Alvin's Formula One Blog

Still a bit to go to Shanghai, it's been a long break from Malaysia. After 2 exciting and eventful races in Melbourne and Sepang, I'm looking forward to Shanghai. If the previous 2 races are any indication of how exciting this season is going to be then Shanghai should be explosive. Usually Shanghai is a bit boring as the field gets stretched out a bit quite early on in the race due to the nature of the track. That long back straight also does not help. But this year since the new Pirellis were introduced, even boring races like Shanghai should light up. Here is an infographic I made about the last 9 races at Shanghai which asks the question - Does pole position result in a win at the Chinese GP? It is based on the article of the same name here . Does pole position result in a win at the Chinese GP? | Create infographics If you enjoyed this posting, please do share it with your network so more people can enjoy it as well. Also, check out my t-shirt design fo...

What a race! Again it has been proven that rain does make a good show even better . And what a confusion at the start as the rain started during the warm up lap. I was and still am confused who started on what tyres and the consequence of that. Finally a McLaren 1-2. They deserved it after all the speed they displayed during practice and qualifying, even though Q3 sucked for them. The win was exceptional because of the 2 different strategies employed by Button and Lewis. Lewis as usual displayed his skill and determination by carving up the field from P6. He chased and overtook everybody on his way to P2. I especially enjoyed his tussle with Schumacher. Schumacher displayed some skill in defending and re-overtaking his position from Lewis but finally it shows how tired he was and how low was his killer instinct when Lewis re-took the position and flew away. Also, worth mentioning was the fact that the Mercedes was no match for the McLaren, a fact demonstrated again when Lewis took Rosb...

To put things in perspective just requires one word - disappointment. It was a disappointment watching McLaren during today's qualifying because as strong as the Red Bulls are, McLaren has so much promise leading both FP1 and FP2 plus topping Q1 and Q2. What happened in Q3? Lewis should have taken pole but was pushed back to 6th. I could understand if it was P2 but P6? "It was quite easy to be up the front. The car started bottoming a lot more in Q3 but I don't know whether that's had anything to do with the balance of the car, but I just had no more time in the car. The car was sliding a lot more. "In Q1 and Q2 the car was even better and I really don't understand what was wrong with the car in Q3 but I wasn't able to get any more time out of it. "That was me on the limit so I don't know where the time is. We have to go and analyse it and try and find it, but I'm sure tomorrow will be a good race." McLaren need to seriously up th...

Tuesday 21st April 2009 Mark Webber has acknowledged that Brawn are still the current frontrunners in F1 despite the Aussie being part of a Red Bull 1-2 in China on Sunday. Although the Red Bulls were untouchable in the wet in Shanghai, with Jenson Button finishing the race 45 seconds adrift of winner Sebastian Vettel, Webber believes that Red Bull are still behind both Brawn and Toyota. "There's nothing to suggest a huge amount has changed since Malaysia when, in the dry, Brawn were a second faster than anyone else," he told the BBC. "That car is definitely strong and they are the team that is the benchmark for every team to try to close in on." "If you look at the fuel-corrected timings, taking into account the loads being carried by each car, the grid would have been Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button, Jarno Trulli, Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber so clearly we have to keep improving." ...

Sunday 19th April 2009 F1 continues to write a page-turning script... Red Bull Diffuse Briatore's Burning Complaint Pity poor Flavio. Scorned for the bitterness of his comments against the paracarro and his pensioner team-mate, the Renault boss was further ridiculed by events in China. In the dry, Brawn would, most probably, have been in a class of their own, but the wet rained spectacularly on Briatore's lament that the World Championship had been decided by Tuesday's FIA hearing. No matter that the RB5 is particularly effective in the wet, its non-diffuser speed in general is proof that the legality of a two-tier diffuser need not be decisive. Brawn, by some accounts, have welcomed the diffuser furore because it has distracted attention from the other parts of their car that they believe are critical to their current performance advantage. If so, Briatore has erred from a sporting as well as r...

Sunday 19th April 2009 Red Bull gives you wins. Adrian Newey's RB5 has struck back for the non-diffusers in a race where Robert Kubica tried to re-enact Canada 2007 and the stewards got some much-deserved sleep. STAR OF THE RACE Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Winner Vettel showed that his Monza race victory for Toro Rosso in 2008 was no fluke. Not that many people thought it was. The German driver didn't put a foot wrong in a car that was supremely adapted to the conditions. While all around were wobbling, going straight on, and exploring interesting new parts of the circuit, the Red Bulls stuck the track. Just as at Silverstone in 2008 with Lewis Hamilton, had the team not been cautious and let Sebastian off the leash, he would have finished 30+ seconds clear of Webber. OVERTAKING MOVE OF THE RACE Lap 32 Mark Webber on Jenson Button Webber had a great race. He's been in so many good positions before th...

Sunday 19th April 2009 In sharp contrast to last year's result when he won the Chinese GP, this season Lewis Hamilton was just grateful to finish the race and do so in the points. Last year Hamilton won the Chinese GP on his way to the World title but this year it's a vastly different McLaren machine that the Brit has underneath him. The MP4-24 is suffering from a lack of pace and ill-handling, the latter of which was not help by the extreme wet conditions facing the drivers. And as such the best Hamilton could have hoped for, starting ninth on the grid, was a handful of points, which he achieved with his sixth-placed finish. "Just that we finished and obviously the reliability of the car is fantastic, so it was great job from the guys," Hamilton told the BBC when asked what positives he could draw from the race. "Just continue to try and move forward and try and score some more points. Good poi...

Sunday 19th April 2009 Sebastian Vettel claimed Red Bull's first-ever grand prix win at Shanghai on Sunday with the team's joy being further compounded by Mark Webber's second placed finish. Starting from pole position, Vettel's light fuel load was negated by the Safety Car start as the rain hammered the Chinese track. But after nine laps it pitted with the German quickly building up a lead over the chasing pack. It was one that Vettel would not reliquishing except after pitstops, leaving it to Webber and Brawn GP's Jenson Button to fight for second place. In the end, though, it was Webber who triumphed, handing Red Bull the 1-2. Button and Rubens Barrichello, though, extended Brawn's lead in the Constructors' Championship while Heikki Kovalainen bagged his first points of the season with his fifth placed finish. The Finn, though, was largely helped by team-mate Lewis Hamilton's failure...

What a race. After all the bullshit that has been going on since Melbourne, today's race was such wonderful excitement. The rain helped in a way though it was quite heavy, something like Fuji 2007. It started with the SC. I didn't even notice the race had started because of that but after the SC went in, Vettel really put the hammer down. He didn't put a foot wrong this whole race, again showing what a masterclass he is in the rain. I'm sure the Red Bull car has been designed correctly and will dominate this season. it does not have KERS or the double diffuser but yet manages to threaten the Brawns from day 1 in Melbourne and keeps showing its pace even in the rain. Reliability is good too. Can't imagine the performance when they get new upgrades soon like a new diffusser. The Brawns were outclassed here though still formidable even in the rain. It looks like the Brawns are built for multi weather missions. Button and Barrichello were in control and smooth. Alonso d...

Saturday 18th April 2009 Sebastian Vettel ended Brawn GP's run of pole positions as the Red Bull driver came out late in Q3 to grab the coveted grid slot for the Chinese GP. Vettel, who had drive-shaft problems that curbed his running during the weekend's final practice session, put it all behind him as he proved that the Red Bull is the best of the non-diffuser cars, claiming pole position with a 1:36.184. Fernando Alonso, who is using Renault's interim 'double-decker' diffuser in Shanghai, was second quickest, 0.192s behind Vettel while Mark Webber ensured that Red Bull's improvement continued as he claimed third place. The Brawn GP cars of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button will line up behind Webber on the grid . Qualifying 1 The sun was shining bright on The Shang circuit as qualifying started, with Lewis Hamilton having featured prominently in the morning practice and once again Nico Rosb...

Such a shame that one of the greatest men in F1 has been forced to quit because of a power hungry asshole. Thursday 16th April 2009 Ron Dennis has ended his 40-year F1 career by standing down as McLaren CEO - and insisted that the decision was his alone. According to reports on Thursday morning predicting his announcement, Dennis' exit was motivated by a wish to of lessen McLaren's punishment in their upcoming World Motor Sport Council hearing. It was also claimed that the decision was made in an attempt to ensure that Anthony Hamilton - who was described as wanting the "prickly and arrogant" Dennis away from Lewis - would keep his son on McLaren's payroll. And although Dennis shied away from both topics in the McLaren press release, he did insist the decision was his alone - and took a dig at his old nemesis Max Mosley by saying he doubts whether the FIA President will shed too many tears over his d...

Friday 17th April 2009 World Champion Lewis Hamilton has conceded it will take time to catch compatriot Jenson Button after the controversial diffuser used by Brawn GP was ruled legal. Button has enjoyed his best-ever start to a season having won both the Australian and Malaysian Grand Prix - his first victories since 2006. In stark contrast Hamilton has endured his worst start to a Formula One season after being disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix for his part in deliberately misleading race stewards before he then finished seventh in Malaysia and currently trails Button in the driver standings by 14 points. And while Hamilton admits it will take a lot of effort to catch the Brawn team, he has vowed to work as hard as he can to get back on top. "I don't think it's been as bad as it seems, because the car is really not great at the moment," the 24-year-old said in China Daily. "Last yea...

Friday 17th April 2009 McLaren have become the first team outside the Diffuser Three to run the double-decker diffuser as the Woking outfit fitted an interim design to Lewis Hamilton's car for the first practice session in China. Earlier this week the FIA's International Court of Appeals upheld the design of the controversial twin-diffuser that was used by Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams with much success in the opening two races of the Championship. The race was then on for the other teams to incorporate the design, which increases the downforce of the car. McLaren were the first to blink as the Woking outfit installed a interim version of the design on Hamilton's MP4-24, adding a small winglet above their diffuser and beneath the car's crash structure. The design increased the height and length of the team's diffuser. McLaren, though, are not the only team expected to introduce the new part this we...

Everybody pretty much knew the outcome. At least the racing will be closer for the rest of the season. Wednesday 15th April 2009 In a ruling that could have major implications on the outcome of the 2009 World Championship, the International Court of Appeal has ruled that the diffusers of Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams are legal. The verdict means there will now be a major scramble from the rest of the pack to get their diffusers up to standard. In a short statement, the FIA declared: 'The FIA International Court of Appeal has decided to deny the appeals submitted against decisions numbered 16 to 24 taken by the Panel of the Stewards on 26 March at the 2009 Grand Prix of Australia and counting towards the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship. 'Based on the arguments heard and evidence before it, the Court has concluded that the Stewards were correct to find that the cars in question comply with the applicable re...

Friday 10th April 2009 Although Lewis Hamilton is not expecting a repeat of last year's Chinese GP glory, the Brit heads to Shanghai hopeful that McLaren's new upgrades will move the team in the right direction. Last year Hamilton clinched the victory in the Chinese GP but so far this season McLaren haven't looked capable of winning anything despite Hamilton finishing in the top eight in both Australia and Malaysia before being excluded from the former. The team, though, is heading to Shanghai with new upgrades for their sluggish and ill-handling MP4-24, which their defending World Champion is hoping will be the start of an improved run for himself and the team. "I really enjoy racing in Shanghai - the track is a good blend of fast and slow stuff and it throws up a few nice challenges for the drivers," said Hamilton. "Finding the right set-up is important, you need speed and balance through ...