Monday, June 8, 2009

F1 2009 Turkish GP Race Result

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 58 1:26:24.848 2 10
2 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 58 +6.7 secs 4 8
3 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 58 +7.4 secs 1 6
4 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 58 +27.8 secs 5 5
5 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 58 +31.5 secs 9 4
6 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari 58 +39.9 secs 9 3
7 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 58 +46.2 secs 10 2
8 10 Timo Glock Toyota 58 +46.9 secs 13 1
9 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 58 +50.2 secs 6  
10 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 58 +62.4 secs 8  
11 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 58 +64.3 secs 11  
12 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 58 +66.3 secs 12  
13 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 58 +80.4 secs 16  
14 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 57 +1 Lap 14  
15 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 57 +1 Lap 18  
16 8 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 57 +1 Lap 17  
17 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 57 +1 Lap 15  
18 11 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 57 +1 Lap 20  
Ret 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 47 Gearbox 3  
Ret 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 4 Brakes 19  

Monday, May 25, 2009

2009 Monaco Monte Carlo GP Race Result

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 78 1:40:44.282 1 10
2 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 78 +7.6 secs 3 8
3 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 78 +13.4 secs 2 6
4 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari 78 +15.1 secs 5 5
5 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 78 +15.7 secs 8 4
6 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 78 +33.5 secs 6 3
7 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 78 +37.8 secs 9 2
8 11 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 78 +63.1 secs 14 1
9 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 78 +65.0 secs 13
10 10 Timo Glock Toyota 77 +1 Lap 19
11 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 77 +1 Lap 16
12 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 77 +1 Lap 20
13 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 77 +1 Lap 18
14 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 77 +1 Lap 15
15 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 76 +2 Laps 10
Ret 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 51 Accident 7
Ret 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 28 Brakes 17
Ret 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 15 Accident 4
Ret 8 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 10 Accident damage 12
Ret 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 10 Accident 11

Sunday, May 10, 2009

F1 2009 Spain GP Race Result

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 66 1:37:19.202 1 10
2 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 66 +13.0 secs 3 8
3 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 66 +13.9 secs 5 6
4 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 66 +18.9 secs 2 5
5 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 66 +43.1 secs 8 4
6 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari 66 +50.8 secs 4 3
7 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 66 +52.3 secs 13 2
8 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 66 +65.2 secs 9 1
9 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 65 +1 Lap 14  
10 10 Timo Glock Toyota 65 +1 Lap 6  
11 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 65 +1 Lap 10  
12 8 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 65 +1 Lap 12  
13 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 65 +1 Lap 11  
14 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 65 +1 Lap 20  
Ret 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 17 +49 Laps 16  
Ret 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 7 Gearbox 18  
Ret 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 0 Accident 7  
Ret 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 0 Accident 15  
Ret 11 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 0 Accident 17  
Ret 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 0 Accident 19  

Who will win in Spain

button_spain

Brawn (Terminator) dominate once again, this time in Spain, Jenson Button clocked the fastest time 1:20.527 beating Sebastian Vettel by 0.133 seconds, that’s faster than a blink on your eye :D

FIA making the car weight public:

  1. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 646kg
  2. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 651.5
  3. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 649.5
  4. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 655
  5. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 651.5
  6. Timo Glock, Toyota, 646.5
  7. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 655.5
  8. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 645
  9. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 668
  10. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 660
  11. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 676.6
  12. Nelson Piquet, Renault, 677.4
  13. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 676.3
  14. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 683
  15. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 678
  16. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 673
  17. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 669
  18. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 657
  19. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 675
  20. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India, 656

Jenson Button was the lightest among the top 5.  Watch out Felipe Massa and his KERS, the KERS is able to produce 80bhp more on during the start, very likely Barrchello will be overtaken in the first corner.

Ferrari shows that their cars have improved but on the other hand, the strategy still did not quite work out.  Can you imagine they make the same mistake twice. 

They thought Kimi’s time was able to bring him to the Q2, they were wrong.  While Jarno Trulli pushing him out of Q2, Kimi Raikonnen was sitting in the garage.  Boooo to Ferrari!!

Renault promise a lot, but they did not make a good progress, look at the Fernando Alonso’s car weight, he is the lightest among the 20 cars, but only managed 8th place, a disappointing one for him.

My prediction for this race, Button will be first, as out of 14 races in the past, 13 of the race winner was on pole (for this circuit), as Button having the best grid, I think he will be able to take his 4th win.

Second Felipe Massa, third Ruben Barrichello. :p

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Three Race Ban to Troubled McLaren

The FIA finally bring this issue to an end by handing a three race ban to McLaren F1 Team for bringing the sport into disrepute after they were found to have misled race steward at the Australia GP.

However three race ban will be allow to be executed in the period of 12 months.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Formula One 2009 – The Beginning of European Races

After four races, Jenson Button leading the result sheet scoring 31 point (10, 5, 8, 10). Three wins out of four races, pretty impressive.

From the past performance on various races, I noticed that the rest of the field are improving significantly. The upcoming races will definitely be more exciting and you can expect more wheel to wheel actions.

Team running without the legalized double diffuser will upgrade their car, most of them will have their new parts fitted onto the machine on the Spanish grand prix. Renault made a quick upgrade on their car and shows quite a promising improvement. This definitely will be worthwhile investing R & D effort into this area.

Brawn was designed to run without KERS, their machine carried a much larger fuel tank compared the others. Will they invest their time in KERS? Never know, of course the more power a car can produce, a better chance of overtaking and winning. On the other hand, the more gadget you put in, the chances of causing problem will be higher as well. Personally I don’t think that is necessary for Brawn at the moment.

When Ferrari will pick up the pace? They did score their first point on the last race. Good upgrades have to come quick before it is too late.


Testing are restricted this year, as for Brawn they did not have the time to perform enough testing. Don’t forget the team got the approval almost last minute to be allowed to race in the 2009 season.

Toyota will be a strong contender, they have not win a single race. Despite that, the chances of stepping on the top step of podium is high. Trulli able to score on the Saturday qualifying session, lets hope he is able to hold on the position during the race.

Despite the advantage is fading, Brawn and Button still my favourite. Oh ya, I would like to see the oldest driver win the race as well. Barrichello is driver a race winning machine, he might be able to pocket one or two win this year!? :D

Sunday, April 26, 2009

2009 F1 Bahrain GP – Race Result

My favourite on top!

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 57 1:31:48.182 4 10
2 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 57 +7.1 secs 3 8
3 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 57 +9.1 secs 1 6
4 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 57 +22.0 secs 5 5
5 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 57 +37.7 secs 6 4
6 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 57 +42.0 secs 10 3
7 10 Timo Glock Toyota 57 +42.8 secs 2 2
8 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 57 +52.7 secs 7 1
9 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 57 +58.1 secs 9  
10 8 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 57 +65.1 secs 15  
11 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 57 +67.6 secs 18  
12 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 57 +77.8 secs 11  
13 11 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 57 +78.8 secs 20  
14 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari 56 +1 Lap 8  
15 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 56 +1 Lap 17  
16 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 56 +1 Lap 19  
17 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 56 +1 Lap 16  
18 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 56 +1 Lap 13  
19 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 56 +1 Lap 14  
Ret 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 48 Oil pressure 12  

Monday, April 20, 2009

F1 2009 China GP Result

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 56 1:57:43.485 1 10
2 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 56 +10.9 secs 3 8
3 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 56 +44.9 secs 5 6
4 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 56 +63.7 secs 4 5
5 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 56 +65.1 secs 12 4
6 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 56 +71.8 secs 9 3
7 10 Timo Glock Toyota 56 +74.4 secs 19 2
8 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 56 +76.4 secs 10 1
9 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 56 +84.3 secs 2  
10 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 56 +91.7 secs 8  
11 11 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 56 +94.1 secs 15  
12 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 56 +95.8 secs 11  
13 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 56 + 106.8 secs 17  
14 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 55 +1 Lap 20  
15 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 55 +1 Lap 7  
16 8 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 53 +2 Laps 16  
17 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 50 Accident 18  
Ret 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 43 Transmission 14  
Ret 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari 20 Electrical 13  
Ret 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 18 Accident damage 6  

Sunday, April 19, 2009

F1 2009 China GP Result - Redbull One Two

Brawn Three and Four.  Sebastian Vettel  is the new rain master, he drove a fantastic race.  He deserved it!

He won first race for Toro Rosso, and now won the first race for Redbull, and not just winning the race, he started on pole and finish first.  Mark Webber get the job done by scoring second place.

Perfect race for Redbull!

Wet Race for China GP

Rolling start for China GP, Alonso with very light fuel load bad for him.  Brawn duo will have advantage as they are on more heavy fuel load, however, Brawn cars have not experience prolong wet condition.

Very wet condition, the real racing will kick start when the safety switches off the light.  We’ll see…

More after the break

Saturday, April 18, 2009

F1 2009 Prediction - China GP

Renault powered engine sweep the top 3 position in Shanghai circuit. Sebastian Vettel scoring his first ever pole position, with Fernando Alonso second and Mark Webber on the 3 spot.

Ruben Barichello will start at the third row as well, whereas Jenson Button will start on the forth alongside with Jarno Trulli sixth on the grid.

I believe that both Brawn and Toyota are in the similar strategy, they will have slightly longer first stint the other top 3 car will have short ones.

The result very much depend on the first pit stop, despite Ruben Barichello and Jenson Button start forth and fifth on the grid, my money will still be with Brawn. Renault powered machine will be a strong contender especially Fernando Alonso, he is famous for his swift start up, he might be leading the field for awhile, we will see.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Brawn, Toyota and Williams Diffuser are Legal

After a series of appeals and protests, FIA Court of Appeal (ICA) has rejected it all and concluded the “double decker” designs comply the 2009 regulations.

This diffuser had gone through the race stewards both in Australia and Malaysia, now ICA.  Meaning that these three teams will have peaceful mind on the following race.

On the other hand, Ferrari having a headache as they are going to modified the existing F60 design.  They reckon that with the “double decker” design, the race machine will gain 0.5 second a lap.  However, it going to take time and involve R & D investment, we will not be seeing the revamped Ferrari in this coming China GP, probably in Catalunya, Spain or Monte Carlo which is 2 to 3 races from now, the soonest.

What will happen to the rest of the teams, perhaps they are not as rich as Ferrari, but I believe that with the clearance given by the FIA, the rest of the field will at least invest some time to improve their car on these.  We’ll see…

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Jenson Button and Sir Richard Branson in Fight over Jessica Michibata

It does not matter how much you pay to stuck your logo on my car, just don’t touch my girlfriend!!

Melbourne Grand Prix celebrations turned sour last month when winning driver Jenson Button had a bust-up with billionaire sponsor Sir Richard Branson over his lingerie model girlfriend.

Jessica_Michibata_button 

The pair clashed when Button thought the Virgin boss was coming on to his 24-year-old partner Jessica Michibata, during a boozy dinner at upmarket Melbourne restaurant Nobu.

"Richard was clearly very, very drunk and took a shine to Jessica during the evening," a source said.

jessica-button 

"But there was a misunderstanding and Jenson became angry. The whole thing got very, very heated.

Jessica_Michibata_button_sr

"Richard thought Jenson was over-reacting, and gave as good back. Both of them were livid."

Brawn team officials and Virgin executives watched the confrontation in "stunned silence".

The blow-up reportedly happened only hours after Sir Richard, 58, announced a sponsorship deal to put Virgin's logo on the side of Button's car.

Button, 29, won in Melbourne and in Malaysia a week later to help improve relations with his new sponsor.

"This was before Jenson and the Brawn GP team won in Melbourne and Malaysia, and they were an untested team looking for sponsorship," the source said.

"So for Jenson to lose his rag at Richard, it was serious. But things were fine by the next day."

Sir Richard, worth more than $6 billion, is married but frequently surrounds himself with glamorous women to promote the Virgin brand.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

McLaren – Still the same old McLaren

From spy scandal to false report… McLaren Mercedes reputation is falling, I believe lots of people will lose interest in this team. Myself is one of them, the way they do things is just unethical. The current world champion so what? There are rumours saying Lewis wanted to quick racing with them… Ferrari is dirty? You have not seen McLaren….

They are invited to WMSC by the FIA, below are the statement release by FIA:

"Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has been invited to appear before an extraordinary meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Wednesday, 29 April, 2009, to answer charges that, in breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, it


- on 29 March, 2009, told the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix that no instructions were given to Hamilton in Car No. 1 to allow Trulli in Car no. 9 to pass when both cars were behind the safety car, knowing this statement to be untrue;


- procured its driver Hamilton the current World Champion, to support and confirm this untrue statement to the stewards;


- although knowing that as a direct result of its untrue statement to the stewards, another driver and a rival team had been unfairly penalised, made no attempt to rectify the situation either by contacting the FIA or otherwise;


- on 2 April, 2009, at a second hearing before the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix, (meeting in Malaysia) made no attempt to correct the untrue statement of 29 March but, on the contrary, continued to maintain that the statement was true, despite being allowed to listen to a recording of the team instructing Hamilton to let Trulli past and despite being given more than one opportunity to correct its false statement;


- on 2 April, 2009, at the second stewards' hearing, procured its driver Hamilton to continue to assert the truth of the false statement given to the stewards on 29 March, while knowing that what he was saying to the stewards was not true."


In response, McLaren issued the following press release:
"McLaren acknowledges receipt of an invitation to appear at an FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris on April 29, received this afternoon. We undertake to co-operate fully with all WMSC processes, and welcome the opportunity to work with the FIA in the best interests of Formula 1.


"This afternoon McLaren and its former sporting director, Dave Ryan, have formally parted company. As a result, he is no longer an employee of any of the constituent companies of the McLaren Group."

Source: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/4/9159.html

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Ferrari – Not the old Ferrari

After the departure of Michael Schumacher, Ross Brawn, and Jon Todt, the Ferrari we seeing now is not the old Ferrari anymore.

The matter of fact, Michael Schumacher still with the prancing horse as an advisor occasionally test driver, but it seems that things are not moving in the right direction for Ferrari.

On Malaysian GP Saturday qualifying session, Ferrari pace was not  that far off.  But Felipe Massa failed to progress beyond Q1 after the team mistakenly assumed his time would be quick enough to progress into the second qualifying phase.

On Sunday itself, Kimi Raikonnen was running a set of full wet tyres on a practically dry track expecting the rain to fall, another silly assumption.

At the moment Ferrari is not the fastest car but they definitely can do better than this, score some point Ferrari!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

2009 Malaysian GP Result

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 31 55:30.622 1 5
2 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 31 +22.7 secs 10 4
3 10 Timo Glock Toyota 31 +23.5 secs 3 3
4 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 31 +46.1 secs 2 2.5
5 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 31 +47.3 secs 8 2
6 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 31 +52.3 secs 5 1.5
7 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 31 +60.7 secs 12 1
8 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 31 +71.5 secs 4 .5
9 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari 31 +76.9 secs 16  
10 11 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 31 +102.164 secs 15  
11 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 31 +109.422 secs 9  
12 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 31 +116.130 secs 11  
13 8 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 31 +116.713 secs 17  
14 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 31 +142.841 secs 7  
15 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 30 Spin 13  
16 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 30 Spin 20  
17 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 30 +1 Lap 19  
18 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 29 Spin 18  
Ret 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1 Engine 6  
Ret 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 0 Spin 14  

Race stop with 23 laps remaining due to extremely heavy down pour.  Less than 75% of lap completed, all awarded point will be multiply by 0.5

No Restart – Half point awarded

Dramatic event, back to back victory for Brawn GP.

More update coming after the break…

Race Suspended In Sepang due to heavy downpour

With 23 laps remaining, extremely wet.  Race track turning into river, cars spinning…. Felipe Massa losing his temper!? That’s why.

Jenson Button leading at the moment, Timo Glock second, Nick Heidfeld third.  I have not seen anything quite like this before, lets see what will happen next

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Malaysia GP Qualifying – Q3

Jenson Button on pole, Jarno Trulli Second.

Sebastian Vettel and Ruben Barrichello set a good time as well (third and forth)

But Vettel got 10-place grid penalty, and Barichello 5-place grid penalty for changing his gear box on practice.

Malaysia GP Qualifying - Q2

Jenson Button first, both Liar Team McLaren were out.

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Toyota has got pace as well, second for Jarno Trulli.

Q3 after the break…

Malaysia GP Qualifying – Q1

Massa unable to squeeze himself into Q2, silly mistake by Ferrari.  Ferrari practically parked their cars in the pit try to save another set of tyres, bad decision.

Kimi Raikonnen was in a dangerous position too, 14th.  Luckily he made it to Q2P1020879

More to come after the break….

Friday, April 3, 2009

Hamilton Disqualified – Trulli Retain Third Place

This was the story: (All these happened under the safety car period)

The Toyota driven by Jarno Trulli went wide at the second corner Lewis Hamilton overtook him.  The McLaren Team gave an order to Hamilton to allow the Toyota through.

Hamilton obey the team order, allow Trulli to pass.  Hamilton was confused and realized that he need not let him past he should be able to take that position back, if Trulli made a mistake.

The team ask him to hold position and get ready to overtake when the safety car light if off as the KERS is fully charge at that point.

 

When the race end, the FIA steward penalized Trulli for overtaking under the safety car.  They question both the drivers and teams. 
Trulli mentioned: “Lewis slow down and allow me to pass, I have not choice but to pass him”.

 

During the hearing, held approximately one hour after the end of the race, the Stewards and the Race Director questioned Lewis Hamilton and his Team Manager David Ryan specifically about whether there had been an instruction given to Hamilton to allow Trulli to overtake. Both the driver and the Team Manager stated that no such instruction had been given. The Race Director specifically asked Hamilton whether he had consciously allowed Trulli to overtake. Hamilton insisted that he had not done so. 

 

Trulli telling the truth, McLaren and Lewis Hamilton are lying.  They shouldn’t have done that, Hamilton could be at the podium or in worse case a forth place. After all these lies, he and the team were disqualified.

 

"Nonetheless, the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Team now regrets that it did not do so, accepts the Stewards' decision and will not appeal."

 

The new results (Full Australia GP Result):

  1. Jenson Button
  2. Rubens Barrichello
  3. Jarno Trulli
  4. Timo Glock
  5. Fernando Alonso
  6. Nico Rosberg
  7. Sebastien Buemi
  8. Sebastien Bourdais

Thursday, April 2, 2009

2009 Malaysia F1 GP - Prediction

Malaysia, my home.  The race will be held on this Sunday 5th of April 2009.  For me, it will be different from last year, I will be stuck in front of the television monitoring all corners on Sepang F1 Circuit.  Sadly, I will not joining the crowd on the track this year, its ok at least I will not suffering from sun-burned (sour-grape)

Malaysia GP expecting to be a hot and humid race, apart from the speed, engine reliability is the key to success in the race. 

 

Everyone is expecting Brawn GP to dominate again, I will think so too, but definitely will be a closer, tougher fight compare to Melbourne last weekend.

Renault will be competitive, watch out for Alonso.

 

I don’t think the big boys (McLaren Mercedes and Ferrari) can do wonders in one week time, but Ferrari should perform better than McLaren team.  We will see.

Williams-Toyota and Toyota themselves should continue the great performance last weekend, too bad that crashed at the closing stage of last race.

Red Bull Sebastian Vettel should perform will, but due to the 10-place grid penalty as the incident with Robert Kubica,  it will be a tough race for him.


Last but not least, BMW Sauber.  This will be home of major sponsor Petronas, and do not forget, last year they collected 11 points in total in this same circuit

 

The teams running KERS - Ferrari, McLaren, BMW Sauber and Renault - may enjoy more of an advantage here thanks to those long straights, but now that air extraction chimneys have been banned, the heat may prove too challenging for those teams that have marginalised their cooling systems in the interest of aerodynamic efficiency.

 

Brawn will still be running without KERS, if the car is fast enough to win the race, they can take their time.

Little bit on KERS…

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

2009 Malaysia GP - Promotion Event

Some of the photo taken from shopping mall in Malaysia. The heat is not as great as last year for some reason.

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2008 Renault – This car collected 80 solid point home for the last F1 season

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Front view – As you can see, no one is interested in this car

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Top view – ING is going to pull out at the end of 2009 season

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From a higher angle – The floor is deserted (sort of)

In a separate place, Petronas Malaysia did a larger scale of promotion in Suria KLCC shopping complex.

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BMW Sauber booth

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2009 BMW Sauber – 135 was the total points collected by this machine

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Black face – Not so professional model standing next to the car (she’s not even smiling!)

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Rear View – This rear wing design is a history

Apart from displaying the F1 machine, there was a challenge event as well. The prize was a watch from Cortina watch worth RM1500. I was too late, no change on participating the event (last year I did!)

And the challenge was…

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Refuelling Challenge (refuelling or refueling… who cares)

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Acrylic F1 car and refuelling simulator, all the way from Germany

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Front view – Fragile! Handle with care!

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The “Real” Fuel hose

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Fill it up, the light will be lighted up when the fuel hose touches the sensor.

When the lights reach the top (the white triangle piece), pull it out place it on the stage and you are done.

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The score board. 10 seconds of fuel, this one is an incomplete cycle

Monday, March 30, 2009

Answer behind the BRAWN logo

This is definitely an coincident, but I am not sure if anyone have discover this.

Brawn

Why the BRAWN logo looks like this? The BR is separated with AWN, and the AWN is italic for some reason.

 

BRAWN GP, taken from the team principle’s name Ross Brawn (British) based in Brackley, UK. Currently (should I say sole sponsor) sponsored by Richard Branson (British) the founder of Virgin Group.

The team powered by Mercedes, pilot by the two talented driver Ruben Barichello and Jenson Button, from Brazil and British respectively.   No doubt about it, the team is running on Bridgestone tyres as well the sole tyres supplier for the year 2009 season.

 

If you pay more attention on the above paragraphs, you will notice there are some link between these words.  Lets make it clearer.

 

BRwan – the team principle

BRitish – the nationality of Ross Brawn

BRackley – the base of the team

BRanson – the sole sponsor

BRitish – the nationality of Richard Branson

BRazil – the nationality of Ruben Barichello

BRitish – the nationality of Jenson Button

BRidgestone – the name of the tyres on Brawn’s machine, last but not least,

BRilliant – the brilliant engineers behind this fantastic machine.


These words above are making sense, the BRAWN logo probably design it with these “terms” in mind?!

What do you think?

Sunday, March 29, 2009

2009 Australia GP Race Result

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 58 1:34:15.784 1 10
2 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 58 +0.8 secs 2 8
3 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 58 +1.6 secs 20 6
4 10 Timo Glock Toyota 58 +4.4 secs 19 5
5 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 58 +4.8 secs 10 4
6 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 58 +5.7 secs 5 3
7 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 58 +6.0 secs 13 2
8 11 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 58 +6.2 secs 17 1
9 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 58 +6.3 secs 16  
10 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 58 +7.0 secs 9  
11 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 58 +7.3 secs 15  
13 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 57 +1 Lap 8  
14 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 56 Accident 3  
15 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 55 Accident 4  
16 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 55 Differential 7  
Ret 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari 45 Suspension 6  
Ret 8 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 24 Spin 14  
Ret 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 17 Accident 11  
Ret 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 0 Accident damage 12  
DSQ 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 58 +2.9 secs (DQ) 18  

Hamilton finished fourth, was promoted to third after Trulli was penalised for passing him under the safety car, but was ultimately disqualified after stewards decided he and McLaren had provided 'misleading' evidence relating to the incident.

Albert Park – Penalty Causing Race Result Changed

Updates: Trulli retain third place, Hamilton and McLaren disqualified

trulli-podium-stripped 

The celebration lasted less than a day.

Jarno Trulli was penalized by the steward due to the overtaking under the safety car.

I saw it on the television, before the safety car came out, Lewis Hamilton was third.  After that Hamilton and Trulli’s position switched, I was wondering for awhile.  But this is how Jarno Trulli quoted:

"I can't say how disappointed I am to finish third but have the result questioned," he said. "When the safety car came out towards the end of the race Lewis passed me but soon after he suddenly slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. I thought he had a problem so I overtook him as there was nothing else I could do."

This is very disappointing for Toyota, and Jarno Trulli.  He drove a fantastic race despite starting from the pit.

After applying the penalty of 10 seconds 25 seconds (as it happened within the last five laps), third place stripped from Trulli and dropped to 12th place, the final podium slot was passed down to Lewis Hamilton who starting grid was 18. 

 
Apart from that, Sebastian Vettel was penalized as well for the collision with Robert Kubica.  The clumsy move cause Robert Kubica third place, cause himself a second place and 10-place grid penalty on Malaysia Grand Prix, which will be held on 5th April.

vetell-kubica-contactTouched - Robert Kubica on the left, Sebastian Vettel on the right

BRAWN ONE TWO – Australian GP

Jenson Button is the driver of the day no doubt about it.  Thanks to the the Sebastian Vettel And Robert Kubica, Ruben Barichello took the second step of the podium.  Another driver benefit from the stunt was Lewis Hamilton Jarno Trulli, the final driver to complete the podium.

What a dramatic event in Albert’s Park.  The race was sort of completed under the safety car (the safety car put off its light on the final corner), but do not forget the first appearance of Brawn GP!

Big smile on Ross Brawn and Richard Branson face!

Do not forget Sebastian Vettel, he did a fantastic job as well until the last 3 laps of the race.  Clumsy, the only word can be used to describe his move to defends his second position from Robert Kubica.

I was still watching the television while I blogging this post.  Trulli was talking to Ross Brawn, Jenson Button and Ruben Barichello.  I am very happy with you guys, and Barichello was delighted screaming “ONE TWO?!” to Ross Brawn.  Brawn just cool, smiling to both of the driver.

First Debut One two after year 1954! Same engine manufacturer! Amazing!

2 British, 1 Brazilian, Bridgestone tyres, a group of Brilliant team member and a Brawn team… That’s how you spell BRAWN!

Friday, March 27, 2009

Go-ahead – Taller diffuser

diffuser

 

Albert Park stewards have rejected the protest against the diffusers on the Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams machine.  These three teams race car design will remain unchanged and will be free to compete in this weekend.

 

Ferrari, Renault and Red Bull have confirmed that they will now take the matter to the FIA Court of Appeal, which cannot convene until next weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix has been run. Thus the outcome of the opening two races could be in doubt.

 

This is how F1 works, if you can’t beat them on track try off-track…

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Protest on taller diffuser

Brawn, Toyota and Williams managed to exploit the rule of Formula One having to run a taller diffuser.   Clearly it must have certain extend of advantages.

 

The rest of the teams have objected, questioning legality on their designs.


The stewards must now decide whether to allow the cars in question to race in their current form.

Malaysian GP - Trophy

sepang_09trophy

Check out the 2009 Malaysian Sepang F1 GP trophy…