Category Archives: Formula 1

Having barely had time to catch their breath after a tense Spanish round, the paddock has a little over three days to pack up and shift operations to Monte Carlo for Thursday's opening practice sessions around the punishing Monaco streets. They pose a challenge like no other on the Formula One calendar - and one that those involved relish

Ferrari have announced on Tuesday that Aldo Costa has relinquished his position as technical director to take on new responsibilities within the company. The team also unveiled a new three-part structure for their technical department. Pat Fry will become the director of Ferrari's chassis section, whilst Corrado Lanzone will take charge of production. Luca Marmorini, meanwhile, will retain responsibility for the engine and electronics division. All three will report directly to the Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali.

In times past, Formula One drivers negotiated the Circuit de Monaco practically one-handed, their right palms rubbed raw by the thousands of gear changes required during up to 100 laps of the tortuous track in the Principality. Today's drivers may have a slightly easier time of it, in that they can at least keep both hands on the wheel, but those hands are also significantly busier in 2011. The modern Formula One steering wheel also fulfils the function of dashboard, gear lever and clutch pedal, and the drivers have up to 32 individual controls that can be adjusted. With the increased in-cockpit workload for 2011 generated by KERS and the DRS, Monaco will present an even greater challenge for the drivers aiming to extract every last ounce of performance. The Mercedes team take time out to explain more…

An excellent strategy and some excellent driving saw Renault's Nick Heidfeld leave Spain a happy man, after he converted 24th on the grid into an eighth place finish. Heidfeld's team mate Vitaly Petrov endured a much less successful Spanish race, slipping from sixth on the grid to 11th at the chequered flag. The German and the Russian reflect on the Barcelona event and consider their chances for this weekend's Monaco race…

Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya had a reputation for less-than-exciting races. All that changed on Sunday, in a Grand Prix that proved just how effective the 2011 rule changes have been in spicing up the F1 spectacle. Favourites Red Bull were forced to fight all the way and over 66 laps we saw constant strategy changes as teams reacted to the competition, compelling drivers throughout the field to make aggressive passing manoeuvres in order to make those strategies work

And the winner is… Sebastian Vettel. Again. The world champion seems to be all but unbeatable on almost any track, under any conditions, KERS or no KERS. In a word, he is on a run. With 118 points from a possible 125, he will head for Monaco with the clear aim of seizing yet another 25 - and the chance for another celebratory 'yabba dabba doo'

Drivers: 1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 2 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), 3 - Jenson Button (McLaren) Q: Sebastian, congratulations, a fourth win in five races and a thrilling, intense battle between yourself and Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages. Give us a taste of your emotions right now. Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, it was pretty tough. At the beginning of the race, I think I had a good start but I didn't understand where Fernando (Alonso) came from. He

Although Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel doesn't have a full set of victories from the races run so far this season, his success in Spain on Sunday means he has claimed four wins from the opening five events. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner reviews the Barcelona event and looks ahead to the Monaco round next weekend…

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso on his stellar start in front of his home crowd; HRT's Vitantonio Liuzzi on his relatively early exit; Michael Schumacher on struggling with oversteer in the Mercedes; and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton on his epic battle with eventual victor for Red Bull Sebastian Vettel. The drivers review their Sundays in Barcelona…

There may not have been as much overtaking as we saw in Turkey, but Lewis Hamilton made it a gripping Barcelona race on Sunday as he hounded Sebastian Vettel from the 20th to the 66th and final lap. The reigning world champion had to work every inch of the way as he took his fourth victory of the season for Red Bull, and the two drivers were separated by a mere 0.6s after more than 300 kilometres of flat-out racing. There was drama that the crowd loved at the start when Ferrari's Fernando Alonso simply burst through from fourth place to slam down the inside of poleman Mark Webber going into the first corner. €t was the prelude to a disappointing afternoon for the Australian, who had been focusing on keeping Vettel at bay and didn't spot the Ferrari in time.

With most teams bringing major updates to the Spanish round, talk of upsets in the pecking order dominated the build-up to the championship's European opener. But while the need for speed may rule in Formula One, the sport has also been hard at work looking beyond its own borders this week as the UN and FIA promoted the Decade of Action for Road Safety initiative. McLaren's Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton found time before flying out to Spain to meet up with UK Prime Minister David Cameron to discuss the project, which aims to reduce number of fatal road crashes around the world, while Formula One Global Partner Allianz announced their involvement in the project at Berlin's Michelin Challenge Bibendum conference.

Talk in the paddock seems to suggest that these are desperate times for Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher. A tricky comeback year in 2010 has turned into an even worse 2011, with the German earning just six points from the opening four races. But while it's certainly true things have not gone quite to plan, conversation between the seven-time world champion and Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Vice-President Norbert Haug is far from troubled. In fact, the dream is still very much alive

After watching his Red Bull team mate Sebastian Vettel take pole position at the opening four races, Mark Webber is feeling mighty relieved on Saturday in Barcelona to have finally found his way back on to the P1 grid slot. Webber looks back on the qualifying session and looks ahead to Sunday's race…

Mark Webber arrived in Barcelona resolved to kick start his world championship campaign. And on Saturday he laid some pretty sturdy foundations to do just that, by knocking Red Bull team mate Sebastian Vettel off pole position for the first time this season. But with Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button making up the top five, and many expecting a lot of overtaking, Webber faces stiff competition on Sunday. We take a team-by-team look at how all the runners performed…

Drivers: 1 - Mark Webber (Red Bull); 2 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 3 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) Q: Mark, it is not your team-mate for once. Your first pole of the season and your first since Belgium 2010. How did you do that? Mark Webber: Well it was a good session. I think it was pretty clear going into qualifying we might have had a bit

Renault's Nick Heidfeld on how his fiery exit from final practice ruled him out of qualifying; Rubens Barrichello on how gearbox issues on his Williams robbed him of a proper Q1 run; Heikki Kovalainen on making it through to Q2 and then managing to out qualify the Force Indias in his soft-tyred Lotus; and Red Bull's Mark Webber on pipping his team mate Sebastian Vettel to pole position for the first time this year. All the drivers and leading team personnel report back on Saturday in Barcelona…

Mark Webber aced Red Bull team mate Sebastian Vettel for the first time in a 2011 qualifying session, to take his first pole position of the season in Spain on Saturday. Vettel's sole Q3 run yielded him a fastest-of-the-weekend 1m 21.181s, undercutting the 1m 21.961s and 1m 21.996s laps of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, but then Webber slipped in his masterpiece to take the top slot with 1m 20.981s. Subsequently, Fernando Alonso squeezed his Ferrari between the McLarens, with 1m 21.964s, only three-thousandths off Hamilton.

On Friday in Barcelona, FIA race director Charlie Whiting held a rare press briefing in which he spoke on a variety of highly topical issues, including the legality of the latest blown diffusers, the use of DRS in Monaco, the decision to have two DRS zones in Canada and more. Below are highlights from that briefing

He sat in the pits for most of the final practice session as team mate Mark Webber set the pace, but right at the end Sebastian Vettel emerged with two and a half minutes to spare to take the honours with a brilliant lap, 0.084s faster than the Australian, whose best was 1.350s faster than Michael Schumacher's Mercedes. The two McLarens were next, with Lewis Hamilton shadowing Schumacher's 1m 23.057s with 1m 23.068s and Jenson Button close on 1m 23.214s. Nico Rosberg completed the top six with 1m 23.397s for Mercedes

The FIA's Charlie Whiting has revealed to the media that from next month's Canadian race onwards, Grands Prix may feature two DRS zones, opening up the prospect of even more overtaking. Current plans for Montreal are to allow drivers to use the moveable rear wing on the back straight and the main straight