So with Lewis Hamilton's under stated reaction to winning the Italian GrandPrix yesterday the British media firmly believe that he is eyeing the exit door at McLaren, a team he has been associated with for the past fourteen years. It is widely believed that Hamilton has signed a contract to drive alongside Nico Rosberg at Mercedes AMG next season.
There were some interesting developments over the weekend as it was confirmed that Scot Paul Di Resta has a new manager in the form of Richard Goddard who also happens to be Jenson Button's manager. It is widely thought that Di Resta is looking to leave Force India in order to further his career in a more competitive car for the 2013 season and McLaren would be a sensible option for the Scot shcould Hamilton leave as firstly the team have been very strong and secondly his new manager has been dealing with McLaren with JB since 2010 so we will have to see what happens.
There has been a twist in the Mercedes seat situation however as Sky F1 commentator David Croft believes that Michael Schumacher could make a sensational return to Ferrari to partner Fernando Alonso should Massa lose his drive.
In my opinion it would be absolutely crazy for the Scuderia to be considering Schumacher as he has had his time in Formula One and should retire. If he wants to continue in the sport he could as Ross Brawn suggested take up a management role within the Brackley based squad.
So with 7 races to go this season there is still a lot to be resolved not just in the championship but also relating to driver's. We can expect the driver market to be sorted in the next couple of week's.
Monday, 10 September 2012
Let the long haul leg begin!!
So yesterday's Italian GrandPrix was a great way to round off the European leg of Formula One 2012. I don't know about you but I feel like the European season has just flown by. We have had an incredible roller-coaster ride around Europe. Starting with Spain in May we had probably one of the biggest surprises of the season when William's Pastor Maldonando not only put the car on pole but followed that up with a superb win. Bringing Williams their first win since 2004.
The Spanish GrandPrix also saw our 5 different winner in the first five races of the season. At the end of the race was unfortunate for Williams as a massive fire broke out at the back of their garage. This resulted in all of the team's pulling together and showing the outside world that despite the on track rivalries off track if a team is need others help out. It was great to see that there were very few serious injuries sustained by anyone involved. Following on from Spain we headed to the street's of Monte Carlo for the Monaco GrandPrix the jewel in Formula One's crown.
The question on everyone's lips was would we have a 6th different winner. RedBull's Mark Webber responded with an incredible light's to flag victory. The Aussie started on pole as he was promoted following Michael Schumacher's 5 place grid penalty. at this point in the season Mark was leading the championship and was stamping his authority within the RedBull team.
Following on from Monaco we headed to North America and break from Europe for our first of two trip's there this year. The Canadian GrandPrix would prove to be another great race with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton becoming our 7th different winner of the season followed home by the Lotus of Romain Grosjean who picked up his second podium of the season. Sauber's Sergio Perez also scored a fantastic third place finish for the Suaber team.
We have had a sensational season so far and in my opinion this will continue as he head into the long haul part of the season. During the European season the Lotus team have in my opinion along with Sauber have been the stand out team as the have scored point's consistently. Kimi Raikkonen, after his 5th place in Monza yesterday now finds himself in 3rd place in the Driver's standing's just a single point behind Italian race winner Lewis Hamilton and the Finn in his comeback year has yet to win a race this season however that race win will happen.
So after Canada we headed back to Europe for European GrandPrix at the Valencia street circuit. RedBull's Sebastian Vettel looked certain to collect his second win of the season, however disaster struck as his car came to a halt and he was forced to retire with an alternator failure, this allowed Ferrari's Fernando Alonso to come through to the delight of his home fan's to take his second win of the season.
Alonso was joined on the podium by Kimi Raikkonen who collected his 3rd podium of his comeback season and Micheal Schumcher who was o the podium for the first time since his return to F1 in 2010.
So the season was certainly shaping up to be a cracker and it was beginning to look like RedBull were really struggling with their car. At this stage in last year's championship Vettel was running away at the front and had one six of the opening eight. This year he had only one a single race by the same point this year. So following on from Valencia we headed to Silverstone for the British GandPrix. Mark Webber pulled off a fantastic pass on Fernando Alonso to claim his second win of the 2012 season.
So where Vettel was starting to falter, Mark was beginning to pull away from his team mate. So following Silverstone we headed to Hockenheim for the German GrandPrix where Ferrari's Fernando Alonso became the first driver to win three race's this season. Kimi Raikkonen joined Alonso and Jenson Button on the podium for his 4th podium of the season.
Following on from Germany it was time to go to Hungary where Lewis Hamilton put on a dominant performance to take his second win of the season. he was followed in second place by Kimi Raikkonen who came extremely close to taking the Lotus Team's first win since their return to Formula One. He was joined on the podium by team mate Romain Grosjean giving the Enstone based team their second double podium of the season.
This season was becoming one of the greatest in Formula One history and I know that is said every year but it is true this year. So heading to the Belgian GrandPrix Fernando Alonso was still leading the championship and it was set to a fantastic race with Kimi being tipped to take the win as he won there in 2009, his last outing at the famous circuit. However unfortunately for the Finn the win never materialized he pulled off a fantastic overtake on Michael Schumacher into Eau Rouge. Fernando Alonso failed to finish the race for the first time this year, as he, Lewis Hamilton, Romain Grosjean, and the Sauber's of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi were all involved in a first corner crash which was deemed to have been caused by Romain Grosjean as a result of that he received a one race ban for yesterday's Italian GrandPrix.
The race was won by Jenson Button who took his first win since the opening round of the season in Australia back in March. The McLaren driver has really struggled this year however he started the race from pole and dominated proceeding's finishing 13 seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen who collected podium number 6 of the year.
So yesterday we headed to Monza for the Italian GrandPrix the final race in Europe. This race would turn out to be one of the most eventful of the season and the result has blown the championship wide open. Lewis Hamilton started the race from pole position with Jenson Button starting second.
Hamilton moves up to second in the championship just 37 point's off Fernando Alonso with 7 races to go this season.
In two week's time we head to Singapore for Formula One's only night race and it always proves to be a fantastic race.
The Spanish GrandPrix also saw our 5 different winner in the first five races of the season. At the end of the race was unfortunate for Williams as a massive fire broke out at the back of their garage. This resulted in all of the team's pulling together and showing the outside world that despite the on track rivalries off track if a team is need others help out. It was great to see that there were very few serious injuries sustained by anyone involved. Following on from Spain we headed to the street's of Monte Carlo for the Monaco GrandPrix the jewel in Formula One's crown.
The question on everyone's lips was would we have a 6th different winner. RedBull's Mark Webber responded with an incredible light's to flag victory. The Aussie started on pole as he was promoted following Michael Schumacher's 5 place grid penalty. at this point in the season Mark was leading the championship and was stamping his authority within the RedBull team.
Following on from Monaco we headed to North America and break from Europe for our first of two trip's there this year. The Canadian GrandPrix would prove to be another great race with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton becoming our 7th different winner of the season followed home by the Lotus of Romain Grosjean who picked up his second podium of the season. Sauber's Sergio Perez also scored a fantastic third place finish for the Suaber team.
We have had a sensational season so far and in my opinion this will continue as he head into the long haul part of the season. During the European season the Lotus team have in my opinion along with Sauber have been the stand out team as the have scored point's consistently. Kimi Raikkonen, after his 5th place in Monza yesterday now finds himself in 3rd place in the Driver's standing's just a single point behind Italian race winner Lewis Hamilton and the Finn in his comeback year has yet to win a race this season however that race win will happen.
So after Canada we headed back to Europe for European GrandPrix at the Valencia street circuit. RedBull's Sebastian Vettel looked certain to collect his second win of the season, however disaster struck as his car came to a halt and he was forced to retire with an alternator failure, this allowed Ferrari's Fernando Alonso to come through to the delight of his home fan's to take his second win of the season.
Alonso was joined on the podium by Kimi Raikkonen who collected his 3rd podium of his comeback season and Micheal Schumcher who was o the podium for the first time since his return to F1 in 2010.
So the season was certainly shaping up to be a cracker and it was beginning to look like RedBull were really struggling with their car. At this stage in last year's championship Vettel was running away at the front and had one six of the opening eight. This year he had only one a single race by the same point this year. So following on from Valencia we headed to Silverstone for the British GandPrix. Mark Webber pulled off a fantastic pass on Fernando Alonso to claim his second win of the 2012 season.
So where Vettel was starting to falter, Mark was beginning to pull away from his team mate. So following Silverstone we headed to Hockenheim for the German GrandPrix where Ferrari's Fernando Alonso became the first driver to win three race's this season. Kimi Raikkonen joined Alonso and Jenson Button on the podium for his 4th podium of the season.
Following on from Germany it was time to go to Hungary where Lewis Hamilton put on a dominant performance to take his second win of the season. he was followed in second place by Kimi Raikkonen who came extremely close to taking the Lotus Team's first win since their return to Formula One. He was joined on the podium by team mate Romain Grosjean giving the Enstone based team their second double podium of the season.
This season was becoming one of the greatest in Formula One history and I know that is said every year but it is true this year. So heading to the Belgian GrandPrix Fernando Alonso was still leading the championship and it was set to a fantastic race with Kimi being tipped to take the win as he won there in 2009, his last outing at the famous circuit. However unfortunately for the Finn the win never materialized he pulled off a fantastic overtake on Michael Schumacher into Eau Rouge. Fernando Alonso failed to finish the race for the first time this year, as he, Lewis Hamilton, Romain Grosjean, and the Sauber's of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi were all involved in a first corner crash which was deemed to have been caused by Romain Grosjean as a result of that he received a one race ban for yesterday's Italian GrandPrix.
The race was won by Jenson Button who took his first win since the opening round of the season in Australia back in March. The McLaren driver has really struggled this year however he started the race from pole and dominated proceeding's finishing 13 seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen who collected podium number 6 of the year.
So yesterday we headed to Monza for the Italian GrandPrix the final race in Europe. This race would turn out to be one of the most eventful of the season and the result has blown the championship wide open. Lewis Hamilton started the race from pole position with Jenson Button starting second.
Hamilton moves up to second in the championship just 37 point's off Fernando Alonso with 7 races to go this season.
In two week's time we head to Singapore for Formula One's only night race and it always proves to be a fantastic race.
Sunday, 9 September 2012
Hamilton wins as RedBull falter
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton picked up his second win in three race's as he dominated today's Italian GrandPrix in Monza. The Briton started on Pole alongside team mate Jenson Button and made a fantastic start.
Meanwhile Fernando Alonso made a fantastic start from 10th on the grid. he would go on to finish the race on the podium in third place to extend his lead in the championship to 38 point's. Lewis Hamilton's win puts the McLaren driver into second place in the championship with 7 races to go.
I was delighted to see that there was no first corner incident at this year's. There was a massive accident at the start f last year's race. I think that the steward's gave the driver's a good talking to following the horrific crash at the start of last week's race in SPA that wiped out 6 driver's and resulted in Romain Grosjean being banned for today's race.
It was a fantastic race for the Sauber team as Sergio Perez took a fantastic second place finish ahead of Fernando Alonso and just behind Lewis Hamilton.
Kimi Raikkonen, who started the race from 7th on the grid admitted after the race that the race was his toughest of the season however the Iceman drove a brilliant race to finish 5th and moves up to third in the driver's championship ahead of the two RedBull driver's.
It was very disappointing race for Jenson Button, who after a fantastic pole and win at last week's Belgian GrandPrix failed to finish the race. His car ground to a halt at the side of the circuit with a suspected fuel pick up problem.
It was a terrible race for the RedBull team as firstly Sebastian Vettel was handed a drive through penalty for pushing Alonso off the track. The reigning world champion suffered an alternator failure and retired from the race. Just two lap's later team-mate Mark Webber was forced to retire due to problem's with his tyre's due to safety concerns.
So the 2012 European season comes to an end with Alonso still leading however after Alonso it is extremely tight at the top with just 10 points separating Lewis Hamilton in second and Mark Webber in 5th with just seven races remaining this season.
Meanwhile Fernando Alonso made a fantastic start from 10th on the grid. he would go on to finish the race on the podium in third place to extend his lead in the championship to 38 point's. Lewis Hamilton's win puts the McLaren driver into second place in the championship with 7 races to go.
I was delighted to see that there was no first corner incident at this year's. There was a massive accident at the start f last year's race. I think that the steward's gave the driver's a good talking to following the horrific crash at the start of last week's race in SPA that wiped out 6 driver's and resulted in Romain Grosjean being banned for today's race.
It was a fantastic race for the Sauber team as Sergio Perez took a fantastic second place finish ahead of Fernando Alonso and just behind Lewis Hamilton.
Kimi Raikkonen, who started the race from 7th on the grid admitted after the race that the race was his toughest of the season however the Iceman drove a brilliant race to finish 5th and moves up to third in the driver's championship ahead of the two RedBull driver's.
It was very disappointing race for Jenson Button, who after a fantastic pole and win at last week's Belgian GrandPrix failed to finish the race. His car ground to a halt at the side of the circuit with a suspected fuel pick up problem.
It was a terrible race for the RedBull team as firstly Sebastian Vettel was handed a drive through penalty for pushing Alonso off the track. The reigning world champion suffered an alternator failure and retired from the race. Just two lap's later team-mate Mark Webber was forced to retire due to problem's with his tyre's due to safety concerns.
So the 2012 European season comes to an end with Alonso still leading however after Alonso it is extremely tight at the top with just 10 points separating Lewis Hamilton in second and Mark Webber in 5th with just seven races remaining this season.
Saturday, 8 September 2012
Hamilton on Pole as Alonso and Webber struggle
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton led a front row lock out for tomorrow's Italian GrandPrix in Monza. Jenson Button will start the race from second. It was a great day for one side of the Ferrari garage as Felipe Massa qualified in third place in front of the team's adoring home fan's. Michael Schumacher surprised everyone by putting his car in 4th on the grid.
There were a few shocks in store however as RedBull's Mark Webber failed to make it out of Q2 and will start tomorrow's race from 11th. The Australian had a KERS issue. His team mate Sebastian Vettel will start from 5th following Paul Di Resta's five place gird penalty for a gearbox change. The Scot did a fantastic job by placing his Force India in 4th place but will start from 9th place.
Kimi Raikkonen will start the race from 7th on the grid. It was a nightmare session for Ferrari's Fernando Alonso who suffered yet another mechanical failure when his rear bar broke on his final run in Q3. The championship leader will start from 10th on the grid.
So we are in for another cracking race weekend and with a very short run up to the first corner and very heavy braking zone into the chicane there will more then likely be a first corner incident so driver's at the front will be hoping to make great starts.
There were a few shocks in store however as RedBull's Mark Webber failed to make it out of Q2 and will start tomorrow's race from 11th. The Australian had a KERS issue. His team mate Sebastian Vettel will start from 5th following Paul Di Resta's five place gird penalty for a gearbox change. The Scot did a fantastic job by placing his Force India in 4th place but will start from 9th place.
Kimi Raikkonen will start the race from 7th on the grid. It was a nightmare session for Ferrari's Fernando Alonso who suffered yet another mechanical failure when his rear bar broke on his final run in Q3. The championship leader will start from 10th on the grid.
So we are in for another cracking race weekend and with a very short run up to the first corner and very heavy braking zone into the chicane there will more then likely be a first corner incident so driver's at the front will be hoping to make great starts.
Hamilton fastest as Di Resta receives penalty
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton started this morning as he finished yesterday by topping the time sheets in FP3. The Brit finished the session just 0.001s ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who put his technical issues from yesterday behind him to set the second fastest time. Force India's Paul Di Resta was third however the Scot will receive a five place grid penalty for changing his gearbox.
Felipe Massa was fourth in the second Ferrari while Nico Rosberg put his Mercedes in 6th. It was another trouble free run for Lotus and Kimi Raikkonen as he finished the session in 8th place. It is going to be an extremely interesting and I believe a very close qualifying hour.
Sebastian Vettel and RedBull endured a difficult session as the reigning world champion stopped out on track with a suspected technical issue and finished the session in 12th place, his team mate Mark Webber didn't much better as he finishef just ahead of Vettel in 11th.
The qualifying session gets underway at 1PM Irish time and will bring you an update on all the action later today.
Felipe Massa was fourth in the second Ferrari while Nico Rosberg put his Mercedes in 6th. It was another trouble free run for Lotus and Kimi Raikkonen as he finished the session in 8th place. It is going to be an extremely interesting and I believe a very close qualifying hour.
Sebastian Vettel and RedBull endured a difficult session as the reigning world champion stopped out on track with a suspected technical issue and finished the session in 12th place, his team mate Mark Webber didn't much better as he finishef just ahead of Vettel in 11th.
The qualifying session gets underway at 1PM Irish time and will bring you an update on all the action later today.
Friday, 7 September 2012
McLaren 1 - 2 in FP2 as Alonso has problems
The McLaren's of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button led the way in Friday's second practice session ahead of Sunday's Italian GrandPrix in Monza. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso's day ended early as he appeared to have a gearbox failure. This followed on from this morning's engine failure for the Spaniard. However the engine failure will not affect his weekend as he was using an old engine. Despite his problem's he finished the day in 3rd place.
The most consistent driver of the session was Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen who set some very competitive time's during his race simulations.
Mercedes ran today's second practice with one hand behind their back's as both driver's suffered DRS failure's. Despite this, Nico Rosberg finished the session 5th while Michael Schumacher finished the session in 10th place.
Kimi Raikkonen finished the session in 6th place just behind Nico Rosberg. Meanwhile team mate Jerome D'Ambrosio finished the session in 12th place, the Belgian driver making his first F1 appearance since the Brazilian GrandPrix last year he finished the session just ahead of RedBull's Sebastian Vettel. Mark Webber finished the session 11th in the second RedBull.
So all in all the session didn't give us an indication of what is going to happen in qualifying tomorrow. It is going to be a real lottery. I will once again bring you all the news and results from qualifying tomorrow afternoon.
Further speculation over Schumacher's F1 future
Michael Schumacher's future in Formula One took another twist today when his Mercedes AMG team boss Ross Brawn hinted that Schumacher could take up a management position with the Brackley based squad.
The news in my opinion is the strongest indication from the team that the seven times world champion is set to retire at the end of the season. The German's three year comeback contract with Mercedes expires at the end of the year and since returning to F1 in 2010 Schumacher has endured a very difficult time picking up only one podium when he finished third at the European GrandPrix in Valencia earlier this season.
Kimi Raikkonen has so far collected 6 podium's in his comeback season. There are sections in the media and some Schumacher fan's that will say that Kimi is younger then Schumacher and that is why he is doing a better job however I believe that Schumacher had his chance in Formula One and dominated the sport for so many years and in my opinion his return to Formula One was ill advised.
As to who will potentially replace Schumacher, obviously the speculation is that Lewis is joining the team from McLaren, however this has so far been denied. The other possible replacement for Schumacher is Paul Di Resta who currently drive's for the Mercedes powered Sahara Force India team and has very strong links to Mercedes as he drove for them in the German Touring Car Championship.
Every year at this time of the season the conclusion of the European leg of the championship the Formula One 'Silly Season Specualtion' goes into overdrive with the majority of rumour's coming to nothing.
The news in my opinion is the strongest indication from the team that the seven times world champion is set to retire at the end of the season. The German's three year comeback contract with Mercedes expires at the end of the year and since returning to F1 in 2010 Schumacher has endured a very difficult time picking up only one podium when he finished third at the European GrandPrix in Valencia earlier this season.
Kimi Raikkonen has so far collected 6 podium's in his comeback season. There are sections in the media and some Schumacher fan's that will say that Kimi is younger then Schumacher and that is why he is doing a better job however I believe that Schumacher had his chance in Formula One and dominated the sport for so many years and in my opinion his return to Formula One was ill advised.
As to who will potentially replace Schumacher, obviously the speculation is that Lewis is joining the team from McLaren, however this has so far been denied. The other possible replacement for Schumacher is Paul Di Resta who currently drive's for the Mercedes powered Sahara Force India team and has very strong links to Mercedes as he drove for them in the German Touring Car Championship.
Every year at this time of the season the conclusion of the European leg of the championship the Formula One 'Silly Season Specualtion' goes into overdrive with the majority of rumour's coming to nothing.
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