Alvin's Formula One Blog

It is amazing what everybody at McLaren has done. They've improved the car from a has-been to a race winner, albeit a little too late for any titles. But it shows what determination, a never give up attitude and perseverance can do. Plus money too. From what I know of Lewis himself as a person, he has no "give up" in his vocabulary. In his mind, he only has one choice in life, and that is to win. There is no losing or give up or compromise in his mind. There is only winning. You might call that extreme but it takes an extreme mind to succeed. I'm somewhat in a transition in my life now and Lewis is such a great inspiration, I have to use some of that positive energy myself.

I did propose how interesting it would be (just for fun though ) if Michael Schumacher returned to replace Massa, didn't I? I was just fooling around, I didn't know the people involved were serious. It seems that it is coming true. First though is that Massa is getting better and will probably race again. Maybe not this season but next year. Then again, his final condition is unknown so we'll see. He is concious now, able to sit up in bed and even taking some steps. The funny thing about Schumacher racing again is that Ferrari have 2 test drivers who are qualified to be reserve drivers, in fact at least one of them is the official test driver but they were not considered to replace Massa. Why is that? Is Schumi more interesting? Better PR? Better driver? Sell more tickets and merchandise? One thing is for sure, a lot of people are relishing the thought of pitting Schumi against some of the best drivers from the current crop. Talking of the current crop, Kimi should be wak...

A sad day indeed for motorsport when one of its best known names has decided to leave the pinnacle of motorsports and such a great team and manufacturer at that. BMW is my favorite car, they produce one of the best drivers' cars ever which not only performs but looks good, exuding class and quality. I was hoping they'd stick around for a while because 2009 with the rule changes was only a blip on the radar, a speed bump. I'm surprised they thought this way. I do hope that somebody takes over the team and a BMW engine would still be on the grid next year, just look at Brawn. Meanwhile, the shock announcement has shocked their own drivers as Nick Heidfeld says " BMW's decision to withdraw from Formula One came out of the blue." Not sure what Kubica had to say, he's probably losing his mind in his trailer as he could have finished 2008 nearer the top had BMW thrown their resources at last years' championship. I guess he now has to look for another job a...

We are at the halfway point of the season where the championship takes a breather for 3 weeks. Everybody gets a chance to rest and recuperate, especially Felipe Massa after his accident at the Hungaroring last week. He is reportedly fine for now but long term damage is unknown. His personal physician reports that his eye is undamaged but whether he can race again is too early to tell. But then again, if Webber could do it, so can he. One thing for sure is that he won't be racing for the rest of the season. The question is who will replace him? Ferrari have 2 good test drivers that could do it but isn't it more interesting if Schumacher was the one ? Another twist to the season is that Renault has been banned from the next race at Valencia (Alonso and Piquet won't miss much as that race is boring) because of the incident where Alonso's front right wheel was not attached properly during the pitstop, he was released anyway and the wheel flew off onto the track which cou...

Sunday 26th July 2009 Lewis Hamilton claimed his first grand prix victory of the season in Hungary as McLaren put their early season woes behind them to return to winning ways. Starting from fourth on the grid, the defending World Champion put his KERS to good use, easily sliding his way past his rivals and up into second place by the end of the first lap. From there it was just a case of chasing down Fernando Alonso, which he easily did, taking the lead as the Spaniard pitted. Alonso's pit stop, though, proved to be the Renault driver's downfall as his front right wasn't secured properly and came off on his out-lap. With the wheel hurtling across the track, F1 proved for the second time this weekend that its safety standards still need to be improved. The damage from driving back to the pits on three wheels resulted in Alonso retiring on the next lap. Meanwhile, with Hamilton pulling away from the chasi...

Finally, a race worth watching. And what a race. The supposedly boring Hungarian GP turned otherwise. Alonso who was on pole and looked to have at least been on the podium ended up DNF because of a loose wheel which came off flying in a dramatic way. Sebastien Vettel also retired due to a problem with his car and Mark Webber really didn't have the pace although he did end up 3rd. Rosberg quietly finished in 4th and Kovalainnen got some more points for McLaren in 5th. He really is no match for Lewis even with the same car. The 2 Toyotas were surprising finishing 6th and 8th after a poor practice and qualifying. The Brawns seems to have lost some steam with Button 7th and Barrichello 10th. Looks like Rubens won't be racing next year. The race was watchable, I'd definitely watch it again. The start was nail biting, there were some overtaking moments and McLaren are back.

Saturday 25th July 2009 Fernando Alonso may have claimed pole position for Sunday's Hungarian GP but he did it with a very, very light car. Alonso took the coveted grid slot on Saturday, afterward hinting that he could be running light compared to the others in the top ten. And that proved to be a fact when the weights for revealed. While Alonso came in at just 637.5kgs, second placed Sebastian Vettel almost 20kgs heavier while third placed Mark Webber is on a similar strategy to Vettel. Lewis Hamilton, who qualified fourth for the Budapest race, is slightly lighter than the Red Bulls and given that he also has KERS should have an advantage off the line. Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen are on similar strategies while the man behind them on the grid, Kimi Raikkonen, is marginally lighter. As for Jenson Button, the Brawn GP is the heaviest of the top eight which could play into his favour as the race progresses. ...

Saturday 25th July 2009 Mass confusion reigned at the end of Hungarian qualifying as the live timing went down in the final minutes with the general consensus being that Fernando Alonso was in pole position. Only nine drivers competed in the pole position shoot-out after Felipe Massa crashed heavily in the final few seconds of the previous session. The Brazilian appeared to be hit by a piece of flying debris from Rubens Barrichello's Brawn GP car, which resulted a huge impact into the Turn 4 barriers. The final qualifying segment was delayed while marshals fixed the tyre barrier but once underway it was Alonso who had the measure of his rivals taking his first pole position of the 2009 campaign with a 1:21.567. Red Bull racers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were next in line while Lewis Hamilton completed the second row. However, none of this was known immediately after qualifying as the track's live timing we...

Sunday 26th July 2009 Ferrari have given an encouraging update on the condition of their driver Felipe Massa, reporting that the Brazilian remains 'stable' as he recovers from his horrible crash in qualifying for the Hungarian GP. In a statement, the team were able to report that Massa had suffered "no further complications" overnight after undergoing emergency surgery on his fractured skull on Saturday night. "After undergoing an operation yesterday afternoon, Felipe Massa's condition remains stable and there were no further complications through the night," said the Ferrari statement. "He will be given another CT scan today, which will provide more precise information." Source : Planet F1

Alonso secures pole on fumes. 25/07/2009 By Race Number No Driver Car Weight 1 Hamilton McLaren 650.5 2 Kovalainen McLaren 655.5 3 Massa Ferrari - ...

25/07/2009 Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1 Alonso Renault 1:21.569 120.147 mph 2 Vettel Red Bull 1:21.607 0.038 3 ...

24/07/2009 Ahead of today's second practice session, the air temperature is 28 degrees C, while the track temperature is 45 degrees. It remains bright and sunny and very, very warm. We didn't see the super-softs this morning, however, we can sure that we'll be seeing them this afternoon. The lights go green and first out is Heidfeld , followed by Trulli , Glock , Rosberg and Alguersuari . As ever, the track was very green this morning, with a number of drivers having problems, particularly at Turn 7, however, the track will improve this afternoon and throughout the weekend. There's none of the messing about we had this morning - and every Friday morning - an...

Friday 24th July 2009 Heikki Kovalainen put in a late charge to pick up where he left off in Hungary last year, sitting right at the very front of the pack. The 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix winner clocked a 1:22.278 after the fall of the chequered flag to beat Nico Rosberg, another late charger, to the P1 slot. Third place went to Lewis Hamilton as McLaren were quick out of the blocks in Budapest, an encouraging sign for the team who appear to have turned a corner on their early season woes. Report: Bright skies and a warm track greeted the drivers on Friday morning as F1 rookie Jaime Alguersuari, who is making his debut this weekend, made his way out onto the track for his installation lap, which just so happens to be his first ever lap in a Formula One car. He was soon joined by other drivers all checking the conditions and their cars before heading back to the pits. Alguersuari heads out to record his first time as a...

Thursday 23rd July 2009 The Hungarian Grand Prix is about as interesting and rewarding as cycling round your bathroom. Now technically that description is the one applied to the Monaco Grand Prix, but if it stays dry, then the Hungarian GP will closely resemble Monaco's level of overtaking. Without the compensating hazard of Armco just centimetres away from the racing line. If it becomes wet then it can be an epic race - as we saw in 2006 - but then again most tracks produce great races in the wet. Forecasts for the weekend have it dry most of the time with a downpour some time on Saturday night. Jenson Button will have fond memories of that 2006 race because it was his first race victory for Honda - and up until February this year it looked like it was going to be his one and only career victory. With ambient temperatures predicted around 33 and 34C the Brawn GP cars should be in contention for race victory again. ...