GREATER NOIDA, INDIA- Sebastian Vettel added another few records to his growing list of triumphs when he won the first ever Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh circuit, 30 October. He scored his first grand slam by starting in pole, leading every lap, winning the race and setting the fastest lap time. He also became the first driver to lead for 700 laps in a season.
The final lap, with the title already won, allowed the young German driver to go for it and create the new lap record for the circuit. Jenson Button’s McLaren followed Vettel’s Red Bull while Fernando Alonso was third for Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton was involved in yet another controversy but this time the stewards ruled that it was the fault of Felipé Massa. Overall the Grand Prix was a success for the Indian organizers, although some media still focused on the poverty beyond the circuit.
Links to other sites: Formula 1, BBC, Guardian, Times of India
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.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – WWF, the environmental group, and German Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel have reached an agreement on the new home he wants to build in Kemmental, canton Thurgau. The two have been at odds since the WWF announced in November 2010 that it would oppose planning permission for his home.
Local authorities had lifted a construction ban next to his house in the village of Ellighausen to make way for a swimming pool and tennis court, but the WWF and another group, SLP, had opposed it as well as his plans to build a 200-metre concrete wall to protect his privacy.
The racer and WWF 23 September announced that an agreement has been reached whereby Vettel is dropping his re-zoning request for the area next to his house and the wall will go ahead but only until 2020, at which point the hedge planted now will be high enough to replace the wall. In addition, Vettel has agreed to finance an environmental project to make up for damage done to a natural pond during excavation work.
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
Silverstone, England The Daily Telegraph, reports that Lewis Hamilton has been house hunting in Monaco, which is also the base of team-mate Jenson Button, 9 July. Apparently the Formula 1 driver finds life a bit dull in Zurich but might also be influenced by the prospect of higher taxes. Other commentators are more concened with Hamilton’s erratic performance this season. Felipé Massa, Nicki Lauda and even Stirling Moss have been critical of his aggressive driving style as he struggles to compete with the better performing cars of the Red Bull team and its star driver Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton has promised to put things right at this weekend’s British Grand prix at Silverstone.
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.
Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) - Australia and Sebastian Vettel combined to offer Formula 1 fans a season opener Sunday 27 March to whet the appetite for more. Red Bull’s Vettel set out in style to defend his world champion title, finishing 22.2s ahead of MacLaren’s Lewis Hamilton whose KERS-assisted rush in the pair’s drag race to the first corner was the only real challenge to Vettel. The German’s stellar performance contrasted with the German lineup for Mercedes, where Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg both had accidents and were out.
The F1 now moves on to Malaysia for the next race, 10 April.
Links to other sites: F1 season calendar, F1, Grand Prix Australia, how your team fared
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, 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, European Grand Prix
Valencia, Spain (GenevaLunch) - Red Bull brought Germany their first sporting glory of the day with an emphatic win at the European Grand Prix in Valencia, 27 June. Sebastian Vettel started in pole position and was never really threatened. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button came in next for McLaren although Button’s third place might be lost to a steward’s enquiry after a group of drivers went too fast during while the safety car was on. Should that happen third place would go to the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi.The most exciting moment of the race was when the other Red Bull driver, Mark Webber, was involved in a spectacular crash after driving into the rear of Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
