Abu Dhabi (GenevaLunch) – Sebastian Vettel, 23-year-old German Formula 1 driver, made history Sunday 14 November by being the youngest ever winner of the F1 driver’s title. He ended the season with 10 wins for Red Bull to his name. Fernando Alonso and Ferrari went into the race needing to finish in the top four for Alonzo to take the title, but he finished in seventh place. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton finished second and Jenson Button third.
Red Bull also took the constructor’s title, earlier in the season in Brazil.
Links to other sites: BBC, F1, post-race interview with Vettel, rankings on F1
International sports, Formula 1
Singapore, (GenevaLunch) - Fernando Alonso won his second successive Grand Prix when he claimed the Singapore race for Ferrari, ahead of the Red Bulls driven by Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Jenson Button was fourth while team-mate Lewis Hamilton once again did not finish after colliding with Webber. Alonso started in pole position and was rarely troubled by those behind him, except on the final lap as Vettel almost caught him.
There are five drivers within 25 points, the reward for a win, with Webber leading Alonso by 11 points and Hamilton, Vettel and Button taking the next places.
International sports, Formula 1
Monza, Italy (GenevaLunch) - Fernando Alonso took the Italian Grand Prix for Ferrari in front of the adoring Tifosi at Monza. He came in ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button and Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa. Alonso started in pole position but was pushed back into second place as Button got a better start. Lewis Hamilton got too close to the Ferraris and was out of the race on the first lap. Alonso regained the first place as the cars stopped for tyre changes and stayed comfortably ahead for the rest of the race.
Sebastian Vettel came fourth for Red Bull while Mark Webber was sixth while Michael Schumacher was ninth. Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi finished just out of the points in 11th place.
The overall championship table now has five drivers within the 25 points that come from a win. Mark Webber heads Lewis Hamilton by five points while Alonso, Button and Vettel are all in touch.
Shanghai, China (GenevaLunch) - McLaren Mercedes drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton made it an English double as they took the top two places in the Chinese Grand Prix, 18 April. The championship winners from 2009 and 2008 mastered the changing weather conditions better than the Red Bull team that started at the front of the grid. Fernando Alonso passed the Red Bull team on the first straight but was sent back for a drive through penalty for having started early. Sebastian Vettel went down from pole to finish sixth, Mark Webber from second to eighth. Nico Rosberg finished third for Mercedes and Alonso was fourth for Ferrari. Felipe Massa was back in ninth place, followed by Michael Schumacher.
Four drivers were forced to retire on the first lap including Swiss driver Sébastien Buemi after a pile up. Buemi was also victim of a spectacular crash in qualifying. The race was one of the most fascinating of recent years as the rain and tyre changes made for competitive, sometimes chaotic, conditions. Button now heads the championship table by ten points from Nico Rosberg with Alonso and Hamilton another point back.
Sepang, Malaysia (GenevaLunch) – Red Bull dominated the Malaysian Grand Prix Sunday 4 April. Their two drivers started on the front row and ended first and second: the only change was that Sebastian Vettel passed Mark Webber on the way to the first bend and then stayed in front for the rest of the race.
Further back there was more action. Both Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes made a mess of the qualifying stages and started almost at the back of the grid.
Bahrain (GenevaLunch) - Fernando Alonso started his Ferrari career in the ideal way by leading the team to a one-two victory Sunday 14 March at the opening Grand Prix of the season on the newly designed Bahrain track. Sebastin Vettel started in pole position with Alonso and teammate Felipe Massa taking the next two spots on the starting grid, followed by Lewis Hamilton for McLaren. Michael Schumacher started his comeback race in seventh place.
Once the race was underway Vettel pulled into an early lead and held it for the first 35 laps until his car developed problems with its exhaust system.
Maranello, Italy (GenevaLunch) – Swiss-based Fernando Alonso will be racing with Ferrari in the Formula 1 for three years, starting in 2010. The Italian company announced the news Wednesday 30 September, saying that next season’s driver lineup will therefore be Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, with Giancarlo Fisichella as reserve driver.
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium (GenevaLunch) - Kimi Raikkönen drove his Ferrari to victory in the Belgian Grand Prix after a pile-up on the first lap knocked four cars out of the race, including last year’s champion Lewis Hamilton and this season’s leader, Jenson Button.
Valencia, Spain (GenevaLunch) - Rubens Barrichello was the popular winner of the European GP in the streets of Valencia, his first win since 2004 with Ferrari. The Brawn GP driver started in third place behind Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen for McLaren. In the first lap Kimi Raikkönen moved up from sixth to fourth while Championship leader Jenson Button went down from fifth to ninth.
Lewis Hamilton extended his lead through the opening laps.
Mugello, Italy (GenevaLunch) - Michael Schumacher, seven-time Formula 1 Champion has abandoned his comeback as replacement driver for Felipe Massa in the Ferrari team for the European Grand Prix to be held in Valencia, Spain.
Might soon be time to trade in your old Ferrari California (image ©2009 Ferrari/Geneva Motor Show)
Ferrari 458, sleek, aerodynamic
Milan, Italy (GenevaLunch) – The Italia 458 Ferrari, due to be unveiled at the Frankfurt auto show in Germany 15 September, is the Italian carmaker’s bid to beat the worldwide economic slump by facing it head on. The Italia is a completely new car, aided by crucial design input from Gland, Switzerland-based world racing champion, Michael Schumacher, a former Ferrari racer.
Gland, Vaud, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Seven-times world champion racing driver Michael Schumacher announced he would stand in for injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa in the upcoming race in Valencia, Spain 23 August. Schumacher, 40, who lives on the shores of Lake Geneva, retired from Formula 1 racing in 2006 but continued as a team advisor for the Ferrari team where he won five of his seven championships.
Budapest, Hungary (GenevaLunch) - Fernando Alonso will start on pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix after an incident-packed qualifying session which saw Felipe Massa taken to hospital by helicopter after crashing at 200 kph. The Brazilian Ferrari driver has undergone emergency surgery after suffering skull damage and concussion, reports the BBC. Ferrari says he will remain under observation in intensive care.
Istanbul, Turkey (GenevaLunch) – Jenson Button drove his Brawn GP car to his fourth consecutive Formula 1 victory. He has now won six of the seven races this season. He then thanked the team for producing a “monster of a car.” Only four other drivers have won six of the first seven, Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark and Michael Schumacher (twice).
The Italian car company Ferrari says it may quit Formula 1 racing in protest at new budget and technical rules announced by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, FIA, the sport’s governing body. Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen live in Switzerland. FIA President Max Mosley told the Financial Times two weeks ago that Formula 1 could survive without Ferrari.
Honda announced in December 20087 it was quitting the sport in an effort to save money, and it sold its team.
Shanghai, China (GenevaLunch) – The Red Bull team scored their first Grand Prix victory in the Chinese race, and took second place as well, pushing current championship leader Jenson Button into third place. Last year’s winner, Lewis Hamilton, was in sixth.
