Singapore Grand Prix: Toyota Protest Rejected

Following the finale of the Singapore Grand Prix, this weekend, Toyota launched a protest against a Sebastian Vettel pitstop, deemed ‘unsafe’ by the Japanese marque.

Toyota’s complaint that Vettel was released unsafely into the path of their German driver Timo Glock was rejected by the stewards following examination of video footage, and interviews with the drivers involved.

This means that Vettel will keep his fifth place result from the Grand Prix, and sees Toyota remain fifteen points clear of Scuderia Toro Rosso, with three rounds remaining.

Singapore Grand Prix: Qualifying Results

<!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:”Cambria Math”; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:”"; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph {mso-style-priority:34; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:36.0pt; mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} p.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst {mso-style-priority:34; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-type:export-only; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:0cm; margin-left:36.0pt; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} p.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle {mso-style-priority:34; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-type:export-only; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:0cm; margin-left:36.0pt; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} p.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast {mso-style-priority:34; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-type:export-only; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:36.0pt; mso-add-space:auto; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} /* List Definitions */ @list l0 {mso-list-id:911895617; mso-list-type:hybrid; mso-list-template-ids:2015501682 134807567 134807577 134807579 134807567 134807577 134807579 134807567 134807577 134807579;} @list l0:level1 {mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-18.0pt;} ol {margin-bottom:0cm;} ul {margin-bottom:0cm;} –>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:”";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0cm;
mso-para-margin-right:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0cm;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}
table.MsoTableGrid
{mso-style-name:”Table Grid”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-priority:59;
mso-style-unhide:no;
border:solid black 1.0pt;
mso-border-themecolor:text1;
mso-border-alt:solid black .5pt;
mso-border-themecolor:text1;
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-border-insideh:.5pt solid black;
mso-border-insideh-themecolor:text1;
mso-border-insidev:.5pt solid black;
mso-border-insidev-themecolor:text1;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}

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

Video:Webber/Vettel on the Streets of Singapore

Fans wanting to see what to expect at the inaugral night race in Singapore can look at many computer-generated videos on the internet. However, I am told (because I cannot view these for myself just yet) that these are the most impressive!

To see Webber (English commentary) click here

For the more adventurous, Vettel’s German version is here.

STR Extend Ferrari Engine Deal

STR3: Ferrari Powered

Italian Scuderia Toro Rosso’s team chief announced that the Faenza-based team will continue to use Ferrari’s customer engines. With the team’s STR3 chassis performing so well at present, and the senior Red Bull team comparatively struggling with their inferior Renault power, despite using a nearly identical car, it had been rumoured that Renault-powered Red Bull Racing might attempt to take over STR’s Ferrari contract. Ferrari handed the engine deal to STR at the start of 2007 in order to take the Renault deal.

Japanese driver Takuma Sato’s forthcoming test, meanwhile, stirred speculation that Toro Rosso might be considering using Honda engines.

In a statement, Franz Tost confirmed that Ferrari’s 2.4 litre V8 is the main reason behind the team’s strong showings of late.

“We are very happy with our arrangement with Maranello, which indeed is why we have recently extended our supply agreement with them.”

Tost also said the team is happy with its current driver lineup, including Sebastien Bourdais, whose future on the grid is in doubt, despite a strong showing in the Belgian Grand Prix.

“We are happy with both  of them.”

“As for Bourdais, after a difficult period, he too has stepped up a gear in the past few weeks, as could be seen from the fact that, until the very last lap in Belgium, he had out-performed his teammate.”

Neal’s View: Ferrari push the limitations of the regulations to the absolute limit, so the Ferrari engine will always be strong.

Belgian Grand Prix: Harsh Conditions Rob Bourdais of Podium

Vettel (l), Bourdais (r): Star Spa Performers

STR-Ferrari’s French driver Sebastian Bourdais can feel hard-done by the weather at today’s Belgian Grand Prix. With a few laps left to run, the weather changed as rain arrived at the circuit, and Bourdais started his final lap in third position, meaning a podium was barely four miles away. However, Bourdais followed Hamilton’s, and Massa’s lead by opting not to pit for intermediate tyres, and this proved costly. In the final lap, Bourdais dropped from third, to seventh, with Renault’s Fernando Alonso the main beneficiary, climbing up to fourth.

“On the last lap it was a lottery with the car getting away from you with every turn of the wheel. It’s a horrible situation, as everything had been under control up until then. But I am not in a situation where I can risk everything and at the end of the race I didn’t even know where I finished.

“It was so close to being a great result I felt I could almost touch it and so it was a very frustrating way to finish what was a great weekend up to that point. Such a shame, but nevertheless a very strong result for the team.”

Neal’s View: Bourdais drove a strong race, and STR-Ferrari will be happy with the results – but it could have been better. The pressure is still on Bourdais, but more performances like this and he should keep his seat for 2009.

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.