ALONSO vs MASSA

This season still has not ended yet and next season is still along way to go but it seems that the rivalry between Massa and Alonso has already started to simmer. Massa again was accusing Alonso of knowing about the plot to crash at the Singapore GP last year but a few hours later and after a dressing down by Ferrari, he issued another statement playing down his earlier accusation.

The second statement, although almost denying the first one still had some unhappiness sprinkled over it. One thing is for sure, Massa was extremely upset not to win last year's championship and is still looking for somebody else to blame. Lewis lost it to Kimi by 1 point and he lost to Lewis by 1 point, deal with it.

I'm looking forward to the Massa-Alonso rivalry next year. That should tear Ferrari up from the inside or at least trip them up through the season.

FIRST FOOTAGE OF YAS MARINA CIRCUIT

James Allen has published the first on board footage of a lap of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi in a 2 seater open wheel race car driven by Bruno Senna. The track looks awesome and drives awesome too. At least on our F1 simulator. I was thinking it would be a good looking track but boring to drive but surprisingly, it was quite fast and challenging with some great 3 apex turns at high speeds. Can't wait to go to Abu Dhabi on 27th Oct. Woohoo.

MASSA TO WAVE THE FLAG AT INTERLAGOS

This is an interesting bit of news. It seems that the organizers of the penultimate race of this season at Interlagos, Brazil have decided to have some fun and add some novelty to the race by having Felipe Massa wave the chequered flag to signal the finish of the race.

Taking into consideration what happened to Massa and the fact he is currently out of the racing, that sounds nice and sweet. But imagine if the race was won by Lewis Hamilton this year? I can't imagine the look on Massa's face having to wave the flag for Hamilton at his home race after losing the championship to Lewis last year in such dramatic fashion.

Image courtesy of The F1 Files.

MASSA TO RACE IN 2009?

That's what the rumours are saying. I'd be very surprised if he did. Currently his fitness is not known so it's just speculation. Although he did come back to Maranello for meetings and sessions in the simulator. It also turns out that Ferrari have asked the stewards whether massa could test the F2007 with GP2 tyres just like Schumacher.

Williams have given their blessing to the test and Ferrari are not saying whether it is confirmed or not. But it seems we'll know something by next week.

JAPANESE GP 2009 RESULTS

Well, that was quite an exciting race. I say "quite" because it is not really exciting or great. I was expecting more based on what I saw during qualifying yesterday with all the crashes and spins and drama. There was a safety car today though and a heavy crash but still the results were no surprise. By that I mean the top 3 started and finished in the same position.

The start was exciting, yes more exciting than quite exciting, but that was it. Lewis had a good start overtaking Trulli into the first turn and almost taking Vettel with him but the run down to the first turn was too short for his KERS to be effective. On top of that, Vettel had an amazing start, defended his line well and just pulled away like he had an extra 200 horses on that Red Bull. He never looked back since.

Lewis took Trulli into that first turn and stuck to Vettel. All 3 of them had a pretty relaxed race all the way except for when Lewis' KERS gave some problems and switched off. Lewis couldn't restart the thing and it proved fatal in his bid to take Trulli later. Lewis' second pitstop exit was delayed by a couple of tenths. These 2 factors contributed to him unable to pass Trulli when Trulli was exiting the pits. Damn.

Alguersuari had a pretty big spin at 130R and whacked the tyre barriers pretty hard. It was a spectacular crash which brought out the SC with 11 laps to go. The field bunched up and upon the restart, again lewis couldn't take Trulli cos the KERS wasn't working. He also couldn't get near him as the Toyota was pretty much on the pace also.

The Brawns were pretty much in the midfield this race. Button just needing to take it easy and making sure he got some points not too far away from Barrichello which he did by finishing P8 behind Barrichello's P8. He was almost taken by Kubica though, the BMW Sauber looking quite fast hassling Button.

Kovalainnen again drove a "mising" race. By that I mean he was missing most of the time. The only time he stood out was when he was overtaken in the pits by Fisichella and wrestled his position back just after leaving the pitlane. It was a close fight and he won it.

Kimi was his usual self, sleeping from the start of the race and deciding to wake up and really race when the race was run to about 90%. He didn't do too bad though, finishing P4. Poor Mark Webber not only started from the pitlane but had to pit 5 times and finished 2 laps down. Taht was a nightmare race for him.

Overall, quite an exciting race but not exciting enough. I thought the way this track was laid out would give more overtaking opportunities and some brave driving. But in the end it was quite straightforward and by the book. Looking forward to Brazil which is also a damn good track which should produce some exciting racing.

If not for an exciting race, I'd stay up just to see Massa going round telling everybody how he was robbed by Piquet last year at Singapore.

Results
01 S. Vettel Red Bull 1:28:20.443
02 J. Trulli Toyota + 4.877
03 L. Hamilton McLaren + 6.472
04 K. Räikkönen Ferrari + 7.940
05 N. Rosberg Williams + 8.793
06 N. Heidfeld BMW + 9.509
07 R. Barrichello Brawn GP + 10.641
08 J. Button Brawn GP + 11.474
09 R. Kubica BMW + 11.777
10 F. Alonso Renault + 13.065
11 H. Kovalainen McLaren + 13.735
12 G. Fisichella Ferrari + 14.596
13 A. Sutil Force India F1 + 14.959
14 V. Liuzzi Force India F1 + 15.734
15 K. Nakajima Williams + 18.973
16 R. Grosjean Renault + 1 lap(s)
17 M. Webber Red Bull + 2 lap(s)
Did not finish
18 J. Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso + 10 lap(s)
19 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso + 42 lap(s)

RESHUFFLED SUZUKA GRID POSITIONS

Following the various penalties given to drivers for speeding during a yellow flag, driving around a damaged car and gearbox changes, the new grid positions for today's race will be as follows:-

1st row:
Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull-Renault)
Jarno Trulli (ITA/Toyota)

2nd row:
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes)
Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW-Sauber)

3rd row:
Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari)
Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/McLaren-Mercedes)

4th row:
Nico Rosberg (GER/Williams-Toyota)
Robert Kubica (POL/BMW-Sauber)

5th row:
Adrian Sutil (GER/Force India-Mercedes)
Rubens Barrichello (BRA/Brawn-Mercedes)

6th row:
Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
Jenson Button (GBR/Brawn-Mercedes)

7th row:
Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/Ferrari)
Sebastien Buemi (SUI/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)

8th row:
Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/Williams-Toyota)
Romain Grosjean (FRA/Renault)

9th row: Fernando Alonso (ESP/Renault)
Tonio Liuzzi (ITA/Force India-Mercedes)

Pitlane: Timo Glock (GER/Toyota)
Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull-Renault)

JAPANESE GP 2009 QUALIFYING

That was an incredible, action filled qualifying. I have never seen the Japanese GP at Suzuka as the place was closed for renovations since 2006. I played the circuit on our F1 simulator this week and found the track to be awesome, challenging and unforgiving to mistakes, even the slightest one.

Yesterday, both free practice was spoiled by the weather. We couldn't really see the cars at their full potential as the best time recorded was 1.47.xxx when I could do 1.32.853 on the simulator. Today, the sun came out and the cars were able to do fast laps on slicks. Boy, were the times telling. Fastest time recorded was 1.30.385 I think. So, I've got some work to do.

And what action this track produces. There were 4 crashes, 1 serious with Timo Glock warded at the hospital with possible leg injuries. Nobody is sure whether he can race tomorrow. There was 3 red flags, multiple yellows and the crashes were spectacular.

The qualifying was close but it was never in doubt that Vettel was on fire the whole weekend. He topped the timesheets in Q1, Q2 and Q3 taking pole by a margin of 0.060 secs. It looks good for him to win but that depends on whether Lewis in P3 can take him before the first corner with KERS and whether his engine can take the heat.

The other Red Bull didn't make it as Webber crashed his car in practice and had to change the chassis thereby starting from the pitlane. It looks like their title challenge is over. Toyota did good with Trulli in P2 but Glock crashed heavily in Q2 and might be hospitalised.

McLaren didn't do too well either even though Lewis got P3, Kovalainnen crashed in Q3 and will start P9. Lewis looked to have the pace but was really beaten by Vettel. It's not too bad though as he starts behind Vettel and has KERS, although the fuel weights will play a factor.

Ferrari fared quite bad as Kimi got P8 and Fisi was way down the order in P16. They don't seem to have a good package for this track. BMW was a surprise as Heidfeld snuck in quietly into P6. he always does that. Kubica though is in P13. The surprise was Sutil, who put his Force India in P4. It seems that Sutil is a very good driver given the right equipment. McLaren might do good to consider him next year.

Alonso didn't look too happy to end up P12. He seems to have blame Buemi for crashing at the right time to disturb his flying lap. Rosberg's lap too might have been spoiled by Buemi. The yellow flag brought about by Buemi it seems was ignored by 4 drivers including Alonso, although he says he was innocent. The result - 4 drivers were given 5 slot grid penalties including Alonso. Anyway, that's racing and they'll have to take it as it is.

The fuel weights reveal different strategies but Lewis might have some advantage with KERS. The grid penalties have also turned things upside down, sad for Sutil. He seems to be struck with bad luck all the time.

Can't wait for the race, it's gonna be a cracker at this track.

Times before penalties
01 S. Vettel Red Bull 1:32.160
02 J. Trulli Toyota 1:32.220
03 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:32.395
04 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:32.466
05 R. Barrichello Brawn GP 1:32.660
06 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:32.945
07 J. Button Brawn GP 1:32.962
08 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:32.980
09 H. Kovalainen McLaren no time
10 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso no time
11 N. Rosberg Williams 1:31.103
12 F. Alonso Renault 1:31.638
13 R. Kubica BMW 1:32.341
14 T. Glock Toyota no time
15 J. Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso no time
16 G. Fisichella Ferrari 1:31.704
17 K. Nakajima Williams 1:31.718
18 R. Grosjean Renault 1:32.073
19 V. Liuzzi Force India F1 1:32.087

ALONSO CONFIRMED AT FERRARI

And there you have it, finally and officially. Fernando Alonso has been signed by Ferrari to race for them in the 2010 F1 World Championship, reportedly at a cost of GBP55 for 3 years. Nightmare come true.

But there is a silver lining. The championship next year should be interesting as Lewis can now fight with Alonso again as Alonso will be in a competitive car. Plus Kimi will probably replace Kovalainnen at McLaren, thereby giving Lewis the push he needs to become better and better.

The rest of the driver market is pretty open for now. Read here for the possible outcomes.