TOKYO, JAPAN – Jenson Button won the Japanese Grand Prix for McLaren but it was not enough to stop Sebastian Vettel from retaining the world championship crown at the Japanese Grand Prix 9 October. Fernando Alonso was second in his Ferrari with Vettel’s Red Bull coming third, more than achieving the single point he needed to retain his title.
Vettel started in pole position but held it only thanks to some aggresssive driving on the first straight when he forced Button off the track.
The McLaren driver got his revenge later when he gained a second during the pit stops and took the lead, retaining it till the end.
Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi was last, being the only driver not to finish.
Vettel is the youngest driver to have won and then retained his title.
International sports, Formula 1
Hungaroring, Hungary Jenson Button showed his mastery of wet conditions to take the Hungarian Grand Prix for Mclaren. Sebastian Vettel was second but increased his lead in the championship, Sunday 31 July. Fernando Alonso was third in his Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton lead for part of the race but was hampered by poor choice of tyres, multiple pit stops and a drive-through penalty: he could only manage fourth. Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi came in a creditable eighth from a 23rd place on the starting grid.
SILVERSTONE, ENGLAND – Fernando Alonso scored his first win of the season in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. He drove a faultless race and took full advantage of the technical problems of both the Red Bull and McLaren teams. Mark Webber started in pole position, just ahead of Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel but the order of the top two was switched by the first turn. The race was complicated by the weather, with some parts of the track wet and others dry, making for interesting racing. Alonso passed Vettel when the Red Bull pit stop was messed up.
Jenson Button was later eliminated by a rather worse stop where he drove off before his rear wheel was properly fastened.
In the end Alonso won from Vettel, Webber and Lewis Hamilton. Felipé Massa was fifth. Vettel leads the championship race by 80 points.
Links to other sites: Formula 1, BBC, Guardian
International sports, Formula 1, Chinese Grand Prix
Shanghai, China (GenevaLunch) - Lewis Hamilton stormed to victory in the third Grand Prix of the season when he passed the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel four laps from the finish, 17 April. It was the first loss of the season for Vettel. Mark Webber came third for Red Bull after fighting back from 18th place on the starting grid. Twit of the day award goes to Jenson Button who lost valuable seconds by entering the wrong pit, heading for that of Red Bull instead of his McLaren team. He still came in fourth. The Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernado Alonso were sixth and seventh, after the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg.
International sports, Formula 1
Petronas, Malaysia (GenevaLunch) - Sebastian Vettel scored his fourth successive Grand Prix when he drove his Red Bull to victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix, 10 April. Jenson Button was second for McLaren in a dramatic race which featured more overtaking than normal, a spectacular crash and another clash between Lewis Hamilton and Alonso. Vettel was always in command with a magistral display despite losing his KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) accelaration in mid-race. Nick Heidfeld was third for Renault, followed by Mark Webber, Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso. Michael Schumacher was 9th while Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi was out of the points in 13th.
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
Sao Paulo, Brazil (GenevaLunch) - Red Bull scored another double to take the constructors’ championship for the first time and ensure that the drivers’ title would not be decided before the final race of the season. Sebastian Vettel started in second spot but took the lead by the first corner of the Brazilian Grand Prix and was never really challenged in the penultimate race of the season, 7 November. His teammate Mark Webber took second with championship leader Fernado Alonso in third place for Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton was fourth and will need a few miracles to win the title, but Vettel and Webber are in with a chance of passing Alonso. 2009 champion Jenson Button came fifth but is now out of the running. Michael Schumacher was 7th while Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi was 13th.
Fernando Alonso will win the title if he finishes first or second in the final race in Abu Dhabi 14 November, or he can finish 4th if Webber rather than Vettel takes the race.
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.
International sports, Formula 1
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium (GenevaLunch) - Lewis Hamilton won the Belgian Grand Prix and moved to the top of the drivers’ championship for the season. He started on the front line, with Mark Webber in pole position but was soon first as the Australian Red Bull driver had problems at the start. The English McLaren driver then held the lead for the rest of the race despite some scary moments. Webber came in second, and is also second for the season so far. Hamilton’s team-mate Jenson Button was forced out of the race when in second place by Sebastian Vettel, the other Red Bull driver, driving into him from behind.
International sports, Formula 1, German Grand Prix
Update 26 July Hockenheim, Germany (GenevaLunch) - Ferrari took their first double for two years as Fernando Alonso and Felipé Massa took the top two places in the German Grand Prix, 25 July 2010. The win left a sour taste, however, as Massa allowed Alonso to pass despite the F1 rules against race fixing. Sebastian Vettel started in pole position with his Red Bull but was passed by the two Ferraris on the first straight and could only follow them to third place. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button took the next two spots for McLaren. Hamilton heads the standings for the season, 14 points ahead of Button while Mark Webber is another seven points back.
Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi retired after one lap.
Stewards later announced that Ferrari had been fined $100,000 for breaching the regulation: “Team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited.” It is also possible that the team will be punished by losing their points from the Grand Prix. The rule was introduced after outrage following the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix when Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello allowed team-mate Michael Schumacher to pass in the final straight.
International Sports, Formula 1
Istanbul, Turkey (GenevaLunch) - Red Bull spoiled their day when their two drivers collided while leading the race at the Turkish Grand Prix 30 May. The Mclaren team swept past them to win their own double, with Lewis Hamilton taking first place ahead of Jenson Button. The Red Bull smash-up came on the 40th lap when German Sebastian Vettel tried to pass his Australian teammate Mark Webber, veered to the right before he had completed the maneuver and crashed into the side of Webber’s car. Vettel was forced to stop while Webber had to pit and emerged in third place, just ahead of Michael Schumacher. The two McLaren drivers almost collided as Button swept past Hamilton, only to have Hamilton immediately do the same back.
Urgent messages from the mechanics prevented any more fun and the race ended peacefully. Mark Webber still heads the standings this season, ahead of Button and Hamilton. Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi had another bad day with a collision on the first lap: he finished 16th. Ferrari ended 7th and 8th.
International sports, Formula 1
Circuit de Catalunya, Spain (GenevaLunch) – Before the race began Mark Webber, the Australian Red Bull driver, was asked what he was hoping for: he replied that he wanted a boring race and that is what he delivered at the Spanish Grand Prix 9 May. In the first dry race of the season he lead from pole position to the end and was never challenged for the lead. Behind him it was more a question of the reliability of the cars than the skill of the drivers. Sebastian Vettel started second but fell back behind Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso as he had braking problems.
Hamilton crashed out with a puncture on the final lap when he was in second place. Alonso then took second for Ferrari, Vettel finished third. Michael Schumacher was fourth, his best finish since coming out of retirement. Jenson Button, the current champion, came fifth and retains a lead of three points from Alonso in the drivers’ championship.
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.
Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) - World Champion Jenson Button gave a master class in smooth driving to take the Australian Grand Prix for McLaren Mercedes Sunday 28 March (Swiss time). It was an exciting race full of incidents: changing weather, changing tires, engine failures, overtaking and collisions. The keys to the victory were Button’s decision to switch to slick tires, for dry conditions, before the other drivers and then his unmatched ability to preserve his tires.
Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (GenevaLunch) - Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber grabbed the top two places in the final Grand Prix of the 2009 season in Abu Dhabi. It was the first race to take place on the track, and the first day-night Grand Prix race. Jenson Button, who had captured the championship in the previous Grand Prix, took third place after an unsuccessful fight to pass Webber in the final laps.
Tokyo, Japan (GenevaLunch) – Sebastian Vettel drove his Red Bull to a routine victory in the Japanese Grand Prix to preserve his chances of upsetting Jenson Button in the championship race.
The German driver lead from pole position and was never really threatened. Italian Jarno Trulli was second for Toyota with current champion Lewis Hamilton third in his McLaren. Button picked up one point for coming eighth but still has a 14-point lead over teammate Rubens Barrichello and is 16 points clear of Vettel with two races left.
Details: Guardian, UK
Singapore (GenevaLunch) – Lewis Hamilton predicted that the Singapore Grand Prix would be a pleasant evening drive and that turned out to be the case, at least for him. The British driver, current champion but well out of the running after a poor start to the season, started from pole position and was never in danger. Jenson Button, current championship leader came in fifth despite starting from 12th to pick up four points, extending his lead over Brawn GP teammate Rubens Barrichello to 15 points, with three races to go. Timo Glock was second in his Toyota and Fernando Alonso third in his Renault. Sebastian Vettel was fourth for Red Bull, and is third in the championship, 25 points behind Button.
The next Grand Prix will be in Japan on Sunday, October 4, and could secure the title for Button.
Details: Formula 1.com
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.
Budapest, Hungary (GenevaLunch) - It was just like old times as Lewis Hamilton, current Champion drove an almost faultless race, with the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkönen second, and Mark Webber third for Red Bull. It was Hamilton’s tenth Grand Prix win, but his first this season.
Fernando Alonso started in pole position in his Renault but was forced to stop at the pits with tire trouble, and then to retire as a front wheel was not properly fitted and later flew off.
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.
Nuerburgring, Germany (GenevaLunch) – Australian Mark Webber drove his Red Bull team to his first Grand Prix victory after 130 starts, all the more amazing considering that he spent the winter in rehab after a severe cycling accident gave him a badly broken leg and shoulder injuries. His German teammate Sebastian Vettel was second while Brazilian Felipe Massa was third for Ferrari. Nico Rosberg came in fourth for Williams while current leader Jenson Button was fifth ahead of fellow Brawn driver Rubens Barrichello.
Silverstone, England (GenevaLunch) – Sebastian Vettel lead the Red Bull team to victory in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Team-mate Mark Weber was second while Rubens Barrichello came in third for Brawn GP. Championship leader Jenson Button could only manage sixth place, while last year’s champion Lewis Hamilton continued his horrible season with a sixteenth place.
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).
Monaco (GenevaLunch) – Jenson Button put on another faultless display to win the Monaco Grand Prix: his fifth win in the six races so far this season. His Brawn GP teammate Rubens Barrichello took second place with the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkönen third.
Barcelona, Spain (GenevaLunch) – Jenson Button started from pole position in the Formula 1 race in Barcelona but lost the lead to Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello by the first bend. After the customary mayhem of the opening lap the only real question was which of the two Brawn GP drivers would take first place.
Bahrain (GenevaLunch) – Jenson Button lead the Brawn team to their third win after only four races this season with a faultless display in the heat of the desert.
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.
