Alonso Won’t Test A Ferrari Until February

Fernando Alonso will not get trhe opportunity to get behind the wheel of a Ferrari F1 Car until February 2010 it was revealed today.

The reason is unknown, but could relate to him still being locked into a Renault contract or potential sponsorship constraints.

This means that majority of the testing and development will have to be done by Felipe Massa, unless the team bring in Michael Schumacher to assist.  From what we saw of Giancarlo Fisichella and Luca Badoer it is likely without much testing Alonso could struggle with the Ferrari.

“I will not get to drive the car. This doesn’t give me a lot of chances to give any input up until February 2010, when I’ll get to drive the car for the first time.” Alonso is quoted as saying on Formula1Blogger

“Up until that point I will try to understand how the team works and prepare for the winter testing as well as I can.”

Abu Dhabi GP 2009: Vettel Wins Final Race Of Season

Sebastian Vettel clinched the final race win of the season in a thrilling evening race in Abu Dhabi.

It was the emirates first ever F1 Grand Prix, and I think I am one of many who will be heaping praise on the new Yas Marina Circuit, its fantastic facilities, near perfect track and brilliant conditions led to a terrific weekend to cap off the 2009 season.

Vettel’s team mate Mark Webber came in 2nd place, holding off a real late surge from World Champion Jenson Button who tried everything to get passed the Australian but couldn’t so had to settle for 3rd place.

In truth, Lewis Hamilton should really have been in first or at least on the podium, but reliability struggles hit the out-going World Champ, his brakes failing and the McLaren mechanics not willing to keep a potentially dangerous car out on track.

Button had a slight embarrasing moment when star rookie Kamui Kobayashi pulled off some epic overtaking to put his Toyota ahead of the Brawn car during the first stint, the Japanese going on to finish 6th and almost certainly securing himself a 2010 drive with Toyota.

Rubens Barrichello missed out on the runner up spot, and in potentially his final race with Brawn GP finished in 4th, having to hold off massive pressure from Nick Heidfeld who tried to give BMW their best send off possible.

Yesterday’s birthday-bo Sebastien Buemi cleaned up with the final points as some big names finished well down the table, with Heikki Kovalainen finishing 11th, Raikkonen 12th and Fernando Alonso 14th.

Giancarlo Fisichella had a poor send off in potentially his final Grand Prix, getting a drive-through penalty and ending the day down in 16th.

Look out for The F1Fanatics Blog Official 2009 Season Review soon!

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1h34:03.314
 2.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +    17.857
 3.  Button        Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  +    18.467
 4.  Barrichello   Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  +    22.735
 5.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +    26.253
 6.  Kobayashi     Toyota                (B)  +    28.343
 7.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +    34.366
 8.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +    41.294
 9.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    45.941
10.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +    48.180
11.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    52.798
12.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +    54.317
13.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    59.839
14.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +  1:09.687
15.  Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +  1:34.450
16.  Grosjean      Renault               (B)  +     1 lap
17.  Fisichella    Ferrari               (B)  +     1 lap
18.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +     1 lap

Alonso Emotional To Leave Renault

Fernando Alonso has declared himself emotional ahead of his final drive with the Renault F1 Team.

The Spaniard won both of his worl titles with the team based in Enstone, UK, in 2005 and 2006 rewarding their efforts too with constructors championships in those two seasons.

Alonso left the team in 2007 for McLaren, but a season of arguing left him back at Renault where he has pulled out all the stops and taken what is known as a poor car to unbeliveable results.  This has left Alonso with the nickname of “The best driver on the grid”.

He will join Ferrari, replacing Kimi Raikkonen for the 2010 campaign.

“I would love to finish the season and my Renault career with a great result,” said Alonso. “It will be an emotional race because I have enjoyed so many special memories with this team and I am leaving behind a lot of friends.

“Renault is one of the great teams in Formula One and I look forward to fighting with them on the track in the years ahead.”

His boss, Bob Bell also paid tribute to his work.

“He’s made a huge contribution to the team, especially winning two world championships in 2005 and 2006 so he will be missed enormously,” said Bell.

“It’s often said that he is the best driver on the grid and I wouldn’t disagree with that so we’re understandably sad to see the end of our very successful relationship.”

Ferrari Look Set To Reveal Alonso For 2010

There has been further indication today from Scuderia Ferrari that they are set to reveal Fernando Alonso as one of their drivers for the forthcoming 2010 Formula One Season.

Hot rumour ha ben floating around the paddock since 2008 that the Spaniard, and twice F1 World Champion, would join the Scuderia.

Following his move to McLaren in 2007, and then back to Renault for 2008 the team he drove for when he won both titles, it has been clear he wants to return to a front running big name squad.

Alonso could well have signed the contract, potentially revealed today, way back in July 2008.

The contract sees Alonso earn around $35million, and lasts until 2011.  Although Ferrari hold an option to extend this utnil 2014, by which time Fernando would be 33.

A Ferrari spokesman said: “At this moment, there is nothing we can say. In the last few weeks, something has changed. We are talking to the drivers and when it is the proper time we will make an announcement.”

Kimi Raikkonen now looks set to depart Ferrari and head back to McLaren to partner Lewis Hamilton.  Meanwhile Robert Kubica will leave BMW Sauber and join Renault.  A cascade of driver moves will follow the announcement.  Although i think Ferrari have been shortsighted, keeping Raikkonen would have been a better option than keeping Massa.

Toyota and Renault Boosted By Singapore Podium

Toyota and Renault have both declared they have been massively bossted by podiums in the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend.

Toyota boss John Howett was sure that the podium finish, 2nd place for Timo Glock would provide some excitement and further motivation for the Cologne based mechanics after a poor season.  He also played down that this result would secure Timo Glock’s future with the team.

“It’s good for the motivation of the guys who work so hard. They worked really hard to get the package ready here.

“It’s quite a complex design on the rear of the car, and the production guys have really been pushing. As a race team, you race to win.

“I think it’s more for the motivation in the team, the belief that we actually can do it.”

Meanwhile Bob Bell of Renault said that their 3rd place was one of their most important results ever following a week of huge controversy with Nelson Piquet Jnr, Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds in Crash-Gate.

“This result obviously lifts the spirits of the whole team enormously and will be fresh in everyone’s mind as we have back-to-back races this weekend.

“The team will therefore arrive in Japan feeling very upbeat,” said Bell in a team preview ahead of the Suzuka race.

“The race in Japan might not be the easiest for us, but I think the level of motivation will be much higher.”

Sorry for lack of recent posts, I have had a few long term life issues to deal with, Thanks Rob

Renault Handed 2 Year Suspended Ban Sentence

The Renault Formula One Team were handed a 2 year suspended Formula One ban today after the World Motorsport Council met to discuss the alleged “Deliberate crash” by Nelson Piquet at the 2008 Singaporean Grand Prix.

Due to the severity of the situation, Renault are very lucky to recieve a suspended sentence, most likely because two of Renault’s top eecutives Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds, 2 people Piquet alleges told him to crash, stepped down from their positions.

An FIA Statement read: “Renault had accepted, at the earliest practicable opportunity, that it committed the offences with which it was charged and cooperated fully with the FIA’s investigation. It had confirmed that Mr. Briatore and Mr. Symonds were involved in the conspiracy and ensured that they left the team; It apologised unreservedly to the FIA and to the sport for the harm caused by its actions;

“It committed to paying the costs incurred by the FIA in its investigation; and Renault (the parent company, as opposed to Renault F1) committed to making a significant contribution to FIA safety-related projects.”

The FIA explained their decision after the court left this afternoon.

“Renault F1’s breaches not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jr. himself. The World Motor Sport Council considers that offences of this severity merit permanent disqualification from the FIA Formula One World Championship.

“However, having regard to the points in mitigation mentioned above and in particular the steps taken by Renault F1 to identify and address the failings within its team and condemn the actions of the individuals involved, the WMSC has decided to suspend Renault F1’s disqualification until the end of the 2011 season. The World Motor Sport Council will only activate this disqualification if Renault F1 is found guilty of a comparable breach during that time.”

Fernando Alonso was present but not accused of any crime.  It is unknown whether Flavio Briatore will persue blackmail charges against Nelson Piquet Snr.

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: 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

Santander and Ferrari To Announce Deal Thursday

Santander Banking Group and Scuderia Ferrari are to announce a huge sponsorship deal, worth hundreds of millions of dollars at this forthcoming Italian Grand Prix.

A press conference has been called for Thursday afternoon.

This will mark a move for Ferrari away from Marlboro’s title sponsorship.  The team have had the cigarette manufacturers logos on the car less and less over the years as tobacco sponsorship has declined in legality, and other teams have lost their title brand sponsors.

Santander too will move away from McLaren, a team they came to sponsor in 2007.  It will increase rumours that Santander are moving to Ferrari as part of a deal with Spaniard Fernando Alonso.

Renault Could Be In Serious Trouble Over Race Fixing Allegations

The Renault Formula One Team could face massive charges, and even permanent suspension from Formula One if they are found guilty of fixing the result of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

This news has emerged after the Belgian Grand Prix, where an un-named source alleged to be Nelson Piquet, told officials that he was forced to crash his Renault in the race to allow Fernando Alonso to take the lead behind the safety car after his final pitstop thus taking him to easy race victory.

While Renault feverently deny any such allegations, when you look again at the race you have to say the evidence is pointing the finger at the French manufacturer.

Bernie Ecclestone tells more in an exclusive interview with a British newspaper;

“The FIA has launched a thorough investigation into the allegations about Nelson.  I do not know if they are true or not.

“But if they are true then I would have thought Nelson was in just as much trouble. If I tell you to go and rob a bank and you get caught you can’t say, ‘Well Bernie told me to.’

“It all seems very strange to me and I do not know the truth.”

“If the investigation finds out that that is what happened then I think there is going to be a lot of trouble,” he said. “You hear of these things happening with jockeys and in football and it has led to all sorts of trouble, hasn’t it?

“If it is true then it is a very serious situation. But it could just be a rumour and Nelson is just annoyed that he has been fired.

“But it is not good for the sport. People seem to be spending money betting on F1, which is good, but they will not want to do that if they think something is wrong with the result.”

There have been many incidents of fixing recently with the blood-gate scandal rocking British Rugby, and Kieran Fallon the top horse racing jockey who returns to the sport very soon after being suspended from riding after throwing multiple races.