Alvin's Formula One Blog

This article is written by Andrew Davies and published on PlanetF1.com. It is re-produced here in its entirety. For the original article, click  here . Red Bull got the wake-up call, Kimi Raikkonen got the points and the win, but it was Adrian Sutil who got the glory... Star of the Race Adrian Sutil, Force India, 7th Whoever took the ultimate decision to hire Adrian Sutil must have been in line for a few cheeky Kingfishers after the result in Melbourne. It was the story of the race. Raikkonen did well, but described his race wins as one of his easiest. Staring at the telemetry in the closing stages to see what kind of impression Alonso was making on Raikkonen, the data did seem to bear that out. Kimi seemed able to respond to a fast lap from Alonso almost at will. Starting from P12 Sutil made his medium tyres last and was not fazed by having a triple World Champion behind him. Around Lap 14 he was putting in 1:33.7s while Perez, on the same compound, was only just managing 1:...

WOW! That's what I can say about the first race of this season in Melbourne last weekend. I mean, the Melbourne race is usually good as it is the first race, the temperatures are quite high and the track hard on the tires (due to it being half a public road and half unused track). But this race was even more interesting as the use of the supersoft tires and the different ways each car treats its tires made for a very exciting race to watch. WOW! From an F1 PR point-of-view it was perhaps good that the opening race wasn't won by Vettel or Red Bull, because that would be a familiar story to the casual viewer who needs luring back. Lotus blooms To be honest, I did not expect Lotus to win....at all. Sorry Lotus fans. Congratulations to Lotus and Raikkonen, it was a masterclass of strategy, driving and car design. Raikkonen drove a measured race that balanced aggression with intelligence (he does know what he is doing after all). According to him it was "easy...

Finally we have a complete entry list of drivers for this season. And what a way to finally confirm it with a last minute ejection of Luis Razia to be replaced by Jules Bianchi. Bianchi himself was disappointed to be left out when Force India chose Sutil over him just this week. But at least he is racing in F1 this season, even though at a backmarker team Marussia. And now with the final pre-season test over, we can look forward to the first race of the season come Melbourne in about 2 weeks time. Below are our final list of contenders for this year's championship. May the best man win. Driver Entrant Constructor Vettel Red Bull Racing RBR-Renault Webber Red Bull Racing RBR-Renault Button Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren Mercedes Perez Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren Mercedes Alonso Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Massa Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Hamilton Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes Rosberg Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes Raikkonen Lotus F1 Team Lo...

That was one of the tightest qualifying ever. It was bright and sunny in Monza, a perfect day for getting the tyres up to temperature and pushing the car through Parabolica. McLaren did an excellent strategy and both cars got into the groove pretty easily and quickly in every session. Q3 was the most interesting as Lewis did a fast 2 lap run on the soft tyres to make sure he stayed near the top and then with a few minutes remaining changed to the harder tyres for the banzai lap that got him the pole from Sutil. He was surprised though at his pace. And talking about Sutil, what a performance. He was on fire the whole day and would have gotten pole if not for a small mistake in the last lap. In fact, the situation tells us a few facts about the current balance of power. It seems that Force Indis has found the sweet spot on their car since Spa. It has performed incredibly fast and well balanced. Not only was Sutil fast without KERS (a he managed to stay about 2 tenths apart from Lewis)...

Saturday 20th June 2009 Lewis Hamilton is refusing to proclaim that he would have been on pole if it hadn't been for Adrian Sutil crash forcing him out of Q1 at Silverstone. The McLaren driver, who was languishing down in 19th, was on a flying lap when Sutil crashed his Force India into the barriers at the Abbey chicane during Q1. Because of the severity of the accident the session was red flag and the 24s remaining on the clock did not leave Hamilton - or anyone else - with enough time to put in an out lap and a flying lap. Thus he dropped out of qualifying and will start P19 on the grid for his home race. "I did the best I could today," said Hamilton. "I was pushing as hard as I could but our car is too slow. I gave it my all and there wasn't really much more I could have got from the car." He also refused to blame Sutil's accident for his disappointing qualifying. "I was pushing...

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...

Adrian Sutil has hinted that Lewis Hamilton's seemingly perpetual run-in with F1's governing body could be a case of racism. As the latest scandal - dubbed 'lie-gate' by the media - occupies the Formula One world, the reigning World Champion's closest friend on the grid expressed concern about constant controversies involving Hamilton . German Sutil, 26, who was the Briton's F3 teammate in 2005, believes Hamilton is "sick" of falling on the wrong side of the FIA's attentions. "I have no idea how he has got so many punishments," he is quoted as telling his column in the Dutch Formule 1 Race Report . "Slowly you start to ask yourself why it always happens to him. Is it his skin colour?" Sutil wondered. © CAPSIS International Source: GMM

Monday 2nd March 2009 Giancarlo Fisichella has admitted that it was a "frustrating" debut for Force India's VJM02 with it's first outing at Jerez blighted by a fuel pressure problem as well as rain. After completing a shakedown of the new car at Silverstone last week, Force India finally put their 2009 challenger up against its rivals at Jerez on Sunday. However, the team was unable to cover as much running as they had hoped to as a fuel pressure problem saw Fisichella sidelined for part of the day. Added to that there was a rain shower interval around mid-day as well as five red flags. Despite this, though, Fisichella still managed to set the sixth best time of the eight runners, even outpacing McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa. "It is a bit frustrating as we could only do 31 laps today, especially as it is very important to try and get as many as possible as we are already late compared to ...

Re-published from Planet F1 Sunday 24th August 2008 In a ruling eventually published almost two hours after the end of the European GP, Felipe Massa has been fined and reprimanded for being released into the path of Adrian Sutil following his second pit stop. No further explanation was provided, leaving PF1 to ask three questions about the ruling: Why Did It Take So Long? Having announced they would investigate Massa's pit stop release within a few minutes of the actual incident occurring, only three more laps had passed before they announced that a judgement would have to wait until the end of the race. Why the wait? It could be for only three reasons: 1) The evidence was complex and required detailed analysis as well as the testimony of numerous witnesses. 2) The stewards were too busy dealing with another case to consider a separate incident. 3) The incident took place near the end of the race, leaving the stewards ...

This issue of up and coming F1 stars losing their focus when they're on the uptrend is not new. So many potential stars and world champions lost the racing line when they were distracted by girls and partying. Lewis has so much potential but it seems that his penchant for girls is getting dangerous for him. I'm not his mother or father so I can't tell him to stay away from the girls and just focus on racing but as a concerned fan, I have to voice it out. A good example is Adrian Sutil who said that he doesn't want a girlfriend now as he wants to concentrate on his career and achieve something at it. I suggest Lewis pay attention.