Alvin's Formula One Blog

The season is over and it's been weeks without a race. The end of the year is coming up again and the streets will be a madhouse on the eve. I'm staying home as I always do. Just can't stomach the madness. It's gonna a long drag to the season opener in March. News is thin on the ground these days, nothing much to read during my breakfast. So thanks to Joshua Mason, we're getting a guest post today on his take on the BBC and F1 divorce. DON’T TELL THE KIDS!: BBC AND FORMULA 1 ARE GETTING A DIVORCE The kids are crying, there is arguing in the kitchen and the solicitors are rubbing their hands in glee, yes it is that old British tradition, divorce! The two parties involved are the BBC and Formula 1. A sporting marriage longer than most, (apart from a small break in the noughties) is coming to an end and this time it seems to be for good. The news that BBC had cancelled the remainder of its contract came fast, and so did the news that Formula 1 had already...

So here we are, the final race of the season. It's been a long one. Even with both world championships decided a long time ago, if you're a real F1 fan you'd still be up to watch this race. Not only is it the last race of the season but it is held at a fantastic track (facilities and looks, not layout). I was there in 2009 and it was great. Here we have a guest post on why you should watch this race. With or without any reasons, I say watch it. It's gonna be a long winter. Four reasons why you should watch the final F1 race of the season Hamilton may have already won the trophy and the podium line-up is decided, but Sunday's F1 race in Abu Dhabi is still worth watching. Here’s why. 1. This could be the last race for Red Bull Not so long ago, Red Bull used to dominate the F1 world, when it won the title four years in a row (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) with an amazing alliance between its Renault-supplied engines and the driving skills of Sebastian Vettel. Wha...

The Brazilian Grand Prix (Portuguese: Grande Prêmio do Brasil) is a Formula One championship race which is currently held at the  Autódromo José Carlos Pace  in Interlagos, a district in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. A Brazilian Grand Prix was first held in 1972 at Interlagos, although it was not part of the Formula One World Championship. Typical of European motorsports at the time, this race was done as a test to convince the FIA if the Interlagos circuit and its organizers could capably hold a Grand Prix. The following year, however, the race was first included in the official calendar, and it was won by defending world champion and São Paulo native Emerson Fittipaldi. In 1974, Fittipaldi won again in rain soaked conditions, and the year after, another São Paulo native, Carlos Pace, won the race in his Brabham, followed by Fittipaldi. 1977 was won by Reutemann, but the drivers began complaining about Interlagos's very rough surface, and the event was then relocate...

This week I'm having a special posting. It's a guest submission by F1 fanatic Luke Rees. He will be talking about the rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg as we head into the Brazilian GP after an exciting US and Mexican GP. Lewis has never won in Brazil surprisingly and that will give him motivation to fight this weekend as a tribute to Senna. This should be good. How Bad Are Things Between Rosberg, Hamilton and Mercedes? Social media is abuzz with the tension between Rosberg and Hamilton following the US Grand Prix and now Rosberg’s revival at the Mexican Grand Prix. Rosberg was frustrated at being clipped in the first corner by Hamilton in Austin, losing out the race with only eight laps to go. Hamilton refused to be called in for a second pit stop during the Mexican Grand Prix.  He chose not to believe his Mercedes team that his tyres were dangerously low, staying out an extra lap while questioning the call and then asking for feedback on the tyres. I...

Again another race I missed because it was at 3am here and I just couldn't afford 2 days of leave to watch. And again, whenever I miss a race it turns out to be a good one, like Austin. Damn! Anyway here are some conclusions from Planet F1 for your reading pleasure. The trust deficit at Mercedes, makings of a fascinating rivalry between Kimi and Bottas and more in PF1’s Conclusions From Mexico. Dizzy With Nostalgia…And A Lack Of Oxygen Hometown hero Sergio Perez only managed to finish eighth on an alternative one-stop strategy and the race was far from a classic, but the large crowd and impressive racetrack architecture made for a fine event as Mexico made its return to the F1 cal. The circuit, sitting at more than 2,000 metres above sea level, facilitates high speeds – in excess of 360kph – which is the kind of statistic that will delight speed freaks and F1 fans alike. The lack of grip, meanwhile, created serious challenges for the drivers, who are often criticised fo...

The United States Grand Prix is a motor race which has been run on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The race later became part of the Formula One World Championship. Over 43 editions, the race has been held at ten locations, most recently in 2013 at the  Circuit of the Americas  in Austin, Texas. The Circuit of the Americas, which runs anti clockwise, is a wonderful mixture of many of the most famous circuits on the F1 calendar; it has more corners at over 250 km/h than Spa and more below 100kph than Hungary, which is quite a combination! It has one very long straight with a hairpin at either end. There were a total of 55 overtaking moves during the 2012 race, but only 18 in the 2013 edition. The track is well known for its spectacular elevation changes of up to 40 metres, with an uphill run to the distinctive Turn 1, which is a hairpin bend and the signature corner. The track contains an ample variety of corners, which incorporate some ...

Formula One racing’s governing body the FIA has released a revised provisional schedule for next year’s world championship, with the season set to get underway in Australia in March, not in April as previously indicated. A record 21 races remain on the calendar, with the brand-new event in Baku, Azerbaijan taking place the week after Canada - one of six back-to-back Grand Prix weekends. Also announced at Wednesday’s World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) meeting in Paris were new rules to increase the noise of cars. From 2016, all cars must have a separate exhaust wastegate tailpipe through which all and only wastegate exhaust gases must pass. This move will not have any significant effect on power or emissions. Several other changes were announced to the F1 regulations. They were: Cars must now comply with all cockpit and safety equipment requirements during testing; such as the position of the driver’s head, all headrest padding, cockpit padding and ease of driver egress. Sport...

The Singapore Grand Prix is a motor race on the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. The event takes place in Singapore on the Marina Bay Street Circuit and was the inaugural F1 night race and the first street circuit in Asia. Spaniard Fernando Alonso won the first edition of the grand prix, driving for the Renault F1 team. The Singapore Grand Prix will remain on the F1 calendar through at least 2017, after race organizers signed a contract extension with Formula One Management on the eve of the 2012 event. The longest race in the F1 calendar at almost two hours, one of the hardest on brakes, with a 100% record of a safety car, a long slow pit stop and a choice of the softest tyres which cannot do the 308km marathon in one stop, the Singapore Grand Prix is always a strategy challenge. TRACK CHARACTERISTICS Track Length : 5.073 kilometres. Race Distance : 61 laps (309.316 kilometres). Corners : 23 corners in total. Aerodynamic Setup : High downforce. Top Speed :...

CONCLUSIONS FROM THE ITALIAN GP Original article HERE Pressure point, Monza magic, Nico's chances are slipping and more in our Conclusions From The Italian GP. Pressure Point At Spa all the talk was about a right-rear tyre, and at Monza it was all about a left-rear tyre. "No questions, just execute," were the words relayed to Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes pitwall urged the Championship leader to pull out more of a gap over Sebastian Vettel in the closing stanza of the Italian Grand Prix but were reluctant to give their man a reason for the request. Hamilton duly won by around 25 seconds, but the nature of the messages suggests that Mercedes feared the repercussions of official sanction over a potential breach of the regulations. After the race Mercedes were indeed summoned by the stewards because Hamilton's left-rear tyre pressure was 0.3psi lower than the mandated minimum. Although Hamilton's 40th career victory was briefly at risk, the officials d...

The Autodromo Nazionale Monza is one of the most iconic racetracks on the Formula 1 calendar. It was built in 1922 and has staged more world championship grands prix than any other circuit in the world. Only once, in 1980, has the circuit not been on the F1 calendar. Up until the early ’60s, racing took place on a fearsome six-mile oval. But the death of Wolfgang von Trips and 15 spectators in the 1961 Italian Grand Prix resulted in future races taking place on a shorter road course, with the last true ‘slipstreaming’ battle taking place in 1971, after which chicanes were installed to slow the cars. The track is still the fastest in Formula 1, with today’s cars exceeding 200mph (322km/h) on four occasions around the lap. The average speed is in excess of 150mph (241km/h), so the teams use one-off low-downforce aerodynamic packages to maximise straight-line speed. However, braking stability is important: there are a total of six braking events around the lap and on two occasions t...