Fans help construct the new McLaren MP4-26 in Berlin! –
In a unique event attended by hundreds of fans, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes brought together members of the public to construct and reveal its new MP4-26 chassis, the team’s challenger for the 2011 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.
F1 Boss Bernie Ecclestone, who was recently beaten up and robbed, has been featured by watch manufacturer Hublot in a one-off advert that takes a lighter look at the incident in which Ecclestone had his Hublot watch stolen.
After the mugging, in which 80 year old Ecclestone was punched to the ground, he sent an email to the head of Hublot watches with a picture of his injuries and the line ‘See what people will do for a Hublot’. Ecclestone apparantly suggested the idea of running an advert with the picture, and the Swiss watch manufacturer ran with the idea.
The advert was featured for one-day only in both the Financial Times and the International Herald Tribune on the 8th December, featuring both the quote from the F1 boss and the original, un-manipulated image of his substantial facial injuries.
Max Mosley, former president of the FIA, has told a German newspaper that he believes Ferrari should be properly punished for their actions during the German Grand Prix. Mosley, who certainly isn’t particularly well known for keeping his opinions to himself during controversial periods in motor racing, stated that he firmly believed the ban on team orders in Formula 1 should remain, and that Ferrari should be ‘heavily punished’ for their actions.
Mosley has suggested the Italian race team should be docked points for their decision to use team orders in Germany after Felipe Massa appeared to slow down and let Fernando Alonso past after a particularly badly coded message from team bosses over the Ferrari radio. Alonso subsequently won the race, with Massa finishing second. The stewards at the race have already fined Ferrari $100,000 for the use of team-orders, although Mosley is calling for a much harsher penalty, telling a German paper:
Second time in a row Lewis Hamilton takes the chequered flag for another one-two win for McLaren in the Canadian Grand Prix 2010 with Jenson Button finishing second. Together, they stood on the podium with Fernando Alonso from Ferrari taking the third place. Hamilton now leads the driver’s championship with 109 points, Jenson Button 3 points behind with 106 and Mark Webber comes down three places in the stand with 103 points.
It was a good start for Hamilton and there was no threat for his starting position. Sebastian Vettel started second, because his teammate Mark Weber was forced to start five places lower due to gearbox penalty. After ten laps, Vettel was gaining on Hamilton and it seemed at first that Hamilton was having problems. But it was part of McLaren’s strategy to start with soft tires; enter the pits first; changing hard tires and continuing the fast paste. This proved to be successful and after the first part of pit stopping, Hamilton went back 5 places but lead the race again after the Red Bull’s and Alonso entered the pit. Second time they pitted, Mark Webber decided to gamble his position and not pit for a second time. He was leading midway throughout the race; behind him were Hamilton, Alonso and Button. Hamilton was on his tail with a gap of 11 seconds. It was quite obvious that the tires wouldn’t give satisfying speed for 45 laps and the gap started to shrink. Eventually, Webber was passed by Hamilton 19 laps before the end and the next lap Webber entered the pit exiting as 5th. As the race neared to its end, Button started gaining on Alonso and overtook him to make the final one-two win position for the McLaren team.
Lewis Hamilton wins his first race of the season in Isambul Park after a thrilling 58 laps. This is also a one-two victory for the McLaren team as Jenson Button finished second. Third place went for the Australian Mark Webber.
This would have been different if it wasn’t for the incident involving both Red Bull drivers in the 40th lap of the race, Webber leading and Sebastian Vettel right behind him. Sebastian’s efforts to overtake from the inside cost him the race. They both collided at the start of turn 12 and ended of the track. The outcome was flat back tire for Sebastian Vettel and a damaged front wing for Mark Webber. Lewis and Jenson, being 3rd and 4th at the time, took advantage of this accident and positioned for the on-two leading role in the race. 10 laps later, Jenson passed Lewis in the same manner, briefly taking the lead for couple of seconds. Then Hamilton skillfully reclaimed the first position at the first corner after the finishing line.
Red Bull driver Mark Webber will start Pole-position in The Turkish Grand Prix on Sunday 30.05 2010. He made 1:26.295 as Lewis Hamilton prevented a one-two line up of the Red Bull’s with 1:26.433, and will start 2nd , right next to Webber. The second row is reserved for their team mates, Sebastian Vettel 3rd with 1:26.760, and Jenson Button 4th with 1:26.781. It’s going to be an amazing sight at the starting line, Red Bull drivers beside McLaren drivers.
Michael Schumacher, who in the flying lap didn’t manage to confront Turn Eight, will start as 5th with 1:26.857. He was very close hitting the wall and possibly damaging the chassis of the car for tomorrow’s race, but the brakes and the tarmac extension out of the track did their work. Right behind him, starting 6th, is team mate Nico Rosberg with 1:26.952.
The McLaren drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, ruled the track on Friday’s 2 practice sessions in Turkey‘s Istanbul Park. Lewis in the first and Jenson in the second showed that the silver arrow is there to fight the reigning Red Bulls.
It was Lewis Hamilton that started a terrific McLaren driving in the opening practice session for the Turkish Gran Prix, driving 1:28.653 and Jenson Button right next to him with 1:29.615. The Mercedes GP drivers were 3rd and 4th, as Michael Schumacher made 1:29.750 an Nico Rosberg 1:29.855. Sebastian Vettel made 5th, as he started with a new chassis due to a small defect that was found after the Monaco race. His 1:29.867 closely matched Robert Kubica’s 1:30.061. Vitaly Petrov and Mark Weber were 8th and 9th while Ferrari’s driver Fernando Alonso reached 10th with his team mate Felipe Massa as couple of positions down to 13th.
Former 7 times Formula 1 World Champion Michael Schumacher decided to come back to racing this year. Many raised an eyebrows on this decision of his and many were excited to see him race again after retiring in 2006.
Photo credit – http://www.flickr.com/photos/12709551@N07/4268458949/ – Axis of Oversteer
This season Lada logo is going to be on the Renault F1 cars.
Renault team is strengthened with a Vitaly Petrov which is the first ever Russian driver in Formula 1. He will be a partner to the Polish driver Robert Kubica.
