F1 Championship 2009

[The Stig]

British GP Circuit Preview

UK 13th June 2009 -Silverstone F1 circuit is where aircrafts of the Royal Air Force used to take off from but for a long time it is know as the ‘Home of British Motor Racing’.
http://vimeo.com/5138177

Steeped in tradition, the circuit offers lots of fast corners and straights, especially around the first sector. Turn 1 after the start-finish line is taken at over 280 with practically no braking and on the following straight the speedo touches almost 300. Take a ride out of the drivers' perspective!

[Rota_boy]

Last race at silverstone this year :(

Go Webber and Braun GP

[yelloS2Rx7]

last "Formula 1" races at lots of circuits it looks now hey........
GO F.O.T.A
screw bernie I reckon!!!!!!!!
i understand the initiative but how can the pinnacle of sport and technology be governed by cost???????

[Luke]

Haha! Next they will have to race with top hats and monocles. Seriously, they need to stop changing the rules every five minutes or they'll run out of things to change!

[gotorx7]

Red Bull F1 Factory Tour 2009

JUNE 2009 - Go behind the scenes to see the design, development and construction of our Formula One cars.


http://vimeo.com/5209216



Red Bull F1s business development manager, Steve Nevey, is your factory tour guide, giving you insight and detailed information on the rarely seen procedures and processes which have helped build the teams success in 2009.

[gotorx7]

Vettel untouchable as Red Bull dominate.

BRITAIN 21st June 2009 - What seemed to be a foregone conclusion after qualifying became one almost the moment Sebastian Vettel launched his Red Bull RB5 into the lead of the British Grand Prix.
http://www.australiancardirectory.com.au/upl_images/A_F1%20Britain_1b.jpg
In a crushingly dominant drive, which underlined the major step forward that the Milton Keynes team have made on high-speed circuits, Vettel pulled away from Rubens Barrichello's Brawn by as much as a second a lap in a series of quick tours, and never looked remotely challenged.

Team mate Mark Webber finally got ahead of Barrichello during the first round of stops and likewise had no trouble staying ahead thereafter. But Vettel was still 15.1s ahead when the chequered flag fell.

The Brazilian held on to take third place, 25.9s adrift, while the race was enlivened in the closing laps as Jenson Button's Brawn began to develop decent tyre temperatures. The world championship leader had run between seventh and ninth places for much of the race but vaulted ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Toyota's Jarno Trulli during the two pit stops, and launched a blistering attack from sixth place on Felipe Massa in the other Ferrari and Williams' Nico Rosberg, who were running fourth and fifth respectively. By the last lap 0.8s separated the Ferrari from the Williams and 0.3s the Williams and the Brawn.

On a day when damage limitation mattered the most, Button lost only three of his 26-point advantage over Barrichello. He now has 64 to the Brazilian's 41, Vettel's 39 and Webber's 35.5s.

Trulli hung on for seventh for Toyota, while Raikkonen fended off the Italian's team mate Timo Glock, but only just. Behind them, Giancarlo Fisichella took a fighting 10th place for Force India ahead of Kazuki Nakajima in the second Williams.

Lewis Hamilton had a terrible race. It was compromised early on as Renault's Fernando Alonso slid off the track ahead of him but obliged him in turn to go off in avoidance as he jerked back on to the tarmac. That left him embroiled in a fight with the Renaults and the BMW Saubers, which saw all of them lapped.

In the end, Nelson Piquet emerged in 12th place, just ahead of BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica and Alonso. Nick Heidfeld in the second BMW Sauber was 15th, some way ahead of Hamilton after he spun his McLaren at Vale on the 43rd lap.

Adrian Sutil and Sebastien Buemi completed the finishers after Sebastien Bourdais misjudged an overtaking move at Abbey on the 34th lap on McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen, and both subsequently retired because of the damaged caused.
Driver Quotes - Podium
SEBASTIAN VETTEL: “This is such a fantastic circuit. I think all the drivers enjoy it with its fast corners, it’s a dream really – so to stay focused and keep your eyes open all the time during the race is not easy! The start was very important, then in the first stint I tried to pull away and make a gap, as I knew it would be crucial for the whole race. The car was fantastic, just unbelievable. I was able to push more and more and the tyres were very consistent. The second stint wasn’t so easy; there were a lot of lapped cars that were battling with each other, so the team told me to be careful. From the last pit stop I was in clean air and from then on I was just counting down each lap. I had quite a big gap to Mark and was controlling the race from that point on. Everyone in the team has been working so hard, both in the factory and at the track. The way the team has brought the car to where it is now is fantastic – and we’ve proven it’s a step in the right direction, so I’m very pleased. I also want to thank Silverstone. I enjoyed this race so much – when I looked in the grandstands everyone was standing up and clapping and when I took the chequered flag the atmosphere was so great. This is what I was dreaming of when I watched British grands prix when I was younger when Mansell was driving. It’s almost unreal now to think that I’m here and I’ve made it. I’ve won this grand prix and I’m very happy.”

MARK WEBBER: “It’s a great day for the team. I’m disappointed not to take the win, but I think I lost my chance for victory yesterday during qualifying. I should have been on the front row and, if so, I would have tried to make Sebastian work a bit harder in the first stint when I was behind Rubens. I saved a lot of fuel in the first stint, which meant we were able to jump Rubens at the first pit stop. I don’t think I could have done much more today and congratulations to Sebastian, he did a good first stint, which is what laid the foundations for his win. And the team? Well, the guys have buried themselves recently with night shifts and the attention to detail that they go to is a credit to them. They’re being led very well and they’re responding to that. Results help and it’s an incredible injection for them to get the top result, a one-two on local turf. I enjoyed it today. Silverstone is an amazing track and it’s incredible to go through that first sector, lap after lap. It’s a great place to drive a Formula One car and the British fans are always fantastic, so it was great today.”
RUBENS BARRICHELLO: I'm really proud of the third place that we achieved at Silverstone today. It's been a tough weekend for the team and we knew that if the track temperatures didn't increase, then it would be incredibly difficult to beat the Red Bulls. The car has been well balanced and we certainly haven't lost performance since the last race, it's just that we have suffered badly in the cool conditions with our tyre temperatures. I had a good start to maintain second but Sebastian then disappeared in front of me and we knew that we were competing for third. There's been very little difference between the two tyre compounds this weekend but the softer tyre was definitely better in the race so it was tough for us to do the long middle stint on the harder tyre. Still to come away with third and the best position that the team could have achieved this weekend is very satisfying and I'm happy to have taken some points out of Jenson's lead."
RACE RESULTS:
Pos|No|Driver|Team|Laps|Time/Retired|Grid|Pts
1|15|Sebastian Vettel|RBR-Renault|60|1:22:49.328|1|10
2|14|Mark Webber|RBR-Renault|60|+15.1 secs|3|8
3|23|Rubens Barrichello|Brawn-Mercedes|60|+41.1 secs|2|6
4|3|Felipe Massa|Ferrari|60|+45.0 secs|11|5
5|16|Nico Rosberg|Williams-Toyota|60|+45.9 secs|7|4
6|22|Jenson Button|Brawn-Mercedes|60|+46.2 secs|6|3
7|9|Jarno Trulli|Toyota|60|+68.3 secs|4|2
8|4|Kimi Räikkönen|Ferrari|60|+69.6 secs|9|1
9|10|Timo Glock|Toyota|60|+69.8 secs|9|
10|21|Giancarlo Fisichella|Force India-Mercedes|60|+71.5 secs|16|
11|17|Kazuki Nakajima|Williams-Toyota|60|+74.0 secs|5|
12|8|Nelsinho Piquet|Renault|59|+1 Lap|14|
13|5|Robert Kubica|BMW Sauber|59|+1 Lap|12|
14|7|Fernando Alonso|Renault|59|+1 Lap|10|
15|6|Nick Heidfeld|BMW Sauber|59|+1 Lap|15|
16|1|Lewis Hamilton|McLaren-Mercedes|59|+1 Lap|18|
17|20|Adrian Sutil|Force India-Mercedes|59|+1 Lap|20|
18|12|Sebastien Buemi|STR-Ferrari|59|+1 Lap|19|
Ret|11|Sebastien Bourdais|STR-Ferrari|37|Accident damage|17|
Ret|2|Heikki Kovalainen|McLaren-Mercedes|36|Retired|13

[gotorx7]

I found this on a Ferrari Chat Website...

Very interesting read regarding Max, Bernie, CVC Partners, FOTA, RBS, British Tax Payers and the FiA

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=247749 (http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=247749)

F1 explained (long thread!)
Here we go......

FIA vs FOTA melt-down
Special report and insight page
Apologies for this Formula 1 specific newsletter, but the biggest bombshell to hit the sport in over sixty years probably deserves a little focus and analysis. I also apologise for its length, but there's so much that does not get into the mainstream press (MSP) but which puts everything into context.

I know I'm going out on a bit of a limb here, but I hope if you spend five minutes reading this you'll then understand why FOTA have done what they have done and why their way is the only way forward for the sport and how much better it will be as a result. However, if you're short of time, just scroll down the page a little to the bullet points. They should pull you up sharper than a triple double-shot expresso!

Of course, to put the crisis instantly to bed all it needs is for Max to announce he is not seeking another term of office come the November FIA elections. But I am not betting this will happen. Rumours suggest a vote will be called for Max's head at the World Motor Sport Council next Wednesday, but a call for a vote is far from certain, let alone the result.

Oh, and the other thing that needs to happen is that CVC Capital Partners fire Bernie and relinquish all control over the commercial rights to the sport, thus removing the $2.8bn debt millstone from Formula 1 and freeing up 50% of the sport's $1bn revenue - $500m - that currently goes out of the sport forever in debt repayment, so that instead it can be used to better the sport (such as young driver scholarships, circuit improvements, cheaper seats, etc, etc. There's quite a bit you can do with $500m...).

Yeah, right! In your dreams. But until then we're stuck with Max and Bernie...

In response to FOTA's breakaway series, Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, says it will begin legal proceedings against FOTA over its plans to set up a rival world championship next year.

The FIA statement included, "The actions of FOTA as a whole, and Ferrari in particular, amount to serious violations of law including willful interference with contractual relations, direct breaches of Ferrari's legal obligations, and a grave violation of competition law."

Note that the emotive hyperbolic adjectives in red are obviously penned by Max, typical of his provocative and confrontational style. As to a "violation of competition law", most people would surely interpret FOTA's actions as seeking to increase competition and choice.

Funny, a couple of days ago he said the FOTA teams were welcome to leave. Now that they've taken Max up on his offer he's decided that they can't leave, but he won't negotiate with them to participate, he'll use force.

Max had targeted fielding 13 teams in the FIA F1GP series next season to supplement the ten existing teams on the grid. They received 15 applications from brand new teams, vetted 12 of them, interviewed representatives of nine and a week ago chose three: Campos, Manor and Team USF1, to front with the then existing ten teams.

However, Friday's FOTA news that the 'FOTA 8' would not be on the grid next year meant the FIA F1GP grid was now down to a total of just five teams, causing the FIA to announce that, "Preparations for the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship continue but publication of the final 2010 entry list will be put on hold while the FIA asserts its legal rights."

Clearly, delaying the publication of the entry list is an FIA ploy that gives the parties time for more manoeuvring as they search for a compromise over the issue. It's also a huge climb-down for Max.

But wait! There's more! Not content with the stirring he'd done so far, Max then went on to say that "Bernie, as the commercial rights holder, will sue [the FOTA teams] too. There is a quite a lot of money at stake for us but for Bernie it is a massive amount of money. The teams will all owe him money."

Max claimed every team in the FOTA group has been paid commercial revenues for the coming seasons in advance (something the FOTA teams would dispute), so Bernie would be asking for it back.

Interestingly, not a word about this has been heard from Bernie himself...

Interestingly, less than 24 hours after the FOTA bombshell was dropped, the FIA's F1GP circus is already beginning to unravel, with:

* Lola and N.Technology have now withdrawn their FIA applications and together with Prodrive (Aston Martin) they have already been talking with FOTA. If agreement was reached, this would mean at least 11-12 teams on the FOTA grid;
* At least three TV broadcasters are talking with lawyers about being stranded with expensive rights to an F1GP series that is devoid of the star names next year, with Italy's Sky Italia apparently having a 'no Ferrari -- no contract' get out clause;
* Nico Rosberg, who is out of contract at the end of 2009 and openly looking for a new seat, has suggested he'll not be driving a Williams next year, "I believe the FOTA championship would be more attractive than the Formula One championship if all the big teams and drivers are there";
* Monaco is understood not to be contractually committed to the FIA F1GP series, so is free to do what it wants. Prince Albert of Monaco strongly hinted in a BBC interview that he could not envisage his race without Ferrari, so Monaco is likely to host a round of the FOTA series, leaving the FIA without the jewel in the crown.
* Donington Park boss Simon Gillet has said cancelling its contract to host the next 17 British F1GPs from next summer if the major teams break away is on the cards. Gillett said the situation is already causing "a little bit of a slowdown" in the search for investment and suggested that the contract with Bernie would allow him to pull the plug if the major teams are missing. So will be at Silverstone again next year after all?
* FOTA will begin formal preparations for its new championship as early as next week, after Ross Brawn made it clear the teams were focusing flat out on their breakaway series rather than finding a compromise deal with the FIA. When asked if he believed that a compromise would be put together that resulted in teams signings up to F1, Brawn said: "No that won't happen, I mean the decision has been made by FOTA. FOTA now has to press ahead with its ideas and plans. We can't wait until January and decide which way it is going to go. As each day passes, and each week passes then the options for reconciliation will reduce."
* And there's speculation that the FOTA series will return to Adelaide, causing concern that the breakaway Formula 1 series could threaten the Melbourne Grand Prix <http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25662116-11088,00.html> which is already on shaky finances, having lost A$35m last year. In Adelaide's last year in 1995, it achieved the biggest crowd in Formula 1 history, with a four-day attendance of 520,000 people and a race day crowd of 210,000 (vs Melbourne's 2009 numbers of 286,900 and 105,000 respectively (but still three times more than Istanbul's 36,000)). But then Bernie could not have been too bothered when he said, "Our costs are very high in Australia and we get a lot less money. It's bloody bad for us. We've got quite a few places on the list which would like to have Formula One and as it seems your guy (John Brumby) down there doesn't want Formula One. We can make him happy."
* Force India is leaving open the door to the FOTA alliance, despite signing up unconditionally to the FIA series. They initially submitted a conditional entry together with the other FOTA members, but their bank was not happy about the cash-flow implications of this, so it was reluctantly changed to unconditional at the last minute. It's not clear whether contractually they are now tied to the FIA series or not (latest indications are that they are not, so they could join FOTA);

Very quickly it is becoming apparent that just the very real threat of a viable FOTA series could cause the FIA's F1GP 'cost-cap' series to implode before it has even started.

Roll on Mad Max and Formula Cosworth...




Okay, lets turn this farce on its head
The real story behind the Formula 1 crisis There are so many stories behind the headlines that the mainstream press do not go near, so I'll start:

The British taxpayer will end up owning Formula 1

Strange but true. Bear with me on this, for the finances of Formula 1 are complicated, to say the least. To understand how we got to where we are today, we need to rewind the tape to 1978.

Bernie became chief executive of the Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA) in 1978 with Max as his legal advisor (kinda ironic, don't you think, that both were the other side of the fence then?). Together, they negotiated a series of legal issues with the FIA and the then President, Jean-Marie Balestre, culminating in Bernie's famous coup, his securing the right for FOCA to negotiate television contracts for the Grands Prix. For this purpose Bernie established Formula One Promotions and Administration, giving 47% of television revenues to teams, 30% to the FIA, and 23% to FOPA (i.e. Bernie's own pocket); in return, FOPA put up the prize money - grand prix could literally be translated from French to "big prize".


Television rights shuffled between Bernie's companies, teams, and the FIA in the late 1990s, but Bernie emerged on top again in 1997 when he negotiated the present Concorde Agreement: in exchange for annual payments, he maintains the TV rights. The contract with the various teams expired on the last day of 2007, and the contract with the FIA will expire on the last day of 2012.

However, in 1996 Bernie transferred his ownership of Formula One businesses to his wife, Slavica Ecclestone, in preparation for a 1997 flotation of the group. Over the next year chunks of the business were sold to various private equity groups which ended up with a German mob called Speed Investments (aka EM.TV) owning 50% of Formula 1 for 1.1 bn pounds.

But EM.TV stupidly way over-reached itself and, struggling with its debts in 2000, the share price dropped 90%. In February another German company, the Kirch Group, agreed to rescue EM.TV in return for a stake in the company and control of Speed Investments (Formula 1 bust #1).

Bizarrely, the two companies bought a further 25% of Bernie's F1 company for 600 m pounds in late-March 2001, raising Speed Investments' share of F1 ownership to 75%. If you are counting, the German Muppets have now spent 1.6 bn Euro for 75%, thus valuing Formula 1 at about 2.4 bn Euro. That's quite a bit of dosh for 17 2-hour races. This means that before a car has turned a single wheel, Speed Investments need to find roughly 160m Euro a year just to pay the interest. And remember, they have to pay off 1.6 bn Euro in capital as well in the ten remaining years to 2012 - that's a further 160 m Euro a year. So, 320 m Euro/yr goes out the door every year before anyone actually putting on the show (like the teams) has been paid a cent.

Well, it was not long before the inevitable happened: Kirch's creditors put the company into receivership in 2002 (Formula 1 bust #2).

It was about this time we began to hear a familiar theme: the major motor manufacturers who participated in Formula One at the time; BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Fiat, Ford, and Renault formed GPWC Holding BV to secure better representation of the manufacturers in F1, improved financial conditions for the teams, stability for the championship, and maintenance of free-to-air television coverage. (Where have you heard the bit in italics before?)

Ironically, Formula 1 was now owned by the banks who had leant the money in the first place: Bayerische Landesbank, JPMorgan Chase and Lehman Brothers (who went bust on 14 September, 2008)

On 25 November 2005 CVC Capital Partners (a private equity firm that also own bookmaker William Hill and Debenhams department store chain) announced it was to purchase both the bulk of the assets reposed by the three banks as well as Bernie's shares in the Formula One Group, giving them about a 70% ownership share of Formula 1, although the deal was not sanctioned by the courts until March 2006. Bernie was retained by CVC as chief executive of the company that now administers the sport's commercial rights on CVC's behalf.

To finance its F1 acquisition, CVC borrowed money, initially $1.1bn from The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), but a refinancing deal a year later increased the debt to $2.8bn, repayable by 2014.

Now with massive debt to pay, CVC needed Bernie to go out there and make some serious money. New venues with state funding willing to pay top rate for a Grand Prix were given the nod by Bernie as the series began its drift away from its traditional heartlands of Europe and North America, to new venues in the Far East, even though grandstands are either more than half-empty, covered under canvas or supplemented by off-duty soldiers in civilian clothing.

The ultimate UK holding company of CVC's F1's interests is an entity called Delta 3, which in 2007 collected a total income of $938m from Formula 1, partly from hosting fees the circuits pay to run a F1 race, which range from $3.75m for Italy to $37.75m for Malaysia (but also believed to automatically increase by 10% every year), which bring in a total of $329m, with a further $380m from media rights. Add in corporate hospitality, which makes $140m annually, and trackside advertising, and you get your $938m.

On the expenses side of the balance sheet in 2007, the F1 group's biggest single overhead is payment to the teams a 50% share of profits after the expenses of running F1 have been deducted, making them "equal participants in the success and failure of the series", said Nick Clarry, CVC's UK managing director in November 2008. Crucially, he added: "In a worst case the impact on the bottom line is lessened by a reduction of our largest cost item." Therein lies the clue that drives the current debacle.

However, and this is the crux of the problem for CVC, is that Delta 3, having doled out $469m to the teams, was left with a similar amount to pay its operating costs and manage the huge loan. In fact, it paid off just $95m of the loan principal and made $260m in interest payments.

(It appears however that it is unclear whether anything like this sum of $469m has in fact been paid to the teams. On 18 March, 2009, FOTA representatives met with Bernie to sort out their claim to have been left out of pocket to the tune of tens of millions of dollars each in unpaid fees relating "to agreed sums owing from the 2006, 2007 and 2008 championship years". Bernie insisted that none of his companies "owes any amount of money to any team. Each of these teams has been paid its full prize fund entitlement to date.")

But the frightening thing is that whilst interest rates are relatively low now, the Obama/Brown solution of printing money to spend our way out of the recssion can only mean we're going to pay for it later with higher inflation and the inevitable consequences of that: higher interest rates. Despite base rates currently being at an all time low, CVC is already paying interest at a rate of over 10% because it is using 'payments in kind' loans that allow interest and capital repayment to be delayed, as it already can't afford to make a 'normal' repayment schedule!. Imagine what rate CVC will have to pay when the effects of the Obama/Brown monetary policy come home to roost!

When, 12-18 months ago, the teams started demanding an 80% share of all underlying profits, this set alarm bells ringing at CVC: This would mean an additional $300m annually from CVC. Were this to happen, CVC would have just $200m to cover operating expenses, service the debt and pay off the huge loan. Clearly if the teams were to get their way, CVC would not be able to even make its current loan interest payments.

And with many tracks walking away from Bernie's +10% annual fee escalator (e.g., Indianapolis, Montreal, Hockenheim, Imola), revenue for 2009 may decline over 2008 after surging 42% between 2003 and 2006. Although Abu Dhabi will pay about $45m to host the season-ending race in November, the injection of government money won't continue. CVC are clearly heading for serious trouble.

Add into this mix the collapse of F1 corporate hospitality this year as requests for hotel bookings fell 80% compared with last year for a race in Barcelona and by 50% for the Monaco Grand Prix. Executives don't want to be seen living it up in Monaco while they fire staff back home.

A default on debt covenants would put F1's commercial rights in the hands of the institution that leant the money in the first place, RBS. This a bank that went bust in the 2008/09 financial meltdown, forcing the British government to take a 70% shareholding in it on 19 January, 2009, effectively nationalising it. This would be extremely ironic, given that the British government refuses to invest in even the British Grand Prix.

The fear of this happening is what started Bernie, as F1 point man for CVC, down the road of cost-cutting. It wasn't Max's idea at all. If the teams were to lower their operating costs, Bernie reasoned they wouldn't have any grounds to argue for 80% of a $938m pie; their current 50% split of the underlying profits between ten teams would give each team, on average, $47m or 34m Euro, a team budget figure suspiciously close to Max's budget cap...

All it required was for Bernie to sow the seed of a budget cap idea with his mate Max, and CVC's debt repayment problems would be solved. Cleverly, in a typical diversionary tactic, Max shifted the goal posts and repeatedly keeps banging on and on about how the current recession means that the manufacturers must be told how much they will be able to spend, lest they go belly up. He makes no reference to the truth that it is in fact the sport (i.e., CVC) that will go bust without his budget cap, not the teams. Such arrogance and deception is typical of Max.

However, now that FOTA has said it'll set up an alternative championship (and one that does not come with $2.8bn of debt), CVC's ability to make its annual debt payments would be nonexistent if 80% of F1's established participants deserted it, as one would expect to see a commensurate fall in track fees, media rights, hospitality and advertising.

Williams' CEO Adam Parr has admitted it is "going to be very difficult to raise sponsorship revenues" in a 2010 FIA F1GP without the pull of the FOTA teams. He insisted that Williams did not regret sticking with the FIA series, because of the money it gets from Bernie and CVC. Obviously he has not yet worked out that this money source is the first to dry up when revenues get tight for CVC, as they will do.

Of course, ultimately, the FIA's big mistake was allowing the sale of the commercial rights to a heavily leveraged third party in the first place. They had a right of veto over the onward sale of the rights to CVC Capital Partners and they could have used it, arguing that sale to a company which had to become so heavily indebted to buy the rights was bad for the sport. As indeed it has proven to be...

If this was the Premier League football (soccer), the 20 club chairmen would have strung Bernie up by his size five bootstraps by now. Every year the Premier League generates around 900m pounds in television money, not much different to the total income for Formula 1, and it all goes to the footy teams - aside from a massive amount that goes into charity and grass roots development.

In contrast, the Formula 1 teams - the people who design the cars, invest the cash and put the drivers on the circuit - get half the cash, while CVC, a privately-owned company of professional money-makers, get the rest. Meanwhile, there is no investment in the grass roots or in the infrastructure of motor racing or the circuits. Bernie and CVC simply sit there and take the loot.

And now the teams are fed up because they have finally woken up to the fact that, as well as not getting the money, they also have no say in the running of the sport. No wonder they want to go their own way.

Even if FOTA backs off and accepts the demads of Max and Bernie, the Max & Bernie business model is not only unsustainable, it is also fundamentally bad for the sport.

As things stand now, if FOTA's alternative series goes ahead, CVC is dead in the water, with the British taxpayer looking to pick up the pieces, all $2.8bn of it (Formula 1 bust #3).

Now I understand!!!!

[yelloS2Rx7]

Dave YOU ROCK!!!!!!
cheers for getting everything goin again too!!!!!!!

[gotorx7]

Dave YOU ROCK!!!!!!
cheers for getting everything goin again too!!!!!!!

You're welcome :)

Is that Corey?

[FLEX]

Is that Corey?sure is:smiley1:

[Luke]

Well it all makes sense now. Looks like they will need top hats after all..

Although Max has announced his retirement..... again.... :p
Lets hope it resolves something. Id hate to see the F1 go under. Especially since its become more competitive as of late.

[gotorx7]

Finally a peace deal in Formula 1

24th June 2009 - The World Motor Sport Council met in Paris on 24 June 2009. The following decisions were taken:

FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

All currently competing teams have committed to the FIA Formula One World Championship.

There will be no alternative series or championship and the rules for 2010 onwards will be the 2009 regulations as well as further regulations agreed prior to 29 April 2009.

As part of this agreement, the teams will, within two years, reduce the costs of competing in the championship to the level of the early 1990s. The manufacturer teams have agreed to assist the new entries for 2010 by providing technical assistance.

The manufacturer teams have further agreed to the permanent and continuing role of the FIA as the sport’s governing body. They have also committed to the commercial arrangements for the FIA Formula One World Championship until 2012 and have agreed to renegotiate and extend this contract before the end of that period.

All teams will adhere to an upgraded version of the governance provisions of the 1998 Concorde Agreement.

The following teams have been accepted for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.

TEAMS:

SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO
VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES
BMW SAUBER F1 TEAM
RENAULT F1 TEAM
PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING
SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO
RED BULL RACING
AT&T WILLIAMS
FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM
BRAWN GP FORMULA ONE TEAM
CAMPOS META TEAM
MANOR GRAND PRIX
TEAM US F1CONSTRUCTOR
In view of this new agreement and with the prospect of a stable future for Formula One, FIA President Max Mosley has confirmed his decision not to stand for re-election in October this year.

[gotorx7]

What does Mark Webber do on his weekend off?

UK 5th July 2009 - What does Mark Webber do on his weekend off? Go racing.


http://vimeo.com/5503491



But it was two wheels rather than four, and he was very much spectator and fan rather than competitor when he visited the British World Superbike round on Sunday, 28 June.
At Donington which may or may not be an F1 circuit in 2010 Mark met up with Jonathan Rea of Hanspree Honda and Tom Sykes of Yamaha who were competing in the World Superbike series, as well as Hondas Supersport sensation from Turkey Kenan Sofuoglu.

[gotorx7]

Nurburgring GP Circuit Preview

http://vimeo.com/5454407

GERMANY July 2009 - Way out west, lies Germanys most infamous circuit - The Nurburgring!
The Nurburgring! Modernized and 5.1 kilometers long a place of pilgrimage for generations of motor-racing fans. Right from the start, the drivers go on the attack as overtaking chances are otherwise thin on the ground.
Its down from almost three hundred to ninety kilometers an hour through the Castrol S. Take a ride out of the drivers' perspective!

[yelloS2Rx7]

GO WEBBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!
he just has such bad luck tho..
whats the bet he wont make it off the start line,
like when he was on the front row in Malaysia in the Jaguar.....ouch
or a cyclone will blow him from the track or something simmilar
the old track was 17 miles long and being in the Eifel mountains
often racers had to contend with all 4 seasons of weather,
the rain is very unpredictable at nurburgring.......
but its the first time an Australian has been on pole in F1 since Alan Jones in 1980's
so all fingers and toes are crossed for him to take the honours at the chequered flag too
GOOD LUCK MARK WEBBER!!!!!!!!!!! I'll be cheering for ya!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[yelloS2Rx7]

Congratulations to Mark Webber on his first win in F1
after being swamped at the start line, by Ferrari and Mclaren using KERS
Webber hung the elbows out and toughed barichello drawing a drive thru penalty
so even with the drive thru, all the luck went his way for once!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
scoring a resounding win at the Nurburgring
WELL DONE WEBBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hes aussie
named after a barby and a carby.....
doesnt get any better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kotter31]

i tried to watch it but fell asleep with about 25 laps left
thank god for 1 hd now i can see the end tomorrow night while i eat my dinner

[Rota_boy]

Was a great race for Webber

No stopping him winning :)

[gotorx7]

Webber romps to victory in Germany

GERMANY 12th July 2009 - "Mark Webber you are a Grand Prix winner. Well done! Brilliant drive!" Those words, from Red Bull's engineers, told you all you needed to know about Sunday's German Grand Prix.
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No matter what they threw at the Australian, including a drive-through penalty for a brush off the startline with Brawn's Rubens Barrichello, Webber came through and delivered in devastating style.

After that brush he shadowed Barrichello as they stormed away while fast-starting Heikki Kovalainen in the McLaren held up Brawn's Jenson Button, Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel. And even with his penalty stop on Lap 14, when Barrichello refuelled, Webber kept the lead.

His second stop, five laps later, dropped him down to eighth, but he was back in the lead by Lap 33 when all of the main first pit stops had been made, and he controlled it easily from there. Barrichello lost time in his second stop with a refuelling rig problem, and later, like Button, struggled to warm his tyres. Both were on three-stop strategies, which dropped them from second and third places with 10 laps left.

Thus it was Sebastian Vettel who came through to grab second, in Red Bull's third one-two of the season, after a weekend in which his team mate completely eclipsed him. Massa was strong all day for Ferrari and took third ahead of Nico Rosberg, who drove superbly early on with a high fuel load and thoroughly deserved fourth for Williams.

The Brawns switched places in their final stops, as Button made his a lap later, and they finished fifth and sixth, hounded to the finish by Fernando Alonso's Renault, which set fastest lap. Behind them, Kovalainen clung on for the final point for McLaren, with Toyota's Timo Glock, BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella and Williams' Kazuki Nakajima in his wheeltracks.

It was, after all, a terrible day for Force India's Adrian Sutil, who ran as high as second before his first refuelling stop, but then lost it all through a clash with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen as he exited the pits. He needed another stop for a new front wing and finished a tearful 15th, behind Renault's Nelson Piquet and BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica. Stewards looked into the Raikkonen incident, but decided no action was necessary.

Toyota's Jarno Trulli was delayed after a brush in traffic on the opening lap and finished 17th, behind Sebastien Buemi in the sole Toro Rosso to finish. And right at the back, the only lapped runner was McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. The world champion made a brilliant start, led fractionally on the outside at Turn One, but then got his right-rear tyre clipped by Webber and had to pit at the end of the lap with a puncture. That was all she wrote.

The day, however, belonged to Webber as Advance Australia Fair played at the end of a Grand Prix for the first time since Alan Jones won in Las Vegas back in 1981. It was superb victory in the most trying circumstances, and Webber thoroughly deserved his maiden success.

Button still leads the championship, with 68 points, but now Vettel is second with 47, Webber third with 45.5 and Barrichello drops to fourth on 44.
Driver Quotes - Podium
MARK WEBBER: “It’s an incredible day. I wanted to win so badly after Silverstone, as I thought I had a good chance there, then after yesterday’s pole I knew I was in a good position to try and win the race today. The only thing that I thought was going to test me was the rain, but even that held off. It was testing to get the victory today, I lost Rubens completely at the start; I thought he was gone a little bit to the left so I went to the right and banged into him. That’s not normally my style and I got a drive-through penalty for that, so had to recover. My engineer kept me calm and I pushed as hard as I could when I needed to, so it’s a great day. It was a difficult winter, Sebastian showed in winter testing what the car could do, so that kept my motivation very high when I was hurting a lot with all the rehab. I had great people around me to recover from all the injuries I had and the team have been incredibly patient with me as well. I want to thank Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull and everyone at Red Bull Racing for what they did for me over the winter, everyone in Australia who has supported me on the way through my career – and there are a few people that doubted me too, so hello to them as well. It’s just an incredible day for all the people who have helped me get to where I am today.”

SEBASTIAN VETTEL: “Congratulations to Mark, he was unbeatable today – he was quicker than all of us, so he totally deserved to win. I’m very happy with the result and in the end it was a good recovery. It was quite a bad start and I had all the KERS cars around me – I got passed by both the McLarens and even Felipe (Massa). It was quite difficult to start fourth and go into the first corner in eighth or something. I then struggled a lot with the soft tyre in the first stint and was in a lot of traffic. I could have gone quicker, but there was no way to pass Felipe, as he always used the special button when I was quite close. Therefore I was lucky to have the right strategy, as that pulled us back to second position but Felipe didn’t stop pushing, so it was hard until the end of the race. We had to fight, but it’s another one-two finish for the team and I’m happy. I’d be lying if I said I’m very pleased with second, as of course I wanted to win, but yesterday Mark did a better job and that’s why today he totally deserves the win – it’s a good fight between us, so I’m looking forward to the next races.”
Felipe Massa: “It’s been such a long time since I made it to the podium! I really wanted it after a very difficult first half of the season. Little bit little, we are improving and we will do all we can to get back to winning ways this season: I want to start hearing the Italian and Brazilian national anthems as soon as possible! A great start and the strategy were the keys to this result. In the first fifteen laps I was struggling to keep Vettel behind me, but than I think he too was also struggling a bit with the tyres. Maybe I could have managed to get one place higher, if we had brought the pit stop forward a bit, because I too was struggling with my tyres, but it's easy to say these things with hindsight. Before the race however, I didn’t think I’d end up on the podium as a place in the top five already seemed a lot to ask. But then we saw that cars that in theory are quicker than us ended up behind us and so we realized we had a good chance. We have to continue in this direction.”
Race Results:
Pos|No|Driver|Team|Laps|Time/Retired|Grid|Pts
1|14|Mark Webber|RBR-Renault|60|1:36:43.310|1|10
2|15|Sebastian Vettel|RBR-Renault|60|+9.2 secs|4|8
3|3|Felipe Massa|Ferrari|60|+15.9 secs|8|6
4|16|Nico Rosberg|Williams-Toyota|60|+21.0 secs|15|5
5|22|Jenson Button|Brawn-Mercedes|60|+23.6 secs|3|4
6|23|Rubens Barrichello|Brawn-Mercedes|60|+24.4 secs|2|3
7|7|Fernando Alonso|Renault|60|+24.8 secs|12|2
8|2|Heikki Kovalainen|McLaren-Mercedes|60|+58.6 secs|6|1
9|10|Timo Glock|Toyota|60|+61.4 secs|20
10|6|Nick Heidfeld|BMW Sauber|60|+61.9 secs|11
11|21|Giancarlo Fisichella|Force India-Mercedes|60|+62.3 secs|18
12|17|Kazuki Nakajima|Williams-Toyota|60|+62.8 secs |13
13|8|Nelsinho Piquet|Renault|60|+68.3 secs|10
14|5|Robert Kubica|BMW Sauber|60|+69.5 secs|16
15|20|Adrian Sutil|Force India-Mercedes|60|+71.9 secs|7
16|12|Sebastien Buemi|STR-Ferrari|60|+90.2 secs|17
17|9|Jarno Trulli|Toyota|60|+90.9 secs|14
18|1|Lewis Hamilton|McLaren-Mercedes|59|+1 Lap|5
Ret|4|Kimi Räikkönen|Ferrari|34|Radiator damage|9
Ret|11|Sebastien Bourdais|STR-Ferrari|18|Hydraulics|19

[gotorx7]

Interview with Mark Webber

UK 15th July 2009 - It has taken many more years than expected but Mark Webber is now a Grand Prix winner. Last Sunday Mark finally got the "monkey off his back" by thrashing his opposition in the German GP. Mark Webber reflects on the historic win............
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Interview:
Q: Two days on, are you still basking in the glow of what you’ve done?

MW: Absolutely. It was a very special day. Personally, for me it was very nice but the fact that the team also got another one-two seems to have got ignored, but that was also very important. We’ve made the most out of the last couple of races, in which we couldn’t have done better. I’d had two second places, so I knew the momentum was with me and now I’ve got the win. It’s just great to finally get the victory.

Q: On Saturday night, after taking pole you said, “now we’ll try and get this monkey off my back.” Is the sense of relief almost bigger than the sense of achievement?

MW: That’s probably true. I’ve done a lot of races and for a huge majority of them, I didn’t have a chance of winning because the car wasn’t up to it and also, they featured a guy called Michael Schumacher and he tended to do a bit of damage himself. In that era, you needed to be in a Ferrari or a McLaren. Now, in this new era of F1, there are other teams in the mix and I am very happy that the situation with Red Bull Racing means we are in a position to challenge for podiums and wins at every grand prix, as long as we get things right.

Q: You had almost 100 well wishing texts prior to the race. Did that give you extra pressure?

MW: I had around 80 or 90 after qualifying and maybe 160 after the race. I didn’t know so many people had my bloody number! But, to be honest, I was pretty relaxed going into the race. I was keen for it to be dry, because that would mean fewer decisions to be made. I felt we probably had the Brawns covered and that my real opposition was going to be Sebastian maybe at some point in the race. Then the race exploded pretty quickly with drivers like Heikki (Kovalainen) in the mix and my drive-through penalty. But after around lap 40, I knew I just had to stay on it and bring the car home.

Q: Some drivers, Mansell and Hakkinen for example, took a long time to get win number one, but after that they were unstoppable. Allowing for the fact they obviously had competitive cars, do you feel it’s unlocked a door and winning could get easier now?

MW: I’ve now crossed the uncharted waters of pole position and a victory, so that can only help. It can’t be a hindrance, that’s for sure. To lead and not be the chaser was a first for me. I hope that the momentum can continue, even if there is no doubt there will be some tough races in the future. But getting this first win means that when it’s close, the races might seem more straightforward for me.

Q: You flew back Sunday. Were there any celebrations?

MW: I think I made a bit of a schoolboy error. We got back to the UK late on Sunday night and the downside was that Australia was just waking up, so having dealt with all the press here in Europe, I then had to deal with my home continent. I was flat out from nine in the evening ‘til two in the morning, as so many people were getting in touch to congratulate me. I couldn’t bring myself to switch my phone off, so there wasn’t much sleep, that’s for sure.

Q: You attended the Red Bull Racing factory debrief on Monday. What sort of reception did you get?

MW: It was incredible. As an intro for me, they played the recording of my car-to-pit radio as I crossed the line. I didn’t realise how long I was shouting for! The response was incredible. There are still a lot of people at the factory whom I worked with back in my Jaguar days there and we have been through a lot together. There are also a lot of new people, who haven’t been in Formula One for that long and they are at the start of an incredible journey. As a team, as a group of people working together, including those at Renault, everything that Dietrich (Mateschitz) has done, and Adrian (Newey) with his group and Christian (Horner), we have finally unlocked the door to success. The past few years have certainly been tough, but now we have clearly made the most of the new regulations and shown we are a team that can fight at the front. We know we can expect some fights this season with other teams coming through, but that’s what this sport is about and we’re ready for it.

Q: Then on Monday night, you went to a dinner with the Aussie test cricket team. What happened there?

MW: Ricky Ponting had a Foundation Dinner for his charity, which was a great event. He was kind enough to give me and Ann a fantastic table, so it was a wonderful night to be there with my cricketing heroes. There were over a thousand people and they made a bit of a deal about me being there which was nice. The reception from the English people at the event was equal to that from the Australians, which made me feel good too.

Q: There’s been a huge reaction from Australia. The whole country is really sports mad isn’t it?

MW: Yes, it takes a bit to get on the front pages of the papers there, but I am on them and that’s a great feeling too. It’s good for Red Bull and it’s true that, in Australia, if one of their sportsmen or women achieves something on the world stage, it is recognised.

Q: There was a lot of talk last weekend about Sir Jack Brabham, did you hear from him after the race?

MW: Yes, I got an email from him and his son, David, which was great. The Brabham family has always been fantastic towards me. I remember fifteen years ago, Jack telling me that he had always found it great to come over and beat those Europeans, even if he didn’t put it quite as diplomatically as that! Certainly, a small part of my victory is down to Jack, because my father was a great admirer of his and probably I wouldn’t have been racing cars without Jack lighting that little fire in the Webber family.

Q: You sounded almost in tears on the slowing down lap. Can you remember what thoughts went through your mind as you drove back to parc ferme?

MW: There were two main thoughts: I wanted to see my team. It’s always the first thing you want to do. The “in” lap is okay, but really you’re busting to get back and see the guys. The other thing was that I wanted to hear my Australian National Anthem.

Q: Before the race you said that if you were leading, it would seem like the longest race ever. Did it, or was there so much going on what with the collisions, penalty etc?

MW: It was pretty normal really and no, it didn’t drag much. Or maybe just a little bit through laps 40 to 47, when it got dark and I thought ‘shit, it’s going to rain’. I wanted to fast-forward a bit at that point as I didn’t want us to have to take any more decisions. The last ten laps didn’t take that long. It was good actually and I was surprised at how relaxed I felt, controlling the race to the flag.

Q: There’s only 1.5 points between you and your team-mate. How do you think the two of you are going to deal with this?

MW: The good thing is that it’s incredibly straightforward. All we drivers and the team have to do is turn up and try to do the best job we can. We know how important Saturday’s qualifying is and maybe one day that part of the weekend might not go as smoothly as planned for either myself or Sebastian. Plus there are other rivals mixed into that, so it’s not just a straight fight between the two of us. Sebastian and I might come across each other quite a bit in the races and that will be reflected in the points tally. It will continue to see-saw either way until one of us has a blip in performance. It’s unrealistic to expect us to have one-two finishes through to the end of the year and there will be interesting grands prix to come. For the team, it’s an incredible position to have both its drivers on virtually equal points, which bodes very well for the Constructors’ Championship. Jenson (Button) is our big hurdle in the Drivers’, as he is two grands prix in the lead in terms of points.

Q: After the race, your Dad said, “This is the greatest day of my life” and then corrected himself and added “at least equal with a couple of others.” He’s not exactly Mr. Pushy Dad thank goodness, but how would you sum up how he’s helped you in life and in your career?

MW: He’s been incredible, particularly in the early days, because when you are very young, in your early teens, you can’t make all the big decisions for yourself and you need support. Dad was always very much a single-seater man and, as he said, “I wouldn’t like you to race taxis and I think the best racing car drivers in the world are in single-seaters,” so that was always the path we followed. I think back to how incredibly balanced he was with me, when I was out of the car, in terms of the total lack of pressure he put on me to go and do my best. He never had any problems with the guys I was racing, like some of the other bloody fathers can do. He doesn’t get heavily involved and that’s always been his style. Of course he’s proud, but he’s always let me get on with it and it was good to have him there for that special day.

[yelloS2Rx7]

thanx Dave!!!!!!!!!!!!
I heard Mark Webber scream "you fucking beauty" amongst the woooo hooooos
just after crossing the line, Classic OZ!!!

[gotorx7]

Lewis Hamilton takes first win for 2009

HUNGARY 26th July 2009 -Lewis Hamilton brought McLaren their first victory of the season after a surprise result in Hungary on Sunday afternoon, his dominant success also marking Martin Whitmarsh’s first as team principal and the first for a KERS-equipped car.
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Kimi Raikkonen was second for Ferrari, containing a challenge from Mark Webber’s Red Bull.

Hamilton’s hopes of snatching P1 at the start were thwarted as lightweight Fernando Alonso blasted off the line from pole and quickly opened a lead in his Renault, and Mark Webber slotted his Red Bull back inside the McLaren in Turn One to regain second.

Hamilton stayed close to Webber, however, and slipped ahead around the outside of Turn Two on the fourth lap. After the first round of pits stops he really got the hammer down to build a seven-second lead over similarly fast-starting Raikkonen, the pair benefiting from their KERS systems.

The Finn was put under investigation for first corner brushes with Hamilton and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, but was cleared by the race stewards and secured a strong second place ahead of Webber. Raikkonen overtook Webber in their first stops on the 19th lap after what the Australian described as a moment of confusion as his car was refuelled. Red Bull were later reprimanded for releasing the Australian unsafely, which almost led to a collision with the Ferrari.

It was a bad day for the other title contenders. Vettel went from second to seventh by the end of the first lap, lost time in traffic, and then slid a lap down after an unscheduled stop for a new nose proved the prelude to retirement with a suspected engine problem.

Jenson Button was unable to make real use of a long-run opening stint strategy in his Brawn but seventh place earned him two crucial points. He now leads with 70 from Webber on 51.5, Vettel on 47 and Rubens Barrichello on 44. Brawn continue to lead the constructors’ championship on 114, with Red Bull closer still on 98.5s.

There was a strong fourth place finish for Nico Rosberg and Williams, ahead of Heikki Kovalainen whose points brought further joy to McLaren. Timo Glock was sixth for Toyota after a very long opening stint, then came Button and a long gap before Toyota’s Jarno Trulli took the final point after holding off strong challenges from Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima and Barrichello to the flag.

Alonso’s opening dash came to nought after he lost the right front wheel following his early pit stop on Lap 12 and then had to retire because of associated damage. Besides Vettel, the other non-finisher was Force India's Adrian Sutil, the victim of a first-lap brush.

The BMW Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kucica were 11th and 12th, sandwiching Nelson Piquet’s Renault, while Giancarlo Fisichella brought his Force India home a lapped 14th. Far from proving ‘dangerous’, as some had suggested, rookie Jaime Alguersuari did a great job to match lap times with Toro Rosso team mate Sebastian Buemi, and to lead him home after the Swiss twice spun. The Spaniard never put a wheel wrong.
Driver Quotes - Podium
Lewis Hamilton: “It’s an incredible feeling to be back on the top spot after what feels like such a long time and such a struggle,” he said afterwards. “This was one of my best races – I never gave up and, more importantly, neither did anyone in this team. I’m so proud of all the guys. We didn’t expect to win today – we didn’t think we quite had the overall pace – but the car was just perfect to drive, it felt fantastic for the entire race. We need to take as much as we can from this weekend. We’ll continue to push because that’s the only way this team knows. Now we want to be winners on a regular basis. Finally, my thoughts are with Felipe today. Despite our celebrations, it’s important to remember that there’s a guy lying in a hospital bed tonight, and I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say that we all had Felipe in our hearts and minds today and we wish him a speedy recovery.”
Kimi Raikkonen: “Today’s result is very important for the team in such a difficult weekend because of what happened to Felipe yesterday. I am pleased with second place, even if it is not completely satisfying as I always race to win. On this type of track, we are certainly closer to the best than at other circuits and today, honestly we were actually even closer than we had expected to be. I got a good start, ending up fourth after the first few corners. We knew it would be crucial to make up places at the start to be in with a chance of fighting for the podium. After the first pit stop we began to have problems with the right hand exhaust and so, at the second stop, the team asked to leave using a different procedure to usual. It lost me a bit of time but I still had a reasonable advantage over Webber so I could manage the situation. Today, the car wasn’t bad, but it was not quick enough to go for the win.”
Mark Webber: “I expected us to be a little bit quicker after our running on Friday, but to be honest we expected these guys (McLaren and Ferrari) to be around us. We knew it would be a more difficult venue for us and that we wouldn’t have the advantage that we maybe had at the last two events so, all-in-all, I’m happy to get the result we did today. I think we would have had a better chance to fight with Kimi (Raikkonen) if we’d made a slightly different pit stop and chose a different tyre for the middle stint, but that was my call. I was worried about how long the middle stint was, so it was quite difficult to know which tyre to put on. Overall we still have a lot of positives to take away from here – we’re still up there, we’re in the hunt and know that we can take our car to a lot of venues and be competitive. Red Bull and Renault have a lot to be proud of, we’re still a strong force and it’s a positive day.”
Race Results:
Pos|No|Driver|Team|Laps|Time/Retired|Grid|Pts
1|1|Lewis Hamilton|McLaren-Mercedes|70|1:38:23.876|4|10
2|4|Kimi Räikkönen|Ferrari|70|+11.5 secs|7|8
3|14|Mark Webber|RBR-Renault|70|+16.8 secs|3|6
4|16|Nico Rosberg|Williams-Toyota|70|+26.9 secs|5|5
5|2|Heikki Kovalainen|McLaren-Mercedes|70|+34.3 secs|6|4
6|10|Timo Glock|Toyota|70|+35.2 secs|13|3
7|22|Jenson Button|Brawn-Mercedes|70|+55.0 secs|8|2
8|9|Jarno Trulli|Toyota|70|+68.1 secs|11|1
9|17|Kazuki Nakajima|Williams-Toyota|70|+68.7 secs|9|
10|23|Rubens Barrichello|Brawn-Mercedes|70|+69.2 secs|12|
11|6|Nick Heidfeld|BMW Sauber|70|+70.6 secs|15|
12|8|Nelsinho Piquet|Renault|70|+71.5 secs|14|
13|5|Robert Kubica|BMW Sauber|70|+74.0 secs|18|
14|21|Giancarlo Fisichella|Force India-Mercedes|69|+1 Lap|16|
15|11|Jaime Alguersuari|STR-Ferrari|69|+1 Lap|19|
16|12|Sebastien Buemi|STR-Ferrari|69|+1 Lap|10|
Ret|15|Sebastian Vettel|RBR-Renault|29|+41 Laps|2|
Ret|7|Fernando Alonso|Renault|15|+55 Laps|1|
Ret|20|Adrian Sutil|Force India-Mercedes|1|+69 Laps|17

[gotorx7]

BMW to Exit Formula One

Munich 30th July 2009 - The BMW Group will not continue its Formula One campaign after the end of the 2009 season.
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Resources freed up as a result are to be dedicated to the development of new drive technologies and projects in the field of sustainability. BMW will continue to be actively involved in other motor sports series. The landmark decision to restructure BMW Motorsport’s activities was made at the Board of Management’s meeting yesterday.

“Of course, this was a difficult decision for us. But it’s a resolute step in view of our company's strategic realignment," explained Dr. Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG. “Premium will increasingly be defined in terms of sustainability and environmental compatibility. This is an area in which we want to remain in the lead. In line with our Strategy Number ONE, we are continually reviewing all projects and initiatives to check them for future viability and sustainability. Our Formula One campaign is thus less a key promoter for us. Mario Theissen has been in charge of our motor sports program since 1999. We have scored a large number of successes in this period, including some in Formula One racing. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mario Theissen and his team for this,” said, Reithofer.

Dr. Klaus Draeger, the member of the Board of Management responsible for development, said: “It only took us three years to establish ourselves as a top team with the BMW Sauber F1 Team. Unfortunately, we were unable to meet expectations in the current season. Nevertheless, our ten years of Formula One experience have had a major impact on our development engineers. We have racing to thank for numerous technological innovations as well as the competitive spirit that drives us to develop mass-produced cars.” Possible redundancies in Munich and Hinwil cannot be quantified at present. Says Draeger: “Since we only made this decision yesterday, we cannot provide any more precise information. We will develop and assess various scenarios and do our best to find a solution for the employees in Hinwil and the staff members involved in the Formula One project in Munich. We are aware of the responsibility we shoulder and will inform the staff as soon as we can make a clear statement."

Says BMW Motorsport director Dr. Mario Theissen: “Of course, we, the employees in Hinwil and Munich, would all have liked to continue this ambitious campaign and show that this season was just a hiccup following three successful years. But I can understand why this decision was made from a corporate perspective. We will now focus sharply on the remaining races and demonstrate our fighting spirit and put in a good result as we bid farewell to Formula One racing.”

BMW will continue its programs in a number of motor sports series: BMW will appear on the starting grid in the touring car series and young driver promotion program in Formula BMW. This will be supplemented by BMW’s participation in ALMS, the American Le Mans Series, endurance races and close-to-production customer sports. Furthermore, BMW Motorrad Motorsport will continue its campaigns, with the super bike world championship leading the way.
BMW looks back on a long track record of success in the field of motor sports:
BMW achieved eight Formula One victories from 1982 to 1985 with Brabham. In 1983, BMW won the driver’s championship with Nelson Piquet (Brabham BMW). The last win with the legendary turbo engine followed with Benetton in 1986. Ten victories were scored during the partnership with Williams (2000-2005). BMW had a total of 19 grand prix wins and 33 pole positions before the BMW Sauber F1 Team era.

In its debut season in 2006, the newly established BMW Sauber F1 Team wound up fifth in the constructor’s championship. In 2007, the German-Swiss team came in second after McLaren-Mercedes’ exclusion from the points standings. The 2008 season saw the team in the hunt for the world championship until the end of the season, winding up third. Polish-born Robert Kubica achieved the first and hitherto only GP victory in Canada on June 8, 2008. So far, the BMW Sauber F1 Team has taken one pole position (Kubica in Bahrain in 2008) and 16 podium finishes. The BMW Sauber F1 Team occupies the eighth spot in the manufacturer’s standings in the season presently underway.

[gotorx7]

Schumacher replaces injured Massa

Maranello 29 July 2009 - Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro intends to put Michael Schumacher in Felipe Massa's car until the Brazilian driver will be able to race again.
http://www.australiancardirectory.com.au/upl_images/A_Schu%20Returns_1b.jpgMichael Schumacher said he is ready and, over the next few days, will undertake a specifc training programme at the end of which confermation will be given of his participation in the Championship with effect from the European Grand Prix on the 23rd of August.
Schumacher has not driven Ferrari’s current F60 in anger and last tested for the Italian team, with whom he won five world titles, back in April 2008.

[Kotter31]

he better not screw up webbers chances

[gotorx7]

Schumacher calls off Formula One comeback

http://www.formula1.com/photos/225x/sutton/2009/d09mal920.jpg (http://www.formula1.com/photos/597x478/sutton/2009/d09mal920.jpg) http://www.formula1.com/photos/225x/manual/090022mug1.jpg (http://www.formula1.com/photos/597x478/manual/090022mug1.jpg)
<!-- ArticleBodyStart --> Michael Schumacher has revealed he won’t return to Formula One racing at the European Grand Prix later this month. Schumacher had planned to replace the injured Felipe Massa for Ferrari at the Valencia race, but has been forced to cancel his comeback due to pain in his neck, which was caused by a motorcycle accident earlier this year.

“Yesterday evening, I had to inform Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo and team principal Stefano Domenicali that unfortunately I'm not able to step in for Felipe,” explained the seven-time world champion in a statement on his official website. “I really tried everything to make that temporary comeback possible, however, much to my regret it didn't work out.”

Last week Schumacher completed a one-day test in an F2007 to evaluate his fitness levels and prepare for the race. Although he covered 67 laps of Ferrari’s Mugello circuit in Italy and declared himself pleased with his pace, the neck injury flared up again and subsequent treatment has failed to ease his discomfort.

“Unfortunately we did not manage to get a grip on the pain in the neck which occurred after the private Formula One day in Mugello, even if medically and therapeutically we tried everything possible,” he added. “The consequences of the injuries caused by the bike-accident in February, fractures in the area of head and neck, unfortunately have turned out to be still too severe.

“That is why my neck cannot stand the extreme stresses caused by Formula One yet. These are the clear results of the examinations we did on the course of the past two weeks and the final examination yesterday afternoon. As there were no improvements after the day in Mugello, I decided at short notice on Sunday to do that thorough examination already yesterday.

“I am disappointed to the core. I am awfully sorry for the guys of Ferrari and for all the fans who crossed fingers for me. I can only repeat that I tried everything that was within my power. All I can do now is to keep my fingers crossed for the whole team for the coming races."

[gotorx7]

VALENCIA 23rd Aug 2009 - Rubens Barrichello had said all year that he will win for Brawn GP, and he finally came good in Valencia with a controlled performance that brought him home just over two seconds ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.
http://www.australiancardirectory.com.au/upl_images/A_F1%20Europe_1b.jpg
The world champion led at the start as expected, from McLaren team mate Heikki Kovalainen, both using their KERS to keep Barrichello in third place. Behind them, Kimi Raikkonen thrust up to fourth, also using the Ferrari's KERS button. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel went with them after seeing off Brawn GP’s Jenson Button, whose race soon collapsed with tyre graining issues which sent him backwards early on.

Hamilton led until his first pit stop on Lap 16, leaving Kovalainen to take over on the 17th, when he too stopped. Thereafter Barrichello ran another three laps before refuelling. That put his Brawn ahead of Kovalainen for the middle stint. Behind them, Raikkonen had no trouble keeping fourth ahead of Williams’ Nico Rosberg and Renault’s Fernando Alonso, leaving Mark Webber to fight with Button.

Hamilton had a lead of 3.6s over Barrichello by Lap 36, but when he pitted again a lap later McLaren did not have his front tyres ready after a late request to him to do one more lap came just as he was about to enter the pits. That delay proved costly - though the team insisted it didn't cost them the win - and when Barrichello pitted from the lead on Lap 40 he was able to resume ahead of Hamilton.

The Briton kept the pressure on Barrichello all the way, but could not close the gap by more than a couple of tenths each lap until the Brazilian backed off right at the end, and it came down from 3.9s to 2.3s. Raikkonen jumped Kovalainen on the second stop, and the ‘other’ Finn had his hands full holding off an aggressive Rosberg in the final laps.

Webber also lost out on the second stop, crucially dropping behind both Button and BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica. Thus seventh place behind Alonso was enough for Button to increase his championship lead by two points to 72. He was the fastest man on the track for a long time in the closing laps on Bridgestone’s super-soft tyres, until they went off and he had to abandon his pursuit of the Renault. Kubica hung on ahead of Webber to score the final point.

It was a tough day for Red Bull, with Vettel retiring with his second engine failure of the weekend on Lap 24, having already made one refuelling stop and one unscheduled stop after a problem with the fuel rig.

Further back, Adrian Sutil claimed 10th for Force India ahead of Nick Heidfeld in the second BMW Sauber and Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Force India. The Toyotas were 13th and 14th, with Timo Glock bettering Button’s fastest lap right at the end. Romain Grosjean’s debut for Renault yielded only 15th place, not helped by damaging his nose on the opening lap and needing an unscheduled stop as a result, and later a half spin.

Jaime Alguersuari looked less convincing than he had in Hungary on his way to 16th for Toro Rosso, while team mate Sebastien Buemi ran into trouble after he damaged his front wing in a brush with Glock on the opening lap and had to stop for a replacement. Later he spun in Turn 12 on Lap 43 and could not continue.

Luca Badoer’s return to Formula One racing was unimpressive. He ran down the back all day, let Grosjean overtake him as they left the pits, and then got a drive-through penalty for crossing the white line on the exit. He might have achieved his ambition of a finish, but he did so in 17th place. The only other classified car behind him was Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams, who was delayed by a left rear tyre failure and then pitted for good just before the flag.

So Brawn increased their constructors’ championship lead over Red Bull, 126 points to 98.5, and Barrichello vaulted back to second place in the drivers' with 54 points to Webber’s 51.5.

Barrichello's win marked the 100th by a Brazilian driver, and fittingly he dedicated it to Felipe Massa, who had advised him on racing lines only last week. It was also the 250th race for the McLaren Mercedes partnership, and Bridgestone’s 150th victory. And it left the title fight wide open as the paddock heads to Belgium next week.
Selected Driver Quotes
RUBENS BARRICHELLO: "What a fantastic day. I am so delighted with the win after what was a really tough race out there. It's just amazing and a weekend that I will never forget. Even after five years, you don't forget how to win and the feeling is so good! Although we were fuelled heavier than the McLarens, I knew that I would have to push really hard throughout the race. My engineer Jock was great today, he really encouraged me and helped me to maintain the pace, and the team did a fantastic job with two excellent pit stops. I want to thank everyone who has supported me and this victory is dedicated to the whole of Brazil but particularly to my great friend Felipe Massa. I hope he is back racing against me soon."
LEWIS HAMILTON: “This is my second podium in a row, and I’m very happy to be here,” Lewis said. “We did the best job we could today. Am I disappointed? Yes, I think we all are – but that’s simply an indication of just how hard everyone in this team is pushing to win. We’re never satisfied unless we’re winning, in fact. But, ultimately, we didn’t really lose anything today – it was always going to be tough to beat Rubens and what we tried wasn’t quite enough. Before my second pitstop, I’d been saving fuel and was a bit unsure if I had enough for that extra lap or not. The pitwall had initially asked me to pit – but, just when I was coming in, they told me to stay out and do an extra lap – however, I was already inside the white line [entry to the pits] and committed, so it was too late. In those circumstances, it’s always better to be safe and to pit, because the last thing you want to do is run dry out on the circuit. But the call was a marginal one – the team was pushing the envelope, as I say – and it came just a little too late for me and the mechanics, who weren’t perfectly prepared. Make no mistake, I think those guys are the best in the business; what happened was simply a result of the team trying everything in their power to turn a safe second place into a possible win. In any case, our overall performance this weekend confirmed the huge improvement we’ve made recently, but we still lack a bit of race pace compared with the very fastest cars. You can be well sure we’re working on fixing that, though. Congratulations to Rubens – he drove a fantastic race today and really deserved this victory.”
KIMI RAIKKONEN: “I am happy about this result. Already on Friday we saw that the car was pretty competitive over a distance and we therefore thought we could fight for a podium finish. We were also aware that, in qualifying, we might have struggled, especially on light fuel. Both these predictions proved correct and today we were once again able to get on the podium. I managed to make up a few places at the start and my first aim was to pull out a bit of a gap over Rosberg, who was going to stop after me. In the second part of the race, I realized that I could close on Kovalainen and try and make the most of the run of pit stops to get ahead of him and I managed it. Now we go to Spa, a track that I like a lot: we must wait for Friday to see how competitive we can be. At this point in the season, if we manage to get everything right, then we can aim for the podium and if anything was to happen to those ahead of us, we can try and do even better. We must do all we can to hang on to third place in the Constructors’ championship.”
JENSON BUTTON: "Rubens did a great job this weekend and he deserves the victory. It's been a long time so I'm happy for him although of course I would rather be on top of the podium. The small mistake in qualifying and a difficult start caught behind Vettel really cost me today as I got caught in traffic and it's really tough to overtake around this circuit. Still we did what we came for this weekend and beat the Red Bulls, our main title rivals, so I'm not too disappointed with seventh position. We'll go to the next race in Spa positive and ready to have a good race."
MARK WEBBER: “No gains for us today, which is the first time in a long time. The long and short of it was that I wasn’t quick enough today – it was a tough race. I’ve been struggling all weekend and I think I got the result I deserved, which was no points, unfortunately. We were a little bit unlucky around the pit stops with Lewis (Hamilton) coming back out in front, but that’s the way it goes. The pit stops weren’t great, as I might have been a bit long on positioning – so not the best day for us. But, we will dust ourselves down and move on to Spa.”

SEBASTIAN VETTEL: “The biggest problem today was the first stop – we weren’t able to get fuel in the car, so we had to come in again. We were lucky to make it back for a second stop. The race was lost already at that point but then, a couple of laps on, I had a problem with the engine and I had to retire. It’s not good. In terms of the Championship, I will fight until the last breath, but it’s not good to have retired when you’re hunting and want to get more points than your opponent. You’re in a position to do it, but then you don’t finish the race.”

RACE RESULTS:
Pos|No|Driver|Team|Laps|Time/Retired|Grid|Pts
1|23|Rubens Barrichello|Brawn-Mercedes|57|1:35:51.289|3|10
2|1|Lewis Hamilton|McLaren-Mercedes|57|+2.3 secs|1|8
3|4|Kimi Räikkönen|Ferrari|57|+15.9 secs|6|6
4|2|Heikki Kovalainen|McLaren-Mercedes|57|+20.0 secs|2|5
5|16|Nico Rosberg|Williams-Toyota|57|+20.8 secs|7|4
6|7|Fernando Alonso|Renault|57|+27.7 secs|8|3
7|22|Jenson Button|Brawn-Mercedes|57|+34.9 secs|5|2
8|5|Robert Kubica|BMW Sauber|57|+36.6 secs|10|1
9|14|Mark Webber|RBR-Renault|57|+44.9 secs|9|
10|20|Adrian Sutil|Force India-Mercedes|57|+47.9 secs|12|
11|6|Nick Heidfeld|BMW Sauber|57|+48.8 secs|11|
12|21|Giancarlo Fisichella|Force India-Mercedes|57|+63.6 secs|16|
13|9|Jarno Trulli|Toyota|57|+64.5 secs|18|
14|10|Timo Glock|Toyota|57|+86.5 secs|13|
15|8|Romain Grosjean|Renault|57|+91.7 secs|14|
16|11|Jaime Alguersuari|STR-Ferrari|56|+1 Lap|19|
17|3|Luca Badoer|Ferrari|56|+1 Lap|20|
18|17|Kazuki Nakajima|Williams-Toyota|53|Retired|17|
Ret|12|Sebastien Buemi|STR-Ferrari|41|Brakes|15|
Ret|15|Sebastian Vettel|RBR-Renault|23|Engine|4|

[gotorx7]

Sept 2009 - Off we go to the revered Autodromo di Monza. The first race here dates back to 1922.
Since then, there have been some significant changes in order to slow the drivers down and improve safety. Nevertheless, the track today is the last remaining high-speed circuit on the calendar with a full 70% driven flat out!The Rettifilio chicane right after the start is intended to slow the pace down a bit ahead of the next right-hander. Only slightly though, as 260 km/h in the corner is still far from slow! Take ride on the circuit out of the drivers' perspective!


http://vimeo.com/6480302

[gotorx7]

Brawn GP bounce back with one-two

MONZA 13th Sept 2009 - Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button took Brawn GP a significant step closer to both world championship titles at Monza on Sunday afternoon, in a race rendered dramatic by a last lap shunt for McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, as he was pushing hard in third place after Button.
http://www.australiancardirectory.com.au/upl_images/A_F1%20Monza_1b.jpg
As expected, it was Hamilton who led from the start, using KERS in his lightly-fuelled McLaren to sprint ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Force India’s Adrian Sutil. Barrichello and Button crucially slipped into fourth and fifth places, ahead of Heikki Kovalainen’s fuel-heavy McLaren, which an aggressive Vitantonio Liuzzi also overtook for sixth place in the second Force India.

Hamilton stretched his lead after setting a series of fastest laps, until his first refuelling stop on the 15th lap. Sutil stopped on the 17th, Raikkonen the 19th, those three the only men on one-stop strategies. That left the Brawns one-two from Lap 20 until their much later pit stops, on the 28th lap for Button and the 29th for Barrichello.

That was where the race was won for the Brazilian and lost for the Englishman. Button was 2.1s adrift before his stop, 4.2s after it, and Barrichello proceeded to pull away as they set after Hamilton, Raikkonen and Sutil, who had repassed them while they refuelled. Each had another stop to make, however.

When Hamilton made his on Lap 34 and emerged behind the Brawns, the writing was on the wall, but the champion refused to give in. As Button responded they ate into Barrichello’s 5.4s lead, which dwindled steadily. Barrichello had things under full control, however, and so did Button.

Hamilton, however, did not. Going into the last lap Button was 3.3s behind Barrichello, with Hamilton a second further back. But going through the second Lesmo Hamilton lost control of his McLaren, spun and thumped the inner wall before spinning again and strewing the track with debris. Out went the safety car, as Barrichello crossed the line to score his second victory of the year and to reduce Button’s championship points advantage to 14 points, 80 to 66.

It was an emphatic victory for Ross Brawn’s team, on a day when Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull took a mere point, and one that was gifted to them courtesy of Hamilton’s shunt. To make matters worse for Red Bull, Mark Webber had been shunted out of the race by BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica at the second chicane, on the opening lap.

Brawn thus have 146 points to Red Bull’s 105.5.

Raikkonen hung on to the final podium place, but Sutil was only four-tenths adrift at the finish as he scored his first points of the season. Liuzzi might have had a shot at the podium with his single-stop strategy, but retired after 22 laps with mechanical problems.

Fernando Alonso thus brought his Renault home fifth ahead of Kovalainen, while BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld held off Vettel for seventh.

Giancarlo Fisichella had a quiet race to ninth for Ferrari, ahead of Williams' Kazuki Nakajima who held off the Toyotas of Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock and, close to the end, triggered an incident in which Trulli nearly collected Glock after having to avoid Nakajima in the middle of the road going into the first chicane. The German chased the Japanese driver home, but the Italian fell back to 14th behind Hamilton and Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi.

Romain Grosjean was an undistinguished 15th in the second Renault ahead of Williams’ Nico Rosberg, whose chances were ruined by an early pit stop. Liuzzi was classified 17th ahead of Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari and BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica, who both retired with technical problems, and an angry Webber was 20th.

While Red Bull will bounce back, the title chase is now beginning to look more and more like an in-house Brawn duel, with Button 27 points ahead of Vettel, and Barrichello 13.
Driver Quotes - Podium
Rubens Barrichello: "Monza has always been a great track for me and it feels just wonderful to win here again. We made some great decisions this weekend and the work that we achieved on Friday was the key to setting up the result today. We had to think strategically in qualifying because of the KERS cars and our one-stop strategy really paid off. I had a great start to get ahead of Heikki and from there I had the pace that we needed to beat the two-stopping cars who started ahead of us. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone at the factory, here at the track and at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth for designing, building and developing such a great car and engine. I'm driving a fantastic car with a fantastic Mercedes-Benz engine and the team is doing a fantastic job! It's going to be a good and healthy fight for the championship over the next few races and I'm really looking forward to that. Two wins in three races is pretty good going and I'll be giving it my all. And finally I would like to dedicate this win to my two sons Eduardo and Fernando who both had their birthdays this month."

Jenson Button: "I had a really good race today and it's a fantastic feeling to be up on the podium again. The team and Rubens did a great job this weekend and congratulations to Rubens for his second win of the season. The car worked very well all weekend and the balance was good throughout the race which meant I could set consistently quick lap times when it really mattered. The strategy that we chose on Saturday for qualifying was the perfect one for us and I was able to get ahead of Heikki on the first lap which was absolutely crucial for my race. Lewis was pushing hard behind me for the final part of the race but I was confident that I had him covered and it's a very difficult circuit to overtake here even with KERS. We have shown that the Brawn-Mercedes is a very good car and credit to the team for the efforts that have gone into improving it over the past couple of months. It's going to be a very exciting end of the season and a challenge that we are all looking forward to."
Kimi Raikkonen: “I am happy to have made it to the podium once again, even if this time I needed a heavy dose of luck. It’s a nice result, for the championship, for us and for our fans here at Monza. I got a great start and I almost managed to also get past Hamilton, but even if I’d managed it, the result would have been the same in the end. I’m disappointed I couldn’t fight for the win, but we did not have enough speed. All in all, the strategy we chose prior to the race was the best one for us. In my battle with Sutil, I was never really in difficulty: I knew I only had to avoid making any mistakes and drive in such a way as to get the best out of the car. The tyres? The softer ones suited us better, as we struggled a bit on the harder ones, especially at the start of the stint. In the upcoming races, we will try and do our best: maybe in some of them we could even try and fight for the win.”
Race Results:
Pos|No|Driver|Team|Laps|Time/Retired|Grid|Pts
1|23|Rubens Barrichello|Brawn-Mercedes|53|1:16:21.706|5|10
2|22|Jenson Button|Brawn-Mercedes|53|+2.8 secs|6|8
3|4|Kimi Räikkönen|Ferrari|53|+30.6 secs|3|6
4|20|Adrian Sutil|Force India-Mercedes|53|+31.1 secs|2|5
5|7|Fernando Alonso|Renault|53|+59.1 secs|8|4
6|2|Heikki Kovalainen|McLaren-Mercedes|53|+60.6 secs|4|3
7|6|Nick Heidfeld|BMW Sauber|53|+82.4 secs|15|2
8|15|Sebastian Vettel|RBR-Renault|53|+85.4 secs|9|1
9|3|Giancarlo Fisichella|Ferrari|53|+86.8 secs|14
10|17|Kazuki Nakajima|Williams-Toyota|53|+162.163 secs|17
11|10|Timo Glock|Toyota|53|+163.925 secs|16
12|1|Lewis Hamilton|McLaren-Mercedes|52|Accident|1
13|12|Sebastien Buemi|STR-Ferrari|51|DNF|19
14|9|Jarno Trulli|Toyota|52|+1 Lap|11
15|8|Romain Grosjean|Renault|52|+1 Lap|12
16|16|Nico Rosberg|Williams-Toyota|51|+2 Laps|18
Ret|21|Vitantonio Liuzzi|Force India-Mercedes|22|Transmission|7
Ret|11|Jaime Alguersuari|STR-Ferrari|19|Gearbox|20
Ret|5|Robert Kubica|BMW Sauber|15|Engine|13
Ret|14|Mark Webber|RBR-Renault|0|Accident|10

[yelloS2Rx7]

THANX FOR THE EFFORT DAVE
what about Flavio?????????? Geee
cant say im surprised, but ordering Piquet to crash at the singapore race last year handing a win to Alonso, and then sacking Piquet....no wonder he spat it and blabbed

[gotorx7]

You're welcome Corey..

Yeah, what an arse-hole act!!

[gotorx7]

SINGAPORE Sept 2009 - The 14th grand prix of the season takes us to Asia, or more precisely to the city state of Singapore.


2009 Singapore F1 Circuit Preview on Vimeo


The special feature here is that for the second time in the history of Formula One the race is being staged at night. A spectacle thats looked forward to by spectators and drivers alike. Take a ride out of the drivers' perspective!

[gotorx7]

Briatore gets life, Renault get 2 years........

21st Sept 2009 - Renault have been disqualified from the FIA Formula One World Championship, with the ban suspended for two years, after the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) found them guilty on Monday of conspiring to cause a deliberate crash in last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.
http://www.australiancardirectory.com.au/upl_images/A_Crash%20Gate_1b.jpg
Investigations by the Council and by Renault found that team boss Flavio Briatore and executive director of engineering Pat Symonds, both of whom have now left the team, planned the crash with driver Nelson Piquet in order to benefit the race strategy of Fernando Alonso, who went on to win. Neither Alonso nor any other Renault personnel were aware of the conspiracy.

In addition to banning Renault, the WMSC handed out hefty individual penalties to Briatore and Symonds. Neither will be allowed any involvement in FIA-sanctioned motorsport, Briatore indefinitely and Symonds for the next five years. Piquet, who was dropped by Renault in July, was granted immunity from sanction for volunteering his evidence in the investigation.

"We are very sad to find ourselves in front of the Word Motor Sport Council today,” said Renault team president Bernard Rey after the Paris hearing. "By way of background, as a result of our own enquiries, we informed the FIA last week that we would not defend the charges and we accepted our responsibilities in relation to the incident in Singapore and we immediately took appropriate action inside the team.

"Today, we fully accept the decision of the Council. We apologize unreservedly to the F1 community in relation to this unacceptable behaviour. We sincerely hope that we can soon put this matter behind us and focus constructively on the future. We will issue further information in the next few days."

Piquet retired from Formula One racing’s inaugural night race in Singapore last September after hitting the wall on Lap 14, just after Alonso had made his first pit stop. The subsequent safety-car period helped vault the Spaniard, originally 15th on the grid, to the front end of the field.

The full statement from the WMSC:
At an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council held in Paris on 21 September 2009, the ING Renault F1 team (“Renault F1”) admitted that the team had conspired with its driver Nelson Piquet Jr. to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, in breach of the International Sporting Code and F1 Sporting Regulations.

Renault F1 stated at the meeting that it had conducted a detailed internal investigation, which found that: (i) Flavio Briatore, Pat Symonds and Nelson Piquet Jr. had conspired to cause the crash; and (ii) no other team member was involved in the conspiracy.

The FIA has conducted its own detailed investigation and its findings correspond with those of Renault F1.

At the meeting of the World Motor Sport Council, Renault F1 made the following points in mitigation:

- it had accepted, at the earliest practicable opportunity, that it committed the offences with which it was charged and cooperated fully with the FIA’s investigation;
- it had confirmed that Mr. Briatore and Mr. Symonds were involved in the conspiracy and ensured that they left the team;
- it apologised unreservedly to the FIA and to the sport for the harm caused by its actions;
- it committed to paying the costs incurred by the FIA in its investigation; and
- Renault (the parent company, as opposed to Renault F1) committed to making a significant contribution to FIA safety-related projects.

Nelson Piquet Jr. also apologised unreservedly to the World Motor Sport Council for his part in the conspiracy.

The following decision was taken:

The World Motor Sport Council finds that Renault F1 team members Flavio Briatore, Pat Symonds and Nelson Piquet Jr. conspired to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. The World Motor Sport Council therefore finds Renault F1, which, under article 123 of the International Sporting Code, is responsible for the actions of its employees, in breach of Articles 151(c) and point 2(c) of Chapter IV of Appendix L of the Code, and Articles 3.2, 30.3 and/or 39.1 of the Formula One Sporting Regulations.

The World Motor Sport Council considers Renault F1’s breaches relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to be of unparalleled severity. Renault F1’s breaches not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jr. himself. The World Motor Sport Council considers that offences of this severity merit permanent disqualification from the FIA Formula One World Championship. However, having regard to the points in mitigation mentioned above and in particular the steps taken by Renault F1 to identify and address the failings within its team and condemn the actions of the individuals involved, the WMSC has decided to suspend Renault F1’s disqualification until the end of the 2011 season. The World Motor Sport Council will only activate this disqualification if Renault F1 is found guilty of a comparable breach during that time.

In addition the World Motor Sport Council notes Renault F1’s apology and agrees that the team should pay the costs of the investigation. It also accepts the offer of a significant contribution to the FIA’s safety work.

As regards Mr. Briatore, the World Motor Sport Council declares that, for an unlimited period, the FIA does not intend to sanction any International Event, Championship, Cup, Trophy, Challenge or Series involving Mr. Briatore in any capacity whatsoever, or grant any license to any Team or other entity engaging Mr. Briatore in any capacity whatsoever. It also hereby instructs all officials present at FIA-sanctioned events not to permit Mr. Briatore access to any areas under the FIA’s jurisdiction. Furthermore, it does not intend to renew any Superlicence granted to any driver who is associated (through a management contract or otherwise) with Mr. Briatore, or any entity or individual associated with Mr. Briatore. In determining that such instructions should be applicable for an unlimited period, the World Motor Sport Council has had regard not only to the severity of the breach in which Mr. Briatore was complicit but also to his actions in continuing to deny his participation in the breach despite all the evidence.

As regards Mr. Symonds, the World Motor Sport Council declares that, for a period of five years, the FIA does not intend to sanction any International Event, Championship, Cup, Trophy, Challenge or Series involving Mr. Symonds in any capacity whatsoever, or grant any license to any Team or other entity engaging Mr. Symonds in any capacity whatsoever. It hereby instructs, for a period of five years, all officials present at FIA-sanctioned events not to permit Mr. Symonds access to any areas under the FIA’s jurisdiction. In determining that such instructions should be effective for a period of five years the World Motor Sport Council has had regard: (i) to Mr. Symonds’ acceptance that he took part in the conspiracy; and (ii) to his communication to the meeting of the World Motor Sport Council that it was to his “eternal regret and shame” that he participated in the conspiracy.

As regards Mr. Piquet Jr., the World Motor Sport Council confirms the immunity from individual sanctions under the International Sporting Code in relation to this incident, which the FIA had granted to him in exchange for volunteering his evidence.

As regards Fernando Alonso, the World Motor Sport Council thanks him for cooperating with the FIA’s enquiries and for attending the meeting, and concludes that Mr. Alonso was not in any way involved in Renault F1’s breach of the regulations.

The World Motor Sport Council would like to thank the Stewards and legal investigation team (in particular Dorothy Cory-Wright of Sidley Austin LLP who conducted the interviews at the Belgian Grand Prix).

[gotorx7]

Hamilton Wins in Singapore

SINGAPORE 27th Sept 2009 - Lewis Hamilton sorely wanted to win in Singapore after his slip up recently at Monza, and on Sunday evening he drove a pluperfect race for McLaren to deliver a richly deserved triumph.
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The world champion took the lead at the start, and led throughout apart from a four lap period from 47 to 50 when Renault’s Fernando Alonso went ahead before making his own final pit stop.

After a safety car period between the 21st and 25th laps had reduced his advantage after Force India’s Adrian Sutil collided with Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari and then collected BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld after spinning, Hamilton coped with massive pressure from Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, but it was an illusion.

The German refuelled for the second time on the 39th lap, whereas Hamilton had sufficient fuel to run through to the 46th, and thereafter all he had to do was conserve his brakes in a race that finished just before the two-hour time limit.

Behind him Jenson Button increased his world championship points lead by one point over Brawn team mate Rubens Barrichello as they finished fifth and sixth, but the final podium places were far beyond them. They fell to Timo Glock, who drove superbly on a great pit stop strategy from Toyota, and Alonso, who was in feisty form all weekend for the beleaguered Renault squad.

Vettel should have beaten both, but had to take a drive through penalty after speeding in the pit lane during his second refuelling call.

The man who was kicking himself most afterwards was Williams’ Nico Rosberg, a lowly 11th in a race in which he shouldered up to second ahead of Vettel at the start, and might just have challenged Hamilton later on. The German was a comfortable second when he pitted on Lap 18, but unaccountably he crossed the white line exiting the pits and plummeted after the safety car period when he too had to serve a drive-through penalty.

Heikki Kovalainen drove an undistinguished race for seventh in the second McLaren, and Robert Kubica kept his BMW Sauber ahead of a duelling Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in the closing laps to grab the final point.

Behind Rosberg, Jarno Trulli was an overshadowed 12th in the second Toyota ahead of a lacklustre Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Ferrari, and Vitantonio Liuzzi who gathered more experience of the only Force India to finish.

Both Toro Rossos retired in the pits after fuel rig problems, caused when Alguesuari ‘did a Massa’ and dragged his rig with him during his second stop after taking off before instructed by the team’s lollipop man. The Spaniard was classified 15th, after ultimately succumbing to brake problems, ahead of team mate Sebastien Buemi, who went out with transmission woes.

Mark Webber’s race was ruined when, having taken fourth place on the opening lap after a bold skirmish with Alonso and Glock, he was ordered to hand it back by the race stewards for running wide during the move. Later, after losing out in the pit stops, he crashed out after brake problems affected his Red Bull.

Sutil’s incident with Heidfeld came in Turn 14 on the 20th lap when he tagged the back of Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso, which had been holding up a train of cars since the start. As the Force India spun it hit an innocent Heidfeld and both retired. Romain Grosjean was the other retirement, stopping early with suspected brake problems on his Renault.

The result leaves Button on 84 points to Barrichello’s 69 with three races to go, while Vettel remains third with 59 and Webber fourth on 51.5. In the constructors’ stakes, Brawn have 153 points to Red Bull’s 110.5, but McLaren are closing fast on Ferrari with 59 to 62.
Driver Quotes- Podium
Lewis Hamilton: “This is the perfect end to a fantastic weekend. The race was physically very tough for all the drivers, but it was actually quite straightforward for me. I made a good start and I knew I was running longer than the guys behind me, so I was able to bridge the gap back to them. It was a very nicely controlled race in that way. The team did radio me about a small problem with KERS – but I didn’t have a problem in the cockpit and was able to just disable it and then re-engage it. It worked fine after that. We came here hoping for a good result – and I wanted to redeem myself after the last lap in Monza – and we got it!”
Timo Glock: "We have had a really good weekend and this is a great reward for the team. After a solid qualifying the pace was good in the race so I am really happy for the team and myself. It was important to get in front of Fernando (Alonso) on the first lap and I was disappointed I didn't do it at the start. I saw he was fighting with Mark (Webber) and I just dived in and made the pass. It paid off because after that our strategy worked well; it was the key point in my race. I was just concentrating the whole race on my speed and we didn't make any mistakes. This is a brilliant result for Toyota before the Japanese Grand Prix. It's important for everyone in the team; the mechanics and engineers as well as the people back home in Cologne and in Japan. The car worked well today with the new package and I hope we can be competitive again in Suzuka."
Fernando Alonso: “This was a great result for the team allowing us to be positive and put behind us the past few weeks. I had a good start and great pace throughout the race and third place came as a result of a good strategy and a solid race. Everyone at Enstone, Viry and here at the circuit has done a great job and this has paid off today. Now we go to Suzuka in high spirits.”
Race Results:
<table summary="" class="raceResults" style="width: 649px; height: 362px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <th style="text-align: left;">Pos</th> <th style="text-align: left;">No</th> <th style="text-align: left;">Driver</th> <th style="text-align: left;">Team</th> <th style="text-align: left;">Laps</th> <th style="text-align: left;">Time/Retired</th> <th style="text-align: left;">Grid</th> <th title="Points" style="text-align: left;">Pts</th> </tr> <tr> <td>1</td> <td>1</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Lewis Hamilton</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">McLaren-Mercedes</td> <td>61</td> <td>1:56:06.337</td> <td>1</td> <td>10</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2</td> <td>10</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Timo Glock</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Toyota</td> <td>61</td> <td>+9.6 secs</td> <td>6</td> <td>8</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3</td> <td>7</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Fernando Alonso</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Renault</td> <td>61</td> <td>+16.6 secs</td> <td>5</td> <td>6</td> </tr> <tr> <td>4</td> <td>15</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Sebastian Vettel</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">RBR-Renault</td> <td>61</td> <td>+20.2 secs</td> <td>2</td> <td>5</td> </tr> <tr> <td>5</td> <td>22</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Jenson Button</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Brawn-Mercedes</td> <td>61</td> <td>+30.0 secs</td> <td>11</td> <td>4</td> </tr> <tr> <td>6</td> <td>23</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Rubens Barrichello</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Brawn-Mercedes</td> <td>61</td> <td>+31.8 secs</td> <td>9</td> <td>3</td> </tr> <tr> <td>7</td> <td>2</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Heikki Kovalainen</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">McLaren-Mercedes</td> <td>61</td> <td>+36.1 secs</td> <td>8</td> <td>2</td> </tr> <tr> <td>8</td> <td>5</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Robert Kubica</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">BMW Sauber</td> <td>61</td> <td>+55.0 secs</td> <td>7</td> <td>1</td> </tr> <tr> <td>9</td> <td>17</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Kazuki Nakajima</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Williams-Toyota</td> <td>61</td> <td>+56.0 secs</td> <td>10</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>10</td> <td>4</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Kimi Räikkönen</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Ferrari</td> <td>61</td> <td>+58.8 secs</td> <td>12</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>11</td> <td>16</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Nico Rosberg</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Williams-Toyota</td> <td>61</td> <td>+59.7 secs</td> <td>3</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>12</td> <td>9</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Jarno Trulli</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Toyota</td> <td>61</td> <td>+73.0 secs</td> <td>14</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>13</td> <td>3</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Giancarlo Fisichella</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Ferrari</td> <td>61</td> <td>+79.8 secs</td> <td>17</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>14</td> <td>21</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Vitantonio Liuzzi</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Force India-Mercedes</td> <td>61</td> <td>+93.5 secs</td> <td>19</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ret</td> <td>11</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Jaime Alguersuari</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">STR-Ferrari</td> <td>47</td> <td>Brakes</td> <td>16</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ret</td> <td>12</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Sebastien Buemi</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">STR-Ferrari</td> <td>47</td> <td>Gearbox</td> <td>13</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ret</td> <td>14</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Mark Webber</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">RBR-Renault</td> <td>45</td> <td>Brakes</td> <td>4</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ret</td> <td>20</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Adrian Sutil</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Force India-Mercedes</td> <td>23</td> <td>Accident damage</td> <td>15</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ret</td> <td>6</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Nick Heidfeld</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">BMW Sauber</td> <td>19</td> <td>Accident</td> <td>20</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ret</td> <td>8</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Romain Grosjean</td> <td nowrap="nowrap">Renault</td> <td>3</td> <td>Brakes</td> <td>18</td></tr></tbody></table>

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As the end of the season approaches, the F1 circus again goes half-way around the world to South America.

Brazilian GP Circuit Preview on Vimeo

The Brazilian Grand Prix is one of the toughest on the F1 calendar. The four point three kilometre circuit at Interlagos, which means between the lakes, is very demanding on the driver. Immediately after the start comes the first key corner, the legendary Senna S. The drivers need total concentration here in order to stay with their opponents. And beware: the left front wheel can often lock here, as the change in load on the car is so great. Take a ride from one of the Formula 1 drivers' perspectives.

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The Renault F1 Team is delighted to announce that Robert Kubica will drive for the team from the 2010 season onwards.
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The 24-year-old Polish driver is one of the most highly-rated young drivers in Formula One, who has proved his ability as a race-winning driver and whose aggressive and consistent racing style have seen him as a contender for last year’s drivers’ title.
Team Principal, Bob Bell, commented: “We are very excited to have signed Robert with the Renault F1 Team starting next season. Ever since Robert made his Grand Prix debut in 2006, he has been on our radar as one of the most naturally talented drivers of his generation and he has delivered on that promise so it’s great to have secured him in one of our cars next season. Renault has high ambitions and hopes for the future of the team and we feel that Robert can play a big role in fulfilling them.”
Robert Kubica commented: “I am very happy I will be joining Renault in the 2010 season. I feel I have a special connection with this team because in 2005 I won the World Series by Renault. This gave me the chance to test with the team in Barcelona, which led to my debut in Formula One.”
Robert continued: “I share with Renault a strong winning mentality and feel comfortable with their friendly and open attitude. I’m highly motivated and optimistic that together we can be at the front of the grid next year and hopefully fighting for the world title.”

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Jenson Button went into the Brazilian Grand Prix looking for a miracle. And he found it. After 60 of the 71 laps, as Mark Webber swept to a dominant victory for Red Bull ahead of BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica and a fighting Lewis Hamilton, he had done enough. And a late puncture for Brawn GP team mate Rubens Barrichello, which elevated him to fifth, was merely the icing on the cake.

It made him Britain’s 10th world champion, and marked the first time the nation has ever celebrated back-to-back titles...

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Welcome to the 2009 grand finale in Abu Dhabi, at Formula 1s newest and arguably most spectacular circuit.

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The experts have been heaping advance praise on the exclusive layout of the Yas Marina Circuit around the city harbour. Everything top rate and brand new, but only experience will tell whether the euphoria is justified in reality. Nico Rosberg explains how he prepares for the new track and is looking forward to racing on it.

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Jenson Button went into the Brazilian Grand Prix looking for a miracle. And he found it. After 60 of the 71 laps, as Mark Webber swept to a dominant victory for Red Bull ahead of BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica and a fighting Lewis Hamilton, he had done enough. http://www.australiancardirectory.com.au/upl_images/A_F1%20Brazil_1b.jpg
And a late puncture for Brawn GP team mate Rubens Barrichello, which elevated him to fifth, merely eased his path to glory.

It made him the 10th Briton to take the title, and marked the first time England has celebrated back-to-back drivers' champions. At the same time, his success was more than sufficient to cement the constructors’ crown for Brawn, a unique and historic achievement in their first season.

Right from the start Button benefited from carnage to jump up from his 14th grid place to ninth at the end of a dramatic first lap.

It began when Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari brushed wheels with Adrian Sutil’s Force India going into the first corner. Then Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull tagged Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren on the exit, the Finn spinning and forcing Ferrari’s Giancarlo Fisichella to run on to the grass in avoidance.

Further round the lap Jarno Trulli pulled his Toyota alongside Sutil but lost control as he was squeezed over the outer kerb. He tangled with the Force India, each spinning off in different directions. As Sutil speared back on to the track, he bounced right in front of Renault’s Fernando Alonso, who had nowhere to go and retired with rear suspension damage. Not surprisingly the safety car was deployed as debris all over the place was cleared up.

As if all that wasn’t dramatic enough, there was excitement in the pits as Kovalainen and Raikkonen both stopped at the end of the lap. The Ferrari driver had damaged his front wing against Webber, who had got away second behind Barrichello at the start. Kovalainen pulled away too soon from refuelling, taking his fuel hose with him. Raikkonen, right behind, then ran through a flash fire as fuel spewed from Kovalainen’s trailing fuel hose.

When the racing resumed on the sixth lap Button launched an attack on Franco-Swiss rookie Renault driver Romain Grosjean. They ran side by side and repassed one another a couple of times in some tense wheel-to-wheel racing, but this was the Jenson Button who won six of the first seven races and he wasn’t having any of that and soon settled the issue. Next on the list was Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima, whom he deposed on the seventh lap. Rookie Kamui Kobayashi proved tougher, but after one failed attempt in Turn One Button made is stick.

From the 35th lap he had the championship in his sights, as the pit stops ebbed and flowed. The ones that really mattered came from the 50th lap onwards. Barrichello pitted then from second place. On Lap 55 Button pitted from third. On Lap 56 Vettel pitted from third. When the dust had finally settled on the 59th lap, Webber was leading Kubica by 5.2s, with Barrichello third from Hamilton, Vettel and Button. Thus Button had 88 points; Barrichello 77, Vettel 73. The miracle had happened.

As Webber reeled off the final laps after a superb drive that was inevitably overshadowed by the title drama, and Kubica maintained his surprise second place despite nursing an overheating engine, Hamilton came pushing up behind Barrichello after McLaren cleverly changed his strategy after the first-lap carnage, and overtook him on the 61st lap. The Brazilian, so desperate to win on his home ground, was in trouble. A tyre had punctured, and he needed to make a third pit stop two laps later. It was the final icing on Button’s cake, as he jumped up to fifth place behind Vettel.

Raikkonen brought his Ferrari home sixth after the team also changed his strategy early on when he needed that new front wing. Sebastien Buemi was in the hunt all afternoon for Toro Rosso and deserved his seventh place finish ahead of the deeply disappointed Barrichello, while Heikki Kovalainen could yet be penalised heavily from his ninth place as stewards investigate opening lap contact with Ferrari's Giancarlo Fisichella and his subsequent pit-lane drama.

Kobayashi finished 10th after a great debut for Toyota, while Fisichella had another unobtrusive race to 11th in the second F60 ahead of Vitantonio Liuzzi in the surviving Force India, Grosjean and Jaime Alguersuari. Neither Williams finished, Kazuki Nakajima crashing heavily after an incident with Kobayashi and Nico Rosberg suffering gearbox problems. Nick Heidfeld also joined the retirement list, for mechanical reasons.

Finally, with 89 points nobody could beat Button whatever happens in Abu Dhabi, and to rub salt into Barrichello’s wounds he dropped to third on 72 behind Vettel’s 74.

All through the slowing down lap, Button sang over the radio to his delighted team: “We are the champions my friends!”

And afterwards he could not stop himself. “It’s great to be sat here as the world champion, and personally I feel that I deserve it. I was the best over 16 races and that’s what world champions are. I am it. I am a world champion! And I’m gonna keep saying it all night!”
Selected Driver Quotes
MARK WEBBER: "I'm happy with that! You never know in the first stint of a race what's going to happen, although I knew Rubens (Barrichello) and Robert (Kubica) were a bit shorter than me. I was matching Robert's pace to start with and when they made their pit stops, I knew I had a clear run to make a gap to start my second stint. I just cleared Jenson (Button) on my outlap, which was good too. I was just making sure the tyres were comfortable for the whole stint. I was a little bit panicky in the second stint as Robert started closing, although my pace was not too bad and I knew he was quite short in the middle stint. I was then able to control the gap to Robert and he backed off towards the end, which gave me a nice run home. It's fantastic feeling to win again. As a team we've had quite a few victories this year off the back of some tough seasons, but today has confirmed second place for us in the Constructors' Championship. We're very proud of what we have achieved this year as a team - I want to thank Renault as well, the engines have been very good and they're not easy environments for them to work in. Congratulations to Jenson and also to Brawn on clinching the Championships today after a good fight. It was a good weekend for the Australians, as Jason Crump won the World Speedway Championship last night. He's a close friend of mine and he won it under difficult conditions, so a good weekend."
JENSON BUTTON: "Today was the best race that I've driven in my career and I'm really going to enjoy this moment. For the team to win the Constructors' and the Drivers Championships here is just fantastic and they deserve it so very much after all the difficult times that we all went through over the winter. This season has been a rollercoaster ride from the elation of the wins at the start to the hard graft in the second half of the season which has seen us grind out the results needed to take the titles. We have to say a huge thank you to Norbert Haug and Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines for all of the support that they have given us over the year. Without their commitment and faith in the team, and the fantastic engine that they have provided, we would not have been able to achieve the success that we have today. The list of people that I have to thank personally is too long to mention but they all know who they are and how much their support has meant to me over the years. To everyone back at the factory in Brackley, thank you for all of your hard work and for producing such a fantastic car. It's going to take a while to sink in but for now I'm just reveling in the achievement of a lifelong dream. It's going to be one hell of a party tonight!"
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SEBASTIAN VETTEL: "I think there is a guy at Brawn who is happier than me today. All in all it was a good race - starting from the back and finishing fourth. We were helped by some people crashing, but I think fourth was the maximum we could do today. Without the problems in yesterday's qualifying, we could have won the race, but we didn't so there's not much more to say. The pressure wasn't too much during the race, I was just focusing on each lap. I knew that Jenson was just ahead or behind me and would score points for the Championship - but you don't really think about it until the last couple of laps. Before that you never know what can still happen. At one point I was praying for rain, there was the smell of rain, but it didn't come. Congratulations to Jenson and Brawn, I think they did the best job this year."
RUBENS BARRICHELLO: "Whilst I am obviously disappointed with the result today, I have to be pleased with our year at Brawn GP. We really have a great car and a great team and it has truly been an amazing year when you consider the situation that we were in just before the start of the season. I'm truly pleased for Jenson as a friend and he is a great champion. We have a fantastic relationship working together and that has really shown through this year. Well done to him. It was a true fight and I fought really hard but he really won it in the first half of the season. The team have been superb this year and they thoroughly deserve to win both the Constructors' and Drivers' Championships today. We're going to have a great night together and I'm pleased to have played my part in securing the Constructors' title for the team."
RACE RESULTS:
Pos|No|Driver|Team|Laps|Time/Retired|Grid|Pts
1|14|Mark Webber|RBR-Renault|71|1:32:23.081|2|10
2|5|Robert Kubica|BMW Sauber|71|+7.6 secs|8|8
3|1|Lewis Hamilton|McLaren-Mercedes|71|+18.9 secs|17|6
4|15|Sebastian Vettel|RBR-Renault|71|+19.6 secs|15|5
5|22|Jenson Button|Brawn-Mercedes|71|+29.0 secs|14|4
6|4|Kimi Räikkönen|Ferrari|71|+33.3 secs|5|3
7|12|Sebastien Buemi|STR-Ferrari|71|+35.9 secs|6|2
8|23|Rubens Barrichello|Brawn-Mercedes|71|+45.4 secs|1|1
9|10|Kamui Kobayashi|Toyota|71|+63.3 secs|11
10|3|Giancarlo Fisichella|Ferrari|71|+70.6 secs|19
11|21|Vitantonio Liuzzi|Force India-Mercedes|71|+71.3 secs|20
12|2|Heikki Kovalainen|McLaren-Mercedes|71|+73.4 secs|16
13|8|Romain Grosjean|Renault|70|+1 Lap|13
14|11|Jaime Alguersuari|STR-Ferrari|70|+1 Lap|12
Ret|17|Kazuki Nakajima|Williams-Toyota|30|Accident|9
Ret|16|Nico Rosberg|Williams-Toyota|27|Gearbox|7
Ret|6|Nick Heidfeld|BMW Sauber|21|Out of fuel|18
Ret|20|Adrian Sutil|Force India-Mercedes|0|Accident|3
Ret|9|Jarno Trulli|Toyota|0|Accident|4
Ret|7|Fernando Alonso|Renault|0|Accident|10

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After months of speculation, Toyota announced today that they will not participate in the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship. Read the official statement form the president of Toyota Motor Corporation.
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OFFICIAL STATEMENT:

Akio Toyoda
President
Toyota Motor Corporation

"Thank you for taking the time to join us today for this press conference.

We have convened this conference to make an important announcement about Toyota’s participation in Formula One competition.

Toyota has engaged in F1 racing for eight seasons, starting in two thousand two. But we will conclude our participation in F1 competition with this season.

Our board of directors reached that decision after debating the issue thoroughly. I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to everyone who has supported our F1 program over the past eight years.

That includes the fans who cheered for our team, the companies that sponsored our racing program, the journalists who covered our activities, and the drivers and all the other team members, who shared the excitement of automobiles with people worldwide through F1 racing.

I attended the Japanese Grand Prix last month at the Suzuka Circuit. The passion of the fans was infectious. The team play displayed by our F1 team, Panasonic Toyota Racing, was incredibly impressive, and our driver’s performance was genuinely stunning.

When I think of the fans, emotions well up inside me. All I can hope is that people will understand that this painful decision was unavoidable in view of the present business environment and the medium- and long-range outlook. Our fans have been calling on us to really go at it next year. And I offer my sincere apologies that we will be unable to fulfil their expectations.

The Toyota F1 team has competed in one hundred forty F1 races over the past eight years. It has tackled each race with intensity and has honed its competitiveness continuously.

I salute the Toyota team for performing impressively in head-to-head competition with the greatest names in motor sports. And I thank the members of our team for sharing with us their passion and their vision.

I have been calling for product-focused management since I became president at Toyota this June. I have called for Toyota to concentrate on serving customers one at a time with flavorful vehicles that make them happy.

That priority mandates a fundamental shift in resource allocation. A sad result of that shift is that we have insufficient resources to maintain a viable commitment to F1 racing.

Economic and market conditions remain extremely trying. But adversity only heightens the importance of rethinking our proper legacy for the next generation.

A commitment to contributing to society through the manufacture of automobiles has steered all activity at Toyota since the company’s beginning. Today, we are undertaking several initiatives to promote the development of automotive culture on a new and higher plane.

Motor sports remain an important means of personalizing the automobile in the eyes of customers. Motor sports also remain an important means of cultivating human resources and our R&D operations.

We will rethink our motor-sports activities with an eye to maximizing those benefits while addressing economic realities. And we will take what we learn on the racetrack and put it to work in ever-better vehicles that are aimed at meeting the highest of expectations.

Thank you".