Sebastian Vettel Extends Red Bull Contract Until 2015

It has been confirmed that Sebastian Vettel has extended his multi-year contract with Red Bull until 2015, following recurring rumors regarding the three-time Champion’s future in Formula 1. This announcement comes after the German’s dominant display of race-craft last time out at the Canadian Grand Prix, where he won by +14.408 seconds.

Since his switch to Red Bull back in 2009, Sebastian Vettel has been a dominant figure in the world of Formula 1. The German sensation has stormed to a sensational 28 victories for the team, including three Championship titles, 50 podium finishes and 38 pole positions. The 25-year-old has been a figurehead for Red Bull’s young driver programme, with the German progressing to Formula 1 after competing in junior categories such as the Formula 3 EuroSeries and World Series by Renault.

Despite his extremely competitive career with Red Bull, rumors were floating around the Formula 1 paddock that the German could well be on the move to Ferrari in the future. Although this announcement dampens such rumors, it is still perfectly feasible that he could make the switch for the 2016 season. Such speculations aside, it seems Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull’s dominance will continue for the foreseeable future as the German unquestionably begins to set his sights upon Michael Schumacher’s record.

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Jenson Button Praises The Teams After An Unpredictable Season

Jenson Button has praised the teams in Formula 1, after a sensationally entertaining season which featured eight different winners throughout the twenty races. This included the usual suspects including Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, but also new races winners such as Pastor Maldonado and Nico Rosberg.

After the Briton clinched his third race victory of the season, Jenson Button proceeded to praise teams such as Williams, Sauber and Force India after they improved vastly over the winter period to challenge for podiums and even race victories on a regular basis throughout the season.

Both Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton jostled for the lead with the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg during the 71-lap Brazilian Grand Prix. Eventually Hulkenberg and Hamilton collided whilst fighting for the lead, but Jenson Button believes the mere fact that a Force India driver led the race shows just how competitive F1 is becoming.

“I think a lot of the teams, the teams that aren’t normally at the front, I think they’ve done a very good job over the winter.” Explained Jenson Button, “But through the year when the bigger teams work out how to use the tyres and also, you know, the development race, suddenly you see a difference towards the end of the season. Not as big as some might have thought.

“I don’t think we would have expected a Force India to be leading the race today. So, I think it shows Formula One is a lot closer than it used to be; in terms of regulations it’s a lot tighter and also with not many regulation changes, it brings the field very close – and I think we’ll see that also next year.”

Apart from the teams’ superb improvement over the winter period prior to the start of the 2012 season, it’s unquestionable that Pirelli’s controversial tyre compounds played a monumental role in creating the unpredictability that quickly became apparent during the opening seven races of the season. Next season Pirelli will once again alter the tyre compounds, with the hope of creating further entertainment similar to this season in 2013.

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McLaren Confirm Doubts Over Sergio Perez

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has confirmed doubts over whether Sergio Perez will be a success for the Woking-based outfit, after a particularly uncompetitive run of form from the Mexican driver. Since his announcement as Lewis Hamilton’s successor, Perez has failed to finish within the points for Sauber.

In an interview with British newspaper The Daily Mail, Martin Whitmarsh has confirmed he is unsure as to whether Sergio Perez could become a race or Championship winner with McLaren. When rumors began linking Lewis Hamilton to Mercedes, many were intrigued as to who McLaren would sign as the Briton’s replacement. The candidates varied from Gary Paffett and Oliver Turvey (McLaren’s reserve and test drivers), to the likes of Paul di Resta. However, many were very surprised when reports linking Sergio Perez to McLaren became true.

Admittedly, Sergio Perez has performed sensationally throughout the 2012 season, finishing on the podium on numerous occasions and nearly taking victory at the wet/dry Malaysian Grand Prix. However, recently the 22-year-old Mexican has somewhat underperformed with Sauber, retiring from two of the last four races, and failing to score a single World Championship point since the Singapore Grand Prix.

“He is going to find a different world at McLaren,” explained Martin Whitmarsh, in an interview with The Daily Mail. “He will turn up in Australia next year with so much more pressure on his shoulders and that is something he has to be groomed to deal with.

“If you turn up and we’re not on the first two rows and not competing for the win, then ourselves and Ferrari get that pressure in the way that no other F1 team does. When Red Bull weren’t competitive no one was piling into them so there is an added pressure to being a McLaren driver. He might think he understands it, but he doesn’t.”

With Sergio Perez preparing for his final two races as a Sauber driver, the Mexican will be hoping he can end the 2012 season and his career with the Swiss outfit on a positive note, as Sauber continue to reel in Mercedes for fifth in the Constructors’ Championship. With Martin Whitmarsh now skeptical as to whether Perez can be a race winner with McLaren, the Mexican will be eager to prove Whitmarsh wrong once the 2013 season gets underway.

Picture Copyright © Sauber Motorsport AG

Pastor Maldonado Wishes To Remain At Williams For 2013

Pastor Maldonado has expressed a burning desire to remain a Williams driver for 2013, amid speculation regarding his future in the sport. The Venezuelan driver has raced for Williams for the last two years, since his ‘graduation’ from GP2 as the reigning Champion in 2010.

After a tremendously competitive start to the 2012 season, Maldonado has since endured a frustratingly tough second half of the season, and has only just returned to his points scoring ways at Suzuka. Throughout the year, Maldonado has also suffered numerous visits to the race stewards, particularly at Spa where he incurred three separate penalties.

“To be honest I really want to stay with Williams.” Explained Pastor Maldonado, “It’s a good team and the team is getting better and better every day. We’ve been rebuilding everything in the team and I think now it’s more compact and the car is looking, as I mentioned before, every day better and better. So good confidence with them but at the moment there is not confirmation. So looking forward to seeing that but otherwise looking forward to remaining in Formula One for sure.”

Regardless of Maldonado’s desire to stay at Williams next season, the Grove-based outfit have yet to offer any hint at who will be their drivers next season. Reserve driver Valtteri Bottas could well become a driver next season, however the question within the paddock is who will the Finn eventually replace? With Bruno Senna also unconfirmed for next season, it’s been rumored that the Brazilian driver could be set to make way for Bottas.

Either way, it seems Williams are thinking long and hard about their driver line-up for next season. With Pastor Maldonado a race winner this season and backed by a wealthy petroleum company, the general belief within the paddock is that he will remain at Williams, however the question still remains who his eventual team-mate will be.

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Daniël de Jong Replaces Ricardo Teixeira At Rapax For Valencia

Dutchman Daniël de Jong will replace Ricardo Teixeira at the Rapax GP2 team this weekend in Valencia, as the Portuguese-Angolan driver will be unavailable for this weekends GP2 event around the Valencia Street Circuit due to health issues.

The 19-year-old will join Bahrain sprint race winner Tom Dillmann, as he quickly learns the tricky and highly demanding 25-turn Valencia Street Circuit. Daniël de Jong will be making his debut in the highly competitive GP2 Series this weekend, and will become the second Dutchman in the Series alongside Caterham’s reserve driver Giedo van der Garde.

“This is an exciting time for my career, I’m really happy to have been able to agree a deal with the guys at Rapax to make my GP2 debut and I’d like to take this chance to thank the team for giving me the opportunity.” Explained Daniël de Jong, “It’s going to be a really big challenge to step into the GP2 Series in the middle of the season but I can’t wait to get out there in Valencia, it’s a great opportunity for me. I know it’s going to be the biggest challenge of my career so far but I’m hoping we can do a good job and move forward from Valencia on – let’s see how it goes!”

The Rapax team are confident that de Jong can excel on his debut, and the Italian outfit wish their driver Ricardo Teixeira a speedy recovery from his illness. Rapax currently sit 10th in the GP2 Constructors’ Championship with 27 points.

Picture Copyright © Charles Coates/GP2 Series Media Service

Lewis Hamilton Secures Victory In Canadian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton has finally secured his first Grand Prix victory of the 2012 season at the Canadian Grand Prix, after a late surge from 3rd saw the Brit overtake both Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso who suffered from tyre degradation towards the end of the race. With Alonso and Vettel falling away, this allowed Romain Grosjean and Sergio Perez to finish 2nd and 3rd respectively.

At the start Sebastian Vettel stormed away at the front after a superlative getaway, as Felipe Massa and Nico Rosberg became locked in a grueling battle for 5th. However, Rosberg soon began to fall away as Paul di Resta made this way around the German. Felipe Massa made a huge error heading into turn 2, and spun his Ferrari which saw him loose several places.

On lap 13, Felipe Massa became the first driver to pit before di Resta and Schumacher followed suit a lap later. Whilst other drivers also began making their pit-stops, Lewis Hamilton began reeling in leader Vettel. By lap 16, Vettel pitted handing the lead down to Hamilton. His lead was short lived as the Brit also pitted a lap later, as Fernando Alonso assumed the lead. The Spaniard remained in the lead for several laps, until he too eventually pitted on lap 19 handing the lead down Grosjean. Upon exiting the pit-lane, Alonso rejoined just in front of Lewis Hamilton.

However, Alonso failed to keep the faster Hamilton behind him for too long as Hamilton stormed past the Spaniard with the assistance of the DRS. Whilst all this excitement was going on at the front, both HRTs of Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan retired with separate issues.

Jenson Button’s torrid race weekend continued during the race, as the Brit soon found himself dropping back amongst the midfield teams. Sergio Perez and Kimi Raikkonen stayed out through the first round of pit-stops, the two obviously attempting a one-stop strategy. It wasn’t until lap 41 and 42 respectively that both Raikkonen and Perez finally made their one and only stops of the race.

Michael Schumacher’s bad luck continued during the race, when the 7-time World Champion was forced to retire after his DRS-flap stuck open. To avoid being issued the black and orange flag, the Mercedes driver eventually took to the pits only to retire for the fifth time this season. With only two points scored so far, this has been the German’s most uncompetitive start to a Formula 1 season.

By lap 50, Lewis Hamilton was forced to pit from the lead as the Brit’s tyres began to wear. This handed the lead back to Fernando Alonso, as Hamilton dropped back down to 3rd place. After initially thinking both Alonso and Vettel would also pit a second time, McLaren began urging Hamilton forward after it became apparent the leading duo of would not pit again.

This meant Lewis Hamilton would have to pass both Vettel and Alonso if he was to have any hope of winning his first race in 2012. With Hamilton on much newer tyres in comparison to the leaders, it was no surprise that the Brit stormed past first Vettel and then Alonso with ease with the assistance of DRS down the back straight.

As Lewis Hamilton stormed into the lead, leaving Alonso trailing in his wake, Sebastian Vettel opted to pit for some fresh tyres. With Alonso stubbornly staying out on track with badly worn tyres, Romain Grosjean and then Sergio Perez quickly caught up with the Ferrari driver and subsequently found their way past. Sebastian Vettel, now on fresher rubber, also made his way past the Spaniard whose hopes of a second victory faded away in the closing laps of the race.

After their recent run of bad luck, McLaren finally returned to the top step of the podium as Lewis Hamilton stormed across the line to become the record breaking seventh different winner in the opening seven races of 2012. Behind the British star Romain Grosjean and Sergio Perez completed the podium after a magnificent performance by the Lotus and Sauber drivers.

With Lewis Hamilton taking victory in Canada, this now means the British driver has taken the lead in the Drivers’ Championship as the F1 fraternity now pack up and head back to Europe for the European Grand Prix around the Valencia Street Circuit.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS The Canadian Grand Prix Montreal, Canada; 70 laps; 305.270km; Weather: Sunny. Classified: Pos Driver Team Time
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           1h32:29.586
 2.  Grosjean      Lotus-Renault              +     2.513
 3.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +     5.260
 4.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           +     7.295
 5.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    13.411
 6.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +    13.842
 7.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    15.085
 8.  Raikkonen     Lotus-Renault              +    15.567
 9.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +    24.432
10.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    25.272
11.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +    37.693
12.  Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes       +    46.236
13.  Maldonado     Williams-Renault           +    47.052
14.  Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:04.475
15.  Vergne        Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
16.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +     1 lap
17.  Senna         Williams-Renault           +     1 lap
18.  Kovalainen    Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
19.  Petrov        Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
20.  Pic           Marussia-Cosworth          +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:15.752

Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap
Glock         Marussia-Cosworth            57
Schumacher    Mercedes                     34
De la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth                 25
Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth                 23

Picture Copyright © AP

GP2 Monaco Qualifying Split Into Two Groups

Due to the tight and twisty nature of the Monte-Carlo street circuit, qualifying for the GP2 Series will be split into two 14 minute groups this weekend. This will be the first time a change of this nature has occurred in the history of the GP2 Series, and will hopefully allow drivers to complete clean and quick laps.

After a ballot which took place on Wednesday, two groups have been drawn up for todays qualifying session. The first group will consist of even numbered cars, in contrast to the second group which will consist of odd numbered cars including Championship leader and former Monaco race winner Davide Valsecchi.

Group A:

02. Josef Kral

04. Felipe Nasr

06. Nathanaël Berthon

08. Jolyon Palmer

10. Esteban Gutiérrez

12. Giedo van der Garde

14. Stefano Coletti

16. Stéphane Richelmi

18. Fabrizio Crestani

20. Ricardo Teixeira

22. Simon Trummer

24. Victor Guerin

26. Max Chilton

 

Group B:

01. Johnny Cecotto

03. Davide Valsecchi

05. Fabio Leimer

07. Marcus Ericsson

09. James Calado

11. Rodolfo Gonzalez

15. Fabio Onidi

17. Julian Leal

19. Giancarlo Serenelli

21. Tom Dillmann

23. Luiz Razia

25. Nigel Melker

27. Rio Haryanto

Picture Copyright © Alastair Staley/GP2 Media Service

Pirelli Expecting One-Stop Strategies At Monaco

Although Pirelli’s super-soft tyre compound is making it’s debut at this weekends Monaco Grand Prix, Pirelli believe a one-stop tyre strategy could be used by some drivers who wish to utilize the many varying strategies open to them throughout the race.

With the Monte-Carlo track surface the least abrasive on the 2012 calendar, tyre wear is expected to be at its lowest throughout the weekend. The soft tyre compound, which is making its fifth appearance of 2012, is predicted to be able to last around 50 laps, a fact which could make a one-stop strategy for the midfield teams who qualify outside the top 10 an enticing option.

However, with the safety-car more than likely set to make an appearance throughout the race, the teams will need enough flexibility in their race strategies to be able to adapt to any sudden safety-car deployment. Although a one-stop strategy is an option some drivers’ may use, a three-stop strategy could also be very beneficial. Jenson Button used a three-stop strategy last season, and finished the race 3rd behind Fernando Alonso who made two stops and eventual race winner Sebastian Vettel who opted for a one-stop strategy. 

“With the wear rate being so low in Monaco, the drivers will be able to push at their hardest from start to finish.” Explained Pirelli’s motorsport director, Paul Hembery, “Tyre strategy will be very important in Monaco, where on-track overtaking is more difficult than anywhere else. Having said that, the Principality has a history of often springing a surprise. With the cars so evenly matched now, even the slightest advantage or smallest mistake can have a big impact on the final outcome of a race, as we’ve seen so far this season.”

With such varying strategies being played out during last years Monaco Grand Prix, it’ll be intriguing to see how this years race pans out. The Pirelli tyres have been a major factor so far this season, and this weekend a new compound makes its debut in what is already regarded as the most exciting start to Formula 1 season in years.

Picture Copyright © Pirelli

Michael Schumacher Confident Ahead Of The Monaco GP

Five-time Monaco Grand Prix winner Michael Schumacher is feeling confident heading into next weekends Monaco Grand Prix, even though the 7-time World Champion will suffer a five-place grid drop after qualifying. This is due to the incident he allegedly caused with Bruno Senna at the Spanish Grand Prix.

With Pirelli offering the teams the super-soft (red) tyres for the first time in 2012, tyres once again look set to be the talking point throughout the Monaco Grand Prix weekend. Due to this, Schumacher is optimistic that Mercedes will do well, with tyre management set to be a crucial aspect of the demanding 78 lap race.

“Monaco is just a circuit of its own very unique character. Every time you go there, you just look forward to finally getting out and driving the track. Of course, knowing that I will lose five positions on the grid does not add to this feeling but this just means that I will have to try even harder. I’m actually quite confident that we should look reasonably good in Monaco due to the hard work that everybody in the team is putting into the development of our car.”

Mercedes have already won a race in 2012, albeit at the hands of Schumacher’s team-mate Nico Rosberg. The 26-year-old believes there is as many as ten drivers’ who have a chance at winning the Monaco Grand Prix this year, a fact which could make the race one of the most intriguing and exciting around the Principality in many years.

The German Constructor hasn’t won a race around the Monte-Carlo street circuit since 1937, when Manfred von Brauchitsch took victory in a Mercedes 1-2-3 finish. Back then the race was 100 laps long, and took three hours to complete. However, Mercedes have won seven times at Monaco as engine suppliers, the last time being in 2009 when Jenson Button took his Mercedes powered Brawn to victory.

Picture Copyright © Mercedes AMG Petronas 

Mark Webber Questions The Unpredictability Of 2012

The first five races of the 2012 season have undeniably been the most exciting and unpredictable in recent history, with five different winners taking victory for five different teams in the opening five races. However, Red Bull’s Mark Webber believes some fans might become fed up of seeing a different winner every race, instead of the usual bitter rivalry between two or three drivers’ the sport has become accustomed to in the past.

Throughout the first four races, Mark Webber consistently finished 4th for Red Bull, however in last weekends Spanish Grand Prix the Aussie came unstuck as he failed to finish within the points for the first time since last season’s Italian Grand Prix. With the F1 fraternity now looking ahead to the Monaco Grand Prix, and the strong possibility of a sixth different winner this season, Mark Webber believes this trend could start to isolate some fans of the sport.

“I don’t know if they [fans] will get sick of seeing so many different winners,” explained Webber to Australia’s Fox Sports. “It’s nice to have different winners but also we want rivals.” 

With both Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen and Mark Webber yet to win a race in 2012, there is a strong likelihood that these three drivers could make it eight different winners throughout the season. Both Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen have come agonizingly close to taking victory in 2012, and both will be gunning for a win come the Monaco Grand Prix. 

However, with Formula 1 being such an unpredictable spectacle in 2012, who knows who will be the next surprise winner this season? 

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