Australian F1 GP - Vettel off to a good start to title defence

The 2011 F1 season finally got on its way with the Australian F1 Grand Prix.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel got his world championship defence off to the best possible start in Albert Park.  Vettel took the checked flag with Hamilton about 22 seconds behind him.  


Mercedes' Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg did not have a good day.  Both having to not complete the race.   


Vettel now leads the world championship with 25 points to Hamilton’s 18, Petrov’s 12, and Alonso’s 10, while Red Bull lead the constructors’ title chase with 35 points from McLaren on 24, Renault on 15, Ferrari on 14, Sauber on 10 and Toro Rosso on one.


     

Results after Turkish F1 Grand Prix

If you had watched the Turkish F1 GP, you must have wondered - What was Vettel or Webber thinking?  The 2 drivers crashed into each other and, as a result, handed the victory to McLaren.   Really dramatic.  McLaren finished in 1-2 fashion with Hamilton taking the checkered flag.

Michael Schumacher also did well, finishing 4th, ahead of fellow Mercedes teammate Rosberg.  


Drivers' Championship table (Top 10 only):

Pos	Driver	Nationality	Team	Points
1	Mark Webber	Australian	RBR-Renault	93
2	Jenson Button	British	McLaren-Mercedes	88
3	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren-Mercedes	84
4	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Ferrari	79
5	Sebastian Vettel	German	RBR-Renault	78
6	Robert Kubica	Polish	Renault	67
7	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	67
8	Nico Rosberg	German	Mercedes GP	66
9	Michael Schumacher	German	Mercedes GP	34
10	Adrian Sutil	German	Force India-Mercedes	22

Constructor's Championship:

Pos	Team	Points
1	McLaren-Mercedes	172
2	RBR-Renault	171
3	Ferrari	146
4	Mercedes GP	100
5	Renault	73
6	Force India-Mercedes	32
7	Williams-Cosworth	8
8	STR-Ferrari	4
9	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	1
10	Lotus-Cosworth	0
11	HRT-Cosworth	0
12	Virgin-Cosworth	0

       

Webber pips Vettel for pole position in Spain

Once again, the two Red Bull drivers are out driving each other in every qualifying.  One moment it was Vettel, and the next moment it was Webber.  In the end, it was Mark Webber who took the pole position.  The only car that went below 1m20s.

Schumi did well and he finally qualifies ahead of Rosberg in the Mercedes GP, which has some radical changes to make the car for suited to Michael's driving style and competitiveness.

Hometown favourite, Fernando Alonso is in 4th, just behind Hamilton in 3rd.  Alonso 4th placing split the 2 McLaren with Button qualifying in 5th.

It will be an interesting race tomorrow.  Hope to see Schumi on the podium soon.

       

Start of 2010 F1 season

Yes, this weekend is the start of a brand new season!!!

Practice sessions have started and after the first practice session, here's the standings so far.

Mercedes GP
Nico Rosberg, 1m 57.199s, P8/1m 55.409s, P1
Michael Schumacher, 1m 57.662s, P10/1m 55.903s, P3
Rosberg look good and Schumacher did well too.

McLaren
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 56.163s, P6/1m 55.854s, P2
Jenson Button, 1m 57.068s, P5/1m 56.076s, P4
Button and Hamilton look good as well.

Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel, 1m 57.943s, P13/1m 56.459s, P5
Mark Webber, 1m 57.255s, P9/2m 00.444s, P17
Red Bull had a troubled day. Vettel only managed 5th fastest.

Williams
Nico Hulkenberg, 1m 57.894s, P12/1m 56.501s, P6
Rubens Barrichello, 1m 58.782s, P15/1m 57.452s, P13

Ferrari
Felipe Massa, 1m 57.055s, P4/1m 56.555s, P7
Fernando Alonso, 1m 56.766s, P2/1m 57.140s, P9
Ferrari still not there yet.

Renault
Vitaly Petrov, 1m 58.880s, P16/1m 56.750s, P8
Robert Kubica, 1m 57.041s, P3/1m 58.155s, P15

BMW Sauber
Pedro de la Rosa, 2m 00.250s, P17/1m 57.255s, P10
Kamui Kobayashi, 2m 01.388s, P18/1m 57.352s, P11

Force India
Adrian Sutil, 1m 56.583s, P1/1m 57.361s, P12
Vitantonio Liuzzi, 1m 57.194s, P7/1m 57.833s, P14

Toro Rosso
Jaime Alguersuari 1m 57.722s, P11/1m 59.799s, P16
Sebastien Buemi, 1m 58.399s, P14/No time, P23

Lotus
Heikki Kovalainen, 2m 03.848s, P20/2m 00.873s, P18
Jarno Trulli, 2m 03.970s, P21/2m 00.990s, P19
The famed Lotus name made its official return to racing, with Kovalainen just acing Trulli in each session. Lotus was the fastest newcomers.

Virgin
Timo Glock, 2m 03.680s, P19/2m 02.037s, 20th
Lucas di Grassi, no time, P22/2m02.188, 21st

HRT
Bruno Senna, No time, P23/2m 06.968s, P22
Karun Chandhok, No time, P24/No time, P24

British F1 GP - The Bull charges to victory

Red Bull did a 1-2 finish with Vettel at the top of the podium and Webber coming in 2nd. It was a wekend which Red Bull dominated with Vettel being the fastest in Qualifiers.

Vettel had a good start and lead from start to finish. In a crushingly dominant drive, which underlined the major step forward that the Red Bull team have made on high-speed circuits, Vettel pulled away from Rubens Barrichello's Brawn by as much as a second a lap in a series of quick tours, and never looked remotely challenged.

Both Ferraris managed to finish in the points, though I was hoping that they could do better.

Final results:

1st Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 1h22m49.328s;
2nd Mark Webber (Red Bull), 1h23m04.516s;
3rd Rubens Barrichello (Brawn GP), 1h23m30.503s.

Turkish F1 GP - Results

1st Jenson Button (Brawn GP), 1h26m24.848s;
2nd Mark Webber (Red Bull), 1h26m31.562s;
3rd Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 1h26m32.309s.


Looks like only one of my podium prediction was correct. Jenson Button once again finishing first ... extending his lead in the Driver's Championship race and Brawn's grip on the Constructor's Championship.

Shanghai F1 GP - Red Bull in maiden 1-2 finish

Sebastian Vettel started started from pole position in China on Sunday afternoon, and this time he led team mate Mark Webber home in a superb one-two.

In wet and windy conditions, it was the Mercedes-Benz safety car which led the field for the first eight laps. The safety car had already done more laps this season that Heikki Kovalainen! When the safety car pulled in after the first eight laps, the Red Bulls led until their first refuelling stops, Webber on Lap 14, Vettel on 15.

WIth the wet weather, it was again an exciting race with lots of cars spinning due to less grip. Again, Ferrari finished without the points, thus extending their worst start to the F1 season.

Button extends his championship lead to 21 points, ahead of Barrichello on 15, Vettel on 10 and Webber on 9.5.

The constructor's championship stands as follows:

1. Brawn-Mercedes - 36
2. RBR-Renault - 19.5
3. Toyota - 18.5
4. McLaren-Mercedes - 8
5. BMW Sauber - 4
6. Renault - 4
7. STR-Ferrari - 4
8. Williams-Toyota - 3.5
9. Ferrari - 0
10. Force India-Mercedes - 0

Ferrari is suddenly found in Force India's territory in the constructor's point standing ... that must be very unfamiliar territory for Ferrari.