso is the best driver in Formula 1 and would have won the 2008 championship had he been driving a Ferrari. If that sounds like a major slap in the face to current Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, it is. Lewis Hamilton, the man who actually did managed to win last year’s title, was voted as the second best driver.

It seems worth mentioning that this vote came shortly after the recently rumored secret contract between Alonso and the Prancing Horse. Regardless, the Italian rag does correctly point out that Alonso finished the season in an impressive fashion, scoring more points than any other driver in the series despite being handicapped by equipment that wasn’t up to par with the best from Ferrari, McLaren and BMW.

[Source: World Car Fans | Photo: Vladimir Rys/Getty]