Looking forward to the race day on Sunday. Got a grandstand ticket and will be watching this year F1 race live in Sepang.
Looking outside my office windows (my office is less than 20km away from Sepang F1 Circuit), suddenly I felt that I made a wrong decision by getting the ticket for Sunday race.
Not only raining here, is pouring and the thunder storm is so loud that I can hear it with my headphone on. If this happen during the race, I am sure that we will see red flag and the race will not be able to complete like last year... The team should consider put in 3/4 of fuel so that can qualify better.
Since two weeks ago, the weather timing is more accurate that a chronometer watch. Right on the dot, 10 minutes before 5 start pouring. And I bet today rain will start at 6pm.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Malaysian Friday
Monday, June 8, 2009
F1 2009 Turkish GP Race Result
Monday, May 25, 2009
2009 Monaco Monte Carlo GP Race Result
Sunday, May 10, 2009
F1 2009 Spain GP Race Result
Who will win in 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:
- Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 646kg
- Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 651.5
- Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 649.5
- Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 655
- Mark Webber, Red Bull, 651.5
- Timo Glock, Toyota, 646.5
- Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 655.5
- Fernando Alonso, Renault, 645
- Nico Rosberg, Williams, 668
- Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 660
- Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 676.6
- Nelson Piquet, Renault, 677.4
- Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 676.3
- Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 683
- Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 678
- Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 673
- Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 669
- Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 657
- Adrian Sutil, Force India, 675
- 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!
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.
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.
"But there was a misunderstanding and Jenson became angry. The whole thing got very, very heated.
"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.