The story so far - Red Bull's mid-season report

With the brains of Adrian Newey, a small army working back at their UK base in Milton Keynes and the generous patronage of Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull Racing have been threatening to step up to the front of the field ever since they bought out Jaguar in 2004.

This season they have finally made it into the big time, thanks in no small part to the combination of new signing Sebastian Vettel, who has chalked up three poles and two wins, and experienced runner Mark Webber, who finally clinched a maiden victory in Germany. Here’s the story of their season so far…

Red Bull
World championship points: 92.5
Best qualifying result: 1st (4x)
Best race result: 1st (3x)
After being upstaged by junior team Toro Rosso in 2008, Red Bull started the year vowing it was their turn to shine. The RB5 certainly turned heads during pre-season testing, with its clever interpretation of the stringent 2009 rules. But while it looked the most complete car, its pace (and reliability) was less convincing.

There were even murmurs that Red Bull had built themselves a pretty, but ineffectual, machine. In qualifying for Melbourne’s season opener, however, Vettel showed the true promise of the RB5, taking third on the grid behind the controversial double-diffuser Brawns. Both the German and Webber were equally strong in the race and, were it not for two collisions, may have scored a podium.

In Malaysia too, luck was not on their side and the car’s obvious pace received scant reward as Webber and Vettel struggled with their tyres. But at a soaked Shanghai, the RB5 was dominant, with Vettel and Webber clinching a richly deserved maiden one-two. In dusty Bahrain and sweltering Spain, however, the tyre degradation issues were back with a vengeance and solo podiums at each were a letdown.

Hoping for a boost, the team brought a Brawn-inspired double diffuser to Monaco (no mean feat given the packaging restrictions of the car’s pull-rod rear suspension), but ultimately dropped to third in the pecking order behind a resurgent Ferrari. In Turkey, they were reasonably satisfied with a two-three result, but for another win they would have to wait for June and the British Grand Prix. Again it fell to Vettel, but the real hero was the heavily upgraded RB5.

After what team principal Christian Horner called ‘superhuman efforts’ at the factory, the car was unassailable at Silverstone. In a reversal of fortunes it was Brawn who were struggling with tyres and Red Bull ran riot to score a majestic one-two. Matching it with more of the same in Germany, the team has proved their pace has staying power. And after unlocking the car’s potential so comprehensively, Horner believes the team can retain their grip at the top.

“Putting aside our performance and two dominant one-two finishes in the last two races, the team’s determination to continue to improve and not to take anything for granted is very important. There are no obvious weaknesses in our armoury, but as a group we must continue to push ourselves in all areas all the time."

Battle of the team mates - Sebastian Vettel v Mark Webber
Qualifying: Vettel (7-2)
Race: Webber (6-3) Vettel retired in Monaco
Points: Vettel 47, Webber 45.5
Up until the last round in Germany, Vettel had largely ruled the roost at Red Bull. Taking the team’s first-ever pole and victory and qualifying higher than Webber in all but two of the season’s nine outings, Vettel’s youth seems to be outclassing the Australian’s experience. But if you throw Webber’s pre-season cycling accident and consistency into the mix, the duo have been closer in performance than the stats suggest, with team principal Horner even stating that at the opening rounds Webber was somewhat below par, and it’s “only now we are seeing Mark at the level of fitness he was at prior to his injury”. Certainly with just 1.5 points separating the duo, they are the closest pairing on the 2009 grid. And with the team ruling out favouring one driver, for the moment at least, prepare to see them battle it out for supremacy over the coming races.

In summary - With the RB5 a three-time race winner, the stakes at Red Bull couldn’t be higher. Both drivers have the talent to do the car justice, but will Webber’s experience or Vettel’s ambition win the day? Watch this space...

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2009/7/9640.html)

Ask the Expert - McLaren's Lewis Hamilton

What was the McLaren team’s first Grand Prix car called? Who was the oldest driver to have won the world championship? What was the Pussy Cat Dolls’ first Number One record? And at which race did Ayrton Senna score his first Formula One victory? These are just some of the questions we thought Lewis Hamilton would take in his stride after he agreed to be the latest participant in our personal trivia test, ‘Ask the Expert’...

Q: Your team mate Heikki Kovalainen is Finnish. What is the capital city of Finland?
Lewis Hamilton: Helsinki
Correct

Q: What was the Pussy Cat Dolls’ first Number One record?
LH: Don’t Cha. I should know that one, shouldn’t I!
Correct - Hamilton’s girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger is lead singer of the US group.

Q: How much does it cost to join your official fan club?
LH: With this question you really caught me on the wrong foot. Sorry, no idea.
Incorrect - adults £65 / €90 / $140; children: £20 / €40 / $60

Q: You were born in Stevenage. Can you name three other famous people to have come from the Hertfordshire town?
LH: Let me think: Ashley Young and Jack Wilshere, both footballers. Sorry, but then my memory passes out.
Two out of three ain’t bad - an easy third would have been actor Rupert Grint, otherwise known as Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films.

Q: When, where and in what series did you enjoy your first single-seater victory?
LH: I should know that - it’s my life! It was Formula Renault at Thruxton in 2002.
Full marks - 16 June 2002, to be precise.

Q: Can you explain oversteer in fewer than 15 words?
LH: When the front turns in so sharp that the rear steps out.
Correct

Q: What was long-time McLaren team principal Ron Dennis’ first job in Formula One racing?
LH: He started as a mechanic.
Correct - with the Cooper team in the mid 1960s.

Q: Whereabouts on your car’s livery is team partner SAP advertised?
LH: This is my workplace! On the nose.
Correct

Q: What was the McLaren team’s first Grand Prix car called?
LH: Must be something beginning with an M, but sorry, I don’t know.
Incorrect - McLaren Ford M2B.

Q: How many constructors’ championships and drivers’ titles have McLaren won in total?
LH: That part of the team history I know: 12 drivers’ and eight constructors’ titles.
Correct

Q: Bruce McLaren scored his team’s first victory at which race?
LH: Spa? Don’t know exactly the year, 1967 or ‘68…
Good enough - the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix.

Q: Last year you became the youngest-ever world champion. Who remains the oldest?
LH: Was it Fangio? Ascari? No? No idea.
Incorrect - Nino Farina was 43 when he won the 1950 championship.

Q: You clinched your first pole position and your first win at the same event - the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix. Which other current F1 drivers managed the same feat, albeit at different venues?
LH: Webber, of course. The other one, let me think. Was it Felipe?
Correct - Felipe Massa at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix and Webber at the 2009 German Grand Prix.

Q: Can you guess how many test kilometres you covered last year?
LH: Must have been a lot. Over 8000?
Half marks - pretty close. The actual answer is 9090.

Q: How many points, wins and pole positions have you scored so far during your Formula One career?
LH: 216, 9 wins and 13 poles.
Full marks

Q: Fresh from winning the drivers’ title in 1996, your fellow British driver Damon Hill moved teams and endured a tough follow-up season. What team did he move to and where in the standings did he finish that year?
LH: He moved to Arrows and I believe he finished quite far back - was it ninth?
Half marks - he finished 12th.

Q: One of your driver heroes is Ayrton Senna. At which race did Senna score his first Formula One victory?
LH: I should know that one. Must have been 1985 in a John Player Lotus, in Portugal.
Spot on

Q: In what year was the McLaren team founded?
LH: 1963.
Correct

Q: Your team mate Kovalainen has so far won one championship during his motorsport career. In which series did he claim the title?
LH: World Series (by Nissan)
Correct - in 2004.

Q: Can you guess how many laps you led races for during the 2008 season?
LH: Must have been around 300.
Close enough - 294 to be precise.

Final score: 22.5 points from a possible 28
Ask the Expert rating: 80%

Current leader board:
1. Heikki Kovalainen - 86%
2. Mark Webber - 84%
3. Lewis Hamilton - 80%
4. Kazuki Nakajima - 73%
5. Sebastien Buemi - 72%
6. Robert Kubica - 70%
7. Jenson Button - 69%
8. Giancarlo Fisichella - 68%
9. Nico Rosberg - 66%
10= Sebastian Vettel - 64%
10= Rubens Barrichello - 64%
12. Jarno Trulli - 58%
13. Nick Heidfeld - 57%
14. Adrian Sutil - 54%

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2009/7/9617.html)

Qualifying - Vettel storms to Silverstone pole

Sebastian Vettel continued his domination of Silverstone by taking pole position for the British Grand Prix with a lap of 1m 19.509s in his Red Bull. As pre-race favourite Jenson Button failed in his quest and took only sixth place, Rubens Barrichello was Brawn’s lead runner in second with 1m 19.856s. A spoiled first run and traffic at Stowe prevented Mark Webber from joining his Red Bull team mate on the front row, and his 1m 19.868s left him third.

Jarno Trulli continued his unobtrusive form for Toyota with 1m 20.091s for fourth, while Kazuki Nakajima’s last-moment lap of 1m 20.216s in the Williams shoved Button back a place. The championship leader could not better 1m 20.289s.

Nico Rosberg failed to improve on his final try and was seventh in 1m 20.361s in the second Williams, ahead of Timo Glock’s Toyota on 1m 20.490s, Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari on 1m 20.715s and Fernando Alonso’s Renault on 1m 20.741s.

Q2 saw the demise of Felipe Massa, who just didn’t have his Ferrari as well set up as team mate Raikkonen. The Brazilian’s best lap was 1m 18.927s, good enough only for 11th. Neither BMW Sauber made it through, Robert Kubica’s lap of 1m 19.308s leaving him 12th, Nick Heidfeld’s 1m 19.448s seeing him line up 15th. Between them was McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen on 1m 19.353s, and Renault’s Nelson Piquet (who went off at Stowe at one stage) on 1m 19.392s.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, the darling of Silverstone 2008, had a torrid time and was a victim of a big accident which befell Adrian Sutil in the closing moments of Q1, in which Kazuki Nakajima set the pace. The Force India driver lost control on the left-hander at Abbey and crashed heavily into the tyre wall on the outside, necessitating the red flag. He was unharmed. Hamilton was on his flying lap, but with less than a minute of the session left his lap was ruined.

Giancarlo Fisichella was 16th on 1m 19.802s in the sister Force India, ahead of Sebastien Bourdais’s Toro Rosso on 1m 19.898s. Sutil had recorded 1m 19.909s earlier, and Hamilton 1m 19.917s, leaving them 18th and 19th ahead of Sebastien Buemi’s Toro Rosso in 1m 20.236s.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/6/9529.html)

Ask the Expert - Toyota’s Jarno Trulli

What is a paradiddle? Who won the 1997 German Formula Three championship? How many Grands Prix did motorcycle champion Jarno Saarinen win during his career? Why is Toyota team principal Tadashi Yamashina nicknamed George? And which river runs through the German city of Cologne? These are just some of the questions we thought Toyota’s Jarno Trulli would take in his stride after he agreed to be the latest participant in our personal trivia test, ‘Ask the Expert’...

Q: You own a vineyard, but can you name the grape variety that your land is predominantly planted with?
Jarno Trulli: Well, our region is very well known for the red Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, the white Trebbiano d'Abruzzo and the Cerasuolo Rose, these are the most important wines that we produce. But believe me, we have many other different grapes in our region like Malvasia or Pecorino - they are small grapes and not very well known but fantastic as well!
Correct

Q: If your team mate Timo Glock hadn't made it in motorsport, what would his likely profession be?
JT: I have no idea. I don't know him so well but he is a good, clever and smart guy who could do anything.
Incorrect - Glock has said he would probably work for his father's scaffolding company.

Q: You play drums in a Toyota team members' band, but can you explain to us what a paradiddle is?
JT: Basically we set up this band between Toyota members in order to play some music, stay together and enjoy a bit of free time together. It is a very good way to spend and enjoy time away from racing. But coming back to your question - I have no idea. I have never studied music. I play by instinct.
Incorrect - it’s a four-note pattern in the form of right, left, right, right or left, right, left, left.

Q: You once wore a special pink helmet to commemorate the achievements of cycling friend Danilo di Luca. What year and at which Grand Prix was it? And what race had Di Lilo just won?
JT: He won the Giro in 2007 and the pink helmet was the Canadian Grand Prix.
Correct - De Lilo had won the 2007 Giro d'Italia cycling race.

Q: You won the German Formula Three championship in 1996. Which of your current Formula One rivals inherited your title in 1997?
JT: Nick Heidfeld.
Correct

Q: You are a fan of Audemars Piguet watches. When was the company founded?
JT: Oh! It is difficult to say when the company was founded because Audemars Piguet is a company that is made by two families - by the Audemars family and the Piguet family. They started out not as producers of watches but of mechanisms. At one stage they joined forces to produce a watch. I really cannot remember the year - but it's quite some time ago - something like late 19th century and it's one of the only watch brands that is still owned by the family!
Incorrect - it was actually in 1875, but we think Trulli deserves half a point for his history lesson.

Q: Your parents named you after Grand Prix motorcycle racing champion Jarno Saarinen. How many motorcycle Grand Prix did Saarinen win during his career?
JT: Ah, sorry I don't know.
Incorrect - it was 15.

Q: Your team mate Timo Glock is an avid fan of which unusual sport? And for a bonus point can you name his favourite team?
JT: No idea!
Incorrect - Glock’s a big fan of handball and supports HSV Hamburg.

Q: At the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix you scored your first (and to date only) F1 victory. Which of your current F1 rivals are also still awaiting that elusive second win?
JT: Let me go through the grid. I think Kovalainen is one! Webber never, Piquet never, Williams drivers never, Red Bull - none of them. Give me a clue!
One point from a possible two - McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen (won Hungary, 2008) and BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica (Canada, 2008).

Q: In 2000 you completed the New York Marathon. Can you name any one of the three Italians who have won the race?
JT: No, sorry.
Incorrect - Orlando Pizzolato in 1984 and 1985; Gianni Poli in 1986; Giacomo Leone in 1996.

Q: Your first child, Enzo, was born in April 2005, but which of your fellow F1 drivers also became a father that same week?
JT: I should be right: it's Juan Pablo Montoya.
Correct - Montoya's wife Connie gave birth to Sebastian.

Q: Toyota team principal Tadashi Yamashina has the nickname George. Which George is he named after and how did the nickname come about?
JT: He got his nickname when he was in the USA but I don't remember the story behind it.
Half a point - apparently he is named after President George Bush. Back in 2001 when Yamashina arrived in the United States to take up a new post as president of Toyota's Technical Centre USA, his new colleagues struggled to pronounce his name, so he ended up instead being known as George, after the then US President.

Q: Although Toyota's Formula One programme only began in 2002, the Japanese company has enjoyed a long racing presence. In what year did the brand enjoy its first motorsport win?
JT: I don't know.
Incorrect - It came in 1975 at the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland, when Hannu Mikkola and his co-driver Atso Aho won in a Toyota Corolla.

Q: In 2008 team manager Richard Cregan left Toyota for a new position. What is Cregan's new job?
JT: He became manager of the Abu Dhabi race track.
Correct - he is indeed team manager of Abu Dhabi Motorsport Management, spearheading preparations for the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November.

Q: Toyota's factory is based in Cologne. Which river runs through the German city?
JT: I don't know. I'm not really good at geography!
Incorrect - the Rhine.

Q: You won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix. How many safety car periods did the race feature, and which of your former team mates ended his race upside down on Lap Three?
JT: Fisichella and I think we had two safety cars.
Correct - Fisichella’s Sauber rolled after he ran into the rear of David Coulthard's McLaren.

Q: In 1996 you participated in the prestigious F3 Marlboro Masters race at Zandvoort. Two other drivers on the grid that day also went on to become major Formula One stars. Can you name them?
JT: Montoya and Nick Heidfeld
Correct - Heidfeld finished third and Montoya was fourth. Trulli was 19th.

Q: You spent two seasons with the Prost team, scoring eight points in total. How many points did the team score on their F1 debut at the 1997 Australian Grand Prix?
JT: In ‘97 I was not with Prost so I have no idea.
Incorrect - two, after Olivier Panis finished fifth.

Q: Your first front-row grid slot came at the 2000 Monaco Grand Prix. Who was on pole and who won the race?
JT: Michael Schumacher was on pole and I was second by one tenth - but neither of us finished, and if I remember rightly, Coulthard won.
Correct - Schumacher retired on lap 56, leaving Coulthard to win for McLaren.

Q: You were born in Pescara, which in 1957 hosted a round of the Formula One world championship. The circuit was the longest ever used in F1. To the nearest minute, what was Stirling Moss's fastest lap time?
JT: I don't know. But let's see if I can calculate something. Alora, given the length of the track my guess is 15 minutes? What, only 9 minutes 44? Ah, I remember there was an 8-kilometre long straight.
Incorrect - 9 minutes 44.6 seconds. The circuit was 25.579km long.

Final score: 15 points from a possible 26
Ask the Expert rating: 58%

Current leader board:
1. Mark Webber - 84%
2. Sebastien Buemi - 72%
3. Robert Kubica - 70%
4. Jenson Button - 69%
5. Giancarlo Fisichella - 68%
6. Nico Rosberg - 66%
7= Sebastian Vettel - 64%
7= Rubens Barrichello - 64%
9. Jarno Trulli - 58%
10. Nick Heidfeld - 57%

More drivers coming soon.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2009/6/9482.html)

The Turkish Grand Prix Preview - a three-way fight in Istanbul?

This weekend’s race round Turkey’s Istanbul Park Circuit could show the direction in which the world championship battle will go over the next few Grands Prix. The unusual track, which runs anti-clockwise, places a premium on aerodynamic performance and that is bound to favour the Brawns.

However, it could also finally show us the true potential of Red Bull’s RB5, now boasting its own trick diffuser. And don’t discount Ferrari, the team on the rise and winners here the last three years…

This weekend’s race round Turkey’s Istanbul Park Circuit could show the direction in which the world championship battle will go over the next few Grands Prix. The unusual track, which runs anti-clockwise, places a premium on aerodynamic performance and that is bound to favour the Brawns, which demonstrated convincingly in Barcelona, another aero venue, that they are still highly effective even though everybody else now has similar multi-tier diffusers.

Istanbul Park Circuit undulates over its 5.338 kilometre (3.316 mile) lap length. For 2009 the back of the apex kerbs in Turns Nine and 12 have been graded to prevent a car from launching. Speed bumps, similar to Turn Two in Barcelona, have been installed behind the apex of Turn 10. And additional conveyor belts have been added mid-way through the tyre barriers at Turns One, Seven, Nine and 12.

The track is best known for the challenge presented by Turn Eight, a triple-apex left-hander that seems to go on and on. It is taken around 250 km/h generates arguably the highest G-forces drivers see over the season. Elsewhere, speeds reach 320 km/h and track temperatures of up to 55 degrees Celsius have been seen. It is thus as much a challenge for the drivers and cars as it is the engineers, who have to set them up, and the tyre manufacturer.

Bridgestone have brought their hard and soft compounds here, which are very different, and the harder tyre in particular could have engineers scratching their heads on set-ups.

This could be the first race at which we really see the potential of Red Bull’s RB5. Adrian Newey’s latest weapon has been very close to the Brawns all season even without a trick diffuser, but team boss Christian Horner believes its race performances in both Bahrain and Barcelona were disguised because Sebastian Vettel got trapped behind cars with KERS (Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren and Felipe Massa’s Ferrari respectively). Since Monaco the car has a two-tier diffuser, and this weekend will be the first time that the car will get to stretch its legs in this guise. With some more minor aero tweaks, expect it to fly.

Likewise, the Ferraris will be strong here, and the team are feeling buoyed after their competitive performances in Spain and Monaco. Felipe Massa has been unbeatable here for the last three years, and is raring to make it four in a row.

“We will have another small step in terms of aerodynamic development, which should improve the car still further, and that is down to a big push from the guys in the factory," he reports. "We want to continue to improve as quickly as possible, to try and win some races. If will be fantastic if we find we are in a position to fight for the win in Turkey.

"I just like the track and feel comfortable there, but it's hard to pinpoint why it suits me better than some other circuits. I do prefer fast flowing tracks and have a feel for all the corners here, as it's not good enough to only be fast over one particular section of the track. I think I've also found a good way to set up the car perfectly for this circuit."

BMW Sauber will be running a two-tier diffuser for the first time as part of an aero package that includes modified front wings, side bargeboards, rim shields and engine cover. Both they and Toyota have high hopes for this weekend and are desperate to wipe out memories of their troubled Monaco outings. Hamilton is also hopeful of a better time in the McLaren.

“I love racing in Turkey,” he says. “It’s a real challenge because you need to attack the lap to get a good time, but you also need to be careful with your tyres - if you push too much, particularly through Turn Eight, then your tyres are going to suffer. It’s all about finding the perfect balance in practice and being disciplined in the race so you don’t overdo it.

“I also love the fact that it’s a new circuit that has really captured the flavour of some of the older, classic tracks - it’s got a bit of everything and is fantastic to drive. Also, as it’s anti-clockwise, it gives your neck a bit of a workout, but you just need to make sure you’ve exercised the left side of your neck a little more than usual before getting in the car.”

However, though McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh says that the MP4-24 will have some further upgrades, he does not expect Turkey to suit it as well as Monaco did. Championship leader Jenson Button starts favourite, though. He and Brawn team mate Rubens Barrichello will have a new front wing, other minor aero revisions, and modified rear suspension to play with this weekend on their BGP 001s.

"The Turkish Grand Prix is always a race that I look forward to as I really enjoy driving the Istanbul Park circuit and have been quite competitive there in the past,” Button says. “Hermann Tilke did a great job with the layout of the track here and the changes in gradient are great fun and quite challenging. We've seen some excellent racing here, with good overtaking opportunities at Turns One and Three.

“You can also pass down the hill into Turn Nine and at Turns 12 and 13 if you brake late enough and get it just right. Turn Eight is obviously the corner that everyone talks about and it's probably the longest that I've ever driven. It's quite high G-force, up to 5G for seven seconds, which puts a lot of stress on your neck. You have to be as smooth as possible through the triple apex and if you get it right and take it flat, then it is one of those corners where you exit with a huge smile having made up a lot of time."

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2009/6/9427.html)

Final practice - Alonso has the edge on Button

A fantastic qualifying session is in prospect this afternoon after Fernando Alonso narrowly set the fastest time for Renault in Saturday morning’s final practice hour.

The Spaniard lapped in 1m 15.164s, the fastest time thus far this weekend. It was just enough to dislodge Brawn’s Jenson Button, who had earlier popped up at the top for the first time with 1m 15.233s.

But right behind the Englishman, McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen (1m 15.278s), Brawn’s Rubens Barrichello (1m 15.286s on his 37th birthday) and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa (1m 15.293s) were also very quick. And Kimi Raikkonen (1m 15.382s for Ferrari) and Lewis Hamilton (1m 15.389s in his McLaren) were a stone’s throw away too in sixth and seventh. At this rate, it will be a real dogfight for the all-import first two rows this afternoon.

Sebastian Vettel was eighth for Red Bull, albeit a little bit adrift of the top seven with 1m 15.722s, with Williams’ Nico Rosberg (1m 15.758s) and Red Bull’s Mark Webber (1m 15.985s) completing the top 10 and the aces category.

Kazuki Nakajima was 11th for Williams with 1m 16.103s, then came Force India’s Adrian Sutil (1m 16.228s), Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais (1m 16.301s), Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella (who spun at the chicane in the only real incident of the session before recording 1m 16.317s), Renault’s Nelson Piquet (1m 16.382s) and Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi (1m 16.432s).

At the back, neither Toyota nor BMW Sauber were having a happy time. Timo Glock was 17th on 1m 16.527s and Jarno Trulli 20th on 1m 16.810s, with Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld between them on 1m 16.599s and 1m 16.661s.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/5/9389.html)

Friday analysis - who’s better, and whose best is yet to come?

Rather than merely go through the usual chassis set-up work and tyre evaluation, all of the teams had the added incentive to do some quick laps in Friday’s Spanish practice sessions to assess the benefits (or otherwise) of their various upgraded aerodynamic packages. Most struggled for grip on the hard Bridgestone prime tyre, but were pleasantly surprised by the durability on the soft option, which naturally provided greater roadholding...

Williams
Nico Rosberg, 1m 22.667s, P6/1m 21.588s P1
Kazuki Nakajima, 1m 22.659s, P5/1m 21.740s, P2
Rosberg said he liked Williams’ latest aero configuration, which seemed to work well. Nakajima concurred but struggled, like many, to find grip on Bridgestone’s harder tyre.

Renault
Fernando Alonso, 1m 23.157s, P17/1m 21.781s, P3
Nelson Piquet, 1m 22.753s, P7/1, 22.349s, P8
Alonso admitted that he struggled for grip in the morning but then found something that took the team in a much better direction in the afternoon. Piquet had two off-track moments in the second session, but backed his team mate well as they tried lots of new aerodynamic components.

Brawn
Rubens Barrichello, 1m 22.859s, P10/1m 21.843s, P4
Jenson Button, 1m 21.799s, P1/1m 22.052s, P6
Button set the fastest time comfortably in the morning but said that his upgraded Brawn BGP001’s grip and balance still weren’t quite right. Barrichello, however, gathered a lot of data in his running and the team think they know what they need to do to improve the car for tomorrow.

Red Bull
Mark Webber, 1m 22.934s, P12/1m 22.027s, P5
Sebastian Vettel, 1m 22.959s, P13/1m 22.082s, P7
Webber was happier with his afternoon runs than the morning’s and said he got a better feel for the RB5. He alluded to a little problem in the second session that the team knew about, but did not expand upon it. Vettel said he had a normal Friday apart from a radio problem that sounded like Spanish taxi drivers talking to him.

Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi, 1m 23.185s, P18/1m 22.571s, P9
Sebastien Bourdais, 1m 23.088s, P15/1m 22.615s, P11
Buemi lost time in the afternoon with a rear brake problem, but said the latest version of the STR4 felt better while it was running. Bourdais complained of problems with his car but chose not to elucidate.

Ferrari
Felipe Massa, 1m 22.855s, P9/1m 22.878s, P15
Kimi Raikkonen, 1m 22.873s, P11/1m 22.599s, P10
Raikkonen said Ferrari have definitely made a step forward with their F60, which had greater downforce and stability. Massa agreed, but both want to wait for qualifying before they get too excited.

Force India
Giancarlo Fisichella, 1m 23.089s, P16/1m 22.670s, P12
Adrian Sutil, 1m 23.536s, P20/No time
Fisichella liked his Force India’s new adjustable front wing, but still struggled with understeer in slow corners. Sutil lost all of the afternoon running because of a problem with his VJM02’s fuel cell.

McLaren
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 23.077s, P14/1m 22.809s, P13
Heikki Kovalainen, 1m 23.522s, P19/1m 22.876s, P14
Hamilton said that he had wrung everything out of his MP4-24 that it had to give today, and that he is expecting a tough race. Kovalainen echoed his sentiments. Having upgraded their car in all of the races to date, McLaren had less to offer in the way of improvement here.

BMW Sauber
Robert Kubica, 1m 22.221s, P3/1m 22.948s, P16
Nick Heidfeld, 1m 22.658s, P4/1m 23.173s, P17
Both BMW drivers were late improvers in the morning, jumping up to third and fourth places right at the end of the session. The main task of the day was to evaluate the new aero package, which did not include a two-tier diffuser. Neither ran KERS. Heidfeld lost time with a brake problem in the morning.

Toyota
Jarno Trulli, 1m 22.154s, P2/1m 23.623s, P19
Timo Glock, 1m 22.828s, P8/1m 23.360s, P18
New engine covers differentiated the TF109s this weekend, as part of their aerodynamic revisions. Trulli was very quick in the morning and focused on race work in the afternoon, as did Glock who was eighth in the first session. Trulli wasn’t totally happy with his car’s balance, and Glock struggled even more than the Italian.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2009/5/9323.html)

Renault expecting a step forward in Spain

Renault have not had the easiest of starts to the 2009 season, with five points from four races falling well below their expectations. However, since adding a twin diffuser to the R29, the car has become easier to set-up and there are more developments for Barcelona this weekend, including further floor revisions, a new rear wing and new wheel fairings. In combination, Renault believe the changes should produce a noticeable increase in performance, as Executive Director of Engineering, Pat Symonds, explains…

Q: Pat, after four races, what's your verdict on the team's start to the year?
Pat Symonds: I'm disappointed with our start to the season. We're all well aware of the difficulties of trying to assess competitiveness through winter testing, but when we arrived in Melbourne we did feel we were higher up the pecking order than the performance we actually delivered. However, what has impressed me is how the whole team has responded to the need to become more competitive, particularly following the clarification of the diffuser regulations as we managed to get the new-style diffuser onto one of the cars in China, which is a credit to the whole team. So it has been a disappointing start, but we've definitely moved up the order in the last four races and there's a lot more to come.

Q: Do you feel the drivers are getting the most from the R29?
PS: I think they are, especially now that we've introduced the twin diffuser because the car was quite sensitive and difficult to set-up with the more conventional diffuser. The car used to have a very small sweet spot in terms of set-up, which made it difficult for Fernando (Alonso) and Nelson (Piquet) to get the most from the car. I do believe that this has improved since we've fitted the new diffuser, but it's still difficult to judge because we have been so limited with the amount of running we've done, especially in dry conditions. So we still have a lot to learn about the R29, but I do feel it's becoming easier for us to get the most from the car.

Q: Can you update us on the team's development programme as the European season begins?
PS: The whole team is still pushing hard with development and the diffuser and floor that we brought to China was very much a first attempt and over the course of the year we will see several more versions, the first of which we hope to have in Barcelona. In addition, we've got new wheel fairings this weekend with quite a major design change to give us an increase in downforce and a new rear wing. On top of that we've got a few small aerodynamic tweaks that we will introduce on a race-by-race basis. Overall we can expect a reasonable step in performance for Barcelona.

Q: Have you been surprised by the relative competitiveness of all the teams this year?
PS: Yes, I've been very surprised by just how close the racing has been in the first four races. Normally you expect stability of rules to lead to close racing and change of rules to move things apart, but that hasn't been the case this year, although the new rules have certainly shaken up the order of the grid. I don't have an explanation as to why things are so close, but I can speculate that one of the reasons is that the aerodynamic performance of the cars is probably a bit closer this year. With much simpler aero regulations, the advantage that some teams were getting from winglets, deflectors and vortex generators may have been lost. The aero domain has therefore been neutralised to an extent and the relative aero performance of the cars is perhaps a bit closer.

The second reason might be to do with tyres as I wonder whether the formula is becoming tyre-dominated. The fact that we are all using a Bridgestone control tyre that is relatively conservative is probably another factor that has led to the closing up of the field.

Q: How do you expect the R29 to perform in Barcelona, which is renowned as the definitive aero circuit?
PS: We weren't particularly satisfied with our performance in Barcelona during winter testing and I think that was probably because our aero performance was significantly below that of the cars with twin diffusers. Now that we have hopefully improved our performance with our own new-style diffuser, we certainly hope that Barcelona will be a bit more favourable for us.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2009/5/9301.html)

Ayrton Senna

World Championships	3
Grand Prix Starts	162
Grand Prix Wins	41
Pole Positions	65
Nationality	Brazilian

History

He streaked through the sport like a comet, an other-worldly superstar whose brilliance as a driver was matched by a dazzling intellect and coruscating charisma that illuminated Formula One racing as never before. No one tried harder or pushed himself further, nor did anyone shed so much light on the extremes to which only the greatest drivers go. Intensely introspective and passionate in the extreme, Ayrton Senna endlessly sought to extend his limits, to go faster than himself, a quest that ultimately made him a martyr but did not diminish his mystique.

Ayrton Senna da Silva was born on March 21, 1960, into a wealthy Brazilian family where, with his brother and sister, he enjoyed a privileged upbringing. He never needed to race for money but his deep need for racing began with an infatuation for a miniature go-kart his father gave him when he was four years old. As a boy the highlights of Ayrton's life were Grand Prix mornings when he awoke trembling with anticipation at the prospect of watching his Formula One heroes in action on television. At 13 he raced a kart for the first time and immediately won. Eight years later he went single-seater racing in Britain, where in three years he won five championships, by which time he had divorced his young wife and forsaken a future in his father's businesses in favour of pursuing success in Formula One racing, where he made his debut with Toleman in 1984. At Monaco (a race he would win six times), his sensational second to Alain Prost's McLaren - in torrential rain - was confirmation of the phenomenal talent that would take the sport by storm.

Deciding Toleman's limited resources were inadequate for his towering ambition, Senna bought out his contract and in 1985 moved to Lotus, where in three seasons he started from pole 16 times (he eventually won a record 65) and won six races. Having reached the limits of Lotus he decided the fastest way forward would be with McLaren, where he went in 1988 and stayed for six seasons, winning 35 races and three world championships.

In 1988, when McLaren-Honda won 15 of the 16 races, Senna beat his team mate Alain Prost eight wins to seven to take his first driving title. Thereafter two of the greatest drivers became protagonists in one of the most infamous feuds. In 1989 Prost took the title by taking Senna out at the Suzuka chicane. In 1990 Senna extracted revenge at Suzuka's first corner, winning his second championship by taking out Prost's Ferrari at Suzuka's first corner. Senna's third title, in 1991, was straightforward as his domination as a driver became even more pronounced, as did his obsession with becoming better still. Some of his greatest performances came in his final year with McLaren, following which he moved to Williams for the ill-fated 1994 season.

Beyond his driving genius Senna was one of the sport's most compelling personalities. Though slight in stature he possessed a powerful physical presence, and when he spoke, with his warm brown eyes sparkling and his voice quavering with intensity, his eloquence was spellbinding. Even the most jaded members of the Formula One fraternity were mesmerised by his passionate soliloquies and in his press conferences you could hear a pin drop as he spoke with such hypnotic effect. His command performances were captured by the media and the world at large became aware of Senna's magnetic appeal.

Everyone marvelled at how he put so much of himself, his very soul, into everything he did, not just his driving but into life itself. Behind the wheel the depth of his commitment was there for all to see and the thrilling spectacle of Senna on an all-out qualifying lap or a relentless charge through the field evoked an uneasy combination of both admiration for his superlative skill and fear for his future.

He drove like a man possessed - some thought by demons. His ruthless ambition provoked condemnation from critics, among them Prost who accused him of caring more about winning than living. When Senna revealed he had discovered religion Prost and others suggested he was a dangerous madman who thought God was his co-pilot. "Senna is a genius," Martin Brundle said. "I define genius as just the right side of imbalance. He is so highly developed to the point that he's almost over the edge. It's a close call."

Even Senna confessed he occasionally went too far, as was the case in qualifying for the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix, where he became a passenger on a surreal ride into the unknown. Already on pole, he went faster and faster and was eventually over two seconds quicker than Prost in an identical McLaren. "Suddenly, it frightened me," Ayrton said, "because I realised I was well beyond my conscious understanding. I drove back slowly to the pits and did not go out anymore that day."

He said he was acutely aware of his own mortality and used fear to control the extent of the boundaries he felt compelled to explore. Indeed, he regarded racing as a metaphor for life and he used driving as a means of self-discovery. "For me, this research is fascinating. Every time I push, I find something more, again and again. But there is a contradiction. The same moment that you become the fastest, you are enormously fragile. Because in a split-second, it can be gone. All of it. These two extremes contribute to knowing yourself, deeper and deeper."

His self-absorption did not preclude deep feelings for humanity and he despaired over the world's ills. He loved children and gave millions of his personal fortune (estimated at $400 million when he died) to help provide a better future for the underprivileged in Brazil. Early in 1994 he spoke about his own future. "I want to live fully, very intensely. I would never want to live partially, suffering from illness or injury. If I ever happen to have an accident that eventually costs my life, I hope it happens in one instant."

And so it did, on May 1, 1994, in the San Marino Grand Prix, where his race-leading Williams inexplicably speared off the Imola track and hit the concrete wall at Tamburello corner. Millions saw it happen on television, the world mourned his passing and his state funeral in Sao Paulo was attended by many members of the shocked Formula One community. Among the several drivers escorting the coffin was Alain Prost. Among the sad mourners was Frank Williams, who said: "Ayrton was no ordinary person. He was actually a greater man out of the car than in it."

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/teams_and_drivers/hall_of_fame/45/)

China race analysis - Red Bull find their wings at last

With Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button fourth and fifth on the grid, both with heavily fuelled cars, Brawn had looked set for another victory in Shangai. That was until the dark clouds arrived, changing the whole complexion of the Chinese Grand Prix before it had even started.

Brawn - nor anyone else - had any answer to the sheer class of Sebastien Vettel and the Red Bull. In the atrocious conditions Adrian Newey’s latest creation - boasting only a single diffuser - was unstoppable. With a revised diffuser on the way, the RB5 must now be considered a serious title contender…

Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel, P1
Mark Webber, P2
The sheer class of the Red Bull RB5 was more and more apparent as the race developed, and it became clear that in the wet it generated the right sort of tyre temperatures to keep Vettel and Webber happy. The German certainly benefited from the safety car start, without which the outcome might have been closer, but Webber provided much of the entertainment in his fight with Button. Vettel’s only major problem was an inadvertent attack by Buemi, who got caught out under the second safety car when Vettel slowed for a white car he believed to be Barrichello, which turned out to be the damaged Trulli. It’s been a long road for Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz since he came into F1 with Sauber and then bought Jaguar Racing, and his one-two victory was richly deserved.

Brawn
Jenson Button, P3
Rubens Barrichello, P4
For a while Brawn looked good for a third consecutive victory, especially as the Red Bulls were running on a short fuel strategy. But it soon became clear that the BGP001’s dry road advantage of being kind to its tyres was a serious handicap when it came to generating decent temperatures in the wet. Both Button and Barrichello struggled like mad, but third and fourth places kept them at the head of both championships.

McLaren
Heikki Kovalainen, P5
Lewis Hamilton, P6
Kovalainen was McLaren’s lead driver, and his fifth place finish was well deserved after a canny single-stop strategy and some peerless driving enabled him to make significant progress. Hamilton was fantastic in the early stages and he climbed as high as fourth, but his push-on style took its toll on his tyres. Subsequently he admitted to making too many mistakes, but his was a typically determined run that netted sixth, helping to give McLaren seven valuable points.

Toyota
Timo Glock, P7
Jarno Trulli, Retired lap 18, accident with Kubica
A bump with Heidfeld on lap 13 delayed Glock, but despite a few off-course moments the German charged his way up to seventh place in the closing stages to add to Toyota’s constructors’ championship score. Trulli fell back quickly after the start, and was taken out when Kubica aquaplaned heavily into the back of his TF109 on lap 18.

Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi, P8
Sebastien Bourdais, P11
Buemi drove another excellent race and stayed cool under heavy pressure from the likes of Alonso. He also passed Raikkonen and Hamilton! He was also lucky to get away with his heavy shunt into Vettel when they came across a slowing Trulli while running under the safety car. Thankfully the Toro Rosso is a strong car and so is the Red Bull. All he needed was a new front wing on the STR4. Bourdais had a couple of spins which prevented him from finishing better than 11th.

Renault
Fernando Alonso, P9
Nelson Piquet, P16
As expected, Alonso was the first to refuel, on lap seven before the safety car had even come in! That dropped the Spaniard to the back of the field and he spent the afternoon trying to recover ground. His pressure on Buemi paid off and he was in contention for minor points when he spun late in the race and had to be content with ninth. Piquet had a terrible afternoon, two big spins each requiring a new nose. He finished an unhappy 16th.

Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen, P10
Felipe Massa, Retired on lap 21, electrical
Ferrari went home without any points for the third race in succession, but they were unlucky this time. Massa drove really hard in the opening stages and had climbed to a promising third place by the 21st lap when his F60 simply ground to a halt with an electronic failure. Raikkonen fared a little worse in the initial going but was fourth by the time of his first stop on lap 27. Unfortunately that dropped him down the field, and he was never able to recover to better than 10th.

BMW Sauber
Nick Heidfeld, P12
Robert Kubica, P13
Heidfeld made a good start but soon ran wide on the lake in Turn 16 and lost places. Then he had a collision with Glock in Turn 14 on lap 13 which damaged his car. Later still, he was hit by one of Sutil’s wheels when the Force India driver crashed on lap 51 and lost four places in rapid succession. Kubica had that shunt with Trulli on lap 18, and later had to stop for another front wing when the replacement worked loose and lost him downforce. Altogether, a day to forget for BMW Sauber.

Force India
Giancarlo Fisichella, P14
Adrian Sutil, P17, Retired lap 51, accident damage
Fisichella was Vijay Mallya’s sole finisher in 14th after numerous excursions as his Bridgestones grained. Sutil gambled on an early fuel stop on lap four and another on 19 and had worked ahead of Hamilton for sixth within sight of the finish before losing it on lap 51 and crashing heavily enough to remove both front wheels.

Williams
Nico Rosberg, P15
Kazuki Nakajima, Retired lap 44, transmission
Yet again, Williams showed great potential and came away with zero. Rosberg complained of water drops on his visor which made visibility even more difficult in the tricky conditions. With 15 laps to go he desperately tried intermediates, but that gamble was negated when it began to rain again. Nakajima’s afternoon of spinning or running off-course was brought to an end by transmission problems.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2009/4/9214.html)

The Chinese Grand Prix Preview - Brawn under pressure?

Even with Brawn GP’s trick diffuser having been declared legal, championship leader Jenson Button expects to have to fight really hard for his Formula One hat-trick in Shanghai this weekend, as the Chinese Grand Prix moves to the third slot on the calendar for 2009.

“I am understandably delighted with how our season has begun, but we are only two races in and everyone at the team is aware that our competitors will not stand still,” the 29 year-old Englishman says. “We fully expect a tough fight from here if we want to continue our early successes.

Brawn, along with Toyota and Williams, come to Shanghai boosted by news that they can continue to race their disputed rear diffusers, after they were declared legal by the FIA’s International Court of Appeal on Wednesday. It’s a decision that leaves rivals scurrying to add similar designs to their cars as soon as possible - and one that leaves Button eager to get racing again before they have a chance to catch up.

“The Shanghai International Circuit (SIC) is an enjoyable one for the drivers and a good technical challenge to find the right set-up,” he adds. “I particularly enjoy the high-speed sections and the overtaking opportunities going into the tight right-hander at turn five and at the end of the back straight."

Meanwhile, after a high-powered meeting in Maranello, Ferrari have reacted to their disappointing start to the season - and their disaster in Malaysia - by making internal team changes. Team manager Luca Baldiserri has changed to a factory-based role, and his position at races will be taken by Briton Chris Dyer, who was formally Michael Schumacher’s engineer and has recently acted as chief track engineer.

Baldiserri will now work with technical director Aldo Costa to fast-track developments on the F60. The pressure is really on Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, who must score good finishes this weekend.

Likewise McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. “I really enjoy racing in Shanghai,” says the reigning world champion, who won the race last year. “The track is a good blend of fast and slow stuff and it throws up a few nice challenges for the drivers. Finding the right set-up is important, you need speed and balance through the high-speed corners but decent mechanical grip for the hairpins.

“We got it spot-on last year, and while I don’t expect us to enjoy that sort of performance advantage this season, I think we’re all looking forward to a good showing. Hopefully, some of the upgrades we’ve added to MP4-24 for this race will have a benefit: it would be very encouraging if we could qualify a little further up the grid and be regularly challenging for points.”

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh added: “We have reasons to be both disappointed and optimistic about our performance in the opening races: disappointed because we do not yet possess the necessary technical package to enable us to fight with the leaders, but optimistic that our rate of progress is sufficiently rapid that we should be able to fight for points finishes on a regular basis. This weekend’s race will see a number of new components introduced to MP4-24, and while we do not expect them to radically transform the car’s potential, they should move us a little closer to the front.”

Toyota, Williams and BMW Sauber are feeling more bullish about their chances this weekend.

"I am really optimistic about the Chinese Grand Prix because we have started the season very strongly,” Toyota’s Jarno Trulli says. “It shows how much progress we have made since last season that in Malaysia I was a little disappointed with fourth because I wanted to finish on the podium and fight for the win. Last year in Malaysia I finished fourth and that was more than we expected. We are second in the constructors' championship so it's clear we are one of the top teams and both Timo (Glock) and I have consistently been fighting at the front which is great. So the goal for me in China is to fight for the podium again and I think we have a really good chance.”

"Shanghai's a driver's track," says Williams’s Nico Rosberg, who led early on in Malaysia. "There's a great mix of corners and then there are those two long straights so plenty of overtaking opportunities around the lap which will be good for the racing. Sepang showed that the team seem to have fixed the problem we had last year on these types of circuits so it's now looking like we have consistency. I'm confident that we'll have another competitive weekend in China. Top eight for sure."

BMW Sauber, like Renault, will be hoping to exploit their KERS advantage (at least on Nick Heidfeld’s car) on the SIC’s long straights.

The track is 5.451 kilometres long and shaped like the Chinese character 'shang,' meaning 'high' or 'above'. It has an equal number of left and right turns - seven apiece - and presents several overtaking opportunities. Among them are Turn One and the corner at the end of the 1.1 km back straight where the cars brake from more than 320km/h on the section between Turns 13 and 14.

It is a low to medium-downforce track, and this weekend Bridgestone will be supplying their medium and super soft compound slick tyres, a combination which presented interesting challenges to the teams in Australia.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2009/4/9179.html)

Diffuser appeal hearing underway in Paris

The FIA’s International Court of Appeal meets in Paris on Tuesday to consider the legality of the diffusers used by the Brawn, Toyota and Williams teams at the first two Grands Prix of 2009. Whatever the outcome, the Court’s decision is likely to have a huge impact on this year’s title chase.

The revised technical regulations for 2009, designed to cut downforce, specify a much smaller rear diffuser. Brawn, Toyota and Williams have interpreted the rules differently to their rivals and have adapted other areas of bodywork to effectively enlarge their diffusers.

Stewards at both the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and the second round in Malaysia declared the ‘double-decker’ designs, which use bodywork openings to feed them more air, legal. However, BMW Sauber, Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault have all appealed the stewards’ findings, questioning whether the diffusers adhere to the wording and spirit of the regulations.

Should the Court agree with them, it could in theory strip Brawn, Toyota and Williams of their points from Melbourne and Sepang, which would dramatically alter the face of the championship table. Alternatively, it could insist they change their diffusers for a more ‘conventional’ design.

If the Court deems the diffusers legal, then it will leave the other seven teams on the grid playing catch-up. Many have already begun development of similar diffuser designs - thought to be worth as much as half a second per lap - which, if required, could be introduced as early as the Bahrain Grand Prix later this month.

A decision is expected from the Court on Wednesday afternoon.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/4/9170.html)

Ask the Expert - BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica

When did BMW build their first motor vehicle? Who played ‘The Dude’ in cult bowling film ‘The Big Lebowski’? Who are the three most famous Poles of all time? And how long did it take snooker’s Ronnie O’Sullivan to complete a 147 maximum break? These are just some of the questions we thought BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica would take in his stride after he agreed to be the latest participant in our trivia-testing ‘Ask the Expert’ series. But how did he fare? Find out here…

Q: Approximately how many Polish people watch you race every week?
Robert Kubica: More than three million? That would be my guess, but I haven’t looked at the figures lately.
A modest answer, but sadly incorrect - the real number is up to four million people, more than 10 percent of the population.

Q: Polish television sports reporter Tomasz Lorek placed you fourth in a list of most famous Poles of all time. Who was ahead of you in the ranking?
RK: Sure the Pope and Lech Walesa - and, as that particular reporter loves speedway, it’s surely somebody from there.
Two out of three ain’t bad - the reporter actually said: ‘I would estimate that he is the fourth most famous Pole of all time in terms of worldwide fame, behind the last Pope, Lech Walesa, and maybe the chemist lady, Marie Sklodowska [better known to the non-Polish world as Marie Curie]’.

Q: For how many years has your boss Dr Mario Theissen worked for BMW?
RK: It must be a long time. How old is he now? 56. If he started when he was around 25 that should make it 31 years.
Close enough for half a mark - the actual answer is 32.

Q: In poker, what does the term ‘ducks’ stand for?
RK: A pair of twos! That’s an easy one.
Correct

Q: You’re a fan of bowling, but which pin is commonly known as the kingpin?
RK: The central pin. Another easy one!
Correct

Q: How many pairs of sunglasses does your team mate Nick Heidfeld own?
RK: Oh! Only last weekend he had seven different pairs. Must be around 30, for sure.
Correct - Kubica clearly knows his team mate well, 30 is indeed the correct answer after we questioned Heidfeld

Q: If you search your name on Google, can you guess how many results it brings up?
RK: I’ve no clue!
Incorrect - modesty won’t get you anywhere in this game - last time we checked the answer was 2,780,000.

Q: In 2005 you won the Renault World Series, how many victories did you score that season?
RK: Four.
Correct

Q: When, where and in what series did you win your first single-seater victory?
RK: Formula Renault 2002 in Vallelunga in April.
Correct

Q: How much does an official Robert Kubica cap cost on BMW Sauber’s website?
RK: Too expensive! 20 Euro?
Incorrect the price is actually 25 Euro

Q: What are Nick Heidfeld’s two children called?
RK: Juni and Joda
Correct

Q: You are a big fan of world rally champion Sebastien Loeb. But who is his long-time co-driver?
RK: A Monegasque. Daniel Elena
Correct

Q: Christian Klien is sitting on the bench again this year as BMW Sauber’s third driver, but how many Grands Prix has he started during his Formula One career?
RK: Christian? Something around 48?
Very close, so half marks - it’s actually 46

Q: Although BMW originally developed aircraft engines, when did the company build its first motor vehicle?
RK: Around 80 years ago?
Again, close enough for half marks - they built their first motorbike in 1923, but became an automobile manufacturer in 1928.

Q: BMW boasts a striking headquarters in Munich, what is the design of the building meant to represent?
RK: Engine cylinders
Correct - four of them in fact.

Q: You are a fan of snooker’s Ronnie ‘Rocket’ O’Sullivan, who holds the record for the fastest 147 maximum break. How long did it take him?
RK: That is easy - 5 minutes 20 seconds.
Correct - O’Sullivan’s achievement took place in the first round of the 1997 World Championship.

Q: Coming back to bowling, in the classic bowling movie ‘The Big Lebowski’, who plays Jeff Lebowski, more commonly known as ‘The Dude’?
RK: I don’t know.
Incorrect - it was Jeff Bridges.

Q: You still love karting, and you lived in Italy for quite a while. Which Italian is the current world karting champion?
RK: Marco Ardigo
Correct - he won the title in 2007 and 2008.

Q: Staying on an Italian theme, what is BMW’s connection to the recent remake of the classic car film ‘The Italian Job’?
RK: Can you repeat that? No idea.
Incorrect - it featured three new Minis as the getaway cars and the Mini is made by BMW.

Q: Your race debut came in Hungary 2006 after Jacques Villeneuve left the team. Where did Villeneuve finish on his race debut in Australia 1996?
RK: I know this one - it was not bad. He nearly won! Second
Correct - he finished second, having started from pole for Williams.

Final score: 17.5 points from a possible 25
Ask the Expert rating: 70%

Current leader board:
1. Robert Kubica - 70%
1. Sebastian Vettel - 64%
2. Nick Heidfeld - 57%

More drivers coming soon.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2009/4/9166.html)

2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX

Location

Shanghai

Population

13.4 million

Currency

Yuan (Renminbi)

First Grand Prix

2004

Timezone

GMT +8

Language

Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin)

Religion

Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Christianity

Visa / Passport Requirements

Why go?

Being the industrial and financial capital of China, Shanghai is the country’s economic shop window. An increasing number of western businesses have offices situated in the Bund district, with the result that the city has enjoyed double-digit economic growth for more than a decade.

Increased wealth has brought with it a relentless building and promotional phase, of which Shanghai International Circuit (SIC) is one such example. It is the benchmark against which all modern tracks are judged. The drivers enjoy its challenge and the spectator facilities are second-to-none.

Shanghai’s Pudong district, east of the Huangpu River, houses the major bars and clubs, while the aforementioned Bund is home to big business and the best shopping in China. However, don’t let all the development fool you. The city has lost none of its Oriental magic: the markets, architecture and 6.5 million cyclists remind you that you are still very much in the Far East.

“Everything about Shanghai is great,” says Renault team boss Flavio Briatore. “It’s a really wonderful city. One of the places I go to is the Bund; it’s a good place to have dinner and a bit of a party. The shopping at the Shanghai Tang is another must-do in Shanghai.”

Did you know? Shanghai International Circuit was built on marshland and required 40,000 stone pillars to stabilise it before building could commence.

Transport

Shanghai is the only city in China to have two international airports. Pudong, 30 kilometres south east of the city centre, is the bigger of the two, but Hongqiao in the western suburbs also handles some international flights.

The fastest way to travel from Pudong into the city is on the Maglev (short for ‘magnetic levitation’) train line. Its revolutionary technology means that propulsion comes from the track, not the train, resulting in low noise, speeds of up to 285 km/h and a journey time of just eight minutes.

Within Shanghai, there are two Metro lines and several more at the planning stages. Boat rides along the Huangpu River are another option for getting about.

The easiest way to get to the track is by car. By law, when renting a car, non-Chinese must also hire a driver. This is no bad thing, as your driver will not only be familiar with the city, but also with its occasionally erratic driving habits (compulsory driving tests were only introduced in 2004).

Alternatively, special buses will take you to the circuit from selected points around the city. Public transport to and from the track will be a future option because a Metro station is in the throes of being built at SIC.
Book a Package

Useful tips

The best viewing at Shanghai International Circuit is from the grandstands, and there are plenty of seats to choose from. The stand opposite the pits can seat 30,000 people alone, and several others come close. Prices depend on which grandstand you choose and how far back you sit.
Book Tickets

Where to eat?

For a quick, authentic meal, try the snack stalls down one of the side streets. For a good restaurant meal, look no further than the Xintiandi district and for some of the best food in town head to the Bund, as Briatore suggested.

Where to stay?

Shanghai boasts more than 100 star-rated hotels. Most are aimed at business travellers, with the likes of Briatore and the management of RenaultF1 staying at the Four Seasons in Jing’an. The best budget deals are in the suburbs, with the Metro acting as an efficient link to the centre of the city.
Book a Hotel

Extended stay

Shanghai has enough to keep you occupied for weeks. To name just a few sites, there is the antiques market in Dongtai Lu, the Shanghai Museum, the original HSBC Bank from 1865, the Shanghai Exhibition Centre and the Confucian Temple. For something a bit different, why not check out the famous Laughing Buddha at Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou, just south west of Shanghai.

“If staying a few days after the race,” says Briatore, “Shanghai's a good place to stay, but also think about going to Hong Kong, another amazing city.”

China is, of course, a huge country with lots to see outside of its principal cities. The Great Wall is only a plane ride away. The most famous section is around Beijing, a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Shanghai.
Book a Package

Enthusiasts only

Shanghai International Circuit is the home of Chinese motorsport, but there is another internationally-recognised track at Zhuhai, a two-hour flight south of Shanghai, where there is racing most weekends. Rallying is also popular in China, with various national championships taking place throughout the year.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/races/in_detail/china_821/destination_guide.html)

Ask the Expert - BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld

Which current Formula One driver is nicknamed Sea Bass? Who designed the classic Volkswagen Beetle? When was the first pair of sunglasses sold? And what year’s model was Steve McQueen’s famous green Mustang? These are just some of the challenging questions we thought BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld should know the answers to as he agreed to be the second participant in our trivia-testing ‘Ask the Expert’ series. But how did Heidfeld do? Find out here…

Q: Your childhood hero was Michael Jordan, but which film did he star in back in 1996?
Nick Heidfeld: I’ve seen the movie - it was half animated. But I really cannot remember the title of the movie.
Incorrect - it’s Space Jam.

Q: You own a classic VW Beetle, but can you name the car’s original designer?
NH: Wasn’t it Ferdinand Porsche? At least that’s what is stored in my memory.
Half marks - it was actually Porsche’s chief designer, Erwin Komenda.

Q: In what city was your team mate Robert Kubica born?
NH: Krakow.
Correct

Q: Formula One drivers have a reputation for vanity, but why did you once say ‘I simply got tired of wasting time in front of the mirror every morning’?
NH: Must have something to do with my beard.
Correct - he made the comment after growing a beard.

Q: You have notched up the longest uninterrupted run of race classifications in the history of the sport. How many?
NH: 31. It’s not the nicest record ever. I would prefer to have Michael’s (Schumacher) record of wins. But then there is still room to improve.
Correct

Q: You live in the Swiss town of Stafa, but which German poet famously stayed in the town?
NH: I have no idea!
Incorrect - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Q: You scored your first world championship points with fourth place for Sauber at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix, but who won the race?
NH: Michael Schumacher - that’s the easiest choice anyway.
Correct

Q: They must put something in the water at your birthplace, Monchengladbach, as it has spawned three Formula One drivers. You of course are one, but can you name the other two?
NH: Frentzen and Hans Heyer.
Correct - Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Hans Heyer.

Q: Your nickname is ‘Quick Nick’, but which current Formula One driver is known by some as ‘sea bass’?
NH: I’ve no clue! Sea bass? (laughs out loud) I have to get around more in the paddock!
Incorrect - Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais.

Q: At last year’s Singapore Grand Prix, you were dropped three grid places after qualifying for supposedly impeding which driver?
NH: Barrichello!
Correct - Rubens Barrichello, who was a Honda driver at the time.

Q: Statistically you have scored the most points (204) of any driver not to have won a Grand Prix. One of your contemporaries is in second place on this list. Can you name which one?
NH: Alesi? Ahhh, he’s not racing anymore,e but I remember it took ages before he clinched his first win. So we are looking for someone who is still around? Don’t know.
Incorrect - It’s Red Bull’s Mark Webber, who has scored 101.5 points without a win.

Q: Your team mate Robert Kubica is taller than you and before the 2008 season worked hard to lower his weight, how many kilos did he lose?
NH: That depends on what you believe. There have been so many funny numbers swirling around. From me, no comment.
Incorrect - apparently Kubica lost seven kilos.

Q: You finished runner-up in the 1998 F3000 championship to Juan Pablo Montoya. How many NASCAR Sprint Cup races has Montoya won since leaving F1?
NH: Two?
Incorrect - Heidfeld was being a little generous there. He’s actually won just the one.

Q: You are a fan of sunglasses, but can you guess in what year the first pair was sold?
NH: Must have been around 1928.
Close enough for us - it was in 1929 by the Foster Grant company in Atlantic City, USA.

Q: You list the 1965 Ford Mustang as one of your favourite classic cars. Steve McQueen famously drove a Mustang on film in the car-lovers’ classic ‘Bullitt’. What year was McQueen’s Mustang and in which American city was the film set?
NH: It was a ’68 car in green. As for the city I have no clue.
One out of two - 1968 Mustang GT fastback, San Francisco.

Q: Zurich is your adopted home. Which church in Zurich features the largest church clock face in the world?
NH: Don’t know. I should probably go out for a city tour!
Incorrect - Heidfeld’s obviously spent too much time away from home travelling to Formula One races. It’s St Peter’s, (downstream from the Fraumünster, in the old city).

Q: You are German and a golfing fan. How many times has Germany’s greatest golfer Bernhard Langer won the prestigious Masters tournament?
NH: Two times.
Correct - Twice, in 1985 and 1993.

Q: You started your Formula One career with Prost. How many Grand Prix did Alain Prost win as a driver?
NH: Something around 52? Anyway it was an impressive number.
Admirably close, so half marks - it’s actually 51

Q: In 1996 you finished third in the German F3 series. Which of your current F1 rivals won the championship that year?
NH: Trulli.
Correct - Jarno Trulli

Final score: 12 points from a possible 21
Ask the Expert rating: 57%

Current leader board:
1. Sebastian Vettel - 64%
2. Nick Heidfeld - 57%

More drivers coming soon.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2009/4/9160.html)

Short cut to victory - the other four ‘half point’ Grands Prix

Sunday’s shortened Malaysian Grand Prix was a rarity - only four times previously have half points been awarded, something that happens if a race is abandoned before 75 percent race distance, but with at least two laps completed. We take a look back at when and where it happened before…

1975 Spanish Grand Prix - 29 of 75 laps completed
Rolf Stommelen was seriously injured and five spectators killed at Barcelona’s Montjuich Park after a rear-wing failure led to the German driver’s Hill machine being launched over a crash barrier. It was a tragic end to a weekend that had started with drivers complaining about the temporary street circuit’s safety standards. Despite improvements, the Spanish Grand Prix never returned and instead made the purpose-built Jarama circuit near Madrid its permanent home for the next few years.
Result: 1st Jochen Mass (McLaren), 2nd Jacky Ickx (Lotus), 3rd Carlos Reutemann (Brabham)

1975 Austrian Grand Prix - 29 of 54 laps completed
The next shortened race came less than four months later, this time the red flag appearing (again after 29 laps) due to heavy rain in the mountainous setting of the Osterreichring. It meant a one and only F1 victory for Vittorio Brambilla, who had put in a great drive in tricky conditions to bring the March factory team their first win. In fact, so ecstatic was the Italian he actually lost control whilst celebrating and crashed, limping back to the pits with his car in less than pristine condition.
Result: 1st Vittorio Brambilla (March), 2nd James Hunt (Hesketh), 3rd Tom Pryce (Shadow)

1984 Monaco Grand Prix - 31 of 77 laps completed
Nine years on and again rain was the culprit, this time on the sodden streets of Monte Carlo. Alain Prost was the man to claim the ‘half win’, though in somewhat controversial circumstances. When the red flag came Ayrton Senna was rapidly closing on the Frenchman in pursuit of his first win. Closing even faster on the two leaders was German Stefan Bellof, who had driven a storming race from the back of the grid. Many felt Senna and Bellof were robbed of potential glory, arguing that conditions weren’t sufficiently bad to justify halting proceedings, pointing out that they had actually been worse earlier in the race. Bellof was subsequently disqualified due to a technical infringement by his Tyrrell team.
Result: 1st Alain Prost (McLaren), 2nd Ayrton Senna (Lotus), 3rd Rene Arnoux (Ferrari)

1991 Australian Grand Prix - 14 of 81 laps completed
It is debatable whether the ’01 Adelaide race should ever have even started. It was delayed due to heavy rain, but when that rain eased slightly it was polesitter Ayrton Senna who took control as the lights went out. Conditions quickly worsened, however, and as Mansell hounded Senna for the lead chaos ensued behind, with numerous cars spinning into the street circuit’s unforgiving concrete walls. On lap 15 Mansell went the same way and soon even ‘rainmaster’ Senna was waving for stewards to call an end to the carnage. The red flag finally came on lap 17, but even then organisers were pushing for a restart. Drivers protested, the rain kept falling and in the end common sense prevailed. The countback rule left Senna victorious from Mansell, though with the latter having sustained minor injuries from his accident, only the Brazilian and third-placed team mate Gerhard Berger made the podium ceremony.
Result: 1st Ayrton Senna (McLaren), 2nd Nigel Mansell (Williams), 3rd Gerhard Berger (McLaren)

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2009/4/9156.html)

Qualifying analysis - it's Brawn v Toyota, as Ferrari challenge fades

In the end it all boiled down to a scrap between Jenson Button and Brawn, and Jarno Trulli and Toyota for pole position in Sepang on Saturday, with Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel keeping them honest. The big surprise, however, was the relative lack of pace of Ferrari, even with their KERS on the long straights, and Felipe Massa failing to get through Q1. We take a team-by-team look at how all the runners performed…

Brawn GP
Jenson Button, 1m 36.541s, P10/1m 35.181s, P1
Rubens Barrichello, 1m 36.519s, P9/1m 35.651s, P4, will start P8
Button said that his car felt much better for final practice and qualifying, after the balance was poor on Friday. He described the result as a ‘big turnaround’, and was able to take his second consecutive pole of the season. Barrichello ran into unwanted understeer in qualifying which could not be cured, and then had his five-place grid penalty applied for changing his gearbox after Friday practice.

Toyota
Jarno Trulli, 1m 36.189s, P5/1m 35.273s, P2
Timo Glock, 1m 36.132s, P4/1m 35.690s, P5, will start P3
Toyota were very quick all through qualifying and Trulli was a genuine contender for pole position. The Italian was very pleased that hard work with the engineers had achieved a good set-up that he was able to exploit after dissatisfaction on Friday. He described his TF109’s behaviour as ‘spot-on’. Glock said he was frustrated in Q3 as he was struggling slightly with a heavier fuel load. That led to a few mistakes on his first run, but he said the second was really pleasing.

Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel, 1m 36.194s, P6/1m 35.518s, P3, will start P13
Mark Webber, 1m 36.048s, P2/1m 35.797s, P7, will start P5
Vettel did another great job for Red Bull and was thus disappointed about his Australian penalty, which dropped him from third to 13th. Webber enjoyed his sessions, but said seventh was the best he could do with his fuel load.

Williams
Nico Rosberg, 1m 35.940s, P1/1m 35.750s, P6, will start P4
Kazuki Nakajima, 1m 36.325s, P8/1m 34.788s, P12, will start P11
Rosberg was very happy with sixth place, which became fourth when the penalties were applied to Vettel and Barrichello. He thought his FW31 lacked pace slightly in Q1 and Q2, but found it really good with a fuel load in Q3. Nakajima should have backed him up then, but failed to make it through Q2 again.

BMW Sauber
Robert Kubica, 1m 36.563s, P11/1m 36.106, P8, will start P6
Nick Heidfeld, 1m 37.026s, P15/1m 34.768s, P11, will start P10
Again it was mixed news for BMW Sauber, who do not yet seem to have the qualifying pace to match the race pace shown by Kubica in Australia. The Pole was not running KERS and said he was satisfied with what he was able to achieve with a car that bottomed a lot after changes to the set-up since practice. He said his F1.09 was unstable and not easy to drive as a result. Heidfeld elected to run KERS and was disappointed to encounter traffic on his second run in Q2, having been seventh after his first. He was unable as a result to generate ideal tyre temperatures. After his back-to-back runs with and without KERS on Friday, he said he was frequently the fastest car in sector one today.

Ferrari
Felipe Massa, 1m 36.089s, P3/1m 35.642s, P16
Kimi Raikkonen, 1m 36.322s, P7/1m 36.170s, P9, will start P7
Ferrari struggled throughout qualifying, and made a major gaffe with Massa in Q1 when they thought he had done enough to get through and then found that he had been bumped. Raikkonen reported that the F60 was not lacking in any one particular area, but just lacked grip.

Renault
Fernando Alonso, 1m 37.004s, P14/1m 37.659s, P10, will start P9
Nelson Piquet, 1m 37.032s, P16/1m 35.708s, P17
Alonso said he was feeling much better today after running a temperature on Friday. He was disappointed with only 10th place overall, having hoped for fifth or sixth on merit, but suggested that the R29 was better than it had been in Melbourne. Piquet admitted to pushing too hard on his final lap in Q2 and losing three to four-tenths as a result.

McLaren
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 36.657s, P12/1m 34.905s, P13, will start P12
Heikki Kovalainen, 1m 36.742s, P13/1m 34.924s, P14
Hamilton spent a lot of practice making further set-up changes after overnight modifications had not achieved the desired result. He was still not happy with his car’s balance in qualifying, and said it would just not carry sufficient speed out of corners. Kovalainen only did one morning run after an electronic sensor alerted the team to a left rear tyre pressure problem, and said he had qualified about where he expected to.

Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi, 1m 37.282s, P18/1m 36.107s, P20
Sebastien Bourdais, 1m 37.322s, P19/1m 35.431s, P15
Bourdais said his car was quicker than he had expected it to be, while Buemi was pleased to improve in the first two sectors on his final run in Q1, but annoyed with himself after catching a kerb in the final sector which sent him into the gravel.

Force India
Adrian Sutil, 1m 37.282s, P17/1m 35.951s, P18
Giancarlo Fisichella, 1m 37.398s, P20/1m 35.958s, P19
Sutil had no problems but rued a lack of downforce and said the pace was the best the car would do. Fisichella said he had a problem with the throttle pedal on his first run, and it was changed for his second. The time lost prevented a third run, which he thought could have helped him to improve.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2009/4/9143.html)

Friday analysis - Williams and Ferrari turn up the heat

Friday’s two practice sessions at Sepang produced encouraging signs that Brawn GP are unlikely to have things all their own way in this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, as Ferrari and Williams set the pace. On a track likely to be better suited to the KERS runners than Albert Park, the teams focused on their usual tyre evaluation and chassis set-up work, with track temperatures hitting a heady 42 degrees Celsius. We take a team-by-team look at progress...

Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen, 1m 36.646s P6/1m 35.707s, P1
Felipe Massa, 1m 36.561s, P5/1m 35.832s, P2
Ferrari had a positive day, with Raikkonen and Massa setting the fastest times overall as they dominated the second session. Certainly their KERS were helping them to get down the main straights very quickly, though Raikkonen had a problem with his in the morning when the batteries short-circuited. Massa complained of understeer in high-speed corners and oversteer in the low-speed turns, but said his car got better as the day progressed and the temperature rose.

Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel, 1m 36.747s, P9/1m 35.954s, P3
Mark Webber, 1m 36.703s, P8/ 1m 36.026s, P5
Vettel was pleased with the precautions he had taken to ensure that parts of his anatomy remained cool out on the track, and said he generally had a smooth day as he bagged third-fastest time in the afternoon. Webber had a much better time than he did last week in Australia, and was very close to his team mate.

Williams
Nico Rosberg, 1m 36.260s, P1/1m 36.015s, P4
Kazuki Nakajima, 1m 36.305s, P2/1m 36.290s, P8
Rosberg and Nakajima dominated the first session with the two quickest laps right at the end. The German was happy with the way things went in the afternoon too, though he lost a good lap when Fisichella brought out the yellows in sector three. Nakajima also made positive noises.

Brawn GP
Rubens Barrichello, 1m 36.487s, P4/1m 36.161s, P6
Jenson Button, 1m 36.430s, P3/1m 36.254s, P7
There were no fireworks from Brawn today, as Barrichello and Button set about learning their cars’ behaviour in such hot track conditions. Both struggled to balance out understeer, and said that the BGP001 was not yet handling as crisply as it had in Melbourne. A precautionary gearbox change for Barrichello after the sessions means a five-place grid drop come Sunday.

McLaren
Heikki Kovalainen, 1m 38.483s, P20/1m 36.397s, P9
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 36.669s, P7/1m 36.515s, P11
Most of McLaren’s day was taken up with the fallout of Hamilton’s disqualification from third place in last week’s Australian Grand Prix, and the subsequent suspension of sporting director Dave Ryan. Kovalainen undertook evaluation of new bodywork in the morning but lost time after flat-spotting a tyre. Hamilton likewise tried the new bodywork and reported that his car was better than he expected, but still lacked grip in the high-speed corners.

Renault
Nelson Piquet, 1m 37.199s, P14/1m 36.401s, P10
Fernando Alonso, 1m 37.395s, P16/1m 36.640s, P15
Alonso was still not feeling great after getting an ear infection on Thursday. He played second fiddle to Piquet, who said he had a good day with no major problems. He obviously didn’t count the right front wheel failure, which pitched him into the gravel in the morning session.

Toyota
Jarno Trulli, 1m 36.982s, P11/1m 36.516s, P12
Timo Glock, 1m 36.980s, P10/1m 36.639s, P14
Toyota kept their powder dry by concentrating mainly on race set-up work rather than lap times. Both drivers spun, but while Trulli was optimistic about finding a good set-up for on Saturday, Glock said his TF109 didn’t feel quite right and was troubled by instability. He was feeling more positive by the end of the second session.

Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi, 1m 37.634s, P17/1m 36.628s, P13
Sebastien Bourdais, 1m 38.022s, P19/1m 37.278s, P18
Buemi made the most of his GP2 experience of Sepang and was quite happy with the way his day went. Bourdais was fairly content with the balance of his car.

Force India
Adrian Sutil, 1m 37.241s, P15/1m 36.875s, P16
Giancarlo Fisichella, 1m 37.025s, P12/1m 37.432s, P19
Sutil said he had a problem-free day which enabled him to focus on set-up work, but didn’t like the understeer his VJM02 had in the high-speed corners. Fisichella complained of locking front brakes, poor grip and poor traction, and then the team complained about him crashing his car in the afternoon.

BMW Sauber
Robert Kubica, 1m 37.039s, P13/1m 37.267s, P17
Nick Heidfeld, 1m 37.640s, P18/1m 37.930s, P20
Like Toyota, BMW Sauber did their usual trick of focusing on race set-up work, so not too much should be read into their relative lap times and positions. Heidfeld tried KERS in the morning and ran without it in the afternoon, to effect a comparison. No decision has yet been made whether to run it for the race. Kubica had one off-course moment, but otherwise gathered plenty of useful information on Bridgestone’s hard and soft tyre compounds.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2009/4/9127.html)

Practice Two - Ferrari come alive in Malaysia

Kimi Raikkonen led team mate Felipe Massa in a Ferrari one-two in Friday afternoon’s second practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang. The Finn dipped below Massa’s 2008 pole time of 1m 35.748s with 1m 35.707s, and the Brazilian was just 0.125s slower on 1m 35.832s.

The Ferraris took control halfway through, and Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull got closest to them as Williams and Brawn lacked the sheer pace they have shown of late. Vettel lapped in 1m 35.954s.

Nico Rosberg lost a good lap for Williams when Giancarlo Fisichella brought out the yellow flags after crashing quite heavily in Turn 11, removing the left front wheel from his Force India. Rosberg thus had to be content with a later improvement to 1m 36.015s, which put him just ahead of Mark Webber in the second Red Bull on 1m 36.026s. Then came the Brawns of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button, on 1m 36.161s and 1m 36.254s respectively, and Kazuki Nakajima in the second Williams on 1m 36.290s.

Heikki Kovalainen staged a last-minute improvement to ninth place on 1m 36.397s, upstaging beleaguered McLaren team mate Lewis Hamilton whose 1m 36.515s left him behind old GP2 sparring partner Nelson Piquet on 1m 36.401s in the Renault and only just ahead of Toyota’s Jarno Trulli on 1m 36.516s.

Sebastien Buemi continued his good work at Toro Rosso, posting the 13th fastest time of 1m 36.628s to head Timo Glock, who had two off-course moments before recording 1m 36.639s for 14th place in the Toyota. Fernando Alonso was also off the road briefly, on his way to 1m 36.640s for Renault, then came a similarly errant Adrian Sutil in the second Force India on 1m 36.875s. BMW Sauber once again looked off the pace, with Robert Kubica on 1m 37.267s for 17th and Nick Heidfeld last on 1m 37.930s. Remember what they did in Australia, though.

Between the Swiss-German cars came Sebastien Bourdais on 1m 37.278s for Toro Rosso and Fisichella, who recorded 1m 37.432s before his late shunt, from which he emerged unscathed.

Besides Fisichella, Glock, Sutil and Alonso, Barrichello, Bourdais and Buemi also went off the road momentarily.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/4/9124.html)

Ask the expert - Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel

Have you ever wondered how much your favourite driver knows about his day job, his home town, his team - even his own career history? If the answer is yes, then you’re set to enjoy our new series, ‘Ask the expert’. Although we can't promise to reveal all the facts and stats stored away in your hero’s brain, we can guarantee you a surprise or two. First to take our trivia test is Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel…

Q: You drive for Red Bull. Can you name three of the ingredients contained in Red Bull’s new cola?
Sebastian Vettel: Three is the target? Ok, let me think: water, vanilla, mustard seed, coca leaf. I know that those four things don’t make the cola - I have to read the ingredient list next time.
Correct - three out of three. The other ingredients are sugar, carbon dioxide, natural caramel flavour, natural flavours from plant extracts: galangal, lime, kola nut, cocoa, liquorice, cinnamon, lemon, ginger, orange, corn mint, pine, cardamom, mace, clove, and lemon juice concentrate, caffeine from coffee beans.

Q: You come from Heppenheim in Germany. The town’s coat of arms features the lion of Hesse, but what is the lion holding in his paws?
SV: A torch, I think? Shame on me that it doesn’t come quick as a shot! I'll have to look when I’m home the next time.
Incorrect - it’s a sword.

Q: Your team mate for this year is Australian driver Mark Webber. If he said to you, ‘Rack off, you big galah!’, what would you do?
SV: I have no idea - but he says so many things that I don’t understand so it doesn’t make a difference if there is one more!
Incorrect - a rough translation would be ‘ Get lost, fool’.

Q: If Red Bull’s technical director Adrian Newey retired from Formula One racing, what would we he probably choose to design instead?
SV: Yachts - and as he always aims for the top, America's Cup yachts.
Correct

Q: Can you explain understeer in fewer than 10 words?
SV: I can do it in three words: opposite of oversteer. That simple!
Half marks - not quite what we were after, but a clever answer nonetheless. Understeer is when the car’s front end doesn't turn into a corner but slides wide.

Q: When, where and in what series did you enjoy your first single-seater victory?
SV: It was in 2003, Formula BMW in Adria.
Correct - 10 May, 2003, to be precise.

Q: A member of Red Bull’s management team scored 14 points during the 1995 British Formula Three championship. Which one?
SV: Christian.
Correct - Red Bull Racing team principal, Christian Horner.

Q: Red Bull’s Factory is based in the English town of Milton Keynes, which feature some famous concrete what?
SV: Straight away I would have said roundabouts! But I guess it must be some animals - cows?
Correct

Q: Your team principal Christian Horner famously jumped into a swimming pool in Monaco almost naked back in 2006 to celebrate the team’s first podium finish. What did he use to cover some (if not all) of his modesty?
SV: A superman cape. Underwear? No underwear. Just a superman cape?
Correct

Q: You are the youngest driver to win a Formula One race. Who remains the youngest driver to have ever competed in a Grand Prix?
SV: I have no idea about his name but I guess it was a Canadian driver. Tell me.
Incorrect - it was Mike Thackwell, a New Zealander, who started the 1980 Canadian Grand Prix for Tyrrell aged 19 years.

Q: On your first-ever outing, during practice for the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, you were fined for speeding in the pit lane. How much did you have to pay?
SV: Too much. It was $1000 in Istanbul - and at my second race in Monza they raised it to $2000!
Correct

Q: When asked about you, who compared you to Ayrton Senna or Stefan Bellof?
SV: Gerhard
Correct - former boss Gerhard Berger.

Q: You’re a fan of the Beatles. Which of their songs holds the record for the most versions recorded by different artists?
SV: Difficult. They had so many big hits that have been recorded by so many different artists. I wouldn’t know.
Incorrect - it was ‘Yesterday’.

Q: In what year was the first can of Red Bull sold?
SV: Same year as I was born: 1987.
Correct

Q: How many laps did you lead at the Italian Grand Prix before you won the race?
SV: Don’t know exactly. I would say something around 40. Didn’t count them.
Close, but no cigar - it was 49.

Q: You dominated the 2004 Formula BMW championship. How many races did you win that season? SV: 18 - this number I will never forget.
Correct

Q: How many different teams has Mark Webber driven or tested for during his Formula One career?
SV: He started with Minardi, then he went to Jaguar, then he went to Williams, now he is with Red Bull. So my guess is four.
Half marks - he also tested with Benetton and Arrows.

Q: You enjoy British comedy, but which member of Monty Python was born in America, not Britain?
SV: I don’t know. I think it is already an effort to know about Monty Python at my age so forget about the details.
Incorrect - Terry Gilliam

Q: Where was your former Toro Rosso team mate Sebastien Bourdais born?
SV: Le Mans.
Correct - home of the famous French 24-hour race.

Q: You replaced veteran David Coulthard at Red Bull. Can you guess how many interviews he sat through during his F1 career?
SV: He was in Formula One for 15 years, so my guess is that it is probably three times the amount of women he had - something around 30,000?
Incorrect - 55,400 (we’ve no idea about the women!)

Final score: 14 points from a possible 22
Ask the Expert rating: 64%

So Vettel sets a strong benchmark - more drivers coming soon.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2009/4/9106.html)