Formula 1® Grand Prix special thread

[Bladerunner]

Lewis Hamilton and McLaren have been stripped of their podium finish and all points at the Australian Grand Prix.

The sport's world governing body, the FIA, said they were excluded "for providing evidence deliberately misleading to the stewards".
A post-race hearing promoted Hamilton from fourth to third after Jarno Trulli was penalised for passing Hamilton while the safety car was out.

Trulli and Toyota have been reinstated to third, and McLaren will not appeal.

Hamilton was summoned by stewards on Thursday, ahead of this weekend's Malaysian GP, to discuss what the FIA described as "a new element" of evidence.

An FIA spokesman said it "could not rule out at this stage" further action against McLaren.

Hamilton left the Sepang International Circuit without commenting on the decision.

Trulli was initially handed a 25-second penalty for the incident which saw him demoted to 12th.

"We are disappointed by what has happened but in the circumstances we are not going to appeal," said McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh.

He added: "There is no implication that Lewis lied to the stewards.

"As I understand there is a belief that the team was not explicit enough in the content of the radio communications to the stewards.

"What they believe is that the omission of the information about the radio communication between the team was withheld and that is misleading.

"I believe it was a harsh decision. Lewis made a legitimate pass and then was repassed - at the time the team asked race control several times about the repass but they were too busy to answer that question so we felt the decision in the immediate aftermath was fair.

"I think it's a regrettable day. It certainly wasn't a deliberate attempt (to mislead the stewards)."
However, McLaren have had little leeway in terms of receiving the benefit of the doubt from the FIA since the 2007 'spygate' row.

That saw the team stripped of their constructors' points and fined £50m after being caught in possession of sensitive Ferrari technical data.

In Melbourne on Sunday, the safety car came out after a late collision between Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica in his BMW Sauber.

Trulli slid off the track and was passed by Hamilton but the Toyota driver, who has welcomed the decision, said he had little choice but to overtake the Briton again.

"I am happy because I wanted some justice and I got it," said Trulli.

"I am happy for myself and the team and I have to thank the FIA because it does not happen very often they reconsider something.

"It must have been really hard for them, but they had common sense to really try and understand what was going on. I have always been honest and it has paid off.

"It was a controversial end of the race and it was hard for anyone to understand, but I never lied. I was honest in my statement and I never changed it."

BBC commentator and former F1 driver Martin Brundle said: "This does not look good for Hamilton or McLaren.

"Hamilton passed Trulli as he was off the road. Hamilton clearly wondered then, to give him the benefit of the doubt, if he had passed under the safety car conditions and was trying to let Trulli back through.

"There was a point when he was doing just 15mph in his McLaren and Trulli had no option but to repass him.

"I think Lewis then saw half a chance of a third place instead of a fourth, went up to the stewards and didn't give them the full story.

"Now they've matched up his comments (to them) to radio content between him and the team, and other information they've gathered, and they've decided that effectively he was telling fibs.

"I think it's a big issue and it's not going to go away. If they were asked a direct question they should have given the right answer, and they clearly didn't."

 

[Son of Alaska]

kwenye appeal ya hizo diffuser button na barichello,watanyaganywa ushindi na trulli kupewa ushindi,F1 never ceases to amaze

 

[Bladerunner]

The fall-out from Lewis Hamilton's exclusion from the Australian Grand Prix has led to a senior McLaren official being suspended from his job.
Sporting director Dave Ryan has been suspended after 35 years with the team.

Hamilton gave stewards "deliberately misleading" evidence after Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing him while the safety car was out in Melbourne.

Ryan was with Hamilton at hearings with race stewards, where McLaren admit both men did not "entirely tell the truth".

At a news conference in Malaysia on Friday, McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh said that Ryan had not been "entirely full and truthful with the answers he gave [to the stewards], so we had not alternative but to suspend him".

He added that [during the two meetings with stewards in Melbourne on Sunday following the race], although Hamilton had also been "not entirely truthful, Davey was the senior member of the team, so he is responsible for what happened".

Whitmarsh said: "He did not set out with a deliberate intention to mislead, but during the course of the meeting he was not as clear as he should have been. He made a very serious error of judgement and is paying the consequences of for that."
He said it was a "very sad day" for McLaren, adding: "It is a point of deep regret. For Davey, it's been a shattering day."

Whitmarsh also apologised to the FIA for the problems McLaren had caused.
"In my 20-odd years working for McLaren, I doubt if I've met a more dedicated individual than Davey," he added.

"He's been an integral part of McLaren since 1974 and has played a crucial role in the team's many world championship successes since that time."

Race stewards in Australia initially disqualified Trulli from third place for passing Hamilton behind the safety car.

But it later emerged that Hamilton had told the stewards he had not been asked by McLaren to let Trulli past him when the team's radio transmission proved that he had. Trulli was running third in his Toyota, ahead of Hamilton, when the safety car came out three laps from the end of the race but he ran off the road at the penultimate corner.

 

[Kibunango]

Hamilton anaweza kukosa kabisa mashindano ya mwaka huu..!

 

[Bladerunner]

I am not a liar, insists Hamilton
World champion Lewis Hamilton insists he is not "dishonest" after being disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix for misleading race stewards.

He claims Dave Ryan, McLaren's sporting director, had instructed him to "withhold information".

"I'm not a liar or a dishonest person," said the Englishman, who added the affair had definitely been "the worst thing I've experienced in my life".
Ryan, who has been with McLaren for 35 years, has been suspended by the team.
McLaren and Hamilton, 24, were found by the FIA, motorsport's world governing body, to have given stewards "deliberately misleading" evidence in a post-race hearing on Sunday.

That evidence led to race stewards handing Toyota's Jarno Trulli a 25-second penalty for passing Hamilton behind the safety car, demoting the Italian from third to 12th.

But after discovering that Hamilton and Ryan had provided inaccurate information about the incident, the FIA subsequently stripped Hamilton of his podium finish and reinstated Trulli to third.

Hamilton had told stewards he had not been told to allow Trulli to pass him when the opposite was true, a fact borne out by team radio transmissions.

"I could not tell you how sorry I am for the embarrassment," Hamilton, the youngest driver to become world champion, told a news conference after his opening practice sessions in Sepang on Friday.

"I sincerely apologise to the race stewards for wasting their time and making them look silly.
"When I went into the meeting, I had no intention (to lie). I just wanted to tell my story and see what happened. I was misled and that's just how it went.

"I want to say sorry to all my fans. I am not a liar or a dishonest person, I am a team player. If the team ask me to do something, I generally do it.
"But I felt awkward and uncomfortable.

"This is not an easy thing to do, to step back and realise I was in the wrong. But I was in the wrong, I was misled."
The fallout for McLaren has been significant, with senior official Ryan, who accompanied Hamilton to both hearings with race stewards on Sunday in Melbourne, sent home from practice in Malaysia on Friday.

 

[Bladerunner]

Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa recorded the fastest two laps during the opening two practice sessions for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima secured a Williams one-two in the first session with times of one minute 36.260 seconds and 1:36.305 respectively.

But in the second Raikkonen went quickest with 1:35.707 and team-mate Massa posted a lap of 1:35.832.

Brawn GP's Jenson Button was seventh and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton 11th.

After being stripped of his third place in Australia for misleading stewards in an inquiry, Hamilton's horror week continued as he was fined 1,200 euro ($1,600) for breaching the pit lane speed limit during morning practice.

Rubens Barrichello was sixth quickest in practice but the Brazilian will start from further back in Malaysia after he was given a grid penalty.

The veteran driver received a five-place penalty after Friday's session because the team put a new gearbox into his Brawn.
The Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber finished third and fifth respectively with Rosberg, who topped the timesheets in all three practice sessions at the season-opener in Australia last weekend, fourth.

Raikkonen's lap was faster than last year's pole-winning time set by Massa and the Fin's strong showing went some way to removing doubts about the reliability of the Ferrari after a morning mishap.

The 2007 world champion, who won at Sepang in 2008, had completed 18 laps when smoke began billowing into the cockpit and streaming from the rear of the car.

Ferrari did not disclose the problem, amid reports that the batteries from the new Kers (kinetic energy recovery system) system had overheated.

Only four teams are fitted with Kers - Ferrari, McLaren, BMW Sauber and Renault - which recovers some of the energy generated by the car's braking process for extra power.
Kers is seen to be an advantage at the Sepang circuit, which features a combination of long high-speed straights, and tight, fast and twisting turns.

The track temperature climbed to 47C (116F) at the start of afternoon practice but soon dropped with dark clouds threatening rain that never materialised, depriving the teams of wet weather testing.

This heightened the chances that they will go into Sunday's race - with rain forecast - without the benefit of acquainting themselves with a wet track.

 

[Bladerunner]

Brawn's debut season continued in fine style with Jenson Button grabbing pole for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix a week after winning in Australia.

Toyota's Jarno Trulli impressed during Saturday and will be second on the grid ahead of team-mate Timo Glock.

Ferrari's miserable season continued with the shock early departure of Felipe Massa, who finished in 16th spot in the first qualifying session.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton made it one stage further and will start 13th.

Line up for sunday's race!!

Country​

Driver ​

Team ​

1 Great Britain

J Button​

Brawn​

2 Italy​

J Trulli​

Toyota​

3 Germany​

S Vettel​

Red Bull​

4 Brazil​

R Barrichello​

Brawn​

5 Germany​

T Glock​

Toyota​

6 Germany​

N Rosberg​

Williams​

7 Australia​

M Webber​

Red Bull​

8 Poland​

R Kubica​

BMW Sauber​

9 Finland​

K Raikkonen​

Ferrari​

10 Spain​

F Alonso​

Renault​

11 Germany​

N Heidfeld​

BMW Sauber​

12 Japan​

K Nakajima​

Williams​

13 Great Britain​

L Hamilton​

McLaren​

14 Finland​

H Kovalainen​

McLaren​

15 France​

S Bourdais​

Toro Rosso​

16 Brazil​

F Massa​

Ferrari​

17 Brazil​

N Piquet Jr.​

Renault​

18 Italy​

G Fisichella​

Force India​

19 Germany​

A Sutil​

Force India​

20 Switzerland​

S Buemi​

Toro Rosso​

 

[senator]

dogo atakuwa na kazi kubwa kumpunguza Alonso ila namuaminia kijana atafanya kweli kama Aussie alipoanza wa 17 akaja tua wa 4 then watatu mwishowe fitina na mizengwe akapoteza vyote kabisa!!

 

[senator]

Jenson Button's perfect start to the season continued as he won the Malaysian Grand Prix after the race was stopped early because of heavy rain.

Brawn GP's English driver overcame a bad start off pole and drove superbly to ensure he was leading when a storm meant the race had to be declared over.

BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was second ahead of Toyota's Timo Glock. World champion Lewis Hamilton was seventh.

Half points will be awarded to those drivers who finished in the top eight.

After an action-packed first race of the season in Australia - which Button also won in convincing fashion - the second race of the season lived up to the expectation that there would be more drama.

Yet safety was the prime concern as, following the arrival of the red flag after 31 laps, motorsport's world governing body, the FIA, decided the race could not be restarted as they had run out of allocated time when the lightning and torrential rain has passed.
Drivers stop in Sepang as a storm hovers overhead
Drivers come to a stop in Sepang as a storm unloads heavy rain on the track

That decision was in theory backed by most drivers, some of whom had called for the race to be suspended over their team radio because of the atrocious conditions even before the safety car came out.

"The visibility is nothing," said Renault's Fernando Alonso before the race was officially called off.

"We could have a serious accident if we restart."

Before weather conditions deteriorated the race itself was, ultimately, a tale of the continued dominance of new boys Brawn GP, especially Button.

"What a crazy race, it really was," said Button, who has now extended his lead at the top of the driver's championship.

"My start was really bad, I had a lot of oversteer and maybe I didn't get enough heat in the rear tyres.

"Choosing the tyres here was difficult because unusually when it rains here [in Malaysia] it pours, but it didn't [initially]."

Button put himself in control of the race in a decisive period for all drivers between laps 17 and 21 when the rain started to fall.

 

[senator]

Hiki ndo chanzo cha matatizo yote ya leo katika Grand prix hii...........A combination of heavy rain, dark cloud and thunderous lightening stops the Malaysian Grand Prix after 32 laps

 

[Kibunango]

F1 Actions​

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[Kibunango]

F1 Babies

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[senator]

Lewis Hamilton was quickest in first practice in Shanghai on Friday

Lewis Hamilton's hopes of recovering from his disastrous start to the 2009 Formula 1 season were lifted as he set the pace in first practice in China.

The defending world champion benefited from a revamp to his McLaren to set the fastest lap in Shanghai.

Brawn's Jenson Button, the winner of the first two races, was second quickest, 0.116 seconds adrift.

Button's team-mate Rubens Barrichello was third fastest, ahead of the second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen.

Hamilton was running with a new interim diffuser and front wing in Shanghai as McLaren were quick to react to Wednesday's decision by F1's governing body the FIA to uphold the legality of the controversial 'double-diffuser' design.

Ferrari's frustrations continued as Kimi Raikkonen laboured to 11th and Felipe Massa finished 15th fastest with both drivers having problems with their tyres.

Several drivers struggled for grip as their tyres grained on the Shanghai surface, graining is caused when bits of rubber break away from the grooves of the tyre and stick to the tread, reducing contact with the track surface, this then reduces grip.

Ferrari were not the only ones affected as both Renaults, the two Williams', Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber and Toyota's Timo Glock all either span or spent time away from the track.

More to follow.

 

[Kibunango]

Ferrari...​

 

[Mbu]

Ferrari...​

Team Ferrari; safari hii Kibunango utaishia kutuonyesha miguu ya hao warembo tu, hamna lenu! mrudisheni Schuey!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kibunango]

Team Ferrari; safari hii Kibunango utaishia kutuonyesha miguu ya hao warembo tu, hamna lenu! mrudisheni Schuey!!!!!!!!!!

Hili halina ubishi na ni baada ya kesi juu ya diffuser kutupiliwa mbali. Maana yake sasa itawachukua zaidi ya miezi miwili kwa Team Ferrari kuja na muundo wa diffuser kama wa Team Brawn GP, Toyota na Williams.

Aidha hata aina ya mataili ya mwaka huu yameonyesha kuikataa Team Ferrari na hasa kwenye mazoezi yanayoendelea huko China kabla ya mpambano Jumapili hii!

Schuey bado tunae, ila nafasi yake katika benchi la ufundi bado kutoa matunda!

 

[Kibunango]

Chinese GP

Sebastian Vettel took a surprise pole position for Red Bull ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix.

The 21-year-old German grabbed the second pole position of his career, and the first for his Renault-powered team, with a last-gasp lap of one minute 36.184 seconds
With his Red Bull team mate Mark Webber third behind Alonso, the previously dominant Brawn GP cars of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button were pegged back in fourth and fifth.

"Unbelievable that we made it to pole," said Vettel, who became Formula One's youngest race winner in Italy last year with Toro Rosso. "It was not easy. We had some problems with the car and we tried to run as little laps as possible."

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Kimi Raikkonen will start the Chinese Grand Prix from the fourth row of the grid. Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen takes his Ferrari in for a pit stop during the Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit.

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Mbu, hiyo ni ya kichina...​

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[Son of Alaska]

F1 is now becoming a farce,race started behind a safety car.CARS going slow hence no downforce,danger of aquaplaning,brakes become cold- this race could be won by anyone,cause with the rain all planning goes down the drain

 

[Kibunango]

Chinese GP- Results

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1. S Vettel

2. M Webber

3. J Button

4. R Barrichello

5. H Kovalainen

6. L Hamilton

7. T Glock

8. S Buemi

​

 

[Son of Alaska]

FERRARI,have announced that their season starts formally when the f1 circus move to europe hence we ferrari fans are faced with another letdown in bahrain.by then ferrari's new diffuser will be in place.it was nice to see red bull win,cause hatutaki button akimbie na point zote before the mighty ferrari onslaught begans