Alvin's Formula One Blog

Wednesday 25th February 2009 David Coulthard predicts World Champion Lewis Hamilton will take his game up another notch this year after claiming his maiden title in 2008. Hamilton narrowly missed out on the World Championship in his rookie season in 2007, but he bounced back last year to win the title in dramatic fashion in the final race of the season. Coulthard believes the 24-year-old Hamilton could cut loose this year as he will be more relaxed now that he has a title to his name. "If he hadn't done it in year two, there may have been an element of desperation in year three," Coulthard said. "I think he will be a more relaxed, rounded guy with less to prove. It gives him an opportunity to unleash that last bit of his performance. "Clearly he worked very hard and honed his talent on the racetrack. There were mistakes. Why do mistakes happen? "At a certain point the brain doesn't quit...

Sunday 22nd February 2009 10. RUBENS BARRICHELLO Bad Week In the battle for Honda survival, the name of Rubens Barrichello has largely been forgotten. The man who virtually matched Jenson Button for pace in 2008 and outscored him on points isn't mentioned in dispatches any more. As the battle for Honda comes down to Branson versus Fry, Bruno Senna's money and name (and perhaps Takuma Sato's Japanese connection for Virgin Japan) is the one being bandied about. It will be sad for Barrichello to exit the sport without the fanfare he deserves. And at a time when intra-season testing looks to have been banned, the job of development driver, seems to have disappeared. 9.FOTA Good Week The telephone lines have closed, the votes have been counted and FOTA are set to reveal the results of their global F1 survey on March 5th. If you haven't already heard - it's a "vision thing". They asked you, the fan, what you wanted...

Tuesday 17th February 2009 Reigning Champ Lewis Hamilton says he's more committed than ever to winning this year's F1 World title. Hamilton won last year's Drivers' crown at the season-ending Brazilian GP where a fifth-placed finish ensured that the Brit took the title by one point ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa. But even though he already has a World title to his name, Hamilton has warned his rivals that he's more determined then ever to claim another this season. "Winning the World Championship in Brazil seems such a long time ago now - things move so fast in Formula One, even when you're not at the racetrack!" he told the official F1 website. "To be honest, I don't really think of myself as World Champion yet - I think that will finally sink in when I get to Melbourne for the first race - so I don't put any extra pressure on myself to live up to that. "Obviou...

Friday 13th February 2009 Lewis Hamilton once again proved to be the quickest driver in a 2009-spec car at the Jerez circuit on Friday, although Renault's Fernando Alonso will be encouraged after closing the gap to the McLaren. As to be expected, Sebastien Bourdais set the pace on Friday, the final day of testing for the week, as his 2008 Toro Rosso continued to dominate. The Frenchman clocked a 1:17.472 in what the team hopes will be the STR3's final outing. "It's been a while since I've driven and it's good to get back in the groove," said Bourdais, who was confirmed as a 2009 STR driver just last week. "We are just continuing to evaluate tyres and understand how the slicks are working, as well as trying a few things on the geometry of the car. All in all, a useful working session." Of this year's cars, though, it was Hamilton who once again led the way, the McLaren driver...

Thursday 12th February 2009 Seb Bourdais marked his first outing as a confirmed 2009 Toro Rosso race driver with a fastest lap time at Jerez on Thursday. Only last Friday was Bourdais confirmed for this year's Championship, taking the final available seat on the 2009 grid. Less than a week later and the Frenchman was back in action for Toro Rosso, safe in the knowledge that his F1 career had been handed a lifeline. And he once again proved his speed to the team, clocking a 1:18.493 to take the P1 slot on the fourth day of testing. Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton may have been second overall, however, the McLaren driver was the quickest of those using their 2009-spec cars. Completing 93 laps in his MP4-24, the reigning F1 World Champ posted a best time of 1:20.737. "Today's test gave me the first opportunity to drive MP4-24 in warm, dry conditions - and I'm very encouraged by what I felt," he said. ...

Finally, Red Bull has launched their 2009 challenger, the RB5. It looks ok, not as good as Mark Webber said it was gonna be. But then again, Mark does talk too much for his own good. The nose is small and sharp, the body looks good, sexy but the front wing does not look as good as McLaren's. Overall it looks better than Renault's and Toyota. The pictures are here on F1Fanatic . Looking forward to seeing Vettel making some progress up the grids and putting Webber in his place soon.

Max is obviously out of his mind. Why would Lewis want to go to a cheating team and make them win some more? They have enough wins with the help of FIA. Drop dead Max. Thursday 5th February 2009 Max Mosley has urged Lewis Hamilton to swap McLaren for Ferrari for "at least one season." Hamilton made his F1 debut with McLaren last year, immediately making a name for himself as a force to be reckoned with, finishing second in that year's Championship. The Brit then went one better in 2008 when he clinched the Drivers' Championship title by one point over Ferrari's Felipe Massa. Hamilton will continue with McLaren this season, having signed a long-term dealwith the Woking team. Mosley, though, has urged him not to stay with McLaren forever. "If I was a racing driver I would want to have driven a Ferrari for at least one season," the FIA President told The Mirror. "Gerhard Berger told ...

Thursday 5th February 2009 The Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) has put forward a plan whereby refuelling will be scrapped in 2010 and all teams will have an enforced two-week break. FOTA, like the FIA, is looking for ways to cut the costs of competing in Formula One with some teams believed to have spent over €200 million on last year's Championship. During a meeting earlier this week FOTA proposed a few ideas that would help teams and manufacturer keep their heads above water in the middle of the world's economic crisis. According to Autosport , not only did FOTA reaffirm its commitment to supply independent outfits with cheap engines and gearboxes from 2010, but also proposed scrapping refuelling. Discussions were also had about the introduction of standard telementry as well as a two-week break whereby teams would not be allowed to do any work, even at their factories. FOTA is also keen to implemen...

Monday 2nd February 2009 Formula One's agreement to ban in-season testing is set to be scrapped, according to reports. The F1 teams had collectively, under the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA), agreed to ban in-season testing as a way to reduce the costs of competing in F1. However, given that this year's new regulations, which include F1's first ever season using the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), many of the teams are reconsidering the ban. "KERS is new for everybody and no one has achieved the level of reliability with it that we would like to have," a team member explained to grandprix.com . "It makes sense to have a transitional year, with less testing than before, but with a few tests early on in the season, to help everybody get on top of their problems. "It's not on everybody's interest to see only five or six cars finish races, so we're trying to get an...

Sunday 1st February 2009 They may be bitter rivals on the track, but Ferrari and McLaren are beginning to work together off it. With the 'Stepney-gate' saga of 2007, in which McLaren were fined a record $100 million and stripped of all their constructors' points for being found in possession of secret Ferrari technical data, seemingly a thing of the past, the two teams have vowed to work together for the good of the sport. Ferrari's media chief Luca Colajanni this week became the first contemporary employee of the Italian team to visit McLaren's Woking factory. "It was definitely a strange feeling," Colajanni said of his visit. "If you had told me a year ago that I would be doing this I would not have believed you," he added. The backdrop of an economic crisis has meant that Formula One has been forced to cut costs, and the formation last July of the Formula One Teams Associat...