Formula 1 F1 2010 News

Formula One racing out in force for Goodwood

2010-07-04T23:21:00.000-07:00

The UK’s Goodwood Festival of Speed always attracts a plethora of Formula One drivers and machinery, and with an impressive 2010 line-up, this year will be no different. The annual event, which this year celebrates the 60th anniversary of the FIA Formula One World Championship, takes place in the grounds of Sussex’s Goodwood House.

McLaren team mates - and 2008 and 2009 world champions respectively - Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button are among those at the top of the bill. Button is looking forward to driving one of Alain Prost’s classic McLarens, the MP4-2C, as well the more recent MP4-23 on Saturday, while Hamilton will also take charge of an MP4-23 - the car with which he won his title - on Sunday.

2010 championship contender Mark Webber and test driver Daniel Ricciardo will field Red Bulls and the team’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey is also expected to give his own design a blast up the famous Goodwood hill. Nico Rosberg, meanwhile, will take a spin in his Mercedes GP car, alongside team test driver Nick Heidfeld.

Fellow German Nico Hulkenberg will be in action in the Williams FW31, while Ferrari test driver Marc Gene will be in action in the Italian team’s latest car. HRT’s Bruno Senna will be another current driver in attendance, the Brazilian having opted to showcase more vintage machinery - his late uncle Ayrton’s iconic McLaren MP4-8.

Past Formula One world champions and Grand Prix winners expected include Emerson Fittipaldi, Sir Jackie Stewart, Mika Hakkinen, John Surtees, Sir Stirling Moss, Jochen Mass and Patrick Tambay. Stewart will drive Jim Clark's 1965 Indy 500-winning Lotus 38, which is due to run for the first time since 1965, while Surtees will take to the hill in his 1964 championship-winning Ferrari 158. Clark’s Lotus Type 49 will be on show, while Lotus Racing’s Formula One drivers, Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen, will be in attendance.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed takes place from July 2-4.

F1 : Di Grassi and 10 º 19 º Dani Clos

2009-05-10T05:46:00.001-07:00

After a disappointing race on Saturday, the grid positions of the two pilots Fat Burner Racing Enginnering for testing in Barcelona this morning were not entirely promising. Still, the Spanish team took the event to assess changes in some cars under race conditions, with Luke and Dani, who took the exit from the 18th and 20th position respectively, obtaining valuable information for future appointments.

Lucas did a great departure from the 18th place and in the first round ahead of eight rivals. The pilot of Fat Burner Racing Engineering continued to improve his position and during the following turns Maldonado pressured by the ninth, but their attacks did not yield the expected fruit. On lap 18, Lucas took a curve a little wide, Nunes took that moment forward. Having been relegated to 11th place, the pilot of the Brazilian benefited from Hulkenberg spin on lap 25 to re-register 10 and cross the finish line in this position.

The other pilot Burner Fat Burner Racing Engineering, Dani Clos, impressed those present with his career. Although his car was sparked on the grid, which instantly destroyed all chances of finishing the test in a good place, the Spanish couple did a great job and, despite having been relegated to last position, and pilot errors perfection at every turn. Marking some very competitive times in each turn, Dani had the best round of the final race and, having reduced the difference with the other riders, finished 19th.

Lucas Di Grassi: I was very good in and out in the first round and was able to retrieve eight positions. Over the next press turns Maldonado, but then I was difficult to continue gaining more places. Today we have progressed about yesterday, but we need to continue our work to improve the car and be among the first.
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Dani Clos: It was a pity that I have stuck in grill. During the race I had very good pace and check the final lap faster on the track. Overall, I am happy with the weekend. We need to improve on certain aspects, especially on my part. The team has worked well throughout the weekend. We have a very good car to Monaco and I hope that we can put everything in place.

Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon, Racing Director of Engineering: It's a shame that Dani was calase the car on the grid, but now we have proof that it is an excellent pilot. This weekend has done a great job. As for Luke, we'll see if we find the appropriate settings for Monaco, should fight for victory. Once again, the team has done a great job and I would like to thank them for putting two cars on the grid perfect for the race today after working all night.

F1 : Villa leaves intact the change

2009-05-10T05:38:00.000-07:00

Problems in the gearbox of his Dallara, which occurred prior to departure, they ended up costing the abandonment Javier Villa in the race of the GP2 Series sprint circuit in Montmeló.

Asturian The pilot was from inside the fifth row of the grid, but when trying to start the first round of training speed was not his car, which left him standing on the line and sentenced him to starting the pitlane. While the rest of the participants started the race, the car was booted Javi to push for its mechanics, joining track in the last square and clearly distanced himself from the group.

No options and to fight for positions of points, as was his goal, Villa did not make it by giving up, rolling fast and even better times by dialing back the pilots head, which is close to a separating twenty seconds.

In the fifth round and took Javi contact with the tail of the group, and successive drafts Herckx already exceeded Teixeira, reaching the position on lap 19 taking advantage of the top tenth of Perez. But the failure of change iban increasing, with growing problems for the reduction gears. After a few more laps to harass a compact bunch which closed Ricci and Valsechi, Villa should definitely come in boxes and being forced to leave.

Ended a weekend that did not give it to Javier expected results, but at least it served to show his speed again with a very good lap times when you could roll smoothly.
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The goal now is to leave behind the misfortune suffered in Montmeló and cope with optimism following the appointment of the GP2, nothing less than the historic layout of Monaco.

Javier Villa: "It was a difficult weekend. Cronos Since we had the pace to have fought for the pole in both races and we run very fast, making it the fourth best time yesterday and today the second ... and that we are there We have more than demonstrated. But that's not what we want, we must go, and go racing finish picking points. Today was a shame, and tickets went out with an option to take two or three points at the pace we were going, but a failure hydraulics in the box did not allow us to put the first and could not quit. Then, after twelve rounds were completely blocked in the fourth and we had to go back to boxes

F1 : Drivex The team will make its debut in Valencia

2009-05-10T05:23:00.000-07:00

After an intense preseason, Drivex will have its baptism of fire in the European F3 Open this weekend in Valencia. The team of Miguel Angel de Castro, aspires to victory in his first season in cars.

The Galician Celso Miguez, one of the most experienced pilots and fast grilling, will himself fight for wins and podiums at the controls of the Dallara F308 Class A. In all pre-season test, Celso has been among the fastest drivers, positioning itself as one of the favorites for the title.

Luis Villalba, the Pilot team in Class B (Dallara F306), this is your first experience of competition at the wheel of a car after making the leap from karting. Luis must take this first meeting to get the most experience possible and for the first time to face a real career. Promising time in its constant progression throughout the season, make it feasible to think of seeing him fight for the victories of his class once the first races.

Miguel Angel de Castro: "I'm anxious to see what we can in our first race cars. This project has been set up with a great deal of enthusiasm, but taking that to get results you need to have the best. I think we have a team, both pilots, engineers and mechanics, the first order within the European F3 Open. We will fight for the positions of honor. "

Celso Miguez: "We have a good preseason and I feel confident for the championship.
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Valencia is perhaps the circuit for the car that we have a less refined, but still in the last test we perform on this track was among the three fastest, so that we can not rule out fighting for the victories from the first manga. "

Luis Villalba: "Everything will be new for me. Although I have competed in karting for many years at international level, this will truly be the first race cars in my life. This includes booting from standing, not thrown out, and a lot more things that are completely new to me. I have to try to get the maximum experience possible this weekend. "

Dual F1 test role for Brendon Hartley

2009-03-12T09:11:00.000-07:00

New Zealand teenager Brendon Hartley has confirmed that the official test driver for Red Bull and Toro Rosso, Sebastien Buemi after promoting him to the race team.

Hartley met at Oulton Park last year during a race in Formula Three. It was not just a fantastic atmosphere after being beaten to first place team, Jaime Alguersuari. I did not get to see him the next day, after the pair moved his Red Bull-backed Carlina fork but I can not imagine that he was much happier after that.

Alguersuari success (and Oliver Turvey Carlin driver) for the title but all three showed great promise last year. While Hartley in the F3 Euroseries races this year and Turvey Aguersuari strengthened with the World Series by Renault, which updates the talents of F1, Sebastian Vettel, Robert Kubica and (in an earlier form) Fernando Alonso.

Red Bull have a lot of money in their young driver program and then Vettel had not received an enormous amount of results. Hartley is another driver to find his way in the plan, but to take this opportunity to test an early age (19) will help in the way of F1, speaking of driving when I met him.

Hartley seems to have taken a leaf from another driver for Red Bull's book style: Vitantonio Liuzzi. There are some complicated arrangement hat perched on his head when I met with two large tassels hanging around his waist. I understand that this is not the result of a lost wager, and indeed his regular hat.

Michael Schumacher: “Both of them did a great job”

2008-05-24T12:56:00.000-07:00

“Both of them did a great job”. Seven-time F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher has praised pole-man Felipe Massa and his teammate Kimi Raikkonen, for having locked out Monaco’s front row. “We are in the first row for tomorrow’s race and it’s a great thing as the race strategy is in our hands,” said the German.

Scuderia Ferrari’s last pole position in the streets of the Principality belonged to Michael Schumacher, who recalls: “Eight years have passed since our last pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix. Really, congratulations to Felipe!. I am really happy for the team as the guys are working hard. They do not even sleep at night.”

Qualifying: David Coulthard crash Video,2008 Monaco GP

2008-05-24T12:51:00.000-07:00

Red Bull’s David Coulthard crashes into the barriers while braking at the exit of Monte Carlo’s tunnel.

Qualifying: Honda quotes 2008 Monaco GP

2008-05-24T12:46:00.000-07:00

Steve Clark, Head of Race and Test Engineering: “Because of the wet morning session we elected to do an early run in Q1 on the prime tyre, then use the option for a single lap at the end. This worked well for us with both cars comfortably through to Q2. The second session was always going to be difficult for us as neither driver had a perfect balance on their first run. However changes to the front wing and tyre pressures had improved the car and they were both on a lap fast enough for the top ten when David Coulthard had his accident. We were running very late in the session in order to get the very best track conditions, so an incident at the last moment was a known risk which cost us dear on this occasion. A dry race tomorrow would be a very difficult and frustrating one for us. Both drivers are qualified below the potential of their cars and as we know overtaking here is pretty much impossible. If the race is wet then I think our chances of points are much higher. We have two very experienced drivers, both of whom are exceptional in the wet. Rubens has previously finished second here in an uncompetitive car and Jenson won his first race in the wet. Predicting a result in the wet is very difficult as there are so many scenarios that are possible, especially in changing conditions. A wet race here is likely to be full of incidents so if we can stay clear of them and get everything right then a good result is not out of the question.”

Rubens Barrichello: “It was certainly a disappointing second session for us. Unfortunately I didn’t have a good first run because of traffic and then my second outing was interrupted by the yellow flags. It’s a shame as the car was certainly competitive enough to get into Q3. However there is no place for ‘if only’ in Formula One and we are down in 15th, so it will be a tough race from there.”

Jenson Button: “We spent the session working on the balance, trying to remove understeer from the car in the high-speed corners, which we achieved and the balance was improving. On my last run, the car felt good and I gained almost two-tenths in the first sector on my previous best time, then in the second sector Coulthard had his incident which unfortunately meant I couldn’t improve my time because of the yellow flags. The car was well set-up for my final run in Q2 and the last sector is where we would have improved further, as we had a better front-end for the high-speed corners. Sadly the yellow flags prevented us from realising our full potential. We’re not in the top ten and it’s disappointing. That’s Monaco for you and what is important is that we know the car was quick enough to have improved.”

source: Honda

Qualifying: Red Bull quotes 2008 Monaco GP

2008-05-24T12:44:00.000-07:00

Christian Horner: “The main thing after such a nasty looking incident is that David is completely unharmed and the cars damage is relatively contained so, after a difficult weekend for him, which has included engine throttle problems on Thursday, a gearbox oil pressure issue this morning and a large accident in Q2, to still be tenth on the grid is positive for him! So I’m sure David will be fine in tomorrow’s race. Mark comfortably made it through the first two qualifying sessions and we think we’re reasonably placed for whatever the weather may throw at us tomorrow.”

David Coulthard: “I was doing around 185kph when the incident happened, and I went into the wall quite hard. When I hit the brakes the car turned, I was going over a rise so it’s possible I locked the rear axel, but normally when that happens, you can just release the brake a little bit. We’ll check the car and see if anything was going wrong at the rear, as it turned very quickly. It’s normal for the rear to go light when you brake there, as we don’t have engine braking or anything like that, but you drive with that in mind, so I’m surprised what happened was so violent. But, we’ll get the car back, look at the data and then we’ll know.”

Mark Webber: “We had a clear run with no problems. I was locking up quite a lot, but there was no particular sector of the lap that was worse than the others - we’ll just have to see how things go tomorrow. Seventy eight laps is a long race and there’s some uncertainly over the weather, so hopefully we can get some points.”

Fabrice Lom: “Fortunately David is okay after his accident and still got through to Q3. The performance of the car on this track is very good. For the engine it’s very difficult at this track with the new rules because we have a lot of over-revs with no driver aids. It’s going to be very difficult to keep the revs down and the car on the ground.”

source: Red Bull

Qualifying: Ferrari quotes 2008 Monaco GP

2008-05-24T12:41:00.000-07:00

Luca Baldisserri: “An all-red front row at Monaco is a really great result and a good reward for all the work we did in preparing for this Grand Prix. Our level of performance has improved and starting ahead of the field puts us in the best possible position for tomorrow afternoon’s race. We will have to be as well prepared as possible for all the various scenarios that could play out, especially considering the weather forecast which is for a strong chance of rain.”

Stefano Domenicali: “An all-red front row: we could not have asked for more from this qualifying session. In the past few weeks, we have said we would tackle this race with a different approach to usual and, at least up until now, we have reaped the rewards of this work that has involved the whole team. While we are well aware of the importance of qualifying at this track, the points only get allocated tomorrow. It will be a very tough race, which will be affected by the weather which is looking very uncertain. We will have to give of our best to build on this afternoon’s result.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “Obviously, I would have preferred to be on pole and there’s no point denying it, but two Ferraris ahead of the rest is a great result for the team. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, so the race could be a lottery and it might mean more overtaking opportunities, because in the dry the race risks turning into a boring procession. Overall, I am happy with the car: we just struggled a bit to get the best out of the tyres on the first timed lap, so that I was finding things a bit difficult through the first few corners on my second run in Q3. We had some doubts about our true potential on this track before the weekend, but this result confirms we have worked well and we have made a step forward compared to last year.”

Felipe Massa: “Incredible! I have got pole on a track where I have always struggled. Now I am beginning to like it a bit more… I managed to do a perfect lap with a great car: this result shows that, if you work hard and with attention to detail, you can do it everywhere. After finishing the lap, nobody said anything to me on the radio and then, unexpectedly, Rob Smedley, screamed, “incredible, you’re on pole!” and I was laughing all the way around my in lap as I just couldn’t stop. Now we have to maintain our concentration for the race tomorrow, which will be a very difficult one. It could rain which would complicate things even more. Starting at the front means I have the best possible conditions, but we will have to do everything perfectly. We worked a lot on the set-up to improve on the situation compared to past years and I think this decision has paid off.”

source: Ferrari

Qualifying: Williams quotes 2008 Monaco GP

2008-05-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

Sam Michael: “It was a good qualifying session for Nico and he’s in a good place for tomorrow’s race. It was a shame for Kazuki that he didn’t get through to Q3, but he did a good job considering this is his first time round Monaco in a Formula One car. He’ll have to keep his head down tomorrow but, if it’s a wet race, anything can happen. We had no reliability issues today.”

Nico Rosberg: “I am very happy, I got the most out of the car and this is a good result. I really enjoyed it out there today. It was good fun and I was really pushing it to the limit - I imagine it would be pretty exciting to watch my on-board camera footage because I was really attacking every bit of the lap. Qualifying in Monaco is different to anywhere else and being able to get to the limit here is just great. If it rains tomorrow it will be madness, so I’ll just have to be very careful and keep it on the track. With a good strategy, I can have a good Monaco Grand Prix.”

Kazuki Nakajima: “It was a difficult qualifying for me because I was having trouble hooking everything up on my quick laps. I made some mistakes on one of my clean laps, so I need to go away and think about that and see how I can improve. Nico did really well today. He set a really good lap time, so I think I should have been better. Conditions were slightly different out there this afternoon in comparison to this morning’s practice session, and the forecast isn’t settled for the race, which could make it interesting.”

source: AT&T Williams

Qualifying: Force India quotes 2008 Monaco GP

2008-05-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “A very disappointing qualifying session, especially for Giancarlo on his 200th GP. A gearbox problem this morning limited his running and then he hit traffic on his fastest lap, which would have been very close to putting him through to Q2. Adrian has done a steady job today, improving in each session, but overall I think we had a car that shouldn’t be on the back row. It will make the race very difficult, but anything can happen here.”

Giancarlo Fisichella: “It was a disappointing qualifying session and, in fact, whole day. This morning I had a problem with the gearbox and we had to change it, so I would have been penalised five places anyway, but then it was only ready about 14:05 so we didn’t have enough time to do three runs. My first run was not great, but the second was better but then I lost the chance to do a quick lap as I got caught behind Barrichello just after the swimming pool as he was slowing down. Very very frustrating.”

Adrian Sutil: “I felt my first laps were quite good, but then I had to pass a couple of cars in the first sector. It is really only two tenths or so, but from that point on it’s difficult to get in the rhythm. We had planned to do two laps but you never know whether there will be traffic so we left some margin with the fuel and I could stay out for a few more laps to get some better ones in. There were some positives though: at least we have got the tyre problem fixed and they are working well now.”

source: Force India

Qualifying: Renault quotes 2008 Monaco GP

2008-05-24T12:32:00.000-07:00

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: “It’s not been an easy day with the weather this morning giving us very little time to finish the work that we had to do. Consequently, we weren’t even sure going into qualifying which would be the best tyre for the session. Nelson has suffered from the lack of running, but Fernando has done a superb job once again and his position on the grid is a credit to him and I think we can have a strong race tomorrow. Now we have to wait and see what the weather brings.”

Nelson Piquet: “I am very disappointed. I had a small problem with the brakes in Q1 and I was not on the pace. The car was very sensitive, but we saw with Fernando that it improved gradually throughout the session, which is all the more frustrating for me. A race from the back of the grid is always difficult, especially in Monaco, but I will give my maximum tomorrow, although my only real chance is to hope for rain, which will mix things up.”

Fernando Alonso: “In Monaco qualifying is more important than anywhere else and our goal today was to make it through to Q3. It is very difficult to overtake, but I think it is quite an open race and as we are not fighting for the championship we can approach this race aggressively and take a few risks. It will be a competitive race, that is for sure, but we just have to wait and see what the weather does.”

Denis Chevrier, Head of Engine Track Operations: “Fernando did a great job once again today. Nelson was not able to show his pace and did not progress past Q1, and I believe he did not realise his potential. So we are disappointed because it all rests on Fernando now. Nelson must prepare himself for a difficult race, but the weather tomorrow could really shake up the order.”

source: ING Renault

Qualifying: Toyota quotes 2008 Monaco GP

2008-05-24T12:29:00.000-07:00

Pascal Vasselon, Senior General Manager Chassis: “Altogether that was quite a hectic weekend - because of both the weather conditions this morning and some issues we had in practice. But Jarno is especially strong in Monaco so even after a difficult Thursday he was able to recover well and put the car on row four. He was under half a second from the top car in Q2 so it shows the gaps are getting closer. We are really disappointed for Timo, who so narrowly missed out on Q3. He has been strong all weekend and did a good job in all the sessions - both in the dry and in the wet. Still, he’s in a good position for tomorrow because he has the first car that is free to decide on strategy overnight. That could be a significant advantage given the uncertain weather conditions so we can be hopeful for the race.”

Timo Glock: “It was frustrating to miss out on Q3 today because the weekend had been going well. I don’t know what happened. I did a decent first lap in Q2 but on the last set of tyres it just didn’t work out. I had a good first sector but the last two sectors didn’t come together and I missed Q3 by less than a tenth of a second. The consolation is that I have a free strategy for tomorrow. The weather could still play a part and we’ll push to make up ground.”

Jarno Trulli: “Today was a good qualifying but it was tough. All weekend I’ve had some problems with getting the most out of the package and even during qualifying I wasn’t completely happy. Here in Monaco if you don’t have confidence it is difficult to push to the limit. So I am glad to be in the top ten again and I also have high hopes for the race. A big thank you to the team and the mechanics because they worked really hard during Thursday practice when we had several problems so it’s good to give them a good qualifying session.”

source: Toyota

Qualifying: Toro Rosso quotes 2008 Monaco GP

2008-05-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

Sebastian Vettel: “My first lap time looked quite promising. After that, I feel we should have stuck with the prime tyre as the option was giving up during the first timed lap. I was unable to maintain a good level of grip over the whole track, so I was losing time, especially towards the end of the lap. It’s a shame, because with my penalty I will be at the back of the grid. So I’m hoping for rain…..lots of rain!”

Giorgio Ascanelli, Technical Director: “I am pleased that we experienced no problems with either car and managed to shake down two new rear ends. The performance though is not quite there and it looks as though there are some difficulties in putting together the necessary lap time.”

Sebastien Bourdais: “On my first lap I got caught up with Massa and my second was definitely going to be better, but that would not have changed anything. I am finding it very difficult to read what the car is doing, especially under braking when I am locking wheels a lot. In fact that was what caused the problem on my next run, because as I knew I had been locking the rear coming out of the tunnel, I moved the balance just one click to the front and sure enough, this time I lost the front. Also, as a general comment the car feels loose on the entry to most corners. Our situation was not helped by the fact we still lack experience with the new car and had nearly no dry running this morning. You have to pick up the pace by around a second and a half and when you’ve never done it in an F1 car in Monaco, it’s a bit harder than anywhere else.”

source: Toro Rosso

Qualifying: BMW Sauber quotes 2008 Monaco GP

2008-05-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

Willy Rampf, Technical Director: “In the third Free Practice we had changing weather conditions. Therefore it was difficult to find the perfect set-up. In Q1 and Q2 Robert managed to get the results we expected. In Q3 he was not able to set the time we hoped for. In the end he missed the second row of the grid by six thousands of a second. Anyway, fifth is a good starting position. Meanwhile for Nick it will be a lot more difficult to score points in Monaco from 13th on the grid. However, for Sunday changing weather conditions are predicted, so we might see a surprise.”

Nick Heidfeld: “Unfortunately I don’t have much to say: my qualifying result is disappointing. Here in Monaco I can’t heat up the tyres quickly enough.”

Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director: “From a technical point of view our qualifying was ok. Certainly, we are disappointed with Nick ending up 13th. Robert showed a good pace and was able to fight for the top positions. In the end he even could have been a position further up the grid, but fifth is ok.”

Robert Kubica: “Again we showed we have a good pace. I was pushing on every single lap of qualifying and this was all I could do today. Unfortunately on my last flying lap I had Lewis Hamilton in front of me. He did not hold me up, but whenever you have another car in front of you there is some kind of a risk. On my out lap I tried to widen the gap to Lewis so as to have no traffic. My tyres cooled down too much and I was very slow in the first sector of my quick lap.”

source: BMW Sauber

Qualifying McLaren-Mercedes quotes 2008 Monaco GP

2008-05-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

Ron Dennis: “An exciting qualifying with the lap times of the top drivers very close together. Of course, we would have preferred to be on pole; however, in the race we should be looking good with our strategy, consistency and pace. Especially in Monaco you can destroy your race with a smaller fuel load and it is easy to make a wrong decision in that respect. With a good start, and if we can stay out longer, even from the second row it is possible to win here. We have a good strategy and I expect a very hard fought race in hopefully good weather conditions.”

Heikki Kovalainen: “I am little disappointed as I put maximum effort in my last qualifying run. The car felt good, so I don’t know where the small gap to the cars in front comes from. I did not put a foot wrong in all three sessions. I want to thank my team who had repaired the damage from this morning’s incident well, so I could make best use of my car without any problems. The race is a different affair, and I expect us to be in good shape.”

Norbert Haug: “Lewis is third, half a tenth of a second away from pole. However, with Heikki lining up alongside him on the second row, both drivers still should be in a position to fight for victory tomorrow.”

Lewis Hamilton: “Obviously I would have preferred to be on pole, but I am pleased with how the car felt and our strategy. The team did a solid job, and I didn’t have any problems with traffic. My two flying laps in the final part of qualifying were good, but I lost a bit of time in the second sector, because I lacked a bit of traction accelerating out of turn eight, and in the third sector, at the last corners, I did not brake as late as I should. But we have a good strategy, and I am quite confident for the race - tomorrow anything can happen particularly with the weather forecast promising rain.”

source: McLaren Mercedes

Qualifying: Felipe Massa on pole 2008 Monaco GP

2008-05-24T12:18:00.000-07:00

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa has snatched the pole position for tomorrow’s Monaco Grand Prix. The Brazilian, who topped the timesheets in all three sessions, was followed by teammate Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren Mercedes duo with Lewis Hamilton ahead of Heikki Kovalainen. Fifth position on the grid for BMW’s Robert Kubica, sixth for an excellent in Q1 and Q2 Nico Rosberg, seventh for Renault’s Fernando Alonso, eighth for Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and ninth for Red Bull’s Mark Webber. Tenth position on Monte Carlo’s grid for David Coulthard, who, following a collision into the barriers was unable to compete in Q3.

2008 Monaco Grand Prix, Qualifying Session results:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:15.190	1:15.110	1:15.787	20
2	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:15.717	1:15.404	1:15.815	19
3	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:15.582	1:15.322	1:15.839	20
4	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:15.295	1:15.389	1:16.165	25
5	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:15.977	1:15.483	1:16.171	18
6	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	1:15.935	1:15.287	1:16.548	24
7	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:16.646	1:15.827	1:16.852	20
8	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:16.306	1:15.598	1:17.203	21
9	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1:16.074	1:15.745	1:17.343	19
10	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	1:16.086	1:15.839	no time	18
11	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	1:16.285	1:15.907		16
12	16	Jenson Button	Honda	1:16.259	1:16.101		13
13	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:16.650	1:16.455		14
14	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	1:16.756	1:16.479		16
15	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1:16.208	1:16.537		12
16	14	Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	1:16.806			9
17	6	Nelsinho Piquet	Renault	1:16.933			8
18	15	Sebastian Vettel	STR-Ferrari	1:16.955			11
19	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	1:17.225			12
20	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	1:17.823			8

Heikki Kovalainen fastest in final free practice 2008 Monaco GP

2008-05-24T12:15:00.000-07:00

McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen has clocked the fastest lap time (1:16.567) in the final free practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix. The Finn however, after the first 25 minutes of the session and in a slightly wet track, lost control of his MP4-23 in the swimming pool turn and damaged the rear. Lewis Hamilton finished second with a best time of 1:17.084 and was followed by Kimi Raikkonen (1:17.177), Nico Rosberg (1:17.503), Robert Kubica (1:17.687), Felipe Massa (1:17.691), Mark Webber (1:17.856) and Adrian Sutil (1:17.883).

The drivers will be back on track in about an hour for the Qualifying session.

2008 Monaco Grand Prix, Saturday Practice results:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Time/Retired	Gap	Laps
1	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:16.567		11
2	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:17.084	0.517	15
3	1	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:17.177	0.610	21
4	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	1:17.503	0.936	26
5	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:17.687	1.120	22
6	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:17.691	1.124	26
7	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1:17.856	1.289	22
8	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	1:17.883	1.316	23
9	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	1:18.147	1.580	26
10	16	Jenson Button	Honda	1:18.225	1.658	27
11	14	Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	1:18.367	1.800	16
12	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	1:18.424	1.857	26
13	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1:18.455	1.888	19
14	6	Nelsinho Piquet	Renault	1:18.615	2.048	25
15	15	Sebastian Vettel	STR-Ferrari	1:18.651	2.084	29
16	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:18.795	2.228	24
17	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:18.858	2.291	25
18	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:19.024	2.457	23
19	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	1:19.131	2.564	10
20	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	1:20.805	4.238	17

Why Ferrari taping secretly BMW Sauber pit stops?

2008-05-24T12:12:00.000-07:00

According to rumors from the Monaco Grand Prix paddock, Scuderia Ferrari would have been so impressed by BMW Sauber’s pit stop speed this season that the Maranello team would have commissioned Italian public broadcaster RAI and Sky Italy to tape secretly BMW’s mechanics during the Paul Ricard test session last week.

“If Ferrari sees us as a benchmark, we take that as a compliment,” BMW’s boss Mario Theissen commented.

“We are very proud of our fast guys,” BMW’s Team Manager Beat Zehnder told the Blick newspaper. “However, it would be prohibited to film other teams. Those who want to film, must be in agreement with F1’s commercial rights holder, Bernie Ecclestone.”

Toyota, Red Bull and BMW seeking for Fernando Alonso in 2009?

2008-05-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

he Spanish newspaper Marca, has claimed that three Formula 1 teams - Toyota, Red Bull Racing and BMW Sauber - would have offered to double World Champion Fernando Alonso a seat for next year. The Spaniard, disappointed with Renault’s poor performance so far, would be already seeking for alternatives.

The newspaper also claims that BMW’s Nick Heidfeld, who is currently hoping to renew his contract with the Hinwil team, could loose his seat to Fernando Alonso.

Fernando Alonso escapes penalty in Monaco

2008-05-23T04:03:00.000-07:00

Double World Champion Fernando Alonso has escaped penalty after being summoned by the Monaco stewards in regards to his crash during Thursday’s second free practice. The Spaniard had to explain why he had driven an entire lap following his crash on the barriers on Turn 1 where he damaged and lost his rear wing.

“I told them that I thought I had driven safely, without endangering anyone, and also that there wasn’t any good areas to stop,” the Spaniard explained to Spain’s Diario AS.

“I thanked them, and that’s it,” he said referring to the steward’s decision not to penalise him.

Honda: talks started for Button’s new contract

2008-05-23T03:56:00.000-07:00

According to reports, talks between Honda Racing and Jenson Button would have started for the Briton’s contract renewal at the Monaco paddock. But The Times newspaper, despite Button’s statements earlier this month where he assured that he will keep racing for the Brackley based team, claims that the Briton could leave Honda in order to “chase his dream of winning the drivers’ world championship”.

“We are investing huge amounts in our factory, in our manpower and our resources, all geared to have a world championship-winning driver. Jenson has seen what we are doing and he is very impressed and excited by it,” said Honda Racing CEO Nick Fry.