Another RedBull front row as Raikkonen left disappointed

So RedBull Racing head into tomorrow's Indian GrandPrix in exactly the same fashion they did in Korea with both car's locking out the front row, however today it was Sebastian Vettel's turn to take pole by just four tenths of a second ahead of team-mate Mark Webber. Vettel is looking for his fourth straight win to extend his lead in the Driver's Championship.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton will start from the second row of the grid in 3rd place alongside team-mate Jenson Button who start's 4th.Vettel's main challenger for the championship, Fernando Alonso could only manage 5th on the grid but is adament that he can still win this year's championship. So with Mark Webber saying that if he is leading and Vettel is second he will not move aside for Vettel, Alosno could as the race progresses be in a position to take advantage of that.

Alonso is joined on the third row of the grid by team-mate Felipe Massa who is in turn ahead of a very disappointed Kimi Raikkonen who felt that he had the car to challenge for a top five qualifying spot however he admitted that he made change's to his car at the end Free Practice Three this morning unfortunately for the Iceman he said that they didn't seem to work and he refused to point the finger at the Lotus team and admitted that he had made the wrong call.

All is not lost for Lotus however, in my opinion as Kimi showed on Friday that he has very good long run pace with the car so we shall have to wait and see what happens tomorrow. It is a very long race.

It was a disappointing session for Mercedes who have in my opinion fallen off the pace of the first runner's dramatically in the latter part of the season. Nico Rosberg who won in China at the start of the season got his car into Q3 however he will start from 10 after opting to save tyre's for the race. Meanwhile team-mate Michael Schumacher who as we all know is being replaced at Mercedes by Lewis Hamilton next season will start down in 14th place.

Hamilton's replacement at McLaren for next season Sergio Perez did a good job for Sauber despite being forced to sirt out FP1 yesterday as he will star from 8th place on the grid just behind Kimi.

So with no grid penalties this weekend we are in for an  extremely interesting start and a great race, I predict however that the RedBull's will dominate the race and that Vettel is most likely in my opinion to take the win tomorrow. But after all this is Formula One and anything can happen.

Vettel dominate's Friday Practice as Raikkonen looks strong

The RedBull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber set the fastest time's during Friday Practice for this weekend's Indian GrandPrix in New Dheli. The RedBull of Sebastian Vettel who goes into this weekend as the championship leader was fastest in both session's however Fernando Alonso was third fastest with Nico Rosberg and Kimi Raikkonen in 4th and 5th.

In my opinion, Sebastian Vettel will most likely secure pole position tomorrow, however we shall wait and see what happens. As I said Kimi Raikkonen, who has never raced in India before was also very quick in P2 in his Lotus who have brought a raft of new developments to this race.

Kimi's long pace run's were very quick and he completed the most number of lap's. Completing 40 in total. So it is going to be extremely interesting to see what happens in qualifying tomorrow. We are in for a fantastic session tomorrow.

Kimi announcement due next week..report

It has been suggested that an announcement regrading Kimi Raikkonen's future plan's is expected to be announced during the build up to next weekend's Abu Dhabi GrandPrix. That is the claim from Planet F1. Kimi was in attendance at the Thursday Driver Press conference and usual Kimi when asked about his future he wouldn't be drawn on any of the speculation as he said that he has a number of 'option's for next year.

In my opinion I would love to see Kimi stay in Formula One next season. He has a two year contract with the Lotus F1 team so I am firmly of the belief that he knows that he will be racing with Lotus next season and he is certainly teasing the media.

Last week, Kimi announced a new personal sponsorship with a clothing company. This brought with it speculation about the Iceman's future so we'll have to wait and see what if any announcement is made next week.

Perez could miss the Indian GrandPrix

Sauber's Sergio Perez could be forced to miss this weekend's Indian GrandPrix in New Dheli afer the team pulled him from all media commitments on Thursday as the Mexican was feeling unwell. The team have said that they will assess the situation on Friday morning and will make a decision prior to first practice if Sergio is well enough to take part in the event.

If he is unable to take part in the event the team have test and reserve driver Estaban Guitierrez on stand by should they need him.

If Perez is unable to take part it is going to be extremely unfortunate for him and the team in my opinion as he has been exceptional this season. He has been on the podium three time's this season for the team and is set replace Lewis Hamilton at McLaren next season.

So we shall have to wait and see what happens in the next couple of hours. If he can't take part this weekend he has just a week until the next race in Abu Dhabi. On the other hand if Guitierrez is called up to race for the team on Sunday it would provide him with the perfect opportunity to show the team what he can do in race condition's ahead of his scheduled outing with the team at the Abu Dhabi Young Driver test that take's place following next weekend's race.

Prodrive considering purchasing Cosworth?

According to reports today, David Richards Prodive company is considering making a possible bid for Cosworth. Prodrive had wanted to entry Formula One as one of the new entrant's back in 2010 however their bid was unsuccessful.

Instead of Formula One the compnay switched it's attention to preparing and running Mini's works WRC Programme, however the company has since lost the Mini contract.

So we could potentially have a situation where HRT and Marussia F1 have Prodrive badged Cosworth engine's. In my opinion, Prodrive should have been given one of the three places on the F1 grid in 2010 because Caterham and Marussia are only now starting to make progress, however despite moving to a new facality the HRT F1 team haven't made that BIG step yet.

However in relation to that team it is a case that they are under funded and find it extremely difficult to find sposnorship in the current economic climate.

Prodrive, however have the financial backing and motorport experience to compete successfully in Formula One. David Richards has held successful tenures at the helm of both Benetton and the BAR Honda team.They would be in the perfect position, in my opinion to run Cosworth successfully in Formula One and help HRT and Marussia to move up the grid particularly in 2014 when Formula One is expected to switch from 2.4 litre V8 engine's to 1.6 litre V6 turbo charged eninge's.

So with Cosworth for ale and the potential of McLaren switching from Mercedes to Honda it is going to be an extremely interesting couple of months in Formula One.

What next for Susie Wolff?

So last week we saw Scotland's Susie Wolff make her Formula One debut when she took to the Silverstone circuit in last year's Williams FW33. Susie, who is the team's development driver was taking part in a corporate event for Williams sponsors and shareholders alongside race driver's Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna.

During her test the 29 year old  covered 5KM in both wet and dry conditions. Following her test she dedicated her outing to her friend and fellow racing driver Mara De Villota who lost her right eye following a freak accident while testing for the Marussia F1 team in July.

So after seven season's competing in the German Touring Car Championship last weekend's season finale event at the Hockenheim circuit was Susie's last every DTM event. So what next for Scottish driver?

In my opinion, I wouldn't be at all surprised if we see Susie driving for Williams as their Friday test driver during selected GrandPrix next season. A lot people will what? But it is an extremely logic move for both the team and Susie herself. If as expected Bruno Senna is replaced by Finland's Valterri Bottas next season, the team will be looking for a new test and reserve driver.

In my opinion, Susie is the best placed to take over as she knows the team and how they work and she has driven the car and knows what it takes to drive it and after so many year's driving in DTM she is fully capable to withstand the G force's of an F1 car. So we will have to watch this space.

Quiet day today

Ok so it may be only 12:50 here in Dublin, but it has been a pretty quiet day in F1 today. There isn't much going on at this stage in the season with just four race's to go. So I thought it would be a great opportunity to reflect on where we stand right now.

Currently RedBull Racing are on top of the Constructor's championship with 6 win's. McLaren come next with five win's. Ferrari have three wins while Mercedes and Williams Renault have one win a piece.

Despite the fact that Williams have a win this season they are currently in 8th place in the championship. Pastor Maldonado won in Barcelona, however since that win at the start of the European season he has only scored points once with an eighth place finish in Japan. Before his win in Spain he he scored points in China.

In my opinion it is fantastic that we have had five team's winning race's this season. When you compare that with this time last year with four race's to go only three team's had win's and those team's were RedBull Racing, Ferrari and McLaren, and although we've had five team's winning this year, a further two have come close to taking victories.

Lotus Renault and the Sauber F1 team have also come extremely close to winning race's. With Sauber, them came within a cat's whisker to winning the Malaysian GrandPrix and with Lotus they came extremely close to winning in Bahrain and Valencia.

Do I think a sixth team will win a race this season? Hmmm it's hard to say particularly with RedBull being so dominant at the moment but you never know what will happen.

Name change

Ok guy's with the F1 season coming to a close I have decided to change the name of the blog. The thought The F1 Zone was a good name to go for because that is exactly what this blog is about

Indian GrandPrix Preview

So this weekend F1 heads to New Delhi for it's second visit to the Buddh International Circuit for the Indian GrandPrix. I am extremely excited about this weekend's race as I have yet to experience it as I missed it last year as I was in the US and didn't have access to TV coverage, I do know however that Sebastian Vettel and RedBull dominated the event taking Pole position and the the race win.

It is going to be extremely interesting to see what happens this weekend and a number of big question's need to be asked like will Sebastian Vettel take his fourth win in a row? Can Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus take their first win of the season? Will Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton be in a position to challenge for the win? And finally will Fernando Alonso be able to get his championship challenge back on track? Excuse the pun haha!!

And so to the circuit itself: the race is 60 laps long. The circuit is a total distance of 3.185 miles long so that means the driver's will cover 191 race miles. Turn's three and four have a very steep elavation and turn's 1 and 2 are a very tight combination of right, left before a very sweeping curve and extremely heavy braking zone of turn 3 before the driver's can deploy DRS and KERS down the straight for fantastic overtaking opportunities as they reach top speed heading down to turn 4 that can probably be taken flat out if the driver is feeling brave before they head down to the double right hander of turn's 5 and 6 and straight through turn 7 a left hander if you can even call it a turn. Turns eight and 9 are tricky before the sweeping horse shoe of turn's 10 and 11 and flat out once again for turn's 13 and 14 before the tight right hander of turn 15 before the heavy braking zone of turn 16 the last corner on the track. You have to be extremely careful here as the entrance to the pitlane is right on the apex of the turn so it is easy to be caught out it is equally tight heading down to turn 1 as the pit lane exit opens out into turn 1.

In my opinion it makes for an extremely interesting race and we can be assured of plenty of overtaking. So watch this space, we are in for yet another mega GrandPrix as the season fast approaches it's dramatic conclusion.

McLaren looking to dump Mercedes..Report

So according to reports in a British tabloid newspaper today the McLaren Formula One team are looking for a new engine supplier for next season. The Sun newspaper are reporting that the team who currently receive their engines for free from Mercedes are looking for a cheaper supply of engines as it is thought they will have to pay up to £8 million pounds next season for a supply of Mercedes engine's.

In my opinion, at the moment there is no truth to this rumour. As often is the case in Formula One it is pure speculation and I will believe it when I see it. Ok I'll admit it might be a possibility that the team are looking for a cheaper deal as it is thought that their title sponsor Vodafone are currently conducting a worldwide sponsorship review which could result in the Woking based team losing Vodafone as a sponsor.

However in my opinion, why would McLaren end their partnership with Mercedes when it has been extremely successful. To date the partnership, which began in 1995 has brought McLaren three Driver's championship's and one Constructor's championship along with 75 race wins.

The Sun Reports that the team are looking at re-uniting with the Honda Motor Company who pulled out of Formula One at the end of the 2008 season but who have said that they may be interested in re-entering the sport if the plan to change from 2.4 litre V8 engine's to 1.6 litre V6 turbo charged engine's in 2014 goes ahead.

If it does go ahead I can't see Honda jumped back into F1 as early as next season so it would make sense for McLaren to stick with Mercedes next year and then make the switch to Honda in 2014. This would also make sense for Honda as it would give them a year in which to develop their new engine.

However, as I say in my opinion I can't see McLaren switching supplier's at this stage as they have had an extremely good relationship with the German manufacturer even after the compnay took over the Brawn F1 team in 2010 to become a fully fledged Works F1 team.

So will Formula One's latest attempt to break America succeed?

So in just under a month Formula One will make it's eagerly awaited return to America for the United States GrandPrix at the Circuit of the America's in Austin, Texas. Will the sport's return to the US be a success? Only time will tell, however by all accounts it certainly looks extremely likely that it will be a resounding success and here in my opinion is why.

When Formula One returned to the United State's in the year 2000 it was to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - the home of the Indianapolis 500 which alongside the LeMans 24 Hour and the Monaco GrandPrix is one of the most iconic motor races in motorsport. So straight away F1 was making a mistake in my opinion. Then in 2005, there was the ridiculous procession where only 6 cars took part.

That in my opinion damaged the sport long term. This time around Formula One has in my opinion done everything right in laying the foundations for success. For one this the race has been relocated to Austin, the capital city of Texas. Texas has a very rich motorsport history with the Texas Motor Speed Way located in Fort Worth which is located roughly 210 miles away from Austin, so in my opinion F1 can't be accused of moving in on NASCAR and IndyCar territory.

Secondly the sport has gone a long way to ensure that fans are more aware of the sport in the US for example RedBull's David Coulthard drove the circuit when it was just a dirt track with flags marking the turns. He also drove the RedBull on the street's of Austin and received an extremely warm welcome from fans.

Thirdly, the race is compete and utter sell out. This fantastic news for the organizers. Fourthly 1978 F1 Champion Mario Andretti is the official ambassador for the Circuit of The America's and along with Jerome D'Ambroiso and Patrick Dempsey will drive a Lotus F1 car around the Circuit of the America's THIS AFTERNOON as the official countdown to the race begins. The Lotus team re the first F1 team to drive the new circuit.

I have driven the new circuit myself on the F1 2012 game for the Xbox 360 and it was an incredible experience and the circuit is AMAZING and extremely fats with a mixture of tight Silverstone style turns along with a Turkey Turn 8 style of long corners with an extremely long back straight.

So I am extremely confident that the race will put Formula One firmly back on the map in the United States.

Four race's to go and three in the hunt

So with only fours race's remaining on the 2012 F1 calendar, mathematically three driver's are still in the hunt for the World Championship. First of all there's RedBull Racing's Sebatian Vettel who heading to India next weekend has a 6 point advantage over Fernando Alonso. The German is looking to secure his third consecutive Driver's crown. And I would bet against him securing the title having won the last three race's in Singapre, Japan and Korea.

However you can never discount Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who you can be assured won't concede the championship and will do everything to rally the team and ensure that he wins the championship. Alonso has won three race's so far this season and won the second race in Malaysia despite the fact hat the Ferrari was slower then the McLaren, RedBull and possibly the Lotus at that point in the season.

And the final contender for this year's Driver's Championship is the Iceman himself, Kimi Raikkonen who on his return to Formula One has amassed six podium finishes and 15 points finishes, he is also the only driver left on the grid who has finished every race this season. Although he is 48 point's behind Fernando Alonso, Kimi has been extremely consistent and it is still possible for him to win the championship. What he needs is a win.

So when you look at these three driver's stat's over the last four race's in Italy, Singapore, Japan and Korea, they look like this:

Italy: Vettel: DNF - Alonso: 3rd - Raikkonen: 5th

Singapore: Vettel: 1st - Alonso: 3rd - Raikkonen: 6th

Japan: Vettel: 1st - Alonso: DNF - Raikkonen: 6th

Korea: Vettel: 1st - Alonso: 3rd - Raikkonen 5th

So in my opinion the last four race's of the season are going to be extremely interesting. If Kimi has any  chance of winning the title he needs to win at least one if not two race's failing that he needs Jenson Button and Mark Webber to re discover their early season form and start taking points away from Vettel and Alonso.

I believe that the momentum is clearly with RedBull at this late stage in the championship and it is going to take something extremely special from Fernando and Kimi to overhaul him not to mention a little bit of luck. A fan of Formula One I am delighted that the championship run in is a three way race excuse the pun, however equally as a fan of the sport I would prefer not to see Sebastian Vettel win a third title in a row, give someone else a chance.

This season however no matter what the outcome is has proven that RedBull can be beaten as they have been far from dominant during this season's campaign.

So over the next five week's we have four very exciting GrandPrix to look forward to. No matter where the the championship goes the 2012 season will go down in the record books as one of the best in the sports history. We are extremely unlikely to see a repeat of seven different winners in the first seven races. But with Formula One you can never be to sure as anything is possible.

GrandPrix ticket price's

Ok so in my last post I eluded to the fact that attending a Formula One race is extremely expensive in my opinion. I would love to hear your thought's on this particular subject. For example a weekend grand stand ticket to attend the US GrandPrix in Austin will cost roughly £969 and that's just for the ticket's it doesn't include flight's or accomadation.

For a weekend main grandstand ticket for the 2013 Spanish GrandPrix it will cost roughly €360. I know you can't really compare a European race to a flyaway race in the US but you still have to factor in expenses such as accomadation and flight's.

When attending a race you also have to factor in how much you spend at the circuit. There are of course the merchandising stands and also food stands. It is very similar to going to a live concert. For example, a official team t-shirt may cost you around €40 and a team hat could cost you around €20. Not to mention if you are looking to buy an official GrandPrix programme it could cost anything from €10 - €20 depending on the circuit you go to.

I was listening to Newsbeat on BBC Radio 1 yesterday and they were discussing the high cost of going to a Premiership football match. A typical ticket for a football match could cost £21 and a lot of people were saying that it was very expensive however it isn't really when you consider the price of going to a GrandPrix as the GrandPrix is over three day's so you can't really compare the two.

The last race I attended was the 2010 Italian GrandPrix. The ticket's for the race were £279 for the three day's of the event and because we had grandstand ticket's for the weekend on the Thursday of the race weekend we went to the circuit and were able to walk the pitlane which was an incredible experience.

In my opinion I believe that grand stand ticket price's should b lowered slightly particularly during the current economic climate so that it is more affordable for fan's to attend GrandPrix events.

19 race's next season as NJ postponed until 2014

So it has been an extremely busy week in the Formula One world this week. First we had confirmation from Ferrari that Felipe Massa is to stay with the team next season, we then had the news that Susie Wolff made her Formula One testing debut when she completed 51 KM in last year's Williams FW 33 at a sponsor event in Silverstone.

On Thursday, the news broke that Formula One's last independent engine builder Cosworth has been put up for sale.

The big news today was that Bernie Ecclestone confirmed that the American GrandPrix scheduled to be on the calendar next season has been postponed until 2014 due to a lack of funding. In my opinion, this is extremely unfortunate news for New Jersey as a lot of work has been done to promote the event.

Whether or not the event will actually take place at all remains to be seen. We are due to go to Thailand in 2014 for a night race on the street's of Bangkok so we will just have to wait and see what happens with the American GrandPrix. The news comes just a month before Formula One returns to the State's for the US GrandPrix at the Circuit of The America's in Austin, Texas.

I have driven driven the Austin circuit in the 2012 F1 game on the XBox 360, and in my opinion it is an excellent venue and it is going to present a real challenge for the team's and driver's. 

Next weekend Formula One heads to New Dheli for the Indian GrandPrix which is going to be an interesting race. Will Fernando Alonso be able to regain the lead of the Driver's championship? And will Kimi Raikkonen be able to continue his consistent run of results?

So as it stand's there will only be 19 race's on next year's F1 calendar. It has been suggested that Mr Ecclestone could get Turkey back on the calendar for next season to make up the 20 scheduled races. However I personally believe that a return to Turkey is extremely unlikely. I would like to see more race's in Europe because next season we will only have 7 race's in Europe which is a real shame for fans of the sport in my opinion because a lot of Formula One fans are based in Europe and due to the current economic climate many fan's myself included can't afford to attend race's as often as I would I like because GrandPrix ticket's are extremely expensive.

Cosworth up for sale

One of the most iconic Formula One engine brands has been put up for sale. The Cosworth engine manufacturer has been put on the market by it's owners American businessmen Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven who bought the company from the Ford Motor Company in 2004.

The company was put up for sale following a failed attempt to float it on the stock market. Cosworth was founded in 1958 in Britain by Keith Duckworth and Mike Costin. In it's history involved in Formula One the engine provider has powered 176 victories second only to Ferrari in the all time most successful engine suppliers.

In recent years, the company powered the Jordan, Minardi, RedBull Racing, Caterham, Marussia F1 and HRT. The company currently supplies two team's in Formula One, the HRT Racing team and Marussia F1. The team's last victory came with the Jordan GrandPrix team at the 2003 Brazilian GrandPrix.

The Times in England is reporting that a number of engine companies are interested in purchasing the company. One of the favourite's to succeed in their bid is airplane engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce. Cosworth are the only independent F1 engine supplier and I would worry about the future of the HRT and Marussia team's if a buyer is not found for Cosworth.

However, in my opinion if Rolls-Royce do succeed in purchasing Cosworth we could see the engine's rebranded as Rolls-Royce.

It would be fantastic if the company was sold to Rolls-Royce as the car company is British and would keep Cosworth in the UK. So we shall see what happens in the next few week's and months.

Wolff makes F1 debut

Williams F1 development driver Susie Wolff made her eagerly awaited Formula One debut at the Silverstone circuit today. The Scottish driver, who signed for Williams in April of this year was taking part in a Williams sponsor day. Pastor Maldonando and Bruno Senna were also in action.

Susie was driving last year's Williams FW33. I believe that this is fantastic news for Formula One and it was brilliant to hear that she got her first run in the Williams car. I have no doubt that she will be back in the car very soon.

I wouldn't be surprised if Williams decide to give her a run out during a Friday Free Practice session before the end of the season. Valterri Bottas is the team's current test and reserve driver, but I believe that it would be fantastic to see Susie take part in a Friday practice session this season.

She is currently competing in the DTM series in Germany and that season comes to an end this weekend in Hockenheim. So I wouldn't be at all surprised if we see Susie at the Indian GrandPrix next weekend and we could potentially see her in the Williams car in Abu Dhabi the following weekend. She holds a an FIA Super Licence.

Ferrari confirm Massa stay

So it's finally official, after months of speculation, Ferrari made it official, Felipe Massa will be staying with the team until the end of next season. The Brazilian has had some strong performance's for the Italian team recently, in Japan two weeks ago he scored his first podium since Korea 2010 when he finished in second place behind winner Sebastian Vettel.

In Korea at the weekend, Massa put in another strong performance and at time's was faster then team-mate Fernando Alonso. He finished the race in fourth place just behind Alonso. Force India's Nico Hulkenborg had been tipped to replace Massa next season however Massa will stay at the team and partner Fernando Alonso for a fourth successful season.

Maasa made his F1 debut in 2004 for the Sauber team before making the step up to Ferrari in 2006 partnering Michael Schumacher. He won took his first F1 victory in Turkey that year and also won at his home race in Brazil.

Following Schumacher's first retirement from Formula One at the end of the 2006 season Massa was joined at Ferrari by Kimi Raikkonen who won the title for the Italian team. In 2008, he was the dominant driver at Ferrari and came very close to winning the championship losing out to Lewis Hamilton by just one point.

During practice for the 2009 Hungarian GrandPrix, Massa was involved in a crash when a spring from Rubens Barrichello's Brawn car came loose and struck Massa in the helmet. The Brazilian received life threatening injuries however he returned to Formula One in 2010 and was joined at Ferrari by Fernando Alonso.

Since joining the team Alonso has had the edge on Massa and in my opinion Ferrari should have dropped him and brought a new driver in to partner Alonso. For example Nico Hulkenborg was the ideal candidate to take Massa's seat at Ferrari however I understand why Ferrari have decided to keep the Brazilian because he is the perfect partner for Alonso.

So with Massa being confirmed at Ferrari for another year, and Kimi Raikkonen expected to announce tomorrow that he is staying at Lotus next season it is likely that Nico Hulkenborg will be announced as a Sauber driver replacing Sergio Perez in the coming day's. It is also rumuored that Sauber test drivrt Esteban Guiterrez will be announced as Hulenborg's team-mate although there is still the possibility of Kamui Kobayashi retaining his drive at the Swiss team.

However if Kamui lose's his seat at Sauber he could end up at Force India in place of Hulkenborg.

RedBull Racing - Sebastian Vettel - Mark Webber CONFIRMED

Ferrari - Fernando Alonso - Felipe Massa CONFIRMED

McLaren - Mercedes - Jenson Button - Sergio Perez CONFIRMED

Lotus Renault F1 Team - Kimi Raikkonen all but confirmed will be announced tomorrow - Romain Grosjean all but confirmed

Mercedes AMG - Nico Rosberg - Lewis Hamilton CONFIRMED

Sauber F1 Team - Nico Hulkenbotg - Esteban Guiterez Kamui Kobayashi ( subject to sponsrship)TO BE CONFIRMED in the next couple of day's.

Sahara Force India - Paul Di Resta TBC - Nico Hulkenborg / Kamui Kobayashi ( subject to sponsrship)

Williams Renault F1 - Pastor Maldonando - Valterri Bottas or Bruno Senna

STR - Daniel Ricciardo - Jean Eric Vergne

Marussia F1 Team - Timo Glock - Charles Pic or Max Chilton. More then likely to be Chilton

Caterham F1 - Heikki Kovalainen - Giedo Van Der Garde / Alexander Rossi? Vitaly Petrov expected to lose his seat due to financial issues

HRT - Pedro Dela Rosa - Narain Karthikeyan/ Dani Clos?

Apart from the CONFIRMED driver's the other's are what in my opinion will be for the 2013 F1 season.

So would Vettel really join Alonso at Ferrari?

There has been a lot of speculation today about Sebatian Vettel's future in Formula One with suggestions that he will be joining Alonso at Ferrari in 2014. Ferrari president Luca Di Motezemelo has stated that he would not want two 'two roosters in a hen house'. Obviously Vettel wants to win as many championships as he can.

The German is the current reigning world champion and in Korea over thee weekend took the lead of the championship after winning the race for RedBull to take a six point lead over Alonso to India.

The big question is why would Vettel leave a team that over the last fours season's he has made his own and where he has won two championships and looks set to win his third championship in as many years to go to a team where he would have to have an equal role in the team as there is no way that Alonso would play number two to Vettel and would certainly not want to be his equal as he has done with Ferrari what Vettel has done with RedBull and built the team round him.

Vettel in my opinion is an extremely demanding driver and we saw evidence of that on Saturday when Mark took pole instead of him. He also appears to lose his cool very quickly and this is something that Ferrari in my opinion would not stand for.

However we have seen with Lewis Hamilton how one minute a driver is saying that they will race for one team throughout their career and the next minute they sign for another team. In Hamilton's case he is of course moving from McLaren to Mercedes from the 2013 season onwards.

Vettel, in my opinion is RedBull's 'Golden Boy' when he says something the team jump because I believe that he could be an extremely difficult character to work with. That is just my opinion. RedBull and Vettel are working well together for now. Only time will tell however whether or not he will stay. However in my opinion if they continue to have success together Vettel will stay.

Ferrari set to confirm Massa

Another piece of the 2013 Formula One driver line up looks set to be completed in the coming day's with news coming out of Korea that Felipe Massa has done enough to secure his seat alongside Fernando Alonso for at least another season.

There has been intense speculation surrounding the Brazilian's future at the team this year following some very poor performances from the driver this year. However he has recovered well and his second place finish in Japan last weekend, his first podium finish since Korea 2010 seemed to give his chances of staying at Ferrari a much needed boost.

His current deal with Ferrari is set to expire at the end of this season and there had ben rumours floating around the paddock recently that the Marnello based team had let the option on Massa lapse, however that would now appear not to be the case as on Sunday evening in Korea Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicalli. 

The Ferrari boss believe's that Massa is a very strong driver and the Brazilian showed that today during the race as he was often faster the team-mate Fernando Alonso.

So with the likely announcement that Massa is staying at Ferrari next season, the belief is that Force India's Nico Hulkenberg will join the Sauber team as a replacement for the McLaren bound Sergio Perez to partner Kamui Kobayashi as in an interview with the BBC on Saturday when asked about  the possiblity of Esteban Guitterez driving for Sauber next season their new team principal Monisha Keltonborn replied "absolutely not'. So that would leave the door open for Kamui to stay at Sauber.

The big question then would be who would replace the Hulk at Force India. Reports suggest that Adrian Sutil could make a return to the team, however I see this scenario highly unlikely due to Sutil's recent issues. 

A possible replacement for him could be Pirelli test driver Jamie Alguersuari. But we shall see what happens.

Lotus duo happy with performance in Korea

The Lotus driver's of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean were happy following their points scoring finishes in this morning's Korean GrandPrix. Raikkonen, who started the race in fifth place finished in that place said after the race that he felt: 'fifth place was the maximum we could get today' The Iceman believes that although the championship is still a possibility it is going to be extremely tough to catch Sebastian Vettel.

Kimi believes that if they can get the new exhaust system working well over the next few practice sessions then the team will be in a strong position to be back challenging for podium's.

For Grosjean's part, the Frenchman was just happy to have finished in the points. He had a great battle with the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg and managed to bring the car home in the points. The next race in India is at the New Dheli International circuit has very similar characteristics to the Korean circuit so if Lotus are able to carry their performance from this weekend into the next race in India in my opinion they will be on for another good points haul and with McLaren tripping up this weekend Lotus are in a perfect position to capitalize on it.

The team could yet see themselves finish in third place in the Constructor's championship although fourth would be a great achievement too.

However the next two week's are going to be crucial in the development race as we have another back to back with India and Abu Dhabi just a week apart. Lotus want to end their 2012 season on a high they need to be careful that they don't spread themselves too thin in relation to the preparations for next season's car.

Gerard Lopez and Eric Bouillier should in my opinion be over the moon with Kimi Raikkonen's performance's this season when you consider where the team were last year, although last season was seen as somewhat of a transition period in the team. They should also be satisfied with Romain Grosjean's performances this season. Ok, he has had his issues this season but when he finishes races he has been consistent in scoring points for the team. He just needs to calm down like he did in Korea and have good starts and not get tangled up in any more incidents because I believe that if he can do that he and Kimi can score big points for the team from now until the end of the season in Brazil.

Vettel hat-trick as Raikkonen builds a gap

Well my forecast was correct! On a certain social network yesterday I predicted that Sebastian Vettel would dominate today's Korean GrandPrix and sure enough that is exactly what happened. The RedBull driver started from the front row of the grid and got a clean getaway to take the lead from team mate Mark Webber into turn one. Webber tried in vein to come back at him down to turn 2 but was unable to pull off the overtake.

Meanwhile it was a disasterous race for McLaren's Jenson Button, the Brit started the race from 11th on the grid and was hit by the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi resulting in the McLaren driver being forced to retire from the race ending his 2012 title hopes. Kobayashi, the home town hero in Japan last weekend became the villian as he was given a drive threw penalty for the incident with Button.

The only other incident in what I thought was a very boring race came six laps from the end when some artificial grass came loose on the exit of the last corner and got caught in the under tray of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren capping an extremely difficult day for McLaren as the leave Korea having collected only one point and having lost second in the Constructor's championship to Ferrari.

Back at the front, Sebastian Vettel dictated the pace of the race safe in the knowledge that team-mate Mark Webber was beihnd him in second place ready to fend off any potential threat from Fernando Alonso or the flying Felipe who at one stage during the race was fastest then Alonso ho was ahead of him but in true Ferrari fashion they asked Massa to slow down and create a gap to which Massa obliged.

Going into this race, Fernando Alonso held a four point advantage over Vettel in the championship, however unfortunately from the Spaniards point of view as a result of his hat-trick of wins the German now has a six point advantage over the Ferrari driver in what many have now called a two horse race for the championship.

In my opinion however, it is wrong for the media to call it a two horse race as Kimi Raikkonen who put in another solid and consistent performance for Lotus today is still in third place in the championship having extended his points lead over Lewis Hamilton to 14 points with only four races left this season. So realistically Kimi won't win the championship this season, however stranger things have happened and there are still 100 points u for for grabs.

It was a good day for Kimi's team mate Romain Grosjean who put his recent trouble's behind him to bring his car home in a solid 7th place. So in the Constructor's championship Lotus have consolidated their place in 4th place as their closest challengers, Mercedes failed to scored any points and are 119 points behind them.

I firmly believe that Raikkonen can hold onto third in the championship and  that in my view would be an incredible achievement for the Iceman in his comeback season to Formula One

Susie Wolff to test for Williams next week

The Williams F1 team confirmed today that the team's development driver Susie Wolff will have her first outing for the team next week. I believe that this is fantastic news that Susie will get a taste of what driving an F1 car is like. Her schedule for next week has yet to be announced. The Scottish driver who competes in the German Touring car championship joined the Williams team at the start of the 2012 season and has been working in the team's simulator at their Grove HQ.

It is going to be extremely interesting to see how Susie gets on with her test and I have no doubt that she will do a fantastic job in the car. I will keep updated on her progress during the week

Webber edges out Vettel to take pole in Korea

So I set my alarm for 4.50 this morning so I could watch qualifying live on the BBC. When it went off however I decided that I would stay in bed and watch the repeat so that is why there is a delay in the post today haha. The session proved to extremely interesting. McLaren were the first big losers of the session as Jenson Button was caught out by the yellow flag's that were brought out after Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo stopped out on circuit so the Brit will start in 11th tomorrow as a result.

The battle for pole position was between the usual suspects of Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton and Webber. Vettel felt that he had been held up by Massa despite the fact that the German had only been on his outlap. Eventually it was a copy of last week as RedBull locked out the front row however this time it was Mark Webber who will start from Pole position. The Aussie completed a great lap to take his first official pole of the season.

In the immediate aftermath of qualifying Sebastian Vettel looked extremely angry in my opinion. I believe that RedBull's plan is to get Mark to let Vettel overtake him and then use the Aussie as a buffer and let Vettel dictate the race from the front like he did last week in Japan.

Championship leader Fernando Alonso will start the race from 4th on the grid so there is going to be an extremely interesting battle between Hamilton and Alonso at the start. there is a very short run up to turn one and it is extremely tight, so don't be surprised to see a first corner incident.

It was a great session for Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus as the Iceman using the team's new exhaust system will start the race from fifth on the grid and is joined on the third row by Felipe Massa. Directly behind Kimi on the grid is his team-mate Romain Grosjean who is starting from 7th and who has said that he will place number two to Kimi who is fighting for the championship. Romain has been invloved in a number of race incident's this season so the team will be hoping that he doesn't tangle with Kimi at the start of the race.

In my opinion, if Sebastian Vettel wins the race tomorrow he will go on to win the championship, so Fernando Alonso has to be sure to keep the pressure on Vettel because as we know Vettel doesn't perform well under pressure. I also believe that it is extremely important for Mark Webber to get a good result tomorrow and it was would be great for his side of the garage if he is allowed to take to take the win tomorrow.

Vettel sets the pace in Friday practice

Sebastian Vettel led a RedBull one - two in Friday Practice ahead of Sunday's Korean GrandPrix. Championship leader Fernando Alonso was third behind Mark Webber with Jenson Button in fourth. It was a frustrating session for Lewis Hamilton who after leading FP1 was down in 8th place in second Practice.

The top six in FP2 were separated by just over half a second. RedBull believe that they have a car that will give them pole position tomorrow, however I don't that this will happen because despite the fact that they led FP2 today the times on Friday are nor representative as the team's use Friday to set up their cars for Saturday and Sunday.

Meanwhile over at Lotus, they are running their new Coanada exhaust for the first time this weekend finished the session with Kimi Raikkonen 10th and Romain Grosjean in 11th. Star of last weekend's race in Japan Kamui Kobayahsi was in 14th just behind the Force India of Paul Di Resta.

Over at Mercedes, fresh from his first retirement of the year last weekend, Nico Rosberg finished today's session in 7th place, while his team mate Michael Schumacher was 5th just ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa who scored his first podium finish in two years when he finished in 2nd place behind Sebatian Vettel.

It is going to extremely interesting to see what happens this weekend. I will as always be keeping you up to date with all the information over the weekend.

5 race's to go this season...who is going to win the 2012 championship?

So with just five race's left in the 2012 season, the big question on everyone's mind is who is going to win the 2012 F1 driver's championship? Heading to Korea this weekend Fernando Alonso has retained his lead over Sebastian Vettel. The Spaniard leads the championship by just 4 points.

Alonso still leads despite retiring from the last race in Japan. Right now with five race's in the next six week's the momentum is currently with Sebastian Vettel and RedBull, the German having won the last two race's in Singapore and Japan. I would love to see Alonso win the championship because it would put an end to Vettel's dominance of the sport well briefly at least.

Last year Vettel won in both Korea and India and the reigning world champion told the media in Korea today that his RedBull team have some small update's for this weekend's race.

I believe that i would be a real shame if Alonso failed to win the championship as he has led for a large portion of the season and to lose it at the end would be very unfortunate. The media are now saying that after Japan the championship has become a two horse race, however in my opinion this is the wrong assumption to make as Kimi Raikkonen still has a mathematical chance of winning this year's title.

The Lotus team have a raft of update's for the race that they hope will help them regain their mid season form.

This season  we are course to have a different driver and team winning the championship in that if Fernando Alonso wins the championship, his team Ferrari won't be the Constructor's champions as RedBull Racing are on target to win their third Constructor's championship in a row.

The last time a different team won the championship was in 2008, that season saw McLaren's Lewis Hamilton win the Driver's Championship while Ferrari won the Constructor's Championship.

The championship looks set to go down to the wire in Brazil in a matter of weeks.

Consistency key to this year's championship?

So this weekend sees Formula One head to Korea for round 15 of the 2012 championship. With only 5 race's left this season the championship is extremely close at the top with only 4 points separating Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel at the top of the championship. Both Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel have three wins a piece.

Alonso has failed to finish two race's this season, he failed to finish in SPA through no fault of his own and then he failed to finish once again in Suzuka last weekend. Sebastian Vettel has also failed to finish two race's this season. At the weekend's Japanese GrandPrix three driver's went into the race having finished every race so far this season. The three driver's were Kimi Raikkonen Lotus, Nico Rosberg Mercedes and Mark Webber, RedBull.

However, during the race both Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg failed to finish the race leaving Kimi Raikkonen the only driver left on the grid to have finished ever race so far this season in his comeback year.

The Lotus driver is currently in third place in the championship with five events left this year. The next two event's in Korea and India are new to Kimi however that by no means that he won't finish the events. The Iceman is currently 37 points off the championship lead.

History made today as Monisha Keltonborn is named as new Sauber F1 team principal

History was made in Formula One this morning with the news from Korea that Monisha Keltonborn has become the new team principal of the Sauber F1 team, taking over from team owner Peter Sauber with immediate effect.

In my opinion this is a fantastic day for Formula One as there are not many women involved on the management side of the sport and Monisha's role in Sauber is a brilliant endorsement. I hope that this will be the first of many women involved in the management side of Formula One. Monisha joined the Sauber team in the year 2000 and was appointed team CEO in 2010.

Earlier this year peter Sauber transferred ownership of the team to his son and Monisha. She has overseen the team's transformation into a solid points finisher this season and was on the pitwall to oversee Kamui Kobayashi's fantastic maiden podium finish last weekend when he finished his home GrandPrix in Japan in third place.

The Sauber team currently lie in 6th place in the Constructor's championship just 20 points behind Mercedes in 5th. The team are on the look out for a new driver as Sergio Perez is heading to McLaren next season. It is widely believed that Sauber test and reserve driver Esteban Gutierrez will take over from Sergio Perez next season. 

Return of the manufacturer era looming?

Formula One could on verge of seeing more engine manufacturers becoming involved in Formula One with the news that the Honda Motor Company may be interested in making a return to the sport. Autosport is reporting that with Formula One set to switch to 1.6 litre turbo charged engine's from 2014  Honda have held 'informal talks' with the FIA about a possible return to the sport.

Honda pulled the plug on it's involvement in Formula One at the end of the 2008 season and sold it's team to Ross Brawn in a management led buy out. The team went on to the championship in 2009 before being sold to Mercedes at the end of 2009.

Realistically I believe Honda will not come back to Formula One because the sport will not be switching to the new engine format. It was due to switch to V6 engines in 2005, however this did not happen and instead a compromise was met and team's switched from V10 engines to 2.4 litre V8 power plants.

Bernie Ecclestone, has openly expressed his objection to the engine format and a number of the team's have stated that the cost involved in developing the new engine's has been too high. The FIA, Bernie Ecclestone and the team's are du to meet shortly to discuss certain issues and it is expected that this particular matter will be top of the agenda and I fully expect the plan for the new engine's will be scrapped.

If the plan is scrapped it could potentially cause a number of problem's the main one could be at Mercedes AMG with Lewis Hamilton signing for the team with one eye on the 2014 move to the new engine reg's and Merc being being one of only three engine suppliers in the sport and one of only two fully works team's on the grid Hamilton may regret signing for the Brackley based team.

However if the new engine's are brought in we could see a raft on new suppliers coming into the sport. For example, in my opinion if Honda do decide to come back to Formula One, Toyota may decide to do the same. VW may also decide to entry the sport as an engine supplier too however I would find this scenario difficult to see as the manufacturer is now heavily involved in a World Rally Championship project and it is unlikely that they would be willing to cross over into F1.

So right now, the future of the 1.6 V6 turbo charged engine's is up in the air, however team's are still pushing ahead for a future with the engine's but a decision on this topic is expected very soon I believe because if the team's do use the new engine's they will need to test them in a car and not just on an engine dyno in the factory.

Maria remembers entire crash

Marussia F1's test and reserve driver Maria De Villiotta has said that she remembers every detail from her near fatal testing crash in July. The Spanish driver was seriously injured in the crash and lost her right eye. In her first interview since the crash Maria said that when she woke up in hospital she was speaking English to her family and her father told her to stop and to speak Spanish as her mother couldn't understand her.

In the interview, she revealed that she is undecided as to whether or not to return to racing, however that the accident has helped her to see that there are more important thing's in life then racing.

In my opinion, it would be a huge shame if Formula One lost Maria's involvement in in the sport. She has been an incredible ambassador for the sport and her Marussia Formula One team. Despite the fact that she suffered horrendous injuries in the accident, in my opinion there is certainly a position for in Formula One.

She could become involved in the FIA Campaign for Better Safety. Equally she could still have a role in the Marussia team. I think that she could become a team adviser. But I understand that it could be tough for her to return to Formula One and not be able to drive. But I am sure that something will come up for her.

Lotus set to announce Kimi extension

So it would appear that the BIG announcement due from Kimi Raikkonen on 17th October is that he is to stay on at the Lotus team next season. According to last week's Autosport Magazine the team have taken up their option on Kimi for next season and that it came into effect at the Singapore GrandPrix.

Kim has scored points in every race this season bar one in China when he dropped from second to 17th due to a mistake with his tyre's. I am absolutely delighted to hear the news that Kimi is set to stay in F1 next season. I know not to count my chicken's until the deal is announced but it certainly looks as if he is set to stay at the team.

At the Japanese GrandPrix at the weekend, the Iceman became the only driver to complete every single lap of every race so far this season and he is certainly the most consistent driver so far this year. It would be absolutely fantastic if he manages to finish ever race this season. Ironically the announcement dubbed 'What will Kimi Raikkonen Do Next? will come on Kimi's 33rd Birthday. 

The Finn currently lies in third in the championship and is yet to win a race this season and in my opinion this is a fantastic achievement when you consider that a number of driver's behind him in the championship have won numerous races this season. So if he could win one race this season it would cap an incredible comeback season for the Finn.

Do I believe Kimi can win a race this season? Absolutely, and I'm not just saying that because I am a fan of his and the Lotus team. With race's to go this season, the team are currently 4th in the championship with a raft of new developments coming for the Korean GrandPrix so they could potentially leave Korea in third place but we shall wait and see what happens, equally they could leave Korea even further behind Ferrari but we shall see what happens.

Even if the team don't manage to win a race this season, they can certainly claim this season to be a huge success as they have met their target's. The team are in their predicted four place in the Constructor's championship and are currently 103 points ahead of Mercedes AMG who are in 5th having won a race this season.

This weekend's GrandPrix in Korea will be the first outing on the circuit for both Lotus driver's and when Kimi Raikkonen was asked during an interview 'How did he learn new track's? Kimi replied in typical fashion saying 'I drive it' haha...brilliant. Kimi will also have a first outing at the India GrandPrix two week's later.

Lotus scrap Double DRS Device

The Lotus team have confirmed that they will not run their Double DRS Device for the rest of the season and will instead test the device at the upcoming young driver test in Abu Dhabi. The decision comes following problem's in the development process of the device. Kimi Raikkonen ran the device during Friday's first practice session in Japan at the weekend. However the Finn and the team weren't happy with it and took it off his car.

It is a real shame in my opinion that they haven't been able to sort the device out because at this late stage in the season, results are key in the championship race particularly for Kimi as he lies in third in the championship and the Lotus team are fighting Ferrari for third in the Constructor's championship.

Despite not running the device, the team will be bringing a raft of new developments to this weekend's Korean GrandPrix which the team hope will help them to get their championship challenge back on track after a number of difficult races. One of the new developments is a new exhaust system that will help the aerodynamics of the car.

The team described the new developments on the car "as a new era for the team" so we will have to wait and se what happens n Korea. At the weekend RedBull Racing introduced their version of the Double DRS device and as a result of that Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber locked out the front row and Vettel went on to dominate the race and close to within four point's of leader Fernando Alonso.

Will the developments work for Lotus? We don't have long at all to find out. The team are hoping that they will be able to overhaul Ferrari in in the Contructor's championship. I believe that is a realistic target as Ferrari are currently without their own windtunnel at the moment due to technical problems so have had to resort to using Toyota's old one in Germany so it is the perfect opportunity for the Lotus team to capitalize at this crucial period in the championship.

Cracks showing at McLaren?

So I found it extremely interesting to hear today that yet again Lewis Hamilton has taken to Twitter for all the wrong reasons. Following yesterday's Japanese GrandPrix the Briton took to his account to accuse current team mate Jenson Button of unfollowing him and following his new team mate Sergio Perez instead.

Hamilton had to back track on his comment later when he discovered that Jenson had never followed him on Twitter. This is just another example of how in my opinion the relationship between Jenson and Lewis has begun to break down. For example a number of races ago Lewis tweeted a picture of the two driver's telemetry feeds, which is something that you just do not do. It was a crazy situation and he wasn't punished by the team at all.

I just find it interesting as the McLaren team have always said that the relationship between their two driver's has always been a very strong one but now that Hamilton has taken to Twitter to give out about Jenson I believe that all is not as rosy as it once was at the team.

It is going to be extremely interesting to se what happens within the team over the next five races and whether or not Jenson helps Lewis in the championship as Lewis has fallen further behind Sebastian Vettel following the German's win yesterday and Alosno still leads the championship by four points with five races remaining.

If I was the boss of McLaren, or indeed their media person, I would sit the two driver's down in particular Lewis and say to him 'listen you have five races left with us and for the sake of team unity and the championship stop taking to Twitter and criticizing the team and your team mate. Enjoy your last races with the team and focus on the goal at hand of winning the championship and leave any personal feeling's you have about the team at the door.

It is not the first time that Lewis Hamilton has been caught up in controversy in his own team. In 2007, at the height of the Spygate scandal Hamilton was accused of having knowledge of what was going on.

In 2009, following the Australian GrandPrix, Hamilton was disqualified from the race after he was found to have mislead the race stewards and as a result he was into making a very public apology and it also resulted in the sacking of Dave Ryan, who had been one of the longest serving members of the McLaren team.

In my opinion, when Hamilton moves to Mercedes he should keep his head down and get on with the job. I think possibly part of the problem with Hamilton is the fact that he has been associated with McLaren for so long that he has become complacent in his thinking and believes that he has can say what he wants. However that is just my opinion.

Should Romain Grosjean be banned from Formula One?

So in the early hours of this morning I got up at 5.20 for the Japanese GrandPrix in Suzuka. The race was won by Sebastian Vettel. (See my race report). Following the race however questions were once again being asked about Romain Grosjean, the Lotus driver who, once again not for the first time this season was involved in a first corner crash that destroyed Mark Webber's race and chance for a podium finish.

I am a huge Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus fan, however in my opinion the team need to dump him. Too many times this season he has caused first corner incidents. In fact the French driver was banned for the Italian GrandPrix after causing a massive crash at the Belgian GrandPrix.

Following the race RedBull's Mark Webber described Grosjean as 'a nutcase'. Grosjean has already served a race ban this season and I have come to the conclusion that the one race ban wasn't enough for him and I know that sounds harsh but he could potentially cause injury to his fellow driver's or spectators.

I believe that he should be put on probation for the rest of the season and then if he is involved in one more incident this year not only should he be thrown out of the championship but the team should also drop him. He has cost the team too many points this season. For example he started today's race in fourth place and didn't even get past the first corner. 

In my opinion Jerome D'Ambrosio should be promoted to the race drive for the rest of the season alongside Kimi Raikkonen.

Vettel wins as Alonso fails

This mornings Japanese GrandPrix was dominated from start to finish RedBull' Sebatian Vettel. The German, who started from pole position made a great start and avoided the first corner mayhem to take a commanding victory in a race which saw many surprise's. Fernando Alonso, who coming into the race had a 29 point lead in the championship failed to finish as he tried to overtake Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus at the start.

The Ferrari driver pushed Kimi out wide heading down to the first corner, leaving Kimi with nowhere to go, Alonso's rear tyre made contact with Kimi's front wing causing the Ferrari to get a puncture and as a result Alonso went out wide and retired from the race. In the immidiate oftermath of the crash Alonso was blaming Kimi for the incident however Alonso should take a look at himself as it was him who was responsible for his accident and it was no one else's fault.

Meanwhile just ahead of Kimi, an unsuspecting RedBull of Mark Webber, who was recovering from a poor start was hit by the Lotus of Romain Grojsean going into turn 1, yet another incident this season involving the Lotus driver. I am a Lotus fan and in my opinion at this stage of the season Romain is hurting to the team in a massive way. He has shown that he is capable of finishing in the pints and on the podium, however all too often this season he has caused crashes.

He was even banned for the Italian GrandPrix following a heavy crash at the Belgian GrandPrix. So it is going to be extremely interesting to see what the team decide to do about him.

Meanwhile Jenson Button, who started the race from 8th place on the grid made a cracking start and by turn 1 he had made his way through the field and up to third just behind Kamui Kobayashi. It was a tough day for the other McLaren and Lewis Hamilton made a mistake with his set up on Satrday however, he did a great job to finish in 5ht place just behind JB.

It was an unfortunate day for the Sauber of Sergio Perez, fresh from signing a deal with McLaren to replace Lewis Hamilton, the young Mexican was lining up an overtaking move on Lewis when he ran wide and into the gravel trap and was unable to continue the race after getting stuck.

Michael Schumacher, who announced on Thursday that he will retire from F1 at the end of the year started the race from 23rd on the grid following a grid penalty had a fantastic race and narrowly missed on collecting a point for Mercedes when he finished in 11th place behind the Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo.

However in my opinion, the driver of the race had to be home favourite, Kamui Kobayashi who picked up his first ever F1 podium at his home GrandPrix, becoming only the second Japanese driver to take a podium at his home race. He finished third behind Felipe Massa in second who was a welcome return to the podium for the first time since Korea 2010 and race winner Sebastian Vettel. The last Japanese driver to achieve a podium at his home race was Aguri Suzuki back in 1990.

Kimi Raikkonen drove another fantastic race for the Lotus team, helping them to cement their place in 4th place in Constructors championship and he remains in third in the Driver's championship after a well deserved 6th place finish following a tough qualifying yesterday.

So it set  up to be a fascinating race in Korea and we don't have to wait too long at all as the next race is only one week away and with only four point's separating the top two in the championship it is going to be a cracking race as Fernando Alonso will be looking to put in a strong performance following today's DNF.

Another factor next weekend is that the Lotus team along with a number of other team's will be bringing heavily revised upgrade package's to the race so the championship as I predicted yesterday with five race's to go has been blown wide open. Don't miss any of the action!!!

Vettel on Pole as Kimi spins

RedBull's Sebastian Vettel will start from pole position for tomorrow's Japanese GrandPrix. The German will be joined on the front row by team-mate Mark Webber giving the Milton Keynes based team their first front row lockout of the season.

It was a frustrating session for Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus as the Iceman spun at the end of session and brought out the yellow flags. He qualified in 8th place however he will start from 7th place as Jenson Button received a five place grid penalty. following a gearbox change. meanwhile his team mate Lewis Hamilton will start the race from 9th on the grid following a 'horrendous' set up mistake.

It was a great session for the Sauber team as home favourite Kamui Kobayashi will start from a superb third place on the grid alongside the Lotus of Romain Grosjean who lines up fourth.

Fernando Alonso, who felt he was held up by Sebastian Vettel who received a reprimand from the Stewards will start the race from 6th on the grid. Mercedes had a very disappointing quali as Nico Rosberg will start from 13th on the grid while Michael Schumacher will start the race from the last row on the grid in 23rd place following a 10 place grid penalty following his crash in Singapore last time out.

In my opinion, we are in for an incredible race. the championship could be blown wide open at the conclusion of tomorrow's race. At the moment Fernando Alonso leads the championship by 29 points from Sebastian Vettel, and with Vettel on pole with team -mate Webber in second the RedBull team could call on Webber to back Vettel this weekend.

Likewise with with Lotus, Romain Grosjean who is starting from 4th place on the grid has already said that he will play number 2 to team mate Kimi Raikkonen who is the running for this year's championship. Meanwhile at McLaren, Jenson Button shouldn't in my opinion be asked to help Lewis Hamilton when Hamilton is leaving the Woking baed team for Mercedes at the end of the season and in my opinion, there is no way that McLaren would want the reigning world champion moving to a rival team and bringing the number 1 with him.

No matter what happens tomorrow, Fernando Alonso will leave Suzuka as the championship leader.

Webber fastest as Raikkonen hit with problems

RedBull's Mark Webber set the fastest time in the second free practice for Sunday's Japanese GrandPrix. The Australian topped the time sheets in a very eventful session that saw Force India's Paul Di Resta crash, losing his front wing.

It was another frustrating session for the Mercedes team as for the second session in a row one of their car's was involved in a crash, this time however, it Michael Schumacher's turn as he had a heavy crash coming out of the spoon curve. I believe Michael Schumacher may be relieved that he has announced his decision to retie from Formula One at the end of the season.

Meanwhile it was a frustrating session for Kimi Raikkonen's side of the Lotus garage, while team mate Romain Grosjean finished the session in 6th place, Kimi had a KERS failure at the start of the session and when he eventually got out at the end of the session he could only manage the 14th fastest time.

In my opinion, Kimi appears to be getting frustrated with the lack of progress from Lotus in recent races and despite the fact that he has a contract in place with the team for next season he is waiting to see what happens in the last races before deciding his future as at the moment he is in contention for this years driver's title.

Lewis Hamilton, fresh from signing a deal with Mercedes AMG for next season was second fastest, splitting the two RedBull's, Vettel was third fastest, but the surprise of the session was Nico Hulkenborg who placed his Force India in 4th place ahead of Fernando Alosno.

I believe hat this was a great performance for a driver who has been linked to a drive alongside Alonso at Ferrari for 2013.

So heading into FP3 tomorrow, it is all still to play for in my opinion, watch out for the Lotus pair, particularly Kimi as he will be looking to bounce back from this morning's difficult session.

Button fastest in FP1 as Rosberg stops on track

McLaren's Jenson Button led a a team one - two in the first free practice session at the Suzuka circuit ahead of this weekend's Japanese GrandPrix. RedBull's Mark Webber was in third place while his team mate, reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel was way down in 17th place. Michael Schumacher was fourth for Mercedes with team-mate Nico Rosberg finishing fifth despite stopping out on track with an suspected oil leak.

Meanwhile, the Lotus driver's of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean were down in 13th and 14th place. Lotus have brought some new components to this weekend's race with a new DRS system on Kimi's car and a new front wing on both of the E20's.

Of course the first practice session never really shows the true pace of the team's as it is their first runs of the weekend. So we shall see what happens during Free Practice 2. In any case I believe it is going to be an extremely interesting weekend and could prove to be quiet decisive in the championship battle but we shall have to wait and see what happens.

RedBull could face major threat next season

So with the news last week that Lewis Hamilton is moving to Mercedes next season and Sergio Perez is moving to McLaren the big question that I want to ask is, Will RedBull's recent dominance of Formula One continue to be challenged? The reigning champions are under pressure this season and find themselves leading the Constructors championship by only 36 points with 6 races to go.

The team appear to have really struggled this season with defending champion Sebastian Vettel on picking up his second this season last time out in Singapore. Meanwhile team mate Mark Webber has also picked up two win's. Vettel currently finds himself in second in the championship 29 points behind leader Fernando Alonso and only 16 points ahead of Kimi Raikkonen who is in third place.

I believe that Sebastian Vettel will not be successful in defending his driver's championship this year and I believe that he and team mate Mark Webber could struggle next season as in my opinion five team's will be challenging for the championship. Lotus, Ferrari, RedBull, McLaren and Mercedes should all be in a position to challenge for the title in 2013.

You make think I am crazy to include Mercedes in that list but with the team landing Lewis Hamilton to partner Nico Rosberg I believe that the team potentially have the ingredients to possibly repeat the success of their championship winning Brawn in 2009. Don't discount Kimi Raikkonen too, as if the Finn fails to win a GrandPrix this season you can be sure that he will return Lotus to the top step of the podium next season.

It is going to be extremely interesting to see what happens next season especially with McLaren, because despite the fact the focus has been on Hamilton moving to Merc, it has in my opinion almost been glossed over the fact that he is being replaced by one of the most exciting driver's in Formula One at the moment in Sergio Perez. When I look at what Perez has been able to do with the Sauber car that has been punching above it's weight all season I can't wait to see what he will be able to do with a car that is expected to be challenging at the front of the grid from the start of the season.

It's official: Schumacher retires for the second time.

So it's official despite being linked with a Sauber driver next season Michael Schumacher has announced his second retirement from Formula One. The seven times world champion who came out of retirement in 2010 to drive for the Mercedes Benz Formula One team called a press conference in Suzuka this morning to announce his retirement.

In his three year's in Formula One Schumacher has only been on the podium once and that came in Valencia this year when he finished in 3rd behind Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso.

However Schumacher's team-mate Nico Rosberg has a GrandPrix this season when he dominated the Chinese GrandPrix.

I wasn't terribly impressed when Mercedes announced that they had signed Schumacher for three years because he gained a reputation for being a dirty driver during his first career in Formula One and even while racing this time around he caused a number of accidents, in fact he caused a big crash in Singapore and will receive a ten place grid penalty for this weekend's.

Schumacher confirmed that Mercedes announcement last Friday that they had signed Lewis Hamilton from McLaren to partner Nico Rosberg next season helped him make his decision. Schumacher is not doubt statistically the best Formula One driver in the world. I believe however that Ayrton Senna had a better race craft then Schumacher.

I am certainly not surprised that Schumacher has called it quits. It is the best decision for him however I believe that his career will be remembered for his second career in Formula One and not his time in the sport during the 1990's and early 2000's.

Force India could hit crisis

The Sahara Force India team could potentially be in trouble with the news that it's owner Dr Vijay Mallya has had his airline Kingfisher Airlines grounded. According to the Wall Street Journal the company has declared a partial lock-out and has apparently stopped taking booking's for flight's until at least Thursday.

It is not yet known whether or not the problem's with the airline which is controlled by Mallya will have a knock on affect on his other business interests which include the Sahara Force India Formula One team. The team was owned by the Midland Group and was bought at the end of the 2006 Formula One season by Dr Mallya and rebranded Force India from the 2007 season onwards.

In October 2011, Force India sold a portion of the team to the Sahara Group. The team was rebranded as the Sahara Force India team

I believe that the team could be sold but they are doing very well at the moment in the 2012 F1 campaign. They currently lie in 7th place in the Constructors Champion on 75 points, however in the current economic climate, who would be wiling to buy a Formula One team? It will be very interesting to see what happens over the coming week's and months particularly as both the Force India driver's have been linked with Felipe Massa's seat at Ferrari with the BBC suggesting that Nico Hulkenborg has already signed to partner Fernando Alonso at the Marnello based squad next season.

Interesting times ahead

So with the news last week that both Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez are on the move at the end of the season attention now focusses on firstly will Michael Schumacher call it quits? And secondly what are Ferrari's plans for Felipe Massa?

Michael Schumacher has said that he is still motivated and the fact that he is leaving Mercedes doesn't necessarily mean that he will be out of Formula One. The Sauber team have been extremely competitive this season. Sergio Perez, who is replacing Lewis at McLaren next season has so far scored three podium finishes for the Swiss team who currently lie in 6th in the Constructors championship 35 points behind Mercedes, So Schumacher could end up at Sauber as team owner Peter Sauber has said that he would be willing to offer the German a drive next season.

The team's CEO, Monisha Keltenborn has also said that it would be fantastic for a team like Sauber to have the seven time's world champion at the team.

Schumacher will be 44 in January before the new season start's and in my opinion his reaction time's have become impaired as he has failed to finish 50 percent of the races so far this season and in Singapore last weekend he had a massive accident and went out of the race. So as I have said previously if he intent on continuing driving F1 cars he should o what David Coulthard do demonstration runs for Sauber of Mercedes.

Everyone thought and myself included that when it was announced on Friday that Hamilton was replacing Schumacher that he would stay at the Brackley based team as a consultant of some sort however that would appear not to be the case.

So what are Ferrari going to do? Felipe Massa is out of contract at the end of the year and there have been major questions about the Brazilian's future. As I said last week Force India's Nico Hulkenberg has been linked with the team however no decision has been made. If Force India decide to keep both Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg Massa could receive a reprive from Ferrari bosses however he needs to desperately up his came over the final six race's of the season in order to persuade the Ferrari management that he deserves to keep his sit alongside Fernando Alonso next season, who it would appear is most likely to win this years championship.

Massa on the other hand, is currently in 10th in the standing's on 51 points and appears unlikely to be challenging for the podium at the moment. For his part Massa is not worried about his future and is concentrating on racing the best he can for the rest of the season.

However in my opinion he has to be a little concerned about the driver market, because should Schumacher move to Sauber and Ferrari decide to release Massa he could look at Force India provided the team are looking for a driver or he could follow his fellow Brazilian Rubens Barrichello to the IZOD IndyCar Series. The picture should become clearer later this week or indeed at the Japanese GrandPrix this weekend.