Archive for the ‘Driver in Focus’ Category

Interview with Jeroen Bleekemolen – Porsche Supercup Champion

Monday, June 21st, 2010

Question: Jeroen within the last few years, you have managed to win the Porsche Super Cup as well as the 24 hr Le Mans in 2008. At this stage of your career, what do you do to continue improving and motivating yourself?

I just love racing cars, so it’s not hard to get motivation. Every time I step into a car I love it. Hopefully I will be in a position to win the big races like Le Mans overall and work with big manufacturers. That is my aim at the moment. Also I could imagine having a career in the US, after joining the American Le Man Series for this year.

Question: We know that as proficient you are in a Touring car, you’re just as proficient in a Formula car as you’ve also driven for A1 Team Netherlands before. But in your opinion, how does a driver know what route is better for them? GT Cars or Formula Single Seaters?

That’s hard to say. Most of the time you need to bring money to the team in Formula racing. So if you don’t have big sponsors it’s better to focus on GT racing, because there, it is easier to make money. That’s what I did. But when you have a lot of funds behind you and you believe you can make it then maybe it is worth to get your hands into Formula cars. I think a good driver can be quick in both, so that doesn’t matter. If you’re experienced and quick in both types of cars, then the versatility of your skill can get you paid.

Question: There are many kids out there struggling to find sponsors to fund their racing. What is the best kind of advice you can provide them?

If you’re struggling to have the budget for racing try to find seats where the teams have money. And do many things at the same time, one thing can lead to another. And that means you could do some karting or some touring car at the same time. You never know where your next big potential sponsor might be watching you.

Question: If you had to rank these choices in level of importance, how will you rank it starting from the most important?

  • Fitness Training
  • Driver Training
  • Psychological Training
  • Race Experience

I feel that all of them are very important but here will be my list in order of importance.

1)   Race Experience

2)   Driver Training

3)   Fitness Training

4)   Psychological and mental training

Question: Being the son of a ex Formula 1 Driver must have been quite an advantage to you. Other than your father, is there anyone else that was pinnacle to helping you develop your race craft to the stage it is today?

I’ve had help from a lot of nice people around me, but at the end of the day I do most of the things myself as ultimately, I’m the driver that sponsors are looking at. My father’s contacts can only get me so far. This works for me well. And it’s always good to have experienced people around you who can help you out or give advice. I can understand the direction of my career a lot more easily with advice, so it is very important to have experienced and knowledgeable people around you all the time.

Question: For Kids that wish to drive in drive in a Le Mans Car one day, what series will you recommend they take part in as a way to gain sponsors attention and also to train their race craft?

The best way to get to Le Mans is to do GT racing. Of course Le Man Series or American Le Man Series is great, because those are the same cars that will be competing in your class. But as a start, series like the Porsche Supercup is also very good for learning and it would mean a lot in the eyes of sponsors and teams if you win.

They can start maybe in local GT racing. I also drive in our Dutch GT4 championship and that would be a nice series to start. I think most countries have a nice GT championship. So start with the local races and learn from there as it is cheaper and then move on to something like Porsche Supercup for more exposure and experience.

Question: Last but not least, Any kind advice for the kids in relation to development of their careers?

Work hard and try to get nice people around you. Any help you can get, take it. Remember that winning is always good for your career. Even if you have to take a step back it doesn’t matter, as long as you win. Winning will only make your profile more glamorous and easy to recognize.

Global Racing Schools will like to thank Jeroen for his time in granting us this interview.

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Driver In Focus: Mark Webber

Sunday, July 19th, 2009

Mark Webber was born on the 27thof August 1976 in Queanbeyan , Australia.

He started his relationship with sport at a young age, working as a ball boy for premiership winning rugby league team, the Canberra Raiders, during the late 1980s. However, motorsport was where his interest lay, later listing Formula One World Champion Alain Prost and Grand Prix motorcycle racer Kevin Schwantz as his childhood heroes.

Starting out racing motorcycles, Webber moved to four wheels in 1991, taking up karting at the age of 14. He won the New South Wales state championship in 1993, and moved straight into the Australian Formula Ford Championship after his father bought him an ex-Craig Lowndes Van Diemen FF1600.

Working as a driving instructor at Sydney’s Oran Park Raceway between races, Webber finished 14th overall in his debut season. Continuing in the series in 1995, Webber scored several victories, including a win in the support race for the Australian Grand Prix at Adelaide. He finished the series in fourth place but, perhaps more importantly, teamed up with Championship coordinator Ann Neal, who secured him a seven-year sponsorship with Australian Yellow Pages, and would become his manager and accompany him on a trip to England in an attempt to start a career in Europe.

Webber had just turned 18 when he left Australia at the end of 1995 after competing in karting and the Australian Formula Ford championship. An impressive international debut, which saw him finish third in the 1995 Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch in England, prompted the famous Van Diemen Formula Ford team to sign him for the 1996 British Championship.
Webber finished runner-up in that series and scored a crushing victory at the 1996 Formula Ford Festival.Following success in British Formula Ford, Webber graduated to the British Formula 3 Championship in 1997 with a team run by countryman Alan Docking. He finished fourth in the series despite struggling to find the necessary budget and was almost forced to quit mid-season when his funding ran out.
However, fellow Queanbeyanite and former Wallabies rugby union legend, David Campese, came to the rescue and personally financed Webber’s next few races which continued to yield good results. Before long, his strong performances in the British series and international F3 events had attracted the attention of Mercedes boss Norbert Haug, who invited Webber to test for the Mercedes AMG sportscar team.
The test was a success and Webber signed with the team to compete in the 1998 FIA GT Championship, partnering former F1 driver Bernd Schneider. The 1998 season was a memorable one, with a huge test program and ten-round championship which took Webber to the United States, Japan and Europe. The Webber/Schneider combination took five wins but was pipped to the title by team-mates Klaus Ludwig and Ricardo Zonta.

Webber was promoted to his own car in 1999 but his love of sportscars came to a premature end when he was involved in two spectacular, high-speed accidents at the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hour Race. An apparent aerodynamic fault with the design of the Mercedes caused the cars of Webber and team-mate Peter Dumbreck to somersault, leaving Mercedes to withdraw its remaining car from the race and the curtailment of its 1999 sportscar campaign.

Indeed, although sidelined for the remainder of 1999 Webber was determined to get his single-seater career back on track for the following season. He began working towards a drive in the international Formula 3000 championship with Paul Stoddart’s new European Formula Racing team after being introduced to Stoddart by then F1 team owner, Eddie Jordan.In 2000 Webber contested the FIA International F3000 Championship. He took the EFR team to new highs with victory in round two of the series at Silverstone to take an unexpected early lead in the championship.
Ultimately, he ended the season third overall in the drivers’ championship behind Bruno Junqueira and Nicolas Minassian.
His results earned him the interest of Benetton and in September 2000 he completed a successful three day test for the team at Estoril. This led to the team signing Webber on a long-term contract, and for the 2001 season he was contracted by Benetton to race for Super Nova Racing in Formula 3000, as well as being the official test and reserve driver for the F1 team.
In 2001, Webber scored wins at Imola, Monaco and Magny Cours and finished runner-up in the F3000 series while also testing with Benetton. Webber completed the long haul to F1 in 2002 when he joined the Minardi team. In his debut race in front of home fans, Webber drove the PS02 to fifth place and two points. No further points were forthcoming over the season but his performances didn’t go unnoticed, especially by team bosses at Jaguar Racing who snapped up Webber to partner Antonio Pizzonia the following season.
He became the first Australian since David Brabham in 1994 to race in Formula One and made his Grand Prix debut in front of his home crowd at Melbourne’s Albert Park in 2002.

The Australian had a good season with Jaguar in 2003; scoring 17 of the 18 points amassed by the Milton Keynes-based team but 2004 was not a good year. The team announced it was for sale mid-season and the Jaguar R5 was not the huge step forward the team had hoped for. Still, Webber did a solid job for much of the season, especially in qualifying trim. The Malaysian Grand Prix saw Webber start second alongside Michael Schumacher but in what characterised much of a frustrating season, Webber spun out of contention on race day.

Frank Williams had had an eye on Webber for some time and it was therefore of little surprise that he joined Nick Heidfeld in the BMW powered team in 2005. The Australian endured another tough season however and while sensational in qualifying trim, all too often tripped up and failed to score points when it counted. Team-mate Nick Heidfeld was far more consistent and Webber would score just one podium position – his first – at the Monaco Grand Prix and finish tenth in the overall standings.
Webber remained with Williams in 2006 and was joined by rising star Nico Rosberg. Webber generally held the upper hand throughout the season, but it was a frustrating year with a relatively uncompetitive Williams Cosworth package. The team soldiered on, but mid-season Webber announced he was on the move to Red Bull Racing for 2007. Webber finished the season a disappointing 14th in the standings.
Teaming up with David Coulthard at Red Bull Renault, Webber showed flashes of raw speed culminating in a podium position at Nurburgring. However, the RB3 package was notoriously unreliable and race after race hydraulic issues would sideline the Australian. Webber scored ten points over the season and was 12th in the championship standings. Webber remained with the team in 2008 and dominated team-mate Coulthard on his way to 21 points and 11th overall.
Now a Formula One veteran, Webber faces a stiff challenge at Red Bull Renault in 2009 as Sebastian Vettel joins the team from the Toro Rosso Ferrari team.

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Driver In Focus: Rubens Barrichello

Friday, June 12th, 2009

The Development Years

Rubens Gonçalves “Rubinho” Barrichello (born May 23, 1972 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver.

Both his father and paternal grandfather are also named Rubens, and Barrichello shares his father’s birthday: May 23. Therefore, Rubens Barrichello was known as Rubinho (Portuguese for “little Rubens”), which has become his nickname.

Barrichello won five karting titles in Brazil before going to Europe to race in the Formula Vauxhall Lotus series in 1990. In his first year, he won the championship, a feat he replicated the following year in the British Formula 3 Championship, beating David Coulthard. He very nearly joined Formula One, the highest category of single seater racing, at just 19 years of age. Instead he competed in Formula 3000 in 1992. He finished third in the championship, and joined the Jordan Formula One team for the 1993 Formula One season. During this time, and also early in his Formula One career, Barrichello lived in Banbury & Cumnor, Oxfordshire, UK.

Formula One Progression

As a young, aspiring driver, Barrichello looked up to the late Ayrton Senna, and when he joined Formula One, Senna in return considered him his protégé.

Barrichello had an effective rookie year. In his third race, the European Grand Prix, he started from 12th place in very wet conditions but was fourth by the end of the first lap. He ran as high as second and was running third, having passed the Williams of Damon Hill and Alain Prost, before encountering a fuel problem. His Jordan’s reliability in 1993 was poor, and he finished few races. Barrichello regularly outpaced his more experienced teammates, Ivan Capelli and Thierry Boutsen.

His only points finish of the season came at the Japanese Grand Prix with fifth place, ahead of his new teammate Eddie Irvine. These 2 points put him in 18th place in the 1993 standings.

1994 started well with a fourth place in Brazil and a third place at Aida, which earned him his maiden podium position. These results put Barrichello in second place in the drivers’ ranking at that moment, behind Michael Schumacher, who had won the two races. However, at the San Marino Grand Prix, Barrichello’s career nearly ended when he suffered a violent crash during Friday practice. His car hit the wall in Variante Bassa, turning him upside down. This accident knocked him unconscious and threatened his life, with his tongue blocking his airway. Quick action by officials ensured survival. Barichello was fortunate to have survived such a horrific crash.

Other drivers however, were not as lucky as him. Twenty minutes into Saturday’s final qualifying session, Roland Ratzenberger died when he crashed his Simtek at the Villeneuve curva; during the race, his mentor Ayrton Senna crashed his Williams at Tamburello and also died. Despite this deep personal loss, Barrichello recovered his confidence and raced strongly, having good races and taking pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix, and leading some laps at the Portuguese Grand Prix. His pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix set the record for the youngest driver to secure pole position at that time. He finished the 1994 season sixth overall in the Drivers’ Championship with 19 points.

Rubens Barichello was a talented driver ahead of his time, but the constant technical problems due to an unreliable Jordan chassis constantly bogged him down. In 1996, Barrichello’s relationship with team owner Eddie Jordan soured, and at the end of the year, after been linked to strong teams, he left for the newly formed Stewart Grand Prix.

His first two years in Stewart was disappointing as he had not managed to achieve any particularly great results again due to reliability problems of the Stewart chassis. However his performance was consistent in that he kept beating all of his team mates. 1999 was a much better year for the Stewart team. Barrichello qualified third at the Brazilian Grand Prix, outpacing Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari, and led some laps, to delight of the local fans, until his engine blew near ‘Subida dos Boxes’. He also took pole position in the wet qualifying session in France and three podium finishes, at the San Marino, French, and European Grands Prix. The latter race was won by teammate Johnny Herbert. Despite this, Barrichello again generally outpaced his teammate. Over the course of the year, he caught the eye of Ferrari boss Jean Todt, and he was signed for the 2000 season.

Advancement To The Top

Barrichello achieved his first grand prix victory at the 2000 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim demonstrating why he is rated as one of the best wet weather drivers, when he and the team choose to stay on slicks when it was raining on part of the circuit. This risky call saw him leap-frog the McLarens who chose to pit for wet weather tires, thus earning him a well deserved and emotional victory. This after starting the race from 18th place on the grid. This was the longest any driver in Formula One history has waited for a maiden grand prix win. Barrichello had a consistent debut season for Ferrari, finishing most races on the podium, but was outscored by the other three reliable drivers: Schumacher, Häkkinen and Coulthard. Barrichello finished the season ranked fourth after supporting Michael Schumacher as he battled and defeated Mika Häkkinen for the 2000 Formula One Championship, and helping Ferrari win the constructors’ championship.

Barrichello’s success at Ferrari continued in 2002, when he won four races for the team and finished a career best second place in the drivers’ championship, scoring 77 championship points. The year was marked by controversy, however, when the Ferrari team orders required Barrichello to allow the trailing Michael Schumacher to pass him at the final straight of the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix to take the victory. Schumacher exchanged podium places with Barrichello at the podium ceremony and gave Barrichello the winner’s trophy. The drivers were fined for disrupting podium protocol and Ferrari’s blatant team orders led to the FIA banning team orders beginning in 2003.

Barichello generally had a very good run at Ferrari, performing well almost every season. However in 2006, he decided that he needed to move on, and he signed up with Honda. His run in Honda however did not turn out very well for him. He was partnered with Jensen Button and was outpaced by him. He claimed that the car’s braking did not suit his driving style and after tweaks were made, he became more competitive. On 5 December 2008 Honda announced that they were quitting F1, due to the economic crisis. This lead to months of uncertainty as to whether a buyer could be found, and whether they would retain Barrichello.

Uncertainty Turned To Relief

Literally days before the season opener in Melbourne, veteran designer Ross Brawn, bought Honda and renamed it Brawn GP. On 6 March 2009, Brawn confirmed that both Barrichello and Jenson Button would remain for 2009. At Barcelona during the last pre-season test, both Barrichello and Button surprised the paddock with very quick lap times; Barrichello was nearly a second faster than anyone had been on day four.

In the 2009 Australian Grand Prix he was top in Q1 and Q2 but second on the grid, completing a front row lock out for Brawn, alongside team-mate Jenson Button, in pole position. Despite a poor start caused by his engine slipping into anti-stall, he did well to recover and lost only a couple of positions at the start. He further sustained damage to the front wing and rear diffuser in the first corner incident when he was bumped from behind by Heikki Kovalainen in his McLaren that saw him hit Mark Webber in the Red Bull damaging the home heroes car as well as any hopes of a good finish for the aussie. But he yet again managed to recover and was running 4th in the race but then ultimately finished the race in second place after Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica collided with just 2 laps remaining.

At Shanghai, he outpaced Button in qualifying, but struggled with his car’s brakes when one of them stopped working in the first stint and finished 4th even though with the fastest lap time, well behind winner Vettel.

In Bahrain, his front wing adjustor failed during his qualifying run thereby compromising his aggressive 3 pit-stop race strategy. He only managed 5th place.

He qualified third on the grid for the Spanish Grand Prix, and overtook leader Button and second place man Vettel on the first straight. He then lost the lead to Button due to not being able to capitalise on his three stop strategy because of a lack of pace caused by massive amounts of understeer on his third set of tyres in his third stint. Button, who changed to a 2 stop strategy during the race, won.

At Monaco, Barrichello was pipped for pole by a late-charging Button and Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen. A good start saw him leapfrog the Finn into Sainte Devote. Barrichello’s supersoft tyres did not last as well as Button’s in the first stint and he pitted earlier than planned, and Button took a commanding lead. The top three remained unchanged for the duration of the race, save some reshuffling during the pit stop windows. At the completion of lap 47, Barrichello became the driver who has completed most laps in Formula One history, surpassing former team-mate Michael Schumacher’s total of 13,909 laps.

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Driver In Focus: Fernando Alonso

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

The Development Years

Fernando Alonso was born on the 29th of July 1981 in Oviedo, Spain. When he was young, Alonso often participated in karting competitions around Spain, supported by his father, who also doubled as his mechanic. His family lacked the financial resources needed to develop a career in motorsport, but his victories attracted sponsorship and the required funds to advance his career. Alonso won four Spanish championships back-to-back in the junior category, between 1993 and 1996 and the Junior World Cup in 1996. He won the Spanish and Italian Inter-A titles in 1997 and in 1998 won the Spanish Inter-A title again as well as finishing second in the European Championship.

In view of his success and performance, former Minardi F1 driver Adrián Campos gave Alonso his first test in a race car in October 1998. Just after three days of testing at the Albacete circuit, Alonso had managed tmatched the lap times of Campos’ previous driver Marc Gené. Campos signed Alonso to race for him in the 1999 Spanish Euro Open MoviStar by Nissan series. In his second race, again at Albacete, Alonso won for the first time. He took the championship by one point from championship rival Manuel Giao by winning and setting fastest lap at the last race of the season.

The Road to Formula One

The following season Alonso moved up to Formula 3000, which was often the final step for drivers before ascending to Formula One. Alonso joined Team Astromega and was the youngest driver in the series that year by eleven months. He ended that season in fourth place overall.

Alonso was the third-youngest driver ever to start a F1 race when he made his debut with Minardi at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix. The team was in its first season under the control of new owner Paul Stoddart and their new car, the PS01, was neither fast nor reliable. However Alonso’s qualifying performance was good, at his first race he out-qualified team mate Tarso Marques by 2.6s. At the fourth round at Imola he outqualified both of the Benettons, a feat he repeated later in the season.

Mid Career Advancement
Alonso became test driver for Renault in 2002 (Renault having taken over the Benetton team) and did 1,642 laps of testing that year. In 2003 Briatore dropped Button and put Alonso in the second seat alongside Jarno Trulli.

The Spaniard became the youngest driver to achieve a Formula One pole position at the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix. Alonso had a 180mph crash at the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix, the result of missing the double yellow flags and Safety Car boards brought out by Mark Webber’s earlier crash and colliding with the debris. The race was red-flagged. He finished second at his home grand prix two races later, and at the time became the youngest driver to win a Formula One race at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix. He finished the year sixth in the championship, with 55 points and four podiums.

He never gave up and continued to race for Renault in 2004 and achieved a commendable fourth place for the championship. Un-swayed and ever more thirsty to come in top 3, he persevered and his efforts paid off. In 2005, Alonso sealed the title by finishing third in Brazil while Montoya won from Räikkönen. The Spaniard became the youngest Drivers’ Champion at the age of 24 years and 59 days old, breaking Emerson Fittipaldi’s record. He also ended the 5-year dominance of Michael Schumacher.

Commenting on his victory, he said: “I just want to dedicate this championship to my family, and all my close friends who have supported me through my career. Spain is not a country with an F1 culture, and we had to fight alone, every step of the way, to make this happen. A huge thank-you should also go to the team as well — they are the best in Formula One, and we have done this together. It will say that I am world champion, but we are all champions — and they deserve this.” In the May 2007 issue of F1 Racing, Alonso said that the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix was his greatest race. He said, “It was a dream come true and a very emotional day. In the last few laps I leaped, thinking I could hear noises from the engine- from everywhere! But all was okay and I can remember my relief when I crossed the finish line.” He was deservingly awarded with the Sports Prince of Asturias Award.

Carrying forward his enthusiasm and determination from the previous season, Fernando Alonso made the 2006 season one that he would never forget. Second place in the Brazilian Grand Prix on October 22 gave Alonso the championship. With Schumacher finishing fourth, the final difference was 13 points. Alonso thus became the youngest double champion in the sport’s history. Renault also clinched the Constructors’ Championship with a 5-point gap over Ferrari.

2007 saw him leaving Renault for McLaren. The talented driver performed well at McLaren. However, due to a controversy at the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix, relationships between him and his teammates deteriorated and he decided to leave McLaren.

The Return to Renault

Alonso was linked with several teams for the 2008 season after his split with McLaren. Renault, Red Bull, Toyota and Honda were all suggested in the media. Renault’s Flavio Briatore stated that he would welcome Alonso’s return to the French team. On 10 December 2007, Alonso signed a two-year contract to drive for Renault F1 alongside Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet, Jr. for around £25 million. His performance was unlike what he used to be and Fourth place was the best result for Alonso in 2008 until his victory at Singapore.

Alonso claimed his first victory and podium of the season by winning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. After performing strongly in practice, a fuel pressure problem in the second part of qualifying forced him to park the car, causing him to qualify 15th. In the race he started with a light fuel load on soft tyres, and pitted early when he realised that this would not be successful. However, a safety car period meant that he moved ahead of many drivers who had to pit, and allowed him to ultimately win the race. This was also his 50th podium and 20th win in his career.

Alonso carried over his good form from Singapore to the next race, the Japanese Grand Prix. Alonso was good in both practices and qualified 4th. Running on a two stop strategy Alonso won for the second time in 2008, finishing ahead of Robert Kubica and Kimi Räikkönen.

In the last 2 races Alonso scored a fourth and a second place. In the last eight races of the 2008 season Alonso scored 48 points, which was more than any other driver (over the same period Massa scored 43 points and Hamilton scored 40 points). He finished the season fifth overall with 61 points.

2009 will be an interesting year for him and hopefully this brilliant driver will gain back his form and perform like he used to in his early days.

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Driver in Focus: Kimi Räikkönen

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

Kimi Raikkonen

The Development Years

Kimi Raikkonen was born on the 17th of October 1979 in Espoo, Finland..

The 30 year old Kimi Raikkonen started out racing like every other F1 driver, which was karting. He began training at the age of 10. In the kart that he raced, it was obvious that he was a very talented driver. He continued karting and competing and found several successes in the Finnish Series.

Success Beckons

In 2000, Peter Sauber extended the olive branch and gave him a test with the Sauber Formula One team in September at the Mugello Circuit. He did so well that it lead to a contract for 2001. Sauber said: “I knew Kimi was fast from his first test at Mugello and after three races I knew he was very ralented, extremely focused and also egotistical. He thinks he is quicker than anybody. All these things add up to him being a good racing driver, although not necessarily a nice one. He was concentrated only on his own success.”

The Formula One Beginning

There was only one problem. At 21 years old, and with only 23 race starts to his name, Raikkonen had insufficient experience to qualify for the superlicence necessary to race in Formula 1. The FIA granted him a special dispensation conditional on his performances in the first races of the year.

Raikkonen and team mate Nick Heidfeld proved an impressive partnership. At the first round of the year Raikkonen finished sixth and Heidfeld fourth. Raikkonen failed to finish the next three races but his maturity and speed impressed the other drivers and governing body and he was granted his superlicence. Together, Räikkönen, along with teammate Nick Heidfeld, helped Sauber to its best ever result of fourth place in the constructors’ championship.

Heidfeld had reached Formula 1 via McLaren and Mercedes’ young driver schemes. But at the end of 2001 with Mika Hakkinen leaving McLaren it was Raikkonen who got the coveted seat over Heidfeld – McLaren buying his contract for a reported £3.5m.

Raikkonen’s five years at McLaren would bring him mixed fortunes. The 2002 car, MP4/17, could not compete with Ferrari’s dominant F2002, and reliability was problematic too. He finished third on his McLaren début and made three more appearances on the podium – but had eight car failures in 17 starts. He ended the year six, 17 points behind team mate David Coulthard.

Raikkonen raced it to his maiden victory at Sepang and would have won at Interlagos as well had he held off Giancarlo Fisichella in the wet for one more lap. A likely win was lost to engine failure at the Nürburgring but Raikkonen also made crucial mistakes in qualifying at Catalunya and Montreal that left him 20th on the grid for both races.

Because of these problems (and a highly controversial late rules change that compromised tyre supplier Michelin and handed an advantage to Ferrari suppliers Bridgestone) Schumacher beat Raikkonen to the title by 93 points to 91, six victories to Raikkonen’s one.

The following year’s car based on the MP4/18 was a disaster – both unreliable and slow. A revised version of the car in the second half of the season allowed Raikkonen to take his sole win of the year – beating Schumacher on his traditional stomping ground of Spa-Francorchamps.

McLaren solved the reliability problem in 2006 but also well from competitiveness, failing to win a single race.

Ferrari Beckons

Raikkonen had been in conversation with Ferrari about switching to the Italian team, and at Monza it was confirmed that he would take on one of the toughest challenges in F1 – replacing Schumacher at Ferrari.

The season began brightly with a win for Raikkonen at Melbourne. But in the first half of the season it was clear that team mate Felipe Massa had come to terms with the new 2007 tyres more quickly than Raikkonen, and it took until the eighth round at Magny-Cours for Raikkonen to add another win.

From that point onwards Raikkonen reeled in championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who had replaced him at McLaren. Raikkonen set up a championship finale by winning at Shanghai while a strategic blunder put Hamilton out of the race. With Hamilton suffering a gearbox problem in the last round Massa (who had fallen out of contention for the championship) cleared Raikkonen’s way to win the race and the championship.

Stormy 2008

Raikkonen’s world championship defence didn’t go well – to the surprise of many, he was beaten by team mate Felipe Massa, who took six wins to Raikkonen’s two.

That hadn’t looked likely after the first four races, in which Raikkonen scored wins at Sepang and Barcelona. But a combination of poor qualifying performance, bad luck and occasional mistakes left Raikkonen playing a supporting role to Massa’s championship campaign by the end of the season.

Hamilton took Raikkonen out in Montreal, a bad pit call ruined a strong drive at Silverstone and an exhaust failure robbed Raikkonen of victory in France. But mistakes ruined his races at Monte-Carlo, Spa and Singapore, and on other occasions he struggled to get the F2008 dialled in.

At the end of the season he came strong, particularly at Spa and Shanghai, but the damage was already done. He salvaged third in the drivers’ championship, tied on points with Robert Kubica but having won one more race.

Current Standing

2009 has not been particularly good so far for Kimi Raikkonen and with sheer bad luck and mistakes made by both himself and his team with his best qualifyer being 2nd place at Monaco recently. Hopefully we will start to see him and Ferrari pick up the slack for the remainder of this year’s season.

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Driver In Focus: Jensen Button

Monday, May 18th, 2009

Tuesday, 19th May 2009

Jensen Button

The Development Years

Jensen Alexander Lyons Button was born on the 19th of January 1980 in Frome, Somerset.

The 29 year old Jenson Button is the son of a former racecar driver himself, John Button. Jensen Button started out racing like every other F1 driver, which was karting. He began training at the age of eight. In a kart bought by his father, Button was a natural talent. In his maiden debut in karting, he won the 1991 British Cadet Kart Championship. He did it amazingly by winning straight all the 34 races.

Jensen Button continued to race in the karting circle for a few more years before winning the European Super A Championship in 1997 which got him noticed and earned a place in the British Formula Ford Championship with Haywood Racing.

Success Beckons

He surprised everyone when he won the Championship at the age 18 years old and plenty was expected of this young prodigal. He then moved on to Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch which he captured the title ahead of future Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon.

The Somerset born lad deservedly won the 1998 McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award for his racing achievements. Button then moved up in the racing stages by entering Formula Three in 1999. His team Promatecme team won three races under him and he finished the season as top rookie driver after finishing third overall in the championship.

The Formula One Beginning

Jensen Button foray into Formula One started in 2000 when a vacant race seat became available at the Williams team. He finished eighth in the 2000 Drivers’ Championship. After a good rookie start in F1, he moved to Benetton in 2001 but had an abysmal year. The car wasn’t on par with his ability and the Briton had to settle for a disappointing seventeenth in the drivers’ championship.

The next year Benetton was renamed Renault and he finished better than his F1 debut year when he ranked seventh for the 2002 season. The following year, Button was replaced by test driver Fernando Alonso, and the rest is history as you know it. Alonso the future 2005 and 2006 F1 champion was much hungrier and earned the spot. Button was ousted and it didn’t help that he had contract issues that year.

Ousted by Renault

Button then moved on to BAR team in 2003. His teammate was former World Champion Jacques Villeneuve and Button showed he still has it even with a lesser funded team by finishing ninth in the Drivers’ Championship with 17 points.

By the following year, the BAR-Honda team had more funds and developed a much better car. It showed as Button earned the BAR team their first pole position at the 2004 San Marino Grand Prix. He eventually finished second in that race. Button ended the season on a personal best finish with a third overall placing, behind two Ferrari drivers.

The BAR-Honda team also did well by finishing second in the Constructors’ Championship

The Legal Disputes

The following year in 2005 was rather bitter for Button as he was wrangling in legal issues. Button wanted to leave BAR and join Williams. Although entirely legal and within his contract obligation, the FIA had a review and told Button he had to stay with BAR for the 2005 season.

2005 was a bad year for Button whose best finish was only a third place at the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim. He had only one pole position, 37 points and ninth overall for the Championship that year. It is also said there were more contract dispute between Button and Williams, and he reported to have bought out his contract from Williams for a reported $30 million.

For season 2006, BAR was bought by Honda. It was the year Button won his first ever race in Hungary after 113 start. During the first half of the season, Button was plagued by car and engine trouble. Only in the latter stages of the championship everything went much better. He picked up an amazing 35 points over the last six races of the season. He finished sixth overall.

The Spiral Downwards

Alongside Rubens Barrichello, the Briton drove once again under Honda Racing F1 team in 2007. But development for the car wasn’t up to par as it was a season of disaster for both the drivers. Honda car was aerodynamically poor and Button ended disappointingly that season.

Despite the abysmal season 2007, Button kept his faith and stayed with Honda in 2008. But once again Honda car wasn’t just Formula One material it seems. That season alone he retired four times from racing. It was Button worst ever finish, and ended with a 18th position overall. It was also the year when Honda announced they will quit F1 due to the economic crisis.

Brawn GP Car

The Current Situation

With no team, Jensen Button’s F1 future looked bleak. If there was no buyer for Honda, it was likely that he wouldn’t be driving in 2009.

However, on the 5th of March of 2009, it was announced that the former Honda team would become Brawn GP, following a buy-out by Ross Brawn, the previous team principal of Honda Racing. Button and Rubens Barrichello were confirmed as the team’s drivers for 2009.

Button’s morale was up. Despite lacking winter testing and lesser development time for the car, he amazingly took pole in his first qualifying session for the team in the 2009 Australian Grand Prix. He had managed to win his first race right from the start to finish in with Barrichello in second place, giving the team a 1-2 finish on their debut, which hasn’t happened since 1954.

One week later, he made it two poles and two wins in a row at the Malaysian Grand Prix, setting the fastest lap in order to jump ahead of Trulli and Rosberg during the first pit stops. The race was stopped due to heavy rain with less than 75% completed meaning only half points were awarded. In this race Button scored his first hat trick (pole, win and fastest lap) and his first fastest lap. At the Chinese Grand Prix Button finished third behind Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Button won the 4th race of the season, the 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix, from fourth on the grid, finishing ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Jarno Trulli, who had set pole position. This was the first time he had taken the chequered flag at racing speed this season. This means that he had won three of the four races this season and easily beaten his record of number of wins in a season. After the first improvements of 2009, at Barcelona, Button took pole after complaining of balance problems for the Spanish Grand Prix. He went on to win his fourth race of the season. In total, he has now won four of the first five races.

Jensen Button looks set to be one of the most promising drivers this season.

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Driver in Focus: Sebastian Vettel

Monday, April 20th, 2009

Sebastian Vettel (born July 3, 1987 in Heppenheim) is a German race car driver. He drives for Red Bull Racing having replaced former driver David Coulthard.

Vettel first drove in a proper racetrack when he was 5 and joined the mini class kart league when he was 7. It wasn’t far long that he reached his first victory in Wittgenborn. At 9, he was looking for a long term sponsoring, and joined Red Bull Junior Team.

In the next year, won his first german title and later he achieved many other titles through his 8 years in karting: He won four times the North Rhine-Westphalia Cup, won the DMV Kartmeisterschaft, the Kerpen-Manheim Cup, the Monaco Kart Cup, Kart Paris-Bersi Cup, the ICA Junior European Championship and the German Junior Kart Championship

In 2003, he upgraded to open-wheel cars, and won the 2004 German Formula BMW Championship with 18 victories from 20 races. In 2005 he drove for ASL Mucke Motorsport in the Formula Three Euroseries. He was placed fifth in the final standings with 64 points, winning the year’s top rookie honours. He did not win any races, but this was largely due to the championship’s domination by Lewis Hamilton. Despite, this, he tested the Williams FW27 Formula One car on September 27 as a reward for this Formula BMW success. He then went on to test for the BMW Sauber team.

F3 Euroseries, behind series leader Paul di Resta. He also made his debut in the World Series by Renault at Misano, winning after Pastor Maldonado was disqualified. However, at the next round at Spa-Francorchamps, his finger was almost sliced off by flying débris in an accident, and he was expected to be out of racing for several weeks. However, he managed to compete in the Ultimate Masters of F3 at Zandvoort the following weekend, finishing in sixth place.

Vettel became BMW Sauber’s third driver at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, when former incumbent Robert Kubica was called up to replace Jacques Villeneuve for the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Vettel impressed on his testing debut by setting fastest time in second Friday Free Practice before the race. The young German also impressed on his second testing session in the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, setting the fastest time in both Friday practice sessions, a race weekend in which all the BMW cars were quick, with his predecessor Robert Kubica finishing on the podium in the race.

He was confirmed as BMW’s test driver for 2007 and also competed in the World Series by Renault Championship, where he had his first win at the Nürburgring. He was leading the championship when he was called up to F1 permanently, and his seat was taken by Michael Ammermüller.

At the start of the 2009 season, Vettel replaced David Coulthard at Red Bull Racing.

Vettel began strongly at the Australian Grand Prix, qualifying third and running in second for the majority of the race. However, a clash with Robert Kubica over second place on the third last lap of the race forced both to retire. Vettel attempted to finish the race on three wheels behind the safety car to salvage some points, but eventually pulled off to the side.

He thought that he would be able to attempt this because the yellow flag resulting from his incident forbids overtaking; instead he was given a ten-place grid penalty for the next race, the Malaysian Grand Prix, and his team was fined for instructing him to stay on track after the damage occurred. In Malaysia he qualified in third position, but was demoted down to 13th due to his ten-place grid drop.He spun out of the race while eighth, just before the race was stopped due to adverse weather conditions.

However in China he went on to take pole position, the first for the Red Bull Racing team. He went on to win the race ahead of team-mate Mark Webber, again a first for his team, which scored its first victory and one-two finish in the same race

Vettel will be the man to watch for the 2009 season.

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