Thats a bizarre decision, under the new safety car line rules, Schumacher did nothing wrong. As much as I ahte that cheating scumbag, he was in the right for once there, he overtook Alonso after the line and therefore was a legitimate move whether its the last lap or not.

Then again, i've watched F1 for nearly 20 years and have never understood some of the rules myself.

Of all the places to pick to have a Grand prix in the USA, they had to go for...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport...one/8704931.stm

HAHA!

Vettel = Arse

Honestly, I have no idea what the heck he was thinking when trying that move on Webber, he was going in too quick and he was always going to drift right when braking

All in all though, it was a cracking race in the end, a McLaren 1-2 which is sweet and Kobayashi gets Sauber's first point of the season, even sweeter

The incident in question

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport...one/8713653.stm

3 of Force India's design team have joined Lotus, including the team's chief designer Mark Smith, who is credited as the brains behind Force India's 2010 car and as you can see, Lotus's chief techincal boss Mike Gascoyne is chuffed to bits with it.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/84096

It comes at the same time Force India are taking action against the windtunnel company that helped design Lotus's 2010 car over allegations that it is a carbon copy of Force India's car from 2009.

Work on Silverstone's new pit complex began this week (its being moved from where it is now on the exit of Woodcote and before Copse to the exit of Vale and before the beginning of the new Arena complex)



And this is how it will look when its all done

I hope it's further developed than just steel framing. I'm there in 2 weeks and expecting racing action, not building action.

They're still using the old pit complex at Woodcote for this season

Also apparently after the BTCC round there at the end of August (its last major fixture of the year), a new grandstand will be built opposite it

For the first time this season, Red Bull are not on Pole, Hamilton put in a stonking lap to tkae it from Webber...and he ran out of fuel on the way back to the pits too.

FINAL GRID FOR TOMORROW'S CANADIAN GRAND PRIX

ROW 1: 1st Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), 2nd Mark Webber (Red Bull)
ROW 2: 3rd Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 4th Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
ROW 3: 5th Jenson Button (McLaren), 6th Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India)
ROW 4: 7th Felipe Massa (Ferrari), 8th Robert Kubica (Renault)
ROW 5: 9th Adrian Sutil (Force India), 10th Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
ROW 6: 11th Rubens Barrichello (Williams), 12th Nico Hulkenberg (Williams)
ROW 7: 13th Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), 14th Vitaly Petrov (Renault)
ROW 8: 15th Sebastien Buemi (STR), 16th Jaime Alguersuari (STR)
ROW 9: 17th Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber), 18th Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber)
ROW 10: 19th Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus), 20th Jarno Trulli (Lotus)
ROW 11: 21st Timo Glock (Virgin), 22nd Bruno Senna (Hispania)
ROW 12: 23rd Lucas di Grassi (Virgin), 24th Karun Chandhok (Hispania)

Glad to see Canada back on the calender its one of my favourite tracks, it should be Hamilton's to lose today as the long fast straights will suit McLaren.

Tyre degredation is a huge factor though this weekend, Hamilton is the only one in the top 5 starting on super softs so he is gambling on an early safety car. If that happens then Hamilton would need a monuental fuck-up or reliability woes to stop him from taking an easy win.

An early pit could work to his advantage if the others are starting on the hard tyres as previous races this season once sombody pits, everybody around them seems to also come in within a couple of laps.

Its just got a bit easier for Hamilton, Mark Webber's been demoted 5 spots for a gearbox change, he'll now start 7th

ROW 1: 1st Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), 2nd Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
ROW 2: 3rd Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), 4th Jenson Button (McLaren)
ROW 3: 5th Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India), 6th Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
ROW 4: 7th Mark Webber (Red Bull), 8th Robert Kubica (Renault)

Jenson's great with looking after his tyres, so I fancy him doing well here.

Wow Lewis you lucky lucky boy, might get his safety car after all

Liuzzi, Petrov and i think de la Rosa all out

What a cracker that was

Best race of the season so far , just wondering what penalty msc will get for his antics today ?

Already been done, a slap on the wrist for being a naughty boy. Personally, that I thought was too lenient

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/84489

I remember Eddie Irvine got a three race ban for this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAnpQvu794o

Looks like the first driver change of the season is close, Karun Chandhok has apparently run out of funding.

http://en.espnf1.com/hrtf1/motorsport/stor...tml?CMP=OTC-RSS

It would be a big shame that, he's done a great job in what is essentially a shit car.

With the testing ban in force and all 12 teams well within 107%, may I ask what is the point of those FIA loonies bringing this rule back?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/84690

Pirelli replace Bridgestone as F1 tyre suppliers on a 3 year contract

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/84688

A few suprises in qualifying included the improved showing from Williams as both their cars got into the top 10 shootout for the first time this season and Petrov getting his Renault into the top 10 as well, but the big shock was Mercedes with Nico Rosberg in 12th and Michael Schumacher qualifying in a disappointing 15th, his worst qualifying display since the infamous incident at Monaco 2006. Also he was close to suffering the humiliation of being knocked out in Q1.

VALENCIA GRAND PRIX - FINAL GRID

ROW 1: 1st Vettel, 2nd Webber
ROW 2: 3rd Hamilton, 4th Alonso
ROW 3: 5th Massa, 6th Kubica
ROW 4: 7th Button, 8th Hulkenberg
ROW 5: 9th Barrichello, 10th Petrov
ROW 6: 11th Buemi, 12th Rosberg
ROW 7: 13th Sutil, 14th Liuzzi
ROW 8: 15th Schumacher, 16th de la Rosa
ROW 9: 17th Alguersuari, 18th Kobayashi
ROW 10: 19th Trulli, 20th, Kovalainen
ROW 11: 21st di Grassi, 22nd Glock
ROW 12: 23rd Chandhok, 24th Senna

Huuuuugee crash with Webber!!!

Unbelieveable that he got out of the car ok!

dejavu

Its not the first time thats happened this weekend, this is Czech driver Josef Kral crashing into the back of Rodolfo Gonzalez in the GP2 race this morning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN6xsJCJV1M...eos=u9KJ469mOE0

Unlike Webber (who walked away) Kral suffered back and arm injuries as a result

I'd say Horner was delighted, the cunt.

I feared thew orst when I seen the car in the air at that speed ready to land head down, Webber can count himself very lucky to walk away from that it's one of the worst I've seen in F1 for a few years, perhaps since Kubica at Canada a few years ago. (I know Massa came off bad last year but the incident didn't appear as bad as that.)

Yeah, it was pretty crazy how the live feed changed to that shot and then immediately he just went flying. He actually hit one of the advertising things hung over the track in the air - that alone was lucky not to take his head off. Then how he landed upside down, and then smashed into the tyres at probably around 100mph. I was expecting to see him motion-less in the car, but it's a testiment to the safety of the cars to see him walking away.

Too true, a lot of people hate Max Mosley and with good reason, but if we could thank him for one thing, it would be his drive to make F1 safer, something triggered by the deaths of Senna and Ratzenberger in 1994. Thanks to him drivers are now enclosed in a thick tub made from carbon fibre, have cockpit side protection, are required to wear the HANS device (not wearing one of those was the main reason for the death of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt) and specifically designed race helmets (as Felipe Massa demonstrated last year), and their cars are subjected to a series of vigorous frontal, rear and side impact tests before they are even allowed to turn a wheel. Yep, safety in the sport has come a long way in the last 16 years.

But even though Webbers incident today was bad, I still believe Robert Kubica's massive crash in Canada 2007 was worse and a better tribute to the safety of the modern grand prix car simply because of the sheer velocity of the impact and the multiple number of rolls and the worry when the car rebounded into a field of oncoming and unsuspecting cars going full pelt. Yet he only came away with mild concussion and a slightly bruised ankle, a miracle. Just like today.

As for apportioning blame on Webber or Kovalainen, i dont think you really can to be honest, so I would put it down as a racing incident.

I'm not so sure, I think Webber could have avoided that accident and was a bit to keen to get past Kovalainen..

If I was at a push, then I would have said Webber. He did look like he was concentrating more on Kovalainen's slipstream rather than the upcoming chicane.

A brilliant video here, Jenson and Lewis exploring around McLaren's vault

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tQCXE7DDuc

The car they're taking most interst in is one of Ayron Senna's car, the car which won 15 out of 16 races in the 1988 season

Bruno Senna dropped by Hispania for British GP this weekend, apparently due to his sponsor defaulting payments, his replacement is Japanese pay driver Sakon Yamamoto

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport...one/8802712.stm

Tomorrow's race is in danger of being a Red Bull walkover, less than a tenth separated Vettel and Webber but they were both consistently nearly a whle second quicker than everyone else.

As for the Brits, Button had his worst qualifying since Malaysia after suffering various handling problems caused by the failure of McLaren's latest aero upgrades. Hamilton though had exactly the same issues but put in a stunning performance to grab 4th spot. Also a good day for Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa who gets his best qualifying performance since 2006

GRID FOR TOMORROWS BRITISH GRAND PRIX

ROW 1: 1st Vettel, 2nd Webber
ROW 2: 3rd Alonso, 4th Hamilton
ROW 3: 5th Rosberg, 6th Kubica
ROW 4: 7th Massa, 8th Barrichello
ROW 5: 9th de la Rosa, 10th Schumacher
ROW 6: 11th Sutil, 12th Kobayashi
ROW 7: 13th Hulkenberg, 14th Button
ROW 8: 15th Petrov, 16th Buemi
ROW 9: 17th Alguersuari, 18th Kovalainen
ROW 10: 19th Glock, 20th Liuzzi*
ROW 11: 21st Trulli, 22nd di Grassi
ROW 12: 23rd Chandhok, 24th Yamamoto

* was 15th but penalised 5 spots for impeding Hulkenberg in Q2

Hamilton is 20-1 on Betfair to win. Considering he won the last two and could easily jump a place or two at the start I think that's pretty good value.

Well that was better than I thought it would be, take the top 2 out of the equation and it was a tight,well fought race.

DRIVERS TOP 12 AFTER BRITAIN

1. Lewis Hamilton ........ 145
2. Jenson Button ........ 133
3. Mark Webber ........ 128
4. Sebastian Vettel ........ 121
5. Fernando Alonso ........ 98
6. Nico Rosberg ........ 90
7. Robert Kubica ........ 83
8. Felipe Massa ........ 67
9. Michael Schumacher ........ 36
10. Adrian Sutil ........ 35
11. Rubens Barrichello ........ 29
12. Kamui Kobayashi ........ 15

CONSTRUCTORS AFTER BRITAIN

1. McLaren ........ 278
2. Red Bull ........ 249
3. Ferrari ........ 165
4. Mercedes ........ 126
5. Renault ........ 89
6. Force India ........ 47
7. Williams ........ 31
8. Sauber ........ 15
9. Toro Rosso ........ 10
=10. Lotus ........ 0
=10. Virgin ........ 0
=10. Hispania ........ 0

Nice to see Vettel going off on lap one, it's about time he kept his number 1 celebration till race day rather than looking a dick all the time in qualifying. So glad for Webber winning that race after his team stabbed him in the back taking his front wing and giving it to Vettel

You can tell they're clearly favouring Vettel over Webber, even when Webber's winning and Vettel isnt. And that may very well be their downfall despite having the best car on the grid. They also need to remember that dominating qualifying on saturday means nowt if you dont replicate it in the race and at the moment, they're not doing it.

McLaren's pair of world champions are acting in exactly the opposite manner, and thats why they lead both championships at the moment and with two of their favoured tracks coming up next (Hockenheim & Budapest) it does'nt exactly look rosy for Red Bull.

It does seem strange that the McLaren was the 2nd fastest car by far out there today yet it was awful yesterday and they aren't allowed to change anything after qualifying so how can that be? If Hamilton can just keep doing what he is doing and getting consistent podium finishes he will be able to capitalise on Red Bulls error of backing the wrong driver.

The only change to the car is the fuel loads and that just seems to play to McLaren's advantage, despite Webber getting away well, Hamilton was easily able to match him until the fuel loads lightened.

You are right though about Hamilton and his consistency, he's scored 86 points in the last 4 races (2 wins and 2 second places) exactly double what Vettel has scored in the same period and 36 more than Webber. He just needs to keep up his current level of performance and (like you say) hope Red Bull's squabbles continue, oh and not forgetting Red Bull's poor reliability record too as demonstrated on Saturday Morning

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport...one/8807373.stm

Bruno Senna reinstated for the rest of the season but now Chandhok loses his seat for Hockenheim to be replaced by the same driver that stood in for Senna, Sakon Yamamoto

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/85314

Personally, I think this is stupid, Yamamoto in my view is clearly not good enough and Chandhok has performed miracles in that Hispania this season, his reliability record is such that only the 2 McLaren drivers have completed more racing laps this season than Chandhok plus he has also outqualified his teammate Bruno Senna on a regular basis.

A suprise man is in the running to become Formula One's 13th team in 2011

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport...one/8826793.stm

Seeing the German GP this weekend is back at Hockenheim, it brings back bad memories for a lot of fans all becuase it is the very track that one of the greatest ever drivers perished

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-spo...ic-jim-clark.do

One note about qualifying today, yes Vettel got Pole but he got it after beating Alonso by just 0.002, the 2nd closest qualifying gap in F1 History.

Both McLarens occupy the 3rd row but they have finally managed to get their version of the "blown diffuser" to work and could be a good outside bet for victory tomorrow and also pretty much favourites for next weeks race in Hungary, the slower, twisty track there will play heavily to McLaren's advantage.

FINAL GRID FOR TOMORROW'S GERMAN GRAND PRIX

ROW 1: 1st Vettel (Red Bull), 2nd Alonso (Ferrari)
ROW 2: 3rd Massa (Ferrari), 4th Webber (Red Bull)
ROW 3: 5th Button (McLaren), 6th Hamilton (McLaren)
ROW 4: 7th Kubica (Renault), 8th Barrichello (Williams)
ROW 5: 9th Rosberg (Mercedes), 10th Hulkenberg (Williams)
ROW 6: 11th Schumacher (Mercedes), 12th Kobayashi (Sauber)
ROW 7: 13th Petrov (Renault), 14th de la Rosa (Sauber)
ROW 8: 15th Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), 16th Buemi (Toro Rosso)
ROW 9: 17th Trulli (Lotus), 18th Kovalainen (Lotus)
ROW 10: 19th Sutil (Force India), 20th Senna (Hispania)
ROW 11: 21st Liuzzi (Force India), 22nd Yamamoto (Hispania)
ROW 12: 23rd di Grassi (Virgin), 24th Glock (Virgin)

5 place grid penalty for a gearbox change

Very very angry

"Team Orders" ringing their ugly head once again. Massa drove a brilliant race and fully deserved to win it, but Ferrari doing their level best to enrage everybody by doing an Austria 2002 again.

Yes they didnt tell them directly but by the way the radio conversations went and the move itself, it was all obvious that it was a team order, even more obvious when Massa's race engineer said sorry to him too.

If I was Massa now, i'd have every right to be pissed with Stefano Domenicali (Ferrari's team boss) not that the team will be that bothered of course.

Red Bull dominated qualifying being over a second quicker than everyone else but it could all chage if Vettel gets penalised for blocking Trulli's Lotus in Q1

FINAL GRID FOR TOMORROW'S HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX

ROW 1: 1st Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)*, 2nd Mark Webber (Red Bull)
ROW 2: 3rd Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), 4th Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
ROW 3: 5th Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), 6th Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
ROW 4: 7th Vitaly Petrov (Renault), 8th Robert Kubica (Renault)
ROW 5: 9th Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber), 10th Nico Hulkenberg (Williams
ROW 6: 11th Jenson Buton (McLaren), 12th Rubens Barrichello (Williams)
ROW 7: 13th Adrian Sutil (Force India), 14th Michael Schumacher (Mercedes
ROW 8: 15th Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), 16th Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India)
ROW 9: 17th Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), 18th Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber)**
ROW 10: 19th Timo Glock (Virgin), 20th Jarno Trulli (Lotus)
ROW 11: 21st Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus), 22nd Lucas di Grassi (Virgin)
ROW 12: 23rd Bruno Senna (Hispania), 24th Sakon Yamamoto (Hispania)

* Subject to possible penalty for blocking Jarno Trulli in Q1
** Possible penalty for refusing to go to scrutineering after Q1

Can't see that happening but fingers crossed

Kobayashi's got a 5 place penalty for his indiscrescion so will start down in 23rd, Vettel has been cleared

Nick Heidfeld leaves Mercedes (he was the official reserve) to become the lead tyre tester for Pirelli, they're replacing Bridgestone from 2011 onwards)

http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/240818/...-new-challenge/