Belgian GP: Hamilton wins incident-filled race

RichardsF1    F1 2010, Race Reviews     Lewis Hamilton, McLaren

Lewis Hamilton has regained the lead in the Drivers’ Championship by keeping a cool head to win a chaotic Belgian Grand Prix, finishing just under two seconds clear of Mark Webber, who was closely followed by Robert Kubica.

The winning margin over the Red Bull told little of the story, as Hamilton fundamentally dominated the 44-lap race from the start, outdragging a sluggish Webber off the grid, surviving two Safety Car interruptions, and livening his day up with his own trip through a gravel trap along the way!

Starting from pole, Webber’s usually customarily strong getaways deserted him when he needed them most, and he badly bogged it down off the line as his anti-stall kicked in, dropping him to sixth on the run to La Source.

read more

Belgian GP: Final Classification (AMENDED)

RichardsF1    F1 2010, Results    

	Driver		Team	Laps	Result
1.	Lewis Hamilton		McLaren Mercedes	44	1:29:04.268
2.	Mark Webber		Red Bull Renault	44	+ 1.571
3.	Robert Kubica		Renault	44	+ 3.493
4.	Felipe Massa		Ferrari	44	+ 8.264
5.	Adrian Sutil		Force India Mercedes	44	+ 9.094
6.	Nico Rosberg		Mercedes GP	44	+ 12.359
7.	Michael Schumacher		Mercedes GP	44	+ 15.548
8.	Kamui Kobayashi		Sauber Ferrari	44	+ 16.678
9.	Vitaly Petrov		Renault	44	+ 23.851
10.	Vitantonio Liuzzi		Force India Mercedes	44	+ 34.831
11.	Pedro de la Rosa		Sauber Ferrari	44	+ 36.019
12.	Sébastien Buemi		Toro Rosso Ferrari	44	+ 39.895
13.	Jaime Alguersuari*		Toro Rosso Ferrari	44	+ 49.457
14.	Nico Hülkenberg		Williams Cosworth	43	+ 1 lap
15.	Sebastian Vettel		Red Bull Renault	43	+ 1 lap
16.	Heikki Kovalainen		Lotus Cosworth	43	+ 1 lap
17.	Lucas di Grassi		Virgin Cosworth	43	+ 1 lap
18.	Timo Glock		Virgin Cosworth	43	+ 1 lap
19.	Jarno Trulli		Lotus Cosworth	43	+ 1 lap
20.	Sakon Yamamoto		HRT Cosworth	42	+ 2 laps
	Not Classified
	Fernando Alonso		Ferrari	37	Accident
	Jenson Button		McLaren Mercedes	15	Collision
	Bruno Senna		HRT Cosworth	5	Mechanical
	Rubens Barrichello		Williams Cosworth	0	Collision

* Denotes 20-second time penalty applied for passing Vitantonio Liuzzi off-circuit

Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 Review

RichardsF1    IndyCar, Race Reviews    

There’s an old saying that sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. While Dario Franchitti may not have had the fastest car today, a calculated gamble in pit strategy combined with the good luck associated with a rival’s misfortune combined to send Franchitti to victory lane tonight in Chicago.

Our resident IndyCar correspondent Matt Lennon takes a look at a truly action-packed race in which the top-ten drivers were covered by one second after 300 miles of racing!

read more

Peak Antifreeze Indy 300: Final Classification

RichardsF1    IndyCar, Results    

	Driver		Team	Time
1.	Dario Franchitti		Chip Ganassi Racing	200 laps
2.	Dan Wheldon		Panther Racing	+ 0.0423
3.	Marco Andretti		Andretti Autosport	+ 0.1051
4.	Ryan Hunter-Reay		Andretti Autosport	+ 0.1631
5.	Tony Kanaan		Andretti Autosport	+ 0.3408
6.	Helio Castroneves		Penske Racing	+ 0.4868
7.	Justin Wilson		Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	+ 0.5953
8.	Scott Dixon		Chip Ganassi Racing	+ 0.9137
9.	Vitor Meria		A.J Foyt Enterprises	+ 0.9588
10.	Graham Rahal		Newman/Haas Racing	+ 0.9841
11.	Ryan Briscoe		Penske Racing	+ 1.0185
12.	Bertrand Baguette		Conquest Racing	+ 1.0833
13.	Hideki Mutoh		Newman/Haas Racing	+ 1.3042
14.	Danica Patrick		Andretti Autosport	+ 1.5658
15.	Sarah Fisher		Sarah Fisher Racing	+ 1 lap
16.	Will Power		Penske Racing	+ 1 lap
17.	Mario Moraes		KV Racing Technology	+ 1 lap
18.	Davey Hamilton		De Ferran Luczo Dragon Racing	+ 1 lap
19.	Milka Duno		Dale Coyne Racing	+ 3 laps
	Not Classified
	Ed Carpenter		Panther Racing	179 laps
	Jay Howard		Sarah Fisher Racing	162 laps
	Alex Lloyd		Dale Coyne Racing	162 laps
	Simona de Silvestro		HVM Racing	150 laps
	Ana Beatriz		Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	88 laps
	Alex Tagliani		FAZZT Race Team	85 laps
	Takuma Sato		KV Racing Technology	80 laps
	E.J. Viso		KV Racing Technology	80 laps
	Tomas Scheckter		Conquest Racing	4 laps
	Raphael Matos		De Ferran Luczo Dragon Racing	4 laps

Chandhok: No return to the HRT cockpit soon

RichardsF1    Driver Market, Formula 1     Hispania Racing, Karun Chandhok

Rumours are indicating that Karun Chandhok will remain on the HRT sidelines until at least the end of October, meaning he may next race at the penultimate round in Brazil.

Missing his third consecutive race while HRT favours the allegedly greater sponsorship dollars wielded by the team’s reserve driver, Sakon Yamamoto, the latest rumours are pointing to the Chennai-born driver being out of action for the upcoming rounds at Italy, Singapore, Japan and Korea.

He will, however, take part in a Formula 1 demonstration for Red Bull at Korea’s new Grand Prix circuit next Saturday.

read more

Amended Belgian GP grid

RichardsF1    Formula 1     FIA, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Rules, Sebastien Buemi, Timo Glock

The FIA has published an amended provisional grid for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix in the wake of the penalties handed out to four drivers.

The biggest beneficiaries are the two Lotus drivers of Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli, who each gain three grid spots from their respective 16th and 18th original grid positions.

The penalties for Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg were already documented, and these see the Mercedes GP pairing drop from 11th to 21st and 12th to 17th respectively.

However, Rosberg’s 17th-placed penalty becomes a 14th-placed grid slot when the three- and five-place penalties dished out to Sébastien Buemi and Timo Glock for blocking competitors during qualifying are factored in.

The adjusted grid can be viewed below:

Grid penalties for Buemi and Glock

RichardsF1    Formula 1     FIA, Jarno Trulli, Rules, Sebastien Buemi, Timo Glock

Sébastien Buemi and Timo Glock have been slapped with post-qualifying grid penalties for obstructing rival drivers during qualifying.

Buemi – who qualified 15th quickest – was issued with a three-place penalty for impeding Mercedes GP driver Nico Rosberg during Q2, which is believed to have contributed to Rosberg failing to make the final stage of qualifying.

Glock was issued with a five-place penalty after being found guiltier of the more serious charge of blocking a rival driver, that being HRT driver Sakon Yamamoto during Q1.

The German’s efforts of getting his Virgin Racing car into Q2 for just the second time this season will have come to nought.

Additionally, Lotus’ Jarno Trulli was fined €4,400 for breaking the pit lane speed limit during qualifying.

[Original image via AUTOSPORT]

Barrichello elected to top GPDA role

RichardsF1    Formula 1     GPDA, Nick Heidfeld, Rubens Barrichello

Rubens Barrichello has been elected as the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association’s new leader.

In the wake of Nick Heidfeld having to relinquish the role due to his switch to the role of Pirelli’s test driver, the GPDA met at Spa this weekend to elect a new chairman.

The GPDA usually holds a preference to keep a test driver in the chairman role, but the group elected Barrichello, whose experience in F1 outstrips the entire grid.

Barrichello will work alongside the current GPDA directors, Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa.

[Original image via Sutton Images]

Belgian GP Qualifying: Webber takes pole

RichardsF1    F1 2010, Results     Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing

Red Bull has continued its utter domination of qualifying in 2010 by taking its twelfth pole position with Mark Webber doing the honours in a frenetic wet-dry knockout session.

The championship leader took his fifth pole position of 2010 with his first flying lap in Q3, before light rain fell at the end of the session and effectively put paid to any hopes anyone else had of bettering his time.

Lewis Hamilton threw the kitchen sink at a good lap and came just eight-hundredths short of snatching pole position from the Australian, and he lines up ahead of Robert Kubica, whose Renault has shown an improved turn of speed with its ‘F-duct’ finally being debuted.

read more

Five-place grid penalty for Rosberg

RichardsF1    Formula 1     Mercedes GP, Nico Rosberg, Rules

Nico Rosberg has been slapped with a five-place grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix after his team was forced to change his gearbox ahead of today’s qualifying session.

The gearbox was changed was it failed following Saturday’s final practice session, and with the unit not having lasted the mandatory four races, it means he will line up five places lower than where he is able to qualify.

Team-mate Michael Schumacher already has a 10-place grid penalty for his antics at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

[Original image via GP Update]

Belgian GP 3rd Practice: Webber heads final session

RichardsF1    F1 2010, Results     Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing

Mark Webber has broken Fernando Alonso’s dominance of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend by topping the timesheets in the third and final practice session in the lead up to qualifying for this weekend’s 44-lap race.

The final opportunity for the drivers to get their car set-up right occurred in mixed weather conditions similar tow both of Friday’s sessions. The track conditions started off damp and steadily improved through the middle of the hour, until a torrential downpour hit the circuit in the last fifteen minutes.

Several drivers took a turn at the top of the order while the track dried out, with the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Adrian Sutil, Nico Hülkenberg, Robert Kubica and Lewis Hamilton all having a turn at the top of the timesheets.

read more

Could Bridgestone run out of intermediate tyres?

RichardsF1    Formula 1     Bridgestone

Bridgestone has expressed concerns that drivers could run out of intermediate tyres if the balance of the race weekend continues to occur in mixed weather conditions.

With the opening practice sessions being run in wet/dry conditions and with drivers limited to just four sets of intermediate tyres over the course of a race weekend, the likelihood that they may run out of usable tyres is of concern for Bridgestone.

Bridgestone’s head of motorsport tyre development, Hirohide Hamashima, was critical of teams who ran intermediate tyres in the second practice session, where conditions were much drier.

read more

Renault to retain ‘F-duct’ for Belgian GP race

RichardsF1    Formula 1     Renault, Technical

Renault has confirmed it plans to keep its ‘F-duct’ on the R30 for the remainder of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, with the drivers giving positive feedback for the downforce stalling device.

Robert Kubica reckoned the boost in straight-line speed contributed heavily to his strong performance in the opening two practice sessions, where he finished third- and fourth-quickest in the opening practice sessions, respectively.

read more

Red Bull passes revised front wing test

RichardsF1    Formula 1     FIA, McLaren, Red Bull Racing, Rules, Technical

No doubt a few sighs of relief in the Red Bull garages at Spa-Francorchamps, with the FIA stewards passing the cars’ front wings in the stronger flexi-wing tests conducted this weekend.

In the wake of intense speculation that some teams’ front wings are flexing more than the regulations permit, the Red Bull RB6 and McLaren MP4-25 were subject to the new tests during an inspection session after practice at the Belgian Grand Prix.

read more

Belgian GP: Friday Press Conference

RichardsF1    Formula 1     John Booth, Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren, Mercedes GP, Mike Gascoyne, Ross Brawn, Team Lotus, Virgin Racing

Team representatives:
John Booth (Virgin Racing)
Ross Brawn (Mercedes GP)
Mike Gascoyne (Lotus)
Martin Whitmarsh (McLaren)

Q: A question to you all. This time of the year some people tend to wind down on the development of the current car, perhaps work more on the 2011 car. Some people less so as they are still in the championship. Can I just hear what your team’s concentration is on for the rest of the season?

Mike Gascoyne: For us it is very clear that we are fully focused on next year’s car and have been for several months now. I think while it is still important for us to try and maintain 10th place in the championship I think the most important thing as one of the new teams is that we make that step and close the gap to the established teams and we are able to race them properly. I think just being on the grid for us was a huge achievement but you are only a new team once and we are not a new team next year, we are a Formula One team and we have to make sure that we are performing as one, so we very much switched our focus onto next year’s car. It is quite an auspicious day for us. Today was the day a year ago that we actually first walked around our factory and there were three of us. Now there are 220 of us. We hope that we can do a better job for next year, so that is clearly where our focus is.

read more