Singapore Grand Prix: FIA Dish Out More Harsh Penalties

The stewards in Singapore handed out two penalties following an incident involving Nick Heidfeld, of BMW-Sauber, and Rubens Barrichello, of Honda, during the first qualifying session.

Due to the disturbing nature of the track design, whereby the pitlane entrance and exit are on the racing line, Heidfeld inadvertently blocked Barrichello, who was on a flying lap.

Heidfeld, who had qualified in P6, will be demoted to 9th on the grid for impeding Barrichello’s lap, whilst the Brazilian picks up a 10,000€ fine for an incorrect entry to the pit lane.

Neal’s View: If anyone should be picking up penalties it is the circuit designer. To have the pitlane entrance and exit on the racing line is pure madness, and both Heidfeld and Barrichello can feel rightly agrieved about the incident.

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

Ferrari To Confirm Alonso At Monza? Or Is Alonso Off To BMW?

Renault's Fernando Alonso

Formula One fans will be waiting with baited breath ahead of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. It is when Ferrari traditionally reveal their lineup for the following season. Fans of the sport are waiting to find out whether world champion Kimi Raikkonen will retire, making way for former double world champion Fernando Alonso.

Fernando Alonso insists he is not part of those plans.

The Spaniard has said that he does not expect the Finn to retire this year.

“Ferrari tend to confirm their drivers at Monza. I don’t think there is going to be a surprise.”

Alonso also revealed that he thought his Renault team was lacking half a second per lap, purely because of the weaker engine.

He also took the time to dismiss team boss Flavio Briatore’s claims that “at least two more podium finishes” will be coming from the final five grands prix of the season.

When asked how he feels about his teammate Nelson Piquet Jnr. being the only Renault driver standing on the podium this year, Alonso said:

“It is going to be really difficult to be on the podium in the rest of the year, but I do not see it as a failure.

“In comparison with my teammate, this has been my best season ever. I have always been in front of him. He got a podium after a great race and with lots of luck.”

Meanwhile, BMW-Sauber boss Mario Thiessen refused to deny growing speculation Alonso has signed a three-year contract to drive for the Hinwil-based squad from 2009.

The chequered flag had barely fallen at Spa-Francorchamps before it was reported that the Spaniard would replace German Nick Heidfeld.

Thiessen told German newspaper Bild:

“I do not take part in speculation.

“Our driver decision has been postponed. At the latest we will announce our drivers at the end of the season.”

BMW spokespeople were also not available for comment.

However, the Spanish sports newspaper Marca believes BMW-Sauber will confirm the Alonso signing on Monday, after this weekend’s Italian grand prix at Monza.

Neal’s View: Many thought he was Ferrari-bound, but the BMW rumours refuse to go away. I would rule out Honda, but it could be any of BMW-Sauber, Ferrari, or staying with Renault.

Belgian Grand Prix: BMW ‘Gamble’ Paid Off

Nick Heidfeld at Malaysian GP, 2008

BMW-Sauber motorsport director Mario Theissen has admitted that he thought Nick Heidfeld had left it too late to switch to wet tyres when he the gamble was taken in the closing stages of last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

When the rain came towards the end it was torrential, leading teams to choose between staying out on the wrong tyres or pitting. The rain was so heavy at one point, ITV commentator James Allen reported a thirty-second difference in lap-times between cars on intermediate tyres, and those staying on the wrong, dry tyre.

Heidfeld pitted for intermediate tyres two laps from the end of the Spa-Francorchamps when a deluge swamped the track, and staged a dramatic last-lap climb through the field from seventh to grab what eventually became second.

Despite the result delivering another podium finish for BMW-Sauber, team principal Theissen confessed that his team was unsure at the time whether or not Heidfeld had done the right thing in coming in for the tyres.

“I thought it was too late already, but it was worth it to take the risk because it would have been two points only, so you can take some risk in this position. And it turned out to be the perfect move.

“I didn’t watch the TV screen on the last lap, just the positioning screen as he overtook one car after another.”

Theissen said that the decision to change tyres was left entirely up to Heidfeld and his race engineer.

“You need two guys. You need the driver who has to tell what he is feeling and what he thinks is better, and in the end he has to decide.

“But then the race engineer has an overview of what the others do, how much they are struggling and only the race engineer can then judge whether it is possible to make up for 25 seconds in two laps.”

Neal’s View: It was a hard decision to be made, but that is why these people are lucratively paid. Had the rain come a lap earlier, everyone would have had to pit; a lap later no one would have. It is these spur-of-the-moment tactical decisions that make Formula One great!

Kubica Has More Harsh Words For BMW

Kubica at Valencia

After an disappointing Belgian grand prix, BMW-Sauber driver Robert Kubica continued to voice his discontent as the Formula One circus makes the short dash to Monza this week.

The Pole struggled to capture the same attention as his BMW-Sauber teammate Nick Heidfeld at Spa-Francorchamps, and on Friday we reported that he used “harsh words” upon discovering incorrect settings on his car.

“The team has helped Nick a lot.”

Kubica has won just 12 points from the last 5 grands prix, and while he finished sixth at Spa-Francorchamps, under-pressure teammate Heidfeld was on the podium.

“I hope that they will start to work a little for me, because these last four races, I think we have been asleep.”

Neal’s View: The BMW car has not been keeping up with the pace of the McLarens and the Ferraris, and is being caught by the midfield pack. The pressures on the drivers, especially Heidfeld (who could be out of a job at the end of the season), are mounting.

Paddock Gossip

As the 2008 Formula One season heads towards an exciting climax, speculation increases around those seats yet to be confirmed for 2009.

Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Bourdais has put in some strong performances recently, notably at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend. Yet some Italian tabloids report that this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza could be his last, with the Faenza-based squad trying out Takuma Sato, Sebastien Buemi, and Bruno Senna for the last four Grands Prix.

Over at Renault, Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jnr. also finds his seat under threat. Swiss reports suggest that test driver Lucas di Grassi is set to test on all three days at the upcoming Jerez test. An evaluation ahead of 2009?

With recent reports suggesting Nick Heidfeld could lose his BMW-Sauber seat to Fernando Alonso next year, rumours in the paddock are linking the German with Alonso’s Renault seat.

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