Lewis Hamilton & Jenson Button hopeful for Singapore GP

Title contenders Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button are hopeful of a strong showing at the Singapore Grand Prix.

They believe modifications to their car will improve its pace at the street track after McLaren struggled at similar circuits earlier in the year.

Hamilton said: "We head into the weekend with renewed confidence following some positive tests and some developments in the wind tunnel."
Button added that "a lot had changed" since McLaren's poor race in Hungary.
The Hungaroring, like Singapore, is a low-speed track requiring high-downforce and McLaren were nearly two seconds off the pace set by Red Bull at that race in July, and 0.5secs slower than Ferrari.

But following a controversy over flexible bodywork, teams have been forced to make modifications to their cars and McLaren believe this will hit Red Bull and, to a lesser extent, Ferrari.
In addition, McLaren are introducing some major aerodynamic developments to their car that they hope will make it more competitive.
Team principal Martin Whitmarsh said he was "feeling positive that we'll once again be in a position to race at the front".
Hamilton, who crashed out of the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, heads into the Singapore race on 26 September five points adrift of Red Bull's championship leader Mark Webber.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso is third, followed by Button and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel. All five are covered by just 24 points - less than a driver earns for a win.

Button said: "The Singapore Grand Prix will be a very interesting weekend because I think it'll give us a clearer idea of the destiny of the world championship.

"The last time we were at a low-speed, high-downforce track was in Hungary back at the start of August.
"Our car wasn't particularly competitive there, and maybe we haven't had a properly representative view of the top teams' relative pace because we've just visited two high-speed circuits.
"But, equally, a lot has changed since that race in Budapest - not least, some quite hefty revisions to the rulebook regarding bodywork flexibility and, additionally, a lot of work by the engineers at McLaren to ensure our car is now better suited to slower circuits.
"Singapore will be interesting for all of us - we'll not only get an idea of the speed of the Ferrari and Red Bull, but we'll get to see for the first time whether all our efforts over the past two months have helped put us back in the ballpark at high-downforce tracks."

Hamilton, who won in Singapore last year, added: "It's difficult to say accurately how competitive we'll be in Singapore.
"If Monza most closely resembled a track like Canada, then Singapore is far closer to places like Monaco and Hungary, where we've struggled relative to the competition.
"But the engineers are positive that we've made some good progress, so I'm looking forward to getting out on track and sampling the changes for real.
"The race should give us a clearer indication of exactly where we stand as the championship closes down over the next five races, but I definitely want to score as many points as possible in this grand prix."

Andrew Benson blog - BBC

“Lewis was an experiment.” These words, spoken (or perhaps whispered in a dimly-lit corner of McLaren’s HQ) by team principal Martin Whitmarsh and printed in The Telegraph last week, would have been enough to give every Hollywood filmmaker with a penchant for motor racing visions of the first sci-fi/F1 blockbuster.
It was what only the most delusional, conspiracy-driven F1 devotee dared imagine; that McLaren, the team described by Murray Walker in his autobiography as having “an undeserved image of grim and soulless efficiency”, had been developing genetically enhanced humanoids all along.
Hilariously, the mechanical McLaren stereotype came to the fore on Sunday in the BBC’s build-up to the Malaysian grand prix when Eddie Jordan quizzed Whitmarsh on why his team failed to put in enough ‘banker’ laps in qualifying before the rain showers turned into a deluge.

Whitmarsh: “We were relying on technology…”

Jordan: “Martin, there has to be a strong human element in this, you can’t rely on robots or computers to tell you what’s happening on this pitlane.”

Jake Humphrey: “Do you have people?”

Whitmarsh: (laughs) “We have people…”

Hmm, that’s reassuring, if a little disappointing; the idea of a McLaren team run entirely by robots is more fun. Hollywood, make that movie.
Such a film would probably start thus: bold letters moving across the screen with the abyss of space as the backdrop:

NOT CONTENT WITH F1 PODIUMS, WINS, WORLD TITLES AND THE LAUNCHING OF ROAD-GOING ROCKETS, THE TEAM WITH THE ‘MISSION CONTROL’ ROOM (NO, REALLY) AT THEIR SPACE-AGE WOKING HQ BEGAN TO DEVELOP GENETICALLY-ENHANCED HUMANOIDS. 14 YEARS LATER, A STAR WAS BORN… LEWIS HAMILTON.

Perhaps the director of the 1980s sci-fi movie D.A.R.Y.L – Data-Analysing Robot Youth Lifeform – could do the honours and bring this fiction to the silver screen.
It could work. After all, there’s a delightful scene in that film where the main character, a youngster named Daryl, flies a US Airforce Blackbird plane at supersonic speeds – not unlike Hamilton’s prodigious skills piloting his McLaren F1 car.

A motion picture like this would need an arch villain. Look no further than Fernando Alonso, Hamilton’s nemesis when the Spaniard was also at McLaren. Importantly, Alonso’s facial features are reminiscent of a young Al Pacino – who’s played lots of baddies.
The filmmakers would also do well to utilize the talents of former McLaren ace Kimi Raikkonen, aka the monosyllabic maverick, owing to his delightfully robotic credentials. The only sticking point might be the Flying Finn’s fee.

Considering that Ferrari are effectively paying Kimi approximately £18 million not to drive for them this year, the 2007 World Champion would probably be looking for a one-off sum equal to a ‘googolplex’ to appear in said film.
Such a salary would be in keeping with the sci-fi theme of this movie, as a googolplex is a number so vast it requires more space than the known universe to write out all the noughts.

Fortunately Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel has erased the nought next to his name. Until Malaysia the unlucky Vettel had to put up with a ‘0’ in the column entitled 2010 races won, but after his success at Sepang he can embrace the number 1.
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa may be leading the driver’s championship, but considering that Vettel was only denied victory in the opening two races by car faults, the German really is the No1 driver.

David Edbrooke - The Telegraph

Ron Dennis Speaks up !

Ron Dennis: I've paid the price for dedicating 30 years to Formula One

Ron Dennis vanished overnight from Formula One eight months ago. But as McLaren prepare to launch Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button in a combined bid for British supremacy, the man who built the team into the force it is today has finally broken his silence.

Dennis, now head of the McLaren division building a supercar to launch next year, has ventured back into the public eye, hinting strongly at unfair treatment from Max Mosley, the former head of the sport’s governing body, criticising his former rival team bosses and revealing the obsessions that drove him, and his team, to the top.

The 62-year-old saw his life and reputation unravel from the summer of 2007 after McLaren were fined $100million by the FIA over the ‘Spygate’ saga and his 22-year marriage to his American wife, Lisa, ended.
After almost 30 years on the Grand Prix stage, the man whose vision and dedication made world champions of Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen and Hamilton, and brought him a fortune of more than £150m, was suddenly paying for his desire to win motor races, not friends.

Mosley was one of his enemies, a man with whom he constantly disagreed, disputing his dictatorial form of governance, and he leaves little room for doubt that he believes the former FIA president acted unfairly when McLaren were heavily fined for having technical data belonging to rivals, Ferrari.
Five months later, Renault, led by the flamboyant Italian Flavio Briatore, escaped punishment for the same offence, this time involving McLaren’s secrets.
‘[Spygate] was a minor indiscretion by junior members of the organisation that got amplified into a bigger issue,’ says Dennis, in an interview with Esquire magazine. It wasn’t the way it was portrayed. As always, with the passing of time, the truth will come out.
‘The bit I don’t like is when people damage the reputation of this company for reasons that have their roots in issues that relate to how fiercely I’ve fought for what I believe to be right for Formula One and McLaren. Sometimes it’s a price you wish you didn’t have to pay, but it is.’

Dennis rode out that storm, but he did not survive when McLaren became embroiled in a fresh scandal after Hamilton admitted misleading race stewards at the Australian Grand Prix. Even though Martin Whitmarsh had officially become McLaren team principal, Dennis was in the sights of his enemies.

Before the FIA hearing in Paris in mid-April, Dennis suddenly stood down as chief executive of McLaren’s F1 activities, relinquishing his role as group chairman. He insisted the decision to take personal supervision of McLaren’s new supercar was his alone. Few believed him, but McLaren escaped with a suspended three-race ban, Hamilton avoided censure and Dennis left in ignominious circumstances the sport that had been his lifeblood.
‘I can’t look at F1 without tremendous fondness, it’s given me a great life,’ he says. ‘But I find the judgmental behaviour frustrating.
‘I can sit on the pit wall and be serious, focused, and a commentator in another country says: “Oh, look at him, isn’t he miserable?” and that idea catches on. I have an amusing side to my personality, but when you’re working, you’re working.
‘I’m responsible for two lives out there and the performance of the company. When I see my opposite numbers in other teams and how ridiculously colourful and playing to the audience they are, I can’t help thinking “How on earth do you ever think you’re going to win a Grand Prix?”

‘You write down the names of all the team principals from the past 10 years and how many have won more than five races, it’s a short list. Throw some other queries at that and you’ll realise performance requires total dedication. You pay for that dedication because people misunderstand your personality and motives. That’s the price you pay, but I sleep easy.’
Dennis is a man of puzzling complexities. Famed for talking in what became known as ‘Ronspeak’ for its tortuous phrasing, his obsessive behaviour — he reputedly had the pebbles in his drive washed every month — has not lessened with success, or age.
‘I get a mental pain from looking at things that have not been properly executed,’ he says. ‘Attention to detail is fundamental to how this company has grown. I’m perceived by outsiders as being in some ivory tower.
‘I’m not, I know exactly what is going on. There are people in this organisation, and I don’t say this with any pride, who are frightened of me. That’s because they don’t understand me.
‘I used to go to bed with the vacuum cleaner going because my mum wanted the house immaculate when she got up. That’s the ethos I grew up with, everything had to be perfect all the time. That’s why I am such a pain to live with. I don’t want chaos; my homes are my tranquillity bases.’

The painful breakdown of his marriage to Lisa, with whom he has three children, has led him to buy a home in London and finding, with the help of a friend who is a magazine editor, a new lifestyle.
‘I’ve changed my life and I’ve been helped back into a social circle which didn’t see me as some poor old wrinkly stood in a nightclub, but more out there enjoying life.
‘My priority is still my kids, but when my kids are out doing stuff I go out and do stuff, too.’
Dennis can see a kindred spirit in Michael Schumacher, returning to F1 with Mercedes at the age of 42, and he will doubtless miss not being on the pit wall in Bahrain on March 14 as Hamilton and Button, the last two world champions, seek to deny the German, a seven-time title winner, a fairytale comeback.

Ironically, Dennis never tried to sign Schumacher. Perhaps after dealing with the egocentric genius of Senna, he was unwilling to put himself through the mill a second time.
He certainly invested emotionally in his drivers’ careers. He describes his relationship with Hamilton, whom he groomed to be champion from the age of 12, as ‘paternal’.
But for Senna, he admits his regard ‘edged on almost masculine love’. I use the word quite deliberately,’ he adds. ‘It didn’t have any homosexuality about it, it wasn’t that sort [of love].’
After the sacrifices Dennis has made in his career and personal life, he confesses to having few friends. ‘I have less than 10,’ he says. ‘Friendship is just part of the mix that determines whether you’re happy or not.’

For nearly 30 years, Formula One was also part of that mix. Now Dennis is facing up to new challenges

By Malcolm Folley

Barrichello Wins European Grand Prix in Valencia

Brawn's Rubens Barrichello beat McLaren's Lewis Hamilton to win the European Grand Prix after the world champion suffered a pit-lane mix-up.
Hamilton, who led from the start, was engaged in a tight battle with Barrichello when he was delayed at his final pit stop because his tyres were not ready.
But the mix-up did not cost him the race - an analysis of lap times suggests Barrichello would have beaten him anyway.
Jenson Button was seventh and team-mate Barrichello is now his closest title rival.
The Brazilian's victory puts him 18 points adrift of the Englishman with 60 remaining in the final six races of the season.
Red Bull's Mark Webber slipped to third in the championship 20.5 points behind Button, after finishing only ninth. His team-mate Sebastian Vettel, lying fourth, failed to finish following an engine failure.

Kimi Raikkonen finished third for Ferrari, ahead of Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, with Williams's Nico Rosberg fifth from Renault's Fernando Alonso, Button and the improved BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica.
Barrichello dedicated his victory to fellow Brazilian Felipe Massa, who is recovering at home after suffering a fractured skull in a crash at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
"I had two wishes," Barrichello said, "first that he would be the same guy, and he is, and second that he will be the same driver, and I think he will be better.
"We knew if everything went to place we could win the race. You don't forget how to do it, even though it's five years.
"They were telling me push, push, push. You want to do it for yourself, your team, your family, your country. So there was a lot going through my mind."
Barrichello was third on the grid behind Hamilton and Kovalainen, but was fastest of all on fuel-corrected qualifying times.
He held on to third place off the start and settled in behind the McLarens for the duration of the first stint.
He stayed within touching distance of Kovalainen and leapfrogged the Finn by using his larger fuel load to stop three laps later, during which time he set a succession of fast lap times.
Once the field had settled down after the stops, Barrichello was slightly more than three seconds adrift of Hamilton and the gap see-sawed between three and four seconds until Hamilton's final pit stop on lap 37.
The McLaren pit wall were late in asking their mechanics to bring Hamilton's tyres into the pit lane, and that delayed the world champion by about five seconds.

He was just over six seconds clear by the time the two cars emerged from the pits - meaning he had made up four seconds on Hamilton on the track, slightly more than his deficit to the McLaren when it made its stop.
And Brawn brought Barichello in four laps earlier than necessary as soon as it became apparent he had enough of an advantage to make a stop and still retain the lead.
McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh said: "It was clear we weren't as quick in the race as we should have been.
"Rubens was quite a bit quicker than us and we were tying to get an extra lap. That made our call late and we didn't get the tyres out in time.
"We were monitoring the fuel, he was meant to come in on lap 37 and were trying to get him to come in on lap 38, but we didn't have quite enough.
"To have a car arrive and not have the tyres there is an operational error. But had the tyres been ready it wouldn't have made a difference. It only cost us a couple of seconds."
Hamilton said: "We win and we lose together. We had a tremendous effort to get us here so we cannot at all take second place for granted or be disappointed we didn't get the win because we've had extraordinary pace and it was a tremendous effort from everyone.
"These things happen. I've had so many races for this team and this hardly ever happens. It's only the second time, I think. We need to catch these guys up because I believe they are a little but quicker than us but we're pushing all the time."
Button qualified fifth - two places behind his team-mate - on a weekend when the Brawns returned to form. But he slipped down to ninth after a messy first lap.
The Englishman spent the middle part of the race trying to pass Webber, a feat he finally managed during the second and final pit stop period.

Webber lost eighth place to the improved BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica after getting stuck behind slower cars on the lap before his stop and then suffering a slight delay in the pits.
Once clear of the traffic he had got himself stuck behind, Button set a series of fastest laps in the final stages of the race as he attempted to chase down Alonso.
He will nevertheless be encouraged by his pace here - but well aware that he does not know whether Brawn have solved the problems that prevented them from being competitive in the cooler conditions of the preceding three races.
Button will now be anxious to see whether the changes Brawn are planning to improve their performance in cooler conditions than the stifling heat of Valencia work at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps in the Ardennes mountains next weekend.

By Andrew Benson BBC Sport in Valencia

McLaren in form as Hamilton tops second F1 practice

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Defending driver world champion Briton Lewis Hamilton confirmed that McLaren Mercedes are back on form by clocking the fastest time in Friday afternoon's second free practice for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.
Earlier, his team-mate Finn Heikki Kovalainen had topped the times in the morning's opening session. Kovalainen was second fastest in a McLaren one-two in the afternoon.
Germany's Nico Rosberg was third for Williams ahead of Australian Mark Webber in a Red Bull and his Williams team-mate Japanese Kazuki Nakajima. German Sebastian Vettel was sixth in the second Red Bull.
This battle of three teams across the top six places left Brazilian Rubens Barrichello down in seventh in the leading Brawn GP car, a further demonstration of the team's slip from dominance.
His team-mate championship leading Briton Jenson Button was 13th, struggling to find the pace to deliver a competitive time on the tight and twisting Hungaroring circuit set in rolling countryside 20 kilometres north of Budapest.
The Ferraris also struggled to make an impact and Finn Kimi Raikkonen was 11th and his team-mate Brazilian Felipe Massa 18th on an afternoon when Spanish new boy Jaime Alguersuari continued to avoid trouble and ended up 20th and last.
Kovalainen was fastest early in the session and stayed there until Hamilton raised the pace with his best lap pf one minute and 22.079 seconds. This was 0.047 seconds faster than Kovalainen.

F1 teams drop breakaway bombshell

Formula 1 has been thrown into chaos after eight of its major teams said they are now planning to set up a rival championship for the 2010 season.
The threat by members of the F1 Teams Association (Fota) escalates their row with world motorsport boss Max Mosley over his budget cap proposals.
"The teams have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 F1 Championship," said the teams.
"We've no alternative than to commence preparation for a new championship."
Mosley was insistent on introducing a voluntary £40m budget cap for teams to curtail a "financial arms race" in F1.
But Fota refused to agree to his conditions, prompting championship leader Brawn GP, Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso to take their drastic action.
They announced their decision following a four-hour meeting on Thursday night ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
"Since the formation of Fota last September the teams have worked together and sought to engage the FIA and commercial rights holder (Bernie Ecclestone), to develop and improve the sport," read a Fota statement.
"Unprecedented worldwide financial turmoil has inevitably placed great challenges before the F1 community.
"Fota is proud that it has achieved the most substantial measures to reduce costs in the history of our sport.
"In particular, the manufacturer teams have provided assistance to the independent teams, a number of which would probably not be in the sport today without the Fota initiatives.
The teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 world championship
Fota statement
"The Fota teams have further agreed upon a substantial voluntary cost reduction that provides a sustainable model for the future.
"Following these efforts, all the teams have confirmed to the FIA and the commercial rights holder that they are willing to commit until the end of 2012.
"The FIA and the commercial rights holder have campaigned to divide Fota.
"The wishes of the majority of the teams are ignored. Furthermore, tens of millions of dollars have been withheld from many teams by the commercial rights holder, going back as far as 2006.
"Despite this, and the uncompromising environment, Fota has genuinely sought compromise.
"It has become clear, however, the teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 world championship."
Fota added that its championship would put F1 fans first and boast the best drivers and sponsors.
"This series will have transparent governance, one set of regulations, encourage more entrants and listen to the wishes of the fans, including offering lower prices for spectators worldwide, partners and other important stakeholders," added the statement.

"The major drivers, stars, brands, sponsors, promoters and companies historically associated with the highest level of motorsport will all feature in this new series."
Former champions Williams and Force India have already committed unconditionally to the FIA's world championship along with three new entrants - Campos, US F1 and Manor.
The FIA has said there are other would-be newcomers waiting to take the places of those teams that refused to enter unconditionally, although one, Lola, has already withdrawn its application.
The stage is also set for a legal battle, with the FIA saying champions Ferrari and the two Red Bull teams have existing contracts which commit them to the existing championship.
The FIA had set a Friday deadline for five teams - Brawn, BMW-Sauber, McLaren, Renault and Toyota - to convert their provisional entries into unconditional ones or risk being excluded.
There was no immediate comment from the FIA or Ecclestone.

Vodafone McLaren get "Suspended 3 Race Ban"

The FIA’s World Motor Sport Council has handed McLaren a three race ban for bringing the sport into disrepute after they were found to have misled race stewards at March’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

The ban will be suspended, however, in light of the ‘open and honest way’ in which team principal Martin Whitmarsh addressed the Council on Wednesday, and will only be applied if further evidence emerges, or there is another breach of the International Sporting Code.

Accepting the decision, Whitmarsh commented: "I would like to thank the FIA World Motor Sport Council members for affording me the opportunity to answer their questions this morning. We are aware that we made serious mistakes in Australia and Malaysia, and I was therefore very glad to be able to apologise for those mistakes once again. “I was also pleased to be able to assure the FIA World Motor Sport Council members that we had taken appropriate action with a view to ensuring that such mistakes do not occur again."

The full statement from the FIA:

At an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council held in Paris on 29 April 2009, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes admitted five charges of breaching article 151c of the International Sporting Code relating to events at the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix.
The following decision was taken:
“Having regard to the open and honest way in which McLaren Team Principal, Mr Martin Whitmarsh, addressed the WMSC and the change in culture which he made clear has taken place in his organisation, the WMSC decided to suspend the application of the penalty it deems appropriate. “That penalty is a suspension of the team from three races of the FIA Formula One World Championship. This will only be applied if further facts emerge regarding the case or if, in the next 12 months, there is a further breach by the team of article 151c of the International Sporting Code.”The full reasons for this decision will be issued shortly.

Brawn's Jenson Button wins Bahrain Grand Prix

Brawn GP's Jenson Button won the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, giving the Briton his third win in the four Formula One races this year.
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel was second, 7.1 seconds behind Button, and Toyota's Jarno Trulli, the polesitter, took third at the Sakhir circuit.
The result gives Button a 12-point lead in the drivers' championship, with a two-week break before the series heads to Europe.
"This race win for us is probably the best out of the lot, because we don't have a competitive edge," said Button, referring to his rival teams' recent improvement. "We are not as strong as we used to be and had to work doubly hard."
Defending champion Lewis Hamilton was fourth for McLaren, ahead of Brawn GP's Rubens Barrichello. Kimi Raikkonen finished sixth to give Ferrari its first points of the season, with Toyota's Timo Glock and Renault's Fernando Alonso seventh and eighth.
Button's key move was when he passed Hamilton at the start of the second lap, while Vettel got stuck behind the McLaren, which was slower through bends but hard to pass because of its KERS power-boost.
"That move really made the race for us," Button said.
Glock started on the outside of the front row and got the best of the start to lead Trulli in the early stages, and the Toyota teammates held that advantage until the first set of pit stops. However, Toyota's strategy to use the less-preferred medium-compound tire through the long second stint of the race gave a the advantage to Button, who effectively led from the 13th of 57 laps.

Button has 31 points from four races, putting him 12 points ahead of Barrichello. Brawn is well out front in the constructors' championship as well.
Ferrari's points avoided it going through the first four races of the season without a point for the first time in its F1 history.

A round -up Of the latest Jerez Testing

Heikki Kovalainen moved McLaren’s MP4-24 to the head of the order for 2009 cars at Jerez as teams finally enjoyed fine weather at a pre-season European test.

In stark contrast to the dire conditions that plagued the year’s first group outing at Portimao and partly disrupted Tuesday’s opening day in Spain, Jerez was bathed in warm and sunny conditions on Wednesday to allow some serious dry-weather running.

Sebastien Buemi was again predictably the official pacesetter in Toro Rosso’s 2008 car (clocking 1m17.591s after a mammoth 143 laps) but it was the picture behind that really counted as teams began to get an early indication of where they stand in the early 2009 pecking order.

And it was Kovalainen who won day two’s battle following an encouraging trouble-free 110-lap run in the latest McLaren – although his MP4-24 was running with a modified 2008 rear wing and not the new low-downforce version.

The Finn remained on the same programme as the opening day, focusing on set-up and KERS evaluations, with the team reporting an improving balance following several longer runs and a best time of 1m20.799s.

At the start of the test all eyes in the pit lane had been on Mark Webber, the Red Bull driver returning to action for the first time since breaking his leg at the end of November for his first taste of the team's new RB5.
Indeed encouragingly for both driver and team the Australian made an impressive comeback, appearing to show no ill effects from his injury during his 83 laps and clocking the second fastest time for a 2009 car, 1m21.321s.

His former team Williams meanwhile maintained its positive start to testing as Kazuki Nakajima put another 125 laps on the FW31.
The Japanese driver was just over a tenth of a second adrift of Webber after completing a productive programme which included set-up work plus tyre and reliability testing.
“Kazuki was testing for the team in Jerez today and covered over 550kms while undertaking mechanical set-up tests,” Williams technical director Sam Michael said.

“He also completed a full race simulation without issue.
We are looking forward to another productive day tomorrow when we will carry out more tuning work on the FW31 in preparation for the first grand prix.”

Bringing up the order was again Nelson Piquet Jr as Renault surprisingly continued to find itself at the bottom of the order.
A second day of frustration for the Brazilian was characterised by several small mechanical glitches with the R29 which restricted him to 49 laps.

His running for the week is now over, but he hopes team-mate Fernando Alonso is able to put significantly more mileage on the car over the remaining two days.

"The track conditions were better today and we continued with the work we did yesterday, learning about the car and beginning some basic set-up work," Piquet said.
"Again we didn’t do as many laps as we would have liked as we lost some time after lunch, but we still learnt some interesting things.

"The weather looks good for the rest of the week so the team should be able to get some more important data tomorrow and Friday.”

In addition to Alonso's first appearance of the week, Thursday will also see world champion Lewis Hamilton take to the track for just the second time this winter in McLaren's new car.

The recently confirmed Sebastien Bourdais replaces Buemi at Toro Rosso, while Sebastian Vettel will take over the RB5 again from Webber.

Ferrari unveils New F60 for 2009 Season

World Championship runner-up Felipe Massa described the new Ferrari F60 Formula One car as 'cute' after it was unveiled on the company's official website on Monday.
Massa, who missed out on the world title to Britain's Lewis Hamilton on the final corner of the final race in Brazil last season, was the first to test the 2009 Ferrari model - successor to the F2008 - which has been radically adapted to comply with new International Automobile Federation (FIA) stipulations aimed at encouraging overtaking.
"I feel emotional but I'm also happy to take it out on track for the first time," said the Brazilian.
"With all the new rules I was expecting a different type of car, like 10 years ago with big wings so I was surprised.
"The new F60 seems tiny, very compact and cute."

The car is named F60 in reference to the number of championships Ferrari have participated in and becomes the 55th different F1 car designed by the Italian manufacturer.
Most of the design changes have been imposed by the FIA in order to increase overtaking in a sport often lacking in excitement due to the difficulties in passing the car in front.



A shorter front wing, a thinner but higher and more compact rear wing and standardised central chassis are all modifications introduced by the FIA's Overtaking Working Group (OWG).
Other changes include an improvement to the suspension to make handling in difficult conditions easier, while slick tyres will be re-introduced this year.
The Kers system to recuperate kinetic energy has also been installed on the engine while the transmission has been redesigned to improve aerodynamic efficiency.
Massa took the F60 for a spin around the famous Mugello circuit just outside Florence with Ferrari having changed the original location from Fiorano, their usual test track near their base at Maranello close to Bologna, due to icy conditions there.
Ferrari, the reigning constructors' world champions, are the first team to unveil their new F1 car but will be followed this week by Toyota on Thursday and Hamilton's team and main title rivals McLaren a day later.
The Renault team of former double world champion Fernando Alonso and Williams unveil their cars next Monday with BMW Sauber following a day after that.
Red Bull, however, will not announce there's until February 9.

It is Ferrari and McLaren, though, who are expected to lead from the front again this season and Massa says he is ready to try to go one better than last season, when only a single point separated him from Hamilton following the Briton's late overtaking of Timo Glock in Brazil.
"Every year you feel stronger, better prepared psychologically and physically," said Massa.
"But I feel stronger from the point of view of experience. I feel ready for a great battle.
"Right now it's difficult to say who will be the main rivals but for sure McLaren will make life the most difficult but there's also BMW, Renault and maybe other surprises.
"We don't know how good the Ferrari will be, we've worked very hard but there's still a long way to go before the first race."
The new F1 season opens in Melbourne on March 29 with the Australian Grand Prix, which last year was won by eventual world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Force India ditches Ferrari and goes to McLaren

They like Black more than Red

Shocker - the Force India Formula One Team dumped their red Ferrari engine like a hot cake and sauntered along to swipe the black engine of rival Mclaren.
Apparently Force India was pleased to announce a major new partnership that will propel the team forward for the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship and beyond; a ground-breaking technical partnership with McLaren Applied Technologies (which is a company wholly owned by the McLaren Group) and with Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines.

In a unique long term deal, the Force India Formula One Team VJM02 cars will be powered by engines designed and built by Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines, the first time that the legendary manufacturer has supplied another chassis constructor other than McLaren. Additionally, Force India will have access to the McLaren Group's network of bespoke suppliers that has supported this year's World Championship victory.

McLaren Applied Technologies will additionally supply the Force India Formula One Team cars with McLaren Racing gearboxes and hydraulic systems and will provide operational support to ensure Force India functions at its highest possible level.

The Force India Formula One Team also plans to fit its cars with a kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) that is currently being developed by Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines and McLaren Racing (which is also a company wholly owned by the McLaren Group).

In conjunction with aerospace company EADS - which, like McLaren and Mercedes, is also a global leader in its field - Force India Formula One Team announced that it will soon be expanding the computational fluid dynamics capability of its Brackley Aero Centre facility.
Dr. Mallya was of course, ecstatic: "McLaren and Mercedes-Benz are two of the most famous names in motorsport history, having achieved great success in Grand Prix racing over many years, and most recently, a superb victory in probably the most dramatic World Championship Formula 1 has seen.

"These new resources and developments will provide an enormous boost to our technical armoury and, as a result, we have high hopes of making good progress in 2009 and beyond.

Lewis's finally done it !

Lewis Hamilton admits: ‘I just don’t know how I kept my cool’

“I thought my heart was going to explode.” So said Lewis Hamilton of the moment when he thought that the World Championship was slipping from his grasp for the second year running.
In the McLaren garage, the team were making furious calculations but the family, led by Lewis, were facing up to another disaster as he embarked on the last lap 13 seconds behind Timo Glock. They were 13 seconds which Hamilton did not believe he could make up.
At the time, he thought that he had to overtake Sebastian Vettel, who had slipped past a couple of laps earlier, but Hamilton could not get close to his Toro Rosso rival.
“I was pushing to get close to Sebastian, who was very quick,” he said. “It just got harder and harder and I heard that I had to get past him and I was pushing but I couldn’t get close enough. I didn’t know where Glock was and Vettel was the guy to beat. I couldn’t catch him, so at that point I was going to finish sixth. My heart was in my mouth.
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“I don’t know how I kept my cool. I don’t know what would have happened if I had lost out on the last lap.” It was so close that Hamilton did not realise he was world champion for several seconds after he crossed the line. “I was shouting ‘do I have it? Do I have it?’ In the Ferrari garage, Felipe Massa’s father briefly thought his son was champion. Formula One veterans had never seen a conclusion like it.
In the McLaren garage, as reality struck, the celebrations were led by Hamilton’s family including father Anthony and brother Nicolas.
Hamilton has often cited Nic as his main inspiration for the way he not only copes with cerebral palsy but lives life to the full.
“I often try to imagine myself in Nic’s position,” Lewis said. “I do not think I would be anywhere near as strong as him. There’s just so much to admire in him. So, whatever I am doing, I say to myself, ‘If you think it is hard to do this then think again’. ” A year after they had to drown their sorrows after losing the title in Brazil, the family and McLaren team went off to party in São Paulo. There was a particularly sweet feeling to securing victory in the hometown of Ayrton Senna, the Formula One legend and Hamilton’s boyhood hero.
“I’m very emotional. I’ve cried. My heart’s feeling so much strain right now, and I think that was the same for everyone.” Hamilton’s victory was vindication for the support of Ron Dennis, the team principal, who first met the young driver when he was a schoolboy.
“It’s a fairytale story that he gave me that opportunity years ago and he had the hindsight to bring me in groom me to get to this position,” Hamilton said. “I’ve paid him back in full so I’m happy with that. I think first and foremost of my family and then I thank God because he was with me all year as he always is.”

Lewis Hamilton Q&A: China just another step to title

Coming to Shanghai this weekend must feel like deja vu for McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. Like last year, he is just a few points away from clinching the world championship. Will he endure a similar fate to the one that befell him in 2007, or has his time to toast a title finally arrived? And how is he feeling ahead of Sunday's all-important race? We caught up with him to find out…

Q: Lewis, how has your mindset changed compared to when you came to Shanghai in a position to win the title last year?

Lewis Hamilton: Last year I came here on a real high, I was nervous, thinking that I really could win the world championship - that was crazy. I drove well - under wet conditions I was very quick compared to other people. Especially after I did my pit stop I was much heavier than the others and still was able to dictate the pace, but one little mistake can hit home really hard. I came here this year with less hype, humble as can be, with the best kind of approach possible. We are still in the lead and still competitive and tomorrow I’m not approaching it thinking that we can win the world championship, as I also cannot lose the championship tomorrow. But I see it as another step to win the title as there are still two races.

Q: Fernando Alonso’s notion that he will help your rival Felipe Massa seems a bit like psychological warfare. How do you cope with this?

LH: I wish good luck to them both! It does not worry me because if I think correctly this is a two-time world champion and I have to trust that they both respect other people and behave as the professionals that they are.

Q: How important is it from a psychological point of view to start from pole position?

LH: It can only be positive - I can’t see any negatives in it as it is great to know that we are very, very competitive. And to show that we can be on the front row in the last two races is a big bonus for the team, as it shows what a great job they are doing and it will be interesting to see how this affects other people.

Q: How do you see your chances of winning the championship tomorrow?

LH: I haven’t thought about it, as it is not important to me about the championship. Our approach has to be the next two races, where we need to have two strong finishes. For tomorrow we have to take it easy and do our very best to score the best we can.

Q: How much of a concern is it for you that the driver alongside you on row one - Kimi Raikkonen - has nothing to lose?

LH: I don’t think it is something to be concerned about. I think that he will be very competitive but I think our race pace is also very good. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will stay the same, but I’ve heard that there is a chance of rain.

Q: But don’t you think that as Kimi has nothing to lose he will be willing to risk more than you?

LH: I don’t think so. He is the world champion and I am sure he wants to win this race as everybody else does, so I am confident that he will act sensibly.

Q: You described you pole lap as ‘hard core’. What did it feel like in the car on such a lap?

LH: I meant 'hard core' in the sense that I'd not done a great job previously, because it always makes it easier when you do a good first lap as you then can find those couple of tenths on your second lap. But if that doesn’t work the pressure is at its peak - and that is 'hard core'. It is great fun, you are racing hard and you’re really on a fine line throughout the lap.

Q: Both the UK and Brazil have been waiting for a Formula One world champion for quite a long time. How do you feel about that?

LH: My personal feeling is that however exciting, however amazing it could be, it is never done until it's done. I can only dream of how it will be to be world champion so I work every day towards it and just continue to do the best I can. And hopefully one day I will be world champion and I can only guess that my country will be very proud.

James Allen's Japanese GP verdict

Against all expectations, the Japanese Grand Prix took place in bone-dry conditions, but there was no shortage of entertainment, incident and controversy all the same – and title protagonists Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa were in the thick of it.
ITV Sport commentator James Allen analyses all the key performances, including Fernando Alonso's majestic drive to a second consecutive victory, in his regular post-race verdict.There is so much to talk about from this race, it’s hard to know where to start.
We had Lewis Hamilton losing his head when all that was required was some pragmatism, Felipe Massa showing his ruthless side, Fernando Alonso and Renault again excelling and then a highly contentious penalty for Sebastien Bourdais – which gifted Massa and Ferrari an extra point, reducing Hamilton’s lead to five points.

Red mist

Let’s start with Hamilton.
Starting from pole, he knew that Kimi Raikkonen was a threat off the startline, but he also knew that Raikkonen was no threat to his championship position.
Second place here behind Kimi would have been fine, as long as Massa finished behind.
Ron Dennis even made this point in his press gathering on Saturday evening. So Lewis was told by Ron: “If Raikkonen passes you at the start, let him go.”
Lewis did the opposite. Once again, faced with a Ferrari in front of him he got a red mist on, just as he did when Kimi passed him in the pit lane in Canada.
He lunged down the inside with his front wheels locked up and pushed Kimi wide, losing vital places himself in the process – but more importantly, putting flat spots on his front tyres which would have made the car undrivable over a 20-lap stint.
So already he knew that he would have to stop for new tyres almost immediately.
But he wasn’t thinking about tyres; he was thinking about Massa, who had got in front of him.
He repassed Massa, who ran wide and then came across the chicane at him, and the inevitable collision happened, which spun Hamilton around and dropped him to the back of the field.

Ruthless streak

This was a different Massa from the one we have seen in the past, who didn’t put up much of a fight at Hockenheim, or in Malaysia last year, when Hamilton passed him.
This was ruthless Massa; he’d lost the corner but he wasn’t going to let Hamilton get by, so he hit him.
Hamilton can have few complaints about it – after all he’s put some tasty moves on other drivers this year – but it’s definitely a marker for him that Massa will not be a soft touch in future.
For this incident Massa was rightly given a drive-through penalty, the same penalty as Hamilton received for the incident at the start.
This dropped both of them to the back of the field and from there it looked like a tough climb back into the points.
At this point Massa was 14 seconds ahead of Hamilton, but at the end of the race he was 32 seconds ahead.
In other words he was able to use the Ferrari’s speed to recover, while Hamilton found his car compromised by bodywork damage and didn’t have the speed to fight back.
Nevertheless, I think it is interesting that, for the second race in a row, Ferrari set the fastest race lap, with Renault the second fastest and McLaren third.

Catching up quick

It shows how impressive Renault’s development has been this season, considering that they were over a second off the pace at the start of the year.
They’ve found something in the last few weeks which has transformed their car.
It’s either an aerodynamic tweak or a mechanical one which allows them to exploit the tyres better. Perhaps it’s both.
If you bear in mind that their engine is a little bit down on the Mercedes and Ferrari – to the extent that the FIA have been persuaded to let them bring it up to the level of the benchmark units over the winter – it has been a great effort on the chassis by the team from Enstone.
I wonder if this was a discovery they might have made earlier in the year. Either way, Alonso has now scored 30 points in the past four races, way more than the two title contenders.
Alonso was simply magnificent again today.
He rode his luck at the start, losing a place to Robert Kubica, but emerged second behind him after the Hamilton/Raikkonen incident at the first corner.
He jumped the Pole at the first round of pit stops by making a shorter refuelling stop.
He believed that the Renault was a faster car than the BMW and he was proved right, because when he got some clear air in the middle stint he was very fast.
He was also very consistent. He put in a sequence of laps which were identical to within a tenth of a second.
This was the Alonso who won two world titles with his relentlessness and sheer desire.
He hasn’t let his motivation wane at all this season, even when the car was barely good enough to qualify in the top 10.

Unjust punishment

Returning to the subject of ruthless Massa, the major talking point as we left the circuit was the ridiculous penalty awarded to Sebastien Bourdais for the collision with Massa near the end of the race.
Bourdais was exiting the pit lane and the pit lane exit light was blue to warn him that a car was coming down the straight. They were racing each other for position.
Bourdais came out of the pit lane, with Massa well over to the left on the run to the first corner. Massa drove like a man who felt that a Toro Rosso had no business being in his way and should let him pass.
Bourdais did everything he could to avoid a collision, even putting his inside wheels on the kerbs, but Massa came across and spun around him.
He might argue that he had his front wheels in front, but the team managers I spoke to after the race all said that FIA race director Charlie Whiting had briefed them in Singapore and again in Fuji that the car exiting the pits has right of way.
So once again, the stewards have gone against the advice Charlie has issued to teams, as they did with the penalty for Hamilton in Spa (where Whiting had told McLaren he thought Hamilton had acted fairly).
If the teams cannot believe the race director, what hope have the rest of us and the wider public got?
The FIA styles itself as the referee in this sport, but surely it cannot afford to keep sending out such mixed messages.
It confuses the public and makes some of them think that these things are being done for Ferrari’s benefit.
Of the professionals I quizzed at the track, 99% were saying that this was in no way an offence by Bourdais – but it gives Massa another vital point in the championship, to go with the six he gained at Spa.
And like Hamilton’s penalty at Spa, this one cannot be appealed as it was a 25-second penalty added to race time, in lieu of a drive-through during the race.
But the incident happened on lap 51, some 16 laps from the end. The stewards had 20 minutes to consider their verdict.
Ironically it took them only 15 laps to award the penalties for Hamilton and Massa at the start, so they could have arrived at a conclusion before the end of the race.

Cause for concern

A final note on Heikki Kovalainen’s engine failure

This could be a bit of a worry for Lewis, as Kovalainen had used his free engine change in Singapore because there was a concern there. Now Mercedes has lost one in a race.
If there is a problem part, they haven’t got much time to put it right before Shanghai.
Lewis is due a new engine there and he hasn’t taken his free change yet, so can also have a new one in Brazil.
But it will be a niggling doubt in their minds. Another one, to go with the doubt about Lewis’s state of mind in the closing stages of another championship that is his to lose.

James Allen www.ITV.com

Hamilton to wait for Belgian GP appeal decision

Lewis Hamilton will have to wait until Tuesday to find out if his win at the Belgian Grand Prix is to be reinstated, according to the FIA on Monday.
The current Formula One championship leader appeared before the Paris tribunal on Monday in a bid to overturn a 25-second penalty which denied him victory at the Spa-Francorchamps course on September 7.
The British McLaren driver was adjudged to have cut a chicane during a duel with Finnish rival Kimi Raikkonen in the closing laps, thereby gaining unfair advantage.
However, Hamilton on Monday reiterated his version of events as recorded in a statement given days after the race, saying he had taken the chicane to avoid a collision with Raikkonen.
"I thought I had given back the advantage that I had taken by cutting the chicane. I thought I had done what I needed to," Hamilton insisted.
Shortly after the hearing, the Briton said: "It was long, intense and I was impressed by the complexity of the debates.
"I hope the judges will see the truth and uphold it."
McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh and team engineer Phil Prew also appeared before the Paris hearing on Monday.
The time penalty dropped Hamilton into third place, handing rival Felipe Massa of Ferrari the win, and slashing the Brit's lead in the championship which now stands at just one point.
Tuesday's appeal outcome will have ramifications for the championship with just four races left to go.
The Briton now sits on 76 points, just one point ahead of Massa, with Poland's Robert Kubica, of BMW Sauber, on third with 58.
McLaren's lawyer Mark Philips on Monday said: "Fans want to see good races on the track and it is very bad for Formula One that decisions of this type are made behind closed doors."

Redbull's Singapore Virtual Lap

McLaren Reveals Singapore Secret weapon.

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO - BELGIUM GP HIGHLIGHTS

What an eventful race that was, taking us to the edge of our seats right until the end and then as cold shower or birthday gift, depending which side you are on, the decision by the stewards to demote Lewis Hamilton, therefore handing Massa & Ferrari the victory in the Belgium Grand Prix.

Missed anything ? Follow the link for an exclusive highlight of SPA Raceday, as well as all the previous races.

Click Here Now !

Massa inherits Belgian win after Hamilton penalised

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa has been declared the winner of Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix after McLaren’ Lewis Hamilton was handed a 25-second time penalty following the race. Hamilton drops to third place as a result, with BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld moving up to second. McLaren plan to appeal the decision.Hamilton was penalised after stewards decided he had gained an advantage by cutting the final chicane in his late-race battle with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

Raikkonen crashed out shortly after the incident, having the led the bulk of the race up to that point."I have often said that the race is not over until the official results are published and that was the case today," said Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali. "As usual, Ferrari will not comment on the stewards' decision. After the race, we were called to the stewards and we explained our position."We are very disappointed for Kimi, who had driven a great race and deserved the win, especially at this rather difficult time. This result is obviously very important for our championship hopes: now we must maintain maximum concentration and prepare as well as possible for the forthcoming races."
McLaren insisted they had little choice but to appeal the stewards' decision, given that Hamilton had immediately surrendered the lead back to Raikkonen on the start-finish straight, before then passing the Finn going into the La Source hairpin."We looked at all our data and also made it available to the FIA stewards," said the team. "It showed that, having lifted, Lewis was 6km/h slower than Kimi as they crossed the start-finish line. Having passed the lead back to Kimi, Lewis repositioned his car, moving across and behind Kimi to the right-hand line and then out-braked him into the hairpin. Based on this data, we have no option other than to register our intention to appeal."
The revised result means that rather than extending his championship lead over Massa, Hamilton now sees it cut, with the Briton heading the Brazilian by just two points, 76 to 74, with five races remaining.Assuming their right to appeal is accepted, McLaren's case against Hamilton's penalty will be heard by the FIA's International Court of Appeal at a date to be determined.

Mega F1 Sale at Suntec City on 18th - 20th September'08

IT IS WITH DEEP REGRETS THAT OUR EVENT IN SUNTEC CITY HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED BY THE ORGANISERS DUE TO ROAD CLOSURES AFFECTING SUNTEC CITY BEING PLANNED EARLIER THAN EXPECTED, THUS GREATLY REDUCING THE AMOUNT OF VISITORS TO THE EXHIBITION.

WE WILL KEEP YOU INFORMED OF NEW DEVELLOPEMENTS.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PAST SUPPORT AND SEE YOU AT THE RACE...

Come September 18 - 20th (Thursday to Saturday) we will be having an amazing booth featuring the best of Formula1 Merchandise, at the "Acceler8" Show in Suntec City Hall 404. With only 3 mega days of bargains, it is a Sale not to be missed for F1 Fans and everybody's else too. Think birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas.... and of course Singtel Singapore Grand Prix the following week.

We will be featuring Vodaphone McLaren, Scudeira Ferrari, At&t Williams, Bar Honda, Renault F1 Team amongst others. As wholesalers we will be able to offer you genuine Official Merchandise at prices not available anywhere else.

Nestle has been very generous and will be sponsoring their New Nescafe Beverage promotion for all our customers as part of their "Catch Lewis in Person" campaign.
You can find out more by visiting their official website at : http://www.catchlewis.com/

We're looking forward to seeing you all there and even if you're not buying anything, just come and say "Hi"