Maldonado Confirmed At Williams For 2011
Williams have confirmed that Pastor Maldonado will be racing for the team next season alongside veteran Rubens Barrichello.
Maldonado, the current GP2 champion takes the race seat of recently released Nico Hulkenberg, the man who delivered the team its first pole position for 6 years at Brazil.
It will mark the first time in over 30 years that a Venezuelan has taken the wheel of a Formula One car.
“I feel very privileged that Williams has selected me as one of their race drivers,” Maldonado said. “It is a great way to end what has already been an amazing year for me.
“I tested with the team in Abu Dhabi, but can’t wait to start working with everyone properly to be in the best possible shape going into next year. I will be doing my best over the winter to prepare myself, and I know the team will be working hard to ensure a successful season.
“2011 will be the first time in nearly 30 years that a Venezuelan has driven a Formula 1 car so I will be looking to get some good results in return for the support my country has given me to help get me to this position today.”
Sir Frank Williams, team owner added:
“Pastor first caught my eye in 2007 when he drove a masterful race at Monaco,” Williams said. “Since then, he has regularly reminded us of his unquestionable talent with some skilful wins, particularly during this year’s GP2 championship, taking an unsurpassed record of six successive victories.
“Of course, we already know Pastor from the time he spent with the team at the Abu Dhabi test, but we are very much looking forward to developing his talent over
the winter and a fruitful season with him next year.”
Drivers Reaction Following First Pirelli Tyre Test
Various drivers had the opportunity to test the new Pirelli tyres today in the first test at Abu Dhabi. While only driving their 2010 machines, it will give them the chance to evaluate the new rubber from the Italian manufacturer.
Here’s what a variety of the drivers thought about the tyres following the test.
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing):
“Given the short amount of time Pirelli had, I think they did a good job,” said world champion Sebastian Vettel, who set the second-fastest time of the day. “It’s a good start and it was good to be back in the car.
“You need to give the car a bit of time to adapt to the tyres. We need to work on the set-up, but I think it’s a common view that the tyres have behaved pretty well and probably better than a lot of people expected.”
Rubens Barrichello (Williams):
“I’ve been positively impressed,” said Barrichello. “The track is a little bit different because I think they polished the asphalt because of the Bridgestone rubber.
“I don’t think it’s time to make comparisons, but I thought it was positive. I did 42 laps in the morning and it was okay. They are different to Bridgestones and we need to keep learning. We could not expect a completely different tyre to work the same way. I quite like the challenge.”
Felipe Massa (Ferrari):
“The harder compound has a lot of degradation and it’s not as quick as I expected,” Massa said.
“As for the softer tyre, I was very happy with it. It’s quick, degradation is very good. I did long runs with both and the one I did with the softer tyre was very good, possibly better than what I had last Sunday in the race.
“Of course, again, they’ll have to work to improve the harder compound they brought here, but that’s what this test was all about. Pirelli saw what happened, listened to our suggestions and understood the situation.”
Robert Kubica (Renault):
“It’s difficult to compare because we had a race five days ago and the track has changed quite a lot due to the testing and the rubber that was laid down,” said Kubica. “I’m sure that the track grip is much better than it was in the race.
“This makes it difficult to compare them – there’s no point really in comparing them. There’s quite a big difference. It is always pretty interesting when you change tyres to feel the difference and make some set-up changes and stuff like this.
“It’s just to get an idea for next year’s car which characteristics will work best. We will never get track conditions with so much rubber on the race weekends, so actually I don’t think it’s so significant, this test. A lot of the young drivers had many sets of new tyres! Although the track was washed yesterday, I didn’t recognise it. It was like a different track.”
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes Benz):
“They’re at least similar [to Bridgestone's] or perhaps for worse for us at the moment”
“…In the big picture, they are pretty similar in the end to the Bridgestones, but if you are then looking for the fine tuning to extract the performance there is some way to go on adapting the set-up.
“At the moment, we have done the small things that you can do at the track but there are the bigger things that you need to take care of with the car development. That’s going to be one of the areas that are very important for success for next year.”
Williams Retain Barrichello For 2011 But Hulkenberg Leaves
Williams have announced that Rubens Barrichello will race for the team once again next season, but talented rookie Nico Hulkenberg will be leaving the Grove based team.
Barrichello, who is the most experienced F1 driver of all time, had a relatively successful season with the British team headed up by Sir Frank Williams.
“We recruited Rubens knowing he would bring technical expertise, experience and passion,” said Williams. “He has delivered everything we could have hoped for this season and we are delighted to confirm that he will drive for us again in 2011.”
Meanwhile, Nico Hulkenberg has told reporters he will be leaving the team. The young German, who gave Williams their first pole position since 2005, said he was disappointed to be leaving.
“I heavily regret that,” Hulkenberg said in a statement. “I would have been happy to stay with Williams.
“I want to thank the team for a great time and I wish Williams all the best for the future.”
Hulkenberg’s manager, Wili Weber says that Nico will have a race seat next season.
“I am negotiating with other teams,” Weber said. “Nico will have his seat in F1 in 2011.”
He has only a limited number of options for next season, so it will be interesting to see where he ends up racing.
Suzuka Exciting But Safety Not Quite There – Barrichello
Rubens Barrichello, the most experienced F1 driver of all time, has said as much as he enjoys driving at Suzuka the trackside safety is not quite up to standard when compared with other new circuits around the world.
The Brazilian, who races with Williams this season, said that the safety and run off areas were not quite as good as they are on many of the newer circuits.
He added however that he, and the rest of the grid did really enjoy driving at the track.
“It is [on the limit], it’s kind of adrenaline all the time, and the drivers love it and appreciate it so much,” said Barrichello.
“The work that has been done has helped, but it is still – if you take the esses for example – an old-fashioned circuit that could do with a little more run-off area.
“There are two ways of looking at it. Being a racing driver you end up being a bit mad anyway, so you like to work with that adrenaline and having the walls alongside and so on.
“But for a simple, normal guy, you would like to see more asphalt, because crashes in those areas are not easy ones.”
Barrichello Wants New Williams Contract – Top Bosses Praise Brazilian
Rubens Barrichello has declared that he hopes the Williams F1 Team offer him a new contract to race with them through the 2011 season, following a relatively successful first season with the team which has seen him score points in the last few races.
Barrichello is the most experienced F1 driver of all time, and should hit his 300th race this season having completed 297 so far (post Silverstone 2010).
He spent the last season with Brawn GP, finishing 3rd in the championship behind team mate Jenson Button. Previously the popular Brazilian drove for Ferrari, Honda and Jordan.
“I hope so. I think it would the natural thing,” Barrichello said of staying at the team.
“Obviously I haven’t signed any contract just yet. I am not talking to anybody else.
“As I said I think Williams would be doing the wrong thing if they were thinking of something else because they already put into the programme of next year so it would be a waste not to be driving.”
“Right now it is almost a waste of time not to have me in the car and driving,” he said. “In terms of speed I am performing better than ever and I think this positiveness is just making such a change.
“And people say well, you are not winning races, how can you be so positive? Well it’s because as a team you have got to believe as a team we’ll produce something that will put us back to the podium area, and then maybe next year make a good car that can effectively bring the first place.”
Meanwhile his teams technical director, Sam Michael, complimented the Brazilian on his fantastic job with the team so far this year.
“Rubens is doing a great job driving our development programme as well as delivering strong qualifying performances and race results,” said Michael.
“We are very satisfied with his contribution to the team as a whole and specifically with the role he is playing when it comes to which direction we take with the car.”
Schumacher ‘Not Good Enough’ Says Former Team Mate
A former team mate of Michael Schumacher who wished to remain anonymous has made the audacious claim that Schumacher is no longer good enough to drive in Formula One.
Schumacher, 41, rejoined Formula One in a shock move just before Christmas to race for the all German Mercedes Benz team alongside Nico Rosberg. However, any fears that his neck would not be able to cope with the pressures following a motorbike accident in Germany were muted because of the performance of the former world champion. He has yet to beat his team mate in a race, and despite scoring regular points thanks to the new 10 place scoring system he has been relatively poor with his racing.
One would have thought he would excel in the damp conditions seen in China, the sort of races where he would dominate back when driving for Ferrari, however he did not, with fumbled tyre changes and a genuine air of nervousness over his car-pit radio system.
“I can tell you, he was always very vulnerable when he lost, whenever I beat him; it was as if he needed a cuddle afterwards.” One of his former team mates told The Independent newspaper.
“You can see his head has dropped after four races in which Rosberg has been quicker; he just isn’t used to that. He is the kind of guy who even when we were at the Madonna di Campiglia pre-season skiing publicity event with Ferrari in the old days, he had to be the fastest. And if he wasn’t, he would keep demanding another go until he was. That’s how driven he used to be.
“After the beating he got on Sunday, in conditions in which the old Michael Schumacher excelled, I don’t think he’ll ever come back to his old level.”
Speculation is now rife to the source, which has been touted as former team mate Eddie Irvine who moved to Jaguar in 2000 after a few seasons with Ferrari, or perhaps Rubens Barrichello who now races with Williams and spent much of his time with Ferrari in the shade of the former master.
Barrichello and Kubica Critical of Hamilton’s Weaving
Rubens Barrichello and Robert Kubica have both been fairly vocal in their criticisms of Lewis Hamilton after the British driver weaved across the track 3 times to block Vitaly Petrov at the Malaysian Grand Prix 2 weeks ago.
The Russian driver attempted to get a tow, or slipstream, off the McLaren down the straight at Sepang, but was blocked by Hamilton when he attempted to overtake, but Hamilton swerved across the track multiple times which is in breach of the rules which state you can only move across once to block.
Hamilton was only hit with a warning, the other drivers think he should have been punished.
“I don’t think this is the right thing to do,” said Barrichello in China on Thursday. “When I saw it I was by myself watching the TV and I was quite critical of it. It he was beside me I would have given him some bollocking because it wasn’t right.
“There are arguments to cover that, to say that he was under acceleration, not in the braking area. There are so many things that they could come up with, but the drivers have an agreement, sort of an agreement, obviously a verbal agreement, nothing that has been signed, that you should move only once during the protection of your line.
“So that for me was a Formula Ford thing. It shouldn’t have been done, to be honest.”
Kubica added he feels the rules are now not clear on blocking.
“Reading the regulations, I’m clear. Watching Malaysia, I’m not so clear,” said Kubica.
Valencia Testing: Massa Again Fastest On Day 2
Felipe Massa kept Ferrari a-top of the timesheets in Valencia on the second day at the circuit.
The Brazilian, who is making a great comeback drive following his injury last season, was the only man to break into the 1.11s times.
He was followed by Kamui Kobayashi who proved the BMW Sauber Ferrari has some gusto if not the sponsors with another stellar effort, which was quicker than the McLaren of 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton who got his first taste of the new car today.
“It was a night and day difference and feeling compared to the first lap and the first test day in 2009,” Hamilton told reporters at the end of the day.
“I have a positive feeling. I’ve obviously kept a close eye on the development of the car and the results we got at the end of 2009 – so seeing this car evolve and having the input into it, I was very excited to get in the car today to see what parts we have improved.”
Robert Kubica did some long runs in the bumble-bee Renault, and scored 4th place ahead of Nico Rosberg who had the whole day to himself in the Mercedes.
Rubens Barrichello was 6th in the Williams on his second day with Nico Hulkenberg scheduled to take the wheel tomorrow.
Tomorrow is likely to be a very exciting day with 3 world champions at the wheel, Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button all star.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:11.722 124 2. Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari (B) 1:12.056 96 3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:12.256 108 4. Kubica Renault (B) 1:12.426 119 5. Rosberg Mercedes GP (B) 1:12.899 119 6. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:13.377 102 7. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:13.823 107
Valencia Testing: Massa Fastest On Day 1
Felipe Massa eased Ferrari fans and technicians fears over the potential performance of the new F10 on day one of the Valencia test series by slotting the new car into first place on the time sheets.
Admitedly, it is the first test but Massa will be very pleased with his performance which was a few tenths of a second faster than his nearest rival.
That nearest rival was 38 year old Pedro De la Rosa, driving the new Sauber C29, and looking forward to his first season in Formula One since 2002. His time may have been inflated slightly due to his advanced testing knowledge after all of those seasons with McLaren, but nevertheless Peter Sauber will be happy with today’s performance.
Michael Schumacher came in 3rd, the German who has made his sensational comeback to Formula One with Mercedes Benz will be pleased with his times which were consistently quicker than team mate Nico Rosberg. The old master clearly hasn’t lost it, and said he was like a child with a new toy.
“In a way it is like 1991, honestly,” Schumacher told reporters after the test. “When I came into F1 I was shocked on the first lap and extremely excited on the second lap and further laps. And it is exactly the same today.
“I feel like a young boy that has a toy in his hands and enjoys himself.”
Paffett was 5th in the new McLaren, with Lewis Hamilton taking over the reigns from the former DTM champion tomorrow. Rubens Barrichello made 6th on his first Williams outing, and one breakdown.
The bottom two were Sebastien Buemi who showed pace in the new STR despite only a handful of laps, and Robert Kubica who was happy despite expressing some concerns over the narrower tyres and their effect on understeer.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:12.574 102 2. de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari (B) 1:12.784 74 3. M.Schumacher Mercedes GP (B) 1:12.947 40 4. Rosberg Mercedes GP (B) 1:13.543 39 5. Paffett McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:13.846 86 6. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:14.449 75 7. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:14.762 18 8. Kubica Renault (B) 1:15.000 69
Barrichello Visits The Williams Factory, While Hulkenberg Targets His Pace
Rubens Barrichello has visited the Williams F1 Team factory at Grove, Oxfordshire today to have a look around and to get to know some of the people who will help him fight for 2010 title better.
Barrichello took time out to see the factory and also walk the hallowed territory through the famous private museum. Both locations, I have visited (see: http://f1fanatics.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/my-day-at-the-williams-factory-thanks-to-philips/ ) and can vouch for their quality and brilliance.
“I am going to realise a dream, because ever since I saw F1 on TV for the first time, I have dreamed of driving for them,” Barrichello told O Globo the Brazilian TV channel this morning.
Rubens also revealed that he had contract talks with McLaren, and that he only had a contract for the first 4 races of the season with Brawn in 2009, with the rest of his contract being based on performances.
Meanwhile new team mate Nico Hulkenberg says he wants to match Rubens’ pace, and hopefully beat the veteran challenger on a few occassions.
The German GP2 Champion also pointed out he would be stupid to ignore the advice of a driver with so much experience.
“I hope that I’ll be on his pace right from the beginning and that I can match his speed and results – and maybe even beat him at some point!” 22-year-old Nico told reporters on Wednesday. “I just want to have the best team-mate I can get; one who’s quick, experienced and a good driver – and that’s what I see in him.”
Barrichello and Hulkenberg Unveiled As Williams’ New Drivers
Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg have been unveiled today as the new driver pairing for the Williams F1 Team for 2010.
Rubens Barrichello joins the team on the back of a strong season with Brawn GP, where he finished 3rd in the title standings fighting World Champion Jenson Button hard for the title and helping Brawn to the constructors title victory.
Nico Hulkenberg has just won the GP2 series, and also has won championships in Formula 3, A1GP and Formula BMW Deutschland.
Team principal Frank Williams said: “Rubens needs no introduction. He is not only the most experienced driver in Formula 1, but a passionate and talented driver who fought hard for the drivers’ championship this year.
“Nico Hulkenberg won the GP2 Championship this season as a rookie and has previously won the F3 Euro Series, A1 GP and Formula BMW Germany.”
Nico Rosberg now looks set to move to Brawn, and Kazuki Nakajima looks increasingly more likely to have no drive for 2010.
Rubens with Frank Williams back in 2004, after the USGP.
Barrichello and Glock To Confirm 2010 Drives Soon
Rubens Barrichello, Timo Glock and newly crowned World Champion Jenson Button will all be confirming their 2010 race seats within the next few weeks if paddock rumour at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi is to be believed.
Barrichello looks to be heading out of Brawn GP and off to Williams, a move almost confirmed by Michael Schumacher’s manager Wili Weber earlier in the week. He will be partnering Nico Hulkenberg at the Grove based squad, which he described as one of the best teams in F1 a matter of days ago.
“In one week we will know more for sure,” the Brazilian said, clarifying that the plans of his Brawn team-mate Jenson Button will have no bearing on his own.
“At the moment there are more important things than the announcement of my contract for the coming year,” added Barrichello.
Timo Glock on the other hand has said he has no contract with Toyota for 2010, where Jarno Trulli, Kaumi Kobayashi and possibly Kimi Raikkonen are all fighting for seats at, with the rumour being that the German is heading to partner Robert Kubica at Renault.
“Nothing has been signed,” the German’s manager Hans Bernd Kamps insisted. “For 2010 it looks good and perhaps next week we will have something surprising to announce.”
Weber Lets Cat Out Of Bag On Williams New Drivers
Michael Schumacher’s manager Willi Weber has well and truly let the cat out of the bag with regards to the Williams F1 Team’s two new drivers for the forthcoming 2010 season in an interview with German newspaper Die Bild am Sonntag.
Weber was discussing his driver Nico Hulkenberg with the tabloid favourite and he told the reporter “I think he [Hulkenberg] will be a match for his new teammate Barrichello,”
That pretty much tells us all we need to know about the Grove outfits two drivers for 2010. Hulkenberg has been the test driver for two seasons at Williams while pursuing a highly successful career in lower formulas including winning the F3 Euroseries and GP2 world titles. He also shookdown Williams’ FW31 car for the first time in front of the media before the start of this season.
Rubens Barrichello has been linked with the team but would not give a confirmed answer to even Brazilian media about the switch from Brawn.
It leaves Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima without drives however, but Rosberg could be off to either Brawn GP or McLaren Mercedes. If he were to go to Brawn, it looks likely Jenson Button would go to McLaren and Rosberg could be joined by any number of drivers, even possibly Kimi Raikkonen if he doesn’t sign with Toyota.
As for Kazuki Nakajima, his best chance is probably with one of the new teams, perhaps Lotus.
Hulkenberg (L) and Weber (R)
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
Mercedes Benz Look To Purchase Part Of Brawn GP Team
Plans for Mercedes Benz to buy in to the Brawn GP team have emerged today in well respected British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
The newspaper suggests that Mercedes will not complete a full buy-out of the team, and instead purchase a percentage of it in a similar way to McLaren. Then use their stake, of probably around 20% to assist the team with equity and a certain engine and development deal.
Brawn get this news on the back of a positive few weeks in terms of sorting things out for next season, with Nick Fry telling the media that Brawn have a confirmed big name sponsor for 2010 which could be Emirates Airlines.
Mercedes Benz didn’t comment with much as always, but their other big investment team McLaren did, seemingly they are not concerned Mercedes Benz could leave the Woking based squad for Brawn’s new rockets.
“Mercedes-Benz’s engine supply contract with McLaren is a very long-standing one – it’s in its 15th consecutive year, in fact – and it will continue to run for many years to come,” said the McLaren spokesman.
“However, we’re supportive of our partner’s plans regarding engine supply of other teams in Formula 1, and we were delighted earlier this year that a Mercedes-Benz engine supply deal was able to be done with Brawn, thereby saving that team from likely extinction.”
Belgian GP 2009: Kimi Raikkonen Takes Ferrari’s First Win Of Season!
Kimi Raikkonen delivered an emphatic first win of the season for Ferrari this afternoon after a highly exciting Belgian Grand Prix.
Suprise pole sitter Giancarlo Fisichella came in 2nd place, Force India’s first ever points and thus podium, while Sebastian Vettel kept his championship hopes alive while others around him faltered with 3rd place.
Race Review
The getaway from the line was mostly noted for Rubens Barrichello’s anti-stall kick in, forcing Kimi Raikkonen around his outside and bunching everyone up into La Source hairpin.
Raikkonen dived onto the astroturf around the outside of the turn and raced down to Eau Rouge with Fisichella in the lead and the BMW’s far up the pack. Further back in the field various cars including Fernando Alonso, Jaime Alguersuari, Adrian Sutil, Timo Glock, Jarno Trulli and Lewis Hamilton were all tangling with bits of bodywork flying everywhere.
The cars were bunched as they headed down the straight to Les Combes, where Romain Grosjean tagged Jenson Button forcing him into a spin. Jaime Alguersuari tried to miss Button and ended up ramming Lewis Hamilton forcing them both out as well as Button and Grosjean. This left us with a Safety Car situation with all these cars hanging off the track.
Some drivers including Rubens Barrichello decided to pit in.
When the safety car finally returned to the pits, Kimi Raikkonen using his KERS system to full effect managed to get ahead of Fisichella and that is where he would stay for the rest of the race. The gap between the two was not very large, and the pitstops [all on the same laps for the pair] didn’t yield a position change. Had Raikkonen not being using the KERS system then he would almost certainly have lost the place to Fisichella, whose Force India car looked frighteningly quick.
Sebastian Vettel had a very quiet drive to 3rd place, managingto make use of accidents and retirements.
Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld managed to get a great result for their BMW team, with 4th and 5th places. They stayed out of trouble throughout the race, but were almost certianly helped along by faster rivals being knocked out in the first corner accident.
7th place finisher Rubens Barrichello never looked like troubling those at the front after his poor start. He did well to end up in the points, but in all honesty was lucky to finish with his Brawn GP car pluming smoke for the final 3 laps. The Brazilian’s car then set on fire as he returned to the pitlane after the race!
Just finishing ahead of Rubens was Heikki Kovalainen, the sole finishing McLaren using good strategy to make the position from a poor qualifying start. 8th was Rosberg picking up vital points, but Mark Webber really should have been there but he had a pitlane incident where he was released into the path of Heidfeld, focing the German to nearly crash and got given a drive-through penalty for it.
Timo Glock should also have finished higher than 10th, but a fuel rig failure ruined his chances of points from early good running.
Sutil, Buemi and Nakajima came next in the classifications with fairly average races, and Luca Badoer brings up the rear of the field [again] in what is likely to be his last Ferrari race.
Fernando Alonso retired with a broken front left wheel and suspension, while we do not know Jarno Trulli’s problem possibly a fuel pressure issue.
Classified Results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1.23.50.995 |
| 2 | G. Fisichella | Force India Mercedes | +0.939 |
| 3 | S. Vettel | Red Bull Renault | +3.875 |
| 4 | R. Kubica | BMW Sauber | +9.966 |
| 5 | N. Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | +11.276 |
| 6 | H. Kovalainen | McLaren Mercedes | +32.763 |
| 7 | R. Barrichello | Brawn Mercedes | +35.461 |
| 8 | N. Rosberg | Williams Toyota | +36.208 |
| 9 | M. Webber | Red Bull Renault | +36.959 |
| 10 | T. Glock | Toyota | +41.490 |
| 11 | A. Sutil | Force India Mercedes | +42.636 |
| 12 | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso Ferrari | +46.106 |
| 13 | K. Nakajima | Williams Toyota | +54.241 |
| 14 | L. Badoer | Ferrari | +1.38.177 |
Fastest Lap: S. Vettel (Red Bull) 1.47.263
Retirements
| Driver | Team | Lap | Reason |
| F. Alonso | Renault | 27 | Tyre/Suspension |
| J. Trulli | Toyota | 21 | Fuel Pressure (Poss.) |
| J. Button | Brawn Mercedes | 1 | Accident |
| R. Grosjean | Renault | 1 | Accident |
| L. Hamilton | McLaren Mercedes | 1 | Accident |
| J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso Ferrari | 1 | Accident |
Brawn GP Secures Future Funding
The Brawn Gp team, which despite being haistily put together weeks before the start of the 2009 Season has been a massive success have announced to Autosport Magazine that they have funding to see them right through 2010 on a full programme of development.
The team, born out of the wreckage of Honda, is based in Brackley and signed a minor sponsorship deal with Virgin at the start of the season. A full car roll out and sponsorship deal was never reached because of difficulties between both sides and as such the car was left in the white and fluroescent yellow paint scheme for the season.
Although Brawn GP have not confirmed the names of these sponsors yet, they can confirm they are big money and there will be a proper car launch and livery. Suspected candidates for sponsorship including Bwin.com and Emirates Airlines.
For Virgin Group, they have found sponsorship solace with Manor Grand Prix, one of the new teams. We had indications this was true, but in the interview with Autosport Nick Fry confirmed the detail.
“We have zero worries on funding for this year, next year, the year after, and the year after that. I smile when people talk about money, because we’ve always had the finances for this year, and neither Ross nor I would not have taken on the team if we did not have the money for this year.
“We’ve signed some nice contracts, and those will come out into the open when we launch the car next year, but we will see what happens. There is zero worry on our side.”
“We’ve had a great relationship with Virgin.” Fry added
“You have noticed different stickers from Virgin on the car over the year, and that is the result of additional requests from their side, which has increased our income as well, which is nice. I think they have had a great initiation into F1, and we are helping where we can in advice about what they can do with Manor.”
Brawn Applauds Barrichello On “Great Win”
Ross Brawn has heaped praise on his driver Rubens Barrichello after his victory in the European Grand Prix.
The 37 year old Brazilian has been there or thereabouts all season with racing, but today managed to secure his first win for 5 years.
Brawn, his boss, is in discussions with Barrichello about a contract extension for 2010 for the Brazilian.
“It’s just a sensational performance,” Brawn told the BBC. “We have had these races where Rubens was very good in qualifying and it hasn’t quite come together in the race, but today he was perfect.
“He pushed exactly where he needed to, and kept the gaps exactly what he wanted.
“And then when we got on the radio and said we had to push, then the little red lights came up. So it was just a fantastic performance.”
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
Schu and Barrichello Happy With Massa Progress
Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello have both declared that they are happy with the progress that Felipe Massa is making in his recovery from that horrific accident in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Schumacher spoke of Massa’s slow, but successful recovery in a press conference, haistly called in Geneva yesterday after Schumacher, 40, decided not to return to Formula One afterall. He had been conscripted back into Ferrari after Massa’s crash, but has been unable to get fit in time.
“At the time I gave him [Massa] my cockpit I was tired and I wanted him to take over. The good thing is to see that his recovery is going well, he’s very motivated – he’s working not very hard because he’s not allowed to – but it’s good to see his progress and I’m very happy about that.” Schumacher said
Rubens Barrichello of Brawn GP too has spoken of how Massa is recovering after seeing the Brazilian at home. On his official Twitter feed, Barrichello wrote two posts;
“I spend the afternoon with Felipe…he is fine and exactly the same person as before..thank God.”
“On Felipe’s come back we need to be patient…he has to be 100% before driving again,”
Felipe Massa Undergoes Successful Surgery After Crash In Hungary
Reports from Ferrari say that Felipe Massa has undergone successful surgery on his injuries from the horror crash in this afternoon’s Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying session.
The Brazilian was hit by a piece of debris from Rubens Barrichello’s suspension which hit Massa on the helmet at his speed, knocking him unconcious. The Ferrari then smashed into the barriers.
He was airlifted to the AEK hospital in Budapest, where it was revealed his had a fractured skull amongst other injuries.
“After the accident during the qualifying session of the Grand Prix of Hungary, Felipe Massa was airlifted to the AEK hospital in Budapest,” the early Ferrari statement said. “Felipe was conscious at the arrival at the hospital and his general conditions remain stable.
“Following a complete medical examination it emerged that he had suffered a cut on his forehead, a bone damage of his skull and a brain concussion. These conditions need to be operated on after which he will remain under observation in intensive care.”
After surgery Ferrari said he was in a stable condition in intensive care, a statement backed up by Rubens Barrichello on his official Twitter page where he said Massa was comfortable, sleeping and had a clear brain scan. Barrichello also said Massa’s family were on the way to Hungary.
He will clearly not race in tomorrow’s GP, and is unlikely to return at Valencia in 3 weeks time, where speculation is rife over who will replace him.
