Japanese GP 2009: Sutil Tops FP2

Adrian Sutil was the fastest man in Fp2, a session dogged by heavy rain.

Not as heavy as in recent years at Fuji Speedway, but still enough to shake the leaderboard up and see some drivers not even taking to the circuit.

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps
 1.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:47.261            5
 2.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:47.923  + 0.662   6
 3.  Liuzzi       Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:47.931  + 0.670   4
 4.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:47.983  + 0.722   5
 5.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:48.058  + 0.797   8
 6.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:48.691  + 1.430   9
 7.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:48.693  + 1.432   5
 8.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:48.737  + 1.476   6
 9.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:48.802  + 1.541  11
10.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:48.861  + 1.600   6
11.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:48.886  + 1.625   4
12.  Kobayashi    Toyota                (B)  1:49.054  + 1.793   7
13.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:49.382  + 2.121   7
14.  Grosjean     Renault               (B)  1:49.405  + 2.144   6
15.  Fisichella   Ferrari               (B)  1:49.553  + 2.292   5
16.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:49.872  + 2.611   7
17.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:50.179  + 2.918   9
18.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  No time
19.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  No time
20.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  No time

Force India Drop Big 2010 Driver Hints As Chandhok Given Sim Test

Force India have given us their biggest hints yet as to their 2010 driver line-up after an interview with Vijay Mallya this morning.

The boss of the team, and Kingfisher lager and aeroplane brand has admitted he has no reason to change from the current line-up of Vitantonio Liuzzi and Adrian Sutil.  Liuzzi being drafted in to a race seat from his test role after Giancarlo Fisichella joined up with the Ferrari team.

“They are loyal and hard working. They are with the team and part of the team, they are doing their best. Unless I have some compelling reason to change, I ask myself why should I change?  As of now I am very happy with what I have and the only role open is a test driver role and we’ll see where we go from there.”

And Karun Chandhok, the known Indian driver will be given a testing chance in the McLaren simulator this week, to perhaps become the teams official test driver for 2010.

“Karun is like a son to me. I have known him from when he was a little boy in shorts. If I can give him a chance, I’d be delighted,” Mallya told Reuters.

Neel Jani, will also be given a shot in the simulator.  I think Mallya should consider another India driver, one Narain Karthikeyan.

Italian GP 2009: Barrichello Takes Strategic Win Of Quality Race

Rubens Barrichello took the chequered flag, and another win for himself and the Brawn GP team in today’s Italian Grand Prix after  a fantastic strategic effort from Ross Brawn.

The single stop strategy employed by the white cars of Brawn led to Jenson Button joining Rubens on the podium in 2nd, with Kimi Raikkonen being gifted 3rd place on the last lap.

Race Review

Lewis Hamilton didn’t get a great start, unlike Kimi Raikkonen and the Finn was forced onto the grass going down to the first chicane.  He managed to make a pass on Adrian Sutil, while the rest of the field fed around without bother – Timo Glock the only driver having to use the escape road.

Then into the second chicane, the first major incident – Robert Kubica tipped Mark Webber’s Red Bull round into the gravel and the Australian was forced to retire after just a handful of corners.  The incident led to front wing damage to Kubica’s BMW, and the Pole was forced into the pits some laps later as the FIA were concerned about its’ safety at 220mph.

Heikki Kovalainen had a terrible start, losing out to Barrichello and then Liuzzi and Alonso, despite claiming pre-race that he could win the GP and indeed his KERS system.

Hamilton then started to pull well away from Kimi Raikkonen, who to all intents and purposes held up Adrian Sutil as the Ferrari looked to struggle.

These 3 drivers at the top on 2 stop strategies made a big gap over the two Brawn’s behind them, and then Tonio Liuzzi held 7th well with Fernando Alonso hustling the Renault behind him, trying to squeeze every last bit of performance from the R29.

Hamilton pushed incredibly hard, the McLaren right on the ragged edge many times.  He pitted early, and Raikkonen & Sutil pulled ahead.  Hamilton was released into favourable traffic ahead of Liuzzi and Alonso.

With Raikkonen and Sutil then pitting, the now lighter Brawn’s pulled well away with Rubens Barrichello holding a good dap lead over championship rival and team mate Button.

Robert Kubica ended up retiring, with some kind of oil leak – although Martin Brundle claimed on BBC television that they were saving the engine as they were nearing their allocation limit.

Tonio Liuzzi too had a scare when he was driving through towards the Roggia chicane when at around 200mph the clutch appeared to break completely and the Force India driver ended his day in the sliproad of that chicane.  Disappointing after a fairly good weekend.

Giancarlo Fisichella looked largely average making his Ferrari debut, losing out on positions to various drivers, which in the end meant he finished the race in 9th place just behind Sebastian Vettel.  A shame for Fisichella not to score points on his debut.

After the final stops, Hamilton came out in 3rd behind the two Brawns and immediately started chasing.  Hamilton said after the race every lap was like “a qualifying one”.  Raikkonen and Sutil had a pitstop race, but both made mistakes! Raikkonen nearly stalled leaving his box, and Sutil tried to run down half his pitcrew.  Raikkonen came out in front and despite massive pressure would hold Adrian off until the end of the race.

The final piece of action really came from Lewis Hamilton, who, chasing down those Brawn’s managed to lose the car on the exit of the first Lesmo, spinning and smashing into an unforgiving tyre/concrete mixed barrier.  He ripped lots of bodywork off the car and left it strewn across the track. The ensuing double waved yellows and safety car board [in vein!] Raikkonen cruised passed and into 3rd place.

Classified Results

Pos	Driver	Team	Time
1	R. Barrichello	Brawn Mercedes	1.16.21.706
2	J. Button	Brawn Mercedes	+2.866
3	K. Raikkonen	Ferrari	+30.664
4	A. Sutil	Force India Mercedes	+31.131
5	F. Alonso	Renault	+59.182
6	H. Kovalainen	McLaren Mercedes	+1.00.693
7	N. Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+1.22.412
8	S. Vettel	Red Bull Renault	+1.25.472
9	G. Fisichella	Ferrari	+1.26.856
10	K. Nakajima	Williams Toyota	+2.00.000
11	T. Glock	Toyota	+2.43.925
12	L. Hamilton*	McLaren Mercedes	+1 lap
13	S. Buemi	Toro Rosso Ferrari	+1 lap
14	J. Trulli	Toyota	+1 lap
15	R. Grosjean	Renault	+1 lap
16	N. Rosberg	Williams Toyota	+2 laps

*: Lewis Hamilton crashed on the final lap but was still classified by order of being 1 lap ahead of other runners classified lower.

Fastest Lap: A. Sutil (Force India) – 1.24.739

Retirements

Driver	Team	Lap	Reason
L. Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	55	Crash
V. Liuzzi	Force India Mercedes	23	Clutch
J. Alguersuari	Toro Rosso Ferrari	20	Unknown
R. Kubica	BMW Sauber	16	Oil Leak
M. Webber	Red Bull Renault	1	Crash

Italian GP 2009: Post Qualifying Reaction

Here are some interviews with drivers and team bosses following today’s qualifying session for the 2009 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.  This is a new idea to collaborate interviews in one easy, simple post.  Let me know what you think.

Lewis Hamilton (GBR) – McLaren Mercedes – Qualified: 1st

“It was a very close qualifying session…and they (Force India) are incredibly fast and competitive, but our team did a great job this weekend. I was able to put the lap together. It’s such a great feeling to put that lap together, the public have to imagine what it is like, it is the most exciting exhilarating thing.

“I guess we have to wait and see what the strategies are for everyone tomorrow, but we feel quite comfortable and needed to be where we are,”

Adrian Sutil (DEU) – Force India – Qualified: 2nd

“It is a great moment, a great deal. The whole weekend was a big success already. We did good work, and the car is amazing, really quick.  It’s unbelievable, it is so good for the team especially after the Spa success.  We continued it here and just being competitive, it is such a different feeling in the car right now. You know you have a chance.

“It’s a good feeling like the racing driver is back in me. I enjoyed every single moment.”

Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) – Ferrari – Qualified: 3rd

“It is not perfect for sure but it shows us again that once we put race fuel in the car it is stronger against the others.  The car is more difficult in Q2 than in Q1 or Q3. It has been very good all weekend. We have some issues with it but unfortunately we cannot fix them as well as we want.  Overall, with race fuel the car is running nicely and I am very happy with it.

“We (will) give the best and hopefully give the best for our Italian fans and ourselves.”

Jenson Button (GBR) – Brawn Mercedes – Qualified: 6th

“All weekend I’ve been pretty happy with the car, and it got better in qualifying. It went well on both high fuel and low fuel.  I think we can go well from there [sixth]. My team-mate slightly pipped me, by 15 hundredths, which is a pain, but we’re in a good position.

“I want to go out there and win this race. We’ve done the best strategy not to just score points but to do the best job we can this weekend. I think our strategy is good and I’m looking forward to it.”

Timo Glock (DEU) – Toyota – Qualified: 16th

“It’s frustrating to miss out on second qualifying when I was only sixth tenths away from the fastest lap of the session,” said the Toyota driver, who will start from a disappointing 16th position.

“We looked quite promising this morning but we didn’t transfer all of that speed to qualifying, and I wasn’t helped by traffic.”

Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) – Toro Rosso – Qualified: 20th [5 place penalty]

“I was not expecting much from this session, after problems in the morning with my gearbox meant I only did ten laps in free practice,” said the Spanish rookie.

“Because of that, I did not have the time to try much in terms of setting up the car. Therefore, we carried over some unknown factors into qualifying and I have to say, I am still getting used to driving the car in this low downforce configuration.

“I hope I can still have a good race tomorrow and to be honest, I hope it rains.”

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa124/f1fanatics/1%20Pictures%20For%20News%203/13ItalyFP2.jpg

Italian GP 2009: Qualifying, Hamilton Takes Pole

Lewis Hamilton slotted his McLaren into pole position for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix, as the KERS and Mercedes Benz engined cars made the most of their performance advantage.

Indeed, Adrian Sutil will line up alongside Hamilton, his best ever qualifying in the Force India.  Kimi Raikkonen stares down Hamilton’s back end and will be looking for a good start, and possibly a 2nd win in a row for the Scuderia.

Kovalainen, Barrichello, Button and Liuzzi continue down to 7th, making it 6 cars in the top 7 with the Mercedes power units.

Alonso takes 8th, something to remove the limelight of Crash-Gate away from Renault.  His rookie team mate Romain Grosjean is down in 12th.

Splitting them are the Red Bull’s who really have lost their way over the past few Grand Prix.  Fisichella takes 14th in his first qualifying for Ferrari.

Jaime Alguersuari qualified last, and also takes a 5 place penalty for changing Gearboxes.

Post qualifying reaction here:

Pos  Driver       Team                       Q1        Q2        Q3
 1.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:23.375  1:22.973  1:24.066
 2.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:23.576  1:23.070  1:24.261
 3.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:23.349  1:23.426  1:24.523
 4.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:23.515  1:23.528  1:24.845
 5.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:23.483  1:22.976  1:25.015
 6.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:23.403  1:22.955  1:25.030
 7.  Liuzzi       Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:23.578  1:23.207  1:25.043
 8.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:23.708  1:23.497  1:25.072
 9.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:23.558  1:23.545  1:25.180
10.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:23.755  1:23.273  1:25.314
11.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:24.014  1:23.611
12.  Grosjean     Renault               (B)  1:23.975  1:23.728
13.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:24.001  1:23.866
14.  Fisichella   Ferrari               (B)  1:23.828  1:23.901
15.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:23.584  1:24.275
16.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:24.036
17.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:24.074
18.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:24.121
19.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:24.220
20.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:24.951

Force India Confident Of Maintaining Pace At Monza

Force India F1 Team’s chiefs are pretty confident that they will be able to maintain the blisteringly fast pace shown in Belgium last weekend in the forthcoming Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

The team shocked the field with the VJM02, along with its new aerodynamic upgrades proving a formindable beast and socring the teams first ever pole position at the hands of Giancarlo Fisichella.

The Italian could well have won the race too, if it were not for a safety car and Ferrari’s blindingly fast Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) working to massive advantage.

“Why not?” team owner Vijay Mallya said when asked if the team would be as strong again in Monza. “We know that the car is quick, blindingly quick I would say. The sector times show it and I think the Monza track will suit us.”

Meanwhile, the teams top tech chief Simon Roberts told Autosport Magazine in an exclusive interview;

“Our car is quick in a straight line. I’d like to say that’s what we intended, but it isn’t.

“What we have tried to do is to put genuine upgrades on the car to create more downforce. The Valencia upgrade was very low on drag and was a good time to deliver that before Spa and Monza.

“We’ve got an aero test next week, so we’ll hit the ground with more data at Monza. That makes it easier for the engineers and we should be able to set into it quicker.”

“Obviously Monza is low drag. We’ve got some more wings to try there. We’ve got an aero test next week so unlike on Friday here, on Friday in Monza we know what the wings do so we should hit the ground strong.”

Belgian GP 2009: Fisichella Takes Shock Pole Position

Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella has delivered the small team it’s first ever pole position after a stunning qualifying session in Belgium, where the form book really was turned on it’s head.

Fisichella the flambouyant Italian was amazingly fast throughout the session in the heavily revised Force India car, and the investment has paid dividends to its owner Vijay Mallya.

Although likely to be light on fuel, this must signal the first points of the season for the team based in Silverstone.  If not that, it signals to Ferrari that Giancarlo Fisichella could deliver something for them, unlike Luca Badoer who did not help his cause by qualifying last and ending Q1 in the wall.

Jarno Trulli made second place in the significantly faster Toyota, and Nick Heidfeld made a shock return to the top with 3rd position.

Rubens Barrichello will start 4th, the highest qualifying Brawn after Jenson Button faltered and did not get out of Q2. He will start in 14th tomorrow, a big harm to his world championship chances.

Kimi Raikkonen did much better than Badoer and will start 6th, those around him must be concerned about his KERS system.

Vettel and Webber made 8th and 9th for Red Bull, so should make valuable ground tomorrow.

The improving McLaren’s have struggled in Spa this afternoon, with Hamilton making just 12th place and Kovalainen 15th.  Another big name between them is Fernando Alonso in 13th.

We thought the Toro Rosso’s looked good, but neither managed to get out of Q1 with Buemi starting 16th and Alguersuari 17th.

Romain Grosjean lines up alongside Badoer at the back, after the young French/Swiss made progress.

Pos  Driver       Team                       Q1        Q2        Q3      
 1.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:45.102  1:44.667  1:46.308
 2.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:45.140  1:44.503  1:46.395
 3.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:45.566  1:44.709  1:46.500
 4.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:45.237  1:44.834  1:46.513
 5.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:45.655  1:44.557  1:46.586
 6.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:45.579  1:44.953  1:46.633
 7.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:45.450  1:44.877  1:46.677
 8.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:45.372  1:44.592  1:46.761
 9.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:45.350  1:44.924  1:46.788
10.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:45.486  1:45.047  1:47.362
11.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:45.486  1:45.119
12.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:45.239  1:45.122
13.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:45.767  1:45.136
14.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:45.707  1:45.251
15.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:45.761  1:45.259
16.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:45.705
17.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:45.951
18.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:46.032
19.  Grosjean     Renault               (B)  1:46.307
20.  Badoer       Ferrari               (B)  1:46.359

European GP 2009: Barrichello Takes Emotional Victory

Rubens Barrichello took a highly emotional victory in this afternoon’s European Grand Prix, winning his first race for 5 years – his last victory was at the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix with Ferrari.

It puts Barrichello right back into title contention.  Lewis Hamilton will be aggrieved  not to have won, having led most of the way he was let down by a pit crew failure. Kimi Raikkonen stormed through to finish in 3rd position.

Race Review

Both McLaren’s made a good start off the grid, as did Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button.  Button tried to go down the inside of Vettel who made a slow start, but the German forced the Briton into the pitlane exit area where he let off the throttle.  The resulting masses of space and the KERS system allowed Raikkonen to easily sweep around the outside and into 4th position.

Button lost multiple places further back, and was forced to rescinde a place to Australian Mark Webber after cutting  a corner following Fernando Alonso who at the time was defending against Webber.

Sebastien Buemi was cut up in the first few turns and lost his front wing, having to crawl back to the pit for a new one.  He was joined by Romain Grosjean who lost his wing when Timo Glock made a very late overtaking dive at the inexperienced Frecnhamn turned into the Toyota.

These position changes allowed those at the back, including Luca Badoer to make up a few places.

The top order remained relatively unchanged as the drivers hit their pitstops.  Lewis Hamilton was pulling out a good lead with fastest lap times.

The next action was when Sebastian Vettel’s engine blew for the second time this weekend.  Vettel was angered post race, and indeed we’re pretty sure any continuation of the RBR/Renault deal is now off the cards and the team could be switching to either Ferrari again or perhaps Mercedes Benz.

The Force India’s got themselves in the mix today too, along with the BMW’s but only Robert Kubica would come away with a point.

As the drivers hit their second stops, it was evident that Barrichello was trying to catch Hamilton.  The Brit had a good lead and all was good until he pulled into his pitbox and the tyre men were not ready with new tyres.  This led to pantomime scenes and lost Hamilton many seconds of time, allowing Rubens through and pretty much ended his chance of winning.  Hamilton’s Father was nonchalant smacking his fists together in he back of the garage.

Kimi Raikkonen also made an unseen overtake on Heikki Kovalainen securing the Iceman a quality 3rd position.

The only other DNF of the race was Sebastien Buemi whose brakes gave up late on and led to a huge spin incident.

Kazuki Nakajima suffered a puncture and a delamination of the tyre half way around the lap very late on too.  Luca Badoer and Romain Grosjean had pitlane comedy when Badoer was released, he let Grosjean through, side by side, but then as he put the power down Badoer went over the white line and got himself ANOTHER pitlane penalty.  Throw in a huge spin for the Italian driver and it has left many questioning whether he will ever race a Ferrari again. (I’m free next weekend if you need me Ferrari?!).

And that was that, another pretty lacklustre European Grand Prix in Valencia, made interesting by pitlane comedy and Luca Badoer.  It is good to see Rubens Barrichello win again, and by his tears of joy in the car and parc ferme we know how much it means to him.  Wonderful dedication to Felipe Massa at the end also.  Could Rubens be the World Champion?

Classified Results

Pos	Driver	Team	Time
1	R. Barrichello	Brawn Mercedes	1.35.51.289
2	L. Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	+2.358
3	K. Raikkonen	Ferrari	+15.994
4	H. Kovalainen	McLaren Mercedes	+20.023
5	N. Rosberg	Williams Toyota	+20.870
6	F. Alonso	Renault	+27.744
7	J. Button	Brawn Mercedes	+34.913
8	R. Kubica	BMW Sauber	+36.667
9	M. Webber	Red Bull Renault	+44.910
10	A. Sutil	Force India Merc	+47.935
11	N. Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+48.822
12	G. Fisichella	Force India Merc	+1.03.614
13	J. Trulli	Toyota	+1.04.527
14	T. Glock	Toyota	+1.26.519
15	R. Grosjean	Renault	+1.31.774
16	J. Alguersuari	Toro Rosso Ferrari	+ 1 lap
17	L. Badoer	Ferrari	+1 lap
18	K. Nakajima	Williams	+ 3 laps

Fastest Lap: T. Glock (Toyota) 1.38.683

Retirements

Driver	Team	Lap	Reason
S. Buemi	Toro Rosso Ferrari	42	Brake Failure
S. Vettel	Red Bull Renault	24	Engine

European GP 2009: Barrichello Fastest In FP1

Rubens Barrichello was the fastest man in the first practice session at the Valencia street-circuit this morning.

He was ahead of the usual top suspects of team mate Jenson Button and the McLaren’s.  Adrian Sutil made a good effort into 6th for Force India.

New boys Romain Grosjean and Luca Badoer did not fare to well, Grosjean was 17th and Badoer was a lowly 20th some 3 seconds off the pace of the leader.

Pos Driver        Team                      Time             Laps
 1. Barrichello   Brawn GP-Mercedes    (B)  1:42.460           19
 2. Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:42.636  +0.176   16
 3. Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:42.654  +0.194   18
 4. Button        Brawn GP-Mercedes    (B)  1:43.074  +0.614   19
 5. Vettel        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:43.088  +0.628   17
 6. Sutil         Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:43.209  +0.749   13
 7. Nakajima      Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:43.225  +0.765   25
 8. Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:43.243  +0.783   19
 9. Alonso        Renault              (B)  1:43.345  +0.885   18
10. Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  1:43.384  +0.924   23
11. Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:43.389  +0.929   30
12. Kubica        BMW Sauber           (B)  1:43.419  +0.959   20
13. Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:43.637  +1.177   30
14. Rosberg       Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:43.746  +1.286   22
15. Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           (B)  1:44.040  +1.580   23
16. Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:44.126  +1.666   17
17. Grosjean      Renault              (B)  1:44.356  +1.896   23
18. Trulli        Toyota               (B)  1:44.638  +2.178   26
19. Glock         Toyota               (B)  1:44.732  +2.272   28
20. Badoer        Ferrari              (B)  1:45.840  +3.380   25

McLaren Waiting To Decide On 2nd Driver

McLaren have annonuced they will bide their time in the driver market as they make their move for a 2nd driver to partner Lewis Hamilton for 2010.

The team have multiple options, but want to wait until Fernando Alonso is confirmed at Ferrari before making a move on any other drivers.

They are also still considering keeping Finn Heikki Kovalainen, based on his race pace improving and becoming more consistent.

“At the moment we have not, and we are not in any conversations with drivers and we will see in the future,” Whitmarsh told the BBC about his team’s driver plans going forward.

“I think in reality there are some changes probably with Fernando at Ferrari. That frees up the driver market and every year there is a number of pivotal points during the season which determine what is going to happen in the driver market.

“This year I think we all know that the Fernando/Ferrari move has a knock-on and that ripples through the other teams.

“Clearly the BMW withdrawal has also had an impact. I think we don’t see a need at the moment to rush into it, we are concentrating on developing the car and making sure we are more competitive, which I hope we will be this weekend.”

There are many drivers who will be free and available, but out of that list we see these potential candidates:

• Kimi Raikkonen – Dislodged by Alonso, drove for the team previously but would he want to return? Word is that he is leaving Formula One altogether

• Jenson Button – Impressive season thus far, could be world champion. Could McLaren deal with 2 Brits together?

• Nico Rosberg – Talented, and McLaren have resources Williams don’t.  His best chance of a title?

• Robert Kubica – No seat now BMW have left, he is being heavily linked with Renault

• Adrian Sutil – Not such a long shot, good friends with Hamilton. He has pace but needs a decent car.