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The 2011 Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix concluded with Sebastian Vettel coming in first and he is almost assured to be crowned this year's F1 champion. Discussing Vettel's win over in Singapore is somehow pointless as he drove exceptionally well and the Red Bull F1 car in winning form. This year is his and there is nothing we can do about it but enjoy the performance. Now if you've been following this year's F1 like I have been you'd have noticed that the media has been trying hard to create waves elsewhere as Vettel's winning ways are killing headlines. In a way that is. Imagine the same headline 'Vettel Wins!' throughout the season with only the venue changing. So they try turning something into nothing. It must be hard for them to cook up stories as they've recently decided to crucify Lewis Hamilton because of his antics in the Singapore GP. What happened over in Singapore (somewhere behind the winning Sebastian Vettel) was Hamilton driving the tyres out of his McLaren and rear ending Fillipe Massa of Ferrari. This had caused a furious Massa trying to make his way towards Hamilton in the pits. This had also caused the media speculating that the drivers were ganging up on Hamilton stating that he had made dangerous moves on other drivers in Malaysia, Monaco, Montreal, UK Hungary, Belgium and a few others. Honestly, he was racing and trying his hardest to overtake everyone in front of him. I think the media is making a big fuss out of nothing. It also seems that some media people want races to be without incidents or without aggressive drivers. Maybe the cars would have neon signs that state 'Please move over I am faster than you, you slowcoach'. Too much hot air is being blown onto this issue. Oh yes. I have not reported on the 2012 Singapore GP as yet. Aside from Vettel winning again (and again, and again) it was quite good. Hamilton crashing in Massa meant that the drivers are indeed racing. The track is super tight as usual and there is no room for error. The Singapore GP is indeed taxing on the drivers as they mostly see barriers, tall fencing and lights. How most of them can keep their concentration lap after lap in a totally cooped up environment is totally commendable and truly awesome. photo credit:planetf1

Dramatic. This was what the 2011 Formula 1 Grand Prix in Belgium was like. It was action packed with flat out racing, tyres that somehow didn't seem to last long and pit lane tactics coming into play. The race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit happened after a one month break from racing and the break must have rejuvenated Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull gang as Vettel came in first ahead of his team mate Mark Webber and Jenson Button who had a well deserved third place after starting from thirteenth place. The race started off with a bang. This was because after the front runners (with Vettel in pole) moved off safely, Bruno Senna caused the opening crash by failing to brake and torpedoing into the Toro Rosso driven by Jaime Alguersuari. Then Timo Glock decided to rearrange the looks of Paul DiResta's Force India car by crashing into it. He manageda two-birds one stone thingy as he managed to take off Jenson Button's endplate too. Button then collided into bits of Senna's front wing which was strewn across the track and lost his own wing too causing him to pit (imagine still comming out third after this type of start). The drama ensured as by lap 5 Vettel had to pit due to blistering tyres and on lap 6, the other Sebastian, Sebastian Buemi made contact with Sergio Perez and lost his rear wing. Both entered the pits for damage and Perez was given a drive-through penalty for the skirmish. By this time the positions of the drivers had changed but the driving or racing was really good (a simple non-bombastic word to actually describe the moment). On lap 15 or thereabouts Kamui Kobayashi got tangled with Lewis Hamilton causing a pretty massive crash. This caused a safety car incident which Sebastian Vettel utilised to get another tyre change. Meanwhile, Mark Webber's radio failed causing him to lose contact with his pit crew and lose the chance of taking advantage of the moment. I suppose this may have caused him to lose the race. The Red Bull cars were having tyre issues as both ran massive front camber setups for qualifying that made sure tyre life was short. Somehow both drivers managed to 'drive around' this problem and finish first and second. Anyway aside from Vettel and the others making things interesting, it was a fabulous race for Michael Schumacher too. The Grand master of Formula 1 showed the new kids on the block some of his magic and this race celebrated his 20 years in Formula 1. As I've said earlier, this old man is still showing people how it's done (albeit his usual recklessness and silly mistakes occasionally) as he started off from the last position and finished fifth ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg. Watching him drive this time around was like watching him drive in the late 1990s and early '00s. It looks like this old chap is getting younger with every race. The Belgian F1 was a memorable race and Vettel's win wasn't like one of his earlier victories of this season. He had to work hard for this one. Results 01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h26.44.893 2. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 3.741 3. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 9.669 4. Alonso Ferrari + 13.022 5. Schumacher Mercedes + 47.464 6. Rosberg Mercedes + 48.674 7. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 59.713 8. Massa Ferrari + 1m06.076 9. Petrov Renault + 1m11.917 10. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 1m17.615 11. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1m23.994 12. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1m31.976 13. Senna Renault + 1m32.985 14. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 1 lap 15. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 1 lap 16. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 17. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 1 lap 18. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 1 lap 19. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 1 lap Did Not Finish Perez Sauber-Ferrari 27 Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 13 Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 12 Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 6 Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 photo source: planetf1

The recent Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix was interesting. I suppose the weather helped again as it rained and we got to see defending World Champion Sebastian Vettel as well as previous World Champions Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso losing it with either a spin or having some off the track incidents. We also got to see a level headed ex-world champion Jenson Button winning the race in a McLaren. Lady luck must have been with him as the Hungarian Grand Prix was mainly led by Lewis Hamilton who drove the other McLaren. Now other than that this race marked Button's 200th race and incredibly his 11th race win. I suppose this basically means that Formula 1 is tough as this chap has been racing for so long and actually won the driver's championship once yet he only has eleven wins around his belt. It must be as he has to fight four other world champions out there (the chaps mentioned above and Michael Schumacher too). Anyway, it rained and as usual that sort of weather makes racing so unpredictable. Aside from the spins and slips by the race leaders and challengers, one other reason Jenson Button won was his decision not to come in of intermediate tires when everyone seemed to want to use them. He opted for the prime tires in a slightly damp track and kept it on the track when others seemed to be slip-sliding all around him. From what I have seen, the Red Bull cars are still the cars to beat on race day but when the weather comes into play, tire strategy, patience and skill comes into play. One other incident that is actually worth writing about is the fact that Nick Heidfield's Renault actually caught fire in the pits (at around lapd 20). This happened as the Renault was stationary for quite a while and upon exiting the pits, his car caught fire. Heidfield managed to scramble out of the car and the car experienced a small explosion while the track marshalls were trying to put the fire out. One marshall was hit by flying shards of carbon fiber and it was a nearly a safety car incident. It wasn't, but if the safety car was brought out, the outcome of the race may be altered. Anyway, as I posted earlier, mid-season is usually when Formula 1 gets interesting. No one knows what will happen after this upcoming 4 week break from racing. The next race is scheduled on the 28th of August at Spa, Belgium. Results 01. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1h43:42.337 02. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 3.588 03. Alonso Ferrari + 19.819 04. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 48.338 05. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 49.742 06. Massa Ferrari + 1:17.176 07. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 08. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 09. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap 10. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 11. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 12. Petrov Renault + 1 lap 13. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 2 laps 14. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 2 laps 15. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 2 laps 16. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 2 laps 17. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 4 laps 18. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps 19. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 5 laps 20. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 5 laps Retirements Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 56 Schumacher Mercedes 27 Heidfeld Renault 24 Trulli Lotus-Renault 18 photo credit:planetf1

[extract] It rained during the British Formula 1 Grand Prix at Silverstone on the 10th of July. This basically meant that racing was at its finest (subjectively speaking that is). Ferrari managed to break its dry spell in this wet race with Fernando Alonso taking the win with the usual suspects, Sebastian Vettel coming in second and his Red Bull counterpart, Mark Webber taking third. It is Ferrari

[extract] The European Formula 1 Grand Prix was held at Valencia recently and to tell you the truth, I fell asleep after a few laps. I suppose it was late in this part of the world but it wasn

Monaco. Vettel wins again. His first ever win at Monaco. And it IS Groundhog day but at least the 2011 Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix wasn't a procession of cars like it usually is year after year. Sebastian Vettel's win for Red Bull Racing wasn't a walk in a park. It was a race filled with the very good looking SLS Safety Car, red flags, stoppages and a lot of accidents. It is Monaco, but with a slightly different tinge to it. Vettel's win was quite unexpected. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso's second place was unexpected too. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was penalised for dangerous passing even though he finished sixth (and then post-race he started blaming the stewards for wrongly penalising him because of his color

Lewis Hamilton claimed victory at the China Formula 1 Grand Prix held on the 17th of April 2011. It was quite a feat as just before the race the McLaren mechanics were hard at work repairing Hamilton's car which suffered a fuel leak. It was a major victory of sorts as this is the 3rd race of the 2011 season and finally someone has ended Sebastian Vettel's run of victories. He came in second nonetheless ahead of Red Bull's other driver, Mark Webber who himself drove a fabulous race. He started from 18th on the grid and made it to 3rd on the second last lap of the race. Now for those that thought F1 lacked overtaking, this one had a lot of it. But before we talk about overtaking, let's talk about the start of the race. The grid's top 10 were Vettel, Button, Hamiton, Rosberg, Alonso, Massa, Alguersuari DiResta, Buemi, and Petrov. As stated Lewis Hamilton managed to get onto the start line 35seconds before the pitlane was deemed closed. What we were told in the commentary was that he actually started with some body parts still not fitted onto his car. At the start, there was no major accidents. No bits of carbon or wings or tires here and there. It was pretty decent with pole position holder Vettel botching up his start a little and allowing Jenson Button pass as well as a very aggressive Lewis Hamilton. Vettel was third at the end of the first lap with Nico Rosberg of Mercedes GP and the two Ferraris of Alonso and Massa following closely. Michael Schumacher must have been on form at the start as he went from fourteenth to ninth. Mark Webber who started at 18th actually opted to start with the harder Pirelli tires. By lap 9 he was even overtaken by the Sauber of Sergio Perez and at lap 10 he pitted to go with the softer choice that all the front liners used at the start. However, his move must have actually paid off as he could then choose the softer compound throughout the race. A 3rd placing from a start at 18th due to the choice of tires. Actually tires made a whole lot of different at the China GP. Those that did 3 stops were better than those that did 2 stops. On Lap 30 Hamilton passed Alonso (who was on a 2 stop strategy) on Turn 14 of the circuit and later stated that he had never never overtaken anyone there before unless it was a backmarker. The softer Pirellis were to choice instead of the harder Prime tire. Surprising, but it caused a lot of upset, especiallyy with the Ferraris. In simple terms, the lighter 3 stopping cars actually did far better lap times and even by their third stop, the driver up front could be so far ahead of a 2 stopper like Alonso. However, Fernando Alonso also added that their 2 stop strategy wasn't totally Ferrari's undoing but the Ferrari's aren't up to par as yet. But say what you want as Vettel was on a 2 stop strategy and he basically suffered. Actually more incidents happened at the China GP. It had all the drivers on their toes with a whole lot of overtaking involved. Lewis Hamilton took 1st place ahead of the two Red Bulls. Jenson Button had to be content with 4th after being out driven at the last moment by a flying Mark Webber. Mercedes GP did well with Nico Rosberg into taking 5th. Felipe Massa of Ferrari in 6th with Fernando Alonso in 7th. Michael Schumacher in 8th and Lotus Renault's Petrov was around 30 seconds behind in ninth. A dry race with overtaking. It must have been down to the Pirelli tires. It looks like the moral of the story is that you actually need tires that aren't so consistent (or can I say, crappy tires) to have added excitement in F1. The next race is on 8th of May at Istanbul Park, Istanbul, Turkey. Race Results 01. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:36:58.226 02. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull +5.198 03. Mark Webber Red Bull +7.555 04. Jenson Button McLaren +10.000 05. Nico Rosberg Mercedes Grand Prix +13.448 06. Felipe Massa Ferrari +15.840 07. Fernando Alonso Ferrari +30.622 08. Michael Schumacher Mercedes Grand Prix +31.026 09. Vitaly Petrov Renault +57.404 10. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber +1:03.273 11. Paul di Resta Force India +1:08.757 12. Nick Heidfeld Renault +1:12.739 13. Rubens Barrichello Williams +1:30.189 14. Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso +1:30.671 15. Adrian Sutil Force India +1 Lap 16. Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus +1 Lap 17. Sergio Perez Sauber +1 Lap 18. Pastor Maldonado Williams +1 Lap 19. Jarno Trulli Team Lotus +1 Lap 20. Jerome d' Ambrosio Virgin Racing +2 Laps 21. Timo Glock Virgin Racing +2 Laps 22. Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT F1 Team +2 Laps 23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT F1 Team +2 Laps DNF 24. Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso +47 Laps photo source:planetf1

It seems the pre-F1 promotion has begun in Kuala Lumpur with the people at Lotus-Renault GP showing off their Lotus Renault R31 Formula 1 car at the Pavillion Shopping Mall over there recently. There was only the car, an LCD Screen stating some facts and the stand on which the car sits. This is a prelude of the F1 promotions and Lotus Renault are starting it off in line with the Malaysian Formula 1 Grand Prix which is set for the 8th, 9th and 10th of April 2011. The Lotus Renault R31 on display must have been the car they used for its official unveiling as it is different from the car that is currently on the official website. This car has a smaller nose cone and some of the rear wing slats are missing. It is pretty obvious as in F1, everything moves ridiculously fast and week after week of wind tunnel testing would result in aerodynamic improvement that changes the design of the car. The 2011 season will be the team's inaugural season after the Renault GP team was bought over by Lotus. Since Proton owns Lotus, the Malaysian company seems to feel that the Sepang F1 is the 'home' race for Lotus Renault GP. Hence the very early start in promotions. Now note that PETRONAS, the Malaysian oil & gas giant also feels that since they are the main sponsors of the Mercedes GP Petronas team, they will surely ramp up promotion and events over at the Petronas Twin Towers soon. Last year, it was like a carnival there, with Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg driving their cars as well as giving interviews then. And we also have to add that little fact that the previous Lotus sanctioned team Team Lotus will also think of Sepang as its home race too. Formerly Lotus Racing and also referred to by the company name 1Malaysia F1 Team by the Malaysian media and parliament is a Formula One team, which made its debut in the 2010 F1 season. The team was set up by a group of Malaysian businessmen, using a licence from Lotus Cars owner Proton to use the Lotus name in Formula One. After having that licence terminated for further seasons, the team will use the historic Team Lotus name in the 2011 season,but are now facing legal action from Group Lotus and parent company Proton over the use of the Lotus name. On 24 January 2011, a judge at the