A1 GP Gauteng, South Africa - 23/02/09

FEATURE RACE

Switzerland’s Neel Jani claimed victory in this afternoon’s Go-GP.Org A1GP Gauteng, South Africa Feature race with what his Seat Holder, Max Welti, would most likely call a ‘gorgeous’ drive from fifth on the grid. The win means Neel Jani equals the all-time win record for a driver, Nico Hulkenberg’s record of nine wins for Germany.

Jani finished 13.176 seconds ahead of Brazil’s Felipe Guimarães, the 17-year-old putting in a mature drive to record the team’s best result of the year at the Kyalami circuit despite crashing heavily at the end of yesterday’s qualifying. Pole-sitter Clivio Piccione finished in third for Monaco after losing the lead to Switzerland in the first round of pit stops and then dropping behind Brazil after making a mistake.

As the feature race got underway, Switzerland made a fantastic start to move from fifth to second into turn one. A1 Team Ireland’s Adam Carroll was making a move around the outside of Malaysia for fourth when the pair touched resulting in the championship leader being beached in the gravel and out of the race.

Brazil made a good start, running in sixth by the end of lap one, while the battle for third was on as Malaysia began putting pressure on New Zealand’s Earl Bamber. Bamber’s defensive driving kept Malaysia at bay until lap four when Malaysia touched the rear wheel of New Zealand with Bamber spinning into the gravel.
Fauzy was then forced to pit with a suspected slow puncture from the incident and after changing a front tyre, he returned to the track, although now back in 16th place. A few laps later Fauzy returned to the pits for his mandatory stop and with four new tyres returned to the race track. On the same lap, Mexico and France also came together at the same corner ending both their races.

On lap nine the first mandatory pit stops began with race-leader Monaco not having the quickest of stops. Switzerland’s slick team-work enabled Jani to leap-frog Piccione and take the lead in Kyalami. Despite having a good stop, Australia had a disaster in the pit lane when John Martin stalled as another car came across in front of him when he was about to leave his pit box. He eventually got going but dropped down from third to 15th as a result.

USA’s Marco Andretti was the last to pit, but on rejoining lost four positions as South Africa, Germany, Lebanon and Indonesia all found their way passed the American car. Local A1 Team South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg was looking strong, having moved up from 15th to ninth, but on lap 17 coasted back to the pits and out of the race with gearbox problems.

Daniel Morad was putting in a good performance in the A1 Team Lebanon car to get passed Germany for seventh. Morad made his move around the outside of Michael Ammermuller through turn one before taking the inside line through turn two and the position.

On lap 19 the order was now Switzerland from Monaco, Brazil, Netherlands, Great Britain, Portugal, Lebanon, Germany, Indonesia and China.

As the race reached half distance, Brazil began closing the gap to Monaco. The Brazilian car was only 0.466-seconds adrift on lap 24 with the 17-year-old finally capitalising on a mistake by Piccione to take second position.

In the second round of pit stops Switzerland had a ten second lead and another clean stop brought Jani out with a comfortable lead.

After the second pit stops, Malaysia continued to struggle with the handling of the car and was finally forced to go back to the team garage. The team worked quickly to resolve the problems and were finally able to send Fauzy back on track. With no hope of finishing in the top ten to score points, the team took the decision to use the PowerBoost and set the fastest race lap to score one point and Fauzy quickly accomplished this.

In the final stages of the race India put pressure on Italy’s Edoardo Piscopo for tenth. Narain Karthikeyan tried on a number of occasions to pass the 21-year-old Italian but to no avail.

Lebanon’s Morad was now chasing Great Britain’s Danny Watts for sixth and, with three laps to go, made a fantastic move on Watts to record Lebanon’s best ever A1GP finish, only its second ever points-finish.

Switzerland’s Neel Jani took the chequered flag 13.075-seconds ahead of a delighted Felipe Guimarães who recorded the team’s best result of the season and become the youngest ever A1GP medal winner. Clivio Piccione finished third getting Monaco’s first ever podium in its debut season.

Switzerland is now top of the 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport standings with A1 Team Ireland crashing out on lap one after an incident with Malaysia.

Neel Jani
“It was a little bit of a replay start from Taupo, from fifth to second. I was a bit worried starting from fifth, because I knew the first two turns would be very close and you could get knocked off easily, so my strategy was to just try the outside and it really worked and was a fantastic start. I then tried to follow Clivio (Piccione) and I struggled a bit. But then we had a great pit stop and I had good pace. I think Monaco had a bit of bad luck in the pit stop so that helped us too. But after it I could really keep up my pace.”

Felipe Guimarães
“I am so happy as it’s the first time I have been on the podium. Yesterday I had the big crash in qualifying and I didn’t think that today I would finish on the podium! But I had a great start then during the race the car was good. It was a bit worrying at the end because the engine was losing power, but we managed to keep going to the finish thankfully. I was pushing hard but not taking any risks and we brought it home in second. I really wanted to do a good job today and I have.”

Clivio Piccione
“At first we got in the lead and I kept a distance from Switzerland. The car felt pretty good as well. We got into our first stints and then comes the tricky bit – the pit stop. For now, we’re not the quickest team in the pit stops and we know it. But the team did the best they could and we know we’re going to work it out. Our second stint was a bit of a struggle as I suffered with a lot of understeer and I think my tyres were not at their best. I made a slight mistake and Brazil got through. Then we went for our last pit stop where we knew we had new tyres. We had a problem on the back wheel but got out in third. From there on I could push pretty hard and we were catching Brazil because they struggled as well. Still overall it’s a good result – I’m pleased with the final ending.”

© CAPSIS International



SPRINT RACE


Jeroen Bleekemolen back on top in A1GP

Jeroen Bleekemolen took the Netherlands’ first victory in Season Four in this morning’s A1GP Gauteng, South Africa Sprint race.

Bleekemolen drove a faultless race around the 2.65-mile Kyalami circuit to win by 4.407-seconds from Portugal’s Filipe Albuquerque. Switzerland’s Neel Jani had a good start to move up to second off the standing start, but finished third after losing time trying to manoeuvre round Malaysia’s car, which had pitted in front of him.

Bleekemolen made a clean getaway from the standing start to lead the chasing pack into turn one for the first time. Switzerland had a great start from third to take second position from Portugal while India’s Narain Karthikeyan also had a good start to move up from fifth to fourth.

India was not able to hold position for long as an aggressive move by Clivio Piccione moved Monaco ahead into fourth with Ireland’s Adam Carroll also sensing an opportunity to get ahead only a few corners later, so pushing India down to sixth. China's Ho Pin Tung and New Zealand's Earl Bamber were having a good battle for eleventh. China made a move at turn 13 on lap three but out-braked himself allowing New Zealand to re-take the position.

Malaysia’s Fairuz Fauzy moved up ahead of France’s Nicolas Prost for eighth, while the Netherlands’ was storming away at the front with Bleekemolen having a 4.686-second lead over Switzerland by lap four.


With the order now the Netherlands from Switzerland, Portugal, Monaco, Ireland, India, South Africa, Malaysia, France and Italy, the pit window opened. The Netherlands and Switzerland were first in the pits with the following three runners staying out on track an extra lap.

Bleekemolen had a smooth stop but Switzerland lost time having to get away slowly to manoeuvre round Malaysia’s car, which had pitted just in front. Portugal pitted a lap later and was able to re-take second from Switzerland. After the only mandatory stop of the race the order was now the Netherlands leading by 6.4 seconds from Portugal, Switzerland, Monaco, Ireland, India, South Africa, New Zealand, Malaysia, France.

A1 Team Australia’s fantastic pit work boosted John Martin six places up the field to his eventual finishing position, twelfth. While A1 Team New Zealand moved up three places after the stop. Portugal was on a charge setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 9 with a time of 1m29.072s, slightly closing the gap to the Netherlands.

Further down the field, Great Britain’s Danny watts and Brazil’s Felipe Guimarães came together fighting for fifteenth. The pair touched heading into turn one with Watts’ car spinning into the gravel and out the race.

A very happy Bleekemolen came through to take the chequered flag and record the team’s first win in 45 races. Obviously South Africa is lucky for the team as its first of three wins to date was round the streets of Durban in Season One. Switzerland and Portugal completed the podium with Ireland taking fourth from Monaco on the last lap, retaining its championship lead.

Jeroen Bleekemolen
“I’m feeling pretty good. It all just went amazingly. It was a very hard race for me though, because in the beginning I could feel there was some kind of pull with the fuel pick up. It didn’t cost me any time but I could just feel it coming. And then after the pit stop the car just stopped and I feared the race would be over, but it started working again. I lost about one and half or two seconds, but luckily we were still able to win."

“In the beginning we were really quick, I don’t know why we were so much faster, but everything worked. The car worked really well until the problem came but then it still was exciting for me.”

Filipe Albuquerque
“The team did a very good job and I managed to pass Switzerland. I’m really happy with the fastest lap and second place. I’m still aiming for the lead of the championship. It’s going to be an interesting Feature race now because we are all together in the middle of the grid. We will see who the luckiest guy is because anything can happen."

Neel Jani
“We were second and then unfortunately we had some problems at the pit stop. First of all the pit stop was not that quick, and then I couldn’t get out because Malaysia was parked in front of me. We have to be happy with third though as its still points so let’s see what happens in the next race."

E.A. © CAPSIS International

Lone Point Salvaged From Difficult Weekend In South Africa

Kyalami, South Africa, 22 February 2009

Gauteng SundayA1 Team Malaysia salvaged a lone World Cup of Motorsport point for taking the fastest lap at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa today, in the fifth round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. A ninth place finish in the Sprint race and a 15th place in the Feature race were the fruits of a difficult weekend for the Malaysian team.

The early part of the weekend was a major challenge for the team, after major engine problems from the first practice session through to minutes before qualifying. Fairuz Fauzy drove superbly, which combined with a welcome dose of good fortune to deliver a second place start for the Feature race and ninth position for the morning Sprint race.

The Sprint race began with a standing start and Fauzy was quick off his mark, battling for position. He attacked hard but maintained position until he was able to make a pass on the French car ahead of him, moving into eighth place. He stayed in this position until the mandatory tyre change pitstop. Fauzy brought the Malaysian car into the pits but the Swiss car was in the next pit and with a very tight pitlane, he had to stop at an angle. The Swiss car then pulled away from the pits, delaying the Malaysian mechanics running to the side of the car to change the tyres. This lost the team vital seconds and dropped them back one place to ninth..

Fauzy maintained position for the remainder of the race, posting fifth fastest lap time and having the highest top speed at 238.9 kph. Despite this, and with few laps left, he was unable to make it back into the points, to finally finish in ninth place.

After the Sprint race Fauzy said, “I was pleased to have finished in the top ten, but if we hadn’t had our problems in the pitstop I think we could have been higher up the order. We lost a place to New Zealand and I wasn’t able to get it back. I tried to catch this car but it is very difficult to overtake here.”

The Feature race did not go to plan for Fauzy with a slow start off the line dropping him back to fifth place. After a close and frantic battles for position with Ireland Fauzy moved up to fourth place, but contact with New Zealand put him back down to fifth. He was then forced to pit with a suspected slow puncture from the incident with the New Zealand car and after changing a front tyre, he returned to the track, although now back in 16th place.

A few laps later Fauzy returned to the pits for his mandatory stop and with four new tyres returned to the race track. He continued to struggle with the handling of the car and was finally forced to go back to the team garage. The team worked quickly to resolve the problems and were finally able to send Fauzy back on track. With no hope of finishing in the top ten to score points, the team took the decision to use the PowerBoost feature and set the fastest race lap to score one point and Fauzy quickly accomplished this. The team were classified in 15th place at the end of the race.

Fauzy said of the race, “Naturally I’m very disappointed with today’s Feature race. It should have been a podium finish for us, but instead we just have one more point. I had a bad start and lost two or three places, then I had to fight to get them back. I clashed with the Irish car after he squeezed me and he then went off. The New Zealand car was ahead of me in the first part of the race, but was very slow and blocking me. I kept pushing him to challenge for position but when he crossed in front of me for a corner I had to brake hard and we touched with my front wheel hitting his rear wing. After that the car didn’t feel right.

I ended up returning to the garage and the crew worked hard to get me back out. I was lucky to be able to set fastest lap and at least get one point.”

Jack Cunningham, Chief Executive of the team summed up the weekend saying, “We’ve faced innumerable challenges this weekend, particularly with engine supplier issues which have been out of our control. We thought we’d got it back on track with an excellent qualifying position for the Feature race and a potential for points in the Sprint race. But as we’ve done too many times this season, we weren’t able to make the most of this.”

The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport will visit the Algarve for the sixth round of racing, with the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve hosting the series for the first time.

Ends.


Monday 23 Feb 2009

A1 GP Taupo, New Zealand Sunday, 25 Jan, 2009

RESULTS: Feature race
Sunday, January 25, 2009

Pos A1 Team Driver Laps Time Gap
1 Switzerland Neel Jani 50 1:06'19.574
2 Ireland Adam Carroll 50 1:06'20.621 1.047
3 Portugal Filipe Albuquerque 50 1:06'21.953 2.379
4 Australia John Martin 50 1:06'30.167 10.593
5 Netherlands Robert Doornbos 50 1:06'33.976 14.402
6 France Loïc Duval 50 1:06'36.997 17.423
7 India Narain Karthikeyan 50 1:06'39.789 20.215
8 Italy Edoardo Piscopo 50 1:06'42.730 23.156
9 South Africa Adrian Zaugg 50 1:06'42.921 23.347
10 Malaysia Fairuz Fauzy 50 1:06'46.406 26.832
11 USA Marco Andretti 50 1:07'05.373 45.799
12 Great Britain Dan Clarke 49 1:06'32.633 1 lap
13 New Zealand Chris van der Drift 49 1:06'43.944 1 lap
14 China Cheng Cong Fu 49 1:06'45.245 1 lap
15 Brazil Felipe Guimarães 49 1:06'57.238 1 lap
16 Mexico Salvador Durán 43 58'11.542 7 laps
17 Indonesia Satrio Hermanto 42 57'36.757 8 laps
18 Monaco Clivio Piccione 33 46'53.801 17 laps
19 Lebanon Daniel Morad 1 1'45.294 49 laps

RESULTS: Sprint race
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Pos A1 Team Driver Laps Time Gap
1 Ireland Adam Carroll 15 19'40.271
2 Switzerland Neel Jani 15 19'41.759 1.488
3 Netherlands Robert Doornbos 15 19'43.830 3.559
4 France Loïc Duval 15 19'48.865 8.594
5 New Zealand Chris van der Drift 15 19'51.937 11.666
6 Portugal Filipe Albuquerque 15 19'52.936 12.665
7 Italy Edoardo Piscopo 15 19'55.230 14.959
8 Malaysia Fairuz Fauzy 15 19'56.068 15.797
9 India Narain Karthikeyan 15 20'01.244 20.973
10 South Africa Adrian Zaugg 15 20'02.301 22.030
11 USA Marco Andretti 15 20'10.836 30.565
12 Great Britain Dan Clarke 15 20'11.276 31.005
13 Indonesia Satrio Hermanto 15 20'12.632 32.361
14 Brazil Felipe Guimarães 15 20'13.405 33.134
15 Mexico Salvador Durán 15 20'20.872 40.601
16 Monaco Clivio Piccione 15 20'29.552 49.281
17 China Cheng Cong Fu 11 15'13.744 4 laps
18 Lebanon Daniel Morad 8 11'30.701 7 laps
19 Australia John Martin 5 6'55.050 10 laps

Ferrari first to debut as F60 is unveiled

Ferrari have become the first team to officially launch their 2009 car after unveiling the F60 online. It is the machine that will be driven by Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen as they defend the Italian squad's 2008 constructors' title.

In line with revisions to the Formula One regulations for 2009, the F60 features a lower, wider front wing and a taller, narrower rear wing. Its name commemorates what will be Ferrari’s 60th F1 campaign.

The F60 is the 55th single-seater produced by Ferrari to contest the world championship and it will make its track debut on Monday afternoon at the team's Mugello circuit, with Massa behind the wheel.

The new car has far fewer aerodynamic appendages on its bodywork compared to its predecessor, due to the rule changes designed to cut downforce and promote more overtaking, with the driver now able to make minor front wing adjustments from the cockpit. The F60’s suspension and layout has also been completely reconfigured as a result, in order to maintain optimum weight distribution.

The F60’s design also takes into account two other major rule changes - the return of slick tyres and the option to use a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS). Ferrari’s KERS has been designed in collaboration with Magneti Marelli and is centrally mounted on the engine under the rear part of the chassis.

The car’s seven-speed transmission has been redesigned to optimise its aerodynamic efficiency, while Ferrari’s Type 056 V8 has been modified in accordance with the new ruling that requires engines to last for three Grand Prix meetings from 2009, with rev limits cut from 19,000 to 18,000 rpm.

12 Jan 2009
formula1.com

A1 GP Sepang Malaysia Sunday, 23 Nov, 2008

Feature race glory for Ireland

A1 Team Ireland became the first nation to score two victories this season, as Adam Carroll dominated the Sepang Feature race in Malaysia.

Filipe Albuquerque took an excellent second place for Portugal while Marco Andretti finished a great third for the USA from eighth on the grid. Ireland now leads the championship heading into the Christmas break.

As the lights went out, Adam Carroll got a clean start from pole position to lead the pack into the first corner. Daniel Morad got a brilliant start from third, capitalising on Lebanon’s best ever grid slot to move ahead of a slow starting Danny Watts for Great Britain in second.

In an eventful first lap, Netherlands and India collided with Narain Karthikeyan spinning into retirement. A good start from Portugal helped Albuquerque move from fifth to third into Turn 1, before Albuquerque moved ahead of Lebanon for second. Switzerland then spun, resulting in the safety car being deployed at the end of lap one to allow the marshals time to pick up both the Swiss and Indian cars from dangerous places.

A couple of laps later and the race was back on, with Ireland leading from Portugal, Lebanon, Malaysia, Great Britain, Netherlands, USA and France.

Monaco’s race ended early as Clivio Piccione pitted with technical problems. Boosted by his home crowds, Malaysia’s Fairuz Fauzy made a move around the outside of Morad to grab fourth. Great Britain’s Watts then began putting pressure on Lebanon as he tried to make up for his bad start. Watts made a move but the pair ran wide allowing Netherlands and the USA to get through. Brazil dived up the inside of a recovering Watts, but France, to the right of him, chopped across in front taking off the British car’s nose and leaving France with a puncture.

The order at the front was now Ireland from Portugal, Malaysia, Netherlands, USA, Lebanon, China and Brazil.

On lap eight the first pit window opened and Malaysia was first in, followed by Netherlands, USA, China and Lebanon. China had a fantastic stop which got it out ahead of both USA and Lebanon. Portugal pittted on the next lap as Ireland remained out in front, still putting in consistently quick lap times.

Marco Andretti in the USA car was now piling the pressure on China, eventually making his move stick around the outside of the hairpin at Turn 9.

With a 15-second lead, Ireland pitted with another fantastic stop from the Irish crew, getting Carroll back out comfortably at the front.

Netherlands' Jeroen Bleekemolen, was in fourth when he received a drive-through penalty for the first lap collision with India, which was deemed avoidable, dropping him down the field to a disappointing 14th. Australia’s John Martin passed China down the main straight and then started attacking Adrian Zaugg, whose South African team had got him out quickly in the pit stops.

After the first round of pit stops Ireland had a five-second lead over Portugal, Malaysia, USA, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, China, Lebanon and New Zealand.

Lebanon’s Morad made a mistake through Turns 7 and 8 and ran wide, losing a further two places to drop him down to 11th.

On lap 17, from third position, home favourite Fairuz Fauzy confused his team and the watching crowds by diving into the pit lane unexpectedly. A communications glitch meant he received a radio call, that only he heard, to pit that was from another team. His bemused team sent him straight off, but the time lost cost him a potential podium and dropped the Malaysian to 14th.

The USA’s Marco Andretti was now promoted to third. After being involved in a huge start line crash earlier in the day; the 21-year-old was back on track with the help of Korea’s rear wing as the Korean team didn’t make either race due to technical problems that couldn’t be resolved after qualifying.

New Zealand’s Earl Bamber, who started down in 15th, was making good progress, passing China's Ho-Pin Tung around the outside of the final hairpin for eighth.

On lap 18 Mexico's David Garza threw away tenth place by spinning while challenging Daniel Morad's Lebanon car.

Out at the front Portugal was keeping Ireland honest, with the pair putting in consistently close lap times in the blistering heat.

On lap 22, the second pit window was open and the cars began coming in. Australia’s mechanics did another superb job getting John Martin out ahead of South Africa, in what would eventually be fourth position after all the pit stops.

A1 Team Ireland kept up its reputation of being one of the best crews in the pit lane, helping their man retain a healthy lead from Portugal.

Great Britain was back in the pits again on lap 25 to fix a brake problem, getting Watts back out although six laps down, to end a disappointing day for the team with no points scored.

In the closing stages of the race Malaysia was fighting hard as Fauzy passed Lebanon to move up into 12th. Italy's Edoardo Piscopo gave away ninth place by running wide at the final hairpin and promoting Netherlands' Jeroen Bleekemolen. Malaysia and Italy then had a great battle for the final point. In a great wheel-to-wheel battle, Fauzy’s superb driving got him ahead of Piscopo to take tenth, much to the delight of the cheering crowds.

As the chequered flag came out, Ireland claimed its second victory of the season ahead of Portugal. USA’s Marco Andretti and Australia’s John Martin both put in great drives to come through the field to finish a commendable third and fourth respectively.

Adam Carroll completed the perfect race taking the win, pole position and fastest lap to give the team an eight-point lead at the top of the championship as A1GP World Cup of Motorsport heads into the Christmas break.

He said: “We were starting from pole position and I just concentrated on getting a good start, which allowed me to control the race from there. It’s a long race, the car’s heavy at the start so you just run as fast as you can and be smooth and it allowed us to open up quite a good gap.

“It’s all team work though, it doesn’t just come down to one person as everybody works extremely hard. It’s been hard for the guys to be out here since Tuesday at the circuit in this heat and humidity, but they practiced pit stops every night to make sure they did a good job.

“We planned to come here and try and come away leading the championship and we have. Winning the race is just a good bonus and I’m going to fight hard to keep it.”

Portugal’s Filipe Albuquerque said: “I achieved our goals. Actually, I went better than what we were expecting. We wanted to go to the first pit stop in third, but it was even better as we were in second. I was doing whatever I could to keep the pace, but it all needs to be perfect, and Ireland did a good pit stop and we didn’t. We are also missing one guy from our crew who’s in hospital, so I wish him the best. In the end it was good to just take the points. You cannot win every time and they were just perfect and I’m really happy with the second place. “

A1 Team USA’s Marco Andretti said: “The start was a bit of survival and I used the PowerBoost when everybody was close together and we needed the track position. The boys did a good job in the pits and then we weren’t threatened from behind, but I had nothing on these guys in front so I was just enjoying the car and Sepang. It’s a lovely circuit.”

With Portugal, France, and next event-holders New Zealand close behind in the points’ standings, Ireland will be looking to continue its dominance when battle resumes in New Zealand on 23 – 25 January 2009.

RESULTS: Sprint race

Pos A1 Team Driver Laps Time Gap
1 Switzerland Neel Jani 11 22'41.567
2 France Loïc Duval 11 22'51.479 9.912
3 New Zealand Earl Bamber 11 22'53.380 11.813
4 Portugal Filipe Albuquerque 11 22'54.020 12.453
5 Ireland Adam Carroll 11 22'54.772 13.205
6 Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen 11 22'56.966 15.399
7 Italy Edoardo Piscopo 11 23'01.514 19.947
8 Australia John Martin 11 23'03.004 21.437
9 South Africa Adrian Zaugg 11 23'09.241 27.674
10 China Ho-Pin Tung 11 23'11.059 29.492
11 Lebanon Daniel Morad 11 23'13.616 32.049
12 Monaco Clivio Piccione 11 23'13.973 32.406
13 Indonesia Satrio Hermanto 11 23'20.526 38.959
14 Mexico David Garza 11 23'36.622 55.055
15 Malaysia Fairuz Fauzy 10 22'46.989 1 lap
16 Great Britain Danny Watts 4 23'20.949 7 laps
17 Brazil Felipe Guimarães 0 11 laps
18 India Narain Karthikeyan 0 11 laps
19 USA Marco Andretti 0 11 laps
- Korea Jin-Woo Hwang 0

A1GP - Chengdu, China - November 09, 2008

RESULTS: Feature race

Pos A1 Team Driver Laps Time Gap
1 Portugal Filipe Albuquerque 51 1:11'23.179
2 Ireland Adam Carroll 51 1:11'23.750 0.571
3 Great Britain Danny Watts 51 1:11'27.981 4.802
4 Switzerland Neel Jani 51 1:11'30.336 7.157
5 Malaysia Fairuz Fauzy 51 1:11'36.481 13.302
6 Australia John Martin 51 1:11'38.723 15.544
7 Monaco Clivio Piccione 51 1:11'39.415 16.236
8 USA Marco Andretti 51 1:11'39.869 16.690
9 South Africa Adrian Zaugg 51 1:11'41.209 18.030
10 India Narain Karthikeyan 51 1:11'41.938 18.759
11 New Zealand Chris van der Drift 51 1:11'42.854 19.675
12 China Ho-Pin Tung 51 1:11'43.305 20.126
13 Lebanon Daniel Morad 51 1:11'45.759 22.580
14 Indonesia Satrio Hermanto 51 1:11'54.464 31.285
15 Mexico David Garza 50 1 lap
16 Netherlands Robert Doornbos 50 1 lap
17 Korea Jin-Woo Hwang 50 1 lap
18 France Nicolas Prost 0 51 laps
19 Italy Edoardo Piscopo 0 51 laps
20 Brazil Felipe Guimarães 0 51 laps

A1GP - Chengdu, China - November 09, 2008

RESULTS: Sprint race

Pos
A1 Team Driver Laps Time Gap
1 Ireland Adam Carroll 18 22'58.470
2 Netherlands Robert Doornbos 18 23'00.507 2.037
3 Great Britain Danny Watts 18 23'12.831 14.361
4 Switzerland Neel Jani 18 23'13.089 14.619
5 South Africa Adrian Zaugg 18 23'18.578 20.108
6 Portugal Filipe Albuquerque 18 23'18.945 20.475
7 New Zealand Chris van der Drift 18 23'25.694 27.224
8 France Nicolas Prost 18 23'26.393 27.923
9 Monaco Clivio Piccione 18 23'28.848 30.378
10 India Narain Karthikeyan 18 23'30.738 32.268
11 Australia John Martin 18 23'31.668 33.198
12 Lebanon Daniel Morad 18 23'32.763 34.293
13 Malaysia Fairuz Fauzy 18 23'33.125 34.655
14 Italy Edoardo Piscopo 18 23'35.011 36.541
15 USA Marco Andretti 18 23'36.572 38.102
16 Mexico David Garza 18 23'40.981 42.511
17 China Ho-Pin Tung 18 23'48.081 49.611
18 Indonesia Satrio Hermanto 18 24'02.598 1'04.128
19 Korea Jin-Woo Hwang 18 24'04.641 1'06.171
20 Brazil Felipe Guimarães 14 4 laps

F1 Brazilian GP - Race 02/11/08

Massa takes Interlagos, Hamilton takes the title!

It all came down to the final turn on the final lap of the final race in what was a thrilling climax to a fantastic championship battle this year. There were no big mistakes from Lewis Hamilton as he took the chequered flag in fifth position to claim the Formula One World Championship.

Felipe Massa dominated the final race of the season from the pole position, but trailing Hamilton by seven points heading into the race, it was always going to be an uphill struggle for the Ferrari star. However, it could not have been a more dramatic finale...

"The most dramatic race of my whole life," said the 2008 championship winner. "It’s pretty much impossible to put this into words: I’m still speechless. It’s been such a long journey, but I’ve always had the support of my family, the team, our partners and the fans. We did a fantastic job throughout the whole year and, with all the sacrifices we made, I’m so thrilled to be able to win this for everyone."

"Sebastian got past me and I was told that I had to get back in front of him," Hamilton continued. "I couldn’t believe it. Then at the very last corner I managed to get past Timo - it was just amazing. This was one of the toughest races of my life, if not the toughest. I was shouting, ‘Do I have it? Do I have it?’ on the radio. It was only when I took the chequered flag and got to turn one that the team told me I was world champion. I was ecstatic.
"

Hamilton’s title success - in just his second season in the sport - breaks McLaren’s streak of championship frustration nine years after its last success with Mika Hakkinen. Ferrari meanwhile has secured the constructors’ championship from McLaren making it an astonishing seven championships from the last nine years.

It was a tense final race of the year as right up to the chequered flag on lap 71, it was not clear who would be crowned as champion. A rain shower ahead of the formation lap saw the start of the race delayed ten minutes and Massa promptly led away from pole position and was never seriously threatened for the race win. The rest was in the hands of Hamilton, McLaren and in the end, Toyota.

After the initial rain showers the circuit soon dried out but late in the race a second shower really threw the race for the title into confusion. With two laps to go, Hamilton ran wide and Sebastian Vettel slipped through into fifth position and at that point it was Massa who would be crowned champion. Massa took the chequered flag believing he had taken the ultimate prize, but behind the drama was still not over...

Timo Glock, running fourth, had not pitted for wet weather tyres with the rest and on the very last lap of the race he dropped 18 seconds and critically for Hamilton, down to sixth position. It was an incredible result as seconds later Hamilton took the chequered flag in that all-important fifth position and he was champion.

Massa didn’t put a wheel wrong and is understandably distraught to lose out in the final seconds of the Grand Prix. The Ferrari star took the chequered flag 13 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso who made best use of an early stop for dry tyres to vault ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel and Hamilton.

"We did everything to perfection and we almost managed to pull it off," stated Massa. "Then, as I crossed the line, (engineer) Rob (Smedley) told me that Hamilton had finished fifth and therefore he took the title by one point. Sport is like this and one has to accept that. Congratulations to Lewis: whoever gets the most points deserves the title."

Kimi Raikkonen spent the race managing the gap to those ahead of him on track while trying to push Hamilton back into the field. It was really a no-win situation for the 2007 champion but at least his third position this afternoon gave him third position in the championship ahead of Robert Kubica, although they tied on points.

Sebastian Vettel finished in fourth position in the leading Toro Rosso pushing Massa early in the race ahead of an early pit stop. The Italian Grand Prix winner’s pass on Hamilton with two laps to go could have cost the British racer the championship, but it is a sign that Vettel – quite rightly - is willing to battle with anyone and in any situation.

"I didn’t know where I was in terms of position and I just tried to pass Lewis like any other guy and I succeeded," said the irrepressible Vettel. "I passed Timo just at the last corner, as he was struggling on dry tyres. Lewis was behind me at that moment, but as I wasn’t sure where I was after the final pit stop for rain tyres, I was definitely not aware that I might be influencing the world championship!"

Hamilton took the chequered flag in fifth position, less than a second behind Vettel, while Glock dropped five seconds to the McLaren driver from the final turn to the start-finish straight. Heikki Kovalainen was never a factor in the race and could not be really with his team-mate so focused on fifth position. The Finn finished seventh in the second McLaren Mercedes.

Jarno Trulli started on the front row of the grid, but a half spin in the wet conditions dropped the Italian veteran down the order. The Toyota driver finished in eighth but with Vettel fourth, drops one additional position in the championship standings.

Mark Webber finished his season with a ninth place but there was heartbreak for team-mate David Coulthard. Starting his final race, Nico Rosberg tipped the Scot into a spin and he then made contact with Kazuki Nakajima. Seconds into his final Grand Prix, it was all over for Coulthard.

It was a poor race for BMW Sauber with Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica finishing 11th and 12th ahead of Jenson Button in the leading Honda. Sebastien Bourdais ran well early on but was forced off track by Trulli and dropped down to 14th position. The Frenchman would never recover the lost ground but did finish ahead of Rubens Barrichello, Adrian Sutil, Kazuki Nakajima and Giancarlo Fisichella.

There can be many ‘what ifs’ up and down the pitlane as there were costly mistakes from teams and drivers alike over the 18 race schedule. Some say one driver deserves the title more than another but as out-going champion Kimi Raikkonen pointed out ahead of the race weekend; the most deserving champion is the one with the most points.

The season may now be over, but Formula One does not stop and the test teams will be in action later this month. For Hamilton, testing in readiness for the 2009 season is probably the last thing on his mind as he celebrates his championship success and good fortune.

Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton who at the age of 23 years, nine months and 26 days becomes the youngest ever Formula One World Champion. Commiserations go to Massa who will be back stronger than ever next March in Melbourne...

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

F1 Chinese GP - Race 19/10/2008

Dominant Hamilton closes in on the title

Lewis Hamilton completely dominated the 56-lap Chinese Grand Prix to inch closer to the world championship on a day when Ferrari and Felipe Massa simply had no answer to the pace of the leading McLaren Mercedes. Heading to the season finale in Brazil, Hamilton leads the championship by seven points from Massa who was this afternoon gifted second position by Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton launched into the lead from pole position and quickly established a three second lead from the chasing Raikkonen. Running third, Massa dropped away to 15 seconds behind Hamilton by the first round of pit stops, a gap that the McLaren driver would manage to the chequered flag...

Hamilton’s fifth victory of the season at Shanghai International Circuit also marks the fifth straight winner at this venue. As Hamilton celebrates his most dominant win of the season, Ferrari can only look back on this even and admit they simply did not have the pace with the F2008 package. The silver-lining is that extend the lead from McLaren in the constructors’ championship to 11 points.

"The team have done a phenomenal job really preparing the car and making steps forward," beamed Hamilton. "We came here and the car felt fantastic all weekend and I owe so much to the guys not just at the track but back home. They have done a phenomenal job and the car is really a dream to drive.
"

"I got into turn one quite clear, I took it easy the first few corners then I started to bridge the gap," he continued. "Fortunately we were just very, very consistent and I think every lap was faster and very, very few errors throughout the whole run, therefore I was able to create a gap and from there it was pretty smooth sailing."

Raikkonen chased Hamilton hard in the first stint of the race, but lap by lap lost a little ground. Massa ran third until the closing stages of the race when Raikkonen backed off and allowed his team-mate through into second position. That pretty much is the story of the Chinese Grand Prix, a race as devoid of incident and accident as the Japanese Grand Prix a week ago was full of it.

"We saw that Lewis was a bit stronger in the beginning of the race," explained Massa. "I mean he was stronger during the whole race but in the beginning he just started to pull away, maybe two or three tenths sometimes per lap, and then this made for sure his race much more comfortable. For us we were completely driving on the limit trying to reduce the gap but it was not possible. So today unfortunately Lewis had the better car for the whole weekend..."

Massa glossed over Raikkonen backing off to allow him through for the second position. "I was quite strong and then I caught him and I passed him, so that was the good part of the race," the Brazilian stated.

Raikkonen however was a little more honest with his assessment of the situation: "I know what the team expects and I know what we want which are results," he said. "It is racing and I have nothing to lose or win in a way. I am driving for the team, so it is a normal situation."

Fernando Alonso started and finished in fourth position in the leading Renault, battling ahead of Heikki Kovalainen on the long back straight on the first lap to regain the position. Alonso’s points streak now moves him ahead of the ever-unfortunate Kovalainen in the championship as the Finn saw his hopes of finishing fifth dashed as he picked up a front right puncture on lap 36 and dropped down to 17th position before opting to retire the McLaren.

Nick Heidfeld led home BMW Sauber team-mate Robert Kubica to claim the fifth position. Kubica now has 75 points and drops out of the championship chase on a weekend when the F1.08 package simply did not have the pace of the ever-improving Renault or the top two teams in the sport. The decision to focus on 2009 for the second half of the season has been costly for BMW Sauber.

Timo Glock used a one stop strategy well to claim two championship points for Toyota. It was largely a disappointing day for the German-based squad as Jarno Trulli, starting from seventh, turned in on Sebastien Bourdais at the first turn and eliminated himself from the race. Bourdais himself was pushed back down the order and would take the chequered flag in 13th position after a strong recovery drive.

Nelson Piquet claimed the final point in the second Renault after using the more traditional two-stop strategy, albeit with a very long first stint. The result confirms that Renault has clinched fourth position in the constructors’ championship. After starting sixth, it was a disappointing race from Sebastian Vettel who finished ninth in his Toro Rosso Ferrari, eight seconds behind Piquet’s Renault.

Red Bull Renault leaves Shanghai with no points as well. David Coulthard ran a one stop strategy to finish tenth while Mark Webber’s aggressive fuel strategy in qualifying compromised his race and the Australian finished 14th in the sister RB4.

Rubens Barrichello does not have a very good car in the Honda RA108, but the Brazilian veteran drove a very strong race to finish 11th while team-mate Jenson Button finished his low-key weekend down in 16th position. Barrichello is fighting for his future in Formula One and based on recent events, he is the stronger of the two Honda drivers.

It was a pretty rotten weekend for the Williams Toyota team. Kazuki Nakajima made best of a one strop strategy to finish 12th from 17th on the grid while the reverse was true for team-mate Nico Rosberg on his two stop strategy. Starting 14th, the Singapore Grand Prix runner-up actually lost a position and finished a disappointing 15th.

Giancarlo Fisichella had a lonely race at the back of the field following the early retirement of Force India Ferrari team-mate Adrian Sutil. Something of a mobile chicane for the race leaders, Fisichella finished a lap down on Hamilton and 48 seconds behind 16th placed Button.


Photo F1-Live.com
Zoom
One more round to go, off to Interlagos
Hamilton may have the advantage heading to Brazil as he enjoys a seven point advantage in the championship. But it is still far from over, as this was the very same advantage he took to the season finale last year. And we all know what happened on that particular day...

"It is not finished yet," Massa declared. "Until it is finished, we know that in sport many things can happen. We just need to concentrate on our job and try to win the race and then what’s happened has happened."

"That’s our concentration for the last race and that’s the way we are going to approach it knowing we are still fighting for the drivers’ championship. Then we are in a reasonably good position for the constructors’ championship. I think those are quite important for us, so we are going to do everything we can to achieve our target and then we will see what will happen..."

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

F1 Japanese GP - Race 12/10/2008

Fantastic Fernando takes Fuji!

While the two championship protagonists made a mess of the 67-lap Japanese Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso steered clear of trouble to take his 21st career win from Robert Kubica and Kimi Raikkonen. While it was a tremendous drive from Alonso, the race will be remembered for the lap one antics of pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa...

Hamilton made a poor start from the pole position and vigorously chopped across team-mate Heikki Kovalainen on the long run to the first turn with Kimi Raikkonen challenging for the position on the outside. Hamilton missed his braking point and ran wide forcing Raikkonen to the outside of the circuit and allowing Kubica and Alonso through to take the lead.

Having dropped down the order Hamilton battled hard with Massa, taking the position into turn ten on the first lap. The Brazilian ran wide and then launched his F2008 across the chicane before making contact with the McLaren. Massa continued but Hamilton had been tipped into a spin and dropped to the rear of the field.

Massa would get a drive through penalty for running into Hamilton while the championship leader would also get a penalty for running wide and compromising Raikkonen at the start of the race. Both Hamilton and Massa did not have their finest of days...


While Hamilton choked and Massa saw red, Kubica calmly picked up the pieces and led the opening laps of the race from Alonso but it was the Renault driver that emerged from the first round of pit stops ahead and the Spaniard would then pull clear of the BMW Sauber driver to take the chequered flag with a comfortable five second margin.

It was a great result for the Renault team, who had been battling with Toyota for fourth position in the constructors’ championship, as Nelson Piquet had by far his strongest Grand Prix to date from 12th position on the grid to finish a fine fourth.

Kubica’s second position closed him to within six points of Massa and while the Pole had no answer to the pace of Alonso, it was another solid drive to keep BMW Sauber in the hunt for the constructors’ championship. The Hinwil-based team are now just seven points behind McLaren and 13 behind Ferrari.

Kimi Raikkonen pushed hard for Ferrari after losing ground on the opening lap courtesy of Hamilton. The defending champion attempted several passes on Kubica for second position in the closing stages of the race but could never complete the manoeuvre. Still, with Hamilton finishing out of the points and Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren failing whilst running third, Ferrari regain the lead in the constructors’ championship by six points with two rounds remaining.

Jarno Trulli carried the flag for Toyota today as Timo Glock was forced to retire his TF108 early in the race. Trulli lost out to Piquet in the pit stops and finished in fifth position ten seconds clear of Sebastien Bourdais in the leading Toro Rosso Ferrari.

Sebastian Vettel finished seventh in the second STR3 while Massa recovered to take the chequered flag in eighth position. The Brazilian may however lose that position as he and Bourdais made contact late in the race as the Massa turned in on the Toro Rosso driver at the first turn and subsequently placed himself under investigation. As it stands, Massa’s single point for eighth position closes the gap to Hamilton to six points in the championship chase.

Mark Webber used a one-stop strategy to finish ninth in his Red Bull Renault while team-mate David Coulthard suffered a suspension failure at the start of the race and crashed heavily. With both drivers out of the points, Red Bull loses further ground to sister team Toro Rosso as they battle over sixth position in the constructors’ championship.

Nick Heidfeld finished tenth in the second BMW Sauber ahead of Nico Rosberg in his Williams Toyota. Hamilton was unable to recover from the dramas of lap one and finished 12th ahead of the one-stopping Honda duo of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button. Kazuki Nakajima was the final runner in 15th position in the second Williams after contact on lap one saw the Japanese racer forced into the pits prematurely.

Adrian Sutil suffered a right rear puncture and was forced to retire while Giancarlo Fisichella was soon out of the race in the second Force India Ferrari with a mechanical problem to make it five retirements from the field of 20.

Fernando Alonso heads to the Chinese Grand Prix next weekend on the back of two impressive wins, while Hamilton retains his title lead over Massa by six points despite a costly error this afternoon in Japan.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

A1GP Zandvoort - Feature race 05/10/08

France storms to victory in rain-soaked feature race

A1 Team France has claimed the first Feature race victory of the season in extremely wet conditions at Circuit Park Zandvoort in The Netherlands.

From third on the grid Loïc Duval put in a mature drive to take France's 15th win. Sprint race winner Fairuz Fauzy finished second for Malaysia, losing time in the first pit stop due to a problem with the left-rear wheel. Earl Bamber put in an outstanding performance this weekend on his race debut for A1 Team New Zealand claiming third, his second podium finish of the day.

With the rain continuing to fall the decision was made to start the Feature behind the Safety Car instead of the usual grid start due to the standing water around the circuit. The race ran this way for two laps before the Safety Car pulled off an and it was Sprint race winner Fairuz Fauzy who had the best view as the pack headed into Turn 1, with those behind having almost no visibility due to the spray.

Charlie Kimball got caught out in the terrible wet conditions spinning the USA entry at Turn 6 but continuing on track. After a couple of attempts, France made a move on New Zealand passing Bamber cleanly down the pit straight and tucking in front of Black Beauty as the pair headed into the first corner on lap four.

China also had a spin at Turn 2 under pressure from Ireland, who started in 15th after failing to finish the Sprint race.
A lap later, Adam Carroll lost the back end of the Ireland car and aquaplaned into the gravel, ending a disappointing weekend for the team after looking promising in qualifying.

Meanwhile, local hero Jeroen Bleekemolen passed Bamber for third, much to the delight of the cheering Dutch crowds. Current A1GP champion Switzerland looked to be in trouble when Neel Jani dived into the pit lane for an unscheduled stop due to a suspected gear selection problem. Up at the front, Malaysia was building a comfortable margin in the lead, now 1.760s ahead of France, making the order Malaysia, France, Netherlands, New Zealand after lap five.

With wet weather continuing to test the drivers, lap seven brought about another incident as Italy and South Africa came together. Italy's Fabio Onidi made a mistake spinning across the kerb and into Adrian Zaugg's South African car taking them both out of the race.

China dropped further back down the field after being given a drive-through penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag while Malaysia extended its lead over France to 2.4 seconds.

On lap eight the first pit window opened with race leader Malaysia making the first scheduled stop of the day but lost time due to a problem with the left-rear wheel. Bleekemolen also had a problem changing a wheel but eventually got back on track. Australia had a quick stop with France now leading from New Zealand and Portugal.

A1 Team Korea, making its A1GP debut this weekend, moved into the top ten by passing Satrio Hermanto in the Indonesian car making the order now France, New Zealand, Portugal, Malaysia, USA, Lebanon, Netherlands, Australia, Monaco, Korea.

With the rain still pouring Netherlands moved up ahead of Lebanon for sixth with the pair both managing to stay on track despite getting extremely close through Turn 13.

On lap 15 France finally came in for its first pit stop and after a quick one retained the lead, as Jeroen Bleekemolen headed back into the pits for the second time, with the team looking to replace the steering wheel. He continued but had to pit later to make the change.

Korea had a minor spin on lap 17, just before Portugal crashed out after just taking the lead. Filipe Albuquerque had a big crash at the quick final turn resulting in the Safety Car being deployed for the first time in the race. As the field closed up, the order was France, Malaysia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Australia, USA, Netherlands, Monaco and China.

After a couple of laps for the debris to be cleared the Safety Car was in and the field bunched up ready for the re-start. Korea managed to get going again after its earlier spin, being guaranteed a point on its debut event due to so many retirements.

With racing back underway, Netherlands was now right on the back of USA and Australia, and moved ahead of USA for sixth place when Charlie Kimball slid off line at the back of the circuit. On lap 19 Lebanon was running fourth with Daniel Morad, on his debut for the team, looking to score the team's first-ever point in A1GP.

As the second pit stop window approached France held a 4.587-second lead from Malaysia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Australia, Netherlands, USA, Monaco, China and Korea.

John Martin was pushing hard to catch Lebanon, which was made easier when Morad had a 360-degree spin gifting the position to Australia as he tried to get back up to speed. The Netherlands began dropping back as Jeroen Bleekemolen appeared to be having gear-shifting problems.

On lap 27 the pit window opened, with Loïc Duval now with a 6.3-second lead over Malaysia as Fauzy came in for his second stop. Australia and Lebanon both pitted with Lebanon retaking fifth. France made a great stop and Duval retained the lead heading into the final third of the race.

With the terrible conditions causing problems for a number of teams the race was turned into a timed event with nine minutes remaining.

On lap 31 Charlie Kimball put in a fantastic run in the Andretti Green Racing-run US car to record the fastest lap of the race with a 1m 47.115s, but only a lap later he ended up in the gravel at Turn 5 making it a bittersweet end to the Californian's weekend.

With the order now France, Malaysia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Australia, Monaco, Netherlands, the clock continued to tick down but with the weather making things really tough for all the drivers there was a huge crash on the main straight. Lebanon's Daniel Morad lost control of his car, and spun into the back of China's Ho-Pin Tung. Both cars careered at speed into the tyres at Tarzan, bringing out the Safety Car for the second time.

The 17th car made an appearance in the closing stages of the race as Brazil came out for the final laps due to the repairs taking so long after the Sprint race crash.

As the time ran out the cars were released to take the chequered flag with A1 Team France taking its first victory since last February in Australia. Malaysia and New Zealand completed the podium with Malaysia and France joint championship leaders.

A1 Teams Korea and Monaco both scored on their debut, much to the delight of both teams and Daniel Morad scored the first-ever points for A1 Team Lebanon despite not finishing the race.

France's Loïc Duval said: "The weekend was really difficult, we received the car yesterday morning and we were in the car for the first time during qualifying so everything was brand new and today it was a really, really tough race. It was hard with the safety car but at the end everything went well and the mechanics did a great job."

Malaysia's Fairuz Fauzy said of his two podium results: "It's been a dream start to the season for A1 Team Malaysia. We were certainly hoping to have a good performance here, and two podiums are just great. The weather conditions were treacherous today, which made it difficult for all of us, but that makes it all the more rewarding. There is something extra special when you are driving for your nation, so I'm very proud of our achievements today. It's been a real team effort and I'm delighted that we are leaving Zandvoort leading the championship."

New Zealand's 18-year-old Earl Bamber commented on his fantastic weekend: "It was always going to be a tough weekend. There is a lot more horsepower from the Powered by Ferrari car and I think it's just been a challenge for all the drivers to get around and finish the Feature race. It's been a fantastic weekend for me though, the team did a great job all weekend with the car, and we still managed to hold third position after a mishap with the wheel nut. It was a little bit slow to come off in the pit stop but the guys handled it well and we got back out and still finished on the podium."

"We had a lot of power boosts left in the bag just in case the Safety Car came out later on and we could challenge for second place," he added. "But we ran out of time on the clock unfortunately so that's the way it goes, we will live to fight another day."

The very final words on what has been a hard but rewarding first weekend of Season Four for the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport came from the Chairman, Tony Teixeira: "I have always loved the Dutch and I do so even more after this weekend. We had our dramas getting here, but I never doubted we would make it and want to say a big thank you to everyone who made this possible."

"The weather was dreadful, but this did not stop the fans coming to see the races in their tens of thousands with the patriotic orange clearly visible in the packed grandstands," Teixeira remarked. "All the teams have been working day and night to put on the show and they did us proud today."

Zandvoort - Feature race results:

Pos Driver A1 Team Laps Time Gap
1. Loïc Duval France 36 11:58.723 -
2. Fairuz Fauzy Malaysia 36 12:01.011 +2.288
3. Earl Bamber New Zealand 36 12:01.432 +2.709
4. John Martin Australia 36 12:05.052 +6.329
5. Jeroen Bleekemolen Netherlands 36 12:06.996 +8.273
6. Clivio Piccione Monaco 34 12:03.356 +2 Laps
7. Jin Woo Hwang Korea 33 12:28.432 +3 Laps
8. Daniel Morad Lebanon 32 03:15.216 +4 Laps
9. Ho Pin Tung China 31 03:14.803 +5 Laps
10. Charlie Kimball USA 30 59:04.806 +6 Laps
11. Filipe Albuquerque Portugal 15 29:34.235 +21 Laps
12. Satrio Hermanto Indonesia 12 26:14.548 +24 Laps
13. Adrian Zaugg South Africa 5 11:00.955 +31 Laps
14. Fabio Onidi Italy 5 11:01.706 +31 Laps
15. Felipe Guimaraes Brazil 5 12:03.879 +31 Laps
16. Adam Carroll Ireland 4 09:17.297 +32 Laps
17. Neel Jani Switzerland 4 09:52.638 +32 Laps

Fastest lap: A1 Team USA set the fastest lap (1m47.115s) of the Feature race with a speed of 155.5 kph on lap 30.

2008/09 A1GP points standings:

Pos A1 Team Points
1. Malaysia 22
2. France 22
3. New Zealand 18
4. Netherlands 11
5. Australia 8
6. Monaco 5
7. Switzerland 4
8. Korea 4
9. South Africa 3
10. USA 3
10. Lebanon 3
12. Italy 2
13. China 2

Next race: A1GP Chengdu, China, 7-9 November 2008.

D.B. © CAPSIS International

A1GP Zandvoort - Sprint race 05/10/08

Malaysia takes first victory of new season

A1 Team Malaysia has won the first race of the 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport season at Circuit Park Zandvoort in The Netherlands. In a rain-soaked Sprint race, Fairuz Fauzy came from fourth on the grid to take the team's first victory since Season Two, which was 27 races ago.

After initially taking the lead from The Netherlands, Earl Bamber put in a great drive on his race debut for A1 Team New Zealand to take second place with Loic Duval storming through from 11th on the grid to take the final podium position for A1 Team France.

Pole-sitter Jeroen Bleekemolen struggled in the extremely tricky conditions finishing fourth as the red flag came out to end the race.

In a thrilling start to the new season, the drama began before the cars even crossed the start line after doing two laps behind the Safety Car due to the atrocious conditions. On an extremely wet track, Ireland spun in the final corner with Monaco's Clivio Piccione running into him, so putting the pair out the race before it had even started.

As the new Powered by Ferrari cars came down the pit straight for the rolling start, the action behind gave the front row duo of the Netherlands and New Zealand a comfortable gap as they came across the start line for the first time.

Lebanon's Daniel Morad ran wide in the first corner, narrowly avoiding USA's Charlie Kimball, as both drivers made their race debut for their respective nations.
A lap later, Korea's Jin Woo Hwang collided with John Martin at the first corner while making an ambitious move down the inside of the Australia car which left both in the gravel and Korea out of the race, with a fine and a drop to the back of the grid for race two for causing an avoidable accident and trying to overtake under a yellow flag.

Malaysia and Switzerland battled it out for third with Neel Jani getting ahead of Fauzy on lap four. From 16th on the grid, and having only done a few laps this weekend, China's Ho Pin Tung was putting in a stunning drive to challenge Italy for seventh by lap five. China claimed the position taking the inside line through turn 11 and began chasing down South Africa.

Out at the front the race was really on with newcomer Bamber pushing the Netherlands for the lead. On lap seven the 18-year-old made a great move trying to go around the outside of Bleekemolen through the chicane. The Netherlands ran off the circuit while trying to defend the position but with a better run out the corner Bamber grabbed the lead.

As the rain continued to fall, Malaysia were flying, re-taking third from Switzerland before passing local hero Bleekemolen for second. Fauzy then set about closing the gap to New Zealand who was still in the lead. France moved up to fourth as Loic Duval took advantage of a mistake from Switzerland.

At the start of lap nine the order at the front was now New Zealand, Malaysia, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, China, South Africa and Italy.

Fauzy, whose car was working really well in the wet conditions, was right on the gearbox of Bamber and on lap nine made his move, snatching the lead through turn eleven. Meanwhile, France stole the final podium position from Netherlands.

China's tremendous charge came to an end on lap ten when the back end got away from Ho Pin Tung and he spun coming out of the final corner, crashing out of fifth. With Brazil also crashing the red flag was brought out, taking the final race classification back to the end of lap 10.

Race winner A1 Team Malaysia's Fairuz Fauzy said: "I am so happy to take this win. It was very difficult on the track today and made even more challenging with the lack of experience we have with this new car, but we have worked really hard as a team and now we have a fantastic win. We start from pole position for the next race as well, so I hope we can have more success, but if the weather stays like this it will be another huge challenge for everyone. I'm looking forward to it!"

A1 Team New Zealand's Earl Bamber said: "Its pretty atrocious conditions this morning. We got a good start and then managed to get past the Netherlands. He (Bleekemolen) got on some oil which made him have a slow exit so I got down the outside into the chicane and then as he out-braked himself he ran wide and I managed to get in front. It was a good pass, but pretty close. We held the lead for quite a while but then Fairuz was just a little bit quicker and got past me on the infield. I think second is good and hopefully we can make some changes for this afternoon and see what happens with the weather."

Third-placed Loic Duval driving for A1 Team France said: "It's very difficult to see anything but I'm really happy. We received the car yesterday, but just ran in the qualifying session so to finish on the podium today its great for us. Everything is possible for this afternoon so I am confident now. We lost a lot of laps yesterday morning, so this morning we had the chance for an extra test. We managed to work on the car and I think it's been quite fair with the amount of laps everybody has had."

Jeroen Bleekmolen was disappointed not to be on the podium in front of his home crowd: "When you start from pole you want to win the race, so it didn't go to plan. The first few laps were alright but then I lost a lot of grip and people passed me on the outside, inside and everywhere so we need to find more grip and hopefully we can do better the second race. It's really great to see the fans and even with this weather they are still here enjoying it so I hope I can give them a good result this afternoon."

With this afternoon's Feature race grid determined by the Sprint finishing order, Malaysia is in pole position to aim for a double victory in the opening weekend of the new season.

Zandvoort - Sprint race results:

Pos Driver A1 Team Laps Time Gap
1. Fairuz Fauzy Malaysia 10 19:44.533 -
2. Earl Bamber New Zealand 10 19:48.007 +3.474
3. Loic Duval France 10 19:50.803 +6.27
4. Jeroen Bleekemolen Netherlands 10 19:57.966 +13.433
5. Neel Jani Switzerland 10 20:01.429 +16.896
6. Adrian Zaugg South Africa 10 20:05.458 +20.925
7. Fabio Onidi Italy 10 20:06.747 +22.214
8. Charlie Kimball USA 10 20:08.683 +24.15
9. Filipe Albuquerque Portugal 10 20:13.960 +29.427
10. Daniel Morad Lebanon 10 20:23.462 +38.929
11. John Martin Australia 9 21:12.004 +1:27.471
12. Ho Pin Tung China 9 18:09.652 +1 Lap
13. Felipe Guimaraes Brazil 9 19:24.409 +1 Lap
14. Jin Woo Hwang Korea 3 07:27.249 +7 Laps
15. Satrio Hermanto Indonesia 2 05:27.400 +8 Laps
16. Adam Carroll Ireland 2 05:58.094 +8 Laps
17. Clivio Piccione Monaco 1 02:48.422 +9 Laps

Fastest lap: A1 Team France set the fastest lap (1m45.939s) of the Sprint race with a speed of 157.2 kph on lap six.

2008/09 A1GP points standings:

Pos A1 Team Points
1. Malaysia 10
2. New Zealand 8
3. France 7
4. Netherlands 5
5. Switzerland 4
6. South Africa 3
7. Italy 2
8. USA 1

D.B. © CAPSIS International

F1 Singapore GP - Race 28/09/08

The cards fall for Fernando Alonso!

The first ever Formula One night race saw Fernando Alonso take a stunning victory from 15th position on the grid on a day when a safety car and pit errors turned the tables in favour of the former champion and the Renault team.

Ironically, the fuel pressure failure on Alonso’s R28 in qualifying yesterday combined with the antics of team-mate Nelson Piquet, forced a risky strategy and a timely safety car respectively that gave the former champion the chance he grasped to claim his 20th Grand Prix win.

The 61-lap race saw Felipe Massa dominate the opening laps of the race, pulling away from championship rival Lewis Hamilton with some ease to enjoy a comfortable four second advantage. That advantage was swiftly turned into a massive deficit after Nelson Piquet planted his Renault firmly in the wall and brought out the first safety car of the race.

While the unfortunate Robert Kubica and Nico Rosberg were forced to pit whilst the safety car was on track and the pit lane closes, Massa, Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen were able to wait for the pits to open before they all stopped together for that critical first stop.

Not for the first time this year there was a big error in the Ferrari team as Massa received the signal leave the pit, only to find the fuel hose still attached, crew in the way and the ever unfortunate Adrian Sutil motoring down the pit lane.
Massa came to a halt at the end of the pit lane and waited on the team to come and collect the fuel hose before he could continue.

That put Massa to the back of the field and the subsequent drive through penalty for a dangerous release, remarkably similar to Valencia where he received no penalty, effectively ended his race. The Brazilian would take the chequered flag in 13th position and lose ground in the title race.

Alonso meanwhile had opted to take the soft tyre for an aggressive first stint and had pitted ahead of the safety car. This vaulted him up to fourth position on track behind two drivers who had yet to pit at all and Rosberg who was soon to take a stop and go penalty for pitting while the pits were closed.

The race played out and Alonso duly took the lead, controlled the pace and took the chequered flag ahead of Rosberg who despite the penalty, finished just three seconds behind the race winner. Rosberg was perhaps fortunate that he was able to pull a large advantage at the restart of the race, thus nullifying to a large extent his drive through penalty.

Lewis Hamilton extends his championship advantage from Massa from one point to seven with three rounds remaining as he finished in third position. Hamilton did not seems to have the pace to challenge for the race win, but the errors from the Ferrari team handed him a nice advantage and has given McLaren Mercedes the lead in the constructors’ championship.

Timo Glock finished fourth for Toyota, gaining positions as other expected front-runners fell by the wayside. Team-mate Jarno Trulli opted for a one stop strategy but a gearbox problem in the closing stages cost the Italian further points, something the team will note now that Renault has moved fourth in the constructors’ championship.

It was a difficult race for BMW Sauber with Nick Heidfeld salvaging a sixth position but the drive through penalty for Robert Kubica while running fourth destroyed his race and he finished out of the points in 11th position.

Red Bull Renault looked to be set for a haul of points with Mark Webber running just behind Alonso before the RB4 lost gears and Webber was forced to retire. David Coulthard finished seventh in the sister machine, losing ground in his final stop as he too tried to leave the pits before the fuelling was fully complete.

The final point went to Kazuki Nakajima who drove a solid race in his Williams Toyota, holding off Jenson Button’s Honda to the chequered flag.

Heikki Kovalainen had a race to forget as he lost out at the first turn and dropped down the order before losing further ground in the first round of stops. The Finn was tenth at the chequered flag ahead of Kubica, Sebastien Bourdais, Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Apart from Piquet, other notable non-finishers included Kimi Raikkonen who threw away fifth position with four laps remaining as he bounced across the kerbs at turn ten and into retirement. Raikkonen’s fourth straight race without points ends his slim championship hopes making it a two horse race between Hamilton and Massa for the 2008 crown.

Adrian Sutil brought out the second and final safety car period 12 laps from home as he nosed the Force India into the barriers just as Massa recovered from a spin at the very same turn while Rubens Barrichello succumbed to mechanical woes just after his first pit stop.

The Formula One circus now packs up and heads to Fuji Speedway for the Japanese Grand Prix which takes place in two weeks time.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

F1 Italian GP - Race 15/09/08

Vettel dominates at Monza!

Sebastian Vettel made history this afternoon at the Italian Grand Prix as he dominated the 53-lap event taking the chequered flag 12 seconds ahead of Heikki Kovalainen. In doing so, Vettel becomes the youngest Grand Prix winner in the history of the sport and launches the Toro Rosso Ferrari team ahead of both Williams Toyota and Red Bull Renault in the constructors’ championship.

It was a flawless drive from the young German racer from the pole position in tricky conditions once again. The race started behind the safety car but even at the end of the first racing lap, Vettel had pulled a two second advantage over Kovalainen in the McLaren Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton aside, Vettel never looked like anything other than a race winner.

Heikki Kovalainen was never a contender for the race win which will be a concern for the Finn on a day when he had a great chance of securing his first win on merit. Like Vettel he used a standard two stop strategy switching from full wet tyres to intermediate tyres for his final stint.

Robert Kubica drove a smart race from 11th position to finish third, just eight seconds behind Kovalainen. The BMW Sauber driver made great use of a one stop strategy to vault ahead of those stopping twice and unlike some, had enough fuel to ensure that his one and only stop was at the optimum time for the switch from wet to intermediate tyres.

Fernando Alonso ran a similar strategy to Kubica and was the second driver today to change to the intermediate rubber as the circuit started to dry from the mid-way point.
It was another excellent run from the former champion as he took the chequered flag, less than four seconds behind Kubica.

Nick Heidfeld also has a strong run in the second BMW Sauber, but lost ground to Kubica at the start and then drove a strong race and managed to fend off a sustained attack to finish in fifth position.

Felipe Massa started sixth and finished in the same position on a more traditional two-stop strategy. Massa’s undoing was the timing of his pit stops that dropped him behind the one-stopping Heidfeld, a position he would not be able to recover from. The Brazilian will not be too unhappy with the result however, as he takes another small nibble out of Lewis Hamilton’s championship lead.

Starting 15th, Hamilton had it all to do and the McLaren driver came very close to making it a major upset this afternoon at Monza. Hamilton took enough fuel on board ahead of the race to go the distance with one stop. However he did not take enough fuel to choose the ideal time for that stop. With the circuit drying, Hamilton pitted ahead of some of the other one-stoppers and took a second set of full wet tyres. Had the rain continued, he would have been able to challenge Vettel for the victory. As it was, Hamilton had to make an unscheduled stop to take on the intermediate tyres and he would finish in seventh position.

Hamilton retains the lead in the championship but now the gap to Massa is just one point heading to Singapore in two weeks time.

Mark Webber ran third early in the race in the leading Red Bull Renault, but lost out to the one stopping cars and his race was also hindered by a quick spin exiting the Ascari chicane. Webber took the final point for eighth position but that final point was not enough stop sister team Toro Rosso moving ahead in the constructors’ championship.

Kimi Raikkonen spent much of the race running in the lower mid-field and it was only in the closing laps that the Ferrari driver was able to make progress. Raikkonen took the chequered flag in ninth position after a so-so run and therefore loses further ground to Kubica, Massa and Hamilton in the championship standings.

Nelson Piquet used a one-stop strategy to finish tenth in the second Renault ahead of Timo Glock in the leading Toyota. Glock, like team-mate Jarno Trulli in 13th, paid the price for running two stops.

After much promise in practice and qualifying, it was a poor race day for the Williams Toyota team with Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Rosberg finishing a disappointing 12th and 14th ahead of Jenson Button in the leading Honda.

A clash between David Coulthard and Kazuki Nakajima cost the former as he was forced to pit his Red Bull for repairs a few laps from home. Coulthard still managed to finish ahead of the second Honda of Rubens Barrichello.

Sebastien Bourdais could well have secured a podium position this afternoon at Monza, but the Frenchman stalled his Toro Rosso on the dummy grid and then went a lap down before the team could restart the STR3. Bourdais was classified 18th a lap ahead of Adrian Sutil in the surviving Force India Ferrari.

Amazingly, given the conditions, Giancarlo Fisichella was the only driver to retire from the race. Fisichella, battling with Coulthard, clipped the Red Bull at the first chicane and at the end of the lap the front wing on the VJM01 failed sending the Italian veteran into the gravel and retirement.

It was a fantastic day for Sebastian Vettel and Toro Rosso Ferrari on what was a great day for the sport.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

F1 Belgian GP - Race 07/09/08

Drama, penalties and controversy at Spa Francorchamps!

It was a most dramatic day in the Ardennes once again and this time the action extended beyond the chequered flag. Rain ahead of the 44-lap Belgian Grand Prix and then in the final stages of the race turned the 13th round of the world championship on its head and effectively ended Kimi Raikkonen’s championship hopes. Lewis Hamilton slithered across the line to record what was to be his ninth victory of his career. However, this being Formula One, there would be a few more twists and turns before nightfall at Spa Francorchamps and Felipe Massa was later handed the race win by the race stewards.

It was Raikkonen who made the best of the tricky conditions on the first lap to move from fourth position on the grid to take the race lead at the start of the second lap as pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton spun his McLaren Mercedes at La Source.

Raikkonen took control of the race but was unable to shake Hamilton with the gap fluctuating between two seconds and six seconds throughout the bulk of the race. The turning point - in terms of racing - came three laps from home as light rain began to fall and immediately Raikkonen was forced to back off allowing Hamilton to close right in and challenge for the lead into the final turn with just over two laps remaining.


Hamilton attempted the pass around the outside of the right-left turn – formerly the ‘bus stop’ - but with no room as Raikkonen took his normal racing line, Hamilton was forced off track before rejoining on the main straight. Not deterred, Hamilton pounced and made a clean pass on the Ferrari driver into La Source.

This is the move that would later cost the McLaren driver the race victory as it was determined that he had in fact gained an advantage over his Ferrari rival on the run to the first turn.

With the rains now falling harder and the race just a lap and a half from its conclusion, Hamilton and Raikkonen pushed as hard as they dared in the conditions but both were forced to take avoiding action as Nico Rosberg’s Williams Toyota spun and rejoined in front of them. Hamilton took to the grass and rejoined while Raikkonen had a quick spin before resuming.

Seconds later Raikkonen lost the Ferrari for a second and final time and spun into the retaining wall on the approach to the final turn. Hamilton slithered around the final lap to take the chequered flag ahead of Felipe Massa . It was a sensational final few laps of the race only soured by the post race penalties.

Massa started the race from the front row of the grid but was not able to challenge leaders Hamilton and Raikkonen, but with the latter sliding into retirement on the penultimate lap and Hamilton being given a 25 second time penalty post race, the Brazilian was able to pick up ten points and keep his championship challenge on track.

Third position on track fell to Nick Heidfeld and BMW Sauber after they opted to pit ahead of the final lap and change to intermediate tyres in the tricky conditions. Lapping significantly faster than those who did not pit, Heidfeld cut through the pack to take the flag in third position, just 24 seconds behind Hamilton and 14 seconds behind Massa. Given another lap and Heidfeld could well have taken the race win. With the post-race adjustments, Heidfeld was declared the runner-up to Massa.

It was a similar situation for Fernando Alonso on the final lap as he finished in a strong fourth position for Renault beating the Toro Rosso Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel by a fraction of a second across the line to take the position.

Robert Kubica had a tough weekend in Belgium but will be relatively happy to at least pick up some points with sixth position ahead of Sebastien Bourdais who amazingly started the final lap in third position. In the wet conditions, there was no holding back those on the intermediate tyre but it remains to be seen how he lost position to Vettel and Kubica. With six points on the board, Toro Rosso Ferrari now move ahead of the struggling Honda team in the constructors’ championship.

Timo Glock finished in eighth position for Toyota but like Hamilton would later take a post-race penalty dropping him out of the points. It was a disappointing day for team-mate Jarno Trulli in the sister TF108. The Italian made a stunning getaway from the grid from 11th position, gaining more than half a dozen positions on the run to La Source. Sadly for the Toyota squad, Bourdais ran into the back of Trulli under braking and the Italian would suffer with handling issues for the remainder of the race.

Mark Webber finished ninth, eighth in the points, ahead of Heikki Kovalainen and there was some justice in that as the McLaren driver attempted a pass early in the race that sent Webber spinning down the order. Kovalainen, who made a dreadful start from third position on the grid, would serve a drive through penalty for his actions and then go off on the final lap at turn eight. Kovalainen now heads to Monza without adding to his points tally and sliding further down the points standings.

David Coulthard finished 11th in the second Red Bull Renault ahead of Nico Rosberg in the leading Williams. Adrian Sutil was 13th in his Force India Ferrari ahead of Kazuki Nakajima, Jenson Button, Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella. Rubens Barrichello retired from the race with a gearbox failure while Piquet spun off into the barriers early in the race.

For Raikkonen, his failure to finish effectively ends his title hopes making it a two-horse race heading to the Italian Grand Prix next weekend. That race has been made a whole lot closer with Massa being promoted winner of the Belgian Grand Prix. Hamilton still leads the championship but by just two points as the Ferrari team head home to Monza...

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

F1 European GP - Race 24/08/08

Massa dominant in Valencia

Felipe Massa took the chequered flag first at the end of the 57-lap European Grand Prix, but at the time the Brazilian and the Ferrari team were under investigation by the FIA and it was not until some time after the race it became clear exactly who the winner of the 12th round of the championship even was.

The moment in question – and for debate - came as Massa exited his pit box following his second pit stop on lap 38 as he was released into the path of Adrian Sutil who was already coming down the pit lane. It was a close situation and it was certainly unnecessary from Massa who had dominated the Grand Prix from the pole position and was under no real pressure from behind.

The FIA duly placed Massa under investigation and then announced that any penalty would be imposed after the race. That is most unusual as the normal practice is for a driver to receive a drive through penalty within a few minutes of the incident in question. Massa’s did not need to worry much though as he was later simply fined and there was no other penalty.

Regardless of this incident, Massa dominated the race from the pole position and at no time looked under any serious pressure from Lewis Hamilton who shadowed Massa across the line six seconds behind. Hamilton retains the championship lead with 70 points, while Massa moves second in the championship race with 64.


Robert Kubica started third and like those ahead of him, took the chequered flag in the same position in what really was an uninspired event in terms of on-track entertainment despite the excellent new circuit. It was a solid run from Kubica and his six points move him to within striking distance of third position in the drivers’ table.

It was all change for fourth position as Heikki Kovalainen started fifth and actually finished one position higher! The Hungarian Grand Prix winner made up the position at the start of the race as he got the jump on Raikkonen and held the position to the chequered flag as Raikkonen hit further problems as the race progressed.

Raikkonen was content to sit behind Kovalainen throughout the first stint of the race but after his first pit stop found the one-stopping Timo Glock ahead of him on track. Not to be deterred or flustered into action, Raikkonen continued to be patient only for it to all do wrong in his second and final pit stop.

For the first time Raikkonen seemed to sense a bit of urgency as the fuel flowed into the Ferrari. However, the Finn was a little too eager as he left the pits before the fuel hose had been fully removed. The result was a delay in the pits and a crew member slightly injured.

Another disappointment for Raikkonen
It would all prove academic anyway for the unhappy Raikkonen as the Ferrari engine failed in dramatic style a few minutes later as he crossed the start-finish line. Given these engine designs are frozen, it is strange that Ferrari have suddenly found reliability issues...

Jarno Trulli got the jump on Sebastian Vettel in the first round of pit stops and brought his Toyota home in fifth position holding off Vettel by just two seconds by the chequered flag. Timo Glock used a one stop strategy well to finish seventh in the second Toyota after starting 13th.

Nico Rosberg started in ninth position and with Nick Heidfeld sliding back and Kimi Raikkonen failing to finish, scored a valuable championship point for the Williams Toyota team. The point is Rosberg’s first since he finished in the same position in Turkey.

It was a poor race for Nick Heidfeld who finished out of the points in ninth after qualifying one position higher. Taking the option of a long first stint and retaining a two-stop strategy just did not work for the under-pressure BMW Sauber driver.

Sebastien Bourdais finished where he started in tenth position in the second Toro Rosso ahead of Nelson Piquet in the sole surviving Renault. Team-mate Fernando Alonso was eliminated on the first lap of the race when Kazuki Nakajima hit the Renault from behind, causing too much damage for the fan favourite to continue.

It was predictably a tough race for Red Bull Renault with Mark Webber finishing a lap down in 12th position with David Coulthard last in 17th after spinning early on after contact with Giancarlo Fisichella. Jenson Button finished 13th in the leading Honda ahead of Fisichella, Nakajima, Rubens Barrichello and Coulthard. Adrian Sutil failed to finish after nosing into the barrier late in the race, his eighth retirement from 12 starts so far this year.

It wasn’t a good race and was only made worse by the dithering of the FIA with regards to investigations and penalties. It is however Massa’s lucky day today as his dominant run got the result and he has escaped any sanction, despite a potentially dangerous pit incident.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

F1 Hungarian GP - Race 03/08/08

Heartbreak for Massa, Kovalainen’s lucky day!

As a race, the 70-lap Hungarian Grand Prix is always somewhat processional and this year was no exception. However, the race was spiced up by some unexpected issues that took both Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa out of contention and handed Heikki Kovalainen the race win in the very final stages of the race.

Felipe Massa made an electric getaway from third position on the grid passing Kovalainen on the run to turn one and then braking late, passed Lewis Hamilton for the lead around the outside of turn one. It was a tremendous aggressive move and showing that his record breaking pace in the second round of qualifying yesterday was no fluke, the Brazilian was able to pull out a small advantage from Hamilton, a gap of four to five seconds he retained though the first round of pits stops.

Hamilton did not look to have an answer to Massa’s pace but the championship leader’s race took a further nose-dive as the front-left tyre failed on lap 42. Hamilton made his way slowly back to the pits and took the soft tyre for the remainder of the race.

Out front, Massa controlled the pace and allowed Kovalainen to slowly close the gap. It all looked to be perfectly under control until two laps from home when the Ferrari V8 failed in dramatic fashion handing the race win to Kovalainen and leaving Massa distraught.

It was certainly Kovalainen’s lucky day as he recorded his first Grand Prix victory.
The Finn did not have the pace of McLaren Mercedes team-mate Hamilton nor Massa in the Ferrari. Still, it was an error free run which launches his championship tally to within striking distance of the BMW Sauber duo of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica.

Timo Glock drove what is by far the strongest race of his career to finish second for Toyota, Starting from fifth position, Glock made the jump on Kubica and ran with Kovalainen for much of the race and while second position was perhaps a little fortunate, he was a contender throughout the race on pure pace and not a safety car intervention or an abstract fuel strategy.

Kimi Raikkonen finished in third position having followed Fernando Alonso for two-thirds of the race without making much of an impression. Some rapid pit work from the Ferrari crew gave him the track position and he was then able to close the gap to Glock before backing off in the latter stages following team-mate Massa’s engine failure. The result moves Raikkonen ahead of his unfortunate team-mate in the championship race.

It proved to be a pretty good day for the Renault team with Alonso and Nelson Piquet taking the chequered flag in fourth and sixth positions with Hamilton recovering from his puncture to finish in fifth position and score four valuable points. Despite his problems, Hamilton retains the championship lead with 62 points.

Jarno Trulli started ninth and finished in seventh position in the second Toyota while it was a disappointing day for the BMW Sauber team with Robert Kubica sliding back at the start of the race and then in the pit stops to finish in eighth position. Team-mate Nick Heidfeld opted to take a one stop strategy and finished in tenth position from 15th position on the grid.

Red Bull Renault lost further ground to Toyota in the constructors’ championship with Mark Webber finishing in ninth position and David Coulthard 11th behind Heidfeld. Glock’s eight points move Toyota nine clear of Red Bull in the battle for fourth position in the championship.

Jenson Button finished a lap down in 12th position in the leading Honda while Rubens Barrichello made early progress in the second RA108 only for a refuelling issue to drop the Brazilian veteran back down the order to finish 16th. In between, Kazuki Nakajima used a one stop strategy to take the flag in 13th position ahead of Williams-Toyota team-mate Nico Rosberg and the Force India Ferrari of Giancarlo Fisichella.

Massa was classified in 17th position and now drops eight points behind Hamilton in the championship and three behind team-mate Raikkonen.

Sebastien Bourdais also suffered a refuelling problem and finished three laps down in 18th while team-mate Sebastian Vettel ran wide at the start of the race heading into the final turn on the first lap and dropped down the order. It would matter little as the STR3 soon ground to a halt with yet another mechanical problem. Adrian Sutil suffered a puncture late in the race in the second Force India and retired the VJM01 a few laps later.

Formula One now takes a short break before reconvening in Valencia in three weeks time.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International