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Bahrain - March 14, 2010

Filed under: Motorsport Mondial, News
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f1weekly @ 5:42 am

Ferrari. Red Hot In the Desert

Fernando Alonso gives Ferrari  a perfect start to the 2010 season.

Felipe Massa best start ever with P2 behind the two time world champion.

Vettel very disappointed for loosing the lead to a faulty spark plug.

Pos Driver Team Time

 1.  Alonso        Ferrari                    1h39:20.396
 2.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    16.099
 3.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    23.182
 4.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           +    38.713
 5.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +    40.263
 6.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +    44.180
 7.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    45.260
 8.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    46.308
 9.  Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes       +    53.089
10.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +  1:02.400
11.  Kubica        Renault                    +  1:09.093
12.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +  1:22.958
13.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:32.656
14.  Hulkenberg    Williams-Cosworth          +     1 lap
15.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Cosworth             +     1 lap
16.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +    3 laps
17.  Trulli        Lotus-Cosworth             +    3 laps


In 2007, Kimi Raikkonen replaced Michael Schumacher at Ferrari and dominated the season opener in Australia.

This year the season opener will see Kimi Raikkonen replaced at Maranello by Fernando Alonso, man who dethroned Schumacher after five successive championship seasons.

Alonso, son of an explosive expert, scored his first F1 victory in the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix, and two years later won the first of his two back-to-back championships with Renault.

Then came the detonation in 2007 after he joined McLaren. The young charge, Lewis Hamilton, fought for the title with his teammate and their self-destruction led to Raikkonen reeling in the title in the final race of the season in Brazil.

Alonso took a return flight to Renault and scored two wins – one impressive and one controversial – in 2008. The following season was spent waiting in the wings to land at Ferrari.

The legendary “Prancing Horse” team, after a solitary win last year, is expected to mount a serious challenge for the drivers’ championship.

Sentimental favorite has to be Felipe Massa, a long serving Ferrari test and race driver. He came so close to winning the championship in front of his home crowd in 2008, only to be “Glocked” on the last lap of the last race of the season.

Doubts, which were raised after his unfortunate accident in Hungary last year, were erased on Saturday as he qualified on the front row, ahead of new teammate.

Alonso, keen to re-gain the world champion status, brings to Ferrari the natural talent and focus of Michael Schumacher, the man he replaced as world champion.

And the absence of lack of commitment of Kimi Raikkonen, the man he replaced at Scuderia Ferrari.

Remembering a title won and lost in the season finale, Alsonso made it very clear of his intentions when he declared:

“It is very important to start scoring points from the first race.”

Nando knows.

– Nasir Hameed

Qualifying - March 13, 2010

Filed under: Motorsport Mondial, News
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f1weekly @ 7:43 am

Vettel Slides Pole with “Luscious Liz”


Handling his desert flame “Luscious Liz” with tender loving care and brazen speed, Grand Prix racing’s youngest winner, Sebastian Vettel, put in a sizzling lap of 1m 54.101s to snatch pole position for the 2010 season opener in Bahrain.

“It’s a big surprise to get pole,” revealed the German racer from Heppenheim. “I knew we had a good car, qualifying went smoothly and I’m very happy to be on pole. Thanks to the team, who have been so busy during the last month with a lot of testing – to be on top now is a nice feeling.”


Vettel will now try to turn the nice feeling to happy feeling by scoring his sixth Grand Prix victory on Sunday in his Adrian Newey-designed Red Bull RB6.

Sharing the front row with Vettel will be the pride of Sao Paulo, Felipe Massa, who endured a nasty accident in Hungary last year which sidelined him for the rest of the 2009 season. The very likeable Brazilian, who was 2008 World Champion for 15 second, made his fans and family very proud – and teammate very surprised – by out qualifying the newly arrived at Ferrari, Fernando Alonso.

The two time world champion from Oviedo in Spain will start third, sharing the second row with a face which may look familiar, the golden boy of his ex-Silver team, Lewis Hamilton.

Nico Rosberg rose to the occasion and did not succumb to the “Schumacher syndrome” as many pundits had predicted and posted a faster time than his Champion of Champions teammate, now re-united and “feel so good” with his Ferrari-days master mind and star strategist, Ross Brawn at the Mercedes-Benz racing team.

The younger of the two Germans, looking for his maiden Grand Prix win, will start fifth while the 91-Grands Prix winner will start from seventh on the grid.

Sharing row three with Rosberg will be Mark Webber in his Red Bull.

Reigning world champion Jenson Button will start his first race with McLaren from eighth on the grid, after being demoted from seventh by Schumacher on his last qualifying lap.

Robert Kubica will be starting his first race for Renault from the inside of row five, with Force India car of Adrian Sutil qualifying tenth.

Sunday’s Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix will start the 2010 FIA Formula World Championship, and will be race number 821 in the history of the series.


The past, present and future, future of German domination of Grand Prix.

The inaugural race in the Kingdom was held in 2004. Michael Schumacher led a Ferrari one-two over Rubens Barrichello.

– Nasir Hameed

Racing regards from California

Sebastien Vettel puts his Red Bull Renault on pole for the start of the 2010 season.

Felipe Massa out-qualifies his team mate Fernando Alonso for P2.

Nico Rosberg holds his own staying ahead of Michael Schumacher.

Schumacher in P7 Identical to his start at Spa-Francorchamps in 1991

Clark and Steve will have the race review on podcast # 413.

Pos  Driver         Team                   Q1        Q2        Q3       
 1.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault       1:55.029  1:53.883  1:54.101
 2.  Massa          Ferrari                1:55.313  1:54.331  1:54.242
 3.  Alonso         Ferrari                1:54.612  1:54.172  1:54.608
 4.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes       1:55.341  1:54.707  1:55.217
 5.  Rosberg        Mercedes               1:55.463  1:54.682  1:55.241
 6.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault       1:55.298  1:54.318  1:55.284
 7.  Schumacher     Mercedes               1:55.593  1:55.105  1:55.524
 8.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1:55.715  1:55.168  1:55.672
 9.  Kubica         Renault                1:55.511  1:54.963  1:55.885
10.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   1:55.213  1:54.996  1:56.309
11.  Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth      1:55.969  1:55.330
12.  Liuzzi         Force India-Mercedes   1:55.628  1:55.653
13.  Hulkenberg     Williams-Cosworth      1:56.375  1:55.857
14.  de la Rosa     Sauber-Ferrari         1:56.428  1:56.237
15.  Buemi          Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:56.189  1:56.265
16.  Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari         1:56.541  1:56.270
17.  Petrov         Renault                1:56.167  1:56.619
18.  Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:57.071
19.  Glock          Virgin-Cosworth        1:59.728
20.  Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth         1:59.852
21.  Kovalainen     Lotus-Cosworth         2:00.313
22.  di Grassi      Virgin-Cosworth        2:00.587
23.  Senna          HRT-Cosworth           2:03.240
24.  Chandhok       HRT-Cosworth           2:04.904

Motorsports Mondial - March 12, 2010

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f1weekly @ 7:28 am

Snow in Parabolica


Photo: Lars Kaufmann/Kaufmann Racing

First official Formula BMW Europe test hampered by snow at Monza.

The first official test days of the Formula BMW Europe Season 2010 took place on March 9 & 10 at the “Temple of Speed” – Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.

In the morning session of the first test day, all Josef Kaufmann Racing drivers did their planned testing programme. “Flying Dutchman” Robin Frijns adapted properly to the track and the cold conditions, and recorded the overall fastest lap time of the morning session.

Team’s two rookies, Hannes van Asseldonk, also from the Netherlands, and the Finn Petri Suvanto, first had to learn the track and get used to the low down force level. At the end of the morning session they were 10th and 11th.

In the afternoon the outside temperature dropped to freezing point and the fabled track fell victim to snowy conditions, forcing Kaufmann drivers to carry on the test session on used tires from the morning session.

Frijns did some more laps and finished his test session early. Hannes van Asseldonk and Petri Suvanto continued to gain more experience and mileage. At the end of the afternoon session Kaufmann drivers recorded 6th (Frijns) 12th (van Asseldonk) and 13th (Suvanto) fastest times.

Second day of testing saw more snow which forced cancellation of the session.

The Formula BMW Europe season starts in May as a support race to the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. Kaufmann team is aiming to capture the championship with their Dutch discovery from last season, Robin Frijns, who was Rookie of the Year in 2009.

Their assault on a second successive Rookie of the Year is led by Petri Suvanto, he is rated as the next “Flying Finn” by Kimi Raikkonen’s ex-karting mechanic. Both, plus van Asseldonk, are in good hands with Josef Kaufmann Racing, based in Wolsfeld, Germany.

For more information please visit: http://www.jk-racing.de/

They are also on Das Facebook.

– Nasir Hameed

Racing regards from California.


Nico Rosberg on top in second Friday practice in Bahrain.

Our three new F1 teams at the bottom of the time sheets.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps

 

Pos  Driver         Team                    Time              Laps
 1.  Rosberg        Mercedes                1:55.409            23
 2.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes        1:55.854  + 0.445   22
 3.  Schumacher     Mercedes                1:55.903  + 0.494   23
 4.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes        1:56.076  + 0.667   28
 5.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault        1:56.459  + 1.050   18
 6.  Hulkenberg     Williams-Cosworth       1:56.501  + 1.092   26
 7.  Massa          Ferrari                 1:56.555  + 1.146   30
 8.  Petrov         Renault                 1:56.750  + 1.341   26
 9.  Alonso         Ferrari                 1:57.140  + 1.731   25
10.  de la Rosa     Sauber-Ferrari          1:57.255  + 1.846   24
11.  Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari          1:57.352  + 1.943   27
12.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes    1:57.361  + 1.952   29
13.  Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth       1:57.452  + 2.043   21
14.  Liuzzi         Force India-Mercedes    1:57.833  + 2.424   29
15.  Kubica         Renault                 1:58.155  + 2.746   29
16.  Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1:59.799  + 4.390   31
17.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault        2:00.444  + 5.035   12
18.  Kovalainen     Lotus-Cosworth          2:00.873  + 5.464   23
19.  Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth          2:00.990  + 5.581   14
20.  Glock          Virgin-Cosworth         2:02.037  + 6.628    3
21.  di Grassi      Virgin-Cosworth         2:02.188  + 6.779   21
22.  Senna          HRT-Cosworth            2:06.968  + 11.559  17
23.  Buemi          Toro Rosso-Ferrari                           1
24.  Chandhok       HRT-Cosworth
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