Felipe Massa has not been punished following his incident in the pits with Adrian Sutil in today’s European Grand Prix. His Ferrari team has been fined ?óÔÇÜ?¼10,000 (£7,979) for releasing him into the path of Sutil’s car following his second pit stop on lap 37. It’s a baffling verdict by the FIA and one that … Continue reading Fine for Ferrari, Massa gets off free, and the FIA gets it wrong on every count
Felipe Massa is a hard man to beat from pole position and so it proved once again in the European Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton never managed to get on terms with the Ferrari driver but second place means he retains the lead in the drivers’ championship. But Massa is being investigated by the FIA stewards … Continue reading Felipe Massa scores flawless win at Valencia (2008 European GP review)
Ferrari sufferd two problems with their pit stops within six laps of each other during the European Grand Prix. First Felipe Massa was released from his pit box as Adrian Sutil was going past him, and he had to drive alongside the Force India towards the pit exit. The stewards said they would rule on … Continue reading Ferrari mechanic injured and Massa faces penalty threat after pit lane problems
The Campos team won the second race at Valencia as well and once again fortune smiled on them. Lucas di Grassi collected the win. The GP2 sprint race once again provided more talking points than the feature race after a controversial crash between two former team mates and another twist in the championship battle between … Continue reading Di Grassi lucks in to win as Pantano extends title lead (GP2)
Felipe Massa has the cards stacked in his favour: he’s starting from pole position at Valencia with the benefit of the clean side of the grid – now the organisers have swapped the grid around. But will the F1 pack get through the tricky first corners without a crash? What are their strategy options for … Continue reading Thoughts on qualifying and the start (2008 European Grand Prix)
So much for Mercedes giving McLaren a 25 horsepower advantage – the engine doing the business at Valencia this weekend is the Ferrari. Here’s who set the top four maximum speeds in the second sector of the lap at Valencia (where the highest speeds are reached) during qualifying today: Position Drivers Car Speed 1 Sebastian … Continue reading Ferrari engines fill top four places in speed traps in qualifying at Valencia
The GP2 feature race at the Circuito Urbano Valencia came to a surprising end as title rivals Giorgio Pantano and Bruno Senna both ran out of fuel on the final lap. Pantano had run away with the race from pole position and was poised to win when his car rolled to a halt on the … Continue reading Title rivals Pantano and Senna stop on final lap at Valencia (GP2)
Felipe Massa took pole position for the first ever European Grand Prix in Valencia. He will rejoin his battle with Lewis Hamilton from the Hungarian Grand Prix as the McLaren driver took second place on the grid. Robert Kubica will start from third place ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. But the star of the session was … Continue reading Felipe Massa pips Lewis Hamilton to pole (2008 European Grand Prix qualifying)
I’ve been surprised by some of the negative reactions to the new Valencia F1 track. Watching the practice sessions yesterday I found a lot to like about the circuit. The setting is a bit more industrial than we expected but the parts where the circuit passes alongside the harbous look good and there are some … Continue reading First impressions of Valencia’s F1 track
Here’s the Valencia European Grand Prix preview video. It’s slightly later than usual, but now backed by Red Bulletin so those of you who enjoy the cheeky style of Red Bull’s magazine might get a kick out of it. There’s a 3D preview of the all-new track, and a historical perspective courtesy of – who … Continue reading 2008 European GP preview (Video)
Yesterday I made a case for why I thought Robert Kubica would do well at the new Valencia street track. But there are plenty of convincing reasons his McLaren and Ferrari rivals could find the Valencia circuit suits them well. Here are my predictions for the top three in the European Grand Prix – share … Continue reading 2008 European GP predictions
Seeing the BMWs of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld at the sharp end of a Grand Prix isn’t really a surprise any more – not since their one-two finish at Montreal anyway. The team are yet to re-capture the high Kubica’s maiden win. But I think Kubica could be a dark horse for victory this … Continue reading Robert Kubica the best outside bet? (2008 European Grand Prix preview)
Next year will see the biggest change in the technical regulations for some time. It’s certainly the greatest since the grooved tyre/narrow track switch in 1998, and perhaps the largest overhaul of the rules since turbo engines were banned after 1988. In 2009 F1 wing sizes will be reduced, movable front wing flaps allowed, slick … Continue reading Will the 2009 F1 rules allow Honda to catch McLaren, Ferrari & the rest?
Here’s the second part of Journeyer’s video guide to the European Grand Prix. Read part one here. One reason that the European Grand Prix became a regular round of the championship can be summed up in two words: Michael Schumacher. His popularity was such that from 1995 Bernie Ecclestone decided to have 2 races in … Continue reading European GP history 1984-2007 (video)
A1 Grand Prix has taken further measures to help its less experienced and less capable teams narrow the gap to the front runners. In the 2008-2009 season it will make the telemetry available from the car that sets the fastest lap in practice and qualifying. But will it actually help the teams at the back … Continue reading A1 Grand Prix takes radical step to level playing field (A1GP)
McLaren weren’t quite on Ferrari’s pace early in the season but now they’ve won three races in a row. Part of their improvement is probably down to the improvements we discussed after the German Grand Prix. But new rumours suggest McLaren’s Mercedes engine produces 25 horsepower more than any other F1 car. I was a … Continue reading McLaren-Mercedes ‘have 25bhp more’
Last year I wrote an article suggesting ten things Bernie Ecclestone should do to improve F1. He probably doesn’t read this site (although Max Mosley does read F1 blogs) but I wondered how many of the problems he had tackled in that time. When I looked back at my original post I was surprised how … Continue reading Ten jobs for Ecclestone – one year on
F1 Fanatic guest writer Journeyer is back with a two-part series on the history of the European Grand Prix. The European Grand Prix is an oddity. It’s unique in that it doesn’t necessarily represent a single country, but a whole continent. Various versions of the name have been in use ever since the world championship … Continue reading European GP history 1950-1997 (video)
At the beginning of the month Ferrari claimed Bridgestone’s choice of harder tyres was disadvantaging them. Now Bridgestone has revealed its tyre choices for the final four races of the season and again it is bringing a harder set of tyres to one round – Interlagos, for the Brazilian Grand Prix. And now Renault as … Continue reading Renault join Ferrari’s call for softer tyres