Formula 1 Jam

In what will hopefully be the climax and end to the Lie-gate saga, FIA have given Mc Laren a suspended three race ban.  The Woking based outfit was dragged into the lime light once again for the wrong reasons between the Australian and Malaysian Grand Prix when Lewis Hamilton and his race engineer were found guilty of misleading the race stewards.

The FIA statement said:

Having regard to the open and honest way in which McLaren Team Principal, Mr Martin Whitmarsh, addressed the WMSC and the change in culture which he made clear has taken place in his organisation, the WMSC decided to suspend the application of the penalty it deems appropriate.

That penalty is a suspension of the team from three races of the FIA Formula One World Championship. This will only be applied if further facts emerge regarding the case or if, in the next 12 months, there is a further breach by the team of article 151c of the International Sporting Code.

After the events between the races, Mc Laren proceeded to suspend the race engineer. Lewis and Mc Laren apologized to the FIA and Ron Dennis quit as the head of Mc Laren F1 team. It is still debatable if the events led to Ron Dennis stepping down as the chief.

Read Full Post »

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Button        Brawn GP-Mercedes     (B)  1h31:48.182
 2.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +     7.187
 3.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +     9.170
 4.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    22.096
 5.  Barrichello   Brawn GP-Mercedes     (B)  +    37.779
 6.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +    42.057
 7.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +    42.880
 8.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +    52.775
 9.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    58.198
10.  Piquet        Renault               (B)  +  1:05.149
11.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +  1:07.641
12.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +  1:17.824
13.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +  1:18.805
14.  Massa         Ferrari               (B)  +     1 lap
15.  Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +     1 lap
16.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +     1 lap
17.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +     1 lap
18.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +     1 lap
19.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +     1 lap

Retirements:
Driver        Team                      On lap
Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)    49



Fastest lap: Trulli, 1:34.556

Read Full Post »

Pre Race Weights & Provisional Grid for the 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix:

1. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 648.5 kg
2. Timo Glock, Toyota, 643
3. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 659
4. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 652.5
5. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 652.5
6. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 649
7. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 650.5
8. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 664.5
9. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 670.5
10. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 671.5
11. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 678.5
12. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 680.9
13. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 698.6
14. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 696.3
15. Nelson Piquet, Renault, 677.6
16. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 678.5
17. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India, 652
18. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 656
19. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 679
20. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 667.5

Notes:

• Trulli outqualified his team mate with a much higher fuel load and with a margin of about .3s
• Vettel must be the favourite considering that he is carrying almost 4 laps of fuel more into the race.
• The Ferrari’s are on a much higher fuel load, indicating that they might start on the Harder tyre.
• Kubica and Heidfeld look like they are on single stoppers, it will be worth watching if we have a BMW train in the race.

Read Full Post »

Schedule for the 2009 Grand Prix Of Bahrain :

TV Times:
India*:
Grand Prix Of Bahrain 2009 – Qualification
Saturday, Apr 25 2009
16:20 – 18:00 : FIA F1 World Championships Qualifying(Live)

Grand Prix Of Bahrain 2009 – Race
Sunday, Apr 26 2009
16:30 – 17:15 : FIA F1 World Championship Raceday(Live)
17:15 – 19:15 : FIA F1 World Championships Race(Live)
19:15 – 20:00 : FIA F1 World Championship Chequered Flag(Live)

You can get the telecast details of different parts of the world here

* – Authors of F1Jam.com are based in India

Read Full Post »

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1h57:43.485
 2.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +    10.970
 3.  Button        Brawn GP-Mercedes     (B)  +    44.975
 4.  Barrichello   Brawn GP-Mercedes     (B)  +  1:03.704
 5.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +  1:05.102
 6.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +  1:11.866
 7.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +  1:14.476
 8.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +  1:16.439
 9.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +  1:24.309
10.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +  1:31.750
11.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +  1:34.156
12.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +  1:35.834
13.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +  1:46.853
14.  Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +     1 lap
15.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +     1 lap
16.  Piquet        Renault               (B)  +    2 laps

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  (B)    51
Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)    44
Massa         Ferrari               (B)    23
Trulli        Toyota                (B)    19

Fastest lap: Barrichello, 1:52.592

Read Full Post »

Sebastian Vettel took top honors on Saturday qualification by taking pole for the Chinese Grand Prix.  The German who later revealed that he had car problems that limited his running, set the times on single hot laps in Q2 and Q3.

Fernando Alonso produced a magnificent lap to push the Renault to its highest starting position in over a year.  The double world champ showed his class in a car that had been modified to include upgrades just the night before.

Read Full Post »

Schedule for the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix :

TV Times:
India*:
Chinese Grand Prix 2009 – Qualification
Saturday, Apr 18 2009
11:20 – 13:00 : FIA F1 World Championships Qualifying(Live)

Chinese Grand Prix 2009 – Race
Sunday, Apr 19 2009
11:30 – 12:15 : FIA F1 World Championship Raceday(Live)
12:15 – 14:15 : FIA F1 World Championships Race(Live)
14:15 – 15:00 : FIA F1 World Championship Chequered Flag(Live)

You can get the telecast details of different parts of the world here

* – Authors of F1Jam.com are based in India

Read Full Post »

The FIA has cleared the disputed rear diffusers of Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams as a legal interpretation of the 2009 rules. Race Stewards at the Australian Grand Prix had earlier rejected the appeal from Ferrari, Renault, Red Bull and BMW that the diffusers were illegal, forcing the teams to ask the FIA to verify the legality.

The statement from the FIA reads:

The FIA International Court of Appeal has decided to deny the appeals submitted against decisions numbered 16 to 24 taken by the Panel of the Stewards on 26 March at the 2009 Grand Prix of Australia and counting towards the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Based on the arguments heard and evidence before it, the Court has concluded that the Stewards were correct to find that the cars in question comply with the applicable regulations.

via FormulaOne.com

Read Full Post »

Jenson Button showed exquisite skill in both dry and wet weather conditions to take the win in the shortened Malaysian Grand Prix. Nick Heidfeld who had made a late call to stay out a little longer in his almost destroyed extreme wet weather tyres took second and an almost psychic Timo Glock who made the perfect calls on tyres came home third.

With rain looming overhead, all the teams started the race the race expecting the rain showers to start as early as the 5th lap of the race. But the rain gods had better plans, they keep the rain away until lap 22 which saw a huge surge of drivers rushing to the pits. Ferrari was the first team to switch Kimi Raikkonen onto the wet weather tyres but the call was made too early, the Finn suffered by losing almost 20s every lap from the 18th lap all thanks to a gamble that didnt pay off.

Read Full Post »

Jenson Button produced another immaculate performance to seize pole position for the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix. The Briton looked like he would not be able to repeat his Australian pole, with Ferrari, Reb Bull, Toyota and Williams looking very strong in earlier practice sessions. But Brawn GP topped the time sheets when it mattered most and took top honors.

Read Full Post »