Fernando Alonso agrees three-deal Ferrari F1 deal

Formula One finally has a rivalry to match Ayrton Senna v Alain Prost after it was confirmed that Fernando Alonso will become a Ferrari driver in 2010.

Renault's two-time world champion, the most successful driver presently on the grid with 21 career victories to his name, joins the Scuderia on a three-year deal worth in the region of �32 million a season with an option to extend.
Race fans will already be salivating at the prospect of a resumption of hostilities with his former team-mate, McLaren's 2008 world champion, Lewis Hamilton. Formula One's two best drivers, one in a Ferrari the other in a McLaren, going head to head with a bit of history between them. It does not get better.

Alonso, who described himself as "very happy and very proud" to be joining Ferrari, replaces Kimi Raikkonen at Maranello, with the Finn's return to McLaren expected to be confirmed shortly.
Raikkonen, too, will be motivated to beat Alonso, having fended off questions about the Spaniard's potential arrival for nearly two years.
Alonso almost signed for Ferrari in 2002, only to change his mind at the last minute and join Renault. It led Ferrari team principal of the time, Jean Todt, to vow that Alonso would never drive for the team while he was there.
Yet despite being Formula One's worst-kept secret, the timing of the announcement actually caught out most observers. Ferrari were expected to say something officially on Thursday, the first day of the Japanese Grand Prix race weekend, but in the end opted to send out a press release at 11pm local time last night.
"As chairman [Luca di] Montezemolo said recently, all the great champions want to come to Maranello sooner or later," Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said.
"Of course, we wish to thank Kimi for everything he has done during his time with Ferrari: in his first year with us, he managed to win the drivers' title, thus making his contribution to Ferrari's history and he played a vital role in our taking of the constructors' title in 2007 and 2008.
"Next to Fernando we'll have Felipe Massa, who is recovering very quickly to his best physical condition, with Giancarlo Fisichella as the surrogate driver. We believe that this is the best possible couple for a team like ours: Fernando and Felipe are two victorious drivers and they integrate very well with each other and with the team."
Alonso told Ferrari's website: "I'm very happy and very proud to become a Ferrari driver. Driving a single-seater for the Prancing Horse is everybody's dream in this sport and today I have the opportunity to make this dream come true.
"We already had an agreement this summer starting in 2011, but then, in the past few days, the picture changed and we decided to anticipate my arrival in Maranello by one year."
Raikkonen, who is understood to have reached a financial settlement with Ferrari over the remaining year of his �31 million-a-year contract, said he was "very sad" to be leaving. His move to Woking is understood to be underwritten by Santander, the Spanish banking giant which now sponsors both Ferrari and McLaren.
Jenson Button's 2010 seat at Brawn-Mercedes looks a little safer with rumours that Rubens Barrichello is close to agreeing a deal to join Williams. Nico Rosberg is moving the other way as part of the deal that will see Mercedes take a controlling interest in Brawn. Williams declined to comment on the speculation.

Barrichello Wins European Grand Prix in Valencia

Brawn's Rubens Barrichello beat McLaren's Lewis Hamilton to win the European Grand Prix after the world champion suffered a pit-lane mix-up.
Hamilton, who led from the start, was engaged in a tight battle with Barrichello when he was delayed at his final pit stop because his tyres were not ready.
But the mix-up did not cost him the race - an analysis of lap times suggests Barrichello would have beaten him anyway.
Jenson Button was seventh and team-mate Barrichello is now his closest title rival.
The Brazilian's victory puts him 18 points adrift of the Englishman with 60 remaining in the final six races of the season.
Red Bull's Mark Webber slipped to third in the championship 20.5 points behind Button, after finishing only ninth. His team-mate Sebastian Vettel, lying fourth, failed to finish following an engine failure.

Kimi Raikkonen finished third for Ferrari, ahead of Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, with Williams's Nico Rosberg fifth from Renault's Fernando Alonso, Button and the improved BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica.
Barrichello dedicated his victory to fellow Brazilian Felipe Massa, who is recovering at home after suffering a fractured skull in a crash at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
"I had two wishes," Barrichello said, "first that he would be the same guy, and he is, and second that he will be the same driver, and I think he will be better.
"We knew if everything went to place we could win the race. You don't forget how to do it, even though it's five years.
"They were telling me push, push, push. You want to do it for yourself, your team, your family, your country. So there was a lot going through my mind."
Barrichello was third on the grid behind Hamilton and Kovalainen, but was fastest of all on fuel-corrected qualifying times.
He held on to third place off the start and settled in behind the McLarens for the duration of the first stint.
He stayed within touching distance of Kovalainen and leapfrogged the Finn by using his larger fuel load to stop three laps later, during which time he set a succession of fast lap times.
Once the field had settled down after the stops, Barrichello was slightly more than three seconds adrift of Hamilton and the gap see-sawed between three and four seconds until Hamilton's final pit stop on lap 37.
The McLaren pit wall were late in asking their mechanics to bring Hamilton's tyres into the pit lane, and that delayed the world champion by about five seconds.

He was just over six seconds clear by the time the two cars emerged from the pits - meaning he had made up four seconds on Hamilton on the track, slightly more than his deficit to the McLaren when it made its stop.
And Brawn brought Barichello in four laps earlier than necessary as soon as it became apparent he had enough of an advantage to make a stop and still retain the lead.
McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh said: "It was clear we weren't as quick in the race as we should have been.
"Rubens was quite a bit quicker than us and we were tying to get an extra lap. That made our call late and we didn't get the tyres out in time.
"We were monitoring the fuel, he was meant to come in on lap 37 and were trying to get him to come in on lap 38, but we didn't have quite enough.
"To have a car arrive and not have the tyres there is an operational error. But had the tyres been ready it wouldn't have made a difference. It only cost us a couple of seconds."
Hamilton said: "We win and we lose together. We had a tremendous effort to get us here so we cannot at all take second place for granted or be disappointed we didn't get the win because we've had extraordinary pace and it was a tremendous effort from everyone.
"These things happen. I've had so many races for this team and this hardly ever happens. It's only the second time, I think. We need to catch these guys up because I believe they are a little but quicker than us but we're pushing all the time."
Button qualified fifth - two places behind his team-mate - on a weekend when the Brawns returned to form. But he slipped down to ninth after a messy first lap.
The Englishman spent the middle part of the race trying to pass Webber, a feat he finally managed during the second and final pit stop period.

Webber lost eighth place to the improved BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica after getting stuck behind slower cars on the lap before his stop and then suffering a slight delay in the pits.
Once clear of the traffic he had got himself stuck behind, Button set a series of fastest laps in the final stages of the race as he attempted to chase down Alonso.
He will nevertheless be encouraged by his pace here - but well aware that he does not know whether Brawn have solved the problems that prevented them from being competitive in the cooler conditions of the preceding three races.
Button will now be anxious to see whether the changes Brawn are planning to improve their performance in cooler conditions than the stifling heat of Valencia work at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps in the Ardennes mountains next weekend.

By Andrew Benson BBC Sport in Valencia

Renault suspended for next European GP in Valencia

Formula One race stewards have banned Renault from the next race, the August 23 European Grand Prix in Valencia, Spain, after the French team allowed driver Fernando Alonso to leave the pits with a wheel not properly secured during Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Alonso started on the pole and held the lead when he first pitted on lap 11. Shortly after he returned to the track, the Spaniard's right-front tire came off and bounced on the track. Alonso limped back to the pits and later retired from the 70-lap event when his car was badly damaged from the incident.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton captured the lead after Alonso's mishap and went on to win his first race since last October in the Chinese Grand Prix.

Alonso wound up with an 18th-place finish.

F1's governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), found Renault to be negligent in failing to secure the wheel, as well as letting Alonso to leave the pits when they were aware of the problem and then failing to communicate to their driver the issue.

Alonso's teammate, Nelson Piquet, will also not be able to participate in the European GP.

Renault said it will appeal the team's ban from the forthcoming grand prix.

On another contentious episode of the race, Hungarian Grand Prix stewards have decided that no action was needed following the investigation of an incident involving Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen at the start of the race.

Raikkonen was under investigation over his driving at the first corner after making contact with Red Bull rival Sebastian Vettel.

The Finn, who finished in second place, escaped a penalty, however, as the stewards deemed it was just a racing incident.

Meanwhile, the Red Bull Racing team got a reprimand for the unsafe release of Mark Webber during a pitstop, when he came close to making contact with Raikkonen.

It was the second race in a row that Red Bull has been in a similar situation, having been fined and reprimanded for the unsafe release of Sebastian Vettel at the German Grand Prix two weeks ago.

Ferrari unveils New F60 for 2009 Season

World Championship runner-up Felipe Massa described the new Ferrari F60 Formula One car as 'cute' after it was unveiled on the company's official website on Monday.
Massa, who missed out on the world title to Britain's Lewis Hamilton on the final corner of the final race in Brazil last season, was the first to test the 2009 Ferrari model - successor to the F2008 - which has been radically adapted to comply with new International Automobile Federation (FIA) stipulations aimed at encouraging overtaking.
"I feel emotional but I'm also happy to take it out on track for the first time," said the Brazilian.
"With all the new rules I was expecting a different type of car, like 10 years ago with big wings so I was surprised.
"The new F60 seems tiny, very compact and cute."

The car is named F60 in reference to the number of championships Ferrari have participated in and becomes the 55th different F1 car designed by the Italian manufacturer.
Most of the design changes have been imposed by the FIA in order to increase overtaking in a sport often lacking in excitement due to the difficulties in passing the car in front.



A shorter front wing, a thinner but higher and more compact rear wing and standardised central chassis are all modifications introduced by the FIA's Overtaking Working Group (OWG).
Other changes include an improvement to the suspension to make handling in difficult conditions easier, while slick tyres will be re-introduced this year.
The Kers system to recuperate kinetic energy has also been installed on the engine while the transmission has been redesigned to improve aerodynamic efficiency.
Massa took the F60 for a spin around the famous Mugello circuit just outside Florence with Ferrari having changed the original location from Fiorano, their usual test track near their base at Maranello close to Bologna, due to icy conditions there.
Ferrari, the reigning constructors' world champions, are the first team to unveil their new F1 car but will be followed this week by Toyota on Thursday and Hamilton's team and main title rivals McLaren a day later.
The Renault team of former double world champion Fernando Alonso and Williams unveil their cars next Monday with BMW Sauber following a day after that.
Red Bull, however, will not announce there's until February 9.

It is Ferrari and McLaren, though, who are expected to lead from the front again this season and Massa says he is ready to try to go one better than last season, when only a single point separated him from Hamilton following the Briton's late overtaking of Timo Glock in Brazil.
"Every year you feel stronger, better prepared psychologically and physically," said Massa.
"But I feel stronger from the point of view of experience. I feel ready for a great battle.
"Right now it's difficult to say who will be the main rivals but for sure McLaren will make life the most difficult but there's also BMW, Renault and maybe other surprises.
"We don't know how good the Ferrari will be, we've worked very hard but there's still a long way to go before the first race."
The new F1 season opens in Melbourne on March 29 with the Australian Grand Prix, which last year was won by eventual world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Chinese Grand Prix, a Look back at the Race

Lewis Hamilton again moved to a brink of becoming Formula 1's youngest ever world champion with a textbook victory in China, while Felipe Massa heads for home in a fortnight's time with it all to do.
We look back at how the race unfolded and ahead to the Interlagos decider; explaining how Hamilton and McLaren should be in better shape to wrap it up this time and why Massa can't afford to give up on his hopes yet. Lewis Hamilton dominated not just the race, but the entire Chinese Grand Prix weekend.
The only track session he did not finish in first place was Saturday morning practice, when Nick Heidfeld did a low-fuel flier in preparation for qualifying while Lewis carried the fuel he would be using in Q3.

In control
This was a disciplined drive by Hamilton, as perfect as Fuji was flawed.
The only moment of doubt was just before the lights went out, simply because of what had happened in Fuji.
But he got the car going better than Kimi Raikkonen�s Ferrari next to him and took the lead into turn one, never to be seen again.
Felipe Massa�s expression said it all afterwards.
He had not had the pace to challenge Hamilton all weekend and now he heads to Brazil with a seven-point deficit � which means he has to win the race there, but it�s out of his hands.
Hamilton will be world champion if he finishes fifth or higher, regardless of Massa�s result.

A clear focus
By a curious twist of fate, that was also the points situation relative to Raikkonen going into last year�s race and yet Hamilton managed to lose.
This year there is a very significant difference though. He does not have to worry about Fernando Alonso in the sister car.
It was the Spaniard last year who dominated Hamilton�s thoughts at the finale after a season of bitterness and recrimination.
Alonso felt that he could have won the title if McLaren had just restrained Hamilton a bit, and he�s right.
Going into that last race, Hamilton was four points ahead of Alonso and seven up on Raikkonen, who went on to win in Brazil.
Hamilton wasn�t really thinking about him and yet he emerged the champion.
This year Hamilton�s mind is clear; he knows that he will have a harmonious and serene atmosphere in his team all weekend and that he can focus all his attention simply on having a strong race, as he did here.

The Interlagos challenges
For me the only real points of concern will be his engine reliability and the start of the race, which is highly risky in Brazil, because of the way the first two corners flow with 20 cars arriving at speed with cold brakes and tyres.
I�ve seen some huge shunts there over the years and plenty of contact, spins and bits of bodywork knocked off.
Last year it started to get away from Hamilton at the start in Brazil and then his race was finished off by the gearbox gremlin which cost him 40 seconds.
Ferrari had a significant performance advantage over McLaren in Brazil last year, which it doesn�t look like they will have this year.
And just to make sure McLaren have been developing a special �Interlagos pack� for the car, to give Hamilton the best shot at doing well there.
As this season winds to a close, Renault have made great progress to be the third fastest team in the field but are still not fast enough to get involved in the fight at the front � so in a normal weekend, Hamilton can expect to finish at least third and be champion.
The other thing to keep an eye on is the engine.
Heikki Kovalainen lost an engine which was on its second race in Fuji and prior to Singapore he had had to change his engine because there was a reliability issue there.
Hamilton will use his Shanghai engine again in Sao Paolo and even though he was able to turn the revs down in the final 10 laps or so today, it will still be a mild concern because of what happened with Kovalainen�s unit.
And as Michael Schumacher found in 2006, an engine failure at the end of the championship can happen, even to the most reliable of teams.

Massa's moment
Massa�s task in Brazil is clear: do what he has done the last two seasons and dominate the race.
He looks like he has his head down a bit now, after being outpaced not only by Hamilton but also by Raikkonen here.
He�s amazing at Interlagos and will no doubt be inspired by his home crowd, but there will be a bitterness about the experience too.
He knows that there is a very real possibility that this will be his only chance to win the world championship.
You never know when a chance is going to come and you have to take it when it does.
He was presented with this chance because his team-mate had major problems getting on with the 2008 Ferrari, but the team has set out an intensive test programme for 2009 which will see Kimi doing 9,000 kilometres of testing to make absolutely sure that he has a car he can challenge with in 2009.
And as a motivated Kimi is stronger than Massa, this could be it for the little Brazilian.
He looks back on the engine failures in Australia and Hungary and on the pit lane cock-up in Singapore and sees over 20 points gone begging which would otherwise have made him world champion today.
So the whole of Brazil will be at his shoulder but he�ll know that it is very hard for him to deliver, and that will have its own unique pressure.
He needs Hamilton to hit problems to give him the title. His mentor Michael Schumacher�s motto was always �don�t give up� and Massa will no doubt follow it, but with some heavy doubts.
You can always look back on a season and think of what might have been.
Massa had those technical failures I mentioned, but Hamilton will point to Spa, where he was docked four points for cutting the chicane and Massa picked up an extra two points for being awarded the win. Without that penalty Hamilton would be champion tonight.

Final thought
Another behind-the-scenes story, which contributes to the outcomes we are seeing, is the Bridgestone tyre selection this season.
Because the McLaren and Ferrari cars use their tyres quite differently, one team is always going to get a slight advantage from the compounds Bridgestone bring.
Basically the softer the compounds are the better it is for Ferrari, the harder they are it helps McLaren.
As a rule the Ferrari works the tyre less over a 20-lap stint and thus is faster in race conditions, whereas the McLaren uses up its tyres more quickly.
Ferrari�s boss Stefano Domenicali compared this race to Hockenheim where Hamilton�s McLaren was surprisingly dominant, and it is interesting that the choice of tyres there was the same as here, medium and hard. Ferrari would have liked them to be a step softer.
The same could well be true in Brazil where last year they took super-soft and soft and Ferrari dominated. This year Bridgestone has nominated soft and medium, which will play more to McLaren�s strengths.

For more James Allen content, blogs and interviews go to www.jamesallenonf1.com

Lewis Hamilton Q&A: China just another step to title

Coming to Shanghai this weekend must feel like deja vu for McLaren�s Lewis Hamilton. Like last year, he is just a few points away from clinching the world championship. Will he endure a similar fate to the one that befell him in 2007, or has his time to toast a title finally arrived? And how is he feeling ahead of Sunday's all-important race? We caught up with him to find out�

Q: Lewis, how has your mindset changed compared to when you came to Shanghai in a position to win the title last year?

Lewis Hamilton: Last year I came here on a real high, I was nervous, thinking that I really could win the world championship - that was crazy. I drove well - under wet conditions I was very quick compared to other people. Especially after I did my pit stop I was much heavier than the others and still was able to dictate the pace, but one little mistake can hit home really hard. I came here this year with less hype, humble as can be, with the best kind of approach possible. We are still in the lead and still competitive and tomorrow I�m not approaching it thinking that we can win the world championship, as I also cannot lose the championship tomorrow. But I see it as another step to win the title as there are still two races.

Q: Fernando Alonso�s notion that he will help your rival Felipe Massa seems a bit like psychological warfare. How do you cope with this?

LH: I wish good luck to them both! It does not worry me because if I think correctly this is a two-time world champion and I have to trust that they both respect other people and behave as the professionals that they are.

Q: How important is it from a psychological point of view to start from pole position?

LH: It can only be positive - I can�t see any negatives in it as it is great to know that we are very, very competitive. And to show that we can be on the front row in the last two races is a big bonus for the team, as it shows what a great job they are doing and it will be interesting to see how this affects other people.

Q: How do you see your chances of winning the championship tomorrow?

LH: I haven�t thought about it, as it is not important to me about the championship. Our approach has to be the next two races, where we need to have two strong finishes. For tomorrow we have to take it easy and do our very best to score the best we can.

Q: How much of a concern is it for you that the driver alongside you on row one - Kimi Raikkonen - has nothing to lose?

LH: I don�t think it is something to be concerned about. I think that he will be very competitive but I think our race pace is also very good. We don�t know what will happen tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will stay the same, but I�ve heard that there is a chance of rain.

Q: But don�t you think that as Kimi has nothing to lose he will be willing to risk more than you?

LH: I don�t think so. He is the world champion and I am sure he wants to win this race as everybody else does, so I am confident that he will act sensibly.

Q: You described you pole lap as �hard core�. What did it feel like in the car on such a lap?

LH: I meant 'hard core' in the sense that I'd not done a great job previously, because it always makes it easier when you do a good first lap as you then can find those couple of tenths on your second lap. But if that doesn�t work the pressure is at its peak - and that is 'hard core'. It is great fun, you are racing hard and you�re really on a fine line throughout the lap.

Q: Both the UK and Brazil have been waiting for a Formula One world champion for quite a long time. How do you feel about that?

LH: My personal feeling is that however exciting, however amazing it could be, it is never done until it's done. I can only dream of how it will be to be world champion so I work every day towards it and just continue to do the best I can. And hopefully one day I will be world champion and I can only guess that my country will be very proud.

James Allen's Japanese GP verdict

Against all expectations, the Japanese Grand Prix took place in bone-dry conditions, but there was no shortage of entertainment, incident and controversy all the same � and title protagonists Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa were in the thick of it.
ITV Sport commentator James Allen analyses all the key performances, including Fernando Alonso's majestic drive to a second consecutive victory, in his regular post-race verdict.There is so much to talk about from this race, it�s hard to know where to start.
We had Lewis Hamilton losing his head when all that was required was some pragmatism, Felipe Massa showing his ruthless side, Fernando Alonso and Renault again excelling and then a highly contentious penalty for Sebastien Bourdais � which gifted Massa and Ferrari an extra point, reducing Hamilton�s lead to five points.

Red mist

Let�s start with Hamilton.
Starting from pole, he knew that Kimi Raikkonen was a threat off the startline, but he also knew that Raikkonen was no threat to his championship position.
Second place here behind Kimi would have been fine, as long as Massa finished behind.
Ron Dennis even made this point in his press gathering on Saturday evening. So Lewis was told by Ron: �If Raikkonen passes you at the start, let him go.�
Lewis did the opposite. Once again, faced with a Ferrari in front of him he got a red mist on, just as he did when Kimi passed him in the pit lane in Canada.
He lunged down the inside with his front wheels locked up and pushed Kimi wide, losing vital places himself in the process � but more importantly, putting flat spots on his front tyres which would have made the car undrivable over a 20-lap stint.
So already he knew that he would have to stop for new tyres almost immediately.
But he wasn�t thinking about tyres; he was thinking about Massa, who had got in front of him.
He repassed Massa, who ran wide and then came across the chicane at him, and the inevitable collision happened, which spun Hamilton around and dropped him to the back of the field.

Ruthless streak

This was a different Massa from the one we have seen in the past, who didn�t put up much of a fight at Hockenheim, or in Malaysia last year, when Hamilton passed him.
This was ruthless Massa; he�d lost the corner but he wasn�t going to let Hamilton get by, so he hit him.
Hamilton can have few complaints about it � after all he�s put some tasty moves on other drivers this year � but it�s definitely a marker for him that Massa will not be a soft touch in future.
For this incident Massa was rightly given a drive-through penalty, the same penalty as Hamilton received for the incident at the start.
This dropped both of them to the back of the field and from there it looked like a tough climb back into the points.
At this point Massa was 14 seconds ahead of Hamilton, but at the end of the race he was 32 seconds ahead.
In other words he was able to use the Ferrari�s speed to recover, while Hamilton found his car compromised by bodywork damage and didn�t have the speed to fight back.
Nevertheless, I think it is interesting that, for the second race in a row, Ferrari set the fastest race lap, with Renault the second fastest and McLaren third.

Catching up quick

It shows how impressive Renault�s development has been this season, considering that they were over a second off the pace at the start of the year.
They�ve found something in the last few weeks which has transformed their car.
It�s either an aerodynamic tweak or a mechanical one which allows them to exploit the tyres better. Perhaps it�s both.
If you bear in mind that their engine is a little bit down on the Mercedes and Ferrari � to the extent that the FIA have been persuaded to let them bring it up to the level of the benchmark units over the winter � it has been a great effort on the chassis by the team from Enstone.
I wonder if this was a discovery they might have made earlier in the year. Either way, Alonso has now scored 30 points in the past four races, way more than the two title contenders.
Alonso was simply magnificent again today.
He rode his luck at the start, losing a place to Robert Kubica, but emerged second behind him after the Hamilton/Raikkonen incident at the first corner.
He jumped the Pole at the first round of pit stops by making a shorter refuelling stop.
He believed that the Renault was a faster car than the BMW and he was proved right, because when he got some clear air in the middle stint he was very fast.
He was also very consistent. He put in a sequence of laps which were identical to within a tenth of a second.
This was the Alonso who won two world titles with his relentlessness and sheer desire.
He hasn�t let his motivation wane at all this season, even when the car was barely good enough to qualify in the top 10.

Unjust punishment

Returning to the subject of ruthless Massa, the major talking point as we left the circuit was the ridiculous penalty awarded to Sebastien Bourdais for the collision with Massa near the end of the race.
Bourdais was exiting the pit lane and the pit lane exit light was blue to warn him that a car was coming down the straight. They were racing each other for position.
Bourdais came out of the pit lane, with Massa well over to the left on the run to the first corner. Massa drove like a man who felt that a Toro Rosso had no business being in his way and should let him pass.
Bourdais did everything he could to avoid a collision, even putting his inside wheels on the kerbs, but Massa came across and spun around him.
He might argue that he had his front wheels in front, but the team managers I spoke to after the race all said that FIA race director Charlie Whiting had briefed them in Singapore and again in Fuji that the car exiting the pits has right of way.
So once again, the stewards have gone against the advice Charlie has issued to teams, as they did with the penalty for Hamilton in Spa (where Whiting had told McLaren he thought Hamilton had acted fairly).
If the teams cannot believe the race director, what hope have the rest of us and the wider public got?
The FIA styles itself as the referee in this sport, but surely it cannot afford to keep sending out such mixed messages.
It confuses the public and makes some of them think that these things are being done for Ferrari�s benefit.
Of the professionals I quizzed at the track, 99% were saying that this was in no way an offence by Bourdais � but it gives Massa another vital point in the championship, to go with the six he gained at Spa.
And like Hamilton�s penalty at Spa, this one cannot be appealed as it was a 25-second penalty added to race time, in lieu of a drive-through during the race.
But the incident happened on lap 51, some 16 laps from the end. The stewards had 20 minutes to consider their verdict.
Ironically it took them only 15 laps to award the penalties for Hamilton and Massa at the start, so they could have arrived at a conclusion before the end of the race.

Cause for concern

A final note on Heikki Kovalainen�s engine failure

This could be a bit of a worry for Lewis, as Kovalainen had used his free engine change in Singapore because there was a concern there. Now Mercedes has lost one in a race.
If there is a problem part, they haven�t got much time to put it right before Shanghai.
Lewis is due a new engine there and he hasn�t taken his free change yet, so can also have a new one in Brazil.
But it will be a niggling doubt in their minds. Another one, to go with the doubt about Lewis�s state of mind in the closing stages of another championship that is his to lose.

James Allen www.ITV.com

Shell in Formula One

Shell�s Formula One project team continues to grow and this year more than 50 Shell technical staff are contributing to the Shell Formula One programme with Ferrari; based in Shell laboratories and facilities around the world, back at the Scuderia Ferrari factory in Maranello and travelling to the 18 race tracks. This is clearly much more than a sponsorship � it is a technical partnership.
To date Ferrari has won 12 Formula One World Championship Drivers� Titles and nine Formula One World Championship Constructors� Titles with the support of Shell. Importantly the Shell technical partnership with Ferrari provides the perfect test bed for Shell road products - from Shell V-Power fuel and Shell Helix lubricants through to other speciality lubricant products, such as Shell Spirax gear oil. The lessons learned and the boundaries broken within the extreme environment of motor racing contribute to the development and production of fuel and lubricant products for customers around the world.

Shell at the races - the trackside laboratory

Shell provides Ferrari with a full analysis of fuel and oil samples at every race, using expert cutting-edge technology. In the Shell Track Lab - located within the Ferrari compound - Shell scientists conduct more than 40 tests per weekend on the Shell V-Power, Shell Helix and Shell Spirax race products used in the cars, to ensure that the drivers will be able to get peak performance at all times.

Lubricants

Unlike fuels, engine lubricants are slightly less restricted. This gives Shell chemists and engineers more freedom to explore new and unique formulations and get the most out of the Formula One engine. Instantaneous information provided by analysing the engine lubricant in the Track Lab is essential for the Ferrari team to understand the condition of its engines.
New to the Track Lab in 2008 is the RDE (rotating disc electrode) oil analyser which uses a technique called Optical Emission Spectrometer (OES). An extremely sophisticated instrument, it detects an increased selection of wear metals in the oil. This is once again a clear example of Shell�s cutting-edge approach to the programme, adding valuable systems to Ferrari�s track-side activity.

Read more on the role of Shell Helix in 2008

Fuels

Formula One fuel is one of the most tightly controlled fuels within the world of motorsport with the chemical and physical parameters dictated by the FIA. These regulations imposed by the FIA are designed to foster the development of road car fuels; specific power boosting chemical compounds are banned and all chemical ingredients are highly monitored. This season will see 5.75% by weight of bio-oxygenate incorporated in Formula One fuel in line with FIA regulations imposed on all teams.
The analytical process for fuel remains the same. Using a gas chromatography method, Shell engineers regularly analyse the fuel, taking extreme care to ensure that it remains legal and in prime condition during the race weekend. If a sample taken by the FIA does not match the pre-approved fuel profile, the team can ultimately be disqualified.
Working within these boundaries, Shell chemists still have the flexibility to excel and develop fuel in the constant battle to increase performance.

Test after test, race after race and season after season, Shell and Ferrari work together exclusively to craft the best performing fuels and lubricants in Formula One.

Massa wins New Valencia GP street Circuit.

Felipe Massa has won the European Grand Prix in Valencia ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica.
Starting from pole position, the Ferrari driver led from start to finish through the harbourfront streets of the Spanish city, which was hosting a grand prix for the first time.
With team-mate and World Champion Kimi Raikkonen retiring with engine failure on lap 46, the result also moves Massa up to second place in the Drivers' Championship, six points behind Hamilton.
The victory, Massa's fourth of the season, remained provisional for a time after his second pit stop almost brought a collision with Force India driver Adrian Sutil.
Sutil was forced to dart left and scrape the pit wall as both drivers accelerated away out of the pit lane.
Race control then announced that Massa's car was being investigated for 'unsafe release from a pit stop' by stewards.
And, although it was then announced that any punishment for Massa would be meted out after the race, he eventually escaped with a reprimand and a fine of �10,000.
Hamilton's McLaren Mercedes team-mate Heikki Kovalainen finished fourth, ahead of Toyota's Jarno Trulli and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel.
Trulli's team-mate Timo Glock finished seventh, with Williams driver Nico Rosberg claiming the final Championship point.

Massa gave a dominant display in the heat of the Mediterranean summer, three weeks after an engine failure cruelly cost him victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix.
But Ferrari's afternoon was nevertheless a chaotic one, with Massa's pit lane infraction being followed by another incident which befell Raikkonen.
Disputing fourth place with Kovalainen, the two Finns pitted in tandem for the second time on lap 44.
However, Raikkonen's eagerness to get away saw him depart with the fuel hose still intact and also drag a mechanic to the ground.
As the mechanic was stretchered away to hospital - having suffered a foot injury ( broken Ankle) and back pains - Raikkonen fell to sixth place behind Trulli.
But his race was soon run - Raikkonen's Ferrari trailing a plume of smoke across the start-finish line much as Massa's had in Budapest.
After qualifying fourth around the 3.380-mile track, it has to be said that, before his retirement, Raikkonen had once again failed to shine.
Massa looks Ferrari's best bet of mounting a Championship challenge on current form, the opening stint alone seeing him build a lead over his team-mate roughly the equivalent of one pit stop.
But it was during the second stint that he really extended his lead over the second-placed Hamilton, with Massa setting successive fastest laps on laps 34, 35 and 36 as he went 10.2 seconds ahead of the lead McLaren.
The race had already lost its biggest draw when Fernando Alonso retired with rear wing and suspension damage after his Renault was hit from behind by Kazuki Nakajima's Williams on the opening lap.
Incident
And it wasn't until lap 37 and Massa's near-collision with Sutil that the processional affair that had developed produced any more genuine incident.
Elsewhere, Kovalainen passed Raikkonen off the line to take fourth, with the next change of track position in the top eight coming when Trulli leapt ahead of Vettel for sixth at the opening round of stops.
Given the newness of the track, teams also were feeling their way in terms of tactics and strategy.
Most drivers elected to make two stops but Glock was among the few to pit only once as he climbed from 13th on the grid to seventh at the chequered flag.
Despite his rather lonely race, Hamilton nevertheless sees his Championship lead increase by one point, with Massa now leading the pursuers.
Raikkonen drops to third place and now stands just two points ahead of Kubica.
In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren have closed the gap to 13 points on leaders Ferrari.
However, after another race for the Italian team not without its difficulties, they at least have the knowledge that they now head to a track - Spa-Francorchamps, venue for the Belgian Grand Prix in two weeks' time - on which they dominated 12 months ago.

Fancy lunch at the Istana with Alonso and Raikkonen?

FORMULA 1 greats Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda have a lunch date with President S R Nathan on the Istana ( Grand Palace now the President & Prime Minister's Office) lawn on Sept 26.

They are both on the invited list for the official Formula 1 party on the first day of the SingTel Singapore Grand Prix onSept 26, and all the current drivers � including world champion Kimi Raikkonen, 2005 and 2006 title holder Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton � will be there too.

The luncheon at the Istana is open to the public, with 18 tables set aside at $30,000 each and another 12 at $50,000 per table. All proceeds will go towards the President�s Challenge charity programme and the organisers, Singapore GP, hope it will raise about $1 million. There will also be an auction of two Chopard watches � a man�s �Tourbillion� timepiece worth $250,000 and a lady�s �Happy Sport� worth $30,000 � and other F1 memorabilia.

�It is a prestigious event and there will be a lot of stars there, but we don�t want people to get stuffy in their coats and ties,� said Singapore GP chairman Teo Hock Seng. �It will be a smart casual affair.�

The lunch is also a first in Formula 1. Formal black-tie dinners are usually held on the first day of races, but Singapore is hosting the sport�s first night race. Twelve tables have been already been sold. Interested parties can email bj_quah@komoco.com.sg or tracyteo@komoco.com.sg. Organisers also revealed that 95 per cent of tickets for the Grand Prix have been sold. Some grandstand and walkabout tickets for Saturday are still available.

Ian de Cotta - Today Paper

Raikkonen : Qualifying Improvement Key to Title Hopes

Ferrari�s Kimi Raikkonen believes he must solve his recent qualifying troubles if he is to have any chance of retaining his Formula One drivers� crown. Raikkonen has been sixth on the grid at the last two rounds, effectively preventing him from fighting for victory at either race.�You can't pretend to win the title if you're always starting from the sixth position,� said the Finn, who spent much of Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix stuck behind Fernando Alonso�s slower Renault.

�You can even drive one second faster per lap than the one ahead of you, but if you start from behind you can't use the pace you've got.�Raikkonen admitted he struggled with setting up his car both in Hungary and at the previous German Grand Prix. His aim now is to find a solution ahead of the forthcoming European round, though with no testing over the summer break that could prove difficult.�I don't want to deny that the last races didn't go as I wanted,� he said.

�Every time something strange happened and we didn't manage to find the best possible set up for the car. We tried to find a good compromise, but it didn't help. We've got to solve that problem now for the upcoming race at Valencia.�The good news for Raikkonen is that Ferrari�s race pace was much improved in Budapest - he set the fastest lap - and, due to the misfortune of his two main title rivals, team mate Felipe Massa and McLaren�s Lewis Hamilton, he actually improved his position in the standings. He moved up to second place, cutting his deficit to Hamilton to just five points.�Whenever you're able to narrow the gap to the leader it's very important,� he added. �I gained more points than any other of my direct competitors, which is pretty positive as well before this short break. The situation in the championship is not too bad: obviously one can always improve and this is exactly what we want to do.�Raikkonen will be spending some relaxation time in his native Finland over the coming weeks before returning to the track for the inaugural European Grand Prix in Valencia on August 22-24.

Adapted from Formula 1 World

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton wins German GP in Hockenheim

Lewis Hamilton won the German Grand Prix twice, once at a canter, the second time in a blaze of insane wizardry. Ferrari must be wondering what they have to do to keep him in check. The answer might be to test Hamilton for EPO.
If this were the Tour de France fingers would be pointing at the drugs cabinet. But this is Formula One and underneath him Hamilton has a serious piece of kit. What alchemy McLaren have worked to deliver a machine as potent as this. Felipe Massa looked like he had seen a ghost after going under the Hamilton hammer.

Lewis Hamilton made good use of his ninth start from pole
For half the race Hamilton was coasting to victory. Then, after been shot in the foot by what looked a poor call from the McLaren pit wall not to come in under the safety car, Hamilton ripped back the initiative as if those in front were not there.
A lazy Sunday afternoon was passing without incident at the half way stage, at which point Hamilton had coasted from pole into an 11-second lead. He has worked harder on the Playstation. Then on lap 36 Timo Glock introduced himself to the German audience with a heavy shunt at the entry to the start finish straight.
Toyota were unable to determine the cause in the immediate aftermath. As Glock powered through the final turn he drifted slightly wide then a vicious spin took him backwards into a wall. The impact was fatal for his car and left the driver limping awkwardly from the wreckage. Thankfully his discomfort was temporary. A visit to the medical centre revealed no damage to Glock's personal chassis.
The incident took us back to Canada, where Hamilton last lost a commanding lead as a result of an accident and the introduction of the safety car. In Montreal he was jumped in the pits and clattered expensively into the stationary Kimi Raikkonen at the pit exit.
On this occasion Hamilton stayed out. Who knows by what mathematical matrix the McLaren number-crunchers had reached that conclusion? It was not the best decision ever made. His front running rivals shot in to refuel to the end of the race. When the safety car retreated five laps later with 26 still to negotiate, Hamilton was left needing to make up at least 23 seconds, sufficient time to refuel and come out with his lead in tact. He could not have pulled that off in Concorde.
Massa, who dropped to sixth from second, had sacrificed places but gained vital time as the cars bunched behind the safety car. Hamilton was lapping more than a second quicker at the restart but stayed out only nine laps, time to build a lead of 13 seconds. When he returned to the track he was running fifth and behind Massa's Ferrari.
Nick Heidfeld, another unfortunate who opted not to come in under the safety car, refuelled to give Hamilton one place back. On the three left in front, Hamilton went to work. He transformed the hairpin at turn six into an execution site. First team-mate Heikki Kovalainen gave way leaving 15 laps to claim Massa and Nelson Piquet, a random beneficiary of the safety car lottery.
Massa capitulated ten laps out, Piquet with seven to go. It was glorious stuff for Hamilton lovers; painful for the massed ranks of Ferrari followers, for whom this was telling evidence of a performance advantage shredded.
The chequered flag signalled the eighth victory of Hamilton's career, his second back-to-back haul and conferred a four-point advantage over Massa in the race for the championship. With eight races remaining Ferrari appear relatively at sea. Massa could make no impression on the Renault of Piquet, who benefitted form a welcome slice of luck when the safety car co-incided with his scheduled stop. The result, the first podium of his career, marked the only time that two Brazilians have finished in the top three since his father shared the honour with Ayrton Senna 17 years ago.
Massa complained of a lack of speed. His team-mate Raikkonen struggled all weekend to find anything like the right balance and finished sixth. Despite the shortfall to McLaren, were it not for the safety car Massa would have had too much for the rest of the field.
A month ago in Magny-Cours it was Ferrari who had everyone else scratching heads. McLaren have happened across a Eureka moment somewhere. Hamilton had pace to burn and powers towards the season's climax the man to beat.
Next up is Hungary, where Hamilton posted a controversial win a year ago and with it buried Fernando Alonso's short McLaren career. Before that the teams repair to Jerez for the next round of testing; a time for Ferrari to regroup and fathom a response to Hamilton.

Hamilton wins rainy British GP

Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix for the first time, leading his rain-soaked home race from the fourth lap to take the lead in the Formula One drivers championship.
The McLaren driver lapped all but two cars in the field Sunday and finished more than a minute ahead of Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber in a race at Silverstone that was full of spinouts and near misses. Honda's Rubens Barrichello was third for his first podium in four years and Honda's first of the season.
"It is by far the best victory I've ever had," Hamilton said after waving to the 90,000 fans who gave him a standing ovation after he won by 68.5 seconds.
Hamilton's third victory of the season gives him 48 points in the standings. He is tied with Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, but leads the championship chase based on his better finishes in the other races.
"The conditions were bad and as I was driving I thought, 'If I win this, it will be the best race I've ever done,' " Hamilton said. "On my last lap, I could see the crowd starting to rise to their feet, and I was just praying, praying, praying I could get the car round."
Massa spun at least five times in the race and finished last in 13th, failing to pick up a point. Raikkonen was fourth.
Hamilton and Massa each have three wins and finishes of second, third and fifth, but Hamilton has had better finishes in races where they weren't among the points. Raikkonen, the defending world champion who won this race last year, has two victories this season.
Hamilton, starting fourth on the grid, provided an eventful beginning to the 60-lap race when he burst past both Red Bull's Mark Webber and Raikkonen at the beginning.
He also tried to overtake pole-starter and McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen on the inside of the first bend, but the Finn responded and the two McLarens almost touched.
Also on the first lap, Massa, Webber and Kazuki Nakajima went into a spin but rejoined the race. David Coulthard, in his last British GP before he retires at the end of the season, and Sebastian Vettel both slid into the same gravel area at the sharp left-hand Priory bend and were out of the race.
Seven of the 20 starters failed to finish.
Two points ahead in the drivers standings at the start of the race, Massa failed to recover from his early spin and slipped to the back of the field, more than a minute behind the leader after only 13 laps. The Brazilian finally overtook Nico Rosberg on the 17th lap and then Giancarlo Fisichella to move into 15th, but he had more trouble later in the race and was lapped twice by the leader and finished at the back.
At the front, Hamilton overtook Kovalainen on the fourth lap with a bold move going into the fast Stow right-hander, powering ahead and then timing his braking to keep the lead.
The British driver then opened up a 6-second gap only for Raikkonen to cut the lead to less than a second when they both came into the pits for the first time on lap 22. Although Hamilton changed tires, he kept the same intermediate style while Raikkonen made no change, which proved to be a mistake.
Although Hamilton left the pit line just ahead of the Finn's Ferrari, he began to pull away and opened up a lead of almost 25 seconds halfway through the race.
Struggling on a still wet track, Raikkonen slowed lap after lap. He dropped back to fourth coming out of the Luffield right-hander when Heidfeld overtook both Finns to move from fourth to second, and Kovalainen also went past Raikkonen into third.
With rain falling again, Raikkonen made another pit stop on lap 29 to change his tires to suit the conditions and came out in 11th place with little chance of becoming the first back-to-back British GP winner since Coulthard in 2000.
Hamilton stayed out of trouble and increased his lead steadily to more than a minute.

French Grand Prix - Magny Cours

It all goes wrong for Hamilton in France

McLaren�s Lewis Hamilton always knew he was going to have a tough weekend at Magny-Cours, after picking up a ten-place grid penalty for his pit-lane misdemeanour in Canada, but he probably didn�t think it would be quite this tough.Even starting 13th, Hamilton was at least hoping for points, but after 70 laps of the French Grand Prix circuit the Englishman trailed home a lowly tenth, thanks in large part to a drive-through penalty for straight-lining Turn Seven on lap one as he completed a pass on Toro Rosso�s Sebastian Vettel.Hamilton - and McLaren - believed he had already completed the pass before being forced wide over the chicane, but the stewards disagreed and decided he had gained an advantage. When he took the penalty on lap 13, he dropped from P9 to P13, effectively ending his chances of a top-eight finish.The only consolation for McLaren was a storming drive from Heikki Kovalainen, who himself had taken a five-place grid drop for impeding another driver during qualifying. The Finn came from tenth on the grid to finish fourth, with only some excellent defensive driving from Toyota�s Jarno Trulli keeping him off the podium.The result means Hamilton drops to fourth place in the drivers� championship on 38 points, 10 behind new leader Felipe Massa, while Kovalainen lies sixth on 20.

Stunning Trulli putsToyota back on the podium

Toyota proved their return to form in Montreal a fortnight ago was no stroke of luck in Magny-Cours on Sunday, as Jarno Trulli secured the team�s first podium for three years. Trulli crossed the finish line third behind the dominant Ferraris of race winner Felipe Massa and second-placed Kimi Raikkonen.Toyota arrived in France motivated by their fourth and sixth in Canada and on Saturday the TF108�s strong pace continued, with Trulli and team mate Timo Glock both making it through to Q3. As Sunday�s race got underway things only got better. After a strong start, during which Trulli was able to pass the Renault of Fernando Alonso, the Italian settled into third, a position he had to work very hard to defend from McLaren�s Heikki Kovalainen late in the race."What a great result and a great weekend by the whole team,� said Trulli. �Today was a great race, hard and tough. We had a good pace, even if we had to battle with some cars that were quicker than us. When the rain came at the end I had to take care because it's always difficult to judge how bad it is when you're in front.�But I got back into a rhythm and had a wheel-to-wheel fight with Heikki, just like in go-karts. The team made no mistakes this weekend, from the people in the factory who made the new parts on the car to the mechanics who did perfect pit stops today. There's still more to do but today we can be very satisfied. The team is doing a great job, the car is much more competitive and everyone is motivated. Things are moving on."Trulli�s podium is the Japanese team�s first since Ralf Schumacher finished third in the 2005 Hungarian Grand Prix and the Italian�s first since that year�s Spanish race. The strong result was a fitting tribute to the team�s former principal Ove Andersson, who was killed recently during an historic car rally in South Africa."This is a fantastic day for everyone involved with Toyota Motorsport,� said Toyota team president John Howett. �It was our first podium for a long time so we dedicate it to Ove Andersson, who did so much for the team and will be greatly missed. "Congratulations to everyone involved both at the factory and in the race and test teams who have worked hard to improve the car. Of course we must now keep pushing really hard because our pace is still not matching the front-runners but we can be hugely satisfied with this result."Although Glock eventually finished outside the points in 11th, Trulli�s haul of six extends Toyota's points' tally to 23 and bolsters their fifth-place in the championship standings. The team are now just one point adrift of fourth-placed Red Bull.

Robert Kubica Wins Canadian Grand Prix

Robert Kubica made a triumphant return to Canada on Sunday, storming to his maiden grand prix victory exactly a year after suffering a horrific crash on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

The Pole led a shock BMW Sauber one-two in Montreal after pre-race favourite Lewis Hamilton took himself and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen out of the fray in an early pit lane collision.
Nick Heidfeld took second place and Red Bull's David Coulthard was third but the day belonged to Kubica, now four points clear at the top of the world championship.

"It is fantastic to win for BMW Sauber," he said. "We grew up together and thanks to the team for providing a good car - we managed to do first and second.
"Winning in Canada where I had big shunt last season and achieving the goal to win a grand prix this season... We have done it and I'm leading the championship, so I hope the team will give me 100 percent support to defend it until last race.
"It's fantastic for me, the team, my country and my fans. It was a great race. It is always chaotic here with the safety car and it is not easy. I have never struggled so much before, I was pushing so hard."
The win was the first by a team other than McLaren and Ferrari since October 2006 and fulfilled the BMW Sauber's pre-season ambition to win their first Formula One race.

Toyota's German Timo Glock took fourth place, the best result of his first full Formula One season and Ferrari driver Felipe Massa did well to claim a highly eventful fifth.
The Brazilian now joins Hamilton in second place in the driver's title race.
Italian Jarno Trulli completed a good day for the Toyota team with sixth place with Honda's Rubens Barrichello and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel filling the other point-scoring positions.
The race started amidst serious concerns over the state of the circuit. Patches of the track surface had crumbled badly during qualifying on Saturday and although running repairs were made overnight, many in the paddock were expecting trouble.
Those concerns translated into a generally cautious attitude amongst the drivers and the start passed without incident.
Nico Rosberg did manage to slip his Williams into fourth place around the outside of Fernando Alonso's Renault at the second corner; but it was a clean getaway for Hamilton's McLaren, Kubica and Raikkonen who started first, second and third respectively.
Raikkonen began to put Kubica under serious pressure, the Finn quickly setting the fastest lap of the race, but Hamilton was moving well clear in front.
His lead was erased though, when the safety car was deployed after German Adrian Sutil's Force India car caught fire.
As the field bunched up, the leaders ducked into the pits to refuel. Raikkonen and Kubica emerged from the garage ahead of Hamilton, but were held up by a red-light at the end of the pit lane.
Inexplicably, Hamilton did not realise that his two rivals were stationary ahead of him and after pulling away from his garage he barrelled into the back of Raikkonen ending his own race and that of the reigning world champion.
"I don't know what happened to be honest," Hamilton said. "I was comfortably in the lead, it was looking like an easy win. Then I went in for the pit stop. It was not a good stop and I saw the two guys in front of me battling in the pit lane.
"I saw the red light but by that time it was a bit late. It was not exactly a racing incident as such, it was unfortunate.
"It was one of those things. It is different to if you crash into the wall and you are angry. It is not like that. I apologise to Kimi for ruining his race."
Rosberg was also caught up in the incident and though he was able to continue after some hasty repairs to his front wing, his chances of a points finish were ruined.
Heidfeld was now leading the grand prix, with Barrichello and Williams' Kazuki Nakajima lying second and third.
Heidfeld, his one-stop strategy working perfectly, soon pitted and could not stay ahead of Kubica who had emerged unscathed from the pit lane chaos. Kubica knew he would need one more fuel stop, so he pushed his BMW to the absolute limit to establish a significant margin between himself and his teammate.
With 22 laps remaining the Pole pitted for the final time, emerging safely in front of Heidfeld.
Scottish veteran Coulthard was now in third place with a mad scramble for points unfolding behind him.
There was no catching Kubica though, and there were scenes of joy in the BMW garage as he crossed the finish line to become the first ever Polish grand prix winner.

Lewis Hamilton seeks repeat of 2007 win in Montreal

Canadian Grand Prix: By Andrew Baker

In Lewis Hamilton's ideal scenario, Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix will play out as a repeat of last year's race, but Robert Kubica, the Polish prodigy, is hoping for something very different.

McLaren's Hamilton took his first grand prix win in Montreal in 2007 after a string of podium places, while BMW Sauber's Kubica suffered the most spectacular crash in recent Formula One history. They return to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with Hamilton leading the championship after last month's Monaco win, but only six points separate him from the fourth-placed Pole.

In between are the Ferrari duo of world champion Kimi Raikkonen, who is three points behind the Briton and one ahead of Felipe Massa, the Finn's Brazilian team-mate.
However, Montreal, like Monaco, is a special track for Hamilton. "Last year in Canada was one of the biggest accomplishments of my life, to take my maiden pole and victory in Formula One was incredible," he said. "It would be great to go back there and do the same."
Hamilton, now 23, has put flesh on the bones of his promise, with six wins, 16 podium finishes and seven pole positions from his 23 starts so far.
Kubica has also grown stronger, taking two second places and a third already this year, as well as BMW Sauber's first pole position. Paddock gossips hint at a future move to Ferrari for the Pole but for now he remains firmly committed to BMW. The German team have set a maiden victory as their priority for the year.
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While Ferrari and McLaren are the race favourites, Canada would be just the place for Kubica to make the breakthrough. "I like the track because there's a lot of heavy braking and stop-and-go," he said.

Monaco Grand Prix - The ONE to Win

As the 55th Monaco Grand Prix gets under way, Rosberg is primed to snatch the crown jewel

Set on the narrow, twisting streets of Monte Carlo, on the coast of the French Riviera, the Monaco Grand Prix is the most recognised motor race in the world.
No wonder, then, that it's often referred to as "the jewel of the Formula 1 crown". And with outsiders standing a good chance, don't be surprised if we see a new prince of Monaco crowned here on Sunday, at the race's 55th edition.
The Monaco Grand Prix is the oldest street circuit in Formula 1 and one of the traditional races on the calendar. Save a four-year break from 1951 to 1954, it has played host each year since the start of the world championship in 1950.
There have been street circuits in the United States, France, Switzerland, Spain and Adelaide, but none have endured as Monaco's has.
Up until this season, which sees the addition of the Valencia and Singapore races to the calendar, Monaco was Formula 1's only street circuit for 12 years.
The 3.3km Monte Carlo track is one of the most challenging stops on the calendar.
Since the first Grand Prix in 1950, the street circuit has not changed much to accommodate the bigger and faster modern Formula 1 car.
With overtaking virtually impossible there, getting pole position is of paramount importance. He who starts the 78-lap race in front almost always takes the chequered flag.
All drivers look forward to the race in the glamourous principality as the formbook usually goes out the window there.
In 1996, Olivier Panis took the chequered flag in a lowly Ligier, in a race interrupted by intermittent rain.
The big boys didn't finish, only four cars crossed the finishing line.
Rain is always a factor at Monte Carlo at this time of the year and predictions are for a rainy weekend.
So while championship leaders Ferrari, BMW-Sauber and McLaren-Mercedes are tagged as favourites on current form to take top billing this Sunday, I'm not going to count out the rest of the field. Qualifying on Saturday for a front row place on race day is everything and my bet is that Williams' Nico Rosberg is good for a big surprise.
It will be the British team's 600th Grand Prix and Rosberg will be pumped up to add more meaning to that milestone with a win for one of the oldest sides in Formula 1.
At Thursday's practice the 22-year-old was the only outsider to feature in the top five, ending the session behind McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, but ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, and Heikki Kovalainen in the other McLaren.
Rosberg, whose father is 1983 world champion Keke of Finland, made his Formula 1 debut in 2006 after winning the GP2 series the year before.
He quickly showed his pedigree with Williams at the opening round in Bahrain by becoming the youngest driver in history to record the fastest lap in a race. That achievement was all the more remarkable as his Williams ride was lagging far behind championship contenders Ferrari, McLaren and 2005 champions Renault.
Last year, Rosberg was the centre of attention when he became the top contender to replace two-time world champion Fernando Alonso at McLaren after the Spaniard left the team in the wake of an acrimonious relationship.
Only the influence of the legendary team principal Frank Williams persuaded Rosberg to continue honing his talents with the Williams team.
Rosberg, who was born in Germany, started the 2008 season well enough with a third-place finish at the Australian Grand Prix behind winner Hamilton and BMW's Nick Heidfeld, and then came in eighth at the Bahrain and Turkish races.
To be sure, the Williams car is still nowhere near fighting for the world championship like its predecessors did in the 1980s and '90s.
But if Rosberg's performance on Thursday is anything to go by, and if his good form continues in qualifying this Saturday, then anything is possible.
Clinching pole will be the first step and then it will be left to his engineers to map out a competitive tyre and pitstop strategy to keep him in front.
A win at Monaco would also put Rosberg in an elite class of drivers who've conquered the mean streets of Monte Carlo, a group that includes the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio, Ayrton Senna, Jackie Stewart, Stirling Moss and Michael Schumacher.
That should be an even bigger incentive for Rosberg.

Monaco Race Preview

Monaco, November 2007

Monaco may be just one of three street circuits on this year�s revamped Formula 1 calendar, but new tracks on the block Singapore and Valencia will need to be pretty jaw-dropping to have a hope of rivalling Monte Carlo for mystique.
The gloriously ridiculous concept of racing 200mph cars around the tortuous harbourside streets of a Mediterranean tax haven will never lose its allure for fans, most of whom readily accept the near-total lack of overtaking and just revel in the spectacle of the F1 drivers jinking between the barriers, as the cacophonous screams from their V8 engines echo off the luxury apartments.

Monaco tends either to showcase the dominance of the era�s greatest driver (Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher thrived there) or produce an upset such as Jarno Trulli�s win for Renault in 2004, or Olivier Panis�s brilliant victory for Ligier from 14th on the grid in 1996 � a result that still seems unbelievable more than a decade later.
Winning at Monte Carlo isn�t necessarily a good omen for a title contender: Only three of the last 12 Monaco Grands Prix have fallen to the man who went on to clinch that year�s championship.
And teams that win as they please elsewhere can find Monaco an irritatingly difficult nut to crack.
Ferrari has only won five times there in the last 30 seasons � and not at all since 2001 � while Monte Carlo success eluded Williams throughout its halcyon years, as Sir Frank�s team failed to win in the Principality between 1983 and 2003.
McLaren has a substantially better Monaco record, with 14 wins to its credit in the last 25 years.
Last year it waltzed away with the race, Fernando Alonso leading Lewis Hamilton in an imperious McLaren demonstration run.

This time around, the title rivals cannot agree on who is favourite for the Monte Carlo win.
Kimi Raikkonen reckons McLaren was so strong there last season that Ferrari remains the underdog, whereas Hamilton believes Ferrari has cured its 2007 low-speed corner troubles so successfully that he will be hard-pressed to keep the red cars in sight.
But even if Lewis is right about Ferrari�s advantage, don�t rule him out this weekend.
Boldness and improvisation behind the wheel really do pay dividends in Monte Carlo � and Hamilton has shown an abundance of both at this track.
He was unstoppable there in both Formula 3 and GP2, and it may well have been the scene of his first F1 win had he not been blocked in qualifying and prevented from beating Alonso to pole last year.
Raikkonen certainly isn�t slow at Monaco � he won there in 2005 after all � but he has yet to show the kind of affinity for its unique challenges that Hamilton has displayed.
This is Lewis�s best chance yet to interrupt Ferrari�s winning streak and thrust himself back into the title battle, so he must capitalise on it.

Even in years when Monaco has been won by the season�s benchmark driver and team, an underdog or two has still managed to slip into the top five.
Double Monte Carlo winners Fernando Alonso and David Coulthard must have a chance to pull off season-best results on the streets, as will Trulli, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg, Giancarlo Fisichella and Jenson Button.
All of them have shown real flair here in the past � although Trulli and Button in particular also know that even track specialists can have a miserable time at Monaco in a poor car.
As Alonso suggested this week, a driver can make a difference in Monte Carlo, but there are only so many technical shortcomings he can overcome, and Renault�s poor traction is a particular concern for the Spaniard as he heads for a circuit where getting the power down out of tight corners is crucial to lap times.
With track position so crucial, Monaco also sees the most fraught qualifying session of the year � and provides one of the trickiest strategy quandaries.
No one wants to get stuck in traffic on a circuit where passing is all-but-impossible, so running lighter for a higher grid position must be tempting.
Conversely, the fastest strategy for the track is often to run heavy and pit as late as possible � and most of the midfielders are likely to choose this option.
Drivers who plan two stops must be confident that they can pull out a sufficient gap over the fuel-laden cars before they pit, for if they emerge behind a car that might not plan to stop for another 20 or even 30 laps, their race will be ruined.
However, under modern safety car rules, pitting early is often advisable when caution periods are a strong possibility, as they are in Monaco.
With no traction control or assisted engine braking to help the drivers on this bumpy and desperately slippery course, this weekend is likely to see more incidents than recent Monaco GPs.
But the major reason for the reduction in carnage has been the gradual easing back of the barriers over the past decade.
Sainte Devote, the Swimming Pool and Rascasse are all undeniably easier to navigate now that more room has been created around them.
�Easy� is very much a relative term at Monaco, however, and it will take a lot more than a few barrier realignments to neuter this most evocative and demanding circuit.

LEWIS HAMILTON Q & A

What are your aims for the 2008 Formula 1 season?

My aims are to have another fantastic year enjoying my life as a Formula 1 racing driver for the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team, to score as many points for the team and myself as possible, and try to go one better and win the Drivers� World Championship.

There will be two new circuits in Valencia and Singapore � both street circuits � are you looking forward to racing on these and visiting new cities?

I am. I have never been to Singapore but I have heard it is a beautiful place so I am looking forward to going there, especially with it being a night race. Valencia is going to be interesting as well. I remember driving in Valencia at the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes launch last year and that was good fun, although very slippery, but of course the actual circuit we will be racing on is in a different location.

2008 will see the inclusion of a night race in Singapore for the first time � what are your thoughts on this?

I think it will be wicked. In all my years of racing I have never competed in a night race, apart from indoor karting, so it will be something new for all the fans to watch and definitely exciting for the drivers.

You get to travel to some amazing places during the Formula 1 season, do you get to see much of the places you stay in?

I do sometimes, occasionally I will travel out early to the long haul destinations to acclimatise and try to take in some of the sights. I never have the time to actually plan any sightseeing as it is all about recovering from the travel, then training, making sure that I eat right and am fully prepared for the race weekend. However, next year I definitely want to try and explore more of the countries we race in.

Was there one main thing that surprised you during your first year in Formula 1?

The response I got from the fans around the world. I was amazed at how excited and supportive they were and I hope still are.

What is the best thing about being a Formula 1 driver?

Literally driving the Formula 1 car, the speed, the noise and the thrill � you cannot beat it! It is the best job in the world.

Favourite film?

It has to be �The 40 Year Old Virgin�, that�s the funniest film I seen for a while.

Favourite song?

I don�t have a favourite song as such, but I am very much into Bob Marley so �No Woman No Cry� is probably one of my favourites.

Favourite actor?

Denzel Washington is my favourite serious actor and Eddie Murphy is the best comedy actor.

The best dish you can cook?

I can cook but not much, and when I say that I mean literally one or two things. With that in mind I would have to say that I am pretty good at chicken fajitas.

What would you never eat?

I�m fairly open minded about food and I�ll try anything once but I would draw the line at things like frogs legs and horse steaks or anything unusual.

Most embarrassing moment ever?

I don�t remember any as I try to forget them � so nothing comes to mind.

The day you will never forget?

The day Ayrton Senna died � 1st May 1994. I was racing in Cadet karts at the Hoddesdon Kart Club. I remember I was having a difficult day and had not done very well in my races. My dad told me the news and I remember my heart sinking, going behind the trailer and having a bit of a cry.

Luxury you could not live without?

In general I like to have nice things but could live without any luxuries. I�d struggle to live without eating sweets though!

Favourite corner?

It has to be Eau Rouge.

Courtesy of www.mclaren.co.uk

Fernando Alonso in warning to Renault

Fernando Alonso has warned his Renault team that he could leave at the end of the season if the car does not improve.
Alonso returned to the constructor after a tumultuous year at McLaren in which he surrendered his world championship to Kimi Raikkonen and was unsettled by his rivalry with team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Alonso does not expect major improvement
The Spaniard is seventh in the 2008 championship after two races in which the Renault car has been well off the pace set by McLaren in Melbourne and Ferrari in Malaysia.
"I'm at Renault because I wanted to get back to winning, like in 2005 and 2006, if not this year then next year," Alonso said. "But I have an option to leave so I can be in the best possible car, and it is clear Ferrari is one of the best."
Alonso's comments have fuelled the speculation that he could join Ferrari after one season back at Renault.
However, his attempts to distance himself from that theory may have had the opposite effect as he highlighted errors made by Ferrari number two driver Felipe Massa at Melbourne and Sepang.

"It's early to talk about moves and rumours, but Massa has had two bad races with mistakes and that has kicked off speculation about me," Alonso said. "It's logical, but it's too early."
Renault managing director Flavio Briatore said it was a "waste of time to get involved in hypothetical daydreams." He said: "Fernando is a great sportsman who will always give his best and rumours I never comment on."
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali defended the role of Massa, who is under contract until 2010, despite the setback to the Italian team in both the drivers' and the constructors' championships.

"Felipe has all the qualities and the capabilities to do well," he added. "The championship is long and the team are united, so I see no worries from this aspect."
The Ferrari team were also running checks on the car to be sure a mechanical failure did not cause the spin-out.
At the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Massa retired after a collision and Raikkonen came to a halt with only five laps to race as Ferrari failed to collect any points - its worst start in 16 years. Alonso performed well at Melbourne, moving up from 11th on the grid to finish fourth.
While Alonso said he expected improvements in his car, he also suggested that rival teams would also perform better as the season progresses. "In Barcelona we will have some improvements for the car, (but) the same ones all teams will have, so the championship is going to stay more or less the same.
"We saw it last year and we see it every year. The cars that win the first two or three races stay on top. We are not going to see big surprises during the year."
Briatore, meanwhile, remained optimistic about the team and his star driver. "It does not make sense to judge a car after one or two races. Of course, McLaren and Ferrari have a fast car, but look what happened to Ferrari in Australia," Briatore said. "So we will have to wait and see how it will be at the next couple of races."