Former Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton has accused Renault of helping Red Bull, who use Renault engines, by holding up McLarens during the course of Sunday’s final race, which German Sebastian Vettel won to nail this year’s championship. “It was impossible to get past [Renault driver Robert] Kubica, he made it as difficult as it [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Sebastian Vettel’
Hamilton accuses Renault of hold-up tactics, targets competitive 2011 start
November 15th, 2010 |
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Hamilton a pole star in floodlit Abu Dhabi
November 1st, 2009 |
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Lewis Hamilton was in scintillating form at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix yesterday, claiming pole position for today’s season-ending finale ahead of Red Bull Racing duo Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. The McLaren No1 looked in determined mood throughout the weekend’s three practice
Vettel crowned Grand Prix champion
November 1st, 2009 |
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Sebastian Vettel ended the Formula One season with a win as he took the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix courtesy of a near-perfect drive in the capital this evening. The young German started the race second on the grid, but found himself out in front on lap 20 after Lewis Hamilton was
Vettel wins inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
November 1st, 2009 |
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Sebastian Vettel ended the Formula One season with a win as he took the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix courtesy of a near-perfect drive in the capital this evening. The young German started the race second on the grid, but found himself out in front on lap 20 after Lewis Hamilton was
Formula One: Victorious Vettel now looks to Brazil
October 5th, 2009 |
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Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull team boss Christian Horner have pledged the drivers title fight will go to the wire after the German tyro claimed victory in the Japanese Grand Prix. Vettel, who grabbed his third win of the season and fourth of his career with a dominant performance after
Hamilton returns to winning ways
July 26th, 2009 |
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• ‘It’s been a long time’ says delighted McLaren driver
• Fernando Alonso handed suspension for European grand prix
Lewis Hamilton had almost forgotten the routine for the first three finishers. Today the world champion, for two seasons so familiar with it, had to remind himself of the procedure after winning the Hungarian grand prix and finishing on the podium for the first time in 2009.
“Great to see you. It’s been a long time,” he said as he walked beaming into the conference room along with Kimi Raikkonen and Mark Webber. Hamilton’s obvious pleasure came from reacquainting himself with spraying victory champagne and appreciating the McLaren team’s efforts in returning him to the podium. “This has been a huge leap for us,” he said. “We definitely deserve this after such a long time and after a season that has been very hard on everyone in the team.”
Once the McLaren engineers had finally established the fundamental faults with a car that Hamilton had, at times, found impossible to drive, the Woking team worked flat out to produce and test new parts, the latest changes to the front wing arriving on Friday. Hamilton rewarded the effort by qualifying fourth but confessed yesterday that he did not expect to win.
“It could have gone either way,” he said. “But everything just sort of fell into place. I had quite a good start. It was very close and I immediately got into a fight with Mark [Webber]. He was very fair and I was able to use Kers to good advantage.”
McLaren and Ferrari are the only two teams persisting with Kers energy retention, a system which was not expected to deliver a significant performance advantage on the twists and turns of the Hungaroring. But Hamilton and Raikkonen, who finished second for Ferrari, used the 6.5sec power boost on the main straight as a means of keeping the opposition at bay.
Hamilton’s cause was helped by Renault’s plans for a first win this season coming apart within 12 laps. Fernando Alonso had claimed pole position by running with a light load of fuel during qualifying and planning to stop three times for fuel as opposed to the two-stop strategy favoured by everyone else. Alonso took the lead as planned but was soon slowed by fuel pump problems. The denouement for the former world champion was more embarrassing when he lost a front wheel shortly after his first pit stop, letting Hamilton into a lead he would not lose.
Renault, world champions in 2006 and 2007, were suspended from the next race in Valencia, a home grand prix for Alonso. The team have appealed. The stewards decided that Alonso was released from his pit in the knowledge that the wheel securing nut was not in position “which resulted in a heavy part of the car detaching at Turn 5 and the wheel itself detaching at Turn 9″. It is perhaps no coincidence that the decision comes a week after Henry Surtees was killed by an errant wheel at Brands Hatch.
“Maybe we would not have won but we definitely missed an opportunity to finish on the podium,” said Alonso, before hearing the stewards’ decision. “The car was quick but there was a problem fitting the right-front wheel at the first pit stop. When I left the pits there was a lot of vibration and it felt like I had a puncture. But then a few corners later the wheel flew off my car. I made it back to the pits for a replacement but a problem I’d had with my fuel pump since lap two returned and I had to retire.”
It might have been Raikkonen assuming the lead had the Finn managed to overtake Hamilton during an eventful first lap as the Ferrari driver elbowed his way past Nico Rosberg’s Williams, the McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen and Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull.
“I had a collision on the first corner with Kimi,” said Vettel. “I was on the inside and had a clear run to accelerate, his car came sideways and we touched. He crashed into my car; it can happen. At some point the front-left suspension gave up and we had to retire the car. There are still a few races left this season and the championship fight is still on.”
Vettel dropped to third place on the points standings after Webber finished on the podium for the fourth race in succession. “I think Lewis thoroughly deserved to win today,” said Webber. “It was a good day for the sport to have McLaren and Ferrari back up there.”
Jenson Button, although disappointed with the performance of his Brawn, ought to agree because Hamilton and Raikkonen claimed points that otherwise would have gone to Webber, now Button’s closest championship rival. Button’s team never fully recovered from the setback during qualifying when a rear spring fell off Rubens Barrichello’s car and caused the serious accident involving Felipe Massa. Button’s qualifying was compromised as safety checks were made to his car but the championship leader was not happy from the outset of the race, complaining that he could barely drive the car.
Hamilton had made similar comments about his McLaren during previous races and Button can only hope that his team can recover lost ground during the summer break before the European grand prix on 23 August.
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Hamilton returns to winning ways
July 26th, 2009 |
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• Hamilton scores first victory since October
• Raikkonen faces steward inquiry over crash
Lewis Hamilton produced a faultless display in Hungary to claim his and McLaren’s first grand prix victory of the season, ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Mark Webber.
The reigning formula one world champion began the race in fourth place on the grid, but made a superb passing move on Webber to take second place after five laps, before the leader Fernando Alonso went into the pits after claiming pole position with a light fuel load.
Alonso was forced out of the race shortly after his pit stop, when a problem with his right front tyre saw it fly off the Renault and bounce down the track. It was a worrying moment in the race, thoughts of Henry Surtees’ tragic death and Felipe Massa’s accident on Saturday inevitably coming to mind.
But Hamilton, who assumed the race lead when Alonso pitted, maintained his composure to produce the kind of race that have made him one of the most respected drivers on the grid.
There were few threats from other competitors, and he crossed the finish line 70 laps later with Raikkonen and Webber taking second and third positions.
A naturally delighted Hamilton said: “It’s an incredible feeling to be back here after what feels such a long time away and given the struggles for my team. But I’m so proud of them. They’ve never given up, which is so rare to see in a large group of people.
“We didn’t expect to win this weekend. Naturally we’ve caught up, but we didn’t think we had the pace, so it’s very special to win this one.”
Raikkonen could yet be stripped of second following a first-corner collision with Sebastian Vettel that is to be investigated by the stewards.
Webber closed the gap to Jenson Button at the top of the driver’s standings to 18.5 points. The world championship leader had his worst result of the season in the Brawn GP car, finishing in seventh place.
Result
1 Lewis Hamilton
2 Kimi Räikkönen +11.5 secs
3 Mark Webber +16.8 secs
4 Nico Rosberg +26.9 secs
5 Heikki Kovalainen +34.3 secs
6 Timo Glock +35.2 secs
7 Jenson Button +55.0 secs
8 Jarno Trulli +68.1 secs
9 Kazuki Nakajima +68.7 secs
10 Rubens Barrichello +69.2 secs
Overall standings
1) Jenson Button 70
2) Mark Webber 51.5
3) Sebastian Vettel 47
4) Rubens Barrichello 44
5) Nico Rosberg 25.5
6) Jarno Trulli 22.5
7) Felipe Massa 22
8) Lewis Hamilton 19
9) Kimi Räikkönen 18
10) Timo Glock 16
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Hamilton grabs first win of 2009
July 26th, 2009 |
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By Andrew Benson
BBC Sport at the Hungaroring
Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix to take his first victory since October last year and complete a remarkable turnaround for McLaren.
The Englishman took the lead after pole-sitter Fernando Alonso’s Renault made an early pit stop and dominated ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.
Red Bull’s Mark Webber was third with Jenson Button down in seventh.
The Australian replaces team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who retired, in second place in the world championship, cutting Button’s lead to 18.5 points.
Vettel, who suffered a front suspension failure while running eighth on lap 27 of 70, slips to 23 points behind the Englishman with seven races remaining and a maximum of 70 points available.
Nico Rosberg was fourth for Williams ahead of Hamilton’s team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, Toyota’s Timo Glock, Button and the second Toyota of Jarno Trulli.
Red Bull, who dominated the last two races in Britain and Germany, put in a surprisingly uncompetitive performance but they were in much better shape than Button.
The Englishman qualified eighth, but was starting on a heavy fuel load and was optimistic he would have a strong race. Instead, he was unable to make any impression on the cars at the front.
For the first time this season, that meant McLaren, whose form here confirmed that the revised aerodynamics they introduced in Germany two weeks ago have transformed the car.
McLaren started the season with an uncompetitive car, struggling in most races to even get into the points. Hamilton, the reigning world champion, had not even managed to finish on the podium until winning this race.
But a new front wing, diffuser and engine cover introduced at the last race have improved the car’s pace by about 0.8 seconds a lap
Hamilton qualified fourth, but used his Kers energy storage and power-boost system to challenge the leaders at the start.
Alonso got a good start from pole position and retained first place but Hamilton briefly got up into second place at the first corner before being repassed by Webber.
The Red Bull was expected to be the strongest car in the race but, while Alonso initially built a small gap, Webber found himself under pressure from Hamilton, who passed him on lap five and proceeded to pull away and close on the Renault.
Alonso, who had planned to do a three-stop strategy in contrast to the two stops of most of the rest of the field, pulled in for his pit stop on lap 11.
He was released a fraction too early before the right front wheel was fully attached and it parted company with the car part way around the lap and was forced to retire with the consequent damage and a fuel pump problem.
By the time all the front-runners had done their stops, Hamilton had a six-second lead over Raikkonen and he was able to control the race from the front.
Webber slipped behind Raikkonen after a problem with a front wheel at his pit stop and he was also passed by Toyota’s Timo Glock as he rejoined.
Red Bull chose the opposite tyre strategy from the other front-running teams, running the harder of the two tyre options for the first two stints of the race before switching to the softer for the final stint.
Whatever the reason, the Red Bulls lacked their recent pace but Webber drove consistently well to the final podium position and make it a good race for him from a championship point of view.
By contrast, his team-mate Vettel had a disastrous weekend, making a poor start from second on the grid and running eighth in the early laps.
He was running behind Rosberg when he suffered a front suspension failure on lap 27 and was forced to retire.
Toyota, both of whose drivers qualified outside the top 10, used a long first stint to put themselves in contention for the minor points places.
Button finally showed some pace in the closing laps once the track was coated in rubber and he was back on the softer tyres after using the harder ones in the middle stint.
That lifted him to seventh from eighth, but he will still be concerned at a third consecutive uncompetitive race.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Massa suffers skull fracture in crash
July 26th, 2009 |
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• Massa flown to hospital for immediate surgery above left eye
• Fernando Alonso on pole following timing system failure
Felipe Massa was airlifted to a Budapest hospital with a skull fracture as the result of an injury received during qualifying for today’s Hungarian grand prix. The Brazilian was knocked unconscious when a spring, which had become detached from the rear suspension of Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn, struck Massa on the head as he reached 175mph on one of the fastest sections of the Hungaroring.
The Ferrari cut the inside of the left-hand bend that followed soon after, ran straight across a run-off area and embedded itself in a quadruple-layer tyre barrier. The qualifying session was stopped as Massa was removed to the track’s medical centre and stabilised before being flown to hospital, where he successfully underwent emergency surgery. The hospital released a statement last night saying Massa’s condition is serious but stable, adding that surgeons expect him to be awoken this morning after being kept sedated on a respirator overnight.
The spring, weighing around 700 grammes, had somehow penetrated the top of his visor and injured Massa above the left eye, perilously close to the cornea. The accident came six days after 18-year-old Henry Surtees died of injuries received when he was struck on the head by an errant wheel in another freak accident during a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch.
The Brawn team is trying to understand why a standard suspension part, which had previously given no trouble, should suddenly come adrift. The Brawn of Barrichello’s team-mate, Jenson Button, received a thorough check, the delay preventing the leader of the championship from completing as many laps as he would have liked when the final part of qualifying, Q3, resumed. As this crucial phase of the weekend neared its conclusion, qualifying descended to farce when the electronic timing systems failed.
The nine remaining drivers in Q3 climbed from their cars without knowing who had won pole. Each driver had his individual lap time showing on the cockpit display and it was only by comparing times that Fernando Alonso began to realise he had qualified on pole position for the first time in almost two years. “This was a really stressful qualifying,” said the Renault driver. “There was a yellow flag towards the end of Q1 and, at that stage, I was 15th fastest and in danger of not making it [among the fastest 15] to Q2.
“When the track was clear, I had just one lap to do a time without making mistakes and I managed it. Then, at the end, the timing was not working. I asked other drivers what time they had done in order to get a reference and when everyone was saying times which were slower than mine, I started to get excited.”
Mark Webber did not think he had done enough. The winner of the previous grand prix in Germany was heading for a shower when told he would be joining his Red Bull team-mate, Sebastian Vettel, in the press conference for the fastest three qualifiers. “I made a mistake at Turn 2, so I knew Sebastian was faster,” said Webber. “But I thought I hadn’t been quick enough. I had no idea who was on pole. So congratulations to Fernando; that makes it three Renault-engined cars at the front. And Seb and I are in a position to capitalise on the Brawns not doing so well.”
The problem with Barrichello’s car consigned the Brazilian to the 13th fastest time, five places behind Button. It was not the performance Brawn had hoped for after introducing development parts that should have combined with the tight, twisting circuit to return the championship leaders to the front after disappointing races at the Nürburgring and Silverstone.
“I missed most of Q3,” said Button. “We had a failure at the back of Rubens’s car, so we changed my car and put a new part on. That took time and meant I missed my first run. I therefore had more fuel on board than I should have done when doing my time at the end of the session. Eighth is not great and I’m starting on the dirty side of the track.”
Button is hoping that Lewis Hamilton, fourth fastest, will use the Kers performance boost on the McLaren to overtake the Red Bulls on the downhill run to the first corner. There could also be unintentional assistance from Alonso, who is not expecting to win after qualifying with a very light load of fuel.
“It’s always nice to start from pole, especially here because overtaking is difficult,” said Alonso. “Also, this circuit is special for me because I won my first grand prix here in 2003. But, to be honest, our aim is to get on to the podium for the first time this season.” Rather than thinking about Alonso, Vettel is more concerned about the immediate challenge from behind, not only from Hamilton and the fifth-place Williams of Nico Rosberg, but Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren and the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, both of which have the Kers energy retention system.
“It’s been a bit of a struggle, so it’s a bit of a surprise to be on the front row,” said Vettel. “The main thing is that we are ahead of the Brawns. The biggest threat is right behind us and it’s a question of whether they will pass us on the right or the left on the run to the first corner.”
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Massa crashes in qualifying race
July 25th, 2009 |
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• Alonso takes pole with Red Bull duo second and third
• Button qualifies in eighth with Hamilton fourth
Felipe Massa is to undergo surgery following his accident in today’s Hungarian grand prix qualifying.
Although word emerged after a chaotic session that Massa was “okay” after being airlifted to a nearby Budapest hospital, Ferrari later confirmed the Brazilian would need an operation.
A statement read: “After the accident during the qualifying session, Felipe was airlifted to the AEK hospital in Budapest. Felipe was conscious at the arrival of the hospital, and his general conditions remain stable.
“Following a complete medical examination, it emerged he had suffered a cut on his forehead, bone damage to his skull and a brain concussion. These conditions need to be operated on after which he will remain under observation in intensive care.”
A Ferrari official confirmed the Brazilian “was hit by something on the helmet, losing control of the car” in the closing stages of the middle 15-minute session. Both team principal Stefano Domenicali and team spokesperson Luca Colajanni later confirmed Massa was out of the event.
The 28-year-old was struck by a piece of debris deposited by Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn GP.
Replays showed a part of the car coming off the Brawn and bouncing along the same area of the Hungaroring track where the drama began for Massa. Massa later caught the debris, on one of his hot laps, which then bounced up, striking his helmet and knocking him unconscious. Massa’s feet must have relaxed at that point, one on the throttle as on-screen graphics showed it remained open, the other on the brake as there were skid marks across the considerable run-off area before he ploughed nose first into a tyre barrier. The fact Massa made no attempt to turn out of the impact appeared to underline the fact he was not conscious as he hurtled into the tyres.
With Massa stricken in the car, photographs later emerged showing a fist-sized dent in his helmet, and with his visor up, there was a large cut over a blackened left eye. Massa was soon attended to by trackside medics before being taken to the circuit’s medical centre, then to hospital for further examination 22 minutes after his crash.
To add to the drama, the timing screens went black towards the end of the top-10 shootout, throwing everybody into confusion as not even the drivers had a clue as to who had taken pole. After several minutes, it finally came through that Fernando Alonso for Renault had taken pole, followed by the Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, with Lewis Hamilton fourth for McLaren.
It was the double world champion’s first pole since the Italian Grand Prix in 2007, and the 18th of his career. Explaining the chaos at the end, Alonso said: “We were chatting amongst ourselves in parc ferme trying to find out what happened. It was a fantastic effort from the team. We put in some new parts at the Nurburging [German Grand Prix], and we’ve showed we have made a step forward.”
Behind world champion Hamilton will be Williams’ Nico Rosberg, the second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, with championship leader Jenson Button down in eighth. The heat of Budapest was meant to aid Button’s cause after the cool of Britain and Germany had led to Red Bull one-twos in the last two races. But not even the sunshine could come to Button’s aid, and his 21-point lead in the title race threatens to be eroded further at the Hungaroring.
Behind Button are Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima, with Massa 10th as he naturally took no part in the closing 10 minutes, however, he will be in a position to race tomorrow.
In the 15-minute Q2, the biggest loser was Rubens Barrichello, with the Brazilian failing to make it into the top 10 for the first time this season due to the part that broke off his car.
The 37-year-old will start a miserable 13th, with that failure potentially wrecking his championship chances, which could now prompt Brawn into putting all their eggs into Button’s basket.
Although rookie Jaime Alguersuari became the youngest to take part in a Formula One qualifying session, there was no fairytale for the 19-year-old. Alguersuari had run faultlessly through three practice sessions, at least proving he was anything but “a danger” as suggested by triple world champion Niki Lauda.
In qualifying, however, Alguersuari was undermined by an electrical fault that forced him to pull his Toro Rosso off track in the final sector. Come the conclusion of the 20-minute period, Alguersuari sat at the bottom of the timesheets, in many respects where he was expected to finish even if his car had not let him down.
Grid positions after qualifying
1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1min 21.569secs, 2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:21.607, 3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:21.741, 4 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:21.839, 5 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:21.890, 6 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:22.095, 7 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:22.468, 8 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1:22.511, 9 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:22.835, 10 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:21.002, 11 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:21.082, 12 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:21.222, 13 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:21.242, 14 Nelson Piquet Jr. (Bra) Renault 1:21.389, 15 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:21.738, 16 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:21.807, 17 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:21.868, 18 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:21.901, 19 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:22.359. Not racing: 10 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari No time
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Alonso grabs shock Hungary pole
July 25th, 2009 |
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HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
Venue: Hungaroring Dates: 24-26 July 2009 Coverage: Live coverage of Friday’s practice sessions, Saturday qualifying and Sunday’s race – which starts at 1300 BST – across BBC TV, radio and online platforms.Find full listings here
By Sean Chaney
Lewis Hamilton put in some scorching laps late on in Saturday’s final session to continue McLaren’s dominance in Hungarian Grand Prix practice.
Hamilton’s fastest lap of of one minute 21.009 was 0.399 seconds quicker than BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld in second.
Williams’ Nico Rosberg set the third fastest time ahead of Hamilton’s McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen.
Brawn’s Jenson Button was 17th as his Red Bull title rivals Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel were ninth and 10th.
More to follow</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Hamilton top as McLaren set pace
July 24th, 2009 |
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HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
Venue: Hungaroring Dates: 24-26 July 2009 Coverage: Live coverage of Friday’s practice sessions, Saturday qualifying and Sunday’s race – which starts at 1300 BST – across BBC TV, radio and online platforms.Find full listings here
By Sean Chaney
Heikki Kovalainen snatched top spot from Nico Rosberg with a last-gasp flying lap in a tight first practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Finn continued McLaren’s recent recovery by clocking one minute 22.278 seconds to make the most of his car’s new diffuser and front wing.
Team-mate Lewis Hamilton was third ahead of Red Bull’s Mark Webber.
Brawn’s Jenson Button was 10th, while title rival Sebastian Vettel struggled with his Red Bull’s tyres down in 15th.
Vettel, who has won races in China and Great Britain this season, was heard on Red Bull team radio team saying: "The temperature of the tyres is sky high and there is no grip at all."
Team-mate Mark Webber also confirmed his "tyres are getting a little bit more difficult" as the on-track temperature rose from 30 to 38 degrees during the first 90 minute run-out.
Less than half a second separated the top six drivers in bright and sunny conditions at the Hungaroring just outside Budapest.
Practice performances are rarely the most reliable guide to race results as most teams use Friday’s sessions to analyse and assess any developments and modifications they have made to their cars.
All eyes were on Toro Rosso rookie Jaime Alguersuari at the start of Friday’s first practice session as the 19-year-old debutant put in his first tentative laps in a Formula 1 car.
F1 MOLE BLOG
The Spaniard traded fastest lap times with team-mate Sebastien Buemi in a quiet opening half hour and improved his lap time by over six seconds, but he still finished the session in 20th position.
Both drivers were looking to benefit from a major overhaul of the Toro Rosso as the team ran with the new diffuser, front wing, nose and top bodywork that has served sister team Red Bull so well since Silverstone.
More to follow.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Webber agrees new Red Bull deal
July 23rd, 2009 |
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Mark Webber has signed a new contract committing him to the Red Bull team for the 2010 Formula 1 season.
The 32-year-old Australian won the German Grand Prix earlier this month to record his first F1 race victory.
Webber has been in impressive form this season with five podium finishes and his win at the Nurburgring lifted him to third in the drivers’ championship.
"I’m extremely happy Red Bull and I have been able to agree to race together again next year," said Webber.
"Even in the leaner and tougher years at the start of my relationship with the team, I’ve always enjoyed working with them.
"So now to go through this purple patch, which we hope will continue for a good while to come, makes the work even more enjoyable.
"We’ve a very exciting finish to this year’s championship, but I’m also looking forward to helping to develop and race the car in the 2010 world championship."
With team-mate Sebastian Vettel already signed up for 2010, Red Bull are the first team to definitively confirm their driver pairing for next season.
Webber and Vettel have closed in on championship leader Jenson Button after recent one-two finishes in Britain and Germany, and now now trail the Brawn driver by 21 and 22.5 points in second and third place respectively.
Team boss Christian Horner said it was an easy decision to re-sign Webber given his current form.
"He has continued to show huge commitment and determination this season, especially following his bike accident at the end of last year," he said.
"His recent results show he is on the form of his life – most notably with his recent win at the German GP – and he has the motivation to deliver at the highest level.
"It was therefore a straightforward decision to extend the relationship.
"We believe the driver line-up of Mark and Sebastian is one of the strongest in the sport."</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Webber battles to maiden F1 win
July 12th, 2009 |
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By Andrew Benson
BBC Sport at Nurburgring
Red Bull’s Mark Webber scored his maiden Formula 1 win with a brilliant performance at the German Grand Prix after a drive-through penalty.
Webber was punished for colliding with Brawn’s Rubens Barrichello at the start but was in a class of his own to dominate the race despite his handicap.
Sebastian Vettel made it a Red Bull one-two ahead of Felipe Massa.
Barrichello finished sixth behind Williams’s Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button while Lewis Hamilton was last.
Button remains in the world championship lead on 68 points, but Vettel and Webber have leap-frogged over Barrichello.
The German is 21 points behind Button with Webber just 1.5 points behind his team-mate and Webber the same margin ahead of Barrichello.
Starting from pole position, Webber was an odds-on favourite heading into the race but he made life difficult for himself from the moment the lights went out at the start.
"It’s an incredible day for me. I wanted to win so badly"
Mark Webber
He was slow off the line and in trying – and failing – to prevent Barrichello passing him he swerved at the Brawn and the two cars touched.
The stewards took a dim view of the manoeuvre and handed Webber a drive-through penalty, which meant he had to drive through the pits – where there is a 120km/h speed limit – before rejoining the race.
But crucially Red Bull left Webber as long as they could before bringing him in to serve the penalty on lap 14.
Because his team-mate Sebastian Vettel and Button had been held up after being passed by the slower McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen at the start, Webber was able to rejoin in the lead and set about re-building his advantage.
The race further fell into his lap because Barrichello, who made his first pit stop when Webber came in for his penalty, and he came out behind Felipe Massa’s Ferrari, which held him up until his first pit stop on lap 25.
So although Webber dropped to eighth after his first pit stop on lap 19, he was able to close the gap on Barrichello in second place.
And by the time all drivers had made their stops, Webber was back in the lead by just after half distance.
From there, he was able to cruise to a well-deserved first victory while the Brawns were left with deteriorating tyres to hold off the charging Fernando Alonso of Renault.
"It’s an incredible day for me," said Webber. "I wanted to win so badly.
"The only thing in the end I though was going to beat me, or test me even more, was the rain. But even that held off.
"It was a little bit testing. Obviously I lost Barrichello completely off the start. I thought he’d gone a little bit to the left so I went to the right and banged into him, and that’s not normally my style.
"I had to recover [from the drive-through penalty], my engineer kept me quite calm and I pushed as hard as I could."
Struggling to make their tyres work in the cool temperatures, Brawn chose a three-stop strategy, but they spent too long behind slower cars to make it work.
And Button, seeing the startling pace of the Red Bulls, will be relieved that his team have a major upgrade package to come for the next race in Hungary in two weeks’ time.
Hamilton had fancied his chances of scoring a podium finish after qualifying fifth – and a fuel-corrected third fastest.
But after benefiting from his Kers power-boost system to contest the lead with Webber and Barrichello going into the first corner, Hamilton missed his braking point and ran wide.
He got a puncture and rejoined last where for some reason the McLaren, which has a major aerodynamic upgrade this weekend, did not show the pace it had on Saturday.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Webber charges to first F1 pole
July 11th, 2009 |
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GERMAN GRAND PRIX
Venue: Nurburgring Dates: 10-12 July 2009 Coverage: Live coverage of Friday’s practice sessions, Saturday qualifying and Sunday’s race – which starts at 1300 BST – across BBC TV, radio and online platforms.Find full listings here
By Russell Barder
Lewis Hamilton’s upgraded McLaren continued to top the timesheets in Saturday’s German Grand Prix practice at the Nurburgring.
Running with a new aerodynamic package the Briton was quickest on Friday and he maintained his good form as he clocked one minute 31.121 seconds.
The Renault of Fernando Alonso was second and Ferrai’s Felipe Massa third.
Championship leader Jenson Button was down in 11th as the drivers struggled for grip in the cold conditions.
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The Red Bull’s of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were fourth and fifth respectively, while Kimi Raikkonen made up the top six in his Ferrari.
Hamilton’s performance was just reward for his McLaren team who have worked tirelessly to get a new floor, new top bodywork and front wing onto the world champion’s car.
However, it is difficult to know what difference the changes have made until after Saturday’s qualifying session when the fuel loads are known.
The 24-year-old’s team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, who is running without the new package, was only 19th fastest – over one and half seconds behind Hamilton.
Ferrari have also come to Germany having made a few aerodynamic tweaks and they too appeared to pay dividends with both drivers in the top six.
But it was a different story for leading constructor Brawn GP as Button complained of being unable to get any heat into his front tyres.
The Briton’s team-mate, Rubens Barrichello, also struggled as he finished down in 14th.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Live – German Grand Prix qualifying
July 11th, 2009 |
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LIVE TEXT COMMENTARY (all times BST)
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To get involved text us on 81111 with FORMULA 1 before your message. (Not all contributions can be used; UK mobiles only; network rates apply)
By Caroline Cheese
BBC Sport’s Sarah Holt at the Nurburgring: "Caroline, many apologies for my delayed greetings. BBC HQ has been up in arms this morning as Eddie Jordan arrived with news that the hotel left a hot water bottle on his bed last night. Given the bone-rattling gusts that we are being subjected to up in the mountains, the rest of the BBC crew would give anything for such luxuries. Yes I know, how the cars cope with the chilly temperatures will be much more crucial come qualifying."1008: Just seeing a thermal image of the Force India mechanics working on Giancarlo Fisichella’s car. Not sure why, although I can exclusively reveal that none of the Force India mechanics are hot at the moment. And there’s Timo Glock, his helmet bearing the words ‘GlockDog’ in gold lettering. Word.BBC Sport’s pit-lane reporter Lee McKenzie: "It’ll be interesting to see if Lewis Hamilton can continue his momentum after finishing top of the timesheets in practice on Friday. Or was it simply a confidence boost for engine partner Mercedes-Benz on home turf One team principal told me yesterday that they reckoned Hamilton was just running on vapours to look good and there was no more to it than that."1002: Dark clouds overhead at the Nurburgring, and the weather forecast for today and tomorrowis not looking clever. Although I’m feeling ready for another wet race, don’t know about you.BBC Sport’s Jake Humphrey on Twitter:"BBC F1 team are in the house. Eddie Jordan forgot a jumper so is wearing a lovely BBC top. It’s still cold. Could this be Mark Webber’s pole day"1000: Green light is on and the cars are streaming out of the pits. Except Kimi Raikkonen, who’s probably had a lie-in. Oh no, here he is now.0957: If Bernie is reading this, I am also a trustworthy person. Very, very trustworthy. So if you’ve got another of those blank cheques lying around… Everyone else, manually refresh your page for the magic of moving pictures (in the UK).BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson at the Nurburgring: "At breakfast at Ferrari this morning, I put orange juice on my cornflakes and burnt my toast. Three early starts in a row must be catching up with me. It’s gone all cloudy again, too."0951: I’ve held off as long as I can… On to politics. Bernie Ecclestone has told the Times newspaper that Max Mosley will not go back on his promise to step down as FIA boss. "He’s an honourable person," says Bernie. "I’ve always said Max can have a cheque signed by me, without any name or amount on it, because he’s a trustworthy guy."0947: Mark Webber was the quickest man in first practice yesterday, but Sebastian Vettel was the faster of the two Red Bulls in the afternoon. It literally hurts me to support an Aussie, but I’ll make an exception for Webber. I’d like to see him win one too.
From Andy via text on 81111: "Be great to see Webber get a win this weekend. Top bloke!"Force India on Twitter:"Weather much better this morning, warmer and sunny. Chance of rain later."BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson at the Nurburgring: "The Eifel mountains looked lovely this morning, with large patches of blue sky and cotton wool clouds. Could we be in for a rare dry Nurburgring day"0943: McLaren have gone four races without a point, and Lewis Hamilton has failed to get out of first qualifying for the last three, so the team have rushed ahead with new aero parts for Hamilton’s car, with one mechanic apparently working 36 hours flat out. Heikki Kovalainen, though, is stuck with the old package.0938: Before qualifying, we’ll warm up with a bit of final practice at 1000 BST. Lewis Hamilton went quickest in second practice yesterday in a move that was probably designed to please Mercedes at their home track. But Hamilton seems pleased with his hastily revamped McLaren. "We’ve still got a long way to go but, most importantly, these new upgrades are pushing us in the right direction"0930: Hello. Some would say you’ve got too much sport to choose from today. But let me tell you this: it’s going to rain all day in Cardiff, and today’s stage in the Tour de France will see the riders string out on the way up the hill and then catch each other up on the way down again. Something like that anyway. So stick with me, I’ve got qualifying thrills and spills for you
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.