Probable 2009 BBC Lineup?

ITV commentator, and former Formula One racer, Martin Brundle hopes he will be able to continue his job when coverage of the sport moves to BBC Television from 2009 – however, he denies that a deal has been done.

The Beeb is currently in the process of finalising its coverage plans for next season, and former Radio 5 Live commentator Jonathan Legard is strongly believed to be heading for the lead commentary role.

It has been reported that Legard is close to finalising negotiations to lead the commentary team, which will see him return to Formula One after a spell in football.

Legard is expected to be joined by Brundle, but the deal has not yet been completed.

“Nothing is signed yet. I am hopeful that I can move to the BBC and continue my current role, and we are still in discussions.”

It has been suggested that former children’s television presenter Jake Humphrey will assume Steve Rider’s role as anchor, whilst David Coulthard will not be in retirement for long, taking over from Mark Blundell.

Singapore Grand Prix: Qualifying Results

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Final Classification
Pos/Driver	Team	Q1 Time	Q2 Time	Q3 Time
1. Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:44.519	1:44.014	1:44.801
2. Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:44.501	1:44.932	1:45.465
3. Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:44.282	1:44.232	1:45.617
4. Robert Kubica	BMW-Sauber	1:44.740	1:44.519	1:45.779
5. Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:44.311	1:44.207	1:45.873
6. Nick Heidfeld	BMW-Sauber	1:45.548	1:44.520	1:45.964
7. Sebastien Vettel	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:45.042	1:44.261	1:46.244
8. Timo Glock	Toyota	1:45.184	1:44.441	1:46.328
9. Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	1:45.103	1:44.429	1:46.611
10. Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	1:45.127	1:44.826	1:47.547
Eliminated After Q2
11. Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:45.642	1:45.038
12. Jenson Button	Honda	1:45.660	1:45.133
13. Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1:45.493	1:45.212
14. David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	1:46.028	1:45.298
15. Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:44.971	No Time
Eliminated After Q1
16. Nelson Piquet Jnr.	Renault	1:46.037
17. Sebastian Bourdais	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:46.389
18. Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1:46.583
19. Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	1:47.940
20. Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	No Time

Belgian Grand Prix: Predictions

Formula One Blog likes to test it’s knowledge by predicting the outcomes of qualifying and races, so here are our thoughts on today’s race. Unfortunately, time is limited so we will only cover the points positions.

1st: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)

2nd Felipe Massa (Ferrari)

3rd Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

4th Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes)

5th Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault)

6th Fernando Alonso (Renault)

7th Sebastian Vettel (STR-Ferrari)

8th Sebastian Bourdais (STR-Ferrari)

Check back later to see how close we were.

New Poll: Who will win the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix?

Pole-sitter: Lewis Hamilton

Following a thrilling qualifying session that saw a fantastic lap from McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, and both STRs in the top 10, Formula One Blog has issued a new poll.

Click on the link in the top right corner of the page to vote on who you think will win tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix!

Qualifying Predictions: How close were we?

As some of you may have seen, we at Formula One Blog earlier put our neck on the block and tried to predict the results from today’s qualifying. Our predictions can be seen here.

So how did we do?

We got the front row correct, albeit in the wrong order as Lewis Hamilton beat Felipe Massa for pole.

Our prediction of the second row was spot on, with Heikki Kovalainen outqualifying Kimi Raikkonen.

The third row saw Nick Heidfeld qualify 5th (we thought it would be Jarno Trulli), but we were correct in Fernando Alonso qualifying 6th.

We also got the fourth row correct, unfortunately in the wrong order, as Mark Webber took 7th, and Robert Kubica grabbed 8th.

The fifth row was a surprise STR-Ferrari lockout, as Sebastian Bourdais (9th) outqualified his teammate Sebastian Vettel (10th). We thought it would be Nick Heidfeld in 9th and Timo Glock in 10th.

We thought that Jenson Button (Honda), Nelson Piquet Jnr. (Renault), David Coulthard (Red Bull-Renault), Sebastian Vettel (STR-Ferrari), and Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota) would drop out in second qualifying period, however we were only correct with Piquet, Coulthard, and Rosberg. Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock, also, did not make the top-ten shootout.

Finally, we thought the first to go would be Adrian Sutil (Force India), Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India), Kazuki Nakajima (Williams-Toyota), Sebastian Bourdais (STR-Ferrari), Rubens Barrichello (Honda). Swap the surprising Bourdais for Jenson Button, and we would have been spot-on.

Neal’s View: All in all, we predicted the grid quite accurately. Qualifying was not what you could call wet, so surprises should have been few and far between. Did anyone predict Sebastian Bourdais getting into the final session?

Spa Qualifying: Times

Final Classification
Pos/Driver	Team	Q1 Time	Q2 Time	Q3 Time
1. Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:46.887	1:46.088	1:47.338
2. Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:46.873	1:46.391	1:47.678
3. Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:46.812	1:46.037	1:47.815
4. Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:46.960	1:46.298	1:47.992
5. Nick Heidfeld	BMW-Sauber	1:47.419	1:46.311	1:48.315
6. Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:47.154	1:46.491	1:48.504
7. Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1:47.270	1:46.814	1:48.736
8. Robert Kubica	BMW-Sauber	1:47.093	1:46.494	1:48.763
9. Sebastian Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	1:46.777	1:46.544	1:48.951
10. Sebastian Vettel	STR-Ferrari	1:47.152	1:46.804	1:50.319
Eliminated after Q2
11. Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:47.400	1:46.949
12. Nelson Piquet Jnr.	Renault	1:47.052	1:46.965
13. Timo Glock	Toyota	1:47.359	1:46.995
14. David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	1:47.132	1:47.018
15. Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	1:47.503	1:47.429
Eliminated after Q1
16. Rubens Barrichello (BRA)	Honda	1:48.153
17. Jenson Button (GBR)	Honda	1:48.211
18. Adrian Sutil (GER)	Force India	1:48.226
19. Kazuki Nakajima (JAP)	Williams-Toyota	1:48.268
20. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA)	Force India	1:48.447

Vettel To Test RB4 At Jerez

Vettel in Brazil, 2007

STR’s Sebastian Vettel is to get his first taste of the Red Bull-Renault RB4 since being confirmed as their 2009 driver when he tests for the team at Jerez in Spain later this month.

The German already has experience of the car, having been drafted in for a test at Barcelona in February when he stood in for the injured David Coulthard.

However, he will be given a two day run at Jerez on September 17 and 18 to get acclimatised to his new team and the Renault engine that he will use in 2009 before returning to Toro Rosso for the remainder of the season.

Vettel’s future teammate Mark Webber says he is excited about the arrival of the German, who has received a lot of interest since his strong performance in Valencia.

“You talk about short memories in F1.

“He (Vettel) had how many first lap shunts at the start of the season. Two or three good races and here we are. That is the reality of it.

“It is good, really good, and he is a very experienced youngster. There are not many of them around. Red Bull finally have the fruits of their (young driver) programme, which is great for Red Bull Racing.”

When asked if he was observing Vettel’s performances closer now that he was going to be his future teammate, Webber said:

“Not really. He will test the car in Jerez so it will be interesting to see how he goes there driving the same car, engine and electronics, that sort of stuff.

“But it [the real comparisons] will start in February next year. Next year is so different and I am concentrating on myself, we have enough things to do and I am trying to get as many points as I can before the end of the year.”

Neal’s View: Red Bull have secured one of the rising stars of Formula One, but can they produce a car to match? Adrian Newey’s done it before, but not for a few years.

Spa Free Practice 3: Times

1. Nick Heidfeld (GER)	BMW-Sauber	1:47.876
2. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN)	McLaren-Mercedes	1:48.165
3. Fernando Alonso (ESP)	Renault	1:48.307
4. Lewis Hamilton (GBR)	McLaren-Mercedes	1:48.356
5. Felipe Massa (BRA)	Ferrari	1:48.692
6. Sebastian Vettel (GER)	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:48.768
7. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN)	Ferrari	1:48.815
8. Nico Rosberg (GER)	Williams-Toyota	1:48.836
9. Nelson Piquet Jnr. (BRA)	Renault	1:48.946
10. Mark Webber (AUS)	Red Bull-Renault	1:49.054
11. Jarno Trulli (ITA)	Toyota	1:49.057
12. David Coulthard (GBR)	Red Bull-Renault	1:49.125
13. Robert Kubica (POL)	BMW-Sauber	1:49.250
14. Sebastian Bourdais (FRA)	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:49.256
15. Timo Glock (GER)	Toyota	1:49.535
16. Kazuki Nakajima (JAP)	Williams-Toyota	1:49.830
17. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA)	Force India	1:49.949
18. Adrian Sutil (GER)	Force India	1:50.034
19. Rubens Barrichello (BRA)	Honda	1:50.061
20. Jenson Button (GBR)	Honda	No time

Belgian Grand Prix: Qualifying Predictions

Formula One Blog is not scared to it’s neck on the line and predict the eventual grid for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix. Here’s what we came up with:

Pole: Felipe Massa (Ferrari)

2nd Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)

3rd Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes)

4th Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

5th Jarno Trulli (Toyota)

6th Fernando Alonso (Renault)

7th Robert Kubica (BMW-Sauber)

8th Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault)

9th Nick Heidfeld (BMW-Sauber)

10th Timo Glock (Toyota)

Drop out during Q2:

Jenson Button (Honda), Nelson Piquet Jnr. (Renault), David Coulthard (Red Bull-Renault), Sebastian Vettel (STR-Ferrari), Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota)

Drop out during Q1:

Adrian Sutil (Force India), Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India), Kazuki Nakajima (Williams-Toyota), Sebastian Bourdais (STR-Ferrari), Rubens Barrichello (Honda).

Neal’s View: This is my prediction based on the strength of those involved. However, rain at Spa often throws up many surprises, and, should qualifying be in the rain, expect more of the same.

Red Bull Target Points Despite Tyre Problems

Red Bull's RB4

Red Bull Racing have laid the blame for their recent poor showing purely on the Bridgestone Potenza tyres, disregarding other insiders views on the weak Renault engine.

Seven points behind Renault in fifth and seventeen behind Toyota in fourth, Red Bull have not scored a point in the last four races.

Christian Horner said the tyres were the main factor of this slump.

“It’s not a case of our rivals suddenly ‘bolting on’ more performance. It’s down to tyre usage, and Toyota has handled that better than us.

“We understand why this happened and I feel we can get on top of the situation and return to our earlier form for the final third of the season.”

Red Bull looked strong earlier in the season, with Mark Webber scoring on five consecutive ocasions, and David Coulthard achieving third in Canda, albeit after Lewis Hamilton had shunted himself and Kimi Raikkonen out of the race.

However, the last six races have seen Red Bull score a mere nine points, to Toyota’s thirty-two.

Horner has not given up hope of securing fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship, and believes two of the reamaining circuits, Spa and Monza, play to his team’s strengths.

Horner also said he believed that because some of Red Bulls’ rivals have already switched focus to 2009’s car, where dramatic regulation changes should yield more exciting racing, whilst his team would continue to develop up until Brazil.

Neal’s View: I think fourth place will go to either Toyota or Renault. Red Bull may be able to scrape fifth if things start going their way.