BUSY MONTH FOR RICCIARDO

27 May 2013

  Any chance that Daniel Ricciardo can sit back, relax and enjoy his British Formula 3 Championship victory? None what so ever. Through November and the first few days of December Dan has tested his Formula Renault 3.5 car at Barcelona, is racing in his last Formula 3 race at Macau this weekend and will test the Red Bull F1 car Jerez in a weeks time. 

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 At Barcelona he dominated both days of the Formula Renault 3.5 test eventually setting a time of 1’33.574 which was over half a second quicker than the next best driver, Albert Costa. He was on a flyer late in the afternoon session as well, but spins for Carlin's Sergey Afanasiev and Prema's Sten Pentus brought out the red flags and forced an early end to the day's proceedings. "I think we could have improved at the end of the session, but the red flag caught us all out," he said. He completed over 100 laps in the two days and was pleased with his fitness levels. 

 At Macau this weekend he has been running quickly in his final Formula 3 race for Carlin Motorsport and was second quickest at the end of practice and then qualified fifth. In the qualifying race he dropped back to sixth place while making sure he stayed out of trouble for the main race this afternoon.. Unfortunately Daniel got caught up in a first lap accident which also took out Red Bull team-mate Brendan Hartley.

   Just to wrap up a busy month Daniel will have his first Formula 1 test during the first 3 days of December when he will test the GP winning Red Bull during the “Rookie” test at Jerez. It is a reward for being the most impressive Red Bull Junior driver this year and he will be lining up along side some other quick young drivers. Kiwi Brendan Hartley will test the Toro Rosso while Nico Hulkenberg and Andy Soucek will be driving the Williams cars. BMW Sauber will be in action for the final time giving Alexander Rossi and Esteban Gutierrez their test as the prize for winning their Formula BMW series. Most other existing teams are expected to turn up except Ferrari who will be testing in Italy.

  Sam Snape 

 22-11-2009

F1 Ð ANOTHER RED BULL 1-2, ANOTHER MANUFACTURER QUITS

27 May 2013

  Apart from Lewis Hamilton’s qualifying pace and Jenson Buttons last minute assault on Mark Webber the Red Bull boys have quite a comfortable final race of the 2009 world championship. Hamilton was never able to pull away from Vettel in the race and Seb grabbed the lead at the first pit stop. Webber inherited second when Lewis pulled out with brake failure and the pair cruised home to victory. 

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  Newly crowned champ, Button, gave Webber some extra grey hairs during the final laps when he closed in during the final laps. Webber was on the soft tyres that the Red Bull doesn’t like as was Button, which the Brawn does. Despite a few anxious moments Webber just held on for his eighth podium finish of the year and amassed a total of 69 ½ points on his way to fourth place in the championship.   The final tally saw Button on top with 95 points from Vettel on 84, Barrichello 77 followed by Webber, Hamilton 49 and Raikkonen 48. All the top six drivers scored at least one win during a highly competitive season.

  Toyota is the latest manufacturer to pull the plug on its F1 operations. Their announcement came on Wednesday, shortly after it was made known that the company was looking at an 8 Billion dollar loss this financial year. As Toyota had signed the Concorde Agreement to stay in the sport until 2012 they may face a hefty fine from the FIA and another from FOTA (the teams association). 

   Unless Toyota sell its entire F1 operation as a going concern this opens up the way for Sauber to take up the final place amongst the 2010 entries. At this point there is no talk of a sale and Toyota may use the facilities for another shot at Le Mans.

   Just one day after the Toyota announcement the management of Renault went into an extraordinary general meeting to discuss, amongst other things, its own continued existence in F1. On Thursday afternoon, Renault's F1 managing director Jean-Francois Caubet insisted a working budget for 2010 had been approved and the team would race in Formula One next year. "We have already contracted our drivers, had our budget approved and are enrolled in the world championship. Season 2010 has begun already." 

   He said Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn has also laid out his expectations for Renault's 2010 season; that the team "returns to a good level. We will not be world champions in 2010, but we do have hopes to be much improved," Caubet continued. 

   Then on Friday  Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn refused to confirm whether the French carmaker will stay in Formula One in 2010. "You will have to be patient," he told reporters at a PR event. "We will announce our strategy in terms of Renault's role in Formula One before the year's end. "It's not very far away, it's in a few weeks," Ghosn added. 

   Meanwhile in some positive news, Williams announced that Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg had been signed as its drivers for 2010 and Bruno Senna has also signed up to make his F1 debut with the new Campos Meta squad.

 Sam Snape 

 7-11-09

F1 & Moto GP Ð Button Reigns on AustraliaÕs Day

27 May 2013

  If I didn’t know better I would believe that October 18 was Australia Day. For the first time in history both the F1 & Moto GP/500cc Grand Prix were won by Australians. Neither were flukes and both races were totally dominated by the winners. Mark Webber won his second GP after assuming the lead after the first pit stop and was never headed until the flag while Casey Stoner led from the first lap and was never seriously challenged.

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  At the sweeping Circuito de Carlos Pace’ at Interlagos, Sao Paulo, Brazil the qualifying session was probably more exciting than the actual race. Rain dominated the proceedings and the usual one hour session lasted almost two hours and forty five minutes and the slippery track produced an interesting grid. In intermediate conditions Mark Webber was unapproachable. He topped the first practice session with ease and any time it was not totally drenched he was in a class of his own.

  In the dramatic final session of qualifying where the top spot changed with almost monotonous regularity Mark grabbed pole with just 21 seconds remaining. Unfortunately for Webber, Rubens Barrichello snatched pole off him just 20 seconds later but as the local hero was several laps of fuel lighter, this was a good omen for race-day.

  The other championship contenders were at the back of the pack with Button & Vettel lining up in 14th & 15th place seemingly buggering any hope that either had of maintaining their title challenge (Vettel)  or securing theirs (Button). Rubens made a fine start with Mark on his tail but entering turn 3 all hell broke loose after Raikkonen wiped out his front wing on Webbers left rear tyre, which made Adrian Sutil take a wider exit to the corner running Jarno Trulli, who was attempting an ambitious outside passing manoeuvre, off the track and onto the wet grass. To no-ones surprise Jarno then spun back into the pack taking out not just Sutil, but Alonso in his Renault as well.

  Pace car – yawn.

  After the restart Webber hung in behind Rubens by a couple of seconds which was all that was needed. After the first tyre stops Rubens came back onto the track amongst traffic while Webber who stopped three laps later returned in the lead. He never then looked threatened and he cruised to as comfortable victory as he has probably ever had in any class of racing. Webber was under so little threat that he really didn’t feature in the TV coverage again. Utter dominance from day one, just like Germany, but without the added dramas. Simply a top line Grand Prix driver at the top of his game doing what he is undeniably capable of.  

  The focus was removed from this sublime performance by Button’s charge through the field into fifth place which, in the absence of any winning performances by his rivals, gave Jenson a deserved championship victory. Despite all the crap from many parts of the media over the last few months no-one has deserved  to become World Champion any more that Button. Twelve months ago the Brawn team didn’t even exist as the collapse of Honda was being played out. A hastily re-designed chassis with a new Mercedes engine won first time out and Button was never headed on his way to the title. Sure, he didn’t dominate the second half of the season, but he didn’t need to. Button and Brawn did what no-one else in the history of the sport has ever achieved, winning both the constructors & drivers championships in their first season.

  Walter Wolf would be jealous.

  In the bikes, Stoner made an indifferent start from his second on the grid (sound familiar to the other race?), to be fourth at the first corner but he had grabbed lead by the end of lap one. World champ-elect, Rossi hung on for a while but no other rider than the young Aussie was ever going to win at PhillipIsland. Jorge Lorenzo saw his slim title hopes bite the dust (literally) when he had a bumping session with Hayden’s Ducati approaching turn one. He planted something into the gravel trap in Australia but this time it was not his flag, but his head. Danni Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda came home with a solid ride into third place.

  Just one week later and Australia still can’t lose when it comes to GP racing. If you thought his comeback ride at Estoril was impressive or his ride at the Island pretty dominant, his ride at Sepang to win the Malaysian GP was simply devastating. In very wet conditions he was just on another planet compared to his rivals and he pulled away by over two seconds per lap. Half way through the race his lead was around the twenty second mark, something almost unheard of in motorcycle racing. He then backed off the pace and just cruised home still a whopping fourteen seconds up the road from Pedrosa. Valentino Rossi did what he came to do and left Sepang as the 2009 World Champion, his seventh title in the premier category and ninth championship in all. Not bad for a kid who has only just hit thirty years of age.

  Would Stoner have been able to deny Rossi the title this year had it not been for his illness? I guess we will never really know but his recent form suggests that this may have been the one that got away from the young Aussie. Still, you never can tell with Valentino, he may have upped his game a bit more and still been the king An extended period of domination by one team or individual such as we have had over the last 14 years is usually pretty tedious but it is hard not to enjoy Rossi’s reign as he takes such obvious pleasure in his victories. There is no guarding of his position by vetoing team mates, as one recent German example did, he just wants to take on any and all challengers and win more races. As for the rumours of his going to Ducati before he retires? Stoner and Rossi in the same team with equal gear? That would be fun to watch.

Sam Snape

28/10/2009

PLEASE BEAR WITH ME FOR A BIT

27 May 2013

HAVE JUST CUT OVER TO A NEW WEB HOSTING MOB & A LITTLE RE-LOADING OF STORIES ETC IS STILL NEEDED

hOPE TO HAVE IT BACK UP TO DATE BY THE END OF NEXT WEEK (HAVE A FUNERAL TO GO TO OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS)

CHEERS

SAM SNAPE 31/12/09

F1 ALONSO JOINS FERRARI (and other stuff)

27 May 2013

   The worst kept secret of the last six months has finally been confirmed with the announcement from Ferrari that Fernando Alonso will replace Kimi Raikkonen in 2010 for three years. He will be joining Felipe Massa in the race team, unless the Brazilian has not recovered properly from his head injuries suffered at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Giancarlo Fisichella has been confirmed as the teams test and reserve driver and may, if necessary, fill in for Felipe at the start of the season.

"We are very proud to welcome to our team another winning driver, who has demonstrated his amazing talent by winning two world championships in his career to date," said Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali.

"Of course, we wish to thank Kimi for everything he has done during his time with Ferrari," said Domenicali. "In his first year with us, he managed to win the drivers' title, thus making his contribution to Ferrari's history and he played a vital role in our taking of the constructors' title in 2007 and 2008. 

"Even during a difficult season like this one, he has demonstrated his great talent, with several good results, including a great win in Spa and we are sure that we can share more good times together in the final three races of this season." 

  The confirmation of Alonso’s Ferrari contract will probably lead to a rush of announcements over the next week or two with Raikkonen expected to return to McLaren along side Lewis Hamilton. If the car is good, what a titanic inter-team battle that one will be.

  Other rumoured movements are; Robert Kubica from BMW to replace Alonso at Renault; Nico Rosberg from Williams to Brawn; Rubens Barrichello from Brawn to Williams alongside Nico Hulkenberg who will replace Kazuki Nakajima. The line-up of Red Bull (Vettel and Webber) has been confirmed while Force India (Sutil and Liuzzi) and Toro Rosso (Buemi and Alguersuari) are unlikely to change, Sebastien Loeb’s rumoured debut for Toro Rosso at Abu Dhabi not-withstanding as he will undoubtedly continue in the WRC for at least another year. 

  Although they continually deny it Toyota are looking increasingly unlikely to continue in F1 next year with the news that Jarno Trulli has been told he will not be with the team next year and the team not taking up the option on Timo Glock’s contract. They have effectively told Timo to look elsewhere and do not seem to be in negotiations with any other drivers. This would open up the final slot to Sauber who have been recently purchased by Qadbak. Nick Heidfeld is not apparently looking for a drive with another team so at least he believes that Sauber will be on the grid next year with Ferrari engines.

   So the potential line up looks something like this; 

Brawn-Mercedes                 

Will probably retain likely world champion Jenson Button although negotiations     are snagged upon his salary requirements. Button thinks it reasonable that his former salary (when the team was Honda) should be respected as he had taken a sizable pay-cut to help Brawn survive the transition period. He will also be a world champ so his expectations are not entirely unreasonable. Where would he go if negotiations broke down? Renault or possibly Williams would be likely possibilities. Nico Rosberg is almost a certainty to join the team with Mercedes backing as it appears that Mercedes is about to purchase a majority holding in the team. This means that Barrichello must move on, or does it. He may well stay if Button can’t come to terms. Or he may just take the certainty of the Williams drive over the possibility of a Brawn one. 

Red Bull                                

Definitely will line up with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. What engine they will use is still under negotiation. They are chasing a Mercedes deal but if that falls through will stick with  Renault.     

Ferrari  

Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Or Giancarlo Fisichella if Massa is still not fit  enough.

 McLaren-Mercedes            

Lewis Hamilton and probably Kimi Raikkonen. This leaves Heikki Kovalainen as a free agent. Where to for Heikki? It’s not like he has set the world on fire during his stint with McLaren  but the kid has talent. Maybe would shine in a different team, one not quite so focused on Lewis Hamilton. A return to Renault would be his best chance for a competitive drive but do they want him back? Otherwise one of the new teams would be wise to take him on. He is, after all, a Grand Prix winner with experience in a couple of top rung teams. 

Williams                                

Likely to be Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg but neither have signed on the dotted line just yet. Kazuki Nakajima appears to be headed in the same direction as the team’s under powered Toyota engines.  Out. Reports are that Williams are on the verge of a engine deal with Renault and Kazuki has proved to be just a little too like his father. Very quick on occasions but just as likely to bend the car as score points. 

Toyota                                  

As likely to be out as in. Toyota are said to be chasing both Kimi Raikkonen and Robert Kubica as Trulli has definitely been sacked and Glock’s contract option has not been taken up. 

Toro Rosso – Ferrari          

Sebastien Buemi looks safe and Jaime Alguersuari has not done his chances of staying any harm with his performances since graduating to the team mid-season. Both have come up via the Red Bull Junior programme so some loyalty to their own can be expected. Sebastien Loeb will probably have a run at Abu Dhabi at the end of this year but unless he can commit to a full season instead of driving for Citroen in the WRC it is not likely that he will get the gig. Australia’s own Daniel Ricciardo will also be in contention after winning the British Formula 3 championship for Red Bull this year although a test/reserve position is more likely dove-tailing with a Formula Renault 3.5 or GP2 programme with Red Bull backing. 

Force India – Mercedes     

Have already indicated that they have no intention of changing from their current line-up, so Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi look sake here. Once the next big thing, this is Liuzzi’s last chance and must match Sutil, if not beat him if this is not to be his last year in F1. 

Renault                                 

Robert Kubica will almost certainly be confirmed as the lead driver within the next week or so. Will Romain Grosjean remain? His performances have been little better than the sacked Nelson Piquet’s if not worse so despite the fact that he has had no testing time apart from the GP weekends his position must be under scrutiny. Especially if Button is available. Or Glock. Or Kovalainen. Or Raikkonen. You can see what I mean. 

Sauber-Ferrari                      

Nick Heidfeld seems intent on staying and as he has pretty much matched Kubica’s pace it would seem silly to drop him at this point. They will only be racing if a) all teams agree to let a 14^th team enter in 2010, or b) Toyota pull out. Peter Sauber has a habit of matching experienced drivers with a young hot-shoe (remember where Raikkonen got his break) so someone coming up from a junior category is a likely partner. 

US-F1 – Cosworth              

Still making noises about an American drivers alongside someone expierenced. And they have mentioned Alex Wurz. Good grief! Alex was once a potential race winner but the reason he left Williams a couple of years ago was that he was unable to deal with qualifying a modern F1 car. They would be much better to chase Kovalainen for the reasons mentioned above. 

Manor – Cosworth             

Will have good financial backing with Virgin as the Title Sponsor (if not part owner). No rumours about a possible driver line-up yet. 

Campos – Cosworth           

Pedro de la Rosa will probably get his last chance with this Spanish team but barring a miracle, they will probably be lining up on the grid in a similar position to where Adrian did when he was a driver. Towards the back. Bruno Senna has also been linked with this squad. 

Lotus – Cosworth      

Despite having less time to prepare than any of the other new entrants Lotus is most likely to be the best of

the newbies at seasons end. Technical Director Mike Gascoigne always produced pretty quick cars during his

 stints with Jordan and Arrows. Unlike those teams finance for development in not likely to be a problem with

investment from Proton (who own Lotus) and the Malaysian government. Bruno Senna would be a perfect fit

for this team for history buffs. Senna – Lotus – Cosworth , drool.

Sam Snape

01-10-2009