Heavy rain had led to a ten minute delay in the start of the Korean Grand Prix and when it was deemed safe to start the race it was done so under the Safety Car, lasting just three laps before being red flagged.

It was forty eight minutes before the race got back under way and even then it was necessary to start behind the Safety Car, with half hour passing before normal racing was able to begin.

With Sebastian Vettel controlling the race from the front and Red Bull team mate Mark Webber in second, Fernando Alonso was able to keep in touch with the leaders in third place.

Light rain was still falling when on lap nineteen, Mark Webber lost control of his car, spinning across the track and bouncing back on narrowly avoiding the following Ferrari of Alonso, but collecting the fourth place Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and ending the race for both the Mercedes and Red Bull drivers.

It was all the more upsetting to see Rosberg involved through no fault of his own after displaying some brilliant aggressive driving to force himself past Lewis Hamilton into fourth place earlier on, in what was the Mercedes drivers best drive for some time.

Another frustrating Safety Car period followed as the debris was cleared from the track conditions appeared to be improving, McLaren’s Jenson Button was the first intothe pits to switch to intermediate tyres, emerging behind a traffic jam of cars in what was already a dreadful day for the current World Champion.

Another crash involving Sebastien Buemi and Timo Glock brought the Safety Car out yet again and Alonso and Hamilton entered the pit lane together for a change of tyres.

The Ferrari team had trouble with the front right wheel nut, giving McLaren the edge as Hamilton emerged from the pit lane some distance ahead of Alonso. But as the race got back underway Hamilton lost his car going into the first corner allowing the wiley Spaniard to claim the place back.

A hapless Button was forced back even further down the field following one of the many incidents in the race involving Adrian Sutil, who appeared to be having the time of his life spinning his car off the track and forcing other drivers to take evasive action with his uncontrolled late braking manoeuvres, totally oblivious to the madness of it all.

The Force India driver was penalised after the race with a five place grid penalty as well as being fined $10,000 for his irresponsible driving while knowing that he had a brake problem! Torro Roso’s Buemi also penalised for his crash with Glock and taking a five place grid penalty.

Back to the race and Alonso looked to be closing the gap on Vettel but still some way behind the German driver as dusk started to close in, the Red Bull driver understandably moaning on the radio to his team complaining that visibility was getting bad.

And then on lap 46 the Red Bull engine gave up, ending Vettel’s race and the Ferrari breezed past to lead the Grand Prix. Darkness was descending by the time that Fernado Alonso took the chequered flag, winning the race and putting himself in the driving seat for the Drivers Championship.

Korean Grand Prix Results:

Position     Driver     Race Time
1     F Alonso     2:48:20.810
2     L Hamilton     2:48:35.809
3     F Massa     2:48:51.678
4     M Schumacher     2:49:00.498
5     R Kubica     2:49:08.544
6     V Liuzzi     2:49:14.381
7     R Barrichello     2:49:30.067
8     K Kobayashi     2:49:38.699
9     N Heidfeld     2:49:40.917
10     N Hulkenberg     2:49:41.661

Drivers Championship Leaderboard:

Driver     Points
1      F Alonso       231
2     M Webber     220
3     L Hamilton    210
4     S Vettel          206
5     J Button        189
6      F Massa       143
7      R Kubica     124
8      N Rosberg   122
9      M Schumacher     66
10      R Barrichello     47

Lewis Hamilton – Canadian Grand Prix 2010

Lewis Hamilton crossed the line in the McLaren to take the chequered flag at the Canadian Grand Prix despite being penalised and reprimanded for running out of fuel at the end of his qualifying session on Saturday.  Hamilton was fined $10,000 after stopping on track with an empty tank and a precedent was set to ensure that this is not a regular occurrence.

The Red Bull driver Mark Webber had qualified in second place but was penalised for replacing the gear box on his car and moved down the grid five places.

Lewis Hamilton took the lead at the beginning of the race ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button as a collision between Felipe Massa’s Ferrari and the Force India of Vitantonio Liuzzi occurred.

Within 7 laps of the race most of the front runners were in the pits swapping from the soft to the harder tyre options leaving Vettel in the lead followed by his team-mate Mark Webber. The whole race was to be decided on tyre choices with the Red Bull team drivers choosing different options as the race progressed.  While Vettel chose the option tyre Webber stayed on the primes with the hope of building enough of a lead so as not to lose the lead when he needed to re-pit for his option tyre.  Webber’s hopes were dashed when he was passed one lap before his scheduled stop by Hamilton.

Alonso was sitting in second place in his Ferrari until lap 56 when he was passed by the second McLaren of Jenson Button after getting held up by Karun Chandhok in the Force India.

Robert Kubica was forced to take three stops during his race due to tyre wear and almost collided with the Mercedes of Michael Scumacher emerging from the second stop.  Both cars were jostling for the place over the kerbs in turns three and four, compromising both cars and resulting in Schumacher finishing down in eleventh place.  Kubica was later reprimanded for his dangerous driving when he cut across the track in front of Adrian Sutil to take the entry lane of the pits.

Hamilton took the chequered flag ahead of Button with Alonso in third place.  Vettel finished in fourth place followed by his team-mate Webber in fifth and Nico Rosberg for Mercedes in sixth, Robert Kubica in seventh, Sebastien Buemi in eighth, Liuzzi in ninth and Adrian Sutil in tenth.

Felipe Massa was given a 20-second penalty after the race for speeding in the pit lane after an unscheduled stop when he tangled with Michael Schumacher at the final chicane resulting in a damaged front wing.

Here are the results;

1. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 70 laps 1hr 33m 53.456s
2. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +2.2s
3. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari +9.2s
4. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +37.8s
5. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault +39.2s
6. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +56.0s
7. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +57.3s
8. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
9. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
10. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +1 lap

all times unofficial

Sebastien Vettel – Red Bull Racing 2010

Following last weekends Monaco Grand Prix, the joint championship leader, Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel has fuelled rumours that he could be heading for a drive with the Ferrari team next season.

The German driver has made no secret of the fact that his ultimate aim would be to one day drive for the Ferrari crew although his team-mate Mark Webber and winner of Sunday’s race has also been linked to be the replacement for Felipe Massa’s seat in 2011.

Webber crossed the line to take the chequered flag for the second time in two weeks at the Monaco Grand Prix for the Red Bull team, followed by team-mate Vettel in second.

The incident packed race saw the safety car deployed four times after several accidents during the 78 laps but Mark Webber managed to stay ahead and focused after each slot to make it another Red Bull one-two.

The first yellow flag was seen being waved from lap 1 of the race after Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg crashed his car into the barrier of the tunnel causing the first deployment of the safety car.  Hulkenberg dropped back at the start of the race after suffering problems with his clutch on the formation lap.  It was later reported that his car had encountered a front wing mounting failure which will be investigated by the team.

Current F1 World Champion Jenson Button was out of the race by lap 3 after qualifying in eighth place on the grid.  Apparently a cooling cover had been left on the left-hand side pod and wasn’t spotted until the McLaren had already entered it’s grid position.  Following the deployment of the safety car, the McLaren engine began to overheat causing a small fire and ending Button’s race as he was forced to switch off his car.

The safety car entered the pit lane on lap 7 and the restart was underway with Webber again leading the race followed by Vettel and Robert Kubica in third.

Fernando Alonso was forced to start from the pit lane in his Ferrari after hitting the barriers in practice.  The Spaniard made a mistake at Massanet, only 20 minutes into the final practice session, damaging the chassis which meant that the car would not be available to him for qualifying on Saturday.

Alonso made an early pit stop as the race got underway, having passed Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok, Lucas di Grassi was defending his line and kept Alonso behind him until he made a mistake on lap 10, allowing the Ferrari to slip past.

Pedro de la Rosa retired his BMW Sauber on lap 24 after a long pit stop saw smoke billowing from the back of his car and he was pushed into his garage.

Lap 28 was the end of the race for the Virgin driver Lucas di Grassi and on lap 32 the safety car was once again on track after Rubens Barrichello crashed out and was stranded in the middle of the circuit at Massenet.  The Brazilian had been running in tenth place when he suffered a failure at the rear of his Williams, sending him into a spin and into the barrier and leaving him with front and rear wings missing and a broken suspension.

The race was again underway on lap 34 but was deployed again on lap 43 after it was reported that a drain cover was loose at turn 3.  After a brief investigation it was decided that it was safe to continue and the safety car came in the following lap.

Bruno Senna parked his HRT F1 in his pit garage on lap 63 of the race while on lap 66, Heikki Kovalainen suffered a problem with his gearbox resulting in a long pit stop while the crew battled to try and get him back on track.

On lap 74, the safety car was deployed yet again after a huge incident at La Rascasse as Jarno Trulli’s car went over the top of Chandhok’s as both cars fought for the line.  Trulli had tried to put his Lotus up the inside of the HRT of Chandhok but the two touched wheels resulting in the Lotus jumping over the HRT as Chandhok was seen trying to protect his head.

With only two laps of the race remaining it looked as if the drivers would finish the Monaco Grand Prix behind the safety car but it exited the track just before the final lap to see Webber cross the line to take the greatest victory of his career.

Michael Shumacher was given a 20 second penalty after the race after it was deemed that he had broken regulations by overtaking.  The rules state that the drivers must take the chequered flag in the order they have been running in if the safety car has been deployed.

Here are the results;

1. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 78 laps 1hr 50m 13.355s
2. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +00m 00.4s
3. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +00m 01.6s
4. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 02.6s
5. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 04.3s
6. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 06.3s
7. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +00m 06.6s
8. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +00m 06.9s
9. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes +00m 07.3s
10. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari +00m 08.1s

11. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari +00m 09.1s
12. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +00m 25.7s
13. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault +5 laps [DNF]
14. Karun Chandhok India HRT-Cosworth +8 laps [DNF]
15. Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Cosworth +8 laps [DNF]

Rtd Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Cosworth 58 laps completed
Rtd Bruno Senna Brazil HRT-Cosworth 58 laps completed
Rtd Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 30 laps completed
Rtd Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari 26 laps completed
Rtd Lucas di Grassi Brazil Virgin-Cosworth 25 laps completed
Rtd Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth 22 laps completed
Rtd Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari 21 laps completed
Rtd Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 2 laps completed
Rtd Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 0 laps completed

Fastest lap:

Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1m 15.192s lap 71

all results unofficial

Michael Schumacher – Mercedes F1 2010

Michael Schumacher is to have a radically re-vamped Mercedes F1 for the coming Spanish Grand Prix after it was claimed that the car that he has been driving since the opening of the 2010 series had not been designed to his driving style.

A longer wheelbase has been introduced for the newly designed version of the Mercedes which will in fact move the front wheels further forward, which in turn, determine the weight balance of the car that the team had got wrong according to Ross Brawn and improve down-force.

The Mercedes will not be having a new chassis as has been reported but the one previously used during testing after it was reported that the one Schumacher has been racing in was damaged and repaired but was not working to its fully capacity along with a major new aerodynamic revamp.

The host of changes to the former seven-times champions Mercedes is hoped to improve his F1 comeback after scoring just 10 points since his return to the sport in March.

The team-mate of Schumacher, Nico Rosberg has meanwhile finished twice on the podium this season leaving him in second place in the driver standings.

Jenson Button – McLaren 2010

It was Jenson Button in the McLaren that took the victory at this weekends China Grand Prix followed by his team-mate Lewis Hamilton in second and Nico Rosberg in third for Mercedes.

Light rain began to fall just before the start of the race as the Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber took their first and second place slots on the grid.

It was Fernando Alonso that slotted into third place for the Ferrari team as the lights changed but was later given a drive-through penalty for what was considered a jump start.

A three-car tangle in the opening stages of the race brought out the safety car after Vitantonio Liuzzi made a mistake at turn 6, spinning across the track and collecting Sebastien Buemi and Kamui Kobayashi on the way for the first three retirements of the day.

With the safety car on track many of the drivers took the opportunity of entering the pits to fit intermediate tyres although it wasn’t long before those drivers realised there mistake.   While Button, Rosberg, Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov decided not to pit, Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso’s tyres were destroyed after just a handful of laps.

As the drivers returned to their pit garage, Hamilton and Vettel were seen coming down the pit entry side-by-side, they were both released and again ran side-by-side towards the pit exit.  After being investigated it was decided that it was deemed ‘a racing incident’ with both drivers being reprimanded for what was considered driving in ‘a dangerous manner’.

As the cars rejoined the track after the second rain shower had sent them back to the pits, Button was still leading the race, building up a gap at the front until the safety car was once again deployed after a coming together between the Force India of Adrian Sutil and the Toro Rosso of Jaime Alguersuari, resulting in a broken nose cone for the Spanish driver.

As the safety car went off track on lap 25, Button backed-up the pack seeing Webber forced off track by Hamilton as they battled to get away at the front. Hamilton carved his way through the field to be back in third position by lap 29 passing Michael Schumacher, Petrov and then Kubica.

The drivers were forced to return to their garages again for fresh intermediate tyres, with Hamilton managing to make a jump on Rosberg as they exited the pits.

Towards the end of the race, the tyres were practically bald, causing Button to run off track although he had built-up enough of a gap to hold his position at the front and take the chequered flag for his second win of the season followed by the second McLaren of Hamilton in second.

Rosberg took the final step of the podium ahead of the Ferrari of Alonso in fourth, Kubica in fifth and Vettel in sixth.  Webber looked set to take seventh position until he was pipped at the post by Petrov on the penultimate lap, putting him back in eighth but still ahead of the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa and Schumacher in tenth.

There were the inevitable retirements during the course of the race with Jarno Trulli going out on lap 26 after his Lotus developed hydraulic problems.  Timo Glock failed to start the race after his Virgin Racing car wouldn’t start as he lined-up on the grid, and then again as he waited to leave the pit lane as the race got underway. Lucas di Grassi and Pedro de la Rosa also both failed to finish the race, the Virgin racing car having problem with it’s hydraulic system and the BMW Sauber car developing engine problems.

Here’s the results;

1. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 56 laps 1hr 46m 42.163s
2. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 01.5s
3. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +00m 09.4s
4. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 11.8s
5. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +00m 22.2s
6. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +00m 33.3s
7. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault +00m 47.6s
8. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault +00m 52.1s
9. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 57.7s
10. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +01m 01.7s

Rtd Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Cosworth 26 laps completed
Rtd Lucas di Grassi Brazil Virgin-Cosworth 18 laps completed
Rtd Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari 17 laps completed
Rtd Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 0 laps completed
Rtd Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari 0 laps completed
Rtd Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes 0 laps completed
Rtd Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth 0 laps completed

Kazuki Nakajima – Williams Toyota – 2009

As the silly season arrives in the Formula One paddock, everyone is trying to figure out which team will be using which engine in 2010.

It’s widely known that the Williams team have been looking for a new supplier, so it won’t be much of surprise to most people that they will be using a Renault engine, expect an announcement in the next few days.

Mercedes Benz are said to be limited to supplying  four of the teams with their engines and already have deals in place with McLaren, Brawn GP, Force India, and it is rumoured that the deal with Red Bull Racing will be announced any day soon.

Will Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Rosberg still be in the Williams F1 cockpit in 2010?  No

Nakajima will be going to the Toyota team for 2010 but the Williams garage will have Robert Kubica on board, a good move I think.

Rosberg will be joining the McLaren pit alongside Lewis Hamilton, with the Williams team rumoured to be thinking of giving their test driver Nico Hulkenberg a shot in the second seat.

More to follow, but you heard it here first!