Alvin's Formula One Blog

This is an interesting technical update at the halfway point of the season providing information on engine and chassis usage per driver. You can see the life of an F1 engine is very short to produce the kind of performance that we are so used to. Imagine your normal car engine needs at least 1000km to properly run it in, an F1 engine needs to be re-built after 1000km. This report was provided by F1Technical.net. (Until after GP of Great Britain, Silverstone) Engine usage No Driver Engine 1 Engine 2 Engine 3 Engine 4 Engine 5 Engine 6 Engine 7 Engine 8 Totals 01 Hamilton 1548.555 2135.265 1408.281 421.562 5513.663 02 Kovalainen 1577.664 1335.334 1440.017 375.293 4728.308 03 Massa 1091.149 1173.978 1565.615 2057.764 5888.506 04 Raikkonen 1036.919 1224.389 1965.219 1404.008...

After waiting for so long for the new season to start and going through a very thin winter testing season, finally the first race weekend of the year has begun. And what a way to start. Practice 1 and 2 were explosive with almost everybody topping the timesheets one time or another. Even Sutil in the Force India managed to go P1 for a while which was unthinkable last year. Although the McLaren pace was expected from what we've seen in winter testing (who says testing times does not mean anything) the rest of the field especially the smaller and unfancied teams were incredible to watch. Williams, Toyota, Force India, Brawn, Red Bull were swapping times at the top 10 end of the charts. It was surreal. Also surreal was watching McLaren, Ferrari, BMW and Renault at the bottom and midfield. Weird actually. Yes, the new rules has shaken up the order and given a chance for others to shine. No doubt about it. But this diffuser thing is not good. It would mean another day in court with some...

Monday 23rd March 2009 Lewis Hamilton insists he's still race his "heart out" even if he fails to start this Sunday's Australian GP from a strong position on the grid. With McLaren struggling in pre-season testing questions have been raised about how the Woking team will do in this weekend's season-opening Melbourne race. And comments coming from the team haven't been at all encouraging with team boss Martin Whitmarsh confessing to a performance shortfall while Hamilton himself recently said they may battle to make their way to the front of the pack. But despite his earlier assessment, the defending World Champion insists he's going to Australia determined to get the best result that his car and himself can offer. "My plan is to be at the front of the grid in Melbourne, but if I'm not able to start the Australian Grand Prix from the front of the grid, I'll still race my heart...

Monday 23rd March 2009 Bernie Ecclestone insists the 'winner-takes-all' Championship system "will be" used in 2010 even if the team's aren't in favour. Last week the FIA shocked the F1 community when they announced that this year's Championship would be decided on the number of race wins. But 48 hours later motorsport's governing body were forced to back down after the Formula One Teams' Association questioned the validity of the FIA's ruling. And even though the teams are clearly not in favour of the plan, Ecclestone insists it will be implemented next season. "It will be supported by the FIA and it will be in the regulations. So when people enter the championship, that's what the regulation will be," he told the Daily Telegraph. "To make any changes when the entries have closed you have to get the unanimous agreement of all the people that have entered. ...

It has been revealed today that the 2009 drivers championship will be decided by the driver who wins the most races and if there is a tie, it will be decided by points. It means that drivers will have to race for wins AND points at the same time because you never know when you might need those points. So theoretically, we could still end up with a championship that is decided by 1 single point. So what is the point then Bernie? To me this idea by Bernie is rubbish. It could decide the championship a long way before the end of the season as a lucky driver (either by his own luck or the bad luck of others) could rack up enough wins for us fans not to bother watching the championship anymore. Way to go Bernie, you idiot. The FOTA proposal for more points for the winner is better as it will discourage drivers from settling for 2nd place as 1st place has an additional point but at the same time will maintain the competitiveness of the drivers. Finally, I am concerned because the MP4-24 is h...

Tuesday 17th March 2009 The driver with the most wins will be crowned the 2009 World Champion, the FIA have announced. In a statement, the governing body declared: "The WMSC accepted the proposal from Formula One Management to award the Drivers' Championship to the driver who has won the most races during the season. "If two or more drivers finish the season with the same number of wins, the title will be awarded to the driver with the most points, the allocation of points being based on the current 10, 8, 6 etc. system." The proposal of a medals system was put forward by F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone but it was slammed by many F1 personalities. "I think it's a nonsense," former team boss Eddie Jordan told BBC Radio Five Live last year when the idea was first thrown around. "The focus of everyone in Formula One at the moment must be on the current situation with costs and cost ...

Tuesday 17th March 2009 The FIA's World Motor Sport Council met in Paris on Tuesday during which the following decisions were taken... FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP A number of measures were agreed to help reduce costs and increase interest in the FIA Formula One World Championship. 2009 Formula One Regulations Points The WMSC accepted the proposal from Formula One Management to award the drivers' championship to the driver who has won the most races during the season. If two or more drivers finish the season with the same number of wins, the title will be awarded to the driver with the most points, the allocation of points being based on the current 10, 8, 6 etc. system. The rest of the standings, from second to last place, will be decided by the current points system. There is no provision to award medals for first, second or third place. The Constructors' Championship is unaffected. The WMSC rejec...

Monday 2nd March 2009 On a rain-soaked day in Portugal, Toyota and BMW stole the show as testing continued in Jerez on Monday. With heavy rain falling throughout the session, it was the Toyota of Timo Glock which finished the day at the head of the timesheets courtesy of his lap of 1:30.979. While it is never wise to read too much in to the times set during testing, especially one that is run in the wet, Monday's result will only add to the growing expectation that the moneybags of Cologne are finally set to achieve their long overdue breakthrough this season. Glock's running, though, wasn't without problems as the Toyota driver found himself getting a lift back to the pits after his TF109 in the gravel. But despite his off, Glock was happy with how his day panned out. "It tends to be difficult to carry out meaningful testing when there is so much rain," said Glock. "The conditions made thing...

Finally, Force India have launched their car. My first impressions are the green and orange poked my eyes out. I really do not like the colour combination. Green (and that looks like a lime green) does not go with orange. The livery is a disappointment. The shape though is another thing entirely. I must say the shape is quite nice with the nose and body flowing nicely. It does have a bit of a Toyota nose there, maybe slightly longer although a bit too high. It seems to me that the front wing is huge. Not sure it was the picture or my eyes playing tricks on me but they look like the biggest so far. Pictures are here . And Williams unveiled their new livery for this season. And I must say it does look nice. In fact the Williams FW31 is one of the best looking car on the grid. Pictures here .

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...

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...

Charlie has given a briefing on the rule changes for 2009 to make it clear to all especially us fans so that we can understand and enjoy the sport better. But I hope this is for real as we've seen how much weight Charlie's words carry in 2008. I hope after this briefing, the FIA (FIAt) won't change or bend the rules to suit some people or to change the results of races. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and one eye on the outcome of all races in 2009. You never know.

3 cars were launched in 2 days. Wow talk about when it rains... Renault, Williams and BMW all launched their 2009 challengers these past 2 days and it has been tough keeping up with the news and pictures as I'm working on the 4am shift. My impressions of the cars so far? Well, quite a surprise. The Williams looked good actually, with all the curves and the front wing was not so ugly. It's still in the launch livery though, so we'll have to wait until the race livery comes out. But the overall shape is nice, it works. Pictures are here . The BMW car was launched yesterday and it looks like what we saw late last year, not much change. Maybe the nose is a bit more rounded and dips lower but overall it doesn't look that good with the front wing being huge and just straight without any sexy curves like the McLaren. The livery is funny though with the red line running from the nose and cutting across the sidepods. Pictures are here . But I do have a feeling that BMW will do w...

Tuesday 2nd December 2008 Lewis Hamilton has already started preparations for the defence of his Formula One World title - in icy isolation in Finland. Hamilton, who became the youngest World Champion in F1 history just four weeks ago, is currently in the middle of a week-long intensive training camp. The 23-year-old is being tested to the limit at the Kuortane Sports Institute in western Finland, a rigorous regime that has become an annual event on the team's calendar for drivers and staff in recent years. "Travelling to Finland for our winter training camp is one of the best weeks of the year for me," insisted Hamilton. "It feels like you're miles from anywhere and totally cut off from the outside world, which allows me to focus solely on my training, which is great. "It's certainly not an easy week as Finland in the winter is cold and icy, and we're pushed hard for day after day....