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  • Return to form for former heroes at Hungarian GP

    Return to form for former heroes at Hungarian GP July 27th, 2009 ByKenneth Hall Kenneth Hall, Author, July 27th, 2009 Kenneth Hall 8 Comments

    Return to form for former heroes at Hungarian GP The race for the 2009 world championship took a sharp turn in Hungary on Sunday, as the sport’s former top drivers showed a return to form. Title contenders Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel both struggled: the Brawn driver just seventh at the chequered flag with tire wear problems, and Red Bull's Vettel suffering a hefty blow with a tumultuous race and retirement.

    It was therefore Mark Weber smiling most, despite the Nurburgring pole sitter and winner finishing just third. The Australian leapfrogged his teammate Vettel in the drivers' standings, and closed the gap to leader Button to 18.5 points.

    "It's a bit of a surprise -- we... The race for the 2009 world championship took a sharp turn in Hungary on Sunday, as the sport’s former top drivers showed a return to form. Title contenders Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel both struggled: the Brawn driver just seventh at the chequered flag with tire wear problems, and Red Bull's Vettel suffering a hefty blow with a tumultuous race and retirement. It was therefore Mark Weber smiling most, despite the Nurburgring pole sitter and winner finishing just third. The Australian leapfrogged his teammate Vettel in the drivers' standings, and closed the gap to leader Button to 18.5 points. "It's a bit of a surprise -- we expected to be a little bit quicker," said the Red Bull driver. "It was a pretty difficult venue for us. We knew we didn't have the advantage we had in the last two races. "I'm pretty happy all in all. We're still very much a force," added Webber. Vettel blamed Kimi Raikkonen, who finished second behind winner Hamilton, for his retirement. "In the first corner I had contact with Kimi," said the German, whose front suspension later failed. The incident sparked the interest of the stewards, who are currently considering whether to penalize the Finn. "I didn't notice that I had touched somebody," said the Ferrari driver, who also made contact with Hamilton at the first corner. "This is the first I've heard of it." Webber, meanwhile, escaped penalty when his crew released him from a pitstop into Raikkonen's path. Brawn's early-season dominance ended definitively in Hungary, after the team had blamed the cold circuit conditions at Silverstone and the Nurburgring. "I don't think we can blame the weather," said Button at Budapest, where ambient temperatures hovered in the mid twenties on Sunday. "We've got to be looking in other areas." At one point over the radio, the 29-year-old was heard to ask his engineer: "How can this car be so bad at the moment?" The Briton later told reporters: "Our car is not driving as well as it did at the start of the season. There's obviously an issue." Pole sitter Fernando Alonso led early but retired after a problem with his right front tire, which fell off shortly after a pitstop. The Spaniard also told reporters he had a problem with the fuel pump. The big news, however, remains the condition of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, who suffered a serious injury from a crash during qualifying. Felipe Massa's pit crew wished the injured Brazilian driver a speedy recovery on the grid, holding up his pit board with the message: "Forza Felipe. Siamo con te" (we are with you). Read More

  • Video: Tag Heuer picks a winner in Hamilton-McQueen 'Duel'

    Video: Tag Heuer picks a winner in Hamilton-McQueen 'Duel' June 26th, 2009 ByJames Martinez James Martinez, Author, June 26th, 2009 James Martinez 0 Comments

    Video: Tag Heuer picks a winner in Hamilton-McQueen 'Duel' The final video in 'The Duel' from watch company Tag Heuer sees F1 champion Lewis Hamilton taking on racer and actor Steve McQueen on the Le Mans track that made McQueen famous. Using editing techniques, the pair is put together on the screen for an impossible race - and a little bad lip syncing.

    The first video invited the viewer to guess whether the 'icon', Steve McQueen, or the 'virtuoso', Lewis Hamilton would win. This final video answers the question, though considering that McQueen is driving his 1970 Porsche 908 and Lewis Hamilton is in his modern-day Formula 1 car, you might think that the contest was over before it started. But... The final video in 'The Duel' from watch company Tag Heuer sees F1 champion Lewis Hamilton taking on racer and actor Steve McQueen on the Le Mans track that made McQueen famous. Using editing techniques, the pair is put together on the screen for an impossible race - and a little bad lip syncing. The first video invited the viewer to guess whether the 'icon', Steve McQueen, or the 'virtuoso', Lewis Hamilton would win. This final video answers the question, though considering that McQueen is driving his 1970 Porsche 908 and Lewis Hamilton is in his modern-day Formula 1 car, you might think that the contest was over before it started. But thanks to the magic of the movies, McQueen and Hamilton slug it out wheel-to-wheel. Three lucky winners who guessed the right outcome at TAG Heuer's site each received their choice of a Monaco watch, a signed Lewis Hamilton helmet or - for the truly adventurous - their very own test drive in a Formula 1 race car. Check out the video to see if your pick was the winner.TAG Heuer's 'The Duel' ends in photo finish Read More

  • F1 title comes alive at British GP

    F1 title comes alive at British GP June 21st, 2009 ByJeremy Weber Jeremy Weber, Author, June 21st, 2009 Jeremy Weber 1 Comment

    F1 title comes alive at British GP A closely fought British GP at Silverstone today marked what possibly could be the last F1 race ever held at the famous circuit. Conditions were warm and in the end there was one clear winner. The toast of Silverstone last year, however, McLaren, continued its dismal season, which plummeted to new depths following today’s events.

    Sebastian Vettel is now 25 points behind Brawn's Button with nine races to go, after his and Mark Webber's Red Bulls were utterly dominant at Silverstone.

    "To be here today and to have a car which showed a clean pair of heels to everyone was very special," said the RB5's designer Adrian Newey, who collected... A closely fought British GP at Silverstone today marked what possibly could be the last F1 race ever held at the famous circuit. Conditions were warm and in the end there was one clear winner. The toast of Silverstone last year, however, McLaren, continued its dismal season, which plummeted to new depths following today’s events. Sebastian Vettel is now 25 points behind Brawn's Button with nine races to go, after his and Mark Webber's Red Bulls were utterly dominant at Silverstone. "To be here today and to have a car which showed a clean pair of heels to everyone was very special," said the RB5's designer Adrian Newey, who collected the constructors' trophy from the podium. Button's sixth place finish, from his season-worst starting position of sixth, was also the Briton's worst result of his otherwise almost seamless 2009 campaign so far. "We've definitely got problems with the car; the car's not performing as we'd hoped," said team boss Ross Brawn just before the 60-lap British grand prix. "If you look at Jenson's position you'd have to say we've dropped back and it looks as if Red Bull has made some progress." Rubens Barrichello, on the lowest step of the podium, said he was relieved to get through the weekend after receiving treatment for back pain from Toyota's Ricardo Ceccarelli and Toro Rosso physios. Lewis Hamilton would have won no fans in the stewards' office with his post-race doughnut on the slowing down lap, but it was a gesture of appeasement to the partisan crowd after finishing sixteenth. Button remains on top of the points tally with 64 points, and is followed by Brawn team mate Rubens Barrichello on 41 points and today’s winner Sebastian Vettel on 39 points. Last year’s champion, Lewis Hamilton, remains in 11th spot with just nine points. Read More

  • Lewis Hamilton to pilot Ayrton Senna’s championship-winning McLaren at Goodwood FOS

    Lewis Hamilton to pilot Ayrton Senna’s championship-winning McLaren at Goodwood FOS June 7th, 2009 ByKenneth Hall Kenneth Hall, Author, June 7th, 2009 Kenneth Hall 1 Comment

    Lewis Hamilton to pilot Ayrton Senna’s championship-winning McLaren at Goodwood FOS In just four weeks at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (FOS), current F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton will tackle the event’s famous 1.16 mile hill-climb in the McLaren-Honda MP4/4 turbo race car that led to Ayrton Senna’s championship win in the 1988 F1 season. Hamilton has been a life-long admirer of the legendary Brazilian driver and to pilot his 1988 MP4/4 is a dream come true for the young Briton.

    In addition to driving Senna’s race car, Hamilton will also demonstrate his more familiar Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-23, which took him to an F1 world championship victory last year. On top of that, Hamilton will also take... In just four weeks at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (FOS), current F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton will tackle the event’s famous 1.16 mile hill-climb in the McLaren-Honda MP4/4 turbo race car that led to Ayrton Senna’s championship win in the 1988 F1 season. Hamilton has been a life-long admirer of the legendary Brazilian driver and to pilot his 1988 MP4/4 is a dream come true for the young Briton. In addition to driving Senna’s race car, Hamilton will also demonstrate his more familiar Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-23, which took him to an F1 world championship victory last year. On top of that, Hamilton will also take along one lucky visitor on a ride up the Festival’s hill-climb in the Mercedes-McLaren SLR supercar. Also on hand will be McLaren F1 test driver Pedro de la Rosa who will take an additional two visitors as passengers in the SLR over the course of the event weekend. Pedro de la Rosa, incidentally, will also be celebrating 10 years of F1 involvement at the event. This year’s Goodwood FOS in the UK will be running from July 3rd to July 5th but unfortunately Lewis Hamilton will only be attending on Sunday the 5th. Read More

  • Former heroes return to form in Monaco

    Former heroes return to form in Monaco May 24th, 2009 ByKenneth Hall Kenneth Hall, Author, May 24th, 2009 Kenneth Hall 1 Comment

    Former heroes return to form in Monaco Conditions were ideal in Monaco for today’s race, with temperatures reaching 77 degrees and the competition close, but in the end there was one clear winner. However, some former heroes showed a return to form but sadly the reprise was not enough to clench the final win.

    Ferrari was finally back on the podium with a determined performance from both drivers delivering third place for Kimi Raikkonen with his team mate Felipe Massa right behind him to take fourth place.

    But the resounding winner was once again Jenson Button, who had so much energy after winning the Monaco grand prix that he managed to run the entire distance of the pit... Conditions were ideal in Monaco for today’s race, with temperatures reaching 77 degrees and the competition close, but in the end there was one clear winner. However, some former heroes showed a return to form but sadly the reprise was not enough to clench the final win. Ferrari was finally back on the podium with a determined performance from both drivers delivering third place for Kimi Raikkonen with his team mate Felipe Massa right behind him to take fourth place. But the resounding winner was once again Jenson Button, who had so much energy after winning the Monaco grand prix that he managed to run the entire distance of the pit straight to get to the podium ceremony in time. After winning the prestigious race, his fifth from six starts so far in 2009, the Brawn driver mistakenly parked into the pits, not further down the road on the straight where the top three runners assemble for the festivities. "I'm lost for words with him really," Ross Brawn, having earlier on Sunday compared Button with Michael Schumacher, told the BBC. "He's exceeding everything I thought possible." Button wasn't lost for words on the radio after crossing the chequered flag: "Monaco baby, yeah!" the resident of the Principality screamed. His lead over teammate Rubens Barrichello, squarely beaten and second on Sunday, is now 16 points, while the closest non-Brawn challenger, Sebastian Vettel, crashed into the barriers at Ste Devote after burning up his soft tires. The German is now an increasingly distant 28 points behind Button with 11 races to go, meaning Button can now afford to lose a couple of points to the Red Bull at every remaining grand prix on the calendar and still win the title. Force India, with Giancarlo Fisichella in ninth, missed scoring a point by less than two seconds, amid a spate of retirements and crashes and the awful form this weekend of the BMWs and Toyotas. Sebastian Buemi punted Nelson Piquet off, while Heikki Kovalainen and Kazuki Nakajima shunted alone, the latter Williams while negotiating the last lap. Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton finished twelfth and a lap down. Read More

  • Hamilton stripped of Australian GP points for "misleading" stewards

    Hamilton stripped of Australian GP points for "misleading" stewards April 2nd, 2009 ByJeremy Weber Jeremy Weber, Author, April 2nd, 2009 Jeremy Weber 2 Comments

    Hamilton stripped of Australian GP points for Stewards earlier today declared that Lewis Hamilton and McLaren offered "deliberately misleading" evidence that resulted in Jarno Trulli losing his podium in a post-race inquiry at the Australian GP last Sunday. The reconvened investigation in Malaysia resulted in Hamilton, the reigning world champion, and his McLaren team being excluded from the results of the 2009 season opener.

    The FIA reopened the case after a "new element" - believed to be radio traffic between the McLaren driver and his pitwall at the time of the incident - came to light.

    A statement issued by the stewards on today confirmed that 24-year-old Hamilton and his team... Stewards earlier today declared that Lewis Hamilton and McLaren offered "deliberately misleading" evidence that resulted in Jarno Trulli losing his podium in a post-race inquiry at the Australian GP last Sunday. The reconvened investigation in Malaysia resulted in Hamilton, the reigning world champion, and his McLaren team being excluded from the results of the 2009 season opener. The FIA reopened the case after a "new element" - believed to be radio traffic between the McLaren driver and his pitwall at the time of the incident - came to light. A statement issued by the stewards on today confirmed that 24-year-old Hamilton and his team "acted in a manner prejudicial to the conduct of the event by providing evidence deliberately misleading to the stewards". The stewards also said the conduct was in breach of the International Sporting Code. McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said everyone was disappointed by what had happened but revealed that were no plans to appeal the decision. "I believe it was a harsh decision. Experience has told us you've got to accept these decisions," he said. Toyota's Trulli, originally demoted to twelfth place having stood on the Albert Park podium, has had his third place result reinstated. Hamilton was originally awarded third place when stewards ruled that Trulli breached regulations by passing the McLaren driver during a safety car period late in the race. Check out the full race results in our previous story by clicking here. Read More

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