4 more days to Singapore Grand prix

The containers started streaming into the F1 paddock at Marina Bay yesterday morning, with Force India, Williams and Renault ahead of the queue and the first to get their cars unpacked and parked in their garages.

By mid-afternoon, the pitlane was a hive of activity, with cranes unloading the crates of equipment and cars under the direction of Formula 1 logistics handlers, DHL.
The crew of the 12 teams can expect things to be in order when they take over their respective garages to prepare for Formula 1's only global night race at the Marina Bay street circuit from Friday to Sunday.
On the circuit, it was a picture of calm as workers put the finishing touches, giving curbs a new coat of paint and washing the track along the start-finish straight.

In and out of the paddock, there was a noticeable absence of the tension that marked the week leading to the inaugural SingTel Singapore Grand Prix in 2008 and last year's race.
"We have definitely worked out most of the teething issues after staging two successful rounds of the Formula 1 Championship. Everything is much more smooth-sailing now," Jonathan Hallett, Singapore GP's media and communications director, told MediaCorp.
"Everything this year is proceeding according to plan. Similarly, the teams have also grown accustomed to adapting to the special logistics a street circuit like ours presents."

But the lack of frenzy belies an explosive order of business that will ignite when the cars start roaring around the track.
Arriving in Singapore for the 15th stop of the 19-leg season, only 24 points separate championship leader Mark Webber and Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel.


McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and defending champion Jenson Button in the other Mclaren are between the Red Bull pair and with the five drivers desperate to be at the top step of the podium at the end of 61 laps on Sunday night, tempers threaten to be paper thin.
This is in part reflected in ticket sales, which have been brisk, selling out in 10 of the 16 categories and organisers anticipate a full house for all three days of the Grand Prix.

Justin Chew, Singapore Tourism Board's executive director for hospitality, F1 and sports, is also expecting a huge contingent of overseas fans to be at the Marina Bay street circuit.
"From what we can see of the take-up rate from overseas, the European crowd is returning in force after skipping last year's edition because of the economic

slowdown," Chew told MediaCorp.
"But we won't know the exact numbers until after the race."
Unlike previous years, hotels, too, around the circuit expect to be close to capacity during the weekend despite the high room rates of $1,000 and above.
Ernawati Setijo, Marina Mandarin's director of marketing communications, said they are nearing 80 per cent occupancy and expect to pass that figure in the next few days.
Said Setijo: "Without prior experience with Formula 1 in 2008, I think everyone entered the F1 weekend blind, trying to find what package worked.

"But all of us are wiser now. For example, we used to sell a minimum of four nights' stay, but we've rebundled it to two and it is working."

Ian dacotta - todaypaper?

F1 Merchandise At 1st Formula1

http://www.burnpavement.com/

F1 Merchandise At 1st Formula1

Mark Webber cools talk of championship glory

Mark Webber says it is too early to talk about winning the world title despite going top of the standings after victory at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Webber made it two wins out of two on Sunday to lead the title race on count-back, with Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel joining him on 78 points.

"We're in a good position and we have a good foundation," he said.
"But no-one knows who is going to be in the hunt with a few races to go. I don't think it's between two guys."

The Red Bull team have been dominant this season, claiming pole position in all of the six races so far, with Webber winning in Monaco and last week in Spain while Vettel emerged victorious in Malaysia.

Vettel could also have had victories in Bahrain and Australia but was hampered by reliability problems.

Red Bull also lead the constructors' world championship by 22 points from Ferrari but when asked whether the championship will be between the team's two drivers, a cautious Webber added: "Two races ago everyone was saying someone else.

"In two races' time they might be saying someone else again.

"Obviously, Seb and I are equal on points. We've got some different venues coming up, keep in mind that engines are going to come into play in the back part of the championship.

"I'm optimistic and realistic enough to know that of course you are not going to win every race but we are looking to get as many top results as we can.

"It is a long way home. We have so many different conditions and different tracks - Montreal, Monza and Budapest - there are many exciting times ahead so I'm looking forward to it.

"There's lots of things to roll into this situation yet."

Webber hailed the victory in Monaco as an important landmark for his Red Bull team, calling it an "incredible day".

"Red Bull have not been around for long," he added. "People forget - three or four years ago they were saying we were the laughing stock.

"It's a great sports story to come in and take on great operations like McLaren and Ferrari.

"That gives us a good feeling but they will be back. They're still fighting right now, it's a good championship."

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner echoed Webber's comments, describing the success as a "brilliant team result".

"This is even sweeter than Spain," said Horner. "Mark Webber has had the week of his life. To dominate the race like that here in Monaco is incredible.
"He has found a rhythm gelled and with the car and the upgrades.
"He is in a very good place at the moment. It's all about confidence round here and you wont find a more confident man than Webber in Monaco.

"Sebastian Vettel drove a great race as well to hold off Robert Kubica.

"The team comes before everything and its testimony to everybody's effort that we got this result.

"We had brake issues coming out of Barcelona the guys have worked relentlessly and this result is a reward for all of that hard work."

Webber was untouchable in Monaco, claiming his second straight pole on Saturday before cruising to victory in the race - despite the disruption of four safety cars - to become only the second Australian to win in the principality.

"It was not a nice situation to be honest with all the safety cars," added the 33-year-old after his fourth career win.
"You do all the hard work, you get away and then you have a safety car which neutralises that and you have some fast guys back on your wheel again.
"It was very difficult when it is like that but that's part of a driver's job, to stay composed and do the job."

The first Australian to triumph in Monaco was Jack Brabham in 1959 and Webber says the three-time world champion was the reason he got into the sport.

"I would not be here without Jack Brabham," said Webber. "My father started following single-seater racing when he was very young.
"He was a huge F1 fan and when Jack was doing the winning back then it started a fire in my dad to keep me interested.
"That translated in to me as a youngster and to win here on the same streets as Jack did is an amazing thing."

Afterwards, Vettel said that he was "very happy" despite not being able to match his team-mate.
"Especially in the beginning and the re-starts I wasn't able to keep up with him," he said. "There was a big difference.
"Later on, when I finally felt the grip I wasn't too far off but by then he was already 10 seconds down the road and winning the race by five, six, seven seconds, so there was no real point to make the effort trying to catch him.

"In the end I think it was our optimum. I am very, very happy - we couldn't have gone better.
"It's a long season and it is not about what you do in one or two races."

FIA reminds teams of suspension and ride-height rules

Formula 1's governing body has warned that any system used to adjust a car's suspension and ride height between qualifying and races would be illegal.
The FIA says they contravene Articles 34.5 and 3.15 of the F1 regulations.
They would give cars that qualified with a light fuel load an advantage by giving them sufficient ground clearance when the tank was filled for the race.
The move comes after McLaren accused Red Bull of having a ride-height device, which Red Bull strongly denied.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner said at the Malaysian Grand Prix that he could "absolutely guarantee" his cars did not use such a system, adding they would protest if any team did use one.
The FIA said on Wednesday: "Any system, device or procedure, the purpose and/or the effect of which is to change the set up of the suspension whilst the car is under parc ferme conditions, will be deemed to contravene Article 34.5 of the F1 Sporting Regulations."

The letter added that the FIA believed "any self levelling damper system is likely to contravene (article) 3.15 of the technical regulations".
Article 3.15 refers to aerodynamics while Article 34.5 states that a driver must start the race from the pit lane if any changes are made to the suspension of his car while it is held under parc ferme.
Parc ferme refers to the period after qualifying and before a race when the cars are effectively off-limits to mechanics.
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said at the Australian Grand Prix that he believes Red Bull's pace-setting form this season is being aided by a system that breaks Formula 1's rules.
Whitmarsh, speaking well before the FIA's statement was released, added that his engineers were racing to develop a system of their own and hoped to have it ready by next week's race in China.
"Frankly a few months ago if the engineers had come to me and said: 'We're going to design this system,' I would have said: 'Actually, I don't think it's permissible'," said Whitmarsh.
"There's some evidence that perhaps such systems are considered legal and if they are then we're going to get one as quick as we can."
Active ride systems, pioneered by the original Lotus team and then used to great effect by Williams, have been banned under regulations since 1993.

Sebastian Vettel wins the Malaysian GP for Red Bull

Red Bull overcame their reliability issues as Sebastian Vettel headed a one-two in the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Vettel, whose car cost him potential wins in Bahrain and Australia, overtook team-mate and pole-setter Mark Webber at the start and held on to triumph.
Mercedes' Nico Rosberg took third while the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were sixth and eighth.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa leads the championship after finishing seventh as team-mate Fernando Alonso retired.
Massa is now two points ahead of Alonso, who is level on points with Vettel but heads him in the standings because of a stronger results countback.
Rosberg and Button are both two points back on 35, four ahead of Hamilton and five in front of Renault's Robert Kubica, who again impressed to finish fourth after coming second in Australia.

Despite losing his position at the head of the grid, Webber drove an excellent race - he produced the fastest lap (one minute 37.054 seconds) - to move up to eighth in the championship.
"The first part of the race is critical and the first sector I had a little wheel spin on the way to Turn One and gave Seb a big tow," said the Australian.
"The spirit and chemistry in our team is awesome and we fought well. Seb got the better of it but it could have gone either way. Great result for the team, we executed a beautiful weekend."
It was a first one-two for Red Bull since the final race of the 2009 season, the team finally getting their reward for consistently being the fastest car on the grid this season.
A broken spark plug did for Vettel in Bahrain and the German had a wheel failure in Melboune, while Webber's engine failed during Friday's practice session for this grand prix.
But they had no such problems on race day at the Sepang Circuit as both cars cruised problem-free and untroubled to the flag.

"I realised straight away I had a good start, I was able to gain, gain, gain and I had a good advantage," said Vettel. "I took the chance into Turn One, it was very late but I took it.
"It's good that we can fight each other but you should keep the respect and I am glad that we have done that, I am sure Mark would do the same as I did.
"After that we had the same pace but I was able to stay in front. We had a magnificent car - I just had to watch the pace and look after the tyres.
"It was a very good result for us especially after two races where we didn't finish where we wanted to be. It was important to stay relaxed and not panic so I am really pleased for me and the team."
The strategic errors made by Ferrari and McLaren during Saturday's rain-affected qualifying meant Alonso and Massa started 19th and 21st respectively, with Button and Hamilton 17th and 20th.
But while Vettel was busy passing Webber on Turn One, all four were making moves of their own and Hamilton, in particular, seemed to be picking off victims at will.

The 2008 champion, along with both Ferraris, was one of the few drivers to start the race on hard tyres but the call paid off as all three put themselves in strong positions.
Reigning champion Button had been sent out on soft tyres but pitted on lap nine for the hard variation and instantly began to hunt down his rivals with several new fastest laps.
Ferrari seemed to be gambling on pre-race forecasts of heavy rain coming to fruition because they kept their drivers out on the hard tyres while most other teams were bringing their men in for a fresh set.
The Italian team's plight was not aided by Alonso's car developing a broken clutch, which produced awkward down-shifts and made braking into the corners tricky and overtaking near-impossible.
With the likes of Rosberg, Kubica and Sutil, who secured an excellent fifth-place finish for Force India, maintaining the pressure up front with some scintillating laps, Ferrari and McLaren acted.
Hamilton stopped for soft tyres on lap 31 and Alonso was the final man to pit on 37, but Hamilton could not make it past Sutil and Alonso's broken clutch put paid to his chances.
The game was up for the Ferraris and McLarens, Button producing increasingly slow laps on ageing tyres and Alonso seeing his engine blow on lap 55 after trying to pass the world champion.

There was more disappointment for Michael Schumacher as the seven-time world champion retired on lap 10 after a nut dislodged itself from the rear left wheel of his Mercedes.
"I lost a wheel nut basically so there was no more drive left," the German, who had climbed from eighth to sixth when he was forced off, told BBC Radio 5 live. "It's very unusual for us to have a reliability problem.
"We were in good position I was pacing myself, and although it is a long race it was all looking OK."
However, Rosberg was understandably delighted to have secured a first podium finish with his new team since joining from Williams.
"It's a great feeling to be back up on the podium again," he said. "This is a great end to a strong weekend for us.
"We're not quite where we want to be yet so we need to push on but I'm confident that we'll get there soon."
Meanwhile, there was an improved showing from the new teams as a Virgin car - Lucas di Grassi's - completed a race for the first while Lotus and Hispania brought both drivers home.
It was also a day to remember for Torro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari and Nico Hulkenberg of Williams, both of whom scored world championship points for the first time.

BBC Sport/formula1

Sebastien Loeb 'denied super licence for Abu Dhabi'

Sebastien Loeb will not be able to compete in next week's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, according to reports in France.



The Frenchman, who is attempting to win a sixth consecutive World Rally Championship title at this weekend's season finale in Wales, has not been granted the requisite super-licence by the FIA, world motor racing's governing body.
Loeb had remained hopeful of making a cameo appearance in Abu Dhabi after testing a GP2 car earlier this month and there were rumours in the paddock that Toro Rosso might be prepared to give the Citroen driver a run in place of Jaime Alguersuari.

Loeb, 35, impressed Red Bull in a one-off test last winter but finished last in the GP2 test in Jerez, more than two seconds off the fastest lap.
Alain Prost said that "common sense" had prevailed. "It would have been unique and incredible for all fans of motor sport," said the four-time Formula One world champion, "but such a shame to risk his reputation.
"It would have been absolutely impossible for him to be competitive on a circuit which he doesn't know, when all he has done is rallying throughout his career.
"That is not to put him down, on the contrary, but Formula One is not just any old thing. It is a completely different mountain to climb."
Loeb goes into the first day of Rally GB on Friday trailing Ford's Mikko Hirvonen by a single point in the standings.
Meanwhile, the FIA has confirmed that next year's Monaco Grand Prix has been moved forward by a week to May 16.
The change means that the famous street race takes place one week after the Spanish Grand Prix, and creates a two-week gap between Monaco and Istanbul.
F1 teams had been concerned that it would not be logistically possible to transport their equipment from Monte Carlo to Turkey in the one-week gap listed on the provisional calendar.
The Canadian and British GPs still have question marks over them, with Donington given until tomorrow to guarantee it has the finance for its revamp to go ahead.
The 2010 calendar will be ratified by the World Council in December.

By Tom Cary

Interview with Mark Weber

Mark Webber hopes to turn F1 losses into winning formula for Red Bull

Mark Webber started the season with a badly broken leg but the Red Bull veteran could become the most unlikely of Formula One champions

Wisdom comes from adversity," Mark Webber says coolly, his matter-of-fact Australian accent making him sound less like an aspiring sage than an old drinking buddy becoming suitably philosophical at the end of a long night. But, deep into the third hour of our own session, Webber remains brilliantly clear-headed and engaging. It helps that, over lunch at his home high up in the rolling hills above Nice on the C�te d'Azur, French sunshine and soft cheese take the place of a dimly lit bar and hard booze. Webber also has a permanent bump the size of a golf ball at the base of his right leg as a reminder of his own adversity over the last year.
His central role in a remarkably unpredictable Formula One season was almost obliterated when he suffered a severe break to his leg and fractured his shoulder after he was hit by a car while cycling in his own charity challenge last November. But even as he rubs his damaged leg, still held together by a metal rod that will only be removed after the final race in Abu Dhabi this November, Webber's thinking stretches further back.
"You don't learn much when you're winning," he says with a grin, acknowledging that his first victory in Formula One only arrived in his 131st race, and eighth year of trying, at the German Grand Prix in July. The preceding years had been a lonely grind in the middle or near the back of the grid as Webber drove hard for a variety of struggling teams.
"If you drive poor cars for two or three years there's a danger you'll be gone from the sport," Webber stresses. "It's a merciless business but, of course, there are guys who have the talent and the resilience to hang in during those difficulties. Those are the drivers that survive and grasp the opportunity when it comes. Look at Mika Hakkinen � who went a hundred races and then won a world championship. Maybe that's what's happened to Jenson [Button] and me this year. We've survived some tough times and we're now in the hunt for the title."

In contrast Lewis Hamilton, the reigning world champion, has endured a disappointing year, with the initially woeful performance of his McLaren being accompanied by an admission that he had lied to race officials in Australia. His predecessor as world champion, Kimi Raikkonen, has also raced fitfully and his and Ferrari's season has been overshadowed by the freakish accident that almost ended Felipe Massa's career. There have been numerous other problems off the track, from the usual controversy surrounding Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley to a new accusation that last season Renault ordered Nelson Piquet to purposely crash his car to stop a race.
The sporting duel between Button and Webber, and their unheralded teams at Brawn and Red Bull, has been much more uplifting. Webber's win at the N�rburgring came in the midst of an exhilarating surge which took him on to the podium in five out of six successive races and made him a serious contender for the drivers' championship. The streak has since broken and he finished ninth, and pointless, in the last two races preceding today's Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Webber is 21.5 points adrift but the surprising nature of this season continued as Button, looking increasingly twitchy, finished seventh in Valencia and crashed early at Spa.
Rubens Barrichello and Sebastian Vettel, the respective team-mates of Button and Webber at Brawn and Red Bull, have enhanced their own title aspirations. The season, with five races left, has boiled down to a battle of fascinating uncertainty.

"It's incredible how it's swung back and forth," Webber says, "but in the middle of the season I scored more points than anyone and that was a fantastic phase. We've now got to do it at the juicy end of the year. One of us four will win the title but we're also racing Kimi and Lewis. The points are going to be more evenly spread and, with Ferrari and McLaren coming back, it's harder to close the gap on Jenson. But if you have a great weekend and some of the other guys have a rough one then it can swing back your way. It's still wide open."
Today, after qualifying 10th on the grid, with Button starting sixth, Webber has to replicate his mid-season dazzle to have a realistic chance of remaining in the championship race. "Monza is important and, with their teams being the only two to have Kers, Kimi and Lewis could be potent. But we'll do OK and, whatever happens, I just hope I'm in with a sniff going into the last race."
The pressure on Button, meanwhile, is increasing. In a telling illustration of the doubts swirling around the British driver, Massa suggested that Button has buckled. "Jenson has gone down because of the pressure," Massa said while recovering in S�o Paulo from his life-threatening accident. "It's the only reason. The pressure has had a big impact on his mind."
Webber, intriguingly, believes differently. "I've always said Jenson won't lose the championship by blowing it. If anything the team will lose the championship. Brawn are stretched with their smaller resources and, bloody hell, it's amazing how quickly we forget where they came from. It's incredible they've led the whole season in a white [sponsor-less] car."
Brawn were born out of the despair of Honda's sudden withdrawal from Formula One. That shock departure left Button, Barrichello and Ross Brawn, their team principal, facing the prospect of being shut out of racing until just a few weeks before the season started. But they found a way to race again and, as Webber explains: "Ross and Adrian Newey [Red Bull's technical director] are better than anyone at adapting to the new regulations that came in this season. Brawn were incredibly quick at the start."
Button won six of the first seven races but Webber accepts that the psychological balance has shifted. "Jenson is very experienced, but the dynamics have changed. Part of him must think he can only go backwards and it would be disastrous to lose a once massive lead. Maybe the length of time he's been leading has become a factor."
Webber nods at the suggestion that Button would be haunted forever if he lost this championship. "Of course. It would be very unusual. But it's still hard to believe Jenson won't get some podiums before the year is out. If he does that then it's obviously going to be very difficult to beat him."
Such candour is typical of Webber � one of the warmest and most unaffected professional sportsmen you are ever likely to meet. His rounded personality has also helped him deal with the variable moods of his team-mate, the gifted but prickly young Vettel. Their relationship did not begin well when, in 2007, while Vettel was driving for Toro Rosso, the German shunted Webber off the track during the Japanese Grand Prix. Webber was furious because, despite having vomited inside his helmet earlier in the race, he had swept into second place behind Hamilton.
"It's kids," he ranted afterwards, venting frustration at Vettel's inexperience. "They fuck it all up."
The 33-year-old Webber, in the warm sunshine of his French retreat, grins wryly. "I was massively disappointed in him and he was petrified. But we eventually had a chat about it and he's grown up a lot since then."
Vettel still sulked a few months ago when Webber outdrove him in Turkey to finish second behind Button. "He was pissed off but since then he's learnt to deal with someone who can do a better, or similar, job to him. That's a credit to him � but we're both competitive beasts and we've had some tough meetings.
"Red Bull have done a phenomenal job backing us both but it does create some stress. Imagine how it is for the engineers as well. My engineers are for me. His engineers are for him. And in the middle we've got the mechanics doing all the pit stops. My gearbox guy does Sebastian's fuelling so we have to stay sensible and not do anything that would hurt the team."
At Spa, a mistake from one of Webber's team forced him to incur a time penalty after an "unsafe release" from the pit lane. "That drive-through really cost us," he says with a sigh. "I drove really well and we were on course for quite a few points. But with the field being so tight now you can't easily recover a 15-second penalty. But as long as they don't make the same mistake twice, and it's not intentional, I can live with it. Of course I don't want any of these other three guys to become world champion ahead of me but if it does happen then I'm not going to make a shopping list of excuses. Excuses get you nowhere."
That blunt determination helped Webber after his leg fracture last November, which was so bad it drew comparison with the injury that nearly ended the Arsenal player Eduardo's career in football. "The bone in my leg was not jutting out as far as Eduardo's but they were similar fractures," he admits. "If I had been a footballer I would still not be playing now. I would have been out at least a year."
Webber's rise this season seems even more remarkable � for that accident happened just 11 weeks before he returned to pre-season testing. "Naivety is a great thing because you really don't know what you're taking on," Webber says. "I just knew this was a bloody important season, with Vettel coming and the car looking competitive, and so I forced myself back. The leg was nowhere near healed but I had to put on a front. It was exhausting and, at night, once I closed that hotel door, it was really tough. The surgeons had taken out one of the screws, to stimulate the fractured side, and I couldn't walk properly. I probably should have been on crutches getting to and from the car. But that would've been a disaster. The messaging is all wrong."
Yet, for a sport that shuttles between beleaguered controversy and bloodless politicking, there could hardly be a better message than a driver as amiable and intelligent as Webber racing for the championship. His unlikely tilt at the title is one of the sporting stories of the year, and it would become unforgettable should he remain in contention for the rest of this strange but compelling season.
"I'm trying, mate," Webber says, laughing softly. "I'm trying real hard."

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

The most dangerous man in F1 ?

Readers of some British newspapers might be under the impression that an accident waiting to happen has been unleashed on Formula One.
�F1�s most dangerous man?� asked the Daily Mail, over a picture of Jaime Alguersuari, a 19-year-old Spaniard with a piercing gaze and next to no experience at the wheel of a grand prix car.
�Drivers warn new boy could be dangerous on track,� said the Guardian
Alguersuari will become Formula One�s youngest ever, and probably the least experienced, race driver when he debuts for Toro Rosso in Hungary on Sunday, and some are concerned about the safety implications.
Championship leader Jenson Button, who made his debut with similar fanfare as a 20-year-old fresh from Formula Three in 2000, could relate to what he must be feeling.
�There was a lot of pressure when I started because I was one of the new age young drivers and it was a real surprise for me exiting the pits behind Michael Schumacher, a guy I had watched on television for many years and really looked up to,� he recalled.
�It was a little bit surprising. It wasn�t driving the car, it was all the technical side of it and the engineering side.
�A Formula Three car is very simple in the way it works, it�s very different to a Formula One car. There�s a lot more to take in and a lot more to work with.�
It will be a baptism of fire but what if the teenager confounds his critics? Could he in fact turn out to be the next Fernando Alonso?
Reading his resume, it has to be said that he looks far from a liability. There have been plenty of drivers over the years with far more questionable talents (but plenty of money).
Alguersuari is the youngest champion ever in British Formula Three � the series that served as a springboard for Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen among other greats.
There have of course been a good many other F3 champions who never made the grade, but Alguersuari is not exactly wet behind the ears.
He started in go-karts at the age of eight and has been racing cars since he was 15. In 118 races, he has won 17 times with 36 podiums. His team appear convinced that he has what it takes.
Most dangerous man or champion of the future? Time will tell. Let�s hope he gets plenty of it.

Alan Baldwin

Sebastien Bourdais to leave Red Bull

Toro Rosso will confirm tomorrow that the Frenchman S�bastien Bourdais has left the team, with Jaime Alguersuari poised to become the youngest driver in Formula One history.
Since entering into Formula One after winning four successive ChampCar titles in the United States from 2004-2007, Bourdais has struggled, winning just six points from the 27 grands prix in which he competed.
Bourdais was overshadowed last year by Sebastian Vettel, who provided a largely uncompetitive team with victory in last season's Italian grand prix. This season Bourdais again found himself second best to the Swiss rookie S�bastien Buemi, who out-qualified his more experienced team-mate in seven of the season's nine races thus far.
In his last race for Toro Rosso, Bourdais was forced to retire from the German grand prix at the N�rburgring yesterday with a hydraulic failure. Although the Toro Rosso team principal, Franz Tost, refused to confirm Bourdais's departure after the race, the reserve and test driver Alguersuari is expected to replace him for the rest of the season.
Alguersuari is the British Formula Three champion and another product of the Red Bull young driver development programme. The Spaniard will take his place in the record books at the Hungarian grand prix in a fortnight by becoming the sport's youngest driver at the age of 19 years and 126 days, which would beat the New Zealander Mike Thackwell's record by 57 days set in the 1980 Canadian grand prix.

Ferrari's Tantrum....

Ferrari threaten to pull out of F1 unless their demands are met

Ferrari on Tuesday threatened to pull out of next season's Formula One championship unless the International Automobile Federation (FIA) backs down on proposals for controversial rules changes.
Following a meeting of Ferrari's Board of Directors, organised by president Luca di Montezemolo at the team's base in Maranello, the team said it would not continue in F1 unless the FIA reverses a decision to set a budget cap of 40 million pounds (44.8 million euros) on teams' spending next season.
"The Board of Directors examined developments related to recent decisions taken by the FIA during an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council on 29 April 2009," a Ferrari statement in English said.
"Although this meeting was originally called only to examine a disciplinary matter, the decisions taken mean that, for the first time ever in Formula One, the 2010 season will see the introduction of two different sets of regulations based on arbitrary technical rules and economic parameters.
"The Board considers that if this is the regulatory framework for Formula One in the future, then the reasons underlying Ferrari's uninterrupted participation in the World Championship over the last 60 years -- the only constructor to have taken part ever since its inception in 1950 -- would come to a close.

"The Board also expressed its disappointment about the methods adopted by the FIA in taking decisions of such a serious nature and its refusal to effectively reach an understanding with constructors and teams.
"The rules of governance that have contributed to the development of Formula One over the last 25 years have been disregarded, as have the binding contractual obligations between Ferrari and the FIA itself regarding the stability of the regulations.
"The same rules for all teams, stability of regulations, the continuity of the FOTA (Formula One Teams Association) endeavours to methodically and progressively reduce costs, and governance of Formula One are the priorities for the future.
"If these indispensable principles are not respected and if the regulations adopted for 2010 will not change, then Ferrari does not intend to enter its cars in the next Formula One World Championship.
"Ferrari trusts that its many fans worldwide will understand that this difficult decision is coherent with the Scuderia's approach to motor sport and to Formula One in particular, always seeking to promote its sporting and technical values.
"The Chairman of the Board of Directors was mandated to evaluate the most suitable ways and methods to protect the company's interests."
Earlier this month Max Mosley, the FIA chief, suggested F1 could without Ferrari, the sport's most famous, successful, and longest-tenured team.

And F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone said prior to Tuesday's statement he believed Ferrari would not quit F1, telling the Times: "Ferrari are not stupid. They don't want to leave Formula 1 and we don't want to lose them, so we'll get to grips with it."
However on the controversial budget issue Ferrari are not alone.
Red Bull gave a similar ultimatum a couple of days earlier, and Toyota have also voiced opposition.
"If the proposed rules for 2010 stay unchanged, we will not take part in the 2010 championship," Dietrich Mateschitz, the owner of the drinks company which backs the team, told the Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper.
"Teams of manufacturers will no longer take part. Of the teams now, only two or three will remain," added the Red Bull chief who also runs sister team Toro Rosso.
Under the proposed voluntary budget cap, those teams who spend below the figure will be able to take advantage of various technical benefits which are currently banned under current specifications.

On Saturday, Japanese team Toyota said they too would consider their future in the sport with many teams unhappy with the two-tier budget cap system in 2010.
"Under the rules as they are published, we cannot submit an entry," Toyota president John Howett said earlier.

On Thursday, Williams technical chief Patrick Head had expressed his fears over the risk of a "two-tier championship".

Sebastien Vettel Grabs Pole Position in Shanghai

Sebastian Vettel (born July 3, 1987 in Heppenheim) is a German race car driver. He drives for Red Bull Racing having replaced former driver David Coulthard.
By taking part in Friday practice for the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest Formula One driver to drive at a Grand Prix meeting, at 19 years and 53 days. On Sunday September 30, 2007, during the Japanese Grand Prix Vettel became the youngest driver to lead a Formula One race. (Mike Thackwell remains the youngest driver to compete in a championship Grand Prix race; Nico Rosberg the youngest to drive an F1 car in private testing) He also became the quickest driver to get a fine in F1, being fined $1,000 nine seconds into his career, after speeding in the pitlane. He went on to become the sixth youngest driver to start a Grand Prix and the youngest driver to score points in a Grand Prix. During qualifying for the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest Formula One driver to win pole position. He went on to win the race, making him the youngest F1 race winner by nearly a year.

Junior Series

Vettel demonstrating his Formula Three Euroseries car in 2006
Vettel started racing karts in 1995, winning various titles such as the Junior Monaco Kart Cup (2001). In 2003, he upgraded to open-wheel cars, and won the 2004 German Formula BMW Championship with 18 victories from 20 races. In 2005 he drove for ASL Mucke Motorsport in the Formula Three Euroseries. He was placed fifth in the final standings with 64 points, winning the year's top rookie honours. He did not win any races, but this was largely due to the championship's domination by Lewis Hamilton. Despite, this, he tested the Williams FW27 Formula One car on September 27 as a reward for this Formula BMW success. He then went on to test for the BMW Sauber team.
Vettel finished as runner-up in the 2006 F3 Euroseries, behind series leader Paul di Resta. He also made his debut in the World Series by Renault at Misano, winning after Pastor Maldonado was disqualified. However, at the next round at Spa-Francorchamps, his finger was almost sliced off by flying d�bris in an accident, and he was expected to be out of racing for several weeks.

However, he managed to compete in the Ultimate Masters of F3 at Zandvoort the following weekend, finishing in sixth place. He also set third fastest lap time, and it surprised his ASM team boss Fr�d�ric Vasseur. Vasseur said: "I was impressed for sure, because at the beginning of the week I was sure he wouldn't race! But he showed good pace from the first practice session. I can't imagine he's 100 per cent but at least we know we can be competitive in the next F3 Euroseries round at the N�rburgring next weekend - that's important."

Vettel became BMW Sauber's third driver at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, when former incumbent Robert Kubica was called up to replace Jacques Villeneuve for the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Vettel impressed on his testing debut by setting fastest time in second Friday Free Practice before the race.The young German also impressed on his second testing session in the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, setting the fastest time in both Friday practice sessions, a race weekend in which all the BMW cars were quick, with his predecessor Robert Kubica finishing on the podium in the race.
He was confirmed as BMW's test driver for 2007, and also competed in the World Series by Renault Championship, where he had his first win at the N�rburgring. He was leading the championship when he was called up to F1 permanently, and his seat was taken by Michael Ammerm�ller.

Formula One

Vettel made his Formula One debut at the 2007 United States Grand Prix, driving for BMW Sauber.

2007: BMW Sauber
Following the serious crash of regular BMW driver Robert Kubica at the Canadian Grand Prix, Vettel substituted for him at the US Grand Prix and started in seventh position on the grid, finishing in eighth position, thanks to Nico Rosberg's late retirement, to take his first F1 World Championship point and became the youngest driver ever to score a point in Formula One (at the age of 19 years and 349 days), a record previously held by Jenson Button � who was 20 years and 67 days old when he finished sixth at the 2000 Brazilian Grand Prix.

2007-2008: Toro Rosso

2007
On July 31, 2007, BMW released Vettel to join Red Bull's Scuderia Toro Rosso team, replacing Scott Speed as race driver as of the Hungarian Grand Prix. He earned approximately $165,000 for finishing the season with Toro Rosso. Before the race, it was also announced that Vettel would drive for STR in 2008. His team-mate would be S�bastien Bourdais.

Vettel struggled to keep up with Liuzzi's pace at Budapest, Istanbul, Monza and Spa, and never managed to progress amongst the lower-midfield pack (Toyota, Honda, Toro Rosso, Super Aguri). In the rain-hit Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji, Vettel worked his way up to third behind Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber, and seemed to be on course for not only his but also Toro Rosso's maiden podium finish. However, Vettel crashed into Webber under safety car conditions taking them both out of the race and prompting Webber to say to ITV reporter Louise Goodman �It�s kids isn�t it... kids with not enough experience � they do a good job and then they fuck it all up.� Vettel was caught on camera crying after the incident. He was initially punished with a ten-place grid penalty for the following race, but this was lifted after a spectator video on YouTube showed the incident may have been caused by Hamilton's behaviour behind the safety car, which Hamilton was also cleared of.

However, Vettel bounced back to finish a career-best fourth a week later at the Chinese GP having started 17th in mixed conditions. He collected five championship points, making it both his and Toro Rosso's best race result.

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz believes Vettel will be one of Formula One's big stars in the future. "Vettel is one of the young guys with extraordinary potential ! He is fast, intelligent, and he is very interested in the technical side."

According to some sources, at the end of the 2007 season Vettel was contacted by McLaren in order to replace Spanish two-time world champion Fernando Alonso who left the British team for Renault in the same period. The talks between McLaren chief Ron Dennis and Dietrich Mateschitz failed however, the Red Bull boss refusing a multi million Euro deal for the young German driver.

2008
After four races of the 2008 Formula One season Vettel was the only driver to have failed to finish a single race, having retired on the first lap in three of them. In each of these three instances, he was involved in accidents caused by other drivers. However, at the fifth round at the Turkish Grand Prix, he finally saw the chequered flag, finishing 17th after qualifying 14th. In the next race at the Monaco Grand Prix, Vettel scored his first points of the 2008 Season with a fifth place finish, mainly due to the changing conditions. Vettel also benefitted from the downfall of other drivers, such as Adrian Sutil and Heikki Kovalainen. Vettel scored again at the Canadian Grand Prix after starting from the pit lane and having to fight off Heikki Kovalainen in the last few laps for the final championship point. Vettel finished 12th in the French Grand Prix after passing Hamilton at the start. Vettel retired on the first lap of the British Grand Prix after being clipped by David Coulthard and aquaplaning into the gravel trap along with the Red Bull driver. He then bounced back from this by finishing eighth at the German Grand Prix by fending off Fernando Alonso and securing the last championship point after Jarno Trulli went off the track. Vettel then became the first retirement of the Hungarian Grand Prix after his engine overheated during his first pit stop. Vettel impressed many at the European Grand Prix by setting the fastest time in the first practice session and fastest time in the second qualifying session, which was also the fastest overall time in qualifying. He qualified 6th on the grid, and finished 6th, 2 seconds behind Jarno Trulli.
At the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest driver in history to win a Formula One Grand Prix. Aged 21 years and 74 days, Vettel broke the record set by Alonso at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix by 317 days as he won in wet conditions at Monza. Vettel led for the majority of the Grand Prix and crossed the finish line 12.5 seconds ahead of McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen.

Earlier in the weekend, he had already become the youngest polesitter, after setting the fastest times in both Q2 and Q3 qualifying stages, and his win also gave him the record of youngest podium-finisher. Toro Rosso team boss Gerhard Berger said, "As he proved today, he can win races, but he's going to win world championships. He's a cool guy". Hamilton praised the German, stating that this victory showed "how good he is".

Alonso, whom Vettel displaced as the youngest Grand Prix winner, said the victory was "deserved" by the whole of the Toro Rosso team. The nature of the victory and the story of the 21 year old's fledgling career led the German media to dub him "baby Schumi", although Vettel was quick to downplay the expectation the result has brought, particularly the comparison with the seven-time World Champion: "To compare me with Michael Schumacher is just a bit ridiculous...It will be difficult in normal conditions for us to repeat this achievement". He then went on to finish fourth at the Singapore Grand Prix and fifth at the Japanese Grand Prix.
In the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, after running second for much of the race, Vettel overtook Lewis Hamilton in the rain for fifth place on the penultimate lap to contribute to a thrilling climax to the season. He nearly deprived the McLaren driver of the championship before Timo Glock slowed dramatically on the last lap (he was struggling with dry tyres in the ever increasing rain) enabling both Vettel and Hamilton to pass him, earning the Briton the title.

2009 onwards: Red Bull Racing

2009
At the start of the 2009 season, Vettel replaced David Coulthard at Red Bull Racing.
Vettel began strongly at the Australian Grand Prix, qualifying third and running in second for the majority of the race. However, a clash with Robert Kubica over second place on the third last lap of the race forced both to retire. He thought that he would be asble to do this because the yellow flag resulting from his incident forbids overtaking. Vettel attempted to finish the race on three wheels behind the safety car to salvage some points, but eventually pulled off to the side. He was given a ten-place grid penalty for the next race, the Malaysian Grand Prix, and his team was fined for instructing him to stay on track after the damage occurred. In Malaysia he qualified in third position, but was demoted down to 13th due to his ten-place grid drop. He spun out of the race while eighth, just before the race was stopped due to adverse weather conditions. However in China he went on to take pole position, the first pole for the Red Bull Racing team.

Race of Champions
Vettel competed in the 2007 Race of Champions, representing the German team alongside Michael Schumacher. Vettel and Schumacher won the Nation's Cup Title, after exciting finals. Vettel had to beat two RoC champions, Kovalainen and Marcus Gr�nholm, after Schumacher stalled his car. Vettel lost the individual competition however, in first heat, in his second battle against Kovalainen.

Helmet design

The Bergstra�e Coat of Arms that appears on the chin area of Vettel's helmet
Vettel's helmet, like most of Red Bull's drivers, is heavily influenced by the energy drink company logo. Apart from minor changes and sponsorship differences, it has rarely changed over the years since he has been backed by Red Bull.

French F1 Drivers, Sebastien Bourdais

S�bastien Bourdais

S�bastien Bourdais was born February 28, 1979 in Le Mans and is a current Formula One race car driver. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of the Champ Car World Series having won four successive championships from 2004 to 2007.

In Paris August 2008...

Born into a racing family (his father Patrick races in touring cars, hill climbs, and sports cars), Bourdais began his racing career at age 10 in karts. During the early 1990s, he competed in a variety of karting championships, winning the Maine Bretagne League in 1991 and the Cadet France championship in 1993. Bourdais was part of the winning Sologne Karting team which won the 1996 24 hour Le Mans kart race at the Circuit Alain Prost on a Merlin chassis with Atomic motors.

Bourdais progressed to single-seater racing in 1995, finishing 9th in the Formula Campus Championship. He then spent two years in the French Formula Renault Championship, ultimately finishing second in points in 1997 after winning four races and five pole positions. In 1998, he won five races to become Rookie of the Year (6th overall) in French Formula 3. He won the series outright in 1999, with eight wins and three poles.

Following his success in the lower formulae, Bourdais joined the Prost Junior Team in the International F3000 Championship. He finished ninth in the series with one pole and a best finish of second. In 2001, Bourdais moved to the DAMS team in Formula 3000 and took his first win in the series at Silverstone. He changed teams again for 2002, taking his Super Nova Racing car to three victories and seven pole positions. He beat Giorgio Pantano to the championship by two points after Tom� Enge, who had scored the most points, was penalised for failing a drug test

Champ Days...

Bourdais won his second Champ Car title in 2005.
Following in the footsteps of recent F3000 graduates such as Juan Pablo Montoya and Bruno Junqueira, Bourdais moved to Champ Car racing in the United States and joined Newman-Haas Racing for the 2003 CART World Series season. At St. Petersburg, FL, Bourdais became the first rookie since Nigel Mansell to claim pole position for his very first race. However, he did not finish higher than 11th until his fourth race, when he led 95 laps en route to his first Champ Car victory at Brands Hatch.
He followed this up with another victory at Lausitzring. By the end of the season, he had earned five more podium finishes, including a win from pole at Cleveland. With a runner-up finish in Mexico City, he clinched the Rookie of the Year title and finished 4th in the overall standings.
Staying with Newman-Haas for 2004, Bourdais dominated the Champ Car series with seven wins and eight poles in his McDonald's-sponsored Lola, beating his team mate Junqueira by 28 points. His record also included podium finishes in 10 out of 14 events and qualifying results no lower than third all season.

Bourdais successfully defended his Champ Car title in 2005 with five wins in six races towards the end of the season, again with the Newman-Haas/Lanigan team. That May, he also finished 12th in his first Indianapolis 500.
Bourdais won a third consecutive Champ Car title in 2006. His season began with four consecutive victories at Long Beach, Houston, Monterrey, and Milwaukee, although his winning streak was ended by the emergence of A. J. Allmendinger, who won three races in a row through the middle of the season. Bourdais responded with a commanding victory from pole at San Jose, leaving him leading the Champ Car points standings.
However, an incident with his arch-rival Paul Tracy that knocked him out on the final lap of the following race in Denver, and a subsequent win by Allmendinger narrowed the gap between the two. Bourdais's win in Montreal and Allmendinger's DNF had widened his points lead to 62 points with three races left, and Bourdais clinched the championship at the next race in Surfers Paradise despite a weak performance in that race. Bourdais became the first Champ Car driver to win three consecutive titles since Ted Horn achieved the hat trick in 1948.
Bourdais won a fourth consecutive Champ Car title in 2007 with victory at Lexmark Indy 300 on October 21.

In 2002, Bourdais got his first F1 test with the Arrows team and was signed on to drive for the team but the team were on the verge of bankruptcy. In December he tested for Renault at Jerez but fellow Frenchman Franck Montagny secured the test drive instead of Bourdais- rumours suggested that Bourdais did not wish to sign a management deal with Renault boss Flavio Briatore in addition to a Renault contract.

Bourdais returned to F1 in 2007 after being given several tests with Scuderia Toro Rosso. On August 10, 2007 it was announced that Bourdais would race for Toro Rosso in 2008, replacing Vitantonio Liuzzi and partnering Sebastian Vettel. On March 16 2008, Bourdais competed in his first Formula One Championship race, the 2008 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. After qualifying in 17th position he took advantage of mistakes made by other drivers, in the first Formula One race since 2001 without traction control, and worked his way up to fourth. However, with three laps remaining an engine problem forced Bourdais to retire, but he was still classfied 8th having completed more than 90% of the race distance. He later inherited seventh place (and two Championship points) after the disqualification of Rubens Barrichello.
Bourdais qualified ninth for the Belgian Grand Prix. During the race he quickly gained places and held on to fifth place for much of the distance, and was on course for a podium position, but following a chaotic last lap finished in seventh position. After the race an emotional Bourdais was in tears following the result. This marked his best weekend of the season and his first World Championship points since Melbourne.

Malaysia GP '08 on board

Bourdais qualified in fourth place for the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. However, his car would not select first gear on the grid and had to start from the pit lane, a lap down (as the race started behind the safety car, there was no warm-up lap). Although he eventually finished a lap behind the race winner, team-mate Vettel, he set the second fastest lap of the race; only Ferrari's Kimi R�ikk�nen went faster. At the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix he was 6th on the road, but received a 25-second penalty for causing an avoidable accident with Felipe Massa dropping him to 10th. Few agreed with the decision - ITV's Martin Brundle had stated during live TV coverage of the race that he felt Massa may receive a penalty, whilst his colleague James Allen states that 99% of experts he spoke to felt that Bourdais did not deserve a penalty.

24 Hours of Le Mans
Bourdais has frequently contested the famous 24 hour race of his home town, entering for the first time in 1999 (aged only 20) in a Porsche 911 GT2 run by Larbre Competition. The car, which he shared with Pierre de Thoisy and Jean-Pierre Jarier, retired after 134 laps with engine failure.
He returned in 2000, finishing fourth with Emmanuel Clerico and Olivier Grouillard for the Pescarolo team behind the three dominant Audis.
His next three appearances did not go so well. He shared a Courage C60 with Jean-Christop Boullion and Laurent Redon in 2001 but it retired after 271 laps. He drove the same model the next year and finished ninth in the LMP900 class with Bouillon and Franck Lagorce. He missed the 2003 race and returned in 2004, only for the car he shared with Nicolas Minassian and Emmanuel Collard to retire after 282 laps.
Bourdais' next assault on Le Mans would come at the wheel of a factory-backed Peugeot 908 in 2007. The car he shared with Stephane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy finished the race second behind the winning Audi R10 TDi, despite an embarrassing slide on the first lap in wet conditions that cost Bourdais a place to one of the Audis, and car problems forcing him to park the car for the last minutes of the race, waiting for the lead R10 to cross the line.

While racing in the junior formulae and Champ Cars, Bourdais made several appearances in other championships. He won the Spa 24 Hours in 2002 with Christophe Bouchut, David Terrien and Vincent Vosse in a Larbre Comp�tition Chrysler Viper GTS-R. He also won his class at the 2006 12 Hours of Sebring in a Panoz Esperante. In 2005 he also competed in the International Race of Champions, winning his first stock car race at Texas Motor Speedway.

David Coulthard Column

Singapore brought a welcome upturn in David Coulthard�s fortunes as the Red Bull driver scored his second points finish of the season � although an uncharacteristic pit miscue by the team limited his haul to two points rather than a potential five.

But after getting some stick from his fellow itv.com/f1 columnist Ted Kravitz, DC felt compelled to respond in his latest column as well as offering his assessment of the inaugural Singapore event.

It was gratifying to come away from Singapore with my first points finish since my podium in Montreal and to get some reward from one of the most demanding races of the season.
At the same time, there was inevitably a feeling of �what might have been� because I was set for fourth place rather than seventh until the mix-up at my final pit stop.
I was happy with my personal performance and felt I drove one of my best races of the year.
However my fellow itv.com/f1 columnist Ted Kravitz � who I think I may have met in the Formula 1 paddock at some point, although I�d have to check � has thrown down the gauntlet by suggesting that my performance was �mediocre� and that I�m now in retirement mode.

Having now had the opportunity to read Ted�s column, I�m afraid there are several inaccuracies that I need to correct to give a true picture of how my race unfolded.
First off, he criticises my slow in-lap before my second pit stop and asks why I was unable to overtake Fernando Alonso, who had just emerged from the pits.
Well, Lewis Hamilton � in one of the fastest cars out there � couldn�t pass me for more than 20 laps, so why would I be able to pass Alonso, who went on to win the grand prix?
If Lewis is as good as we all think he is, why did he spend more than 20 laps behind me?
Could he not have overtaken a driver in the twilight of his career if it was as easy as Ted imagines? How many people have you, Ted Kravitz, overtaken?
The true explanation is that Fernando came out right in front of me at the apex of turn one and, tanked up and on tyres that were not yet up to optimum temperature and pressure, inevitably held me up through the next two corners of the sequence.
That was what enabled Hamilton to finally get a run on me through turn five and down the back straight.
I lost further time as he passed me because I made him work for the place and was therefore off-line through turn seven.
The net effect of those two facts � being caught behind Fernando in the first three corners and losing time fighting for position with Lewis � was that I had a slow in-lap.
But when you�ve got a car holding you up through three interlinked corners, there�s nothing you can do; Hamilton capitalised on my being delayed to make a pass that he�d been unable to pull off throughout the previous stint.
Whatever anyone thinks of my performance this year, I look back at that period of my race as a very strong, consistent piece of defensive racecraft.

Ted asks how I managed to finish behind Nico Rosberg (who had to serve a penalty) and several other drivers who I had been ahead of after the first safety car period.
Again, this strikes me as a pretty superficial analysis.
The reason I (along with everyone else except the race winner) finished behind Rosberg was that Nico got lucky with the delay in applying his penalty and had the benefit of nine laps in clear air in which to build a huge lead, so he emerged from his stop still in front of me and Lewis.
And the reason I slipped from fourth to seventh place was the glitch at my last stop, when I was released before the refuelling was complete.
I played this down in my post-race interviews because I didn�t feel it was fair to criticise the Red Bull pit crew, who have been among the fastest and slickest out there this year.
But the fact is, they made a mistake. I�ve made my share this year too and mistakes happen.
But what it did mean was that I rejoined the racetrack behind Timo Glock, Sebastian Vettel and Nick Heidfeld rather than in front of them, and the die was cast for the rest of the race.
Ted then points out that I fell away in the final stint and that I only set the 13th fastest lap.
I was on a used set of option tyres (the slower compound in Singapore) and it�s true that I lost ground to the front-runners, which is not surprising given the fundamentally superior pace of their cars.
But Kazuki Nakajima dropped away from me in the last stint even though he had been quicker than me earlier in the race and Williams were considerably faster than us all weekend in Singapore.
Also, my underlying pace was closer to our sister team Toro Rosso than it has been in recent grands prix.
I set a faster race lap than Sebastien Bourdais and I was three-tenths slower than Vettel, when we know that the underlying pace difference between the two cars is closer to half a second at the moment.
So when Ted says I �could only manage� the 13th fastest lap I don�t know what his basis for comparison is.
I have no problem receiving criticism for errors or what might appear like average performances, but to cite Singapore as an example of that simply doesn�t stand up in my opinion.


What I think this highlights is the difficulty that people who are not ex-drivers have in explaining some of the nuances of Formula 1 to the viewing public.
The public relies on so-called expert opinions, but very often the opinion-formers are people who don�t have any direct experience of what they are talking about.
As I explained in my autobiography, a big source of disappointment in my racing career has been the manner in which the media wield a lot of influence without necessarily either speaking from a position of knowledge or being held to account.
I can give an opinion on Peter Mandelson being brought back to the cabinet, but I don�t know enough about politics so someone will tear it apart because it�s not a credible opinion.
Equally, would you want a doctor who has never performed brain surgery giving an opinion on how to go about the procedure and whether the neurosurgeon who carried out the procedure did a good job?
I appreciate it�s not realistic to expect all F1 journalists to be ex-F1 drivers, but I do feel a bit more humility would be in order when offering opinions that are not based on facts.
Ted can surmise that because I�m in my last season and I�m about to be a father then I must have lifted off the throttle.
No one is in a position to know that other than me � and as I�ve said many times, if I ever felt that I no longer had the commitment to drive the car I wouldn�t still be doing it.
I certainly wouldn�t have committed to a contract for next year that will see me carrying out one of the more dangerous aspects of Formula 1, which is testing and development of the car.
The reality is that I still enjoy the technical aspects of F1 and I still love driving the cars, but I recognise that my competitive racing days are coming to an end.
I�m not in denial of that fact, so to suggest that my time is up � when I�ve already acknowledged that�s the case, after a long and in my opinion mildly successful career � is hardly an earth-shattering revelation.
I�m entirely comfortable being in the category of has-been because the other options are to be a wannabe or a never-has-been.

Night Fever

The Singapore event was a great success in several different ways: as Formula 1�s first ever night race; as a new street circuit that, bumps aside, the drivers really enjoyed; and as a well organised and presented event with a big crowd on hand.
Racing under floodlights didn�t pose any great problems; in fact, given Singapore�s draining heat and humidity, and the physical nature of the track, it made perfect sense to run the race at night.
The rough surface, on the other hand, was a significant issue.
Unfortunately the bumpiest part of the track was from turn five to turn seven, which was also the best overtaking opportunity.
The circuit was crested as you went through the kink at turn six and extremely bumpy in seven, and it meant that having a go was very risky.
We saw some severe lock-ups in turn seven on a couple of occasions because the cars were literally jumping off the ground at that point.
I�m sure that�s something that will be rectified for next year and we will see significantly better racing as a result.
You can always judge the physical difficulty of a grand prix by how long the drivers hang around in the weigh-in garage, and a lot of people waited in there for several minutes before walking out to speak to the media.
I was pretty dehydrated after the race because I had driven all 61 laps without a supply of fluid, having discovered just before the start that my new helmet hadn�t had a drinks system fitted!
One aspect of the weekend that was very strange was the fact that the drivers and teams were all staying on European time zones while life in Singapore carried on as normal.
It was bizarre to have us drivers hanging around the hotel lobby at 3am wondering what to do because everyone else � locals, fans, corporate sponsors � was tucked up in bed and the town was in lockdown.
We were holding drivers� briefings at one o�clock in the morning and going for something to eat at two or three o�clock.
We found one open-all-hours restaurant in the Conrad hotel called Oscar�s, but the rest of the time we survived on room service.
All in all, everyone seemed to enjoy the weekend, there was a big turnout of Paddock Club and corporate guests and it was an exciting spectacle for fans and TV viewers.
I think street circuits and night races have a niche role to play on the Formula 1 calendar, but I wouldn�t want to see too many of them because then some of the novelty and extra anticipation would be lost.

David Coulthard was speaking to Alex Sabine http://www.itv-f1.com/

Redbull's Singapore Virtual Lap

A race weekend with� Sebastien Bourdais

Finishing a lap down in 17th place may not be the dream ending to your first home Grand Prix, but having enjoyed so many successes at Magny-Cours in the past, Toro Rosso�s Sebastien Bourdais retains his affection for the French circuit.It was there that we caught up with the Le Mans-born driver to discover his likes and dislikes about the typical race weekend - and to find out how the Champ Car legend is adapting to the routine of life, Formula One style�

Q: We were in Magny-Cours this weekend, what do you associate with this circuit?

Sebastien Bourdais: I have a lot of memories, obviously, because I raced here for the first time in 1995 when I was starting karts. When I count it comes to about 20 races that I did here - and it was here that I had my first major success, winning my first championship in Formula Three. It�s somewhat of a proud feeling to finally come back driving a Formula One car at my home Grand Prix, even if my race was far from being memorable. But honestly, for me it meant more to get to Monaco. There I really had the feeling that I had arrived in Formula One - it was like, �Gee, here I am in Monaco��

Q: You don�t take to the track until Friday morning at races, but when do you like to fly in?

SB: If it�s not too far - and basically this goes for the European races - I like to fly in on Thursday morning. If that�s not possible, I usually arrive Wednesday evening.

Q: Do you make an effort to discover your surroundings at a race, or do you stick to the airport-hotel-track-airport itinerary?

SB: That greatly depends on the place. At the places we had never been before I took my wife and we flew in a day earlier, like in Istanbul where we visited some of the attractions. So when the schedule allows it, yes, I do play the tourist.

Q: What�s your exercise regime over a race weekend? Does it vary according to the race location, demands of the circuit etc?

SB: Well, we do not really have time for intense work-outs over a race weekend. When the schedule permits I do two short runs - half an hour or so - and a bit stretching, but not the big programme. That is done in the time between the races and naturally in the off-season in winter.

Q: What�s your preferred accommodation at races - city hotel, hotel near the circuit, your own motorhome near the paddock?

SB: I don�t have the luxury of a motorhome anymore which I used to in the States. That was truly convenient. As far as a hotel goes, the closer the better!

Q: Anything you have to have provided in your hotel room, or any luxuries you always bring with you from home?

SB: I�ve got my laptop on which I work and my iPod for my kind of music, and some other small electronic gadgets. But no pillows or anything like that.

Q: Do you enjoy entertaining friends and family during a race weekend?

SB: I don�t really have time for that. When I am at the track it is work. I usually arrive very early and leave quite late. Very rarely do you see me leaving the track before 9pm.

Q: Do you get the chance to go out and socialize on Friday and Saturday night?

SB: On Thursday a bit, when the media schedule allows it, but never Friday or Saturday!

Q: Any drivers you particularly like hanging out with?

SB: I have a very good relationship with my team mate (Sebastian Vettel). We have been travelling quite a bit together. I am sure I could have quite good relationships with others but the schedule doesn�t allow much of anything. We see each other at the GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers� Association) meetings, the drivers� briefing and the drivers� parade. Unfortunately I am no poker player, so I am not part of that �gang� - but that probably it saves me a lot of money!

Q: Your favourite race for nightlife?

SB: Wait till the end of the year then I can tell you. I don�t know all the races yet and so I would be making a premature judgment. The intermediate result would be Melbourne - but then I scored my first points there, so it was clear that a bit partying was on.

Q: What�s the best night out you�ve had at a Grand Prix? And have you ever overslept the next morning?

SB: For sure, Sunday night in Australia after I laid hands on those two points. But so far throughout my professional career in racing I have never overslept.

Q: What do you have for breakfast on a race Sunday?

SB: I eat what I feel like - I don�t have a �fixed menu�. It really depends on the country I am in. Many times I just go for the basics. The truth is I am not very picky with food.

Q: How much do you drink over a race weekend? And what?

SB: I would struggle to give you a figure, but for the most part it is water and energy drinks.

Q: How do you spend the morning on race Sunday?

SB: Mostly when we get up we do a 30-minute run, then have breakfast and go to the track. There PR work is waiting, then the drivers� parade and then I need some time for myself to get into the �racing mode�.

Q: How do you like to get to the circuit on Sunday morning? Do you drive yourself?SB: Well, it�s not McLaren here, so yes, I always drive myself to the track - in a rental car!

Q: How do you like to spend the hour or so before the race? Any superstitions or pre-race rituals you always go through to bring you luck?

SB: After I have ticked off the �necessities� - namely PR work and drivers� parade - I speak with my engineers, then I get ready, and then I go racing. No superstitions any more. I used to be very superstitious with underwear and all those things, but then you discover that you win with everything and lose with everything. It just makes you dependent on things and their availability. So I skipped that nonsense habit.

Q: What do you do to stay calm as you�re sat on the grid awaiting the formation lap?

SB: I just try to do everything to be ready.

Q: How do you wind down after the race?

SB: Depends. If it�s been a good day you debrief and you talk a lot about positive things. When it was a lousy day you just try to get away from the race track and don�t think about it any more.

Q: If things don�t go your way and you retire early, do you prefer to get away as soon as possible, or hang out and watch the rest of the race?

SB: I stay, I watch the race and I am available for the team.